I'll give you a heads up right here that this may be a bit of a long post so if you're in a hurry and just stopping by for a quick skim you may want to wander back over later when you have time to sit down and read.
First of all, a belated Merry Christmas to you and yours! I hope that you all were able to enjoy many of the kind of beautiful moments that create warm and wonderful memories! I don't tend to do "update" posts but since it's been awhile once again I thought I'd share a brief update of where we've been lately and what we've been up to.
Lancelot, Little Lady and myself all battled colds for most of the month of December with it finally tapering off just in time for Christmas and mostly gone for New Years. Lancelot has had it the hardest with the cold starting right in the beginning of the month and lasting right til the end. It also meant that for the last month this mommy has gotten precious little sleep. I find that difficult to deal with since my fibromyalgia really flares up when sleep is fleeting but there's not much a mom can do when her kids are calling or crying every hour. I'm hoping I can catch up soon with some good solid slumber. If not I am considering weaning Lancelot of night nursing so that I can squeeze in a little more sleep.
Christmas was a relatively quiet affair this year with the battle of colds and my brother being away leaving only me and my family available for the gathering with my parents. My dad also came down with potential food poisoning Christmas Day so rather than our tradition of spending time at my parents cabin for Christmas and doing a whole sleepover we just spent the day at their house. Despite all that it was a very good Christmas though. We celebrated Lancelot's first Christmas as a family on the 23rd with our usual traditions of one gift of pajamas the night before then stockings, waffle breakfast, the Christmas story and presents that morning. We spent the rest of the day playing with the kids, setting up their new toys (their big gifts were a sled and a wagon to share and Little Lady LOVED pulling her brother around) and just relaxing.
On the 24th we had a gathering at my mom's parents and it was really nice this year. Sometimes I find these gatherings quite loud, crowded, exhausting and overwhelming but this year was an exception.
On the 25th we had Christmas with my parents and by the 26th, although the kids colds were starting to subside, I was feeling even more miserable. We spent the day trying to doctor ourselves amidst packing and cleaning because the next day was when the party really started!
On the 27th we flew to Florida with my parents for ten days at my parents condo as a family. Despite a VERY long day (due to the heightened security measures after that attempted terrorist attack in the states) the kids did AMAZING! I was so impressed with how well they handled things like hours in security lines and getting to the condo super late. Little Lady even got patted down! It was actually pretty adorable. Because of the heightened security absolutely everybody was getting searched, even the babies (although all they really did to Lancelot was pat his bum and his tummy once), so Little Lady had to stand with arms and legs spread while the security guard frisked her. Just the thought of it makes me laugh! This little miniature sweetheart dressed head to toe in pink, pigtails, and sparkly accessories taking her job of standing still super seriously while she is searched by this big security guard! They even made her lift her feet to check the soles of her socks. It was actually quite adorable!
Here are a few highlights from the trip:
-Our first full day there we decided to spend just a couple hours in the evening scoping out the Magic Kingdom. It worked out perfectly. We arrived just in time for their parade where we got to see a bunch of Little Lady's favourite characters, then we went to see Cinderella's castle and Little Lady was absolutely in awe as we watched the sun set and turn the castle pretty shades of pink and purple! After we played at Pooh's house which was completely enchanting and returned to the castle just in time to see Cinderella, Mickey, and Minnie come out and then to use our imaginations to help light up the entire castle. It was incredibly magical, even for me! The look on Little Lady's face was priceless. To her it was all real. Cinderbella (the way she say it!) was really Cinderella and really lived there in that castle. It was pretty incredible to see.
-Our second day there we went to Epcot. The crowds were insane and it was cold so it wasn't really worth it....except for the joy of just spending the day together. We found this quiet spot in this little courtyard outside some hidden bathrooms and Little Lady had a blast running around with us and giving us concerts. It was pretty special.
-Our third day we went to Sea World. Again the crowds were nuts, so much so that they actually shut the park down for a couple hours, and it was cold so we only spent a very short time there. But we were SO glad we had. We saw the baby dolphin's and then had supper right beside the killer whale tank and had a private showing of the whales and saw them up close. Later we walked through the stingray and shark areas and then saw the big "Miracles" killer whale show. Little Lady fell completely head over heels in love. She couldn't get enough of them and insisted the one thing she wanted was to bring home a whale. So she sweet talked her daddy into buying her one as big as she is and she's been snuggling that thing ever since. I have to admit the "Miracles" show was so beautiful that I almost cried!
-On New Years Eve my brother, his girlfriend, and my parents decided to go to Busch Gardens which is a roller coaster park. We would have gone but since it is mostly stuff our kids couldn't do and it was about a two hour drive from where we were we decided to take the day off. Plus we decided the kids, especially Lancelot, could really use the day off. We had such a relaxing time. We went to Wall-Mart and bought a couple games we could play as a family then had a blast getting our buts kicked by Little Lady in "Uno Moo". After the kids were in bed Prince Charming and I watched a movie, made our New Years Resolutions, and then everyone else got home just in time to toast in the New Year together!
-New Years Day was cloudy, rainy, and freezing but we had dinner reservations at this up-scale African restaurant in the Animal Kingdom for my brothers girlfriends birthday and she really wanted to be in the Magic Kingdom for her birthday so we all went for a few hours anyway. It actually worked out really well. My parents took Lancelot into Pinnochio's Village restaurant so he could stay warm while we walked around with Little Lady. Since it was cold the lines were short and even though we were only there a couple hours we got to do a lot. Little Lady was ecstatic to meet both Mickey and Minnie, tour their houses, and then later to get to sit on her favourite colour (pink) seat at the Mad Hatter Tea Party ride, the Dumbo ride, AND the carousel. Dinner was pretty amazing as well...even for the kids. Little Lady's dessert was an entire mini fondue!
-We took both the second and third off from theme parks and just relaxed at the condo. On the second my parents took the kids for a few hours while we went to this incredible Frozen Yogurt place and out to a movie. On the third we did a little shopping and said goodbye to my brother and girlfriend who headed back early.
-On our final full day there we decided to do the Magic Kingdom again because Little Lady loved it SO much and there was a lot she still hadn't had the chance to do there. Again things worked out almost magically. When we arrived in the park Lancelot was hungry for lunch and Little Lady knew that the first place she wanted to go was this area where they did really elaborate face paint. She had seen it the last time we were there but we hadn't had time. So Prince Charming took Little Lady for her face paint and I took Lancelot to Pinnochio's village again. It was PACKED but just as I walked in this family left a corner table and I got this perfect booth table in a back corner that was quieter and a little more removed so I could easily feed Lancelot and even nurse him. After Little Lady got a beautiful pink sparkly swan painted on her face they also came for lunch and by the time we were done we just popped Lancelot in the stroller and he promptly fell asleep! He slept through the entire rest of the afternoon while we took Little Lady on "It's a Small World", the tea party ride, through toon town, and to see three of the princesses. That was one of my all time favourite moments. She is normally a bit shy but the second those princesses spoke to her she lit up brighter than the sun. She gave them huge hugs and looked like she was on top of the world. It was a pretty magical moment to watch as a mommy. Then just before we left the park for supper we saw Pook and Tigger at Pooh's house! Lancelot absolutely ADORED Pooh and couldn't stop kissing him and grinning. In fact, on the plane ride home a teenage girl was holding a stuffed Pooh and Lancelot almost jumped out of my arms for it. He thought Pooh was pretty great. Then we magically got reservations at the Grand Floridian resort for supper and had dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming, and her stepmother and stepsisters. Little Lady loved it. She adores Cinderella and later said that "Cinderbella is going to be my favourite for QUITE awhile!". I was surprised how much she remembers from the Cinderella story and movie. She refused to speak to the stepmother and stepsisters for the longest time because they had been mean to Cinderella! On our walk to the van after supper she was glowing and talking about her evening when she said "When Jesus gave me to you I was VERY happy!" My heart just melted.
Anyway, we had a very magical vacation and now we are home and EXHAUSTED! But even so we feel very happy and blessed to have had that opportunity.
Now here is a quick update on Lancelot:
On December 3rd he got his first tooth, an eye tooth and it stuck around til December 27th. Since then it's been just hovering there under the surface. It's quite annoying because he is obviously bothered by it and nothing does more to than give him very temporary relief. I don't remember Little Lady's teeth ever coming out for that long and then going back in again.
He also started some new things in the last week. He has been sitting up on his own for a couple months and also started pulling himself up awhile ago and now he sometimes takes steps when we hold his hands! He also tried to crawl but he hasn't quite got the hang of that yet.
And this last week it sounds like he is starting to try some words! We think he may be trying to say "ha" for "hi", "Aaszi" for his sisters name (she also said it this way as a baby), "baba" for bottle, "muma"for mommy, and possibly "bobpa" for "pappa". It's always hard to tell if they really know what they are saying or if it's just fluke but he definitely does try to communicate things and he is definitely getting better at it!
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