One Day Closer to Spring

I only title my blog this because Luke says this every evening at dinner. "What's today, mom? Well, that just means we're one day closer to spring..." And this child even likes winter. I think he may say that because he knows his birthday is in the spring, but anyway, I think he states what we all feel. I'm over winter, and it hasn't even been that bad this past week! We all went to school and had a "normal" work week, so I shouldn't complain. I'm just ready for consistent warm tempartures and open windows and birds chirping and being outside.

Charlie starts daycare tomorrow and I can't decide if I'm happy about that or not. I think it will be good for her to get some socialization in. I think it will be good for her to have some independence and be somewhere that she can roam without getting into anything that can hurt her (all that is at daycare is meant for little ones, while being at home she gets in the garbage/in the cabinets where it's not always safe/in the power plugs (even though they're child proofed). But I'm just a little sad about it, too. I worry that she won't understand why we've left her or that we're coming back. We tested it out today at the nursery at church. Every time we've gone to church, I've put her in the baby carrier and let her nap with us in the sanctuary. The past few times, it didn't really work well and she's fidgety and wants to get down. It's time for her to go to the nursery, really it is. And she did well for the most part, but then she realized we had gone and cried a little and then didn't want to play anymore, but when we picked her up she wasn't crying, so that's good, right?! I'm going back to work this week at 4 days a week (maybe full time in the next few months) so I'll still have one day off. That'll be good for appointments and hopefully cleaning the house because it's SO HARD to clean house with Charlie here. I'm basically just trying to make sure she's safe when we're home, ha! So I'm thinking that daycare isn't bad for her, I just want to get to the point where this is her routine.

I do want to document this just for the sake of remembering this moment. I've always had moms with both boys and girls tell me that sometimes it seems that girls are way sassier than their male counterparts. I always laughed and thought "no way that a girl can compare to the energy of a little boy." But I think we had a glimpse of it this weekend. For some reason, Luke and Charlie have been in a power struggle the past few days. Luke wants to know that he's doing everything better than baby and he wants his toys to remain... "HIS." Charlie has a slight obsession with only drinking milk from Luke's cup, so you can take one guess as to how this goes. Yesterday, Charlie had Luke's cup and Luke grabbed it from her hands. I look over to see this tiny little baby girl with a look of fury on her face, she screams out and shoves her brother who is over twice her size. Of course, Luke just looked at her like "what?" but I'm hoping maybe that sass will give her a strong will. Dillon and I didn't even know what to do, we just looked at each other like "What the heck did we just witness?" Our Charlie girl's not going to be walked all over. HA!

Otherwise we're all good. The ebb and flow of life continues and today at church I got a glimpse that things may get easier. Both kids were in children's church, we were able to sit in quietness and enjoy the service without wrestling a little one. I realized that things change without us even realizing it. At some point, the kids become a little more independent. Luke can run off without worrying where we are and enjoy his friends and his own time. I'm not sure what's worse, the children needing you all the time or the fact that there will come a time and they'll think that they don't need you at all. So for now, I'll try to enjoy the moment. It's a good place to be with my little family.

What? Don't you eat your dinner in your underwear too?

Yay for Warm Days!

We honestly haven't had a week where we have had a normal schedule since, oh, around Thanksgiving. I thought that after our trip to Florida we would be able to get back on track, but mother nature had other plans. Monday, Luke's school was closed for MLK day. Tuesday, he stayed home to go tour his new elementary school and then Wednesday everything was all closed down because we had a snow storm! Thursday school was closed again (and I went to work) and then Friday, Luke finally got to go back. Whew! He'd been out for well over a week and it got to the point that he was begging to go back. At least he likes his pre-school!!!

We did have a fairly busy week and I think our favorite part was touring his new school. About a month ago, Luke started talking to me before bedtime about starting kindergarten and he was showing some anxiety about it. He wouldn't know his teacher, he wouldn't know his friends (which is not true, he already has one friend in 1st grade and another friend from his daycare is going to start school with him, too). So when I dropped off shoeboxes from our church at the school, I inquired about doing a tour to make him more comfortable. The sweet guidance counselor found a date that we could come in and she showed us around. We got a tour of the whole school and saw where he will have music classes, art classes, the cafeteria, the computer lab, the STEM area and the kindergarten/1st grade hall. What a nice school it is. I feel so much better about him going and he even said that he wanted to start RIGHT NOW. I had to explain that he still has to be registered and we have to wait until it's his turn. I'm glad that he's so excited and not really scared, it takes a burden off of me knowing he's safe and well cared for, but man. I'm still a little sad.

Wednesday we were snowed/iced in. It's been so flipping cold and I'm officially done with this winter. This weekend was a nice reprieve though. The weather got up to the 60's and we went to the Nature Center this afternoon. We needed to get out of the house because Charlie's just been a fussy little lady and we needed to focus on something else. Even though both kids skipped their nap, I think it was worth it (and at least Charlie went to bed easy tonight. I assume Luke will follow suit).

So tomorrow is back to work. This is actually the last week that I only work 3 days. Next week Charlie will start in daycare with Luke and I'll go back to work for 4 days a week. I'm contemplating going back full time, just because my workload is getting to the point where I may need to do that and the extra money would be nice. For Charlie, though, I think it's time. She's a busy little one and into everything so I think making friends and having a class will be good for her. I'm also hoping that being with Luke for the next few months before he starts school will help her adjust better. I'm so scared about dropping her off next Monday and I don't know if I'm more scared that she'll cry when I leave or that she won't notice I'm gone. Plus, I think my poor mom and dad are heartbroken to not be with her 3 days a week, even if it does wear them out. But I'm ready. I've always said that if I could just have that first year off with them, I'd be ready to go back into the workforce and I'm holding true to that. I like getting out and having some time to myself and thinking about things outside the household. We shall see. I just hope she does ok with the adjustment. I do have her napping in her crib without being rocked to sleep so I'm trying to make this as easy as possible. Still... I think I need good thoughts and prayers our way next week. Ha!

Eatin' Cheetos.

Our Snow!

Dillon loves this little dress on her!

We had a visit with Grammy & Russ!

She got her butt dirty sitting in mud and water. 

What do YOU do in Orlando When You're Broke?!

Ok, so we're not really broke, but an Orlando vacation can run up a tab super quick. 

As you all know, I'm the race director for ZERO's Prostate Cancer awareness 5K in Asheville. It takes a lot of planning and one thing that ZERO offers is a Race Directors' meeting where we can all come together and gather ideas for how to host the best race we can. Last year I didn't get to go because I had just had Charlie and so I wasn't able to make it down. This year, they decided to have it in Orlando again, and Dillon had something like 100 hours of paid time off so we decided to pack up everyone and come down. I'd go to my meetings and then we decided to stay a few extra days. We originally thought about going to some Disney parks, but when I inquired about how much it would cost (and it was over $1200 for 2 days) I decided that just wasn't feasible for us at this time. Since I'm working part time, we have to watch what we spend and sadly we just couldn't swing it. We've kind of avoided the topic with Luke and I don't think he actually realizes that Disney World is right around the corner. Our plan is to come back maybe next year before Charlie turns three and do the parks properly. Spend a week maybe and hit up the new Star Wars area they're building and the new Pandora World in the Animal Kingdom.

So, what do you do when you're not hitting up Disney? Well, there's a lot to keep everyone entertained. The first two days we stayed at a nice resort on Disney property and they had TONS of stuff to do. NINE pools, mini golf, a playground and even an alligator show (where Luke got to hold an actual alligator!) So we've spent a lot of time at the pool this trip. I think one day, Luke swam for maybe 5 hours total? He fell asleep watching tv, which NEVER happens. HA!

Today was too cold to go swimming, so we got to hit up the cheesy gift shops and then went over to Disney Springs where there's more than enough stuff to fill a day. We ate lunch at the TRex Cafe then went to the Star Wars store (where Luke got an awesome new light saber with his money from Peepaw) and we looked around and lots of interesting things. I swear the people watching down here could fill an entire week.

While I'm a little sad we weren't able to Disney hop, it's probably for the best. It's hard enough on older kids to do the gauntlet and I think it may have been a little overwhelming with a baby. Luke would be a trooper, but missing naps for Charlie is just almost suicidal (ha!). Dillon's also been a champ because he took on taking care of both of them and watching Charlie outside the pool and watching Luke while he swam around. It's been nice to get away and get into warmer weather, but I think we're all ready to get home. Even if it is snowing and 30 degrees.

Getting ready for our first day. Me for work and Luke for play!

Dad got them out the door! Yay!

Luke LOVES maps. 

Our first resort was massive.

Charlie had fun! 

We were on the 11th floor of our first hotel. Both kids loved looking out the window to what was down below!

Dillon said this was Luke's "Florida is SO HOT" face.

Holding a gator!

I caught up with them after the gator show.

He fell asleep without prompting. This never happens.

The next day! Charlie went for a walk with me and the ZERO folks and Luke finished up some swimming.

My zero peeps!

Poor Charlie. Her routine has been all off, she's missed all kinds of naps and she's been a grumpy guss most of the trip. She fell asleep while Luke was swimming.

She's still cute though!

Our new hotel has really nice walking trails out behind it. It also has a nice pool and playground.

After the meetings, I got some swimming in too!

Reality picture time. Me annoyed, Luke mad. HA!

Our new place has some interesting decor.

Last night! HAHA

We play the license plate game and we found Manitoba!We also have Alaska and Mexico this trip!

This place was fun. 

LEGO STORE!

It was also a little chilly today. We had to wear jackets.

And the Disney store is outrageous. Decorations are on point.

TRex Restaurant!

It was loud and there were meteor showers and dinosaurs screaming and kids screaming and GAHDKLKJDF! 

They did have cool decorations though. Geodes and dinosaur bones. Very cool.

Charlie was impressed. I think.

So we think this may or may not have been Jeff Goldbloom. He looked like him anyways.

I was able to get Charlie to catnap. I have no idea how.

Tinker toys!

An Asian Fusion restaurant with ducks in the window!

We made it back. I did laundry and we ordered Jimmy Johns for dinner. We're tired.

Pretty typical. Into everything! HA!