Asher and his coffee

We don't have a coffee pot in our house...nor any coffee mugs for that matter. I don't drink coffee at all and Sean only does on a rare occasion when at work or out. But our little Asher somehow picked up that his kiddie cups with a handle on the side look like a coffee cup and he tells me all the time now that he's having his "coffee". It's just so amusing because I have no idea where he figured this out. Of course this kid is always too smart for his britches!!

Caged Asher

I found Asher like this today...too funny!

Sean runs the Goofy Challenge

This morning the boys and I braved the record Florida Freezing weather (35 degrees when we left only getting up to 44 with the wind chill well below that.) Of course when Sean left the house at 3am it was in the 20's!!! We wore about 4 layers of clothes with hats and gloves and cheered on Daddy. He finished in 5:45 for the marathon today, that's after running the1/2 marathon yesterday in the 20 something degree weather with snow,sleet and rain the whole time!!

Sean ran with his buddy Juan and they had a great time taking it easy this year, not trying to break any PR's or anything after having run the 1/2 yesterday. They stopped this year along the way and took pictures with the characters and such and even enjoyed seeing our friend Tony Messina from college DJing. Sean got his own personal shout out on the loud speaker, "There's Sean Whitman, graduate from UCF everybody!!!"

Rebecca, Juan's wife, and their 4 kids meet me at my house and we caravaned over to EPCOT to cheer them on at the finish line. Thank goodness we were able to spot them this year since everyone was dressed alike it seemed (most with grey sweatshirts and hats and gloves)

While waiting on Sean and Juan to finish the kids enjoyed rolling down this hill in front of EPCOT in the warm sunshine

They did it! And they have 3 medals to show for it!

Our family (minus Dallas who refused to be in the picture)

The dads and their kids (with Lucas and Dallas missing)After they finished we all went over to Perkins since we were all starving.

Now we are all warmed up in the house and looking forward to a little bit warmer weather for this Florida blood. Being locked in the house for days with three boys is getting to be a little crazy.

36 weeks pregnant

Well this pregnancy I have out grown so many of my clothes. What a big belly this little girl has made. And she must be sittings so much more different than the boys because clothes I wore through the whole pregnancy with them I can't wear now! And with the brutal freeze we are having I just can't manage to get by with the last pair of jeans I could fit into...man they were getting tight! So off I went to try and find an affordable pair to last me in the little amount of time I have left! I did manage to find a very cute, very comfortable pair (not the ones in this picture...these were the ones that were just too tight for my comfort anymore.) I realized I just haven't taken very many pregnant pictures this pregnancy and I should document this every growing belly some. So there it is....my basketball i tucked away under my shirt!

I am really getting uncomfortable and looking forward to finishing the nursery and the other things on my to do list and finally meet this little girl who is ALWAYS moving inside me...kicking and punching me. (Way more than the boys ever did!!)

Cold Florida Days

We have had record cold days here for several days and we are getting creative in the house to find things to do since our thin Florida blood just can't handle the 30 degree weather outside!! Sean took Dallas for a while today to run errands and while Asher was napping Boston and I made this tent fort in his room. It brought back many fond memories of doing the exact same thing in my room growing up. Good times....if only I could have maneuvered my body down and through it!

Asher's naptime

Asher is getting to the stage where he's about ready to give up naps, but he really still needs one. On somedays we get busy or something and he doesn't get his nap. He usually goes down at 1:30 and sleeps for about 3 hours. But on those days he doesn't get a nap he will sometimes crash in the strangest places and the strangest positions. Sometimes I'll even be talking to him and then he just falls asleep. The picture below is during one of those times. I was sitting at the bar working on something and he was playing with the train in the picture and talking to me and then I looked down and he was asleep!

Sydney's Christmas Stocking

The boys and Sean and I all have stockings from Pottery Barn and when I saw they had this adorable ballerina that matched all of ours I knew it would be perfect for Sydney! So here it is...her 1st stocking!!!

Dallas is going back to school

After much praying Sean and I have decided to try putting Dallas back in school. For him a schedule and consistency is very important and right now (with a toddler and baby on the way) there are a lot of interruptions to my well thought out schedule for each day. 3 hours every morning he will go to a Christian Preschool right by my house that comes highly regarded. It was defiantly a God thing that he even got in. I called and they had 1 opening (and from what I have learned now they usually never do and always have a waiting list) God just paved the way. He will be in a small class of 13 with 2 teachers who both homeschooled their kids (one of them even has 8 kids!!) I feel total peace about this decision and I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes.

New Years

Sean and I enjoyed a nice adult New Year's Eve. We went to the movies and saw It's Complicated and then went over our to our neighbor Jerry's house. What a fun night we had! And we actually stayed up until midnight this year. My parents took the kids to the lakehouse for the night.

New Years Day I spent nesting and getting lots done. I refurbished an old dresser for the nursery and painted more on the walls to decorate it. I will post pictures soon!

New Years Day Jessica, Bart and their 4 kids joined us at the lakehouse and we had a great weekend together. If only we lived in the same town! The kids had a great time together, everyone has their own partner to play with and next time little Jeannie will have Sydney to play with.

Bonnie and Boston making a scavenger huntDallas and Barrett making sand castles on the beachWe went to Mt Dora and saw all the lights, the kids had a blast playing outside (even in the cold.) Its just always so much fun to get together and we will miss them until next time.

A new year!!

It's a new year and its about time I got back to blogging. Last year was a long year full of so much. It made it really hard to find the time to blog and keep up with everything. But I feel like I'm forgetting so much and its about time to start documenting it again (and try and play catch up to last year.)

Last year was a year of learning I would say. When I started 2009 off we were in the midst of a lot of testing for Dallas to see what was causing all his behavior issues. After MRI's, EKG's, blood work, neuropsyhc testing and more he was finally diagnosed SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder) and PDD. I started the whole processing saying I thought he had SPD...mom's always have an intuition as to what is wrong right? So then we began OT and tried Behavioral Therapy. We came a long way through the year but ended it rough, then trying to figure out what else we can do to help him (diet, different therapies, etc.) I've learned so much but still have a long way to go with him.

More learning came when we decided to homeschool the boys and I shifted and put on the teacher hat. It's defiantly been a learning process daily as to what works and what doesn't but it's been pretty successful all in all.

It was also a year of healing (still morning my miscarriage from August) and then much excitement when we found out I was pregnant again mid year. And even more exciting to find out we were having a girl around my birthday.

That's a very brief summary of 2009 with much anticipation to the joy that 2010 brings. Now to apply all the gained knowledge and keep taking steps forward.

So here I am...36 1/2 weeks pregnant and awaiting another change in our family. I am still in shock that it's a girl and not sure I will totally believe it until she's curled up in my arms. I've been in total nesting mood since Christmas is over trying to make all the necessary preparations and finish her room. My to do list is a mile long so there's much to be done!