Two BIG Announcements!

So here's how the last month went (and this explains the lack of posting for several weeks): We found out we're expecting Baby #2! Hooray! And then 24 hours later, Jeff's company asked him to consider relocating to their Charlotte, NC office....wha?! So yes - TWO BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS for this month for us. We are literally moving up (north) and out (belly).

So far, we've had two appointments with my wonderful midwife (who I'm already missing) and the baby looks great and right on target. We actually heard the heartbeat today too which is so precious. I am 11 weeks right now so that means we're due on September 20th. I totally look farther along (everyone "claims" this is normal for the subsequent pregnancies), so we had to start telling those peeps in our immediate surroundings a couple of weeks ago because it was so obvious. Tyndell tells everyone that this baby's name is Captain Hook. I'm not sure how to take this considering how much she loves Peter Pan, however, he is the bad guy. She seems pretty excited actually and likes to give my belly kisses. This pregnancy has already been so different and unfortunately I've been much more sick and tired than I was with Tyndell....that first trimester grossness is definitely there and dragging on. Three-o-clock forward is rough so hopefully it will clear up soon.

And as for moving, we are targeting May...mainly because Jeff's company wants him up there to start the new position and well....I do not want to be moving/settling in when I am HUGE! So right now we are chaotic thinking of all the things you have to think to move. My company is trying to work it out so that I can transfer to our Charlotte office too, so everything seems to be working out. The main chaos is beginning to navigate the joys of a short sale so that we can sell our house. Pray for that please :)

Big year ahead and big changes for us but we are trusting that while all this may be crazy in the short term, we believe/feel that long term, this will be a good move for us and especially think this may be a better place to raise our kiddos. We are also looking forward to being a little closer to some wonderful people and family that we normally do not get to see that often, so this will make that easier. Even my parents are planning to move up too - how wonderful is that?! I hate to admit that I'm already looking forward to Christmas so that we can enjoy our cute little 4-person family together and feel settled.

Proud Mama

We had our very first parent/teacher conference this week. It was really nice to have a few minutes to sit down with Tyndell's cool teacher, Mrs. Ceparano, and hear some feedback, which we don't get regularly (no written reports yet for this age). She gave us the circle and horizontal line drawings above to show how Tyndell is progressing, which I thought was pretty wonderful at an early 3 years old. Yay Tyndell! And then, one night this week while I was making dinner, Tyndell wanted to do some water painting (care of the lovely Auntie Jackie) and did the carousel picture above and stayed close to the lines with the colors pretty well. She has been painting lots lately which is fun to see and she was very adamant that I didn't look at her picture until she was done. Anyway - we got great reports from Ceparano and it was some very nice facetime and just made us love how our little one's mind is working even more. It is precious to see the learning process - probably one of the best things about parenting I have to say. The P/T Conference: One new milestone down ha! Anyway go go Tyndell! I'm definitely feeling like a proud Mama this week and thought I'd share.

Quick Trip to the Happiest Place on Earth

This past week Tyndell kept asking to go back to Disney, so we decided to do a quick trip up to Orlando this past weekend since we had no plans anyway. We left early on Saturday, checked into our hotel, and then headed to Magic Kingdom. Jeff found this awesome deal at the Disney Port Orleans Riverside Hotel, and then we just took the buses to the park, and got to save on parking. We spent about 5 hours at the park, came back to the hotel for naps and dinner, and then went back for fireworks and a few more rides. I have to say - this was a great way to do it so as to max out fun but not end up with an overtired and crazed kid. Plus - we never get to see the fireworks since we usually stay straight through all day, so props to Jeff for finding this nice on-property hotel! I have to say - it was super cute and comfy too. We started out our park time at Tomorrowland and hit up the Buzz Lightyear ride, which we had never gotten to do before and then did the PeopleMover and the Cars Speedway. The cars ride is where Tyndell proceeded to say "No - I do it" one thousand times until I let her whiplash the car as much as she wanted. It was pretty funny letting her drive it though. Then we headed to Fantasyland which always most crowded and takes some time (and notice Tyndell's change of clothes to her Tinker Bell costume) - we did Snow White, the carousel, Small World (of course), and then hit up some lunch at the Pinocchio cafe. We fast passed Peter Pan right before we left for America and the Hall of Presidents, where Jeff tried to convince us it was fun but we both disagreed ha. That was about the time naps were needed and we took our break. We got back to the park right before the light show on the castle (which I have to admit was pretty cool) and the fireworks (probably the best show I've seen in years...no, honestly!). Then we got to meet Tinker Bell (score for Tyndell Bell!) and Terrance at Pixie Hollow (read: I have a crush on Terrance now) and spend some time in Adventureland (Jungle cruise is SO much better in the dark I have to say!) where we got to ride most everything before heading back to Peter Pan. On our way out, Jeff and Tyndell did the Carousel of Progress while I went for a hot chocolate fix, and then we headed back to fall asleep (instead of driving - yay!). The next morning we wandered around the hotel and then had a lazy breakfast at Mimi's Cafe (we love this place and there isn't one in South Florida) before driving home. Great short mini-vacation! It's nice to hit up the parks in the low season when the weather is nice and it's not too crowded....and Tyndell got her Disney fix for the moment. We ended up getting the super economical Wild passes for Florida residents so we'll probably go back 3 more times before May....what a deal! Bonus was that we escaped weekend rain at home and the park must have made me happy b/c my struggling sore throat started feeling better....almost there.