Disney 2014

We woke the kids up at 6:30 on Wednesday morning to head to Disney.  We had originally planned to go on Tuesday, but decided against it with the rain.  Although everyone decided to go to Disney on this day, we really didn't have to wait too long for any one ride or show.  Our first stop was Peter Pan, as it is their busiest ride there.  We also rode on The Little Mermaid, It's a Small World, Barnstormer (Connor's first time), Dumbo, Pirate's of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Tomorrowland Speedway.  We saw Mickey's PhilharMagic, Monster's Inc. Laugh floor, Country Bear Jamboree, and the Going into the future show (not sure of the name). We watched the parade during the day and fireworks/light show in the evening.  The kids also got to meet Tinkerbell and Rosetta.  We packed in as much as we could into one day and left the park around 11:00 pm.

Peter Pan...

Riding on The Little Mermaid...

Dumbo….

Waiting on Mickey's PhilharMagic show!

The Parade!  Elli got to see Anna and Elsa without having to wait in the 4 hour line!

Watching Country Bear Jamboree (Elli has told me multiple times since then how much she loved this show)

Riding Pirates of the Caribbean!  (I can't believe I posted this picture of myself….it was a good picture of Mom and Elli….otherwise it wouldn't be on here, as I look like a cow!  How much longer until my due date??)

Pirates of the Caribbean!

Meeting Rosetta

And Tinkerbell

Big Thunder Mountain.  Elli, Dad & Scott got on this at 9:30 at night (the first available fast pass for this).

Traditional castle in the background picture….

Mom and Connor riding the Tommorrowland Speedway

We rode It's a Small World because Connor wanted to and I'm not sure how you go to Disney without riding it.  Unfortunately, we got stuck on this ride.  There isn't anything much worse than getting stuck on here and having to listen to the song over and over again!

Waiting in a line...

The kids were amazing at Disney and did so, so well!  Connor passed out around 10:15 or 10:30

And Elli was out around 10:45 or 11:00 pm

Siesta Key 2014

We took our annual trip to Siesta Key, FL a few weeks ago.  We were all looking forward to it and had had a countdown with the kids for weeks prior to the trip.  We woke the kids up at 4:30 on a Friday morning and headed to the airport for our early flight.  The kids were so excited….

We flew into Tampa and had an hour drive to the condo.  Connor (in his mad voice) told us he wasn't tired and he wasn't going to sleep.  Two seconds later this happened…..

The kids absolutely loved playing at the beach and could have spent all day there.

Connor made this his seat….

The kids took a short nap on the beach one of the days we were there.

We went to the drum ceremony on Sunday evening at sunset.  The kids were so excited about this and danced the night away.

Dancing...

We went to St. Armand's Circle on Tuesday evening for dinner, shopping, and ice cream.

We also spent a lot of time at the pool during the week!  The kids loved swimming in the pool and hot tub.  Elli did well practicing swimming without her floaties on and even learned how to do a flip off the side of the pool.  

Scott, Dad & Connor went to a baseball game (well….it got rained out) one day, so we decided to do a 'girls' day with Elli.  She received her first manicure, went shopping, and we had lunch.

On one of the rainy days, we took the kids to the mall and let them ride around in the train…..

Our last day on the beach, Dad finally remembered to bring the kites (the kids had been wanting to fly kites all week).  They each took turns….Elli held the kite for all of 5 minutes.

And Connor held it for about a minute…..they were then ready to go play in the sand!  So much for the  kites :)

The kids were waiting to eat dinner at one of Scott's favorite places, The Hub!

Connor was mesmerized by the guitar player at The Hub!

Swinging at the beach….

Our last day in Florida, we decided to let the kiddos skip their nap, so they'd have more time to swim.  We decided to eat an early dinner and then planned on leaving for the airport from dinner.

The kids were entertained with Papa and Daddy's glasses at dinner….

Our flight ended up getting delayed at least 2 hours and we didn't get home until 2 am.  The kids insisted on holding hands while walking through the airport (so cute).  They did great the whole way home….especially considering they hadn't had a nap!

Connor pretending that he was sleeping on the plane :)  He actually did fall asleep a few minutes after this!

We had such a great week!  Scott and I even got to go on two dates!  I was sure we would have come to a decision on baby names during our date.  I took so many videos that I need to post on here sometime!  In the middle of the week, we went to Disney for the day, which I'll do a separate post about due to all the pictures.  We didn't have the best weather, but it didn't bother the kids at all.  They loved being at the beach and swimming in the pool.  Elli said multiple times "I wish I could live here" (ha- we're all a little sick of the Ohio weather).  Thanks for a great week, Mom and Dad.

Baby Lindvall #3 Update

Scott and I had our second ultrasound this past Monday and it was by far the best ultrasound we've had of any of our kids.  This baby was active, which I knew….I've been feeling him/her for weeks now.  The baby's kicks are getting stronger and it shouldn't be too long before Scott and the kids are able to feel his/her's kicks.  I am just shy of 20 weeks at this point and can't believe we're pretty much already to the halfway point!  We decided not to find out the gender of this baby.  If you ask Scott, he's sure it's a boy (and has even been calling him by a name….and no, we haven't even really talked about names much)….I thought it looked like a girl during the ultrasound.  

 I'm feel pretty good at this point!  I'm much bigger at 20 weeks than I was with the other 2 and my weight on the scale is showing that.  The dr. had said that this happens a lot of times with the 3rd pregnancy and the increase in weight gain is just par for the course and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.  (I mean….the things that sound good are asparagus, zucchini, salads, etc…..I'm not eating unhealthy). My morning sickness has been gone for about 2 weeks now (amen for no more vomiting).  It was a rough couple months of having extreme food aversions and morning sickness, so I'm glad it is over.  My energy hasn't come back like I hoped it would, but I'm able to deal with it for 20 more weeks.  I'm experiencing headaches and reflux with this pregnancy….I never really had these symptoms with the other 2.  I was able to get in about 2 to 3 miles of exercise about 4 times a week with running on the treadmill or using the elliptical.  I had a goal of running a 5k at the end of March, but I'm unable to now….I've had a lot of pain and the dr. no longer wants me doing those things for exercise….he said I can try to ride a bike or walk, but other than that no more running (he's not worried about the baby, just worried about damage to my body because my joints are spread out more with this pregnancy).  

The dr. was really pleased with the baby's development.  He can tell that this baby has no Spina Bifida and no cleft lip.  The baby's heart and brain look really good.  The baby is measuring right on schedule.  

 Here is a picture of the baby looking right at us….you can see the eyes and hand up by his/her ear.  She/He kept scratching his/her ear during the ultrasound.

 This is the baby's profile and you can see his/her leg/femur…..his/her knee is up by the face.

 The baby's foot.

Another picture of the baby looking at us and you can see the hand.  At this point the dr. said, 'HE is looking right at us….or she is looking at us.'  This is after he'd already looked 'down there' and Scott is sure he slipped, but I think it definitely looked like a girl.  Who knows!  Elli really wants a baby sister and Connor wants a baby brother.  We'll find out in August!

Connor 2.5

Connor turned 2.5 years old a few weeks ago and is truly the sweetest kid.  He has such a fun personality and it's fun to see all the new things he learns each week!  Connor is a sensitive kiddo and hates getting in trouble.  When we start to raise our voice, he immediately says "You mad at me?" while his lip quivers and then proceeds to start crying.

 Connor loves being around Scott and I!  In any given day, he usually goes back and forth between who he favors (Scott or I), but the majority of the time, he's a mama's boy.  Before bed we read books and he rarely lets Scott read to him or put him to bed.  I love it when he says "Mama, I want to snuggle." Lately, I've caught a lot of grief from Scott and Amber about babying him, but geez I just can't help it….he's so sweet.  My friends joke that I'm going to be one of those moms that thinks no girls are good enough for him….and yeah maybe (kidding….I'll let him get married….when he's 50).  He's always generous with hugs and kisses!  And when I wear my hair in a ponytail he always says 'Mom, you put your hair in a pony?  I don't like it.'  Yes, this kid does not like it when I put my hair in a ponytail…weird, but it's something I want to remember about him!

(Ok….so in my defense in these pictures…I had some major morning sickness going on….)

 Connor LOVES playing the guitar!  I take him to the library every Wednesday while Elli is at school.  He looks forward to it every week!  The 'teacher' there plays the guitar and Connor loves to act like him (Mr. Ryan) at home.  Here is a picture of him being Mr. Ryan at story time (crossing his legs, with his shoes on….the whole thing).  Two weeks ago, Connor got special treatment at the library….Mr. Ryan pulled him up after class (he noticed that when Connor would sing, he would act like he was playing a guitar) and let Connor play his guitar!

 Connor is so close to being completely potty trained.  He is completely potty trained during the day and wakes up dry many mornings.  We've had a little setback during nights because of him being sick, but he is doing a great job holding it during the night.

 Connor still loves playing his his trains, but isn't as obsessed as he used to be.  He loves his trucks, tractors, and loves to color!  He loves wearing his jerseys and calls himself "Peyton Manning" when he does.  He can count to 10, knows all his colors, and we are currently working on his ABC's (although it's nearly impossible for me to get him to sit down and work on it with me).  He is such a talker and has been able to carry on a conversation for quite some time!  His single word utterances developed so quickly into 5 to 6 word utterances.  As a result, he is now stuttering (this is typical for kids his age due to how quickly they are picking up language).  It varies each day….some days it's pretty bad where he gets real frustrated on certain words saying, "I can't say it."  And it's even caused a meltdown when he couldn't get out what he was trying to say.  Just within the past few days it hasn't been as bad. We'll continue to monitor it for the next 3 to 6 months and it should resolve on its own.

 Connor has his 2.5 year check up last week and the kids were cracking me up at this appointment.  The dr. was pleased with how well Connor is developing.  He is still a small little guy…..26.4 pounds (10-25% percentile) and 35.5 inches (25-50% percentile)…..he will officially be tall enough to ride Barnstormer at Disney here in a few days and he is so excited about it.  The dr. said he still has his VSD and we'll follow up with the cardiologist in a few years in regards to it.

Connor loves playing with his sister and occasionally they'll play well together.  He calls her "sissy" and I love it…..I hope he always calls her this!  

Happy 2 years and 6 months, Bubs!  You are so sweet, kind, funny, silly and you make me melt every single time you give me a hug….or when you say "ganks" (i.e. "thanks") when we tell you we love you.  You always tell me that you aren't my baby, but you will ALWAYS be my little baby!

Trip to Indy

A few weeks ago, we took a trip to Indy to visit the Roberts family.  We left right after preschool on Wednesday and returned home on Friday afternoon.  The kids were so excited to get there!  I needed some time away from here, as Scott had been working a lot/traveling recently and doing this by myself while being pregnant is much harder than I anticipated.  

Wednesday afternoon we let the kids play and then did movie night!  We let Kensley and Elli sleep together on Wednesday night….they did well falling asleep, but decided that it was appropriate to play for 2 hours in the middle of the night.  Amber and Jeremy were in charge of them and got little sleep that night.  I, on the other hand, was dealing with a 2.5 year old (ahem….Connor) who decided to keep me up all.night.long with what appeared to be 'growing pains.'  It was a rough night for all.  We headed to the library on Thursday morning and had to cut that trip short because my kids were not behaving.  We left there and headed to McDonalds where the kids were on their best behavior (I had quite the discussion with them in the car).  

I love 2 things about this picture….1. Connor wearing Kensley's skates and 2. The way Avery is standing!

 We took the kids to skyzone to get out some energy on Friday morning.  Although we all slept better Thursday evening, some of the kids seemed to still be tired.  Connor could have jumped all. day. long.  I even got in some exercise!!

 And this was my favorite part of the whole trip.  After skyzone, we went to Chic-fil-A for lunch before the kids and I headed back home.  I caught Connor being so sweet to Maddy and playing with her.

This was my attempt at getting a video of Maddy and Connor in the midst of breaking up a fight between Kensley and Elli.  Do you hear Elli in the background?  Everytime she sees this, she gets very embarrassed by the way she was acting.  I held it together and didn't start banging my head against the table (although I really wanted to….).  

I'm really not sure what exactly triggered the kids' behaviors on this trip.  Being sick, not enough sleep?  Anyways, it didn't matter.  The kids weren't allowed to watch any movies on the way home, look at any of their books or listen to their music.  For 3 straight hours, we listened to my music and it was wonderful.  The kids could either sit and look out the window or sleep.  Then, I took away T.V. for a whole week, all movies in the car, and all iPad and/or iPhone games for a week.  Last week was the best week….the kids played with their toys and did so much better playing with each other.  I have yet to let them watch movies in the car and honestly it'll probably be awhile before we let them again.  They both earned back T.V. last weekend, but have had it on a very limited basis.  Neither of them have asked for it much and it has been really nice.

Scott met us at the house when we pulled up.  He took both kids to the grocery store on Saturday morning while I was able to stay back and get some things done around here.  Although it was a small break, it was just what I needed after having a few crazy weeks!