Church and the Toddler

All this week, Luke has talked about wanting to go to church. We drove by a church here in Candler and he said he wanted to go. The last time we've been was several months ago at Baby Josie's christening and it went up in flames. Luke couldn't sit still and Dillon ended up carrying a screaming Luke out of the sanctuary and then sitting in the truck for most of the service. I've just honestly been scared to go back in the meantime.

When Luke said that he wanted to go, I gladly said "Ok!" My mom and dad had gone to a church here in Candler, and we said we'd go with them. We talked with Luke about being quiet during the service, and sitting still. We said if he felt like he couldn't sit still, to let us know (quietly) and we'd head out to the truck.

It started off well, he was so excited to go to church, he was excited when my mom and dad pulled up and he loved hearing the bells ring announcing the beginning. But when we walked in, and new people started to talk to him, he immediately told Dillon he wanted to go to the truck. I finally persuaded him to stay by telling him I'd go to the nursery with him and play while the service took place. Not exactly how I planned it. Plus, the toys only entertained him for about 30 minutes and then we went outside to run around in the sunshine. The people at church were so sweet and offered to watch him, but I knew he'd have a fit if I tried to leave him. Ugh. I know that people take their kids to church all the time so I think that we may just be overthinking it and stressing about it too much. Maybe we'll try again next week at our church downtown.

In other news, this weekend has been beautiful. I always love the first warm days that harbor in springtime. We cleaned house and I've done tons of laundry. Dillon did notice some shingles in the yard from the harsh storm we had a week or so ago so we may be looking into a new roof sooner than later. We grilled out this evening for the first time and my mom and dad joined us. My mom and I *may* have almost polished off a whole bottle of wine so our afternoon was especially nice!

Luke is growing in leaps and bounds. His eating habits are becoming a little better (he's at least trying things now). He's also getting an awesome sense of humor and has some pretty good one-liners at times keeping us all in stitches.

We're looking forward to spring and playing outside. The warmer weather gives us all a chance to get outside and away from the tv.  Here's hoping the snow is done and over!

This isn't the best picture, but Dillon's been reading with Luke before bedtime and usually falls asleep with him. I always have to go wake up him to go to bed and saw this the other night. Luke held onto da-da's hand and fell asleep. My heart melted. 

He wouldn't let me pick him up. Too big of a boy!

Playing Legos on the porch

Working puzzles with Peepaw!

And there's that personality! ;)

Just a Quick Update

Whew, we made it back from Disney and our vacation high has ended. Dillon and I took off last Wednesday and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. Poor Luke was shipped off to daycare while we organized our basement (did I mention my mom and dad got into their house the Thursday before we left?) so all is organized now. I think cleaning on Wednesday was harder than hitting up the Disney parks.

Dillon and I returned to work on Thursday and it was nice to have a short week at work, except you have to try and cram 5 days of work into 2!

Mom and dad's house is very nice and they've put a lot of hard work into getting it unpacked and organized. We're all enjoying our extended space now and it's very nice to get to visit with them almost every day. I promised Luke that this Friday he can stay home from school and spend the day with Ma and Peepaw. I know this summer will be nice when we can go over and Luke can play in the pool. He really liked that at Disney so I think that will be nice for him when the weather finally warms up.

Dillon and I spent the past weekend catching up. I did several loads of laundry and we went grocery shopping and picked up necessities. We've started eating *less* meat and I'm researching good vegetarian dinners. So far, we've had chickpea curry, pizza "crusties" with a veggie sauce, and stir fry cauliflower with noodles. I'm not really missing the meat, but I am looking forward to $1 hot dogs from Sonics tonight (I can't be good ALL the time!)

It's been so cold here that we haven't gotten out to do anything fun. Yesterday we stayed in most of the day and tried to do some potty training. Luke is just not having it, AT ALL. He refuses to use the potty and just sits on it and then gets up and puts his pants on, then uses the bathroom. If anyone has tips for how to train a headstrong boy, please let me know. He understands the concept, he just refuses to participate. We're all pretty frustrated with the whole process.

 We're beginning to think of things to do this summer (maybe camping with Luke? Starting out in the back yard and then maybe taking some hikes?) and also starting to plan Luke's 3rd birthday. Wow. It's hard to even write that, I can't believe he'll be 3 this year and no longer a little baby. We'll be having his party in Virginia this year to make sure that all our family can come. I think I'll keep it pretty simple with a cookout at the park. I'm going to boycott a "pinteresting" party just to make it easier.

Since we haven't done anything except try to keep warm, here are some pictures of the snow we had a few weeks ago and some videos of Luke at Disney!

Dillon and I aren't huge Valentine's Day celebrators, but we did partake in some good filet minion and lobster tails (anything to eat good food). It was fun cooking together! Luke had his favorite meal, noodles.

Before...

... and after! ;) And these were my Grandma Estep's china dishes. They had been stored in our basement so when we cleaned last week, I pulled them out, washed them up and decided to use them for our "nicer" occasions. Valentine's seemed like a good time to use them!

Day 4 Disney World - Animal Kingdom

Dillon and I have both been to Disney World in what seems like another lifetime and I *think* we both came before Animal Kingdom was in existence (it might have just opened when I came in my sophomore year of high school). We weren't really sure what to expect today, but after going there today, we both agreed that this is our favorite park on property.

We started off our day at 5:45 this morning getting ready for our breakfast at Chef Mickey's over at the Contemporary Resort. We've used Disney transportation the whole time, but they don't offer it from resort to resort. We drove ourselves to the other resort then caught the bus over to Animal Kingdom. I was amazed at the size of the Contemporary Resort and it's proximity to the Magic Kingdom. It would definitely have perks being that close!

We went up to the fourth floor, got our picture taken and then were seated. Luke was a little cantankerous this morning as I think he woke up tired. It was hard to keep him seated because he constantly wanted to see Mickey and his friends. The breakfast was delicious and we got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald, which was super awesome to see them all at once and not have to wait in a line. We filled up on yummy food (I had a lox and cream cheese bagel and some other goodies) and the we headed off to the bus. Luke's favorite thing about the resort was taking the escalator downstairs.

We got to the Animal Kingdom and it was beautiful. All the greenery and walking through the nice walkways. We meandered our way back to the Africa area where we rode on the safari. I loved the trucks they used and we got to sit in the back where it was really bumpy! Luke didn't like it at first, but then when he realized the animals stayed far away he was really excited to see them. After the ride we went through the trail area where we got to see the animals a little more up close. Then it was onto the train! We rode on it and walked around on the other side and when we got back on Luke wanted to ride again, so we did! By the end of the second train ride, his eyelids were droopy and he was a little fussy. We tucked him into his stroller and by the time we walked away from the stroller pick up, he was out.

Dillon and I were going to have lunch but we decided just to grab a snack and walk around while Luke slept. We went through the Asia area and looked at monkeys and tigers and enjoyed the pretty day. We got to the dinosaur area and Luke was still sleeping so we continued around to the front of the park. By this time Luke had been asleep for almost an hour and a half so we decided just to get back to the hotel. Luke had asked all week to swim in the pool so we figured when he woke up he would be happy to do that. When we got to the bus stop, Luke was awake. :P

We spent the afternoon in the pool (even though I about froze to death) and Luke was so brave and swam with us out into the deeper end, which he wouldn't do last year. He loved to lay on his stomach and kick his legs like he was swimming, so he may be ready for some swim lessons.

This evening we went back over to Disney Springs since it poured rain on Saturday evening when we were there. We stopped at the Lego Store (AGAIN) and bought him some new sets. I think this may be his new favorite toy. We ate at Wolfgang Puck Express and marveled at how big Disney Springs is.

Now we're back at the room packing up to go home tomorrow. We are tired (and broke) but we've had a lot of fun. Luke has been spoiled immensely and I'm afraid it may be hard for him to get back to reality. HA. We'll be leaving early tomorrow morning and I hope we can make it back in the snow. Ta-Ta for now Disney!

Pretty sunrise

Me at 7:15 thinking about our vacations where we slept in until 10:00. HA!

Mickey!

When we left Octonauts was on. Luke wanted to stay and watch instead of going to the park. :p

It was hard to get clear photos because the ride was so bumpy.

Mr. Hippo

Poor buddy was tired at the end of the train ride and only wanted me to snuggle him.

Snack time!

Calling it quits...

After swimming, getting warm under the covers!

And a pretty sunset...

At the Lego store!

He wanted to carry his HUGE bag out of there and was running over everyone leaving the store. We had a minor meltdown because we had to let mom or dad carry the bag.