A Christmas Kick-off

Blogger fail = me!  But none-the-less, here is a kick off to Christmas blog!  The kids are at such a fun age for Christmas memories and traditions!  We kicked off the season by putting up the tree and being surprised by our Elf on the Shelf-buddy!  He brought matching Elf PJs for all the kids and they
were so excited!

 Jacob loves the movie and the book and is so excited to see what Buddy does this year!

The kids had so much putting ornaments on their own trees and putting them in their room.  Leah and Lexi have a totally girly tree and they love it (me too)!!

A friend took some adorable pictures of the kids for our Christmas card!

More excitement to come!

Ocean City Vacation

This past weekend we took the kids on their first beach vacation to Ocean City.  They had so much fun!  We decided to get the most time out of our trip by leaving at 2:30 in the morning.  I just KNEW the kids would go right back to sleep in the car.  Wrong!  Jacob passed right out but the girls were wide awake for the whole trip.  Alexis kept saying "I go to the beach!" and Leah was just happy we were all in the car.  About 30 minutes outside of Ocean City, the skies opened up and it started pouring.  We grabbed breakfast at McDs and the kids ate while we located the condo we were staying in.  Jesse unpacked (in the rain) while the kids and I checked out our vacation home (side bar--at one point Jacob got upset and said he didn't get to bring all his toys to the new house!  I had to tell him we weren't living there forever, just for the weekend!)

After everyone taking a much needed nap, we headed out (in the POURING rain) to find lunch.  We ended up at Grotto's and were so excited to introduce the kids to their yummy pizza. 

Jacob was ready for pizza!

The girls insist on using big girl cups now!

On the way back from lunch it stopped raining so we put on bathing suits and hit the beach!  It was a bit windy but the kids had a BLAST!   After the beach, we cleaned up and headed to the boardwalk.  The kids were so entertained by the sights and sounds.  It was a beautiful night, the weather ended up being amazing all weekend.  After eating corndogs--yumm, the girls had another first- RIDES!

First ride-boats

This kid talked about the motorcycles for days!

Day 2 was spent at the beach again.  Jacob hammed it up for the scopes girl, the girls weren't feeling it.  We did get a decent family picture, the only one of all 5 of us from the weekend!  The girls loved the waves and kept asking daddy to take them out 'simming'.  When you lowered them into the water, they would kick their little legs like they were actually going to swim away.

After the beach, we went back to the condo for the girls to nap and the boys went to play mini golf and ride go carts.  When they were done and the girls were rested, we went to Phillips for dinner.  Kids 4 and under eat free--score!!  Jesse and I ate kind crab legs like there were going out of style-LOL.  The kids stuffed their faces (with dessert).  After dinner we headed to Rehoboth Beach to check out the boardwalk there and ride more rides!  The kids were rockin long after their bedtimes (love that my kids can hang so late!!)

For our third and final day we had breakfast and then, of course, went back to the beach!!  We definitely have some beach bums on our hands!  They couldn't get enough of digging holes by the water's edge and waiting for the waves to make a puddle to jump in.  The girls made friends with a nearby 'baby' (she was only 18 months, but bigger than they are!).  The kept giving her toys and 'helping' her stand up.

Finally, it was time to get cleaned up, pack up and head home.  The girls slept almost the whole way home.  We had such a great time and made some awesome memories.  I can't wait to take them back!

The Twincesses are TWO!

 Two years old.  I obviously knew it was coming, but it was still shocking.  I woke up on the morning of the girls' birthday thinking about how tiny and helpless they were when they were born.  What a wild ride it's been having these two doll babies!  Two to me is the end of babyhood.  Between Jacob's 2nd and 3rd year he was potty trained, moved from his crib to a big boy bed and seemed to just grow up in general.  The girls had their 2 year check up on their actual birthday this year and they are still such peanuts!  Leah is 19lbs 4oz and Alexis is 18lbs 10oz.  Here are some then and now pics :

 

After their nap, we went to my parent's house for pizza and cupcakes.  And of course presents!  The girls were so cute when we sang Happy Birthday to them.  I helped them each blow out their candles.  Leah needed some help., but Alexis was a pro! 

After cupcakes and ice cream it was time for presents.  The girls got some Minnie Mouse toys, dress up shoes and clothes.  They love opening wrapping paper and they wanted each toy opened right away to play with!  It was such a fun day and I still can't believe my babies are 2!!

My 'baby' boy is 4!

Jacob just had his 4th birthday.  We've been talking about his birthday for the whole month of May and he was so excited.  At daycare, he learned how to hold up four fingers and he was so proud of himself.  On the night before his birthday I continued the new tradition of putting streamers on his door and filling the living room with balloons.  I took off work to spend my big boy's special day with him and we had a fun filled day of activities chosen by the birthday boy himself! His first request was to go to 'the moon bounce place'.  His pals were able to join us and they had a blast!

 The girls had fun, too!

Jacob requested a Ninja Turtle themed party.  I looked at tons of pictures of Ninja Turtle cupcakes and then made these all by myself!  I was quite proud and Jacob loved them.

 Eating pizza with his friends and sisters.

 Cupcake cutie #1

 Cupcake cutie #2

 Time for presents!  Jacob loves the new games and toys he got!

 After lunch and presents at my mom's house, it was home to open more presents with daddy!

I let Jacob pick dinner and he picked 'sketti'.  After dinner we went down to the boardwalk and had ice cream at Dairy Freeze and then played on the beach.  I even let the kids get in the water, which they loved.  When I tucked Jacob in bed that night, he said he had a great birthday and he wanted to be 4 forever!  I love this little boy with my whole heart.  I can't believe it's been four year since I first held him in my arms!  I wish he would stay 4 forever, too.

Easter Fun

We did a lot of fun Easter activities this year!  We started by going to Chesapeake Beach's Easter Festival to see what that was all about.  I was excited everything was free-LOL.  It ended up being very windy that day which made it feel extra cold.  It was so windy, no one was allowed on any of the moon bounces they had set up.  Jacob was quite disappointed.  We did get to ride on this little train that went around the parking lot, so that was fun.  The coolest part was meeting Batman and Spiderman.  Jacob was sooooo excited!  We also walked around to different vendors that were passing out candy.  Everyone loves candy!

The girls ready to go to the festival.

The kids did an Easter egg hunt at daycare and they got a lot of goodies at that.  The next day, we went to my cousin-in-law's house for another Easter egg hunt.  The girls are egg hunting pros now and Jacob was on a mission to get as many eggs as possible!  They had an egg pinata and it was all so much fun!  Here are some photos from the hunt!

We also went to see the Easter bunny at the mall.  The girls were def not a fan of Mr. Bunny.  Maybe next year...  I did get some cute pics of their pretty dresses in the car afterwards!!

Easter morning the kids loved their baskets and I had to pry them away to get dressed for church.  We met my parents, brothers and sister at church and the kids did very good!  After naps, we went to my grandma's for dinner and to visit family.  All in all, it was a great day!

Holiday Recap- Christmas Eve/Day

This year Jacob woke up bursting with excitement on Christmas Eve!  Santa was FINALLY coming that night!  We got all dressed up and went to the children's mass at church with my parents, siblings and grandma.  Jacob was really into kids who acted out the Gospel.  Being at that service always brings me back to when I was younger.  My brothers and I loved seeing (and evening being in!) the play at church and I remember how excited were that the next day was Christmas!  There was always something about being all dressed up and hearing about the birth of Jesus and the priest always threw in a little something about Santa!  We would giggle and whisper and being full of that magical feeling.  I hope my kids have the same memories.  After church, we headed back to my parents for what has become our traditional Christmas Eve dinner-- prime roast, salad, baked potatoes, rolls and dessert.  The kids were hyped up even more after Santa came by on a fire truck!  Jacob asked him why he wasn't in his sled.  It was so funny!  Santa told him he was just reminding all the kids to go to bed on time so he could bring their presents.

Jacob running off some energy at my mom's and Lexi ringing the Christmas bells.

Lexi running in her pretty dress!

My little angels checking out my mom's beautiful tree.

After dinner and visiting with my parents and grandparents (since we weren't going to see them on Christmas) it was home to put out reindeer food, milk and cookies for Santa and go to bed!

Making his reindeer food.

 Smiling with his milk and cookies for Santa.

This Christmas morning was AWESOME!  Jacob was so, so excited to see the presents and the girls were pretty excited, too! They had a great time tearing into presents and wanted each toy opened up to play with instantly.  I didn't mind because it allowed our morning to stretch out and last so we could soak up all the goodness.  I'll close out with a few pictures from the morning!