Gearing up for Kindergarten

Jules has been so busy lately getting ready for Kindergarten.  She got the official Kindergarten haircut.  She wanted to go shorter but I was just worried she would have a meltdown.  None so far though, she says she loves it!  Here is the before and after!

We attended a County event for school at the mall where they had all kinds of information on classes, buses, etc. This is their anti-bullying campaign sign.  They have celebrities take pictures with these signs all of the city.

She started cheerleading!

She had her Pre-K graduation.  I just love the picture.  We were so pumped up for it and celebrated with breakfast and dinner.  She was so excited to be a part of the small group that was singing a song.  We got there early to get a seat in the front, etc.  Needless to say, you know when you get that ready for something, that it isn't going to go right.  Well, without going in to the nitty-gritty details, it definitely did not go well!  And, it still really hasn't been rectified with the school.  She was very upset (they forgot to call her name for the song and didn't redo it even though she told her teacher twice) but she got to introduce the class before they got their diplomas (because Michael let them know about it!)  Sometimes you have to let people know how you feel and he definitely did that! 

 

The school really did a great job of putting it on though.  I was impressed --- until I saw how they handled the little incident, which was not well, by the way!  The kids were in small groups to do different "showcases" - the Pledge, Days of the Week song, phone numbers and addresses, vowel sounds, sight words, etc. 

 

Everything ended up okay - as you can tell, she was still pretty pumped about the whole night!

 

 

 



Then, we threw a big party with her best friend's parents at their house and she got to have her first sleepover!  I was sad and did not sleep the entire night but she had a blast and would have stayed longer the next day if she had it her way.  They stayed up until 1:30 in the morning and woke up at 6:30 in the morning - I think it's safe to say that the BFFs parents didn't sleep either!!  Aren't they cute!  She got that charm bracelet and a shooting star charm for the graduation - she really liked it!

 

 

And then, same weekend, she lost her third tooth - a front one this time - and while eating chocolate chips in cookie dough!

 



 

 It really is true that time just flies when you get older.  This is her at 6 months and then the night of graduation, about 5 years and 6 months!  I couldn't love her more!

 

 

Update on #3

 

I had another ultrasound at about 13 weeks.  He/she was waiving at me.  These were about the best picture we got because he/she was jumping around and flipping everywhere - they could barely get these or the heartbeat.   

 

We went for our anatomy scan today.  Jules and Shook went with us but Shook was not really interested - he was more worried that something was going to happen to me.  He was ready to get out of there!  So, they stayed for a little while but not nearly the whole time.  We tried to get a pic with Jules and baby #3 (Shook did not want to!) but it wasn't too clear.

Baby #3 is doing well - measuring right at 2 weeks further along than my due date on all accounts - bone length, head size, weight, stomach size.  He/she is about 1 lb 2 oz  and therefore everything is in the 97-100%.  Seeing as how I have big babies, they won't adjust my due date yet.  They will continue to monitor growth, especially from 26 week to 33 weeks to see if he/she slows down.

Now Jules and Shook both are hoping for a boy - Jules says because she hopes it is as cute as Shook.  So sweet!!

#3

We can update the blog for baby Decker #3!

 

We aren't finding out the gender and looks like with the healthcare reform, there won't be many pics of Decker #3.  This one is at about 7 week and the next won't be until right at 20 weeks - right after July 4th. 

We are all pretty pumped.  Jules thinks it's a girl and Shook thinks it's a boy!  Jules told everyone pretty much right away.  I told her she could tell her best friend and at dinner that night I asked her if she told and she said "yes, but I think you are going to be mad at me".  Of course, I said "why?" and she said "well, I may have told more of my friends".  So, I said "who did you tell" and she says, "well, I didn't tell Preston".  So, I follow up with "So, you told everyone but Preston?"  and she says, "I think you might be really mad at me."  I said, "I'm not mad" and she said, "well, Ms. Brandy might have overheard me telling everyone."  haha!  Michael was in tears laughing so hard!

Gonna be fun times!

Shook's Birthday

Shook had a pretty low-key actual birthday since we did the big pirate party and we celebrated on the cruise and at Disney.  So, we took him to Chick-fil-a and then tried to go see the Avengers - only he wouldn't sit through it and we had to leave Michael and Jules there!

We also went to the Spaghetti Factory downtown this weekend and tried to sit in the trolley but we were about 2 people too late :) so we sat next to the trolley.  Man, Spaghetti Factory is not as good as an adult as it is when you are a kid!!

We also had his check-up and he is 42 pounds (97-100%) and 3' 6" (90-100%).  The doctor recommended we hold back on milk even though his BMI is perfectly normal.  The poor guy only likes milk and water (with an occasional sweet tea) so that kind of stinks.  We talked about a frenectomy for his speech but they aren't too keen on those helping even though the dentist thinks its the answer to it all....so, jury is still out on that.  Other than that, he's a perfectly normal kid!

Cruisin' with Mickey

We just got back from our first Disney cruise.  We went on a 5 day trip to Key West, Nassau, and Castaway Cay. 

Fun at the airport since our flight was delayed!

The Magic from afar.  We flew in the night before we departed so that we didn't chance missing it. 

 

 

We met up with these special friends at the hotel and took the bus together to the port.  The girls were pumped to see each other!

 



 

 

Getting on board - I had read that the boarding process was much more hectic on Disney than other cruises (but I have nothing to compare it to since this was my first cruise).  However, I will say it was definitely hectic.  We had one of the first boarding times so we didn't have to wait long but there were people, kids, and suitcases everyone.  And, of course, as we have determined in past posts, I'm not a fan of lots of people in confined places so I was happy to get out of there and on to the ship!

 



 

 

One kid pool where they play the movies!  All in all, the pools were pretty small and kids were basically on top of each other.  Of course they loved it!  And, they loved the slide! 

 

 

Shook discovered the ice cream first thing and proceeded over the 5 days to have a lot of them!

 

 

And then you get the Mickey ice cream bars at dinner!  He loved it! 

 

 

We did the first rotation of dinner because that is what everyone recommended but I actually kind of wish we had done the second because after an hour they come and get them and take them to the kids club.  Otherwise, dinner lasts about 2.5 hours!  That's a long time for kids.  But, I did love Animator's Palace.  The drawings and things were fun.  And, so was pirate night and the pirate march the kids got to do.

 

She ordered this same exact meal every dinner - whole wheat pasta - (minus the pizza) and usually with double broccoli!

 

Mickey comes out at Animator's Palace.

 

 

She made a lot of these necklaces in the kids club!

 

 

And, we danced a lot after dinner.  Basically, after 5 pm, they have live music all over the ship.

 

 

And, characters are pretty much everywhere all the time though my kids did not give a hoot about seeing any of them this time.  We would pass them and they had no line and they still didn't want to see them.  A little disappointing but I guess they are growing up.  Now, if they had a Pony cruise, Jules would be all over it!

 

We left the kids in the kids club while we walked around Key West.  The kids club was a great part of the ship because the kids loved it! (minus 1 text from Jules (on your 1980s "wave phone" they give you to communicate) asking us to pick her up but she says its because she had to potty and didn't know they had a place there and then another after she had been there awhile one day).

 

Key West was a little disappointing for us.  We thought we wanted to go there for an adult vacation but the beaches aren't that great and its basically just a bunch of bars!  So, we got to see the important sights.

 

I went straight for the Key Lime pie as it is one of my all-time favorites.  The Key Limeade was pretty good too.

 

The line for the Southernmost Point was ridiculous so I got Michael's picture with it from the street!

Our room was on deck 5 and it was an adjoining room with my mom with a "secret porthole".  Basically, it's the price of the regular staterooms but a little better because the portholes are "obscured" and people complained so Disney had to drop the price of them.  In the next picture, we were right where the white barrels are but you can see the porthole windows.  I was deathly afraid of someone falling out of a veranda (aka Shook) so this was the next best option.   I actually loved our room because it was on the same floor with all the kids club stuff and it was right near the elevator - it was very easy to get to. 

 

 

My easy to get to is coming from our fish extender adventure we had.  This is where you hang a pocket on your metal fish outside your room, sign up in a group, and pass out gifts to everyone in your group (and you get gifts back).  I had read that the kids love it because it's like getting presents everyday.  That did not deter my kids from wanting to go to the gift shop still!!  And, delivering our gifts was a pain.  The rooms in our group were all over the ship and some of those hallways to get to rooms are utterly ridiculous!  And, our kids were disinterested after about the 2nd gift we passed out! 

 

Our waiters were great with the kids and the buffet was decent too.  We basically ate breakfast there every morning and then went swimming.  I mean, the view is gorgeous!

 

 

At the Bahamas stop, mom and I took Jules off the boat to go to the Straw Market.  Michael's brother went on the cruise as well and they went to the waterpark there and swam with the dolphins but I had heard that it has gotten really dangerous there plus from what I had read the waterpark and dolphins were very expensive for just the short time you could go, so we opted out.  But, they had a blast! 

 

We got Jules a hair wrap and some dresses so she was happy!

 

 

 

Pirate night was really fun for the kids!  We dressed up with Izzy and Jake, had the pirate dinner, and then went up to the top deck for fireworks and the party.

 

 

 

 

Castaway Cay was by far our favorite stop!  They could have just docked the boat there forever!  The water was so pretty and the beach was made of little sea shells (which did hurt our sensitive feet).  White fish would just swim up to you in the water.  And, Disney had built the lagoon up so the water was almost always just up to your knees or hips (until the tide came in later in the day).  But, we had so much fun here.  Jules, Michael and I also fed the stingrays (stings removed) and we snorkeled with them.  Loved it!

 

Lunch is on the island too!

 

 

As you can tell, Jules got a lot of stuffed animals on the trip.  Shook got a lot of bath toys - one of the ship which is pretty cool.  After we ported, we tried to go to the Kennedy Space Center but it was so expensive and we had planned to only stay a couple of hours before heading to Disney so that was a real damper.  So, we just headed to Downtown Disney to wait on our room to be ready.  After that, we headed to the room to REST!

 

The kids were out before we even barely got the rental car in drive!

 

 

After our rest, we went out to swim at the pool and watch the Electrical Parade on the beach.

 

 

 

The next day we headed out for 1 day at Magic Kingdom!  We had lots of fun riding rides but we had to take a break mid-day this time!

 

I think the splash mountain pictures were my favorite from the whole vacation.  The kids wanted to ride it over and over again.  Michael, not so much!

 

 

And, they both loved the Railroad Rollercoaster!

 

We had a blast!  I would definitely do a cruise again.  I think since the kids are over the characters, I would consider something other than Disney, even though the kids club probably can't be beat.  The food wasn't my favorite but it wasn't awful.  The rooms and bathrooms do start to get a little small over the time period so I definitely wouldn't do much longer than 5 days.  I wish the pools on the boat were bigger too and I wish there was more docking at places like Castaway Cay!