It's hard to believe that Gabe joined our family two weeks ago -- part of me feels like he's been here forever and the other part can't believe these two weeks have flown by so quickly!
Thankfully, the transition has gone extremely smooth thus far... Gabe is such a happy and easy going little guy, big brother can't get enough of him, and having Brandon around to help where needed has been a huge blessing. But alas, my maternity leave ends today (meaning I have to take the Mac to the comfy chair in Jax's playroom to write) and Brandon goes back to work on Sunday, so prayers for another somewhat easy transition would be greatly appreciated!
Here are a few lot of pictures and memories from these last two weeks:
If I am being completely honest, our first day home was a complete mess... Besides being overly tired and having crazy postpartum hormones (I lost count of the number of times I cried over nothing that day -- seriously, I cried because we were leaving the hospital that I couldn't wait to get out of; cried because my parents were going home; cried because Jax suddenly seemed so much bigger than he did 36 hours earlier; cried because my baby was already 36 hours old, etc.), Jackson was throwing tantrums and freaking out over every little thing, which we worried was because of the new baby. Fortunately, after a good nap, he was back to his sweet old self and has been obsessed with his brother ever since.
One of the things that Brandon and I have strived our hardest to do is to keep everything as "normal" as possible for Jax. Even though there is a new baby, we still do everything the same as before (baseball 24/7, play dates, bedtime routine, etc.) and I think it has helped him see that even though he has a new brother, our love for him hasn't changed at all and that being a family of four is even more fun!
Nap time during Finding Nemo :) I will forever treasure these sweet moments!
We had a very busy first week home!
On Sunday (the day after our hospital release), we went to church and ran errands.
Monday we took the boys to the library to play and check out books.
Tuesday we went to Gabe's four day checkup (pictured), Christmas shopped, and had lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant.
Wednesday we took the boys to open gym at the rec center.
We played in the backyard and did yard work on Thursday.
On Friday worked around the house and had my parents and brother stay the night.
Whew!
Jackson seriously dotes over his brother!! He is constantly wanting to hold him, is always giving him kisses, wants to rock him to sleep with me every night, copies everything he does (which he thinks is hilarious), and loves to cuddle and play with him. Gabe is very lucky to have such a fun older brother!
My twins: Born (almost) three years apart! (Both are four days old in these pictures and are wearing the same jammies -- Gabe is on the right.)
While daddy and Jackson raked leaves, Gabe and I supervised.
One of Jackson's buddies turned two last week so we went to his birthday party on Sunday! (Gabe's first ever party.)
Trying to get a group picture before trick or treating with friends -- it was like herding cats!
After arriving home from our Halloween festivities, I started getting really congested and had a sore throat... luckily, my cold only lasted a good 36 hours and I had this handsome little guy to keep me company at 4 am and watch reruns of Fixer Upper on Netflix.
Go figure... the day after Halloween, Jax woke up with a cough and Gabe was (and still is) super congested... the three of us had a sleepover on the sofa bed on both Tuesday and Wednesday night!
My poor sick and sleepy boys :(
This morning we are having Gabe's newborn pictures taken and then my mom is coming on Sunday to stay for a few days and help with the boys! (We are so excited to not only spend more time with her, but do lots of Christmas shopping too! It'll be both baby AND grammy's first trip to Ikea -- or I-tee-a, as Jax calls it.) Here's to another fun and memorable week with our boys!
A few months ago, I was laying around dreaming of future vacations and remembered how much fun my mom and I had when we went to Vegas in 2013 when I was pregnant with Jackson... after shooting her a quick text, we had a weekend decided and booked our plane tickets the next week. Once again we had the BEST time in Vegas and had a blast eating our hearts out, seeing shows, and shopping until we dropped. Here is a quick picture recap of our "Annie's pregnant again so let's go to Vegas to eat a bunch of food and see some shows" trip:
Since the buffet at Paris is our favorite place to eat, we decided to go ahead and give them and their rooms a try -- absolutely GORGEOUS and the beds were super comfortable! (Since our flight arrived at 7 am, we shopped a bit, grabbed breakfast, checked in at 10 am, and basically spent the rest of the morning and afternoon sleeping and relaxing in our lovely room.)
I think I've explained it before, but ever since visiting in 2011, we have always taken a picture with this statue at Harrah's for my Aunt Judy -- since there were no nice looking employees around to take our picture, this awkward selfie (of me -- mom looks cute!) had to suffice.
First night = Menopause the Musical!
The most important part of the trip: the food.
We spent practically all of Day 2 shopping, so I didn't feel so bad eating my weight in rich foods.
Second Night = Paul Zerdin (the ventriloquist who won last season's America's Got Talent.)
Before retiring to our room, sharing a sandwich, watching Dateline, and doing foot rubs, we did a little more shopping and chocolate tasting at the divine Hexx.
Since Brandon has Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays off, we took advantage and flew out early Thursday morning and came back Saturday afternoon. The trip was way too short (as vacations tend to be) but we had such a fun and memorable time that I will treasure forever!
Can't wait to do it again when we're expecting Baby #3 ;)
(Yes, I do realize that Christmas Day was Friday, but technically it's still the Christmas season, so I'll continue to say it!)
Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful day filled with good tidings, good food, and good company -- we sure did! As I have stated in years past, Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the entire year... I love the anticipation, the standing room only church services, visiting with family, wearing crowns, staying the night at my aunt's house, opening stockings, eating way too many finger foods, and bawling like a baby at the end of "It's a Wonderful Life." This Christmas Eve certainly did not disappoint!
Jackson with his Grammy (left) and Great Aunt Nancy.
Christmas doesn't begin until the poppers have been popped and the crowns are being worn!
Since 2009, my Aunt Nancy and I have taken our traditional Christmas Eve crown pic!
We were all extremely blessed this Christmas Eve -- between the beautiful message at church, homemade meatballs & prosciutto pinwheels for dinner, stocking stuffers, and lots of laughter, it was the perfect evening!
This year, my parents stayed at a nearby hotel Christmas Eve night, and when they arrived back early the next morning, we began the traditional Christmas festivities: breakfast (this year I made these sticky buns), gifts, naps, dinner (prime rib this year -- so good!), and lots of relaxing/visiting.
Santa surprised Jax with an easel and a new art set!
Jax wasn't feeling very well the entire time we were there and messed with his teeth/threw up once... LOTS more on that tomorrow.
Cheers!
I am so sad to see this time of the year coming to a close, but am so looking forward to another (hopefully) awesome year! I hope that you and yours all had a wonderful Christmas! I will be back here tomorrow to tell you about our second day of Christmas...
I CANNOT believe that it's been more than a month since we returned home from our magical Disney World vacation!
I also CANNOT believe that it's taken me this long to get a post together! I guess I can chalk this up to life happening while I made other plans? Anyway, there is SO much I want to say/write down/remember about our perfect trip and I'm not sure how to do it, so I figure I'll just go day by day and post correlating pictures.
Cool?
Cool.
We left for the airport early Thursday morning and made it in plenty of time for our 6:30am flight (yuck). As I expected, Jackson slept almost the entire flight, which meant that both Brandon and I got some much needed rest as well. Upon arriving, Brandon's cousin James (who works for Disney) picked us up at the airport, took us to our resort, ran us to Walmart to pick up a few groceries, and then left us at the condo to get settled in/kick back a bit. Later that evening, James and his roommate, Josh, picked us up and took us to dinner at B.J.'s Brewhouse, which was delicious! We were all exhausted after our yummy dinner and decided to turn in early before our first day at Disney.
Fake smiles at 4:30am :/
Napping on the most uncomfortable plane EVER -- we've always flown with Frontier, but after all their cutbacks, we've decided to spend the extra money to fly with a different airline (which will average out to be about the same price in the end since they'll have already included bag, seat, etc.). End of rant.
We sat next to the sweetest lady who was more than happy to accommodate Jax's need to look out the window :)
We were able to get checked in right away at Wyndham Bonnet Creek (which was an unexpected surprise), but when we arrived to the room, it still wasn't fully cleaned and maintenance hadn't been in yet to do their final inspection... anyway, the resort manager sent up an apology basket, which was nice, but I still have some not-so-nice things to say about Wyndham (more on that below).
Watching the Pope via our borrowed stroller.
On Friday morning, Brandon made a big breakfast before we jetted off to Disney Studios with James! The four of us had an absolute blast, but holy moly was it humid!!! As always, my favorite ride was the Great Movie Ride, Brandon's was the Rock n' Rollercoaster (which is actually pretty epic), and Jax's was the giant Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playset.
One of my favorite parts of the day was when I had alone with just Jackson -- when Brandon and James rode Rock n' Rollercoaster, Jax and I got ice cream (which Jax was nice enough to share with Brandon when I got on the ride with James :D); when the guys went to ride Star Wars (twice), Jax and I rode the Great Movie Ride (again) and took in the Muppets 3D show. I know that I spend all day, every day with Jackson, but it was special to spend some one-on-one time with him at such a magical place!
Since my parents and brother flew in earlier that afternoon, we started heading back to the resort at around 5 and made a pizza dinner for everyone.
Surrounded by three good looking guys!
He could have spent all day on this slide.
I felt no guilt over the foods I ate that day.
Saturday was Animal Kingdom day! Once again, the weather was miserably humid, but we had so much fun with James, Josh, and my family. Since James works for Disney and his roommate goes all time, they were able to show us all the ins and outs so that we didn't wait in line for anything!
A few of us rode Expedition Everest, Jackson played at the play area, we took in shows, enjoyed lunch together, and adventured through the safari before calling it a day. That night, our gang (minus James and Josh) ventured out for dinner and a little shopping before it was time to crash.
Brave Everest explorers!
Dad wasn't ready for the selfie.
Deciding what kind of ice cream to get at Steak and Shake.
This Cookie Butter Milkshake was the greatest thing I've ever tasted.
Sunday was Epcot and after a big fiasco with parking, we all headed into the park. Our first stop was Spaceship Earth -- coolest. ride. ever. I am EXTREMELY claustrophobic, so I figured it'd be a small, confining ride and had never tried riding it before, but it wasn't like that at all; in fact, traveling back in time was the perfect way to begin our day! From there, the gang headed to Soarin' while Jackson and I "swam" with Nemo and rubbed elbows with several big Disney stars! Since James and Josh had tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, they left early in the day, which is when the rest of us began walking the World Showcase.
After lunch and grapefruit beers in Germany, a show in America (where Jackson leaked out of his diaper and got the both of us soaked), and a little shopping in Great Britain, we grabbed the tram back to the van. About halfway through the parking lot was when we experienced the biggest torrential downpour I have ever seen, which resulted in all of us getting soaked on the walk run to the van. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard! Once everyone was dried off, Brandon and my parents went to pick up Popeye's and make a quick Target run while my brother, Jackson, and I stayed back to watch the Broncos and get some work done.
My little navigator :)
This kid sure loves Mickey!
He wasn't too sure about Goofy, though...
He's out!
Our final full-day in Florida was saved for the most magical park of them all: Magic Kingdom. We once again hobnobbed with several Disney stars, took lots of pictures, rode several rides, watched the 3:00 Parade, and overall just enjoyed our last day at the Happiest Place on Earth.
Not even two and already embarrassed of his parents...
Jackson's BFF, Grandpa Tony.
When Brandon, James, Joey (my brother), and I rode Splash Mountain, my parents took Jackson on the train!
On Magic Kingdom day, we wear Disney shirts.
Jackson's first trip to Disney World was truly perfect and I'm so glad we were able to take him this year!! I know that this vacation won't be one that he'll remember, but we'll always have the pictures to show him and the special memories in our own hearts.
Now, onto why I'm not a fan of Wyndham...
My parents have been Wyndham owners since 2000-ish and it is INSANE how badly they get treated by this company. I seriously had to laugh when we checked in, found our room messy, and were sent the basket because they were obviously wining and dining us to get us to become members.
Since booking our rooms in the early spring, we'd kept in contact with Wyndham Bonnet Creek to make sure we'd be next door (or at the very least on the same floor) as my family -- when my parents checked in Friday afternoon, they were given a hard time by the front desk, who said they'd have to wait at least an hour for their "special request." Okay, whatever; as long as we'd be on the same floor, it didn't matter. My family waited 3 HOURS for their room to finally be ready, and it wasn't even on the correct floor! Seriously? No apologies, no gift basket, no nothing for my parents, because they're already owners and already pay them buku bucks to stay.
Between that, our room keys not working at the end of each day (even though they were nowhere close to our phones or wallets), and the constant harassment, we'd had it. Fortunately, my parents have found a way out of this company and I highly, highly encourage everyone to stay as far away as they can from Wyndham.
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