First Day of School Fall 2012

A few pictures of Davis' first day of school this fall!  I also took some of Noah's first day of school (the very next day but I can't seem to find them anywhere :(  I will keep searching.  He was precious and did great the first day!

 Davis and Gabriella (some of our best friends)...

 A little teacher's gift...

 We think we struck gold this year with both of our boys teachers this year!  And let me say that is SUCH a wonderful blessing!!!  This was a picture I took with my cell phone Noah's first day.   He always looks so cute in his car seat- perhaps because he has to be still!

A little steak-n-shake for a back-to-school treat!

Graduating 4 year old preschool- May 2012

Disney World in April

Our family had the opportunity to go to Disney World this last April!  My dad had a business conference in Orlando and we tagged along!  Overall it was a great trip!  We were slightly concerned our children were to young to fully enjoy the experience (epecially with the high cost associated with such a trip).  And perhaps they were to some extent but I'm still really thankful we went!  I really loved seeing the joy on their faces and delight in their eyes! 

One major downside of the trip was that Noah was pretty sick (high  fever & low energy) for the whole trip.  The fever could be controlled pretty well with Tylenol but lasted consistently for a week+.  We went to urgent care the first day we were there and received the worst examination in the history of medicine.  The nurse was so very unhelpful and obviously didn't want to be there.  We left with a diagnoses of the stomach flu and a prescription for Tamiflu.  We ended up taking him back to the doctor upon arriving home and we all agreed whatever he had was certainly not the stomach flu.  However, he kicked it soon there after and the rest is history.   The nice thing was that the fever could fairly easily be controlled with Tylenol and the low energy level made him really calm and passive.  He strolled around Disney world like a champ and still had a good time!

Davis was at a fairly fun age!  The first ride we went on was Peter Pan and both our kids cried.  It was dark and our kids didn't know the premise of the story at all (not sure how we failed them on that one but we have since read Peter Pan).  When we came out there was a man blowing bubbles and Davis said "I like this ride [chasing bubbles] much better than the other rides here."  Awesome.  We could have bought .55 cent bubbles at home but instead we came to Disney World!  

Fortunately, his view  quickly changed once we rode Dumbo.....

 He loved it!  And I think he rode it quite a few times!  Noah has never been much for rides- even in good health.  He did a lot of strolling and waiting.  And of course, Gigi and Grandaddy spoiled them with prizes.

Brotherly love....

 Sickly Noah...

I love this kids expressions though!

 It's as if he was trying to figure out if Woody the Cowboy really could come to life like the movies :)

 Davis rode on a lot of new "big boy"rides and LOVED them!!!!!  He is an adrenaline junkie!

Gigi, Grandaddy, and Davis headed to the Magic Kingdom's parade and firework show the first night.  MG and I stayed home with Noah in hopes that some down time and good rest would get him feeling better.  Davis loved the Magic Kingdom at night and still references that night!

Woody pretty much went everywhere with us this trip!

 We did a few character dinners/ lunches.  My boys weren't exactly "in" to the characters but they weren't afraid of them either.  Davis was very particular over which characters could sign his autograph book.

 We did Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios this trip (Matt and I had a date night in Epcot one night and ate at a delicious Mexican restaurant with the most beautiful view.  One of the highlights of the trip).

 Noah has always loved Daisy Duck for some reason!  He even kissed her on the beak :)

Hollywood studios was surprisingly one of our favorite parks!  It just thought it catered so well to little boys!  Mater and Lightening McQueen were a big highlight of the trip!  Davis was just sooo thrilled to see them in person!

Waiting for the parade at Hollywood Studios.  Our family loved the Toy Story Mania ride at HS too!  We rode it repeatedly and though fast passes are great, the waiting area for the ride is so entertaining and fun too!

We stayed at the Old Key West Resort inside the park and it was fabulous (thanks Dad)!  Having a condo was so nice and the shuttle buses/transportation to and from the park was a breeze!   We also spent a good amount of time at the pool!  It was a great trip and I look forward to going back when the kids are well into elementary school.  Though I will always be grateful for the opportunity to see Disney World through my children's eyes when they are young.  Thanks Gigi and Granddaddy for inviting us!  We had a great time!

A Simple Recap of the beginning of 2012...

January- February-

The beginning of the year was rather uneventful at our house- a nice change.  Noah started sleeping in a big boy bed!  He started climbing out of his crib numerous times and landing on his head- ouch!  I kept telling him that gravity wasn't really on his side but he didn't seem to listen :)  Also, though I didn't include pictures Noah had an awful skin condition on his facial cheeks (which started back in August).  It doesn't look bad below but trust me- it was bad enough to where his cheeks would get bright red and even would start bleeding.  :(  So sad.  We had started seeing a dermatologist in the fall but were getting little to no results.  We then started driving to Atlanta to see a pediatric dermatologist and have seen wonderful results with the extensive treatment.  It is virtually gone now- but I think most of the credit is due to the summer weather.  We will wait until fall rolls back around to see if it flares up again.  Right now, I'm just thankful for those cute healthy cheeks!

Davis' class had a class dog that went home with a different kid each weekend.  Below is Davis and Freddie enjoying a little trip in his truck.

Davis also got the Cars Wii game for Christmas and LOVED it!  He became quite good and often would beat his daddy and I by a long shot.  He liked to have his picture taken when he had a really high score!

March- April

March and April were filled with Baby Showers for my pregnant sister Jennifer and her little blessing on the way, Emery Frances!  It was so fun to celebrate and anticipate this little bundle of joy.  My sister had a wonderful,l healthy pregnancy and never complained once about the side effects that come with pregnancy.  She was a trooper and handled herself beautifully considering the roller coaster of emotions that accompanied this pregnancy since the loss of sweet Reese less than a year before.

We also started having more play dates with our friends and enjoying the outdoor weather! 

On Easter weekend we started another adventure.  We went camping in our new camper!  The boys were super excited about sleeping in bunk beds and really did quite well.  We went to Stone Mountain and saw the laser show, went on the duck boat ride (where Davis got to drive the boat), took the sky buckets to the top of the mountain, had smores using Easter peeps, and generally got in some good quality family time!  Matt had been working a lot of overtime due to a new position at the hospital and the quality time was much needed.  Fortunately the Easter bunny was able to find us and we got to teach the boys that no matter where go, the victory of Jesus rising from the grave can be celebrated anywhere and should be celebrated every single day.

(It was a fairly chilly on top of the mountain and the icy didn't help)!

(this will also forever be known as the the train ride where Noah through his toy train over the rails right as we departed- and was heart broken as we pulled away.  Fortunately, his daddy saved the day when we pulled back into the station and retrieved said toy).  I wish I could say he learned his lesson but he is a bit stubborn and I'm learning not to draw those type of conclusions too soon :)

Blowing bubbles...

We arrived home to go to Gigi & Grandaddy's house for an Easter dinner and egg hunt...

We also went to Disney World in April but that adventure deserves a completely separate post :)  To Be Continued....