Disney: Day 1

The big Disney trip was last week. It was such a fabulous vacation with tons of great memories.

We started off bright and early and woke the boys up before the sun came up. They knew we were going to Disney, but they were going to be surprised as to when. It took a few minutes to wake up, but they were squealing with excitement pretty quickly. Here's the first picture of the trip bundled up on the shuttle bus at the airport.

They looked too cute carrying their Lightening suitcases in the airport.

We took the Magical Express to our resort and were quickly off to our first park, Hollywood Studios. B was just a wee bit excited.

Lawson had his first character greeting with Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and we watched Disney Junior Live.

Briley and Daddy headed off to pick up fast passes for the Tower of Terror, while Lawson and I got seats for the Pixar Pals parade.

If you don't know, Lawson is obsessed with Toy Story, and more specifically Jesse. If he marries a red head, I won't be surprised. When he saw Jesse in the parade, it was like a little girl seeing Justin Beiber. You should have seen him! He was smiling ear to ear, jumping, and hand his little hands balled up under his chin. Jesse saw him and stopped dancing to come give him a big kiss. It was by far the best moment of the trip. We could have packed up and gone home after that!

Next, we headed off to B's first ride... Tower of Terror. He kept asking if I would scream and said he wouldn't. Well after the ride, I asked if he screamed, and he said "I didn't scream, I cried!" We had a Fantasmic dinner package that night, so we went to see the Fantasmic show. It was great!

Between the boys doing so well on the plane ride to the parade and Tower of Terror and the show, it was the perfect start to our trip.

He's Growing Up

I think Nick likes torturing me. He keeps suggesting things to make Lawson grow up a little quicker. It's hard watching your baby grow up. This weekend he decided to get Lawson's full size mattress. Here's the little guy waiting for Daddy to bring it home.

He was so excited for a big bed and went straight to sleep. I had to sneak in that night for a few quick pictures. Of course it was the night when I was too tired to put on cute matching pj's. Nick hasn't seen these, but when I told him that I took some, his response was "Of course you did." He'll be thankful for my camera toting ways one day ;)

He has B's old bedding for now. Since this wasn't planned, I haven't even thought about a new big boy room. Do you see the book on his pillow? We read books before naps and bedtime, and he insists on sleeping with the book that we read. The bed has also been a source of entertainment for the boys. It's taller than B's bed, so they are having fun climbing underneath it. And jumping on it of course. We don't have a no jumping on the bed rule. We're cool like that.

Quirky Little Fellow

Lawson's little personality has been growing and growing lately. Just like his brother, he has always been very outgoing and outspoken. But on the other hand, he's a quiet observer. Lately he's developed a few little habits that have me cracking up on a daily basis. So I thought I'd do a post on all of the quirky habits of our little bit.

1. Toe Jam

By far the funniest and my favorite. Lawson has to take his shoes and socks of constantly to pick out the little fuzzies between his toes. He'll start saying "Uh oh! Sometins happinin' I gotta get my toe jam." He then pulls each and every toe apart to pick the teeny fuzzies. If you offer him your foot, he'll pick your toe jam too. However, don't let him get sand between his toes, because it sends him into full toe jam panic mode.
2. Rain Boots

This is a new one. He just discovered a new (well new to him) pair of rain boots. He's insisted on wearing them everywhere, even in the house although he knows to take shoes off when he comes inside. You'll often find the little guy without his underroos, but on this very day, he managed to loose the underwear yet keep the boots.
3. Climbing

I swear he's part monkey! He climbs on anything that he can find. The pillows are constantly pulled off of the playroom couches because he likes to build mountains to jump on. He never stands by the train table when he plays, he must always sit on it. And he can climb higher on the playground ropes than his big brother.
4. Flower Beds

Where's Lawson? The kid is ALWAYS in a flowerbed or a pile of mulch. I really think he thinks that flowerbeds are sidewalks. When we go shopping, strip malls, restaurants, etc, he always ends up in the flowerbeds. If I can't find him at home??? Look in the flower bed. The other day, we ate lunch outside, and he ate his hotdog behind a bush in the flowerbed.

He loves his big brother/best friend Bri Bri more then I ever thought possible. He's a die hard Momma's Boy. He's as sweet as can be to his friends. He's the cutest little almost 3 year old that I can imagine, and I'm so proud to call him mine.

I think we'll have to do one of these on Briley next!

The Brewmeister

If I don't update the blog often enough, I get a phone call or email from Nick's mom. I feel one of those coming, so I figured I needed to upload some pictures. So, Debbie this is what your son has been up to :)

We have several friends that brew their own beer, and Nick has now joined the club. I got him his first kit for Christmas. He brewed it several weeks ago, and he has a few weeks left until it's finished.

I love his concentration face, and I REALLY love his outfit. Ha! I don't love the mess that he leaves when he's finished.

Preparing for DW

Ok, you know how I said that I am the most excited person in the house for our Disney trip? Well, I have 2 little boys who are ready too!

B has pulled out his toy airplanes and packed a toy suitcase for him and Lawson. They spent an afternoon playing with all of the toys that were packed.

Valentine's Day

I had high hopes for some really cute stuff on Valentine's Day, but I never put them in action. About the closest I got was pinning them on my Love Month pinboard. But... in my defense, we are in high exercise/eat healthy mode around here, and I didn't want too much temptation with all of the sweets I'm trying to avoid. So that means we didn't even have our annual heart shaped cake cookies. Bad mommy, I know.

But in my defense, I did make the day super special for the boys. When I was little, Valentine's Day was my dad's holiday. He was in charge of cards, gifts, and candy. So I'm continuing with the tradition with my boys, and their Valentine's gifts are from me. So they woke up to a bag of goodies.

B got a few new Ninjago men.

Lawson finally got his Jesse and Finn McMissile.

I never liked the pressure of doing some super romantic thing or giving some super romantic gift, so Nick and I don't make the holiday too big either. We go on a date sometime around then, and then Nick gives me Dinstuhl's chocolate covered strawberries. Last year was my first year in 8 years without them. Nick found another place here to try, but they just didn't compare. Sooo....

he had them shipped to me on Valentine's straight from Memphis! I did hint last year that it can be done, and he did complain that shipping cost more than the strawberries, but my oh my are they worth it! If you are in Memphis and haven't had these, you must try them! They are so worth the 3000 or so calories I consumed that day, which made me really glad I avoided all of the other treats I could have made! I finished the night off with a yummy scallop, mussel, asparagus, and roasted potato dinner. It was a good day!

My Birthday Present

We've had this wall in the living room that is huge and bare, and it has intimidated me since we moved. So I haven't even tried to do something with it, and the living room has always looked incomplete. Until now!

Along with a million other people, I waste hours at night on Pinterest and got inspired to redo a piece of furniture. I've been trying to mix some old with new in this house, and I figured this would be a good wall to try out my distressing/refinishing skills.

Sooooo.... while the boys and I were in Memphis last month, I had Nick pick up an old china cabinet at an antique shop near our house.

I forgot to take a true before picture, but there was a door in the middle that we removed. And I had started sanding in this before pic. I had a hard time picking a paint color, and I think we went a little overboard on the distressing, but overall I'm really happy with it. Here are the details:

But I LOVE the way it looks on that wall!

I haven't put much on the shelves. And if you're wondering about the random barnwood on each side, it's another project we have in store. Nick wanted to go ahead and hang it, and I figured I'd decide what to do with them once I saw them on the wall. However, they are kinda growing on me just like this, so who knows when that project will get finished!