Tricky Treat

When Noah says "Trick or Treat" it comes out as "Tricky Treat" instead. And to me, the sound of his precious mispronunciation is sweeter than all the candy he scored tonight.


You may remember that last year our Halloween was riddled with tears. This year, however, was a huge success. Yes, Anna was a little emotional at first, but then again, when is she not?

Thankfully as soon as we got to walking she was all quiet and curious and raked in a lot of attention from every passerby. Turns out, 13 month old blue-eyed pumpkins are all the rage this year.

Josh carried Anna to every door alongside Noah until his arms just couldn't hold her any more. Noah squealed and skipped to every door he could. I grinned and grinned from the street. I l-uh-ove watching him grow up and take part in holiday traditions.


By dark (which came on quicker than we realized it would), Anna was more interested in all the loot she had collected.


My happy little alligator and his faithful door-to-door escort. I took this shot just before Josh bugged out from the cold and headed home with Anna.


From there, I took Noah to hit a few more houses but we didn't get far. He just couldn't stand to wait any longer to see (and sample) the goodies that were burnin' a hole in his bag. I humored him and we hurried home to take inventory of his stash (and screen all the candy for peanuts!).


The night sure seemed to go by in a rush. It was a fun rush, nonetheless. Besides the sweet memory of watching Noah understand and participate in the trick-or-treating routine this year, today marked another special moment. It was the first time Noah said "I love you." All on his own, he grabbed his daddy by the neck just before his nap and said "I wuv you." Out of nowhere. Melted my heart when Josh told me. When I asked Noah about it later today, he repeated the sentiment but modified it a little. This time is was a giggly, "I wuv you. Dude!" as Josh tried to wrangle him into his costume.

Peeing outside, giddy quotable dude moments, and a sweet "I wuv you." I checked. And just as I suspected, there WAS a full moon tonight.

Happy Halloween!

Discipline: Dude Style

Noah got sent to time out for throwing a ball, yet again, in the house. This time it hit the TV. After a few minutes in time out, we heard him requesting to get up. What follows is the half-shouted conversation we had from across the house - me, from the living room, and Noah, from the time-out spot on the couch in the play room.

Noah: Noah be nice now.
Me: Are you ready to follow the rules?
Noah: Yeah!
We: What is the rule?
Noah: Uh don't know!
Me: The rule is no throwing in the house.
Noah: Yeah, dude!
Me: Tell me what the rule is.
Noah: Uh don't know!
Me: Say, "No throwing in the house"
Noah: No fwowing in da house! Dude!

It's been one of those odd, funny, unexpected days. Several hours before this while Josh was building some steps for the porch, he caught Noah with his pants pulled down peeing in the grass behind his swing set. WHERE DID HE LEARN THAT?! The unfunny-but-still-kinda-funny icing on that proverbial cake was the dribble all down his pants. And the fit he threw when he had to come and stay inside afterwards. Is there something in the Halloween air? Full moon maybe?

Too Lovely

Josh took some shots of trees and skies and such on his way home from a business trip today. One of them I loved the moment I laid my eyes on it. So I got the rights from him to post it here. Thanks, babe. :)

WPTM #17: What Daddy Sees

What Parenting Teaches Me #17: What Daddy Sees

Noah loves, loves, loves to play this game in the car where he tells us what object or person he sees formed in the clouds. And as soon as he has declared what he sees he follows through by asking us to play. Usually he invites his Daddy by saying, "What Daddy see?"

This is a good example to me of how I can approach the Lord about things. I can open up and be honest about how I am perceiving a problem, issue, upset and then ask the Lord to show me what He sees instead in that situation. My version of Noah's "What Daddy see?" would go something like this, "Open the eyes of my heart in this situation, Lord" or "Father, let me see this person how you see them."

Ouch, Ugh, Oy

OUCH
Yesterday Noah looked down at the exact moment I was snapping the chest buckle shut on his car seat. I still don't know how, but it caught his lip in the process. Bleeding and screaming immediately followed. Ouch!

UGH
Has anyone besides me taken note of the swarms of ladybugs out and about lately? They are everywhere, which wouldn't bother me so much if that didn't include the inside of my house. Ugh!

OY
I got an electronic ticket in the mail today for a traffic violation I made two Thursdays ago. Evidently, I did not come to a complete stop at a red light before turning right. And they sent me the camera shots to prove it. Oy!

Where Was I?

Now that I have gotten all the Disney bloggin' done, I can get back to keeping up with what all's been going on since then. And so, a list....

1. Our credit card information was stolen and used but not before our bank was onto it and cancelled the card within 1 hour. How's that for protection?

2. Our screened porch was put up this week and all that's left is the shingles to go on top tomorrow - if the contractors come back on time - you know how that goes. I would post a pic of the lovely lay of the porch, but Josh has already laid claim to those pics for his blog instead. See here. I'll humor him ... And then I'll post pics of the finished product with shingles and all. So there!

3. We caught 2 mice in our house this week as well as found an old dead one on a trap in the garage. Eeew. Eeew. Eeew. I explained to Noah the other day that these are not to be confused with Mickey Mouse. ;) We also found and killed a black widow in the garage. Give me a heart attack, why don't you?! It was right where Noah and Anna always go to get things!! Needless to say, I'm looking forward to catching up with our Cook's Pest Control guy at our next appointment.

4. Are we total suckers for scoping out those big holiday inflatables for the front yard? Noah is really in the market for one of those. Preferably one that has moving parts. We can't go to Lowe's or Home Depot without Noah insisting that we go down that aisle 10 times at least.

5. My tree is all yellow and pretty. But it is balding very quickly, too.


6. Josh and Noah carved the pumpkin today into a Mickey face. Uh-dorable.


7. Anna in her cutie-pie jacket...and if you look closely you can see a little of the new screen porch in the background that Josh won't let me post pictures of . :) Hee, Hee, Hee.


8. Noah is 2 doses of allergy shots away from only having to go twice a month from now until further notice. For the past 5 months, my little guy has gone twice a week (4 shots total per week) and has gotten so good at it he hardly even flinches - he doesn't even cry, or grunt, or even need to be held by us. I am so proud of him and how tough he has gotten.

9. Is it bad we skipped out on a pumpkin patch trip this year? We just didn't have the heart for it this go round. Everything pales in comparison to our sweet Disney. Maybe next year.

10. I am counting down to Nov. 2. That is the day my, I mean our, new counter tops are being installed. :) Can't wait!

Disney: Wrap up Stuff

This was the condo that we rented at a great discount thanks to my dad and my brother-in-law's access to a military vacation club. We only paid $435 for an entire week. This turned out to be an even bigger deal for my parents and my sister's family because they shared a condo right next door to us and therefore split the price. As good a deal as these condos were, we think from now on we will save up Josh's hotel points throughout the year so we can stay at a hotel on Disney property. They have constant free Disney transportation from those properties, not to mention travel time would be less after a long day at the park. Convenience is high on our priority scale.


This was the little car we rented to get around with for our 11 days in FL. It was nothing special - really the cheapest thing we could rent - but it was red, so that made my day, er, week.


This Disney Age Guide was very useful and quick and to the point. I got it from Beth Moore's daughter's blog, Baby Bangs. They went to Disney earlier this year as did a friend of mine, Heather. So I consulted their blogs again before we headed out of town. Heather also forwarded me a guide from a friend from high school that apparently goes to Disney all the time. If you are ever in the market for Disney tips just let me know and I would be happy to forward it to you as well. If you want my biggest Disney tip, I'll tell you right here - DON'T GO WHEN IT'S HOT. To this end, Josh is already planning a followup visit to Disney for a day not long after Christmas while we are visiting his family again in January just to make sure we get to do it in less than 90 degree, hopefully less than 80 degree, weather. My other Kimmie Disney tip is this - Pace yourself if you have little kiddos with you. You just can't do it all. Keeping this in mind the entire time was a real sanity saver for me and Josh.

We saved all our souvenir shopping for trips to Downtown Disney so as not to have to spend park time shopping and lugging around more stuff in the process. The only thing I didn't get ever get done during the trip was having a caricature of Noah made (which they offered at all the parks as well as Downtown Disney). Now that Josh is committed to another Magic Kingdom run, I think I may be able to take care of that business after all. Any maybe I'll ride a grown-up ride or two, too.

I just thought this shot was funny. Josh took it during our Kilimanjaro Safari.


I fancied myself a photographer and took a couple off-the-wall shots. I kinda like 'em.


My boys napping after our half day at Epcot.


Emily's family with mine.


The cousins all enjoyed the pool time of which we did not have enough. Memo to me - plan for more of that next time. And not that it was needed, but this pool was heated. Also, this was the first time Noah ever swam without wearing a swim diaper. For that matter, Noah finally met my potty training deadline just before this trip. We packed a couple pull-ups just in case (excusing overnight pull-ups, of course) but he never needed them - he had not one accident. Not one. To this day. It feels so good to say that boy is full-fledged potty trained!


Emily and Lee had to leave a day early for Lee's brother's wedding. That meant we had a free day after all our Disney time. We hit some souvenir shops (which proved to be less than satisfying in comparison with Downtown Disney) and had a movie day at the condo. Anna was in some teething pain anyway and we all just needed some down time after our busy week. The movies of the day were Jungle Book and Peter Pan...over and over and over.


Anna konked out on the plane on the way home.


Noah konked out once we got on the road headed home from Nashville airport. Notice Mr. Smee and the Crocodile from Peter Pan in his hands.

On another note, it was too funny how happy Josh and I were to be in our own car and on our own time again. And back in cool weather. In our enthusiasm we severely overtipped the porter that helped us to our car. :)

We loved you, Disney! See you soon!

Disney Leg 4: Epcot

Is it possible to go here and not take this picture every time?


The day we went to Epcot, Noah and I went alone (except not really because we went with my parents). Josh had gone back to his parents' house the night before and was on his way back to Orlando with Anna. He met us at Epcot at lunch and after that we stayed only long enough to have Josh and Anna experience first-hand Noah's favorite (and almost only) ride of the day: Finding Nemo. We did it 3 times. I gotta say, if not for the Nemo ride, Epcot would have been a total waste. We didn't bother going around the different countries, but we did hit Mexico and ride the musical boat ride with "The Three Caballeros" they offered there. Cute, but not critical.

We did let him play this piggy banking interactive game, but he was just too young to really understand what it was about. Thankfully, he had fun pulling the levers, relocating the piggy bank for each station, and pressing whatever other on-screen button he could get his hands on.



He did get to make this Velcro frog for Anna, who was very pleased with the surprise when she got there.


Just outside the Nemo ride:


Heading into the Nemo Ride in his "seasell." Whenever he asked to ride again, he would say "Noah wide seasell again!" There was a great aquarium section as you got off the ride, but Noah was not interested. He indulged my excitement about the dolphins and scuba divers and sea turtles. And I am sure he would have enjoyed the "Turtle Talk with Crush" but he could not be sidelined from riding that seashell again. Fair enough. We ditched the aquarium after a few minutes and headed back around to ride with Nemo again. It was a good little ride, nonetheless.


If you look closely, you can see my dad's head just behind Noah holding him up for this photo op. Noah was so amused with the view from there he kept going back...and getting in other people's pictures in the process! I had to step in then and make him leave. Did not go over well with Noah.


Had to get a sweet little shot of my peeps before we got out of Epcot. It was Anna's first Disney experience. That popsicle Noah's enjoying fell out of his hands shortly after this picture. And I may or may not have snatched it up off the ground, rinsed it off with our water, licked the germs off for good measure, and gave it back to the boy. A little dirt or a total meltdown from a disappointed preschooler - priorities, people. Priorities. :)


While we didn't get much done at Epcot, we did run into some old friends/coworkers whom Josh and I taught with back in GA. That was a neat and coincidental run-in. We hadn't seen them since just before we adopted Noah. Their triplets were babies when we saw them last and they are all grown and in school themselves now.

The real redeeming value of our 1/2 day at Epcot took place at the Epcot Character Spot.


We got in line and waited (again only about 20 minutes) to have Noah's picture taken with all the Disney Characters. The entire time we were in line, Noah kept saying he didn't want to do it. I told him if we got up there and he still didn't want to, he wouldn't have to. I am so glad I didn't give in to his fear in line. Once we got to the front and he saw other people having fun with Mickey and the gang, he gave in to the moment and gave it a go again. I didn't even have to hold him or his hand to get him to go to Mickey. And once he finished Mickey, he was all giggly and excited to get to the next character in the room. I don't know who was happier about his bravery... me or him.

A word about pics at Disney. They offer this wonderful Photopass service. You know - the guys/gals at the park with the cameras offering to take your picture. They scan you a card and all your pics from all the parks can be viewed and redeemed (order prints, gifts, downloaded) online. Catch is....they are not cheap! It cost us $14.95 a picture to download. Needless to say, we only downloaded 3 from our Photopass collection. These two with Mickey and the shot of us kissing Noah in front of the castle at Magic Kingdom. For sure, there were more I wanted, but not for $14.95 a shot! I'll labor with my own camera, thank you very much!

Next Up: Final post of other details and pics from our stay in FL and our travel back home to the sweet cool weather of Tennessee.

To Grin or Not to Grin

When she won't:


When she will:

Day at the Park

We just had to get out in the sunny, yet cool and crisp weather yesterday. On the spur of the moment we headed out to try a new park and duck pond. It was such a nice time and brought back a couple memories.

1. This time last year Anna was a wee, tiny 3 week old thing that cried all the time. Oh, praise the Lord those days are over!

2. The last time we visited a duck pond is a vivid memory in my mind. It was a freezing cold day in January 2008 and we had just found out I was pregnant. And looking back at the videos of Noah with the ducks then, oh my word, he was still such a baby of a boy! Not so anymore.




Loving the days we are in now.

Disney Leg 3: Magic K'dom

Ahh, Magic Kingdom - where the party is really at!


We spread out Magic Kingdom over 3 days, however the bulk of activity we did in 2 days with Noah only. We did the last encore day there with Anna where we got all of about 4 things in before we surrendered to the heat and her impending naptime.

There are a million things to say about what we saw and did as we wound our way through the 7 sections of Magic Kingdom. It was a blast! And this is where I am most at a loss as to how to communicate the degree of fun and magic we experienced. So I'll just have to sum it up with some lists and some pics instead. Suffice to say, we loved this park the most, it fit our kiddos the best, it has the most to do, and it'll be awhile before we need any of the other parks in our future visits. Magic Kingdom MORE than worked for us. :)

Favorite parts of the park - Tomorrowland, Mickey's Toontown Fair, Fantasyland

While we did every ride Noah was tall enough for in the park, the following were his favorite rides (stuff we hit more than once) - Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, It's a Small World, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Walt Disney World Railroad, and the Country Bear Jamboree. And to be honest, he asked to go hug Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, etc. again and again. Seeing those big guys was easily the most thrilling part of Disney for him, in a scary but fun and happy way.

The only ride long enough to convince us to get a FastPass ticket for was The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride. If you ever find yourself at Disney during a heavily crowded time, take advantage of the FastPass! It is really cool to skip the lines and go right to the front. Yes, you have to wait til your assigned hour to come back and ride the ride, but at least you get to do other rides while you wait. This really beats standing around in line doing nothing for an hour while you wait.

Some ride shots:









Noah was a little wary of Minnie - see how he was leaning away. We couldn't even catch a decent pic of him with Mickey here because he had his eyes locked on Minnie. She was just so excited to see him, so bouncy and affectionate...it really threw him off. I thought she was downright adorable, though, and named myself as one of her fans forevermore.



This photo op was the longest wait we endured for any ride the entire time. And still, it was only about 20 minutes long. The only other thing we waited that long for was the Dumbo ride.


Other highlights...

Just before the 3-D show Mickey's Philharmagic, which turned out to be a big mistake. Noah was still wounded from the previous 3D show at Animal Kingdom and would not even give this one a chance. He bawled and hit the floor to hide under my legs for the ENtire show.


Leave it to Mother Nature to show up anything Magic Kingdom had to offer. Check out the grin on Noah's face as Josh made a run for cover. This downpour started right after we did the Indy Speedway ride. Thank goodness we weren't stranded like many other people were in their race cars!


At the Dreams Come True Parade where Noah mastered his wave at any and every character and dancer that came by. This is also where we witnessed an unfriendly little squabble between two different parties beside us. So funny...and ridiculous.




We came back out to the park after dark to take in the SpectroMagic lights parade and the Wishes fireworks show.




The parade, honestly, was not unlike any other local lights parade, though the kiddies would not have that same critical eye. And we sat so close to the castle that we saw maybe only 25% of the fireworks. They just didn't go high enough to see over the building. So that was a lesson learned. And the mob scene/wait just to get out of the park and onto the monorail afterward REALLY convinced us to never bother with the night stuff again, unless we watched the fireworks from a Main Street location so as to get the heck out of there quicker. With the fireworks not starting until 9:00 and the psycho crowds all exiting at the same time and the HEAT still killing us long after the sun set, I was at my wit's end by the time we pulled into the condo at 10:45ish after an already long Magic Kingdom day. For us, it just wasn't worth the time and energy. ESPECIALLY since Noah covered his head under a jacket in my dad's lap for the entire fireworks show.



Still, we love you, Magic Kingdom! Josh is already planning for us to come again for one more overnight visit while we are with his family over the holidays.

Last stop - Epcot!