Our Holidays Trip to the East Coast

We got to spend the last 2 weeks of the year in Florida and DC to spend time with my sister and her family. My mom, Steve, Cooper and I flew into Tampa, Florida Sunday the 19th and drove that night to Ft. Meyers. We visited a very soft and white sandy beach the next morning before heading through the Everglades to the Florida Keys. We stayed the next two nights in Key Largo which was gorgeous! And I really loved the laid back islander style of the people and the town. Our hotel was right on the beach and we enjoyed a day in the pool. The weather was really nice and sunny and in the 70s. We actually got hot a few of the days and had to go buy Cooper some summer clothes because we only packed for winter. We even got to watch the sunset while sitting on the dock of a marina along the keys and as we started driving back to the hotel we saw the big orange moon (which I believe was the lunar eclipse) in front of us and the sunset behind us with both oceans on either side of us. It was breathtaking! We then drove through the crazy Miami traffic to get to Orlando where we spent a day at Disney World's Magic Kingdom. On Christmas Eve we surprised my sister at the door of her hotel. (she had been on a Bahama cruise while we were driving all around Florida) She said we were the best Christmas present ever. The next day we had a little Christmas morning then headed off to Animal Kingdom. Then we went to Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure the next day and back to Magic Kingdom for our last day in Orlando. Surprisingly, these two days we're freezing cold! In the 30s and windy. Luckily, I had packed Cooper's beanie and gloves and he was able to bundle up in two jackets and a blanket while we were crazy enough to walk around the whole day at amusement parks. After that we took 2 days to drive to DC to spend the last 3 days of our trip vegging in Tiff's condo playing games, watching movies, and celebrating New Years. It was the life! Cooper also got to learn how to play 'house' with all of Emma's girly toys. :-) On the way to DC we even got to visit one of Steve's mission companions in North Carolina. It was a fun trip and we all had a great time! But it was very nice to finally come home to the regular routine of life and to finally sleep in my own comfortable bed and not have to drive around anymore. Thanks for a fun trip fam!

Oh, and annoyingly, not very many places served rootbeer! Can you believe it? We were going crazy and whenever we found it, we guzzled it. :-)

Coops favorite ride was It's A Small World. I think we went on it 5 times and he loved watching all the boats. He asked for more after all the rides even though he was a little timmed to get on them at first. He loved seeing the characters from a distance. The only one he'd see up close was Buzz. I'm thinking maybe because he's an actual human and not an animal. He loved the Christmas and Finding Nemo shows. I think it was all the music, colors, and bubbles. He didn't like the 3-D shows though. I think they were a little too 'up-close' for his liking. He wasn't too fond of the fireworks unless we were walking away from them while he watched. He loved watching the electrical parade, dancing to the music, and watching the falling 'snow' down main street. We heard him say "boon" (balloon), "icky" (Mickey/Minnie), "Pooh", and "iger" (Tigger) a lot. He also learned to say castle which sounds a lot like "as ole".  :-) It was a fun trip being with him. I can't wait till we go again!
 
Pics to follow soon...

A Baby Update

Well, I'm 28 weeks along and I can't believe there's only 12 weeks to go. This pregnancy has been really easy and it has gone by super fast. I don't feel or look as big as I did with Cooper. But I guess I still have a few more months to grow. I do feel uncomfortably big though and I don't fit into any of my clothes anymore and my maternity clothes selection is slim. It's annoying! I can't sleep through the night very well either and I have the weirdest dreams. I don't even worry about stretch marks because I know no matter what, I'm going to get them.  I also haven't gotten swollen like I did with Cooper. But I think that might have to do with the fact that I had him in the summer.

She is a mover! I can feel her move all the time. It's mostly in the lower abdomen so she makes me have to pee a lot. :-) On one occasion I felt her up in my ribs and that was an odd first. I don't really have any weird cravings. In the first trimester I craved pickles and sugary stuff more than usual. I've only thrown up on 3 significant occasions. All of which I think I just over ate and it felt like a 24hr stomach flu bug. The first time was the evening after Thanksgiving dinner, the second time was after eating at an all you can eat buffet, and the third time was after eating a bunch of New Years Eve party food. After the third time I decided I need to stop pigging out. But food is just so yummy! :-)

We finally moved Steve's brother out of the baby's room so we can get started on it. I feel like the next 3 months will go by pretty fast so I hope we can get everything ready in time. I even have to type up 7 weeks worth of sub plans as part of my preparations. Egh! And we don't really have any girl stuff. We're not sure on any names or nursery themes yet. As of now the tentative plan is to use a Minnie Mouse beach theme border with bright green, pink, orange, and yellow colors. We're having a hard time picking out a name too. As of now we like Harley, Lillian, and Aurora. But I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Well, that's the scoop for now. We'll keep you updated as the date gets closer.

Here's my 26 weeks belly bump