Busy non-stop Saturday

We are gearing up for our trip to Orlando that begins tomorrow, so today was all about cleaning, doing laundry, packing and taking care of last minute items. We are heading south & looking forward to several days at Saratoga Springs Disney Resort (compliments of Grannie & Poppie and their Disney vacation membership). I know it will be wonderful and I can't wait to relax with both of my boys. We don't have a set agenda (or I would not be relaxing), but we do know that we will be hitting Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and hopefully Epcot (for at least part of each day), and then be hitting the pool for other parts of the day. Thanks to the support Disney gives to the military, Brian gets his 5 day ticket for FREE and mine only costs $99 (Thomas is still FREE also)! Yeppiee! We also have dinner reservations at a few choice restaurants in Downtown Disney & our resort... so good eats for sure!

Anyway - not sure if I will be doing any blogging while we are gone, although Brian is bringing his laptop. But you all know that I will be the Kodak Kween (ooops, I mean Queen), so no worries, you will certainly see pictures when we get back at the end of the week. Enjoy your week!

Furry Neighbors

As Brian and I were getting ready to jump in bed, we heard Ziggy barking like crazy out back and running back & forth along the fence line. We poked our heads outside to see what was up, but didn't see anything obvious... that was until we walked closer to the fence and noticed we had some new furry neighbors. See below:

Isn't that hilarious? There was actually about 5 racoons climbing and hanging out in the trees next door and they were basically playing "peek-a-boo" every time we shined the flashlight on them. The eyes glowing in the camera's flash is so funny, but Ziggy definately wanted a piece of them. Oh well... you don't get to pick your neighbors... as long as they don't get into my trash can, they can stay.

Slow Rolling Thursday

It sounded like a good idea this morning when I got up - let's hang at the house and just lounge around the house in our 'jammies for the morning. Huh... no... not that great of an idea! After a few hours, Thomas was already bouncing off the walls (& bouncing off of me) which just wore me out. If you are not aware of this, a 2-year old toddler BOY is nonstop action & energy. It is so hard to keep up with him as pregnant as I am. By lunch time, I felt like a mach truck had hit me and run over me 3 times. Needless to say, I napped at the same time that Thomas did today. After nap time, we headed over to Grannie & Poppie's house to swim in the pool and then went out for pizza once Daddy got home from work!

Thankful Thursdays

In the spirit of some of my blogging buddies, I am implementing "Thankful Thursdays" where I can remind myself what I am so thankful for (especially this week):

1) Due to my pregnancy & the fact that it is harder & harder to get a good night sleep - I am ohh so very thankful for my "Snooggle" (it is a U-shaped body pillow) that just swallows me and conforms to my big preggo curves!

2) My husband being home - although I'm used to the military lifestyle of TDYs and deployments, it is never easy. I'm so thankful he is home and can see us everyday. Although the next deployment is on the horizon, we are living everyday for now.

3) My one cup of coffee each morning (my limited caffeine each day) that has yummy Coffeemate Hazelnut - it helps get the day going on the right foot!

Getting him some Daddy time

While I was prepping dinner tonight, Thomas & Daddy were snuggling while watching a little TV. Thomas was laying on him, kissing him and giving him lots of squeezes! I just melt when I see them together!

"Hop, Hop, Hop"

When you ask Thomas what a Bunny Rabbit does, he will tell you, "Hop, Hop, Hop"! Just about every night involves a quick walk to the end of the circle looking for bunnies and seeing if they are eating dinner. Usually, we see one or two and Thomas is satisfied. But lately, he wants to chase after them and get as close as possible. Poor bunnies. A 2-year toddler running after them must be a nightmare. Anyway - here is a glimpse at tonight's excursion down the street.

Bunny is just to the left of the most forward bushy

Thomas getting a good look at the tall ears and big eyes
When the bunnies hop away, Thomas will usually imitate them by hopping too! It really is adorable to watch.

Don't FREAK out!

OK... I never thought this would ever happen to us, but it has. OMG! Brian went into the bedroom tonight to change out of his uniform & out of the corner of his eye he saw something blackish poking out of the bathroom door. He looked down and realized it was this... a small snake! Aughhhhh, in my house! A snake was in my house. Don't FREAK out Michelle! Thank God Thomas or Ziggy wasn't the first to discover it. Heck with that - thank God I wasn't the first to see it because I would have passed out! I detest snakes. OK, but moving on. Brian trapped the snake (finally) in a paper bag and the entire family trekked across the street to let him go. I know, I know - some of you are probably saying, "kill the snake; off with his head!" But Brian decided it was nonvenomous and the best thing to do was put him back in the woods.

Before release

Trying to get a good look at the colors - making sure we have nothing to worry about.

Brian trying to determine what the underside looks like... another indication of if we should be worried or not. Check out other Florida snakes here.

A "nice" time in the 'Ville

Today we spent most of the day in Niceville (aka: the 'Ville) visiting with Nana. We started off by meeting at the Children's Park at 9am to try and beat the heat. We lasted about an hour with all the slides and jungle gyms they had.

They even have a few sandboxes

Not afraid at all... he practically ran across it.

Watching the big kids climb the wall (and wondering when he can do it)

Exploring around and in the wall

Niceville Children's Park (aka: Little Boggy Country Park)

After the park, we headed over to Nana's house to enjoy her pool! It was "noodle heaven" there

Fun, Fun, Fun! Doesn't Nana look "Hollywood" with those glasses?

Into town

It's funny how I say, "I'm going into town," when I mean that I'm heading into FWB. It's not like we live in the woods, BFE or some other remote area. I just mean that I'm leaving little Navarre and heading either east to Ft. Walton Beach or west to Pensacola. Anyway... just a little quirk.

I feel like there is lots to do this morning. Bringing the VW Routan in for its first oil change & maintanance check up around 8am; Brian is meeting us over there so we can then have his truck after we bring him back to work... that would be awful to be stuck at the dealer with Thomas for hours; need to swing by school to pick up a few things for summer (I must get started preparing lesson plans for the first 2 months of school... auuughhh); got to drop by Thomas' daycare because we forgot to pick up a few of his things on our last day - it will be good to see Ms. D and his little friends; probably will grab some breakfast at the bagel shop in town too.

That's this AM - got to go back into town this afternoon to get Brian and then head back over to the dealer to pick up the van. Apparently we will be in the car quite a bit today... thank goodness for our DVD system on days like this.

Top #1 job

This week's #1 priority is to get rid of this...
These are the 7.5 Rubbermaid containers of baby boy clothes that I have kept organized ever since receiving them or Thomas growing out of them. Anyway, early this week, I sorted through them and pulled out any gender neutral & special clothes that I wanted to keep for the baby. As you can see, there are still a lot of clothes left over. The reason for the urgency of this week's project is I have a ton of baby girl clothes that have either been donated to me already from friends who had little girls OR the unbelievable amount I have already received from baby showers/relatives. Because I'm an organized FREAK... I have to fix this situation ASAP (look below) -

Yes, I'm embarassed to say that this is currently the baby's room. Aughhhh! I'm breaking out in hives just looking at this picture. There is just so much stuff to put away and get organized, but I need my Rubbermaid containers to do it. So... I have already made several phone calls this morning to different organizations who would greatly benefit from getting all of these baby clothes. Yeah!!! Now, I just need to offload them in big trash bags and label them according to size (so I can have my stink'in containers back). Wish me luck!

Messy Monday Morning

Not too much to say here except - messy. It has been a messy Monday morning. You have to just laugh though. We headed out to Gymboree this morning to play in the nice AC and have fun. Afterwards, strolled the mall just a little bit and then headed home for some lunch and then Thomas' nap. I'm enjoying some quiet time as we speak!

Count down to exercise

I don't know whether it is the hot temperatures outside (today is supposed to reach 100 degrees, not including the heat index) or whether it is the lack of "formal" exercise I've always been used to - but I am starting to count down the days when I can get back to an exercise routine and start fitting back into my normal clothes. Don't get me wrong, I really do love being pregnant - Lord knows I have had 2 very easy pregnancies (no morning sickness, working long hours on my feet with ease, not gaining too much weight, etc). HOWEVER, different friends of mine are so good about exercising and eating right AND not to mention all the work out clothes/shoes that I keep seeing on sale at stores AND the very cool double running stroller (BOB Revolution Dualie Stroller) that we found online that I will be buying. Of course, I should probably have Brian sell my current Babyjogger stroller on Ebay first so that I can afford this next one, but alas...

NUK

When we were at the peditrician's office the other day for Thomas' appointment, she only had one concern for me about him - the NUK.
We did really good about getting rid of bottles last summer (shortly after he turned 1 years old), but we have continued to hold onto the (very reliable) NUK pacifier. Truthfully, I don't know when the experts say to get rid of the pacifier, but I was thinking it was OK to have up until now??? We try and limit its use to naps, bedtime and the occasional car ride - but apparently the peditrician thinks we should give it up totally before the baby arrives. Hmmmmmm. She does have a good point, however, I feel like I rely on the NUK more so than Thomas probably does. It's that comfort tool that has "special powers" to relax my child... don't you other mother's agree? I know I need to do this, but I just don't know if I'm ready.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! Despite the extreme heat, we hit the beach pretty early in the AM (8:30) and enjoyed the beautiful Emerald Coast at Navarre Beach. The sand was soft, water was flat (even though there was still a little bit of lingering seaweed) and we had a great time.

Playing chase in the "waves"
Daddy brought his fishing rods (its a must in his eyes if you are near the water) and he caught a few fish (Spanish Mackerel & Lady Fish) while surf fishing. I was "wowed" and so were some of the beach goers. Daddy also showed us how to unhook the fish and let it swim away safely. And get this... we also saw a sea turtle swimming just a few yards from shore. Pretty cool.

Enjoying a quick drink break - gotta stay hydrated!

Mr. Personality

TGIF!!! We took a short dip in the pool this morning after the doctor's appointment at Poppie's house. Had snacks (as usual) and Thomas even got to try a PB&J sandwich (he has never had peanut butter until now). He took a few bites, but I'm sure its something he will get used to.

"Big" Thomas J & "Little" Thomas J

2 year Stats

Today was Thomas' 2 year check up! We only needed 1 shot and 1 finger prick (to check for anemia). Here are his stats (both of which put him in the 50%-75% of his age):

Weight: 28 lbs
Height: 33 1/2 inches tall