A Disney Christmas

My side of the family has always talked about going away for Christmas. It always sounds fun, but no one has ever organized it, so its always fallen through. Until this year. Everyone decided to go to Disney. And since 5 little boys under 5 were involved, it got worked out and it happened. We decided to go December 13-18. It was right before most school systems got out of school for their break. The parks were not overly crowded & it was not terribly hot. It was perfect and it was fun! 

Now, everybody knows that Disney World is already a magical place, but at Christmas it seemed even more so. Decorations were everywhere, all the characters were dressed up for the season and people  around you were nice. From the moment we walked into Magic Kingdom, or any other park, you could see the expression on our boy's faces. They were excited and they were in heaven!

I'm sure the fact that we stayed at Art of Animation Resort in the Cars section helped too. It literally looked like we were in Radiator Springs. This was the perfect hotel for little boys!

I'm sure some of that had to do with the fact that we had 4 whole days with Marmie, Poppy, aunts, uncles and cousins. We rarely get that much time with either side of the family because we try and split time when we go home. For my little family, it was the first time we had been on vacation that was somewhere other than the grandparent's house. 

We went to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. We also spent a little time at Downtown Disney. We even went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party one night. That was a lot of fun. We all had our favorites. Mine was Magic Kingdom, every part of it! Will and Luke both loved the race cars in Tomorrowland and Its a Small World in Fantasy Land. We spent 2 days at Magic Kingdom and I still don't think we did everything! Mike really liked Animal Kingdom. We all loved the Kilamanjaro Safari, but Mike loved Expedition Everest. He rode it twice! The Christmas party was probally our favorite overall thing. We got to be in the Magic Kingdom with a limited number of people. Most of the rides were open, so there was little to no line and chracters were everywhere. To top it all off we got to see awesome fireworks and a cool light show/movie on Cinderella's castle.

 We ate well everywhere we went. We had the dining plan which allowed us to eat at places that we would not have been able to. We ate at Wolfgang Puck's, Tony's, The Tusker House and Mama Melrose's. 

Every night we came back to the hotel tired, but in a good way. Our boys had so much fun, in fact Will has already asked when are we going back!

We're expecting!!

There is some big news in our house right now! We have been blessed with another pregnancy and will have our 3rd child in Mid-May 2013. We are really excited & so are the boys. Just today, Mike and I went in for my ultrasound and found out that we are getting a sweet baby GIRL this time!!! What a shock and a pleasant surprise!

Will has said all along that we are having a girl. Today, when we confirmed it, he told us "Well, that's what I asked God for!". I love his faith!

Now, its time to do some shopping!!!

Update on the boys

My two boys. How I love them. And how they have changed. Sorry that its been awhile, but let me fill you in on the boys and what they have been doing lately.

 I'll start with Luke. Here are some of the things that I hope I never forget about him at this age:

• All the cute things he says and how he says them. He calls Will, "Bill", he says upstairs and downstairs with a very southern twang. His favorite words right now are christmas tree, santa, turkey and pop-tart and uh-huh(which means yes). He can say all the important things he needs in order to get what he needs. He is still learning to put words together to make phrases. He is not making complete sentences yet, but we know that they are coming soon.
• He calls his paci "poppy". This can be very confusing when he is in the room with one of his 2 Poppies! We are hoping to give the poppy up soon. Right now, we use it at home and to sleep. But this one is attached, very attached. 
• He loves to snuggle and to give us a "tiss". He loves to hug and will even pat you on the back when he hugs you. Its really sweet!
• He can count to 10, thanks to the fact that we play hide and seek almost everyday. He also seems to think that you have to say "ready or not, here I come!" after he says 10! 
• He loves his brother so much and is constantly looking for him around the house when he is at school.
• When he wants your full attention he will take his little hands and move your face so that it is looking right at him. 
• He will say "mommy" 18 times in a row, in order to make sure I know that he needs something!
• He hates having his picture taken.
• He hates the Chick-fil-a cow or any other dressed up character. This will make our upcoming Disney trip very interesting!
• He is happy pretty much all the time!

And now for the big boy Will. I hope I never forget at this age that Will likes to:

• Dance! This kid loves to dance and to shake his booty, as he says!
• He loves to sing and is always coming home to share a new songs with us.
• He loves school and all of his friends there. He has always been such a social child and school has just enhanced his love of people. He is constantly coming home to tell me about a new friend in his class. Just this past weekend, we got to go his first class birthday party. Three of his closest school friends were there and it was fun to get to see how well he played and interacted with them.
• He loves to pray and has become our go to guy at meal time to lead the family in prayer. Mike and I enjoy hearing his heartfelt prayers as well as sneaking a glance at the passionate look he has on his face.
• He is all about being a big boy these days. So that means he likes to do a lot of things by himself. He likes to dress himself, buckle his seat belt, and pour his own bowl of cereal among other things. I am so proud of him, but a little sad at the same time. So, I jump at the opportunity to help him now since I am not sure how much longer he will need me for some things.
• He love riding his bike and being outside. I think he would sleep out there if we let him!
• He has a passion for learning and for books. Going to the library is very important to him and that makes me very happy. He listens intently to the things we tell him and I am amazed at the things he remembers!
• He loves God and wants to know more and more about him. He is always asking questions like, "How big is God?" that we can't quite answer, but we love his desire to know more about Him.
• He is happy pretty much all the time!

Halloween 2012

This year our Halloween was simple. It was just the 4 of us walking through our neighborhood. We live in a large neighborhood and through taking frequent walks we have met several people, so we hit up all of their houses for the chance to say hi, chat and catch up briefly. 

We went with ready-made costumes, because they knew who they wanted to be in September and frankly because I am not very creative. Will wore his Woody hat for about 4 houses. Luke refused to wear his Spiderman mask and opted for a baseball cap. I guess that made him a little more individual than the other 25 Spidermans we saw that night.

 After about 1 hour and 15 minutes we came home with 2 pumpkins, or cunkins and Luke calls them, full of candy. We figured they had achieved their goal to get as much candy as they could.  Now, if only I could get rid of the candy that was left before we all get cavities!

A Tale of Two Pumpkin Patches

When I think of a pumpkin patch, I think of fall. Pretty colors on all the trees, a warm cup of apple cider and wearing your favorite sweatshirt. I think of nice cool weather. But, I live in Charleston, SC. Nice, cool weather is not something we get a lot of down here.

So, every fall we take a trip to the Georgia mountains to spend time with Mike's family and to go to a pumpkin patch and an apple orchard. The leaves are always a perfect color and the temperature is always wonderful. It is so much fun to go and enjoy the fall, especially since we get so little of it here in Charleston. We go on a picnic at Amicolola Falls and just enjoy spending a Saturday in October together. His family has been doing this since Mike was in high school. I love the fact that this tradition is still going on and that now my boys are included in on this tradition as well. They love it and so do we.

Will found his pumpkin!

Luke enjoying cheetos more than the pumpkins or "cunkins" as he calls them!

The annual Poppy/Grandson tractor picture. 

The whole Fessler family

This year, though, we also got the chance to go to a pumpkin patch here in Charleston. This time we went with my family. It was hot and we wore shorts and flip-flops. No coo,l fall weather or pretty foliage. No gorgeous mountain views. But, we had fun and got to play a lot. They had jumpy castles, a sand pillow, a huge home-made playground and a petting zoo. Our boys had a blast and that was the most important thing.

Swinging with Poppy

Luke and Poppy clowning around!

Having fun with Marmie & Poppy

Driving the tractor!

Luke loved this!

 In the end, both patches were different, but each offered us a totally different experience. We had fun at both, especially since we were with family! 

Time with Mimi and Poppy

One of the hardest parts of living away from family is not getting to see them as often as we would like.  We do our best to get home as often as possible & we LOVE going home. But, the next best thing is when our family comes to us. A few weeks ago, Mimi, Poppy and Grandma Fessler did just that. 

Whenever, family comes to see us we get to enjoy being tourists in our own town. So, when Mimi & Poppy came we did a lot. We ate at Bowen's Island and Sticky Fingers downtown. We went to Kiawah for the day and had a picnic and played at the beach. We went to church together and went out for ice cream and just enjoyed each other's company.

The hardest part about family coming in town is having to say goodbye when they leave. But, not to worry...Marmie and Poppy come in later this week and we go to see Mimi/Poppy & Marmie/Poppy in 2 weeks. We will gladly soak up every bit of this precious time!

Loving being with Mimi and Poppy

enjoying swinging at the playground

Luke playing on the playground

Will starts school

Before school

This fall has brought a big change to our family and our daily routine. For the first time, we have a school schedule. Yep, that's right, our big boy has started school! He started September 4 (which was also our 7th wedding anniversary). He goes Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-1, which doesn't sound like much, but it is just enough for him to get his feet wet. 

We have learned some things about Will. He like most kids, I'm sure, has some odd quirks. We are still learning how to handle them, but he does not like to be surprised and he does not like to do anything for the first time. So, when he got into his preschool back in May, we started to talk about school. We have talked for 3 months about how much fun it was going to be, how many friends he would make and the things he would get to do. That didn't matter to him. As far as he was concerned. He wasn't going!

As we got closer to school he started to get more and more concerned that he was going to school. In fact the week before school, he informed me that he was going to hide in his closet the morning school started so that I could not find him! Thankfully, we had the chance to go and meet his teacher a few days before school started. He did not even want to do this. We went as a family to eat at Chick-fil-a before hand. As we left dinner and drove to his school, his attitude started to change and all of a sudden he was willing to give school a chance.

Once we got to school, we were the 1st family to arrive in Will's class. This gave us about 5 minutes alone with his teachers and for him to explore his class. It was just what he needed. He enjoyed playing and meeting 4 new friends that night. After that night, the following Tuesday morning could not come fast enough!

Needless to say, we still prayed A LOT for peace on that monumental Tuesday morning. Will woke up early and was dressed and ready for at least an hour before we had to leave! As we drove him to school, he was so excited and could hardly stand it. He walked right in and barely gave us a goodbye. We did, though, get to snap a few pics and give him a quick hug & kiss before we left him.

So far, school had been great for him! He looks forward to going and is sad on the days that he doesn't get to go. We knew he would love it. He is such a social butterfly and loves being around friends. In fact, he is already begging me to ask one of his classmate's mothers to allow them to come play. He loves school and I love the great progress we have seen in the past 2 weeks!

Playing in the kitchen center.

A quick pic before Mommy & Daddy left.

After school. He had a great day!