New member of the family....

One week ago today we added an addition to our family....a 12 week old boxer puppy. Connor happily named him after one of his favorite characters right now....Lightnin' McQueen, although we only call him Lightnin'. He is a very cute puppy and is very good with the kids. Savannah wasn't too sure of him at first because he thinks she's another puppy and wants to play with her. He hasn't jumped on her yet, just rubs up against her and may put a paw on her. She is already used to it. She doesn't cry any more, just blinks her eyes really fast. Connor loves for Lightnin' to chase him, although Lightnin' hasn't totally caught on to that yet. We're obviously still in the house training stage, which goes good as long as I'm paying attention to him. We are crate training him so he goes in his cage, as Connor calls it, for a good part of the day so that makes it easier.

Savannah obviously isn't talking yet since she's just 10 months but she comes awfully close to saying Lightnin'. You can almost tell she's trying to say it. She also tries to say "Uh oh." She makes a sounds between "ah" and "uh." The other day I was holding her and trying to get her to say it for Danny's mom and dad. When I asked her if she could say uh oh, she looked down at the floor to see what had fallen. :-) At least I know she's understanding some things. She is also waving - same wave for hello and goodbye....and all done. I taught Connor a little sign language when he was little so I'm trying with her. So, sometimes it's hard to tell if she's just waving or if she means she's all done. Most of the time I think she's just playing because she usually doesn't quit eating until I stop putting food on her tray. She loves her food - everywhere....

We made it home

Well, we made it home Wednesday night at 10:00 pm. It only took us 11 1/2 hours to get home but Danny and I were both ready to just be home and the kids in their beds. They did good at the house in Orlando but we both knew if we stopped at a hotel nobody would sleep good. Savannah did a bit better on the way back. She was fussy for about 4 hours off and on then settled in and was the best the last 2 hours ...... she slept!! :-) I also turned Savannah's car seat around hoping being able to see the DVD player would help. It didn't but she did like looking out the window. Connor did great. He had gotten up at 7:00 that morning and didn't sleep in the car until 9:30 that night. There was probably about 15 minutes of pouting, whining stuff but that was it. He's been a great traveller since he was 1 so maybe Savannah will do better as she gets older.


We had a really good time while down there. It was great spending time with my sister and her family. Connor loves his cousins and just about cried when they had to leave Monday morning. The adults had a lot of fun at Halloween Horror Nights. Gabi and I always say we're going to walk through the haunted houses standing straight up (not hunched over) and not looking scared. It lasts until the door and then there we are, huddled together, arms hooked together just about crawling across the floor. We are such easy targets!! Of course, Danny and Rick enjoy it tremendously! It's so much fun!!

Saturday we just hung around the house. Connor and Savannah loved "playing" pool. I think Connor would play for hours on the pool table if we had let him, only I didn't want to stand out there for hours.

I think the best day was Sunday because we all went Sea World. Connor LOVES sharks for some reason. In the evenings a lot he'll sit with Danny before he goes to bed and Danny draws pictures for him. He always wants him to draw a shark, stingray and a "diba scuber" (scuba diver). So he loves anything with fish. We went to the Shamu show and he loved it along with Savannah. I wasn't sure if she would notice it or not but she watched the whole thing. She loved the music. She would "sing" and wave her hands around or sway back and forth. Connor actually touched a stingray. I didn't think he would because he's usually afraid of everything but he did! Connor also loved the underwater viewing area of the dolphins. When they would swim by he would wave at them. Too cute!

Monday we went to this park that has 3 different play grounds, a petting zoo, a big lake to fish in, volleyball courts, a swimming pool (open in the summers) and a lot of other stuff. We ate a picnic lunch there then Connor and Danny went fishing. We "played" on the playgrounds - a little. This is where Connor being scared comes in, which I don't totally understand. He loves to go the playgrounds but usually just wants to climb up and down the stuff. He's afraid to go down slides, which he's been doing by himself since this summer, but now he's afraid to do it. I don't know what happened but he won't do it by himself. He'll do it with me or Danny. I try not to push him, but I know he can do it.

Tuesday we went to Magic Kingdom and saw Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Connor was excited until we got close. At least he didn't cry; he just wouldn't smile for the pictures. Savannah was excited from far away and not so excited up close. She came close to crying once but didn't. Connor loves the ride "It's a Small World" so Danny took him on that and we rode the train around the park. That's about all we did with them. We then went back to the house and had a babysitter come again so Danny and I could go back and do the rides we wanted to do. We had a good time.

Then, Wednesday morning we got up and headed home. So, here we are .... home again. Connor still insists on getting up somewhat early - it's been 7:00 the past 2 mornings but Savannah is still sleeping as I write this. She slept 'til 9:15 and took a 3 hour nap yesterday. She is a good sleeper!!! :-)

I've posted some pictures from our trip you should check out.

I'll just say...

It was a great vacation but it's great to be home!!

We're here!!!

We made it to Orlando Wednesday afternoon. The traveling was......ok. Connor has always been a great traveller and that hasn't changed. Savannah on the other hand....what can I say...she's dramatic and it came out even more while driving. She did ok, but was fussy and whiny a lot. The only mishap with Connor was when we stopped to go to the bathroom. The toilets at the rest area had automatic flushers. Connor got VERY scared when it flushed while he was sitting on it. :-) I tried to put him back on it and I had seriously never heard him cry like that. Thank goodness I put a potty chair in the car because he wouldn't go in any bathroom stalls after that, even when I told him Mommy had to flush them, he was still afraid. I guess automatic flushers are a mother's worst potty training nightmare!!! :-)

We actually left Tuesday and drove to my sister's and spent the night with her and her family. Connor had a GREAT time playing football with my nephews, Josh and Jake, outside. He loved it. Wednesday we stopped at Jacksonville Beach to let Connor play. He's been wanting to go to the beach for awhile now. He had a good time...once he got used to the water. Savannah liked it too...she just wanted to eat sand and wasn't very happy when Mommy wouldn't let her.

We just hung around the house yesterday. Gabi, Rick, Josh, Jake and Marissa arrived last night. We all went to Islands of Adventure this morning. It was pretty hot. Connor was a little overwhelmed by it all, even though we've been taking him pretty much his whole life. We decided to eat lunch and then leave. But once we ate Connor didn't want to go bye bye. He said, "I have energy now. I don't want to go bye bye." Needless to say, we went bye bye. He and Savannah are both down for a nap right now. Had to get a little sleep in since he was up at 5:50 this morning and he'll probably be up late tonight. We have a babysitter coming tonight (we use this great babysitting service in Orlando. We've used them 3 or 4 times before.) so the adults can go back to Universal Studios to go to Halloween Horror Nights - haunted houses and scary areas where people jump out at you to scare you. We've gone several years now. It's a lot of fun but absolutely no place for little ones - even though I know tonight I'll see crazy people there with small children - we see them every year.

Anyway, we'll be doing more Universal tomorrow possibly and definitely Sea World Sunday. Then sometime next week we'll go to Disney so Connor can see Mickey Mouse since he's been asking for 4 weeks now when we're going to see him. :-) He does love Mickey Mouse!! I'll let you know how the rest of the trip goes.