Free Day in Tampa

Brandon and I spent the day after the wedding in Tampa.  James and Carrie were living there (they'd had their apartment for less than a week at that point) and had the day off, Sam and Tony weren't leaving until the following day, John was still around and the girls were playing happily at Gigi's house.  After cleaning up the house where we'd spent the weekend, it was a lazy day.  There was a lot of this:

And quite a bit of this:

We ended up heading over to James and Carrie's new place, then more or less repeated the process.  We spent a few hours there, just chillin'.  It felt really very good to do nothing for a while, after the traveling and the chaos.

I did get some pictures of Sam, Tony, James and John in the shirts that we'd made for them, which was really cool.  Carrie and I went for a walk, too.

There's a small lake in their new community, with a path leading to it.  She hadn't walked out there yet, so we were exploring.  The lake is quite pretty, with a playground and picnic area nearby.

That night, we went to a Greek restaurant called the Acropolis for appetizers and drinks.  As we were walking in, Brandon took the camera from me and took about a zillion pictures all at once.  He does that from time to time, because I sometimes complain about never being in any of the photos.  It's kind of a joke with us, at this point.  James's photo bomb made it even better.  :)

There was a German place a few doors down from the Acropolis, and the plan was to move down there for the main meal, but the food was so good, and we were having such a good time that we never left the Acropolis.  We discovered that they had hookahs, moved out to the porch, and camped.  We got there around 5, and didn't leave until after 10.  If it felt good to do nothing for a while, it felt even better to go out with my friends and be an adult.  Don't get me wrong, I love being a mother---but it was fantastic that I didn't have to be a mother for the night. I got quite tipsy, cursed a blue streak, and freely discussed things not suitable for a child's ears, safe in the knowledge that my children were well taken care of for the night.  Oh, it was wonderful.  We all had a good time that night, even if the guys (except for John, who was driving) did get a little obnoxious later.  

Everyone left the next day.  John went back to Gainesville, Sam and Tony went back to San Francisco, and Brandon and I drove back to Titusville.  All in all, it was a great weekend.  

Matt & Robin Tie the Knot

Has it really been a month and a half since my last post?  Good grief.  And now I have all of our trip to Florida to post.  Hm.  The wedding first, I think.

The whole trip was planned around Matt and Robin's wedding (and since we were going down anyway, there was no reason not to make it a full-blown visit).  Matt is someone that Brandon and I have both known  since forever, though they didn't get to be good friends until after high school.  We met Robin through Matt, and in the year or two since then, I've gotten to be friends with her, as well.  I even got to help her plan the wedding and make her jewelry, which I love.  Anyway, there was never any question about us going down for the wedding, especially since Brandon and Elora were both in the wedding party.

We drove down on February 28, a Thursday, and Brandon went over to Tampa (home base for all things wedding) that evening.  On Friday, they all got up and went paint-balling for the bachelor party, which I think is pretty cool.  They had to stop after only a few hours and take an extended break because John fell and dislocated his shoulder, and had to head to the ER to have it put black in place.  

Before and after.  Can you guess which is John?

I can't say that I precisely approved of all the bruises he ended up with, but they had fun.  Matt was in much worse shape.  At the end of their game, he had the dubious pleasure of playing open target to all of his groomsmen, and came away from the experience looking rather like a leopard.

Brandon's bruises were just as nasty, but he didn't have nearly as many of them.  Silly boys.

Anyway, I left the girls with Papa and Gigi and drove over to Tampa on Saturday, along with Kaitlin, the long-time girlfriend of another of the groomsmen.  We left Titusville around noon, but didn't end up making it to Tampa until about 5 o'clock.  We stopped for a late lunch, got caught in traffic on I-4, and then got stuck in the Plant City Strawberry Festival traffic when we tried to reroute.  We had a good time with it, and acquired a huge case of strawberries too.

When we got to the house we were all staying at, Sam was the only one around.  Carrie was at work, Tony was asleep, and the guys had all gone fishing.  Sam was busy putting together the flower arrangements for the wedding.

She and Robin had bought the burlap back in the fall, the last time that we'd all been in Florida, and had made the burlap flowers in the intervening time.  (If you're interested in how she did that, I'll soon be posting all about it on the craft blog.)  Paired as they were with the real flowers that they'd chosen, they looked incredible.  

I'm totally not surprised.  Sam did the flowers for her wedding as well, and they were nothing short of stunning.   This time, she did only the floral arrangements for the ceremony and the reception, while Robin made the ladies' bouquets.

The wedding took place on a converted farm in Lakeland, complete with a large loft for the use of the bride, a smaller room below for the guys, a reception hall with kitchen, and a gazebo with a seating area beyond for the ceremony.  It was perfect for an outdoor ceremony--except that it was unseasonably cold that day.  At it warmest, it only got up to about 58, and it was breezy and often overcast.  Everyone but Robin wore sweaters and jackets.

Staria and Jimmy brought the girls over to the house the morning of the wedding, then stayed there to get ready while I took the girls to the farm to get ready there.  Elora was the ring bearer princess.  She loved everything about it--the dress, the boots, the bit about being a princess--right up until the time for her to actually do it.  I'd forgotten, as I often do, that she doesn't like big groups of people that she doesn't know, and unfortunately, while she knew most of the guys in the wedding party, she didn't know any of the ladies.  She was shy and clingy that day, and had to be coaxed through all of it.  It took the threat of giving her job to Kaylie to even get her into the dress.  Carrie was a huge help in getting her ready.  It was talk of the baby in Carrie's tummy that finally got her to relax.

Kaylie was perfectly happy--so long as I was holding her.  Otherwise, she was every bit as fractious as her sister, and less easily diverted.  I finally had to call Brandon up to the loft where the ladies were getting ready to take her, just so I could finish Elora's hair, and get myself ready.  Even then, the bridal party had already gone to line up for the ceremony before I'd had a chance to put on my dress.  I got down there just as the procession began.  By that time, Staria and Jimmy had arrived, and Kaylie was with her Gigi, happily munching on a cake pop pilfered from the reception.

Poor Elora was still feeling overwhelmed and rather bewildered.  Rather than following several paces behind Ainsley, the flower girl, as she was supposed to, Elora simply walked beside her.  They stopped together at the beginning of the aisle, where Ainsley just stood in place and flung the flowers in front of her by the handful.  Everyone was telling her to keep going, to drop the petals as she went, but she stayed put until Matt came to get them, and Elora stayed with her.

  .Robin made her entrance with her father in a horse-drawn carriage, which drove in a circle all the way around us before stopping at the beginning of the aisle.  

She looked so lovely, and so incredibly happy!  

And of course her jewelry was awesome.  :)

The ceremony itself was beautiful.

Unfortunately, Kaylie decided to pitch another fit about halfway through, and I wasn't able to get any more pictures, but I think this one captures it pretty well.  :)  Actually, I didn't take many more pictures at all that day.  I stayed pretty busy, even after Staria and Jimmy left to take the girls back to Titusville.  I did get this one of the serving staff, who were almost comically glum:

And this one, of the guys all chatting outside toward the end of the reception:

Do guys "chat"?  Whatever.  That's enough for one post, I think.  :)

Miss Kaylie, the Big Girl

Kaylie may be the baby of the family, but she isn't much of a baby any more.  She's growing like a weed!  There are a few 18m things that she can wear, but she's mostly into 24m and 2T clothes, and size 6 shoes, if you can believe it.  If she keeps going at this rate, she'll be into 3T by the fall!  

She's getting better at communicating, too.  It had seemed for a long time that she had stagnated and even regressed some in her speech development.   She's very verbal, but most of what she says is unintelligible babble, and when she wanted something, she would just grunt and point. Elora has always been so precocious in this area, that it makes Kaylie's more gradual progress seem even more so.  Now, she's started coming to get us when she wants something, and leading us by the hand to what she wants.  She still does a lot of grunting and pointing, but she's using more words now, too. She now says "Mama" and "Daddy" quite clearly, and says "Papa" and "Gigi" pretty well too.  She says "doh" for no, "dow" for down, "pwee" for please, and "dan oo" for thank you. "Yay" is an easy one, and one that she's been using a lot lately, because she's also potty training!

We're still in the early stages, but she's doing really very well with it.  I've been putting her on the little princess potty for a while now, but it's become obvious that the concept has really clicked for her.  She often wakes up with a (mostly) dry diaper in the mornings, and we've gotten to the point that she only actually needs 2 or 3 new diapers in the course of the day.  And a couple of times, she's even come to get me and pulled me with her to the bathroom!  She has her own potty chart, and gets a sticker everytime she sits on the potty, whether she actually uses it or not, and of course, we make a huge deal about it when she does.  It'll be a while before she's ready for pull up pants, but we are definitely off to a good start.

Kaylie has also graduated from the crib to a toddler bed.  I had hoped to keep her in the crib a while longer, but she put paid to that idea when she figured out how to climb out on her own, and fell on her head.  The discomfort of the experience may have been enough to deter her from trying it again, but I didn't really want to test that theory.    She's now sleeping in what was Elora's toddler bed, because it is lower to the ground and has the rails to keep her from rolling out.

Elora has the crib-turned-day bed now, which is the same size as the other but is a few inches higher, and has no rails.  Both girls seem to be perfectly happy with the arrangement.

The crib rail is now a hanging rack for their dress up clothes, which is great, because the bins were over-flowing.  Now the dresses and skirts, and leotards can hang, while the accessories can live in the bins.

And, while Kaylie isn't quite two yet, we're already getting into those "terrible two's".  She has definite opinions about what she wants, and isn't even remotely shy about letting her wishes be known.  (You should see her scolding Elora, scowling and shaking her finger at her in agitation.  I'm trying to discourage this, but it's hard to do when I'm also trying not to laugh.)  She's become quite proficient in the art of the temper tantrum already, banging her head on the floor when angry and displaying an impressive lung capacity.  All you have to do is tell her "no", and she falls to the floor, sobbing as if heart broken and/or screaming as if dying in agony.  I have a hard time telling the difference between her "I'm just mad" cry and her "I'm actually hurt" cry.  And I thought Elora was dramatic!  Although, in all fairness, it may just be that time has fuzzed my memories of Elora's tantrums, while Kaylie's are more immediate.

So Far This Year

If I had to name the girls' favorite Christmas gifts, I'd have to say the princess dresses that they got from "Santa".  They spend as much time as possible playing dress up, and if at all possible, in those dresses.  

Dress up can be combined with pretty much anything--which is why they spend so much time in the laundry. Santa was a smart fellow.  Rather than the flimsy costume dresses, he chose nightgown dresses and they are much more durable.  This is a very, very good thing.  Now, if only he'd had the fore sight to get duplicates...

We've also spent some time playing with Aunt Bekah and little James, who isn't so little anymore.  He's almost as big as Kaylie--they now wear the same diaper size, and the same shoe size.  We haven't spent as much time with as we usually do, though, because I am now working part time at JoAnn's.  

It was a decision prompted mainly by two things.  The first was a desire to contribute to our family's finances, to give us a bit more wiggle room.  The second was for my mental stability.

Really, that's overstating it, but I was definitely stagnating.  Going back to work has helped to revitalize me, to get me moving.  It's a simple thing, really, but it has been so good for me to get out and interact with other adults, and to do something that I know I'm good at.  And moreover, I have to keep doing it, for as long as I want to keep the job.  If I'm feeling all "meh", I can't just not go, and that's a good thing. 

We're all still adjusting to the change.  I'm working evenings and weekends, when Brandon is home, so the girls aren't going to a babysitter.  They gave me way too many hours at first--my first weekend I had back-to-back shifts, closing Saturday and then opening (7am!) Sunday.  I didn't even realize that I'd need to work the following morning until I was gettting my stuff together to go home Saturday night, and I kind of freaked out a bit when I realized that after not seeing my girls all night, I wasn't going to get to see them the next morning, either.  Now the schedule has been straightened out, and I'm working right around 20 hours a week, with no back-to-back shifts, and it's a lot better.  

I was supposed to work last Friday evening, but they called that afternoon to tell me that I didn't need to come in, because it had been so slow.  It worked out really well, because we ended up getting 3 inches of snow that evening and I was only too happy that I didn't need to go out in it.  And, since I was home, I got to go out and play in the snow with Brandon and the kids.

Now, dealing with snow is not exactly my favorite thing.  I'd normally rate it somewhere in the vicinity of getting a cavity filled, on the scale of things I'd like to do.  But, it was the only real snow we've gotten all winter, it didn't last long, and it was the perfect opportunity to play and the girls loved it.  

There's more (apparently, January has been an eventful month) but I think this is enough for now.  For one thing, I don't have pictures for any of the other stuff, and for another, well, it's 10:30 and I still haven't packed Bran's lunch for tomorrow.  :)  Goodnight!

Christmas 2012

Brandon's parents came up to spend Christmas with us this year, since we didn't go down to Florida.  I certainly missed seeing all of the people I normally see when I'm there, but I've got to tell you, it was really nice to be able to just relax and enjoy the holiday at home.  

We took the girls to the little neighborhood playground on a nice afternoon a few days before Christmas.  Naturally, it provided lots of opportunity for taking pictures, and I took full advantage--but this time, I was working in full manual.  I've decided it's high time that I really learn how to use this camera, but as you can see, I haven't got it quite right.  Oh well, practice, practice, practice, right?

Elora got this doll from Gigi for Christmas two years ago, but hasn't really played with her much until this year.  Her name is Dolly Francis, and it was an absolute must that she accompany us to the playground that day.  They dressed Dolly in her warmest outfit, so she wouldn't be cold, and then Elora took her all over that playground. The best was the teeter totter.

On Christmas Eve, Elora and I made chocolate chip cookies (Elora's choice) for Santa.  She helped me with every bit of it that didn't involve the oven, and was so proud of her contribution.  And if she licked her finger after every cookie she dropped onto the tray, well, I can't say that I blame her.  (Besides, I doubt that any germs survived baking.)  

It was almost bed time, so Gigi read The Night Before Christmas and the Story of Christmas to them between batches.  Then we set out a plate with cookies and milk for Santa, and tucked the girls into bed.  

It took Elora a while to settle down and go to sleep, naturally, but once I was sure she was asleep, I pulled out all the gifts and got everything set up for the next morning.  I'd had to keep them all hidden, because Kaylie would unwrap any presents that I tried to out ahead of time, but it made for an impressive transformation.  The unwrapped gifts on the hearth were the only ones from "Santa", the rest are all to and from the family.

When Elora woke up the next morning, she'd forgotten that it was Christmas--which was good, because Brandon and Kaylie were still asleep.  We kept her distracted in the den, away from the tree and gifts, so that she wouldn't remember until we were ready.  

When we were all awake, we "remembered" that it was Christmas, and went to see what Santa had brought.  "He" left a thank-you note for the cookies, as well as their gifts.  They each got and a book, a princess doll and matching dress, and Elora got matching undies too.

They were all a big hit!  We spent a good hour just playing with the things from Santa before we moved on to the mountain under the tree.  When we were all done, and after I had started cleaning up, this is what the living room looked like:

My children might be a wee bit spoiled, but don't tell anyone, please.  We spent the rest of the day enjoying our gifts, and one another's company.  We watched our new movies (see Cinderella on the TV, above?), read the new books, and erupted the new volcano.

We finished the day with a delicious dinner of salad and snow crab and twice baked potatoes, and it was wonderful.  I think we'll be doing it this way from now on, and plan to visit Florida during the summer or something.  Hopefully, next year, Mom and Wade or my dad can come have Christmas with us!  We'll just rotate.  :)

I hope everyone else had a great Christmas, too!  Happy New Year!

Visit to Santa

In addition to choosing and trimming our tree, we also took the girls to see Santa this weekend.

  We made it a surprise until we actually got there, and then when she saw who was sitting in front of the giant Christmas tree, she said "I'm going to get to see Santa?!" and was gratifyingly excited.  Even more gratifying, was that she stayed happy and excited after meeting Santa.  She was a bit shy, but she was smiling!!  Kaylie, on the other hand, was just along for the ride, and perfectly happy to be there until we actually put her on Santa's knee.  Then, well, you see.

And, for comparison, here are the photos from the last three years.

It's interesting to see all these side-by-side.  I hardly remember Elora as an infant!  And they've both gotten so big.  Especially Kaylie.  She's as big now as Elora was last Christmas!  Oh, what am I going to do with those babbies?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

For the past several years, we've gone to Florida for Christmas, so we haven't bothered getting a Christmas tree of our own.  This year, though, we're staying home for Christmas and starting some of our own traditions.  

We went this past Saturday to pick out our tree and the girls had a blast running around, playing tag among all the trees.  There wasn't anyone else there, so I let them have at it (while I snapped away with the camera, of course).  The tree we chose was on the smaller side, since the "tree corner" by the fireplace isn't all that large, and we haven't accumulated all that many ornaments yet, anyway.

When we got it back to the house, Brandon set about getting it put into the stand outside and I worked at getting that corner cleared out.  The girls took advantage of the opportunity to play in the leaves out front--which still need to be raked up, by the way.

We ended up waiting until Sunday to do anything more than the lights and garland.  I coordinated the actual decorating, while Brandon ran back up and took pictures--which was completely fine with me!  Elora did really well, even with the more fragile ornaments.  (She dropped and broke the first one she tried to hang, but evidently learned her lesson and was very careful with them after that.)  It was obvious that she was loving every minute of it, and was exceptionally proud of herself.  

Kaylie on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the "safe" ornaments we gave her, once we broke out the glass "filler" ornaments.  We kept having to chase her away from them, and every time we took one away , it just broke her little heart.  She just wanted to help, like Elora!

Finally, we just put it all away until after the girls went to bed, and I finished up the tree and put out the rest of the decorations on my own--but not before using the timer on the camera to take a few family photos by the newly-decorated tree and the stockings over the lit fireplace.

Oh, I love Christmas!