Life Lately

Well I'm finally caught up with the blog and can now share some thoughts and pictures from our life so far in 2013. We've been back in Florida for a month and we've had a great time! Abbie has been sleeping at nights much better than on our trip. She still wakes up, but its such a welcome change from the every hour or two for a month straight! One nice thing is that the kids have started waking up later. Ever since traveling the kids wake up around 8 every day. I love it :)

One of Jackson's main presents he wanted for Christmas was a helmet. I'm not sure what gave him the idea but he mentioned it all the time that he wanted one from Santa. SO finally he was able to put his Christmas present to use. He can even put it on by himself, taking it off is a little trickier. But he loves riding around our cul-de-sac and has a routine of the things he sees and touches each time. We play outside pretty much every day and have been loving this mild Florida winter.

He has gotten so great at riding his bike!

But he's even faster on his scooter :)

While Abbie takes her morning nap Jackson and I do puzzles and toys that normally are a little tougher to do with crawling baby trying to get into. He loves his magna-tiles he got from Nana for Christmas and his Thomas puzzle he got from Grammy. With Abbie asleep it makes playing with them much easier :) After playing we'll go outside and let him ride around on his bike and scooter. He also has a dump truck he got from Mom and Dad and loves playing with that recently too. As soon as Abbie wakes up we'll either go run errands or if nothing is on the agenda, we'll go to the park.

My walk buddies, Jackson was checking out some cool cranes and ducks.

He sat in the stroller, buckled himself in and wanted to go to the park!

 There is a new park in the neighborhood that Jackson loves to go to. It also has baby swings so Abbie is in heaven, she could sit in a swing for an hour if I'd let her :)

Collage from a recent park day

We've also been going to Disney A LOT! I think we've been to magic kindom 3 or 4 times, Epcot twice and Animal Kingdom once just this month. We've also gone to a few different resorts and have enjoyed checking out all Disney has to offer! One of our recent favorites was the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Tyler had never been and I'd just been once at night, so we loved being able to see the giraffes, zebras and gazelles roaming the grounds.

Giraffes are one of his favorites :)

 We went to Epcot one morning and met up with our friends, the Myers. Jackson and Madeline are just a couple months apart and this pose was just too cute in front of the car.

Looks like they're heading out on a date

Both kids loved the new Little Mermaid Ride at Magic Kingdom

At least mom and dad are smiling :)

This year Tyler and I want to be better at going out on dates, we didn't get out alone as much in 2012 after Abbie was born. So we had set a goal to go on a date every weekend in 2013 if possible. But after she had such a rough time in AZ & UT going to other people, we were a little scared about this goal. But luckily since we've been back in FL she's gotten so much better. We have gone out 3 times (once a babysitter got sick last minute) and are keeping up with our goal! For our dates so far we've gone to a new Italian place, the temple, and Epcot. Since she's still nursing, we're still coming home by 9 to put her to bed but it has been great to get out and we're so proud of Abbie for being better going to others!

Riding the new Test Track

Waiting for our pizza in Italy @ Epcot

Last weekend we visited Tyler at school for lunch. We hadn't been in a few months and the kids loved seeing Daddy! We got my favorite Pita Pit sandwiches for lunch and Abbie even tried (and loved) lamb from the gyro. (Jackson just liked the chicken, haha). He only has 3 more weekends before he's earned his MBA!

Jackson ready for school!

While Abbie is still not walking, she has learned to climb up the stairs! It happened the start of February and once she climbed, she went all the way. Now it's a bit of a problem because she climbs up every chance she gets! No falls yet, but it's probably time to get a baby gate or something.

She is so fast and can get up in a matter of seconds!

She is an expert walker with her new stroller toy

This sweet boy turns 3 next month and already says he wants a BIG Buzz Toy.

Eye patch or bow? We still really like pirates around here