The Brown Brick Road

Ho Ho Ho!

December 20, 2011

Yesterday Susan and Maxwell took a field trip to the Bass Pro Shop. That place is like a funland for little kids! There’s even an aquarium inside! Their real purpose in visiting was to see Santa again and remind him of one last thing that Maxwell wants on Christmas morning.

This visit went just about as good as visit #1 and visit #2! This face might be my favorite ever though….

Look at that pouty lip!! Don’t worry, Susan rescued him right after the photo was snapped and not too many tears were shed. Oh…I could just eat that little boy up.

In other news (I say that a lot, don’t I?), it’s time to clean off the iphone…

See you tomorrow!

Monday Monday

December 19, 2011

Happy Monday everyone ! Only 6 days until Christmas! What?!

Despite some sickness floating around, we had a great weekend. Maxwell had been pretty congested all last week (probably from basically licking the airplane on our way back from Disney) and on Friday morning he seemed to be pulling at his ear. So, up to the doctor we went and, sure enough, he had an ear infection. Dr. Walley said is was still very early and really not that bad yet. Thank goodness. I could already tell he was feeling better after only 3 doses of the Amoxicillin. Just in case though, he did take time to take it easy this weekend…

He seems to be back to his normal self now! I on the other hand am not feeling so great and am afraid I have a sinus infection. No fun. Considering there’s so much to be done this week before Christmas, I’m just going to ignore it and hope it goes away. Sounds like a good plan, right?

In other news, Maxwell discovered the toilet paper…

and wanted to wear his hat around all day Friday.

So cute. Anyone notice something strange about that monkey?

Also, I got to meet Santa…

and Robert and I got all dressed up Saturday night and went to a fun Christmas party. Too bad I didn’t get a picture of us because we were looking sharp!

Alright, that’s all I got. Here’s to a busy and productive week ahead!!

ps – I mailed out our Christmas cards last week and have some extra. If you don’t get one from us and would like to, leave a comment. I’ll be happy to spread some Christmas cheer to you!

Smoochie!

December 16, 2011

A few things I’ve learned this week:

1. It’s a lot easier to throw a party when your mom comes in town to help you.

2. If you arrange skewers of tomato/mozzarella/basil on a round platter it kind of looks like a Christmas wreath.

3. This is the very best sugar cookie recipe ever. EVER.

4. It’s near impossible to make icing red using normal red food coloring.

5. Pink iced Christmas cookies taste just as good as red iced Christmas cookies.

6. Champagne and cranberry juice makes an easy and festive holiday cocktail.

7. If someone (mainly your 15 month old) smears melted candle wax all over your couch, you can get it out using an iron and a cloth diaper. Just put the diaper over the wax, hold the iron on it and the wax will absorb into the cloth. Genius.

8. 72 degree days in December are nice.

I wish I could round that out to an even 10 but that’s all I got. And you know what? 8 is great.

In other news, Maxwell can give kisses. Sometimes he acts like he’s European and kisses me on both cheeks. Kiss Kiss!

Please ignore my scrunched up face and focus on the cute baby kissing my cheek, thankyouverymuch.

Have a Holly Jolly weekend!!

Disney part two

December 15, 2011

Continuing on with our day in The Magic Kingdom…

After seeing Mickey, Minnie and Santa, we finally made it past the front square and into the park. I don’t remember the last time I was at Disney but it’s been several years and, I’m not gonna lie, I got a little emotional when we were walking up Main Street towards the castle. I’m not some sort of Disney freak, I think I was just so happy to be there and continuing the memories with my family. Being able to go with Maxwell and see it all through his eyes – it’s pretty neat. Anyway…

We first went and got a Fast Pass for me and Robert to ride Space Mountain later and then hit up the kiddie rides. The Carousel was awesome…

and, now, please get ready for Scary Momma Face!

Whoa! Maybe I am a Disney freak?! 🙂

Next stop was Winnie the Pooh. Maxwell was doing his best to take it all in…

especially when he started glowing in the dark!

Cool! After that, we stopped for some dinner and then Robert and I headed over to Space Mountain which was just as much fun as I remember. Twists and turns and all in the dark!

After a night of little sleep (Maxwell apparently doesn’t like hotel rooms. Remember Little Rock?), Maxwell was up and ready to hit the parks again!

(like his shirt? I made it!)

The weather was great and there were, surprisingly no lines at all. Robert and I rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then took Maxwell on Pirates of the Caribbean. After that, we all went into The Haunted Mansion together…

Luckily we all made it out alive with no hitch-hiking ghosts in tow!

Next stop? A hot dog on Main Street of course. I think this was Maxwell’s first hot dog ever. He liked it but the fries were the big hit…

After a stroll through some shops…

it was time to call it a day.

Maxwell was spent…

exhausted…

and completely done for.

It was time to go home! Even though we were only in Orlando for 24 hours, we sure did pack a lot of fun into every second! I’d also like to publicly thank Robert for being such a good sport. He had been to Disney World once when he was 10 and definitely had no idea what to expect from my crazy Disney-loving family! Thanks for embracing it all Robert and helping us to have a zip-a-dee-doo-da time! (am I a dork? oh yes.)

ps – did you know I have a brick with my name on it at Disney World? Been there for 18 years!

Disney

December 14, 2011

Here’s the deal – my family LOVES Disney. We love it. We went on numerous family vacations there and I just have such fun memories of my family and that place. This year, my mom had this idea to get the whole family together for a quick little Disney trip. The purpose of the trip was really so she could get a picture of the grandbabies all together for her Christmas card…but we didn’t care about the reason, we just wanted to go! When everything was first planned, we weren’t even going to go into The Magic Kingdom. We were just going to go see Santa at Downtown Disney and then maybe do a little shopping. What were we thinking?! The morning we left for Florida, everyone made the (smart) decision to change our plans and do it up right…Disney style…which meant The Magic Kingdom.

Sooo…Robert and I left Saturday morning to fly to Orlando. Maxwell did great on the flight and we got there around noon. After a quick lunch and nap at the hotel, we headed over to The Magic Kingdom.

Always important to hydrate when you’re going to be out in the sun…

When we bought our tickets they gave my Dad this button since his birthday was last week. Everywhere we went that day, Disney staff were constantly saying “Happy Birthday, Steve!” It was pretty funny.

When we finally got in, we had the take the obligatory entrance picture…

Exciting stuff! We then met up with Keath, Jen, Delaney and Nate and headed for our first stop – a meet and greet with the main mouse himself.

Maxwell didn’t cry…but he wasn’t exactly thrilled with them either!

After we checked that off the list, it was over to see Santa. The line was a little long but Maxwell didn’t mind because he had plenty of entertainment. Namely me….