After Thanksgiving we had 3 weeks to celebrate Christmas in Florida and then December 14th we flew out to Arizona. We spent those weeks doing some traditional fun Christmas activities.
*We got family photos taken for Christmas Cards. These turned out so great. We had them taken on Disney property. We were at the Beach Club Resort, which is connected to Epcot so we also took a few there as well. I'll hope to post more photos from that shoot in a separate post.
*We ordered Christmas Cards and got them mailed out.
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| Ghetto screen shot version for posterity sake |
*We decorated for Christmas. OK I decorated for Christmas but it's fun how much more excited Jackson gets about everything now!
*We went to a winter festival with snow, Santa, and sledding in Winter Garden.
We met with some other families for a cookie exchange and FHE to see the lights at Disney.
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| Disney's Hollywood Studios |
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| Too funny not to share, Jackson thought Tyler's head made a great drum... |
We made lots of Christmas treats to bring to friends. This year I decided to give something I could work on a little at a time rather than committing 1 or 2 days to making and delivering treats. These peppermint brownie jars were great because I could compile them when I had time and deliver them whenever I needed to, not whenever the treats were fresh (last year I tried fudge and peppermint rice krispies and it didn't go so smoothly)
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| I forgot to take a picture of the finished product but here is a sign of the progress |
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| Here is the image I tried to recreate, my ribbon wasn't as cute but they turned out not too bad! |
We enjoyed the weather getting warm again by going to the park and riding bikes and scooters
One of the highlights of the month (and probably of the year) was finally going to Universal Studios and seeing the new World of Harry Potter!
We went with our friends the Carters, he works for Universal and was able to get us great hook ups in the park! It was a great day and while all of Universal was fun, Harry Potter takes it to another level. I kind of wish that one day I'll be able to go without 2 kids because I really wasn't able to spend much time there roaming around like I'd like to. But that's the nice thing about living here, I know I'll be back :) The Forbidden Journey ride was incredible. Unlike any ride at Disney or that I'd experienced before.
I could probably do a whole post about this day but here are just a few pictures
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| Walking in to Hogsmeade |
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| Even Jackson could appreciate the Hogwarts Express and the cheesy conductor! |
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| Drinking Butterbeer! |
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| Abbie and I at the castle! |
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| Jackson (after eating a blue sucker) loved being with Griffin and Maelie. |
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| He even fell asleep! First time he fell asleep in a stroller in at least a year! |
So it's begining to spend like the first half of December was all fun and games right? Well that was before we got sick!
December 9-13 was some of the hardest days and nights I've experienced as a mother thus far. Abbie was teething, had a fever, runny nose and then got a double ear infection. She refused to eat. Her mouth hurt so bad she wouldn't let me get near it with any food for 2 days straight. She used to love baby foods and finger foods but even her favorite puffs wouldn't entice her. She also refused to nurse. There was really no consoling her at times and it was so hard. I should also mention this all happened during in extremely busy and important work week for Tyler. His company was in town and so he was staying in a hotel on the other side of Orlando for a convention so for a couple nights I was on my own. One of the nights I was up every hour with either Jackson or Abbie. And one night Abbie was awake screaming for 2 hours...
I just kept thinking soon I'll be in Arizona with family, and it helped me get through!
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| At the doctor with Abbie |
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| Poor baby couldn't be consoled, after a while Jackson got immune to her crying. |
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| The next day he needed a binky and blankie too and we took him to the doctor |
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| She turned 8 months and had a few good hours for a photo shoot that day. |
Abbie finally started to get better somewhat on 12-12 and then Jackson fell apart. He had been doing so well and had stepped up during Abbie's hard times but that morning he acted fine one moment to completely falling apart the next. I knew something was up so I called the doctor and got him an appointment an hour later. Turns out he had an ear infection too, according to the doctor it was an 8 on a scale of 1-10, with a 10 needing hospitalization. My poor little guy was in so much pain, and I don't know how he had been acting so fine earlier! Luckily he perscribed extra strength medicine for him (since I told him we'd be flying across the country in less than 48 hours) and he got better within hours.
Luckily both kids were doing much better on the 14th when it was time to fly to Arizona. Abbie's 2 teeth poked through and Jackson was completely over his ear infection symptoms. I'm so grateful for normally healthy kids and for the medicine that helps them get better!
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