10 Years!!

This year it was Matt's turn to plan our anniversary celebration (last year I planned a scuba diving day out- we take turns).  Originally Matt had planned to take me on a cruise for our 10 year anniversary, but the pregnancy put those plans on delay.  Matt planned for the girls to be picked up from school by our babysitter and he picked me up from work.  He whisked me away to the Ponte Vedra Country Club for a Spa session.  We had a soaking/sauna session, a couples massage and aromatherapy.  So nice.

Our spa room with massage tables

Love the matching robes

total relaxation

Last time I had a spa day was with my friends in Hawaii so it brought back really nice memories and was exactly what I needed.  Then we headed to the Country Club's restaurant for dinner which overlooked the beach.  When we got home, the girls had already been put to bed and it was time for some cuddling.  A great way to celebrate 10 years together!!

Parent Observation Night at Dance School

I got to watch Makaela's dance class one night. So cute!!  Considering I danced for so many years, it was so fun to watch Makaela learn.  Of course, I found myself wanting to correct her, but I was a good mom and refrained.

Makaela and her teacher

 

 

 

Sick Sick Sick

I took the Monday off after Thanksgiving to give Mia an extra day to get better.  Poor kid just wanted to lay on the couch and watch Dora all day long.  She napped on and off for a bit and while we were on the way to pick up Makaela, I snapped a shot of her in the car.  My little bug is so cute when she is sick.  Love her!!

Prepping for Christmas

My aunt Deb came to visit us the Friday after Thanksgiving.  She generously donated her 7ft prelighted because as she says, "Decorating trees are more fun with little kids" and right she is.  We usually buy real trees but with since we are going to be traveling this season, we thought fake was a pretty good alternative so we don't have to worry about coming home to a dead tree.  So my aunt loaded up all her Christmas decorations and drove the 8 hours down to FL.  We always love when Aunt Deb comes to visit and this time was no different other than the fact we were completely homebound.  Mia's fever was still hovering around 100-102 degrees, so our outings were not existent.  However, we had plenty of decorating and carols to keep us busy. 

Thanksgiving Fun

Our Thanksgiving started off on an interesting note.  Makaela woke us up at 3am with the stomach flu so for a few hours we were running around with carpet cleaner, extra pjs and antibacterial wipes.  Needless to say when it was time to finally wake up, we were all exhausted.  Makaela rested for most of the day, so Mia took over as my kitchen help.  

It was a bit weird having Thanksgiving with just the four of us.  We are used to having a massive feast with friends, but this year was very low key.  We still had a feast (I cooked entirely too much), but we did miss all our friends and family.

 By the end of the night, we were happy we didn't have a house full of people because poor Mia came down with a different type of bug.  Instead of the stomach flu, she ended the night with a 102 fever :-(

Craft Night

The ladies try to find new ways of getting together and one night a neighbor invited us over for craft night. I love crafts so I thought I would go.  It was lots of fun and after all was said and done, I came home with two sets of matching Christmas hair barrettes for the girls and a fun 2012 Christmas ornament- my pregnant snowmama.

You know...

You know your children are watching too much of The Voice when you witness this...

Portland!!

 I was so excited to meet up with Katie and Steph for the Association of Middle Level Educators conference which was in Portland Oregon this year.  I didn't know what to expect from Portland, but I loved the city. The public transportation is so easy to use, there are so many fun eateries (hands down, best soups ever!!) and breweries and it was so great to shop without having two little kids rushing you out of stores.  We pretty much lucked out with the weather too.  The forecast called for rain, but we didn't run into any of it.  The conference was interesting. The sessions were okay but the most valuable part of the conference was networking with professors and other educators.  I went to a very interesting session about publishing articles and it kind of kicked me in the butt to get moving with article writing again. And of course, going out after the conference was fabulous.  It was so nice to be back with Katie and Steph again! It's hard to believe a year ago, we had just finished watching Katie defend her dissertation and we were on our way towards graduation.  Now we are scattered all over the coasts.  There were a few times we wished we our families with us so we could see everyone, but these mommies really needed a bit of a break.

At a bar where we listened to jazz all night

Checking out Voodoo doughnuts after we ate our way Portland on our last night.  We were not disappointed.

Can't wait for another reunion.

MIa's Two!!

Two years have flown by and my little baby is no longer a little baby.  We didn't have a big birthday party for Mia this year because we decided to treat the girls to a weekend at Sea World and celebrate Mia's bday with Shamu. We did have some cupcakes and opened up gifts the night of her birthday and she loved every minute.  Now that the weather is changing, we needed to get Mia a supply of 2T winter clothes (didn't have too many passed down from Makaela since we didn't need them in Hawaii) and of course she loves Elmo and Sesame Street so she had to get some fun Sesame Street books and toys.



Terrible Twos

In the past month, our little Mia has grown leaps and bounds.  She is starting to talk a lot more.  Her new phrases are "I did it!" and "I'm stuck".   She is in love with our 8 month old neighbor and hugs baby Charlotte whenever she can.  Today she pointed at Charlotte and said, "I want that".  We all got a good laugh at that one since she may not be saying the same thing after Feb comes and she is no longer the baby. 

She wants to do everything her sister does and sometimes that gets her into a bit of trouble. She gets very insulted when Makaela goes out to play with the older kids on the block and Mia can't.  She also has a love/hate relationship with her big "sissy".  Here she is in a self induced "time out" after pulling a chunk of her sister's hair out.  She had been in time out twice that evening, so after this incident, I guess she figured out this was where she was going to end up...smart cookie.

Can't believe she is going to be 2 in a few short days!!

Mommy Daughter Redecorating

So I guess I am in my nesting phase because two weeks ago, I started making some redecorating plans.  Makaela got all jazzed with all the paint coming into the house and after watching us paint our bathroom she asked if we could "paint" her bathroom, so last Saturday, we stayed up until 11pm and painted polka dots all over her bathroom.  I did the outlines and she painted about 80% of them.  It was definitely an exercise in patience and there are a few imperfections, but Makaela is so proud of it, it made it all worth it and we definitely got some bonding time in.