Summer Dancing

Elle finished her first dance class this past week. It was an introductory class to ballet and tap. Five evenings in June and she's hooked. She's played ballerina for a long time. My sister is a dancer and we have tons and tons of hand-me-down leotards, recital outfits, and tutus. I loved to see what Elle would pick out for her ensemble each night of class. All the other girls would have on the standard black or pink leotards and tights. Elle would wear a blue leotard, red sequined skirt and white tights. This light blue number was one the teachers let her put on for the classes' "performance" the last night. All the girls got to wear fancy leotards. Then, they generously donated it to our dress up box!

The ever supportive and encouraging younger brother. Grady ran out when she was finished, gave her a huge hug and said, "You did awesome Elle!". Elle acknowledged him briefly and then told him to go back over to us and get off the dance floor!

I finally broke down and gave Reese his first haircut. It's still a little long, but Steven and I couldn't take the fact that his sideburns were the longest part of his whole head of hair?! This is a "before" picture. It was out of control.

Our Unexpected Gift

Even I got a present for Father's Day weekend:

Steven's sister and her husband (Rhonda and Luke) are expecting their first baby! We are so thrilled for them. We have no doubt they will be great parents. I told her I wouldn't give her any unsolicited advice and yet Sunday, I couldn't bring myself to stop telling her what baby equipment was worth the big bucks, what she could buy off-brand, must-haves for books, what she should have in the medicine cabinet, maternity clothes, online resources, etc., etc. Like the good sports they are, they took it all in and kept listening to me even when their eyeballs were about to explode with overwhelmingness {is that a word?}...

We had a fun weekend at the grandparents' house. The kids did a little digging for worms so "they" could fish. Elle and Grady didn't do quite as much fishing as Steven and his dad, but they had a ton of fun getting the bait:). Elle did catch a turtle. I had to leave the scene when Gran Gran was trying to get the hook out of the little thing's mouth. I sensed decapitation in it's future.

When we got home, Reese's birthday present was waiting.

It was love at first sight.

He had a great check-up Monday morning. He still has a little bit of fluid hanging around in his right ear. We are trying Zyrtec for a couple weeks to see if it can dry him up and get that fluid out! I'll take him back with me when we go for Elle's 5 year old check-up to re-check his ear. Still no earlier appointment with the urologist, but the doctor reassured me he would be fine and we would get him seen before August 31st?!

Weight: 23 pounds, 11 ounces {still maintaining status as biggest Salter baby}

Height: 30 1/2 inches

He made the transition to whole milk with ease. (Can I get a huge Hallelujah for no more formula!) He is also a sippy cup pro now. He still takes a bottle at bedtime, but it won't be long before he drops that. (Can I get another Hallelujah for no more bottle drying rack on the counter!) Two naps, usually 1 1/2 hours each. Bedtime around 7:30 and up and at 'em between 6:30 and 7:00 AM. He is a great eater {not surprised are you? He didn't get to almost 24 pounds with drink alone} although vegetables are not his favorite... yet. He points at everything and grunts. And barks like a dog. Not a huge vocabulary to chose from. I honestly won't be disappointed in the slightest if he is a late talker. I already have two who barely take a breath most days:). Reese is doing awesome and we are so thankful for him and his life and how healthy he is. We pray for a full, blessed life here loving God and loving people!

Confessions

The week started out on a high note. Monday, we celebrated Flag Day complete with crafts and some recitings of the Pledge of Allegiance. I love to hear Grady try to say "republic". Kids were happy and maybe even learning something.

By Wednesday, I was losing a little of my touch {or my mind?!}. I wanted to make up for the fact that Reese's birthday started off less than ideal with the hydrocele thing and that Daddy was going to be gone for the night and there was absolutely nothing resembling a celebration planned. I realize he has no idea that his birthday was any different from any other day but I wanted to do something special for him. So I made him this shirt:

Probably safe to say I don't need to open that screen printing business just yet. **I have done this before, just forgot the "reverse image" step. Sort of an important step:).

Thursday, things were rapidly going downhill. Steven made it home a little early from his out-of-town trip. I was able to leave the boys here while I took Elle to her summer dance class. After a quick trip to the library before, we were running a little behind for class {and I hate to be late!}. I go to grab her dance bag so she can go ahead and put her dance shoes on in the car. The bag is EMPTY! No ballet shoes. No tap shoes. Only a random pair of socks. She was a good sport, forgave me and danced happily in her tights!

But by Friday, things were looking up again. I had no cell phone service the entire day. But that really didn't matter because you know moms don't get to have phone conversations while their children are awake:).

We made cupcakes for Reese.

We played in the sprinkler and ate Popsicles.

We made hand prints with soaking wet sidewalk chalk.

Then we let Reese have his cupcake. And he ate it the whole thing!




We are going to Grammy and Gran Gran's (Steven's parents) for the weekend for more birthday fun and Father's Day fun. Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Luke will be there too--we haven't seen them since Christmas! Happy Father's Day to all the Dads that read my blog:).

Happy First Reese!

Happy Birthday Reese! We love you and are so thankful you are part of our family!

Sorry your birthday morning started off with a trip to the doctor's office at 8 AM. You gave Mommy and Daddy a scare last night when we plopped you in the tub and noticed something wasn't quite right in your "diaper" area. The verdict: a hydrocele with great potential to develop in to an inguinal hernia. The treatment: surgery. We just thought we were getting out of you having to have surgery too?! Unfortunately, the earliest appointment at the pediatric urologist is August 31st! We are praying for an opening before then because otherwise, Mommy will be worrying non-stop that something important is going to fall through that little "hole" and begin to lose blood supply and we will be speeding our way to Children's ER. Thankfully, you are not in any pain and you are your happy, go-luckly self.

Your ear was not totally clear from your pre-Disney infection so we are starting round 2 of anitbiotics. I'll do a more thorough "one year" post after your birthday celebrations and check-up on Monday. We love you so much Reeser!

Day 6 - The Final Magic

As the sayings goes, "All good things must come to an end", and so it was with Disney. We originally purchased 4-day park hopper tickets, but it was only $9 to add another day. We decided that was well within our budget:). We asked Elle and Grady what one more thing they wanted to do on Friday: Buzz Lightyear and Goofy's roller coaster! {technically two things, but since they were at the same park, we knew we could do both!}. Since we had been out so late the night before, our teenage members of the party needed to sleep in. Mom graciously kept Reese there with the sleeping beauties so the four of us could take on Magic Kingdom one. more. day. I know I mentioned how easy it was when we went back without kids, but it also seemed extremely easy without Reese. Now don't get me wrong, Reese was an absolute angel and strolled for more hours than one should have to stroll. He very rarely fussed and was always easily soothed. But we always had to strap him in and out of the stroller to go on a ride with us, or someone stay with him while the other parent rode with the big kids. We were a whole lot faster. It did feel very strange without him though.

We were there when the park opened and we were like Disney pros. We got on Buzz with no wait time, and grabbed a fast pass for one more ride on our way out. We rode Peter Pan next, and I'm so thankful we did, because it ended up being Grady's favorite. He has been acting out Peter Pan and requesting that book since we got home! Finally, we made our way to Mickey's Toon Town for the roller coaster. This was Elle's favorite. And although Grady dug his nails in to my arm and screamed the whole time, he liked it when it was over. But not enough to be his favorite. *Buzz was a very close second for them both.*

It started raining after the roller coaster {we got more than our money's worth out of our $4 Publix ponchos!}, so we headed in to the closest shop. Elle still had a little birthday money to spend and Grady, well, he liked to think he had some birthday money to buy stuff with. Thankfully, we steered him toward the $3 Captain Hook's hook and Elle bought a cute little Minnie with tons of changeable outfits. I will say Minnie is already missing a leg thanks to Grady's gentle touch. Maybe we can make her a peg leg pirate to join in with our Peter Pan escapades...

As soon as we got home, Mom and the girls were off to spend their last day. The one thing on Mom's must-do list was the Epcot firework show. Our first try was rained out so we thought we'd try again our final night. The boys opted to stay home and Elle and I went to Epcot around 7:30 to meet Mom, Maddie and Emily.

We had time for one more round with our Nemo friends.

Mom secured an amazing spot to view the fireworks. She had only been sitting there, holding our bench, for 2 hours prior to the show! It was a great end to our vacation. We would get up the following morning, pack all our stuff, and begin the trek back home. We left at 9 AM and got home at 7:45 PM. Nothing like an 11 hour trip with three kids:). We did make several stops and spent a little time back in Dothan at Dad and Sandi's. There were times when I thought the kids really didn't care if we were at Disney or the pool, or that they were not having fun. But since we've been home, Elle has drawn pictures of Cinderella's castle over and over. They have acted out stories, talked about rides, and said they "missed" Disney. So while I am thankful that they seem to be content no matter if we go to the beach and do nothing but play in the water or if we go to Disney World for a week, I do think it was so worth it. And we will hopefully go back. Maybe in another five or ten years:).

Day Five - Hollywood Studios

On Day 5, we let Reese take a morning nap and took the hotel shuttle to Hollywood Studios around 11:00. Mom and the girls had gone on earlier so we met them there. First we watched the Playhouse Disney Live show. While Reese and I held our place in line, the kids got to see Leo and Handy Manny. Everybody was already famished by the time the show was over, so we grabbed a shady bench and had our lunch (that we brought with us!). Next, we went to the Little Mermaid show. Both kids loved it, although Grady did keep his hands over his ears the entire time.

We made our way over to Luigi's Garage to see Lightning and Mater. At this point, we (mainly Grady) were approaching breaking point. It was extremely hot (always!), and it was approximately mid way through the nap nobody was having. The plan was to stay until the parade at 3 because it had lots of the Pixar characters the kids love. Well.... right about 2:50 the bottom falls out and the wind is whipping. After securing some shelter and some rock candy suckers (to aid in maintaining sanity), they annouce over the loud speaker that the parade is cancelled. We decided to call it a day and headed out to the car, once again, in the rain:).


But that wasn't all of our fun for the day. We put the kids to bed early, {plus Mom the babysitter} then Steven, Maddie, Emily and I headed back to Hollywood for the night. The girls had secured some fast passes earlier in the day and I really wanted to see the Fantasmic show. I can't tell you how much fun it was to go and 1) not have a double stroller or any of the occupants and 2) not have to carry a bunch of snacks, drinks around! We had such a fun night. We rode the Tower of Terror, which is by far, my favorite ride... possibly of all time. Steven and the girls rode the Rockin' Roller Coaster and then we got to do Toy Story Mania with our fast passes. Last, we waited in line for about 45 minutes for the Fantasmic show at 10:30. It was pretty cool, but I have to admit, we were making just a little fun of Mickey's dance moves:).

Day Four - MK and Epcot

Sorry if my few readers are sick of Disney. Only a few more days... I promise:).

At the close of Day 3, I reminded our party that our "shuttle" was leaving the hotel promptly at 8:15 AM in order to be at the park when it opened. Would you believe everyone was ready and we were gracing the gates of Magic Kingdom at 9:05! Mom, Maddie and Emily got in an early Space Mountain ride, then headed off to Epcot for the rest of the day. We knocked out several rides that morning: Buzz Lightyear, Astro Orbiter, Monsters Laugh Floor, Tomorrowland Speedway, It's a Small World, Winnie the Pooh, and Goofy's roller coaster.

One of the many snack-shade-drink-misting fan stops. It was HOT!

We parked ourselves here for a little lunch and ice cream. And we were just in time for another chance to watch the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party. Meanwhile, Reese was snoozing in the stroller...

We stayed to watch one more live show right in front of the castle. Grady and Elle both loved seeing Peter Pan and Captain Hook, probably more so than the princesses and princes dancing. We called it a day and headed back to the hotel for naps and a much needed break from the hot sun.

The plan was to meet up with Mom and the girls at Epcot that night for a few rides and the fireworks show. Steven and I got to ride the Test Track as soon as we got there. It was really fun {and the first adult ride we had been on}! Next, we visited all our favorite Nemo friends. And finally, Mom left her cell phone on a ride, and Maddie went to get it. In the 30 minutes it took to be able to find the phone, a huge, strong storm blew up and we ran for cover. Elle, Grady and I were able to dash in to the character greeting place and see Mickey, Pluto, Minnie, Donald and Goofy while the hurricane blew over. Unfortunately, the fireworks were cancelled, but we had a lot of fun running back to the car in the rain:).