Disney World Take 3!

When we talked to Chase and Mad's about Kinder Graduation (it's a big deal around here) and asked them what they wanted to do they both had the same answer, Disney World of course!!!! So Disney World, here we come... in June! ;o) Reservations are made, dining plans are done, and now we're just counting down the days.

We actually had five day tickets that Disney had sent us after our last trip, so that saved about $800 or so. Wait for it.... awesome! (For the How I.Met Your Mother fans out there!) We chose to stay at the All Star Movie Resort again this time. It's one of the Value resorts and the kids love it. We did the dining plan because you can do character dining with it and who wouldn't want that? We are actually eating at Cinderella's this castle for the first time and Mad's is totally excited. I am too! I think Emery is going to love all of this and yes, I know she won't remember it (she is much younger than C and E were the first time they went), but we will and we'll have the pictures! The other question we get is, "Is Emery even going to be able to ride anything?" Why of course she is! I was 7 months pregnant with her and rode 90% of the rides and walked in the July heat and did just fine. If I could ride them pregnant, she can certainly ride them now. :o)

We are going to drive for the first time this year because flying has gotten so expensive. It'll take about 16 hours but with three adults, that really isn't that bad. Plus we'll stop halfway and get a hotel for the night so the kids can get out and move. Between iPods, iPhones, DVD players, books, and the DS consoles I think we'll be just fine!

I really am so excited about Disney and can't wait to experience this again with the kids. It truly is a magical place! If anyone ever has questions about booking a trip, feel free to ask. I'm not expert, but at this point I think I'm getting pretty good!!

****I am grateful for
1) a much needed vacation (that we will then need a vacation from)
2) things that fall in to place
3) warm clothes cause we have some cold weather coming!
4) Monday down (has to be my least favorite day of the week)
5) plans being made

The toughest Tiny Tiger Ever!!!

On Saturday Chase had testing for his next belt in karate. This time they decided to have all three of the schools converge and do one big testing. In all there were about 40 Tiny Tigers testing and Chase was the highest ranked out of them all... very impressive for our little guy! Words cannot describe how proud of am of this kid. Not only was he the highest ranked, he is also the only Tiny Tiger that has a weapons routine (nunchucks). Due to his ranking, he was first in line to test. I'm guessing there were no less than 500 people in the place between all the students testing, the family watching them, and the employees/judges for the schools. He didn't miss a beat, stepped right into the spotlight, and got to work! He did GREAT!!!! He now has his red stripe, which means he only has one more belt (two red stripes) before he earns his black belt! Here are a few pictures and a couple of videos from the big day.

(Other than my fat arms, the pics aren't too bad. Well, it would have been nice had the kid we got to take them not almost cut Chase off, but I'll take 'em!)

Duchess, MeMaw and PawPaw always come to cheer Chase on!

My Little Family of 4, love 'em!

****I am grateful for
1) a good weekend
2) awesome grandparents for our kids
3) my Tiny Tiger rocking his testing!
4) Mrs. Crystal, she has cut Chase's hair since he was two, we <3 her!
5) little smiles

Seriously slacking.

I know I'm a bad blogger and I'm not afraid to admit it. Life is just so busy that when I actually have time to sit and blog, I'm too tired or I'm catching up on other blogs, etc. Same old excuse as always. Jeff is working 7 days a week right now, so that leaves me on parenting duty all alone and anyone who's been there knows how that is! I do not know how single moms do it!!!!

In all honesty this week was pretty boring. Work, home, homework, karate, etc. Nothing really out of the ordinary. Emery had her ENT appointment and will get her tubes on Feb. 4th. So, send prayers for that. Since this is our third round of tubes in the Larson household we know what to expect, so that is good.

*Note to Chelle about the tubes. Thanks for the comments, we loved the fact that Chase could fly w/o his ears popping when he had tubes! Too bad we aren't flying to Disney this year. OMG, speaking of Disney, that is something exciting... will get back to that. Anyway, you can take them swimming, or at least we always have and were told it was OK. We were told chlorinated water good, bath water bad. We got special ear plugs from our ENT for bath time and when we went to the beach and all went well. And actually, our beloved ENT passed away last summer and our new ENT said we did not have to use plugs at all. But I'll double-check on that one. End of note.* ;o)

Now, how could I have forgotten this important bit of info?!?!!?! I made our Disney World reservations this week! We are all set to go at the beginning of June and we cannot wait! Chase thought we were going after the 100th day of school because they have a huge caterpillar that counts to that day, so he was slightly disappointed when I explained that it would be a little longer than that. He is so cute. I'll put more notes about the Disney trip in another post.

I guess I should go now. I had Jury Duty today that ended up being canceled (woohoo) but technically I should be cleaning and not blogging since I'm home alone. That is a rarity around here! Happy Monday to all!

****I am grateful for
1) canceled jury duty!
2) Disney trip is booked
3) a Monday off
4) home alone for a bit
5) my clean house (well, it will be eventually, maybe, I hope) ;o)

15 month stats on the Princess - mental sticky

The Princess had her 15 month check up today and did spectacular. She has hit all her milestones and is ahead in language development. We are going to work on getting her off those last two bottles, but they were not really concerned. It's just so stinking hard since she doesn't take a paci! Her ears still have cloudy fluid in them, but are not technically infected. She has an ENT appointment on Wednesday and they just said be prepared for tubes. We already know that's in the future, so we're not worried. Her weight is 23 lbs (50%), height 31 inches (62%), and her head... well, it's off the charts as always (lets just say in the 95%). I know that sounds totally crazy, but since it's always been huge they are not worries (as is/was Chase). No wonder labor was so rough with these two kids, their heads are freaking gigantic!! All Jeff's fault. ;o)

****I am grateful for
1) perfect progress
2) good reports
3) ENTs that can get ears taken care of
4) things that work out even when you are totally sure they won't (God is good)
5) four day work weeks

Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo "Chase" Style!

If you are familiar with Rodeos then you are familiar with the Houston Lives.tock Show & Rod.eo. It is a HUGE deal in Texas and a ton of fun to go to. The HLS&R is not just about horses and cowboys and rodeo clowns, it's about education and art and so many wonderful things. Our district participate in the HLS&R art shows and we have students that produce some of the most beautiful and adorable artwork you have ever seen. All kinds of art are entered from sculptures to pictures. This year Chase worked very hard on a art piece that was placed in the show! His piece was a freshly hatched chick inside a bowl. It was not your typical drawing but a more paper on paper. He started with a blue background and cut out a yellow triangle and circle. This served as the chick's head and body. He tore read paper and glued it to a bowl shape that he then put on the paper to make it look like the chick was sitting in it. After that he cut out a bright purple egg to look like the chick had hatched out of it. He was so proud and I thought it was really cute. When we arrived at the show this afternoon he was thrilled to see a beautiful, blue, FIRST PLACE, ribbon on it!!!!! It won't go to the actual HLS&R (those are Best of Show and Gold Ribbons), but in my heart, it was the most adorable one there!!!!

He was so proud!

"Surprise" - The Official Name of his piece

When we first got there... so excited!

We are so proud of our little guy!

I am such a lucky Mommy!

****I am grateful for
1) that little boy's smile
2) blue ribbons, they make him happy
3) adorable artwork (can we say framing in the future?)
4) a weekend has arrived
5) the school year is half way over!

Princess Emery is 15 months old!

Sweet Princess Emery,

Today you are 15 months old! As always, I just can't believe that time is going this fast. I mean I know I should because it has gone just as fast with Chase, but it just seems like it's been working overtime with the two of you lately!

You are turning into a toddler more and more every day. You are busy, busy, busy and happy, happy, happy! You are talking, running, playing, and in to everything. Words can't even begin to describe how much we love you.

You still adore your brother and he still adores you. You can try his patience a little more now though!

Some of the words you say are, apple, meow, Mama, Dada, Bubba, Duchess, MeMaw, Pawpaw, Nana, MadMad (for Madison), Yoda, Mawee (Molly), eye, and many, many more. You talk all the time and I have a feeling it's not going to be quiet around here any time soon... which I love!

You have a mind of your own and a bit of a temper.

You can climb the stairs in about 10 seconds and try to every chance you get.

You love taking baths with your big brother and could play for hours.

You are very attached to your blankets and insist on having all of them you can find (good thing you are attached to the same kind your brother was, and still is at times, so that we have plenty)!

You do not want to give up your bottle and although we can make it through the morning without one, by naptime you are miserable and crying for it. If we try to give you a sippy you will kindly throw it across the room. I'm not saying you won't take a sippy, you just don't want it before nap time or bedtime. I'm blaming this on the fact you never would take a paci. You would be perfectly content just walking around with a bottle in your mouth all day and not even sucking on it.

Next week we go to the ENT for a tube consultation. I don't look forward to tubes, but I certainly look forward to no more ear infections!

Oh my sweet baby girl how I love you! I truly feel like my heart could burst it's so full! You and your brother are the best thing I've ever done and I couldn't be more proud.

Love, Mommy



***I am grateful for
1) my first miracle
2) my second miracle
3) my soulmate
4) weekend is almost here
5) 15 perfect in every way months!

How do you know?

When we started trying for a family we just assumed it would happen. We had been responsible, waited until I was done with school, good jobs, nice home, all those things that make you think you're ready. Then it took longer than we thought. Way longer. Then we were ready for #2. And it took longer than we thought. Way longer. Now we have two frozen and I really have no idea when to use them. Even though we didn't plan it this way, the age difference between Chase and Emery is awesome (4 1/2 years). We have never dealt with any jealous issues and they get along great. I don't know if we got lucky, or if he truly understood what was going on when Emery came along. However, we're also older than we ever thought we'd be at this point in our lives. Let's just say both of us are getting a lot closer to 40 than 30 (Jeff being even closer than I am of course)! ;o) So waiting another three years just isn't really something we want to do. However, when I held our cousin's little boy at Christmas, Emery went crazy. Like trying to hit him crazy. So it makes me think that anytime soon is too soon. Ugh. How do you know? Then I tell myself these may not even make it through the thaw and if they do, they may not take. So many variables, it's just too much. We won't even go into the finances department because everyone knows the economy sucks so that's not saying anything new. Sometimes being a grown up and having to make decisions is just so darn tough!

****I am grateful for
1) being free to make decisions
2) our totsicles
3) the winter storm, love the cold weather (just not the wet/cold weather)
4) the age of technology
5) video monitors

Proof that time goes too fast.

New Year 2010 on the left, New Year 2011 on the right. Just more proof that times goes way too fast, kinda makes me want to cry.

****I am grateful for
1) time
2) another year to celebrate
3) growth
4) digital cameras
5) comparisons

Happy New Year - 2011!!!

2010 was a year full of ups and downs, it was a year full of memories, and a year full of those moments where you wish you could freeze time. So much changed, Emery went from a tiny, totally dependent on us newborn to a very independent toddler. Chase was from our little preschooler to a full-blown kindergartner that just gets funner and smarter by the minute. I look forward to 2011 and have a feeling it's going to be another year full of great things!

Running from big brother, because that's what she does best!

Chase and his stacking cups, love 'em

The kids LOVE Brian (Coach Blake), good thing he loves them!

Emery and Aunt Stacy watching fireworks

Chase and his sparklers

Our New Year Cutie!

From our family to yours, Happy New Year, may 2011 be full of wonderful blessings and many great things! We say 2011 - Bring It On!

****I am grateful for
1) a year full of wonderful memories
2) another year gone
3) a new year to come
4) a great evening w/good friends
5) all my blessings