Long awaited new photos.

I finally found the box with my camera cable, so mom please stop sending me death threats. Here are lots of new pictures of your ever changing grandchildren, among other things.

Here are a few shots of our new apartment, before we moved in and threw toys everywhere.

And here's what it looks like now, most of the time.

This is the newest addition to our family. We got him from the used car dealership where we got our van. Formally known as Black, we changed his name to Methos and are taking him to obedience school. So far there has been a big improvement. He was originally in a dog fighting ring before his job as a night guard at the car lot. Now he is a full time BFF to Dahlia. Gregory is taking his time getting close.

I got a great Birthday present in the mail from my sister. It's a knitting bag and needle/hook holder. Here it is closed and open. Click to check out the great fabrics. She got it on Etsy.com from Slipped Stitch Studios.
I love it!

Here are the adorable Easter clothes my mom made and sent for the kids, along with the complete first season of Fraggle Rock. We all have been watching that and getting a kick out of it. Dahlia seems determined to learn all their names.

Also for Easter we went to see Grammy and Ray. Linda, John and Cheri were staying with them too. The trip up there was a car nightmare, but it's late and I don't really want to get into such a depressing story. More cute clothes, thank you everyone, and Easter baskets too.

Here are the girls at Easter/Happy early Birthday Grammy dinner.

Giving hugs at the piano.

A somewhat nice family photo.

Our rental car came complete with someone else's sunglasses. Gregory was very pleased to have his own pair.

Just in case you've fogotten what pure joy looks like...

FLYING DAHLIA!!!!!

Downtown Disney with the Levys

This Saturday Barry and I took the kids to Downtown Disney with his Aunt Dee and Uncle Andy and their kids. Here's all the chaos captured in one photo. Left to Right Top to Bottom: Pooh Bear, Sarah, Dahlia, Mathew, Tigger, Becca, Piglet, and Gregory. Dahlia was very concerned that the other children weren't sitting. Gregory just chilled in his stroller all day.

Here's Dahlia giving Pooh's tummy a kiss while Sarah feeds him her tasty fingers.

We had a great lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe. I wish this was the face she made every time the lights went out and the whole place broke out in fake thunder and lightning. She was a little uneasy when that happened. And she did not like the big Gorillas on the way to the bathroom one bit. All he did was blink at her! My child is terrified of animatronics. I hope she grows out of it.

These two were inseparable all day. They rode the Carousel together later. Sadly my camera (read: husband) was MIA so I didn't get any photos.

I think Sarah was pleased to be counted among the "big kids" for a day. She'll have a little baby to play with too soon enough. (I mean mine.)

Dahlia hanging out at the Lego table. Mostly getting frustrated but happy to show off her progress none the less.

He was such a good boy all day. Thankfully he's still at an age where all the visual stimulus is enough. Just keep him moving and give him stuff to look at. It won't last much longer.

Dee brought some presents for me and the kids. Mine was a big bag of yarn. I'm still sorting through it and a photo will come soon. The kids got some nice books, some Legos, and a stuffed animal each. Dahlia LOVES this little dog. It plays Christmas music and she's taken to bed every night since she got it.

Gregory was tickled blue (it's the giddy color for men) over the Legos as well as the bucket they came in. He fills it with everything from Legos to his cup, to my phone (little pick pocket), just to dump it all out and start over.

Even though we were pooped from Saturday, Barry and I braved the park with the kids Sunday morning. Here we are waiting for the trolley. Gregory climbed up there all by himself and is relishing in his spoils.

We brought Dahlia's bike and Gregory's car for a change of pace. It kept them happy while we waited for the trolley, but they lost interest once they saw the swings. Hopefully there will be a place for them to play outside in the new apartment. Yes the big move is this weekend. I'm supposed to be packing all week in my spare time (what's that?), and turning on the utilities.

Birthday and Hide and Seek

Yesterday was my birthday. Thank you everyone for your well wishes. I got a very nice package from my Mom. She sent me some cute "Knitting Girl" socks, a Ritz Camera card so I can make some photos, and a cake decorating kit. I can't wait to use it.

Dahlia was crying because she wanted to be in the photo of my presents, so I took her picture too. I told her she had to smile so she forced one out. She's really over tired. She woke up last night and would not go back to sleep.

Gregory wanted in on the action too. He thought it would be a good idea to push the chair over and try and climb up on the bed that way.

Not really a present but it did make my day. I got this Lion Brand Yarn catalog in the mail. There are a lot of great pictures of patterns that are available online. And in the back is all the yarn they sell. Wow. I've been drooling over the pictures ever since it came.

And in keeping with our random videos, here's Dahlia playing "where's Dahlia?".

I will most likely find those shoes when I go to bed tonight.

Babys and swings and turtles oh my.

I'd like to start by saying "sorry I know it's been a while. I've been sick for a couple of weeks". I had a cold that turned into pneumonia and while at the hospital my pee revealed that I'm pregnant. So it's been a busy few weeks. Before my cold took a turn for the worse I went to lunch with the kids and Linda, John, Cheri and Nana. They had been visiting Grammy and Ray and came to see us on their way to the airport. Dahlia had a blast with Cheri and her phone.

Gregory enjoyed the company and the food.

Here he is enjoying his and his sister's food. This has become the norm at dinner time.

So this last weekend was my first big venture out. The kids and I went to the park Saterday and Sunday to make up for being cooped up all this time.
I finally took a picture of the trolly we ride to get to the park.

The highlights for this trip were the turtle we saw on our walk and Dahlia's first time on the big swings. Very exciting.

Gregory climbed up a very steep staircase to the big kid's slide, but I was too busy spotting him to snap a picture. That child is going to give me a heart condition.

Here's a little video of the kids swinging. Sorry if it causes any nausia.

Lastly I would like to take a poll. Should we find out the sex of our new family member or wait till they are born?

Narcolepsy, Mickey Ears, and Chubby Bunny

She refuses to nap during "nap time", so Dahlia has taken to passing out where ever in the mid afternoon. Maybe someday I'll write a book exploring all the similarities between children and drunk people.

Here are the kids with their Disney loot. Gotta have those ears.

Last weekend I took the kids to the playground. It was cut short by rain, but not before we met the resident bunny. His name is Chubby and I think Dahlia could have pet him all day.

The Happiest Place on Earth.

Saturday we met up with Grammy and Ray for some lunch. We checked into the hotel with them, then we went to Downtown Disney to meet up with Josh, Julie and Zoe. On the ride over Gregory got a little sick in the car. Just the Post Nasal Drip having it's way with my children. We cleaned him up and went to check out the Lego store. Here's Dahlia at the Lego table outside. They had a very cool squishy floor out there.



There were also some very awesome displays of Lego ingenuity.

Grammy and I were walking through a store with the kids. I was holding Greggy cause I foolishly forgot the stroller in our car back at the hotel. So when he started throwing up all over my sweater vest I had to shove little aspiring princesses and excited Asians out of my way only to find out that tissues were all the man at the counter could offer me. So I spent the first night of my mini vacation strolling around Downtown Disney vomit-glued to my son. Not the most fun I've ever had.

Here he is brushing his teeth the next morning. After all you can't meet the mouse with puke breath. He's getting so big.



First order of business, get strollers. The girls rode in the double wide and Greg had a single to snooze in. Then the girls got matching Tinker Bell sunglasses. Dahlia needed a new pair since her Dora ones broke. She loves them.


Our first stop was Minnie's house in Toon Town. Here's the kids sitting on Minnie's couch. Zoe is striking quite the pose. I never checked any of this out on my first trip to Disney so I thought it was pretty neat too. Minnie had her own sewing/art studio. I took this picture for my sister.

At this point in the day Gregory was wondering when his nap would arrive. So I sat out Mickey's house and tried to keep him happy. This photo pretty much sums up how the boys felt about the whole day. In his defense Gregory, however was much happier after a lite snooze.


Next we found a playground that was all Pooh themed. I think Dahlia had the most fun here. There was even a tree that you could go in and it looked like Pooh's house.


They also had an area with water jets in the ground. We spent a lot of time here.


She didn't get close enough to get soaked and it was hot out anyway. I practically had to drag her in line to ride the Pooh Bear ride. It was a half hour wait. She was very good. Barry took this time to walk Gregory around until he passed out. The ride was a little more "intense" than I was expecting. Once we got to the Heffalumps and Woosles, everything was all black light and bordering on scary. But she loved it. Zoe, who was sitting on my other side shrunk down in her seat at one point. After Pooh there was more playground fun and then lunch.

Then Dahlia and I went on Dumbo. Here we are in our pink elephant. She got a real kick out this one. There's a little joystick so I could control if we went up or down.
After our flying elephant ride. Nana and Bumpa took Dahlia and Gregory to the Country Bear Jamboree. Barry found the only rocking chair in Disney and sat looking at the water, while Josh, Julie, Zoe and I did Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. I got soaked!!!
We caught the end of the show at Cinderella's castle on our way out and even saw some fireworks. Sorry no pictures. I put my camera on Barry's belt so I didn't always have it on hand when I wanted it. Good lesson for next time I guess.


Then we all went back to Downtown Disney for dinner at T Rex, a huge dino themed restaurant. There was an underwater room as well as the ice cave. Barry sat under a g-normous caterpillar



For anyone who want to have a drink under a GIANT squid (I'm looking at you Alyson) I recommend the bar here.

This is the ice room behind that dino. The lights inside the walls would change every so often. It was a lot of fun. Gregory made an enormous mess and got so much red jello on himself that his skin is still stained red in some areas.

The next day Gregory had me all to himself. I think he enjoyed the extra attention. Dahlia went back with Grammy and Ray. She rode It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Aladdin's Flying Carpet, and the Jungle Cruise. Julie took pictures for me, so when I get them from her I'll be sure to post them.

I had a great time with the kids. It doesn't hurt that the tickets were free. If we did a vacation there for real though I would have planned it a little better I hope.