Reese's Birthday Card

On Sprout's Sunny Side Up Show they have a birthday segment every morning. Parents send in cards and the hosts (Kelly, Shawn or Kevin) and Chica show the card and say Happy Birthday. In March I made a card for Wyatt and he made it on the air!

I decided I had to make a card for Reese too! They suggest you get the card in two weeks before the birthday, so I made sure to work on her card this week! Here is the finished product! I will let you know when it makes it on SproutOnline!

Here's the front
And the inside with Zoe, including the picture of Reese meeting her!

Reese loves her card!

Show Us Your Life - Reception and Honeymoon

It's Show Us Your Life Friday over at Kelly's Korner again! Today is Receptions and Honeymoons! I figure that I've shown you enough pictures of our wedding, but here are two more of the reception....

I loved my wedding cake! It was made at Sugar Plum Bakery, and it was absolutely amazing! This is the last picture I have before someone snuck an unauthorized cake topper on there!

Here we are at our Sweetheart Table! See the yummy shrimp and sushi? I'm pretty sure I didn't get any! Unfortunately, you don't get to see Brian in his sweet black and white Yankees hat that he switched to later! After the cake was cut we had a HUGE party, and it was awesome!

We left for our Honeymoon the next day. We'd been on a cruise the year before (the exact same week...ha!), and we knew that we wanted to do it again. I like cruising because you get to see a lot of different places and there are activities to do at each place, but you also get to lounge on the boat on sea days! The food around the clock also didn't hurt...

Our boat stopped in the Cayman Islands, Cozumel, Belize and Costa Maya. Our favorite shore excursion was hiking through the rain forest and then cave tubing in Belize. It was amazing. Unfortunately we don't have any pictures because you know, we didn't want to take our camera in the water!

Here we are with our life jackets on for the drill. We hadn't even been married 24 hours yet!

Here we are on the Cayman Islands with the boat behind us. We had a great time swimming with Sting Rays in Sting Ray City and snorkeling. And doing a little shopping....

Mexico probably isn't my favorite place, but we had a great time in Costa Mayal! I was dealing with my first bought of morning sickness, so we stopped and got some food. We were sitting next to the funniest guy. He was singing along to the song Africa, and he was playing the air piano and guitar. If you're lucky, I'll post that video one day....

Right in the middle of the shopping square was a pool with a swim up bar. Not so important for me, but it was still pretty cool. Brian and I spent the day on the beach and in the pool!

This is Larry the sushi guy. Brian ate sushi every day on the boat! I of course, could not partake, but we had to get a picture of Brian with his favorite guy on the ship!

Our last night on the ship!

After the cruise was over we decided to go to Orlando. The boat docked in Tampa, and then we rented a car and drove to Orlando. We went to Sea World and Discovery Cove, and spent a lot of time in Downtown Disney! We spent a few days there and could have stayed longer, but I had a wedding to be in the next weekend!

While we were in Tampa we stopped by Legends Field, the Yankees spring training complex!

This is one of my first "belly shots" with Wyatt. I was just starting to show (my jeans were getting tight - my adorable Seven Jeans), and I was so excited to share our secret when we got home! I was so exhausted at night. I was asleep by 9!

We had a blast at Downtown Disney every day! It's probably my third favorite place at the resort (behind the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom)!

Here we are swimming with the dolphins at Discovery Cove. It was sooooo awesome! Wyatt walks by this picture every day and says "Look Mommy! Mommy and Daddy are petting the dolphin!"

I Told You She'd Eat Anything!

Reese really will eat anything you put in front of her! It is so refreshing that she's not picky, because her brother certainly is. Rather than telling you what he won't eat, I'll tell you what he will eat:

• Diego (which is what he calls Yoplait yogurt shakes - because Diego is on them)
• String Cheese
• Mandarin Oranges
• Blueberry waffles
• Chicken Nuggets (and yes, I've tried baked ones, and no, he won't eat them)
• Grilled Cheese
• Peanut butter sandwiches (in dinosaur shapes)
• Pretzels
• Goldfish
• Ice cream
• Pizza (maybe - he picks and chooses on this one)
• Mac & cheese
• Pasta

That's it. I might have left out a few things (like chocolate), but there are also some things that he used to like (last week), that he doesn't like this week. Like bananas. And cheerios. But he's been like this since he was her age. He just won't eat. And right now he doesn't seem to mind going to bed without a full stomach if he doesn't eat his dinner!

Right now he usually gets what he wants to eat. And the reason for that is that the kids eat around 5:30 or 6, and I eat with Brian when he gets home (anywhere between 6:30 and 9 depending on how busy the park is, and what day of the week it is). I'm looking forward to the fall when I can make dinner and have it ready at 6, knowing that my husband will be home. I just hate cooking two meals! Fortunately we usually have leftovers, and that's what I feed Reese the next day.

On Saturday I made stuffed shells, and I had leftover spinach/ricotta mix. I saved it and decided to stuff it in chicken and coat it in bread crumbs the next night. Reese was foaming at the mouth to get a bite....

Please Mommy? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease?
Here she is showing off her finished stuffed shells plate. She also finished the peas in the background.

She just got a little messy....

But she loved it!

I Don't Wednesday!

It's time for I Don't Wednesday again over at Jenna's Journey!

• I don't get people who don't read (or don't like to). Seriously. Maybe this is on my mind because I've become engrossed in the Twilight series this week, but I still don't get it. There are books I've read that have changed my life. Not in dramatic terms, but just books that I'll never forget reading for the first time. I still remember picking up Gone With the Wind for the first time when I was thirteen. Or reading Madame Bovary when I was a junior. I love books, and I don't understand people who don't. Sorry.

• Speaking of which, I don't have any interest in books like Twilight typically. Sure I'm a huge Harry Potter dork, but I'm not an Ann Rice vampire dork. Until I read these. I don't know what it is. Today I told someone at work that I think it's just that darned Edward Cullen. I'm pretty suspicious that that's it. Because I have no explanations for liking vampires. Or werewolves (except Remus Lupin. I love Remus Lupin).

• I don't like it when my kids take naps at different times. Can I just have two hours to myself? Please?

• I don't understand why we only get every other Friday casual at work. What's so wrong with letting me wear jeans every week?

• I don't like to hang onto clothes that I don't wear. Sure, I have some things for sentimental reasons (a few old T-shirts), but I'm not a person who's hanging onto their pre-baby clothes in hopes that they'll fit me again one day. To be honest, once I get back down to pre-baby weight, all of my clothes will be three years old. And I don't typically wear three year old clothes. Although I will make an exception for my Seven Jeans. I loved those things. They look so lonely hanging next to all my Old Navy post-baby jeans.

Another Trip to Water Country!

We went to Water Country again this morning. We got there right when they opened and stayed until about 1. The timing today was perfect. We didn't have to worry about buying lunch there, and we fit everything in. Wyatt wasn't as easygoing today as he has been in the past, we heard a lot of "no's." As in, "no big slide, no stroller, no hubba hubba highway." That always makes for a fun day!

After we coaxed him into doing all of his favorite things he really enjoyed himself. He and Brian floated around the Hubba Hubba Highway for half an hour. Brian didn't believe me when I told them how long they'd been gone!

Reese had a great time walking in the water and splashing. She's becoming much more active now than ever before. She doesn't want to sit in her stroller all the time anymore, she wants to be out and playing. I can't wait until next summer when we can all be playing together!

After naps we went to Toys R' Us to get more covers for the doorknobs. Wyatt has learned how to open all the doors in the house now, specifically his bedroom door. He's still stuck in baby jail so he's not actually going to get out of the crib, but it's best to be safe! We also drive through a few neighborhoods closer to our current home to take a look. Wyatt wasn't too thrilled with that idea. All we heard from the backseat was "No houses! No houses!" Then we finally ordered the new storm door for the house. Once we get the house pressure washed and everything planted, with the addition of the new storm door the house will look great! I am sooooo ready to put this place on the market!

Wyatt and I riding down a slide
Reese walking through the water

Wyatt and I

Wyatt "swimming"

Reese's feet! How cute (and pudgy) are those little feet?

Show Us Your Life - Wedding Party/ Flowers

It's Show Us Your Life day over at Kelly's Korner again! Today's theme is Wedding Party and Wedding Flowers. After I found my dress, we started working on a place to have the reception. We looked a few places, we thought about the Botanical Gardens or getting a beach house, but when we found the Dam Neck Officers' Club, it was too perfect. It had enough room for everyone we wanted, but had limited space to keep our guest list from getting out of control. It was recently redecorated, it was very well priced (which meant we could have an open bar!), and it was on the beach! After we found the club, picking the date was easy - they were available September 23!

The biggest problem was finding a place that would meet our most important wedding condition: Noelle had to be allowed! That ruled out some churches, and likely meant we'd have to get married outdoors. I am NOT the kind of person that would be okay with that, not because I don't think it's perfect (look at my brother and sister in law's wedding - perfect), but because I would be a complete ball of nerves worrying about the weather. And with my luck, it would totally have rained! But Brian's parents' church (which is where he went to preschool and church growing up) let Noelle in! Everything fell into place perfectly!

Our wedding party was pretty big, but we both wanted to make sure that we included the people that were most important to us. That meant that Brian had two best men (how do you pick between your best buddies?), and I had a Man of Honor. You'll see it all here....

The absolutely adorable and (newly) 2 year old Colin served as our ring bearer. Here he is with Uncle Brian. I can believe how BLONDE his hair was back then (a whole almost three years ago)! This was his first wedding, but now he's a pro!
Here are the guys! From the left are my brother Marc, Pete (co-best man), T and Colin, Brian, Dave (co-best man), Ryan and my brother Matt. Dave was going through a growth period in his hair. He threatened to die it red and show up to my wedding looking like Ronald McDonald. Fortunately he didn't make good on that "promise."

Brian and his Best Dog Noelle! I loved her flower collar. We just got her a black collar to blend in with her coat and the florist put flowers on that matched the bridesmaid's flowers. She looked so precious!

Here she is after her big walk down the aisle! She had to give Brian a kiss before she took her place (next to the water bowl we set out for her).

This picture gives you a few good views. You see the flowers up the aisle, the flower display on the alter, the flowers on Noelle's collar, and you can see Noelle sitting in the aisle watching the ceremony. Okay, she was watching Brian. She was such a special part of the ceremony!

My flowers with our rings in them! I loved them!

Colin running up the aisle!

The whole wedding party!

Me and the girls (and guy)! Instead of having a Maid of Honor I had a Man of Honor - my little brother! Marc and I are only 11 months apart in age, so we're pretty close. It just seemed more appropriate to have him standing up holding my flowers, moving my dress, etc.! He even woke up early and picked me up from my hotel that morning (my parents' house was flooded with family, and I wanted to get some good sleep the night before). He didn't host a shower (my girls did that), but it was perfect! From the left is my friend Darcy who've I've known since high school, My sister Katie, Marc, Brian's sister Allison, and my friend Carolyn, who I went to high school with, worked at the Waterpark with, and who worked for Clinique for ages, so she did my make up! My little cousin Madison was the flower girl!

Next week is the reception! We had a great time, so there will be lots of good pictures!

I Don't Wednesday!

It's time for I Don't Wednesday over at Jenna's Journey!

• I don't like onions. I loathe them. I don't like the way they taste, I don't like the way they crunch, and I don't like the way they make me cry when I cut them. And every time we have burgers, I intentionally wait for Brian to ask me to cut him a few slices, because I'm secretly hoping he'll forget.

• I don't mow the lawn. I simply tell Brian that my Dad never taught me how to (he didn't)! There was no reason for me to learn because I have two brothers.

• I don't make my bed everyday. Not only am I the first one up on the days I work, I'm also out of the house before anyone else is up. Brian doesn't make the bed, so it doesn't get done until I get home at noon....and a lot of days that doesn't happen....

• I don't like football. Or even understand it. I loathe Sundays during the fall when Brian and I make lists of things to do and he says "Do you think we can get all of this done before the one o'clock game?" Seriously!?! It's the stupidest game ever! But I am really looking forward to going to a Dolphins/Panthers game in November!

• I don't like to work out right now. Probably because I need a refill on my inhaler...