23 months. Dum, dum, dummmmm

So I am reliving the discussion with myself about changing my words from, "Oh, my son is x months old!" to "Oh!  I have a two year old!".  See Anna's 22 month post here.

How did this happen?!?  How is he almost 2???  I am so glad I have Leah and Sonia to commiserate on how fast our little ones our growing.  Barrett turns 2 on Saturday and Elena just 8 days before Graham.  Ladies, seriously, how has it been 2 years?!  Well, 23 months actually....

I don't think I actually have the words to express my love and joy in our little guy.  I can go on and on about how sweet he is when I pick him up from school....a loud, "MOMMA!!!" and then a giant hug with a pat on the back included.  Or how when I sing to him when I tuck him in at night he holds my hand up to his cheek and smiles at me.  Or how he reaches up and puts his little hand in mine when we are walking together.  But, let me save those for that 2 year post.

Running around at Seaside

Someone told me the other day how ridiculously smart this kid is, they even said smarter than Anna.  John and I both looked at one another and thought..."Oh no.., we are in T-R-O-U-B-L-E".  You can actually SEE the wheels turn in this guys head.  He is picking up two and three sentence blurbs, repeating everything, quick with the ipad, lethal with a crayon (just ask my walls), and can pretty much mimic any animal sound in the kingdom.

He moved into a big boy bed this month...and I think we are down to only getting out of bed about 15 times a night (all in the first 30 min, mind you).  No crying, not upset, just thinks it is a fun game to run downstairs...SURPRISE!  Enter in baby gate, stage left.

He can count to 15, anything after kind of sounds like mumbles or a football call.  1, 2....12, 13, 14, 15, blue, sifteen, elevendy....Makes me laugh every time.  Oh and growth?  Well, "spurt" might not actually describe it accurately.  How about him basically skipping over 2T?  Buddy dude is pushing out of a size 8 shoe and in 3T tops already.  SLOW DOWN please!

His soul is still sensitive, one thing he definitely gets from me.  He hates to see sister cry, which will often bring tears to his own eyes.  He is quick to give a reassuring pat or even a monster-big-hug.  These hugs start from WAAAAYY on the other side of the room, with a run and LEAP into my arms. Can you tell this guy has me wrapped around his finger?!

One of his all time favorite things, SWINGING!

Easter Egg hunt 2013, Two Rivers Park. 

This year is bringing great things for us and watching Graham add to that joy has been life changing. Little Man, you rock our world.

Upcoming posts!

Because my blog has been all about Disney, you would think we had nothing else going on.  Well, you would be wrong my friends.

I have a bunch of posts in draft form so here is a little preview.

Little man is inching closer to that 2nd birthday.  He is our little wound up PIRATE!  (self imposed career path)

Our beach trip last weekend.  Although it was wonderful, make no mistake, it was all bid-ness.

Little girl and her antics.  We are surprised and challenged every day!


So, stay tuned!  Posts coming soon!

Disney Part 2!

So I only got through the first day with Part 1 (see here), we will see how far I get to with this post. But first, I forgot this little gem from meeting the princesses!  Graham got a SMOOCH from Princess Aurora!

Friday morning comes bright and early after a complete CRASH from Thursday.  Oh!  Forgot!  My brother, Matt and his new girlfriend, Ruth got to Orlando late on Thursday night!  Matt was beaming and Ruth is wonderful.  I don't think we could have picked a better partner for him.  We had been talking about their arrival all day, so the kids we ecstatic to meet her and instantly treated her like part of the family.

Back to the early morning...it was time for breakfast with Mickey!  We had reservations at the Contemporary Resort at Chef Mickey.  It was again a cold morning but still we all had perma-grins on our faces.  The food was great and the characters (and waiters/waitresses) were AWESOME!

It was Kristen's Birthday!  How cool to spend it with family, Mickey and pals?!?!?

Family!

There were Mickey shaped waffles (which were DELICIOUS), hot coffee, music, kids smiling, happy parents and even a candle/cupcake for Kristen.  It was goooood.  And then came the characters!

Surprise!  Donald snuck up behind Dad and Ryan!

Meeting Minnie and dancing with excitement!

You can see, we really did have an amazing time.  How could I choose from the hundreds of photos from just that breakfast?!?  That afternoon the guys went to catch a quick golf game while the ladies entertained the kids.  Running around Reunion and even catching a "quick" lunch at Downtown Disney.  (i say "quick" because there is no such thing as a fast lunch in Disney but it was still a good little adventure!)

Emily and I after getting our pixie dust in Downtown Disney.  Can you see all the sparkles?

That night the adults all scampered off to Epcot while the kids stayed with a babysitter.  We had reservations at Monsieur Paul in Paris to celebrate Kristen's birthday and this wonderful trip!  Our DBA (Jason) and his wife, Claire (basically my other sister) joined us as well.  Dinner was overly delightful, the food amazing, drinks quenching and after my singing of the French National Anthem to our waiter (who was French, of course) half of us watched fireworks while the other half snagged a couple rides!

Wait, what?  You didn't know I knew the entire French national anthem in FRENCH?  Well, I do.  Ask me next time and I will serenade you.  Thank you Madame Kemp.  :)

Looks like this will be a three part-er....stay tuned!

Disney Part 1

24 hours of driving, just about 24 hours TOTAL sleep after three nights and WAY too many smiles to count.  That could be one way to sum up our trip to Disney but you wouldn't even touch the magic that we experienced.  Hence "Part 1" in the title.

Some people say that Disney is only commercialization, but we can agree to disagree.  It wasn't about the things to buy (which we hardly bought a thing) it was about the Magic.  That's with a capital "M" for sure.  There were more than a few times where I was teary eyed from the excitement beaming from the kids (and adults) faces at any point on this trip.

So before the amazing photos and recount of the days....first, let's give some credit.  To my folks.  This was their idea and gift that allowed this to come together the way it did.  I don't think I can thank them enough.  For us, it was our best family vacation to date and I seriously can't wait to do it again!

So let's get started, shall we?

Arriving at the house in Reunion.

Arriving on Wednesday, Kristen and I sat down that evening to plan out our day at the park.  We had been switching between which park to do and then just realizing we really, really wanted to start off at Magic Kingdom and crowds be damned.  So we sat down, reviewing site after site and getting REALLY stressed out.  This is when we received "the call".  I might refer to this call as the "call that totally made our vacation".  Who was on the other end of that call?  None other than who will soon to be referred to as the DBA.  That would be "Disney Bad-Ass".  My sister's best friend married a pretty cool guy whose business does one thing: GET YOU AROUND DISNEY WITH NO LINES.  What you ask?  This exists?  Oh heck yes it does.  Basically he says to us..."go to sleep, you have a long day with me and it is going to rock.  Just meet me before the toll booth at 6:45am."  Jason says jump and we say YES SIR.

7 am, freezy-freezy but yet totally sums up our happiness!

First group picture and could we have picked a better spot?  I think not.  We weren't prepared for the cold or the wind but I am pretty sure NO ONE complained.  How did we get in at 7am?  Trade secret...HIRE Jason.  :)  He led us through the park like the DBA he was and we quickly and yet leisurely rode (not in the exact order) Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, visits with Minnie/Daisy/Goofy/Donald, Barnstormer, Ariel's grotto, It's a Small World, Haunted Mansion, Arial Orbitor, Carousel of Progress/Space Mountain (rotated), Arial Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear, Big Thunder Mountain (x2) and meeting Mickey Mouse...pretty much all before lunch.  And the crowds were listed as a 8.2/10.  It was glorious.

We were like kids skipping through the park, giggling on rides, squeezing our babies tight and beaming with joy.

Meeting Minnie!

Riding buzz light year and taking care of the bad guys!

Best. Photo. Ever.

Probably one of my top two photos of the day (above and below).  Pure Happiness and joy!

After a full day, happy kids, full bellies, and pulled facial muscles from all the laughing....our DBA walks up to us with a handfull of Fastpasses for Mickey Mouse.  The BIG GUY!  We still aren't sure how and when he got these for us but we were, again, amazed!  They usher us to the back area where we are led into a small backroom.  Seriously, we were actually all a little nervous...like really meeting a celebrity.  Who am I kidding, he is a celebrity!!  Anna and Graham could hardly contain their excitement.  It was a pretty awesome way to end our morning (oh and the fastpasses for the Princesses from 6-7pm that that DBA hid until we were walking out).

We quickly took the kids home for naps...well, all of us took naps!  We were exhausted.  Pulled out of deep slumbers, we rallied the troops and head to dinner then back to the park.  We had Princesses to see!!  After some sweet talking from John to get us in the fastpass line after we missed our window, we were priveledged to meet Cinderella, Aurora and Rapunzel!

Anna's first glimpse of Cinderella.  Priceless.

I don't like to push the whole "princess" thing but I love the imagination, the fun and the adventure that does come along with those stories.

From Princesses to Parades!  The Electrical Light Parade was AWESOME!  The kids were mesmerized  either from the characters, lights, floats or sheer exhaustion.  There are about a million more pictures to choose but I tried to pick ones I didn't put on facebook.

And this was only Day 1.  Stay tuned.

Too excited to sleep.

Surely everyone remembers that commercial with the two little kids who just can't seem to fall asleep the night before their Disney trip?  Well, that's me.  I am so beyond excited.

We are leaving tomorrow to get to my parent's house in Cartersville, then early morning rise on Wednesday to drive on down to Disney.  The entire Wilkins clan is going ALL thanks to my parents.  This is going to be one awesome, awesome trip.

No expectations, no "must-haves", just pure fun and joy. Oh, there will be pictures...like you were worried.

I laugh at myself.

Didn't I say something in my New Year's post about a ho-hum year?  Not much on the books?

Bwwwaahahahahahahahah!!!

I laugh at that post.

I am so funny.



And no, I am not sharing right now.

(but I'm not pregnant...just in case that is what you thought)

Girls weekend

After two of my very good girlfriends moved away from Nashville last year, I was kind of down in the dumps.  Moping around the house, wishing for their company and John telling me he no longer wanted to discuss the newest style in shoe and that i HAD to find some new girlfriends.  Well, I realized I DO have lots of girlfriends, some just aren't here in Nashville.  I then realized I have THREE sets of girlfriends wanting to do girls weekends this year.  How awesome is that?  So, the first of three kicked off the year.

And boy was it a GREAT weekend.

So here is my confession.  I have some friends I met online.  I know, I know.  You are probably judging me or maybe you also have done this too?  I met these women when trying to conceive Anna.  It wasn't the easiest process for us and I needed someone to vent, scream, process, learn and lean on that wasn't John.  So long story short, met them through the BabyCenter, we broke away and made a facebook group and the rest is history.  I "met" them over 4 years ago.  Some had met in person, we have chatted on the phone, texted, supported...you name it. I am grateful for these women...so, judgment be damned.

It may have been a gray Atlanta weekend but inside was full of sunshine and laughter!

We gathered from all over the country and it was just like meeting old friends. I actually think at one point my face cramped up from laughing so hard!  Each of these women brings something amazing to the table.  We have a Nurse Practitioner, a teacher, a PR/Marketing whiz, an accountant, a soon to be Lactation consultant and current Air Force wife/super mom, and a former eye-guru who is now basically a super mom.   Who am I kidding, the term "super mom" needs to be attached to ALL our names.

L: Holly and baby Scarlett, R: Shelley (standing) and Amber

One of the ladies is actually my twin.  Weird, right?  Here's why...  We have sons named Graham, dogs named Cooper, husbands who are only children and attorneys, creative jobs, 5'11", blonde hair...well, the list goes on.  And well, our kitchen dance parties are now legendary.

What did we do on this wonderful weekend?  We filled our souls with talk and maybe lots of wine and coffee and laughter...oh and sweet baby snuggles.  Scarlett came with Hollie as she is still nursing and we were more than happy to snuggle on that sweet little one to give Momma a break!  And BW and AP (for some reason, that is what I must call them Theresa!) came with Theresa and her husband after they enjoyed the Aquarium.

Sweet Aubrey and her momma, Theresa, R: Me Facetiming with Anna while she meets Bryce.  She just said, "I don't like that guy". Hysterical

The sweetness is too much.

The crew

Great friends are not always easy to find.  Ones that you connect with, find comfort with, but when you do find them...well, you hold on tight and then plan your next trip.  Where to next ladies??

Don't ask.  Just enjoy the crazy that is this picture.