Rub a dub dub!

It’s bath time!

And bed time!

Good night!

Happy Birthday Braden!!!

Braden and Mackenzie were up bright and early, ready to celebrate.. or wrestle on the air mattress.. you know, whatever..

We stopped for breakfast at the buffet in the hotel (which had everything you could imagine on it, and was delicious!) and B started his day off with a celebratory glass of freshly squeezed Florida OJ!

A quick wardrobe change and showing off the super hero muscles..

And we were off to the pool! Forgive me for the rest of the pictures from the day. We (and when I say we, I mean Adam) packed the wrong camera charger, so I was left with only my iPhone to take pictures. Boo! Anyway, we were really worried earlier this week because all Braden kept talking about was swimming in the hotel pool and it was supposed to rain all weekend. Thankfully, the rain held off and it actually worked out well. It wasn’t unbearably hot and we were able to relax and enjoy the afternoon.

Mackenzie would like you to know that the pool water was just a bit cool for her liking!

Braden’s favorite part of the pool? The water slide! He absolutely LOVED it!

Next up – time for the hot tub!

And then some fun in the sand..

We were all pretty beat and hungry, so we decided to head inside and get ready for an early dinner. When we’re in Orlando, we try to make it a point to go to Chevy’s. I worked there in high school and college (at the one in Orange Park) and I love their salsa. We figured Braden would get a kick out of their birthday sombrero and singing, plus he loves quesadillas.. so we were off!

There was a guy going around making balloon animals for the kid.. B picked out a red t-rex.. his favorite color and favorite dinosaur in one! I guess the dinosaurs last night didn’t scar him too bad.

Mackenzie discovered a new love.. freshly made quesadillas right off of el machino! She went to town on them!

B absolutely LOVES for you to sing happy birthday to him.. throw in a fried ice cream and a sombrero, and you get a big cheesy grin!

After dinner, we headed back to Downtown Disney to wander around for a bit. Braden picked out a birthday present from my parents in the Lego store and had fun racing his Lego car.

And then, ice cream, round 2! You can’t go to Downtwon Disney and not get ice cream at Ghirardelli. It’s just too good. Braden told us he wanted vanilla, so we ordered it for him, but when they brought out my moms strawberry and chocolate cone, he changed his mind and took hers. Thankfully, she didn’t mind eating his vanilla with hot fudge and sprinkles.

All in all, I’d say he had a pretty great 4th birthday! Happy Birthday Braden!! You’re such an amazing little guy and we are so blessed to have you! I’m so glad that I get to be your mama, I really am a lucky girl. I love you, sweet B!

Braden’s Birthday Eve!

For the last few weeks, we have been asking Braden what he wants for his birthday. He hasn’t changed his mind once. All he wants is to stay in a hotel and play in the pool. Except it sounds like “I want to go to the HOE-tel!” It cracks me up every time I hear it!

We did Daytona just a few months back, so we decided to go to Orlando for the weekend. I booked a room at the Orlando World Center Marriott – they had a nice pool, a sand area, and close to Downtown Disney.

Friday after we checked into the hotel, we headed to T-Rex Cafe to meet some of Adam’s cousins for dinner. We took Braden here the last time we came to the area and it totally freaked him out. We were hoping that since he’s older and really into dinosaurs, he would love it.. no such luck. Still totally freaked out by the dinosaurs. Oh well!

Mackenzie wasn’t a fan either..

Braden’s spirits were definitely lifted when the wait staff came out singing to him and carrying a HUGE dessert tray with smoke. His eyes were HUGE!

We gobbled up the (delicious!) dessert..

And then headed over to the Build-a-Dino part of the gift shop. B asked very sweetly before dinner if he could build one and I told him if he was good during dinner.. and he was..

Mackenzie was a huge fan of the T-Rex, which Braden named Alex, so he made her a pink brachiosaurus named Isabella.

We made it back to the hotel just in time to see the fireworks at Epcot..

And B went to bed for the very last time as a 3-year-old!

Mackenzie is 11 months old!

Happy 11 months to my gorgeous girl!

Big news for our girl this month – she took her first steps!! Unlike her brother, she’s not motivated by yogurt melts (though believe me, I’ve tried to bribe her with them!).. she’s stubborn and wanted to do it on her own terms. All she wanted? Me, of course! She took a few steps from the couch to me and since then has been carefully taking a few here and there. I imagine it won’t be long before we’re scrambling to keep up with her!

Mackenzie has 3 teeth (two on bottom, one on top) but she’s not using them much. She’s still nursing mostly and eats a few bites of whatever is on my plate. She will occasionally eat waffles and yogurt. Aunt Kathy discovered that she likes Chick-fil-a nuggets at Braden’s birthday party. She’s still getting one bottle a day at daycare, but we’ll start weaning her off of that soon.

I can’t believe she will be ONE in a month!

Braden’s Ears, Round 45,647,456 (and counting)

We haven’t dealt with ear issues with Braden for a while.. his 2nd set of tubes fell out before he turned 3 and it has been smooth sailing. Until last night. B was up most of the night crying because his ear hurt, we gave him Motrin and had him sleeping with a heating pad under his ear, but it didn’t help.

We got up this morning and were off to the pediatrician. While we were in the waiting room, something happened with his ear and this stuff started bubbling out of his ear. I’ve never seen anything like it, it was not pretty. The pediatrician tried to clear most of it out so she could look in his ear, but there was too much.

She said it looks like his ear was clear and this was just a bad case of swimmers ear, but she couldn’t be 100% sure. She put B on oral antibiotics and antibiotic ear drops. Hopefully it clears up quickly so it doesn’t ruin the big birthday weekend we have planned for Braden!

Adam and I took the day off to hang out with him since we were up most of the night and exhausted, so after the appointment we went over to the town center and treated B to a milkshake and lunch. I almost forgot how easy it is to be out with just one kid! He was so excited to have us both all to himself, it was so sweet!

He picked out the Superman ice cream, which is a swirl of several bright colors, but when blended together makes the Incredible Hulk shake.. or so I’ve learned. Whatever it takes to keep our boy smiling!

Saturday Morning with the Smith Family

There is nothing particularly special or exciting about these pictures. I’m trying to learn how to shoot with my camera in manual, so my family gets the camera stuck in their face fairly often these days. Sometimes it turns out well.. other times, not so much. These aren’t great, photographically speaking, but they capture a morning with us well.. relaxed, laid back, staying in our jammies (or diaper, as the case may be).. I love these mornings.

Braden’s Camping Adventure!

My friend Jenn had the idea to let our boys camp out.. but they’re 4.. so she decided a camp out party would be even better. Fun!

We went to their house after work and the boys played on the slip and slide.. until Mackenzie decided she wanted to play too. Apparently girls aren’t supposed to play on slip and slides. Who knew?

Then it was time for dinner.. and what’s better than burgers, hot dogs, chips, and juice boxes at a camp out??

Side note – I love this little curl on her head!

Then it was inside to snuggle up with sleeping bags in the tent and watch Star Wars.. which didn’t last long. Apparently when you are 4 and one of your best friends is around, it’s much more fun to play super hero squad.

That is.. until it’s time for s’mores. Because no camp out is complete without s’mores

You can read Jenn’s post about the night here – http://www.threepugsandababy.com/2012/06/dailybuzz-moms-9×9-summer-camp-at-home.html

Mackenzie is practicing for her big day!

At first she wasn’t so sure..

But I think she likes it!

Happy Birthday Miss Chase!

My friends little girl turned 5 today and had a birthday party at Big Air. Braden LOVED it. Even Mackenzie seemed to have a good time. He’s a huge fan of bouncy houses and this place is so much nicer than the one on our side of town. We will definitely visit them again soon!

When we got home, Braden pulled out one of his new birthday gifts. Such a cute idea! They’re white (plastic, I think?) dinosaurs and paint for them. It kept him occupied for a while!

Arr!! Pirate Braden is (almost) FOUR!

Since our kids birthdays are so close together, and they are both having big parties at the house this year, we decided to do Braden’s party just a bit early, to give me some breathing room between parties. His party was this weekend and we had SO much fun! He’s really been into pirates lately, thanks to Jake and the Neverland Pirates. It’s such a fun theme for a kids party!

Here are some of the detail pictures:

We rented an inflatable bouncy house/water slide to keep the kids entertained. It was definitely a hit!

And we had lots of yummy cake and cupcakes, thanks to Publix!

Most of our party guests headed home for nap time, but a few hung around to watch Braden open his presents, and to help break in the new toys!

And in true mommy-fail style, I forgot the pinata during the party, so we pulled it out and let B and his best buddies go at it.

Time for bye hugs..

Then Daddy couldn’t wait to try out the water slide. He says B wanted to go on it again and he didn’t want him to be alone out there.. believe what you want! 🙂

We rented a sno-cone machine for the party too, but when we plugged it in, it caused the circuit to trip, so the bouncy house deflated.. so no sno-cones at the party 😦 We did have fun with them afterward though!

B couldn’t stop dancing all day.. he was just SO happy!

I can’t believe how fast my babies are growing up!!

You can see all of the party pictures here – http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f277/kmerkison/2012/06/09/?start=all