Breaking all the "Rules"

Here are my children....the product of my "Mommy Rule Breaking"....
Sam was turned around forward in his car seat way before he turned 1....he got carsick. He also slept on his tummy and got cereal at 2 months due to his reflux. Now, I have to let Maddie hold her blankie or she won't go to sleep. Don't freak out....I remove it promptly! Seriously though, how cute is that picture of her all cuddled up with it??
I started her on rice this week...and today...applesauce. She is only 2 weeks shy of her 4 month birthday...so I didn't break this rule by much. She is still backwards in her car seat...and will be until she is 1! She doesn't have Sam's issues with that.

Clearly....she is happy about finally tasting something besides soy formula!

Holy Cow...er...Shamu...it is HOT

While we were in Orlando, we spent 2 days in Sea World. I love going, and it is one of our favorite places in the world. Sam has already been 4 times in 5 years....but I don't recommend going in the middle of July! Holy cow it was so HOT it was hard to breathe. And the heat didn't deter any crowds. If you go, I do recommend staying until closing...they have a cool Rock-n-Roll Shamu show...which Sam LOVED. He has been asking to go to a "real Rock Star show". There was some guy on an electric guitar....so he was facinated. He kept saying, "He is a real rock and roll guy Mommy....he doen't work here!" They also have a show a t night called "Mystify"....and we didn't see the whole thing...but it had great fireworks and illusions with lights that looked like Shamu up in the sky...it was really impressive.
They had mimes at all the show before they started to entertain the crowds...the kids wanted their picture with this one.
Here is Sam at the North Pole!
Can you tell it was HOT????

Nick Hotel and the Flip Flop Incident

We went back to Orlando last week, and stayed at the Nick Hotel again. Sam was thrilled, because he was allowed to sleep on the TOP bunk of the "bumper bed" this year. We also took Jim's sister and our neice Erin this year. The kids had a BLAST! They got slimed again, met all the characters at a fun but VERY EXPENSIVE breakfast. Apparently Spongebob and Squidward (not to mention Patrick, Dora, Diego, etc.) make a lot of money to dance once and visit with the kids for an hour. Oh well....I figure Sam won't be all about the characters much longer...he is so grown up these days.
While in Orlando, we went back to the Wilderness Lodge, where Jim and I got married 10 years ago in June. While we were there, we had our picture made right where we said our vows. It was cool to show Sam where we got married, etc. Well, then while Jim and Susan were finishing up in the gift shop, I was in charge of the kids. I let them wade in a little creek outside. As I am sitting on the side fondly remembering my wedding day....I see out of the corner of my eye....SAM-literally tackling Erin and then diving downstream. I start to scream at him....and he yelps out "HER FLIP FLOP!" I then scream, "get them!" She was wearing Sketchers flip flops that her Mommy LOVES and I didn't want to be the one to tell her we lost them in my care. Well, Sam held up one....the other went under a bridge and over a water fall. Jim and Susan came outside to find the three of us sitting on a bridge, staring at the murky water and the flip flop floating about 15 yards out. Jim came to the rescue, and waded in to get it! My hero!

Here we are at the exact spot we got married. Hard to believe it has been 10 years!

Here we are with Squiward.....I will spare you the rest of the character pics.

The Beach

This is the whole Harper Clan at Panama City Beach. We had a rough start to the week...having to move condos several times, but at last it turned out to be a great time! Jim's family was there too, but only for a few days...and sadly I didn't get any pics of them. We truly didn't see them too much....a lot was going on.
This is Sam on the Deep Sea fishing trip. He and Jim went, and caught lots of fish. One of them is currently in my freezer waiting to be cooked.
This is my little Madison in her first bikini. How cute is she???? She is ready for the beach!
Ok...so maybe not really ready for the heat. Here she is hiding in her tent. She did get to put her toes in the sand and ocean before Nana whisked her off to the air conditioned condo. Thank GOD for Nana!
Sam and I parasailed! He was so excited we got to use a parachute like Bear Grylls (the guy on Discovery Channel...Man vs. Wild). Sam is literally OBSESSED with Bear, who parachutes into the wild and shows you how to survive by eating bugs and such. Anyway, Sam was a bit nervous when we first took off....but he LOVED it. It was so much fun! We went up 1500 feet, got to stay up for 3 or 4 miles, and got "dipped" down in the water twice.

Latest pics

Here are Sam and Maddie's latest pictures. We did Sam's 5 year pictures and Maddie's 3 month pictures at the same time. I wanted to SCREAM by the time we were done, but we got a lot of great pictures. I LOVE Portrait Innovations!
Check out those thighs!
This picture looks just like one of my baby pics. I can't believe how big he is! He is going to be on a school bus in less than a month!

Time has flown!

Ok... I have quite a few things to share that have gone on the past month.....so I will try to post something everyday this week to get caught up. Stay tuned.....