My Little Helper

I finally decided to introduce Luke to the world of cooking/baking. I don't do it that much myself, so he's never helped me before! haha He absolutely loved it!! He helped me with this and then a couple days later was so excited when I asked him if he wanted to help me make some muffins! I will definitely have to get in the kitchen more now! :) And thanks so much to Michelle for the awesome kid-friendly recipe, which I highly recommend! Somehow we started calling them "monkey bar balls" and Luke was thrilled to showed them to daddy when he got home!

Stirring up the ingredients then helping me scoop them into the pan!

The best part--licking the spoon!!

What's New Here

The kids are cuter than ever...and Addison's working on sitting up!

I know I post lots of pictures like these, but this is one of the reasons I love living where we do:

What a great way to start my morning!

Luke got to sleep in his bed with his new Thomas pjs and his new Thomas sheets. Talk about a happy camper! :)

This is how we found him one night when we checked on him:

Little Miss Addie found her toes!

And she discovered the joys of the johnny jump-up!

Can you tell they like each other??

Here are some videos of Luke "reading" and Addison enjoying her new toy!

Addison's Five Month Pics

At five months old this little cutie has figured out how to roll over (both front to back and back to front--though she doesn't do it that often and has yet to do it for daddy), can sit up almost completely unassisted (she does great with the Boppy behind her), has found her voice and her toes, can grasp her toys (and mommy's hair!!) really well, completely adores her brother, laughs the most at her daddy, is eating baby food three times a day (apples and blueberries are her favorite!), sleeps (pretty much) from 8:30 to 6 then nurses and goes back to sleep (usually) for another 2-3 hours, craves attention, and loves to be on the move (her exersaucer and johnny jump-up are her current favorites and if she's in a stroller we must be moving at all times, thank you very much!). We love our precious Addie!!

FLORIDA Part 4

Here are just some pictures of the place where we stayed. We were on the second floor in two separate suites. Each suite had a living room, kitchen, bathroom, a bedroom with two queen beds, and a bedroom with a king bed that had it's own bathroom attached to it. Needless to say, they were nice and we enjoyed all that space! :)

This is the view of the resort's golf course from our screened-in porch. At night, we could see the fireworks from Disney!

And here are the kids enjoying a bath in the jacuzzi!

Whew! That's all the pictures (at least all the ones I'm going to post!). It was a wonderful trip and we really enjoyed going someplace we'd never been before. I'd definitely go back, just maybe at a different time of year when everyone else isn't there! haha

FLORIDA Part 3

Wow, I have a lot of pictures to share! Almost done, I promise! :) Our tickets we bought for Universal Studios were good for the entire week and we could go to either of their theme parks anytime, which was great. A couple nights we went (one with kids, one without) and it was less crowded and we got to enjoy more rides. Wednesday night we all went and enjoyed it. I could not believe how amazing the sets are there! We had just as much fun walking around as we did riding the rides!

Beverly Hills recreated.

When we first got to the park, I was so excited to take Luke to the kiddie land, but this is what he did for about half the night:

When Luke finally decided to wake up we got a family picture in front of the giant Christmas tree.

About a half hour before the parks closed, Jonathan and I took the kids back over to Islands of Adventure where the Dr. Seuss land was. It was so perfect! The lines were next to nothing and Luke got to enjoy some of the rides. Jonathan took him on this ride, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish:

Luke was a little scared, and it didn't help that there was water squirted at them, but he still talks about riding it, so I don't think it scarred him too permanently! haha There also was an elevated train that ran over the kid section. Emily and I took Luke on it earlier in the week and had to wait over a half hour for it. This night, though, he and I walked right on! He loved it!! Then, when we got off, Jonathan and I switched and I stayed with Addison and he and Luke went right back on! And they got to ride in the front seat! Talk about a two year old little boy's dream!! :)

After the park closed, we got dessert at Hard Rock Cafe. It was going on midnight before we even got back to the resort!

On New Year's Eve, the guys played 18 holes of golf, so us girls took the kids and had a day to ourselves. Since it was mom's birthday, we took her to the Holy Land. She got in free, too! They have lots of reenactments and productions, plus they have recreated what the streets of Jerusalem would've looked like in Jesus' time. It was pretty neat!

They had a great kids section that Luke loved! It had a huge Noah's ark to play in plus Luke's favorite kind of animals--fake ones that don't move and that you can play on!

Luke and I in front of Zaccheus.

He's a soldier for the Lord!

Such a ham! :)

Addison and Luke on Noah's Ark!

Giving Jesus a high five!

Trying to be Samson!

They had a beautiful prayer garden that was so peaceful.

Checking out one of the fountains in the prayer garden.

Here's a video diary of our third day:

FLORIDA Part 2

Here is the next round of pictures from our vacation. Don't you just love the picture above?? I took that while we were walking around the resort one late afternoon. :) I tried to keep the kids on a schedule as much as possible, which isn't very easy when away. I thought Luke might enjoy taking a nap in my parents' king sized bed one day:

That's what he looked like when I left. A little while later when I went to check on him, this is what I found:

What a little stinker!

While in Florida, Miss Addison turned five months old!!! Here she is on her actual five month birthday, although I will have to get one in the traditional chair back home too!

The kids and I at the resort.

Mom, Emily, and I took the kids and did some exploring around the resort one afternoon while the guys golfed. This place was huge! It had so many pools, shops, places to eat, and even their own beach and lake where you could rent jet-skis and everything!

Luke really liked all the palm trees!

Having some fun with Auntie Em.

Wednesday was the warmest day we were there, so we headed to the main pool area and hung out. There was a huge lazy river which we enjoyed too. Thankfully the water was heated, so it felt even nicer! :)

I love this picture of Addison! She is such a doll!!

My little sweetheart in her sun hat and swimsuit.

Luke and Papaw going to check out the rest of the pool area.

Addie and Meemaw

Her face cracks me up! :)

One of Luke's favorite parts of the day was playing in the sand!

It was a great day!

Here are a couple videos I meant to post the other day. The first one is our ride on the carousel at Universal.

And this is Luke telling all about what he did at Universal that day: