Thanksgiving....Just the 4 of Us

Since we just got home from Disney on Sunday and I met Gayla halfway between Atlanta and Nashville on Monday morning to pick up Rane there was absolutely no way the four of us were getting back in that van to go anywhere for Thanksgiving! My Dad also had to work the day after Thanksgiving so my parents couldn't come down either. Spencer and I talked a couple of weeks earlier and said how weird it was going to be to be without family for the first time on a major holiday and we thought we might get a little lonely. However, with the fast paced week we had last week, all the car rides and fatigue from traveling we were actually very thankful to just have this week to spend with each other and rest! We all slept in (until 7 a.m.) each morning, except for Ella-Ann, who went to bed at 6:30 p.m. most nights and would sleep until 7:30 a.m.! Poor girl, she still hasn't recovered from Disney! On Thanksgiving day I made all the sides and the pumpkin pie for dessert but I didn't feel like dealing with a turkey so we bought a huge pre-cooked breast from the grocery store. Yes, we did go vegetarian but we couldn't skip out on turkey for Thanksgiving! We played Christmas music, the kids danced around the house all day, we baked and cooked together, had a super fancy table (according to Ella-Ann), and really enjoyed our time together. I was so excited because all of the food turned out great and all of us ate a ton! What warmed my heart the most was when Ella-Ann said, "Mommy, this food is SO good! You did such a good job! I love it!" Ahhhh....words that rarely come out of the mouth of my picky eater! Rane, on the other hand, demonstrated his love of the food I cooked by devouring a massive plate full and eating a large piece of pumpkin pie...his first! It was wonderful!

On Black Friday I ventured out with both kids (Spencer worked that morning) to Nordstrom Rack, Toys R Us and TJ Maxx in hopes of snagging some good bargains, which I did not but bought a few items anyway. I was pleasantly surprised by how there were no crowds, no lines for me to wait in and no crazy people! The kids did well too and we had a good time. Ella-Ann and I watched "Beauty and the Beast" that afternoon while Rane slept and Spencer visited with his cousin, Chad, who was in town for the holiday. It was the first time she watched it and she cried and cried when the Beast was near death after the town tried to kill him. It was so hard to contain my laughter....it was too cute! We also watched a Christmas episode, which we've seen before, of Disney World getting decorated. It was fun to watch that with her because since we just got back she recognized all the decorations, trees and sights around the parks. She loved it!

We mainly just hung out around the house the entire time. On Saturday I worked on getting a good Christmas card picture of the kids and Ella-Ann helped me decorate the house, which was fun. However, I am super close to turning around and putting it all back up in the boxes because Rane is already driving us nuts with continuously touching everything in sight! I only have a few "up high" places to put decorations so Spencer and I have said, "NO RANE!" at least 50 times this afternoon! The tree and presents should be quite fun with him. We also played outside in the backyard that afternoon. It was cool and sunny, a perfect fall day. Spencer raked leaves for the kids to play in. It was Rane's first time and he kept saying, "Uh-oh," to Ella-Ann throwing the leaves up in the air and having them go everywhere! He is such a neat freak!

My little helpers on Thanksgiving morning!

For many months now Rane takes some of my kitchen gadgets out of a cabinet and gets inside. Every so often he will pop his head out and yell "BOO!"

Spencer carving the turkey.

Every time we eat by candlelight Ella-Ann goes crazy. She thinks it is so much fun! I used all of our good serving trays, bowls and utensils, along with cloth napkins with napkin rings even if it was just us 4!

Ella-Ann did a fantastic job helping me bake the pumpkin pie. The best part was she actually ate it!

On Friday afternoon I took the kids to Baskin Robins for some free ice cream. I signed the four of us up to be members of their birthday club so we got a free scoop of ice cream on our birthday. I even got a coupon for Spencer's half birthday so Rane got a scoop too! Ella-Ann didn't speak a single word until her chocolate fudge ice cream was gone!

Rane looked so handsome and so old in his outfit I put on him for our Christmas card this morning!

Playing outside Saturday afternoon.

Disney.....Ella-Ann Style

This year we did Disney very differently, with Ella-Ann in tow and me being 7.5 months pregnant. I have decided this was not a good combination! We had a fantastic time, it was just a lot slower paced and more relaxed, even though I am completely exhausted from lack of sleep all week! FYI, we will never, ever again share a hotel room with a kid or any kid for that matter!

We drove to Nashville last weekend to hand over Rane to Gary and Gayla. There was no way we would be taking him along for the trip! I have had many comments as to why we wouldn't even consider taking him and after taking my 5-year-old daughter and now after this trip Spencer and I have decided that even she wasn't really ready and will not be going back for a while! Anyway, we came home Sunday and I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing for Ella-Ann's birthday celebration at school on Monday. Spencer and I picked her up after lunch at school that day and headed straight to Orlando. However, before we even drove through downtown Atlanta I was holding a bag for Ella-Ann to throw up into! This is not the first time we have started a trip with Ella-Ann vomiting before leaving the city! She has a sensitive stomach when it comes to riding in a car and since she just ate a big cupcake before riding in one her belly couldn't handle it. After that she was great and we had a very nice, easy trip down.

We woke up bright and early Tuesday morning, Ella-Ann's birthday, and she was ready to rock. We gave her a present that morning, which was a monogrammed Minnie Mouse shirt for her to wear that day in the Magic Kingdom. Once we arrived at the gate she was already overwhelmed with all the sights. She wore a pin all day that said "Happy Birthday Ella-Ann" so every cast member we passed, and Disney character too, would wish her a Happy Birthday. It was great! I kept asking Ella-Ann if she was having a good time and enjoying herself because she was soooo solemn. I had to keep reminding myself that she is so much like Spencer, in that she is an observer and likes to take things in. She does get excited, but things that I normally get pumped about, like being in Disney, doesn't really come out in Ella-Ann. I kept expecting her to bust out a "Look Mommy!" or a "This is SO MUCH FUN!" but we never got it. It was kinda hard but I know she was completely exhausted by 1 p.m. because we had gone to bed late and gotten up super early and our little princess needs her beauty sleep...always. The park wasn't majorly crowed so we rode all the rides that we knew she would enjoy: Dumbo, Peter Pan, Snow White, Haunted Mansion, Winnie the Pooh, Speedway cars, etc. Her favorite, by far, and what we rode over and over again was Peter Pan. She loved it. Spencer put her on Big Thunder Mountain with him and she was extremely afraid and hated it; however, she didn't cry so I was proud! We fell into the Disney trap and bought Ella-Ann several things for her birthday but it was worth it....of course!

We stayed on property at the Dolphin, which is between Hollywood Studios and Epcot so that evening we ate at a Mediterranean restaurant that we like and the staff sang "Happy Birthday" to Ella-Ann. It was an early night to say the least!

Wednesday my parents arrived and they were thrilled to be in Disney for the first time with Ella-Ann. She was still pretty tired all day on Wednesday (another early morning), but having Mimi and Grandpa there helped and she rallied. We had fabulous meals that day and spent most of our time at the Magic Kingdom again.

Thursday was much better because Ella-Ann took a nap and Spencer and her spent the afternoon at the pool (Mom and I went to the outlet mall and Dad napped). That morning we went to Hollywood Studios and caught the Beauty and the Beast show and rode a few rides. Ella-Ann wasn't impressed with that park, which we knew she wouldn't, plus she was tired so we headed back to the hotel after lunch. That morning we drove over to the Contemporary hotel for a character breakfast at Chef Mickeys. She LOVED that! We got several autographs in her autograph book and she was so happy to finally meet Minnie Mouse (her current favorite). She wasn't afraid of the characters and kept wanting them to come back to our table. The only characters she did not like and would shy away from were Cinderella's mean stepsisters. Unfortunately we ran into them a few times and Ella-Ann seemed to be their target. She was wearing her Ariel tutu that we got her on her birthday during one of the parades and as they walked passed her one of them stopped and as she fluffed her tutu said, "You look like a cupcake!" Ella-Ann has very thin skin and doesn't understand acting/joking/teasing so I knew she'd be upset but she handled it well. Anyway, back to breakfast. It was a great breakfast and I never in my life thought I'd see rice krispie treats, brownies, and veggie lasagna on a breakfast buffet, let alone indulge in it (which I happily did)....only in Disney! Ella-Ann and I both got a cupcake with candles brought to our table since it is our "birthday week" so we ate cupcakes for breakfast too! Good thing I had the pregnancy eating excuse! That evening we had another character dinner at Garden Grove, which was at the Swan, the sister hotel to the Dolphin. Ella-Ann was excited to see Pluto and Goofy again and we had a fantastic Mediterranean dinner.

Friday was my birthday and my body was done with Disney and I was incredibly exhausted from all the going and doing but what did me in was the lack of sleep because of Ella-Ann being in our room at night. She had the sniffles and they would last for like an hour at a time in the middle of the night, plus she'd want water, have to potty, have a bad dream, etc. I was up all night with that kid every night. If someone were to ask me if I could have anything for my birthday I would have said a good night's sleep! I was beyond overjoyed when my dear husband came booming into our hotel room (it connected to my parent's room at least) and said he upgraded us to a suite for our last two nights so Ella-Ann could have her own bedroom and I could finally get some sleep on our vacay! I couldn't believe it! This was the best birthday present ever! While Spencer quickly loaded up all of our luggage Mom, Dad, Ella-Ann and I headed over to Epcot's Norway for breakfast with the princesses. Ella-Ann couldn't wait to meet them, which made all of us really excited. We had another amazing breakfast, complete with birthday cupcakes, and Ella-Ann got to meet all her favorite gals, get their autographs and have her picture made with them. They had a princess parade so all the little boys and girls paraded around the restaurant behind various princesses while music played. So cute! We rode a few rides at Epcot and, after admitting I was in horrible pain from walking, we decided to go back to the hotel after lunch. We hung out at the pool all afternoon and walked to Epcot for my birthday dinner at France, which is my favorite country. I enjoyed watching several young, attractive French men sing me "Happy Birthday!" We all enjoyed a very good chocolate mousse cake! After we put Ella-Ann to bed that night Mom and Dad came over to our room and we played a dice game, Left Right Center, which was so much fun! Mom and Dad took our money but we got them back on Saturday evening!

Saturday was our last day in Disney so we lived it up. I was feeling better and was able to trek around the parks fairly well. That morning we went to Animal Kingdom and after riding a few rides, going on a safari and seeing some animals we went to the Magic Kingdom one last time so Ella-Ann could really enjoy herself. We rode Peter Pan for the umpteenth time and that evening we had dinner in Cinderella's castle at The Royal Table. My parents had bought Ella-Ann a Minnie Mouse costume that day so she wore that to dinner. There were so many little girls dressed as princesses and it was adorable! It was really neat to actually be in the castle and overlooking parts of the Magic Kingdom. They called our name to head up to the restaurant and asked for "Lady Ella-Ann," which made Ella-Ann's day! It was all very nice and was a fun experience for all of us. After we were seated our waiter handed the princesses at the table magic wands and the princes swords. Ella-Ann loved that and she loved the confetti at the table that was shaped like Cinderella's carriage. All the princesses came around to the tables so Ella-Ann got her picture taken with them again. We had really good food and ANOTHER chocolate mousse cake for the birthday girls! We blew out our candles together and enjoyed more dessert! When we left the Magic Kingdom it was dark so Ella-Ann finally got to see the castle and Main Street USA lit up. She was in awe and so were the rest of us, even though we've seen it so many times....it never fails to disappoint. It is spectacular. On the car ride back to our hotel Ella-Ann kept saying in her sad voice that she didn't want to go home, didn't want to leave Disney and didn't want to wake up tomorrow and go back to Atlanta. I knew she thoroughly enjoyed herself and the experience of Disney. It was neat to be there with her and I know it brought back a lot of fond memories for my parents who took me at her age and every year thereafter for that matter! It was an awesome vacation but we missed Baby Rane like crazy and Spencer and I were glad to get home!

I took a crazy amount of pictures so click HERE to view them all.

Our first picture on Main Street USA.

Admiring herself after we bought the Cinderella crown and she was sprinkled with the pixie dust!

Getting ready to watch Mickey's Philhermagic, which she left in tears! She hated the 3D flying objects!

Sitting in one of Minnie's chairs in Minnie's house.

The mean stepsister telling her she looks like a cupcake. Poor Ella-Ann, she has her had still up from waving!

One of her two favorite characters, Minnie Mouse. The other is Cinderella.

One of the characters from "Toy Story" gave her a hug but she didn't really care for that!

Breakfast at Chef Mickey's.

Riding Pirates of the Carribean.

Ella-Ann wanted the carraige confetti in the picture.

Blowing out our candles at the Royal Table.

The end!

Mini Celebration

While we were in Nashville this weekend we had a mini birthday celebration for Ella-Ann with the Jensens. We hadn't seen Zach, Mandy and the boys since August so it was high time for a visit! Ella-Ann was so excited to play with them and couldn't wait to get to their house on Friday afternoon. Gayla made cupcakes and Ella-Ann got to open her gifts. It was a very fun surprise for her and she got several fun things. I absolutely, positively cannot believe our first baby is going to be 5 on the 16th!

Cupcake #1 on Saturday.

Waiting patiently to tear into her presents!

The boys had to be in the mix as well!

Cupcake #2 after we sang "Happy Birthday."

Girly Fun

I am so excited to be having a girl! I love looking at all the girly stuff when I shop and I am automatically drawn to the girls' side of a clothing store....poor Rane! I enjoy shopping for babies in general but there is something special about a baby girl. This is why I was so excited to attend a shower for Megan and I Tuesday morning. Our dear friends, Jana, Andria and Ruth, kindly threw a baby girl shower for the two of us! Megan is also having a girl, she has 2 boys, and is due in 3 weeks. She is over the moon about a baby girl and oooohs and ahhhs over all the baby girl gear more than I do! I was also thrilled that my Mom was here for the shower! She drove down on Sunday and leaves on Wednesday so it meant a lot to me for her to be here for the shower and she got to meet all of my friends that I talk about so often!

After I dropped Rane off at his "school" this morning Mom and I headed over to Ruth's house. I was looking forward to seeing everyone and I really wanted to see Jana since I hadn't seen her since Labor Day. I didn't dare tell Ella-Ann where I was going and what I'd be doing because she would cry her eyes out if she knew she were missing out on seeing all of her buddies, especially Mara Kate.

The girls had a wonderful spread of food for everyone, tea and coffee. It was all fabulous! Several of our friends came and it was so nice to feel so loved! Megan and I received lovely gifts, everything from blankets, to bibs, to clothing. I cannot wait for our baby girls to get here so we can dress them up and show them off!

We also had a great time with Mom while she was here. On Sunday afternoon we laid low around the house. Monday morning Mom, Rane and I went to Whole Foods for our early bird special then hit up the DeKalb Farmer's Market for some food shopping. That evening we all went to Neuvo Laredo Cantina for dinner....Mom and I's favorite! I have been craving it for quite some time so I was really excited to chow down! Tuesday morning was the shower and that afternoon Ella-Ann had gymnastics. The kids love having their Mimi here and both of them are attached to her leg all waking hours! Mom was such a big help to me while she was here, as usual!

Megan opening gifts....

Megan and I with our hostesses: Ruth, Jana and Andria.

Megan and I.

All the fantastic food we ate!

Mom and I.

I got to hold little Evelyn for a few minutes. She's gotten so big!

Getting ready to rummage through all the gifts. As you can see, Rane made himself right at home on a gift, of course!

Halloween Night

Last night we had a blast going trick-or-treating in our old stomping ground, the Virginia-Highlands. Even if we aren't living in the area we still go trick-or-treating there, as do many other families. I have wrote about our adventures in the Highlands and how much fun it is so I will not repeat myself this year! Houses are decorated like crazy, people are everywhere, music is going, alcohol is being consumed and every single person is having fun. This year Rane was able to somewhat keep up with Ella-Ann and walked practically the entire time we were out. He was exhausted after an hour but Ella-Ann was still going strong and was not happy about heading back to the car. I borrowed a Mickey Mouse costume from my friend, Janelle, for Rane that her son wore last year and Ella-Ann was a fairy. Rane looked so cute in the costume! I laughed so hard at him after I put him in Ella-Ann's black tights! He didn't know what to think of having tights on his legs and, thankfully, he didn't mind a bit and loved wearing the costume. I didn't have any ears for him but the costume came with little yellow booties and white gloves, which is wore for pictures but walked around in shoes to trick-or-treat. Ella-Ann looked very cute as well and she loved wearing her costume too.

The very first house Spencer walked the kids up to Rane face planted himself on the sidewalk. The couple had their house decorated to the nines and they had a motion-activated hand that would fall down the steps as kids were going up and down the steps. I didn't see it moving until I saw Rane freeze and absolutely freak out over the hand! He was screaming his head off and could not be comforted! By then another little boy a little older than him dressed in a big Thomas the Train costume saw the hand, then saw Rane and he started freaking out as well! The parents had to remove his costume so they could pick him up! Oh it was hilarious! Spencer and I laughed and laughed and laughed! After that incident we thought Rane wouldn't want to go to other houses but he rallied and really got the hang of it quickly. He would walk up to the houses with Spencer or I, hold up his basket, say "tick teeeet," grab some candy and say, "byeeeeee, wacome (welcome)!" He loved it all, as did Ella-Ann. We enjoyed checking out all the fun costumes and decorations. It was a huge crowd this year, more so than usual. It was a grand time for all!

Being transformed into Mickey!

He didn't know what to think of the gloves.

This was the house with the hand!

Ella-Ann was deathly afraid of the witch passing out candy at this house! She was glued to Spencer's leg!

Mickey needed a lift back to the car after a tiring night!