Making Waffles with Daddy

Step one. Measure out ingredients.

Step two. Add 1 egg. After playing tug-of-war with the only egg in house because you are a determined 2 year old who wants to do it. I quote, "I do it! I do it! I do it!"

Step three. Stir. This part can take some time when the above mentioned theory is in play.

Step four. Pause for a quick picture

Step five. Daddy's make good waffles. And when they dress their boys in the mornings it always makes for a good photo!!!

Step six. Enjoy, we've worked up quite the appetite! Yum!!

I am finally cool

Or at least that's how I feel. After finally wanting to know what all the fuss was about--and after Tammi sent me the first season (thank you!!)--I decided to start watching Grey's Anatomy. Once I started, it was like a drug, I had to have it. All the time. I watched the first 3 seasons while Brian was deployed. Netflix couldn't get them to me fast enough. Every night after Nolan would go to bed, I would tell myself. "Just one tonight, I'm so tired. Just one episode." Three hours later I was usually crawling into bed. I am just so weak. So the night has arrived, at long last. Tonight's episode will be the first one I watch with the rest of the followers and I know YOU know who you are. It's the first time I won't have to tell people, "NO, DON'T TELL ME, I'M ONLY ON SEASON 2!!" I am still waiting for the phone call that they need a new red head star to be McSteamy's new obsession. I'm just saying, I used to be in drama club...

Makeshift Photo Shoot

Who knew that waiting for the ice cream truck could take forever be so much fun?? We knew the ice cream truck "lady" arrived late Sunday afternoon's, so Nolan and I perched ourselves on the porch to listen and wait. And wait. And wait. Since I'm not the most patient individual I may have gone a little insane had it not been for the absolutely gorgeous weather combined with some quality time with Nolan. Since we were both being so silly I decided to grab my camera and see if I could snap a few photos of my little man's personality on film. Sometimes I love him so much I want to put him in a bowl, cover him with chocolate sauce and chomp on his cuteness. But then Nolan would want a bite, because anything resembling ice cream is his mission. He asks for it all day long. In the morning he gets up, goes to the door and asks if we can sit on the porch and wait for the ice cream truck.

I figured eating ice cream every week day while I was pregnant with Nolan would result in his liking ice cream, but who knew he would be so obsessed??

This is his favorite spot to perch. When he's not waiting for the ice cream truck, he still loves to sit here and watch for birds. And tell me the color and kind of each vehicle that passes (i.e. truck, car). His favorite, of course, are the emergency vehicles.

Nolan, you are my sunshine. My only sunshine, you make me happy....Someone just try to tell me there aren't miracles...

We got too impatient sitting and waiting. Standing up sometimes speeds things along. I couldn't decide which one of these were my favorites, so it's your lucky day, you get both!!And just in case you truly didn't believe me about how excited Nolan gets when hears the ice cream truck, you can watch this clip. I'm not really sure what he's doing at the end, but I think he may have been "talking on the phone" to the girl across the street...um, who ironically wasn't outside at the time, but he did keep asking me if she wanted ice cream.

Alex's 1st Birthday Party

Saturday we had the privilege of being invited to Alex's 1st Bday party at the zoo!! It was such a great idea on Tara and Rob's part and seriously a huge hit with the kids. There was pizza, veggies, fruit and cupakes. And of course there were many bags of food for the kids to feed to the animals. I thought I would have to drag Nolan away, but on the flip side he was soooo exhausted by the time we left he actually quickly agreed. Happy Birthday, sweet Alex, your smile is contagious and lights up a room (or a zoo)!!

Here's the fam, Alex, Tara and Rob:

Here's Alex eating his cake, yummy! The party, as a group. It's pretty much a miracle that all the kids stayed still for the full 10 seconds we asked them to in order to flash some pics.

Here's Rob taking the kids to see the animals.

And here's my big flirt. I told him he was a stud with his new haircut! The first pic is Nolan and Lilly. This is Jenna, Nolan and Ella.

Dinner "playdate"

Over the last few months we have gotten to know Staci and Dan, who we met through Tara and Rob. They have 3 adorable boys, so their house is pretty much Nolan's definition of Disney world. Which is my definition of heaven. Last week they invited some folks over for dinner (yummy lasagna) and the adults had a little break while the kiddos burned off some steam and had lots of fun. Staci also had us over Saturday after dinner, just to hang out, and though I don't have any pictures I just have to say thank you! Watching Nolan with her two oldest, Cameron and Dylan, was sweet. The three of them were prowling the backyard, flashlight in hand, on some kind of mission and Nolan was just enthralled. When it was time to leave (past all of the boys' bedtimes), Nolan was so sad he saw Staci at the front door waving and was crying/screaming, "My Staci!! My Staci, I want my Staci!" Here are some pics from the dinner at their place!

"Baby" Alex, whose 1st birthday was this past Friday. He is such a cutie patootie!

I know these pics are fuzzy, I took them through the screen. But it was funny and cute, Rob took all the kids (brave man) outside to play hide and seek. Nolan was the youngest out there and didn't quite grasp the full concept. While he was hiding he would stand up and say,"here I am!!!" Which is why he got tagged and so Rob was helping him count and then find the other kiddos. Rob was as tired as the kids when they came inside!

We only managed to get the kids inside by way of cupcakes. Tara made them, but left the frosting off, so the kids got to decorate their own. Nolan making his. He asked for a little help after a while.

The kids chowing down on their master pieces!

Plan B-For Birmingham

A couple weeks ago we were so excited because we were meeting Amanda, Ron and "baby" Hayden (our good friends from Cheyenne) in Nashville. It's a long story as to why we were meeting them there, but we were thrilled. We planned on dining out somewhere cool and trendy and then sharing a hotel where we planned on staying up late catching up on lost time, playing games and reminiscing. Well, mother nature had other ideas and their plane was delayed just enough that things didn't work out. Amanda and I were both trying not to cry over the phone, but we figured it was out of our hands and just wasn't meant to be. Still a bummer, though. Anyway, when we got the phone call from them we were about half way to Nashville, in Birmingham, so we decided to do something fun anyway and went to the zoo. Nolan was ecstatic and had a blast. We're still so sad we didn't get to see the Hubbard's, but now Brian and I are even more determined to make a trip to good old Cheyenne! Here's a glimpse at our afternoon at the zoo.

Brushing the goats:Feeding the birds. This was one of the highlights to Nolan's day.

I love the look on Brian's face, like "Am I really doing this?" Luckily I still had the camera when I went down the slide! The play ground was really cool, Nolan loved it, of course!The waterfall (with turtles swimming behind us):And last but not least, the camel ride. When Nolan kept asking if he could ride, we agreed. He loved it!! We let him pick who rode with him and he chose Daddy, as you can see. But he waved at me the whole time and it was soooo sweet. You can see in the pic, his little hand waving at his momma!

Another HUGE Thanks!

Okay, so I know everyone's probably a bit tired of the "cruise" posts. I mean, really, 4 posts? But, I wanted to just send a big heartfelt thank you to Grandma & Grandpa M again. The peace of mind we felt during our vacation was the #1 reason were able to relax and enjoy ourselves, and we truly did! And on top of that you spoiled us with dinners and all kinds clothes and goodies for Nolan. We're just so blessed and so thankful!!!! We love you!

Day 4, Last Full day at Sea

We headed to breakfast on this almost final day and we were very excited to at last get a window seat! We also ended up sitting with two people from Missouri, who lived near Cape Girardeau, where I attended college. We noticed some clouds but put on our swim gear and headed to get some rays anyway. At first we thought we might be in trouble, because it started drizzling on us. Then, as if magically, it cleared up and the sun was beating down and we were soaking up the rays. After a couple hours we figured we were fair skinned enough that we had better get out of the sun. No sooner had we changed back into clothes, but the sky opened up and it stormed bad for pretty much the rest of the day until the sun was getting ready to set.

Brian and I at breakfast:

These pictures are hilarious, because it wasn't until later when we were going through pictures that Bri and I realized we had taken the same shots of our feet, unbeknownst to the other person. I swear sometimes he lives in my head!!

Here's a picture of us with the storm clouds rolling in. Or we were rolling into them, I'm not really sure. Here's a pic of the storm, this was as close to outside without getting myself or the camera wet that I could get.

Things you can do while you're at sea and there's a bad storm.

1. Gamble (if you're a big chicken like me, you'll prefer penny slots).

2. Sip hot cocoa and watch in wonder as a group of teenagers run through the rain. The wonder part being, are they not freezing? And how are they running without falling flat on their tooshes?

3. One last nap. Sorry, no pictures.

4. Revel in the beauty of the water right after a good storm.

This was our dinner group the last night. We went to a show right before dinner and then saw the best comedian after dinner. Then we headed over to the karaoke bar. Yep, that's right, karaoke EVERY NIGHT. One might wonder how Brian ever managed to get me off of the boat to come home (again with the adorable toddler, otherwise I might still be on the boat singing and dancing my nights away). Anyway, our table was by far the coolest table in the place!Here's the guys singing. And yes, that's Brian pole dancing with the microphone stand. Back away ladies, he is all MINE!And this. This is how we felt on the drive home. Boo, it's all over.

Day 3, Mexico

Saturday morning when we awoke, we were in Cozumel, Mexico!! It was actually drizzling when we were pulling into the port, but it cleared up and was gorgeous (and HOT) before we even left the ship. We signed up for a shore excursion, a beach deluxe day. It included a ride on a chartered bus (with other people from our cruise) to a beach resort that had all you could eat & drink, a pool, beach chairs and umbrellas, kayak's, a water trampoline, a climbing wall in the water and a whole section for kids that we didn't even see. There were also things you could rent additionally, like jet ski's. We immediately found some prime lounging chairs on the beach and set out to RELAX in a big way. After lunch we found our way to the kayak's and had a blast on one of those. We kayaked out to the climbing tower and we both tried our hand at that. With the waves it's sooo much harder than it looks, and I didn't quite make it, but Brian got to the top and jumped/slid into the water. When we got back to the port area we did some more shopping and then headed to the little Senor Frogs that was hopping! We stayed there until we had to board the ship, where we proceeded to our room for a much needed siesta! It was an early night that evening, but it was such a fabulous time.

This was right as we got off the boat, heading towards Cozumel.

On the bus on our way to the beach. The people who snapped this shot turned out to be a family from Niceville (our neck of woods)!

Pina colada's can be art, too!Brian with his pina colada!My self portrait, I know I look like a goober, but this pic captures how I pretty much never wanted to leave here (except to get back to that adorable boy who tugged at my heart strings every day).The climbing tower (tall white blob) and the water trampoline. This is why we opted to kayak out there. I would have loved closer pics, but was way too scared to bring the camera in the kayak with us!This is where we ate lunch. I love this picture because of the view of the water. See how there are two shades of blue? It's seriously unreal to me how gorgeous it is!This is the congo line at Senor Frogs. We showed up right as they were starting and didn't really know what it was, but we were ready to boogy. Well, as you go in the congo line, dancing, you stop and they give you tequila. It was definitely a little bit crazy, but how often could I say we get the chance to do that? This was a big part of the reason we needed a nap when we got back on the boat. One last picture of the two of us before we had to bid farewell to Mexico. Oh how we love thee.