Look out Bahamas, we're going on a Disney Cruise!

I am Disney-obsessed and Disney Spoiled. I am well aware of it. No need to point it out. Ryan has never told me No when I've mentioned an urge to plan a trip to Disney. But oddly enough I have been avoiding his request to take a Disney Cruise since we were planning our Honeymoon. I just have this fear that I'll feel claustrophobic and panicked being so far from land and civilization. It's irrational, I know.

Fast forward 5 years to a few weeks ago when I heard on the radio that there are Christmas Themed Disney Cruises sailing from Nov 9-Dec 30 right from Galveston (a mere 45 min drive). I sent Ryan a joking text (after all we are going to WDW in Nov, and went in Feb this year too) saying there were Christmas Disney Cruises from Galveston and that it was something he could "talk me in to".

To which he responded..."then find someone and go."

I'm sorry, WHAT? And then I grabbed my phone and started making plans :)

Why would I be finding someone else to go with you might ask? Well, because Ryan is the primary in the trauma ICU that month and not only will he be working extremely late hours, he already had his vacation dates picked before he even started (and there is no vacation scheduled for Dec). They actually plan your rotations around your vacation so you aren't on an important service when you request vacation. So considering that Ryan is STICU 1 in December he figured the boys and I might as well go do something fun since he basically won't be around at all.

I invited my Dad first since he couldn't make it to WDW with us in Feb, but plans with him fell through and so I asked my mom and she said yes.

We are now reserved on the Disney Wonder for a 7 night Bahamian cruise sailing on Dec 7. Totally Christmas oriented. I could pee with excitement. For reals.

I CAN'T WAIT.

However, for the first time in like, well ever, I feel like a Disney newbie. Cruises are totally different than hitting up the parks, and since I've never done one I've been hitting up other bloggers and pinterest for information. Boy have I learned a LOT!

I know we're going to love it and by the time we go again with Ryan hopefully I'll have more information and planning ideas!

"You my bess fwiend."

While we were out to dinner last weekend, Mason snuggled up to Ryan's arm and told him he was his best friend. It was sweet, but then I had to point out to Ry that just that morning Mason had hugged his sippy cup of rice milk, stating that IT was his best friend.

Sorry Ry, don't take it too personal.

Kemah Boardwalk

I had the pleasure of getting a chance to meet up with my cousin Erin and her family...who actually live about 3 hours from us here in TX. I always find it amusing that Erin's married last name is Shephard (which is my maiden name), but her maiden name is Beckwith, which is my Mom's maiden name. (Erin's dad and my Mom are brother and sister). It always amused me that not only did she end up with the married name of Shephard, but that it is spelled the same as mine was. It's a unique spelling, and NOBODY ever spells it right...I'm sure she's experienced that already!

....and the last time we met up, Aidan & Braydon were just babies:

This time we got to meet up and meet each of our new additions. Mine being Mason, hers being little Bryleigh. They were actually only born a month apart. Since Erin and her husband Bryant were going to be visiting his sister in the next town over we decided to meet up at the Kemah Boardwalk for lots of fun with the kiddos.

The boys had a blast running around together in the splash fountains,

While Mason and Bryleigh got to hang out a bit on the steps.

Then we headed for Stingray Reef where the boys had a blast checking out all the stingrays and fish.

Then they got a chance to hang out in the the shark cage.......

We got some slushies (as we always do, wherever we go ;) )

Then the boys who were tall enough got to ride the airplanes (thanks again for the ticket Bryant!)

It was so amazing to get to catch up with Erin, and hopefully we can make it more frequent now that we're in TX too!!

Library Card

While at the pediatricians office, I was perusing August's copy of Pearland Parent (the same magazine that I recently purchased an Ad in for Stephanie Lawless Photography), and came across a section where local area activities were listed. It appeared there was going to be a Sea Creature Craft time at the public library that night, so I figured why not??

We went and crafted, and the boys had so much fun! Then I got my library card so we could check out some books. 

The boys hung out and read a little bit....

We've been back twice now to exchange our books and this last time I checked out 12. Yes, 12 so that I could have a longer time between trips to the library! Believe it or not our local Library takes me 25-30 mins to get to...and that varies widely on how congested the traffic is. Pearland is HUGE, and we live on one end of the city and the library is on the other!

Disney InfINity

We decided to get Aidan the new Disney video game InfINity for his birthday even though it meant he wouldn't have it on his actual birthday, and I'm glad we did.

He's having so much fun playing and so are we.

Listening to Aidan coach Ryan while he's playing is hilarious. It's so funny in fact, that I had to sit down and type this up while they were playing so that I could make sure I could share with you the things Aidan was saying.

Aidan doesn't stop talking, and he has TONS of suggestions for what Ryan's next move ought to be...along with some words of encouragement.

I've been hearing phrases such as (but not limited to):
"try going this way, dad"
"try slashing it dad
"pick them up and throw them, dad"
"try shooting that rock dad"
"good job dad"
"nice work dad"
"now can you hop out dad?
"Dad! Dad! Can you hop out??
"Just hit "A", then"
"Let me try, OK, Dad? Just hit 'A' "
"That's a mystery guy, dad"
"Throw him in the water dad"
"this is a dark place, dad"
"yay, you got gold!"

He is such a backseat gamer. When I play with him I finally have to give him the controller and tell him to play himself because I can't handle listening to the incessant commentary :)

Snowbabies

Yeah. Powder. 

Awesome.

This is what happened yesterday morning while I was in the shower. My clothes that were folded in that chair were thrown on the floor along with the pillows from the bed. Then the powder was shaken ALL OVER THE ROOM.

The pictures look hazy because there was still so much effing powder floating around in the air!!!

The minute I stepped out of the shower I smelled that baby fresh scent.

And I knew.

It's not the first time Mason has gotten a hold of the powder, but it has never been this bad before. Sigh.

I assume most of you are laughing at this, and rest assured I hate you.

Apple Pie Moonshine?

Oh yeah you heard me, Moonshine.

Genuine bona fide Southern redneck Moonshine.

And we got our hands on a bottle Jar. 

Yup.

The scary part? 

It tastes exactly like my Mom's homemade applesauce.

We've been keeping it in the freezer as instructed and drinking it straight from the jar in tiny sips. We're intimidated by it's unknown "Octane Level".

And Since Ryan's been "sipping it like a bitch"(his words), then you know I'm scared!

Some night I may just get brave and serve it chilled, straight up as a martini. Of course then I may have a serious headache the next day..........

Paper Jam Dipper

Have you ever seen Gravity Falls on The Disney Channel? It's one of those shows that as an adult you can't help but chuckle at the stupid humor that goes right over your kid's head. The show is about twin siblings Dipper & Mabel who spend the summer in a strange town with their Great Uncle (whom they call Grunkle Stan, lol) where lots of mysterious, supernatural stuff goes on.

This episode has become a recent obsession in our house thanks to Comcast On Demand. Yesterday we watched it 4 times in a row. Sigh.

So Dipper discovers his Uncle's copier can make actual copies of people, so he starts copying himself to help out with a plan he has to get a girl he likes to notice him.  There's a paper jam on Dipper #4, and it makes me laugh every. single. time we watch it.

Aidan and Mason also do an incredible impersonation of "Paper Jam Dipper"

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into what passes as entertainment in my world these days.....

Sorry, I couldn't pass up showing you a gnome vomiting a rainbow. Makes me chuckle. Gotta love Gravity Falls.

Stupid Texas Spiders.

So Aidan got a bug bite Last week. First it was small so I assumed he had gotten a mosquito bite on the playground at Preschool. (His teacher swears the skeeters are so big here they can pick you up and fly away!)

As the day progressed he started complaining that it hurt and I could tell it was definitely not a regular ol mosquito bite.

So I put hydrocortizone on it and monitored it. 

Around 430 am Aidan came and woke us up complaining it hurt really bad, and of course it was super swollen and hot. Ryan texted a pic of it to his colleague at work who said give him benadryl and ice it.

As the day went on it actually started to get better so we started to relax a little.

Fast forward 3 days when he wakes up with yet another bite above the first one.

By now I felt like I was a pro at these bites. Benadryl, hydrocortizone and ice.

Oh, and I checked under his bed for a damn spider nest...but there was nothing there. I guess his toddler bed is just so low to the ground they can easily climb up there at night.

He even had his regular well visit with our new pediatrician (Who I love and I'm so glad) a few days later who looked at them and told me the same things Ryan's ER friend had told us. We were doing all the right things, and both bites continued to heal nicely.

Until yesterday (almost a full week later) when the second bite looked like this:

I did the drill....benadryl and itch cream. Even though I thought it was odd that it was sort of "re-flaring" for lack of a better word. It was definitely the same bite...there was NOT a new bite.

As the night progressed it got worse so Ryan's ER friend said to elevate it with the ice and keep the meds up.

He got to ice it on the kitchen counter while I started dinner, then I moved him to the couch to elevate it.

Dr. Mason checked him out and said "You'll be alright" LOL

We iced it last night while we went for our walk and crossed our fingers it would be better today. IT WAS NOT.

This is this morning's pic.

And finally Ryan's ER colleague has instructed me to take him to the pediatrician.

After inspecting it for quite some time and listening to all my stories and what I did, the doctor decided it had all the marks of a bacterial infection, so he put him on Antibiotics for 10 days.

He also has some concern for the knee joint since the infection has the area so swollen and it's right on the side of his knee. If it doesn't get better after 24 hours on the antibiotics he wants Aidan to see a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon...just to make sure the infection didn't/doesn't spread into his knee joint.

Cross your fingers it gets better and we don't need to go see the Orthopedic Dr!

Sloth Party 2014

Aidan has been learning about the Rain Forest at school. So far he's come home with drawings of frogs, and snakes and since he's been learning scissor skills he has cut out a tropical bird of some sort and some sloths.


The day he came home with this tropical bird I noticed there were "M"'s  on the front so I was assuming they'd learned about Macaws. I decided to ask him what the bird was called...hoping for him to tell me "It's a Macaw".

Instead I got this:
"Um, let's name him Uncle Donnie".

Totally random. But there ya have it. This tropical bird that graces our fridge is now named Uncle Donnie.

So then Aidan started coming home with sloth crafts. The first day he told me all about them and insisted his teacher had told them that sloths pee and poop upside down.

He then proceeded to tell me that for his 5th Birthday party next year he wanted a Sloth themed party so that everyone could poop upside down.

I kid you not.

Where does he come up with this stuff?

The next day he came home with yet another Sloth that he proudly cut out by himself and requested that I save it for next year's sloth party. I asked if that was still the plan for Birthday 2014 and he exclaimed, "Yeah a sloth party! We can take turns hanging from the lights in the kitchen"!

I seriously hope he forgets his plan for Sloth Party 2014.

Aidan turns 4

So cliche, but I can't believe Aidan is FOUR!!! Seriously? Where has the time gone? When did my sweet angel baby become replaced with a snarky preschooler who always has the answer?


The weekend that Aidan turned 4 The Houston Zoo happened to be having an event that Friday night where they were staying open for a few hours later than normal. I guess they do this a few times each summer so that guests can enjoy the zoo later in the day as it cools off. They were also having "Christmas in Zoo-ly" that night. Oh, and I had a coupon for $4 off admission for each of us.

 SCORE!!

So we went and yes, it was pretty toasty out, but we still had fun. There's lots of shade and misting fans around the trails so you can stay cool. Plus there are lots of indoor exhibits too.

We were so impressed by this Zoo that Ryan equated it to Disney's Animal Kingdom. We will definitely be getting a membership and going more often when the weather starts to cool off. There's splash pads and jungle gyms and all kinds of fun stuff for the kiddos to do. Oh and it's HUGE! It took us over 2 hours to cover the whole place (compared to oh, say 30 mins for Lehigh Valley Zoo or Utica Zoo), and even then, some of the exhibits we barely lingered at! I imagine you could spend many hours hanging out (we also didn't utilize the playground areas since we were on a mission to see everything and get some food).

The boys' favorite part of the Zoo was a special exhibit that featured life sized animals made out of Legos. Each display had a sign that stated how many hours and legos it required. It was quite impressive.

People walking by while I was taking this photo were "awwwww-ing", and I have to admit, it's a rare "both smiling and looking" photo!!

After discovering that all the restaurants in the Zoo were not remaining open for the extended hours we tried to grab some Tex Mex at a place downtown near the Zoo called El Tiempo, but it was after 8pm (bedtime in our house) and the wait was an hour. Moving on!

We drove out of the city and closer to home to try a Mexican place called Gringo's. Again, over an hour wait, and now after 830pm. We gave up our hope of Tex-Mex and went to a brewery in the same plaza and ended up eating there...finally sitting down somewhere around 9:15pm. Yikes.

Luckily even though they were hot and tired the boys behaved very well, and scarfed their food since they were absolutely starving!!

Mason kicked back to enjoy his lemonade at the restaurant

I had the best fruit themed dinner ever though. Started with a Watermelon Mojito, then a Watermelon feta appetizer salad and then had Pineapple Mahi Mahi for dinner. I love how fresh and tasty the produce is down here!

Sunday rolled around and it was Aidan's 4th Birthday! We had decided to have the other Fellows over for dinner and swimming that night as a sort of small celebration for Aidan. I set presents out the night before for him and then he got to make a Special Birthday Crown and we had cupcakes and treats !!

Aidan even got to have a special Birthday FaceTime with Uncles Ama and Donnie along with a Skype chat with Nani & Poppy!!

We had some dinner before heading over to the pool where we sang Happy Birthday and had cupcakes before going for a swim.

Our little buddy Ethan joined in the pool fun, too!

Aidan had a great birthday and I'm so glad we were able to make it special for him seeing as we are so far from home!! A special thanks to Brittany & James as well as Ethan & Kara for coming over that night to help us celebrate!