there's no place like home

I have felt lost not posting daily! Greyson and I went with friends on a ski trip to Utah last week, and I was planning on posting a bunch from our lodge. I did take my laptop, but ended up forgetting my camera and we didn’t have internet service until the third day. Looked like a really beautiful place to ski, although at 5 months pregnant i obviously didn't try out the slopes. I was there to babysit for the kids.
One of greyson’s favorite parts was being able to look out the windows and watch all the skiers coming down the mountain and the ski lifts taking them back up. That was a whole new experience for him! I took a few pics of him outside from my cell, but have to figure out how to upload them to my computer.
Flying back was a complete nightmare. Remind me to never ever fly space available during spring break. What was I thinking? Being an airline employee definitely has its perks, like first class in the 757 going out to Utah –woo hoo!! But on our last flight from Denver to Dulles, it just wasn’t happening. We tried 10 flights and got bumped from them all! We even tried going to Chicago, Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia. I told you it was a nightmare. I only halfway keep it together, from all my years of experience being a flight attendant. I do miss that job sometimes.
After 14 hours in the Denver airport, we finally made a flight. Want to guess where we ended up for the night? Hello Cleveland, Ohio (greyson’s first trip to Ohio)

This map is in Greyson's room. His big boy room is a travel/airplane theme. We used a giant US map on the wall for art and place a push pin for every new state he has been to. He is up to 14 so far!

Anyway the only worst thing was that we landed at midnight and had to make the 6am departure or we weren’t getting home Sunday either. Didn't make a whole lot of sense to even go to the hotel but, it was only 10 minutes from the airport, and Greyson got to sleep in a bed for a few hours instead of an airport chair. Want to ask me how much I love spring break? Greyson ended up sick with the flu, during our six hour stay in Ohio. Now mama has caught the bug. It’s been a long week.
I will leave you with a photo that I took before we left at 20 weeks pregnant. Hopefully I will post a 21 week photo in the next few days, she is so strong now!

Sat/Sun/Mon

Trying to attempt a catch-up post from our weekend. We were so blessed here on the East Coast this weekend with sunshine and warm weather! On Saturday, I actually broke out shorts for Greyson to wear to the beach. Jim was on a three day trip, so Greyson and I went to visit Nana & Boppie for the day. The playground in town was first on our to-do list. We were having so much fun that we ended up shopping at the outlets (i will post all the girly-ness later), going out to dinner, and then spending the night.

Here's our little monkey:

Stopping for a huggins' break!

Sunday morning we woke to more gorgeous weather and went out to breakfast together.

Can you read that temp? Shot taken from my car on Sunday afternoon.... 73 degrees!! The time was actually 12:38 because I forgot to change the time on that clock. I wish Spring was here to stay, but cooler weather is on the way tomorrow.

Monday:

Today was purple day at preschool. Everyone wore purple and made "purple pairs" , these are Greyson & Joshua's hand prints. Boys are messy! ha!

While Greyson was busy mixing red and blue paint at school, Jim & I went to baby girls' 20 week ultrasound. Everything is measuring perfect and she is weighing about 11oz. It is so amazing each and every time we get another peek at such perfection. God is SO good!

just keepin' it real

just thought i'd keep it real and show you what my kitchen sink looked like after watching five kids today. the sad part is, these were only the lunch dishes. c'mon you know everyone wants a different fork and spoon for their mandarin oranges and their yogurt. duh!

here are the little cuties ranging in age from 2-5. greyson is second from the left.

with only a few hours left to spare....

being that i am turning 19 weeks tomorrow and have not posted a 18 week belly pic.....

here ya go!

want to know something exciting? luciana is now letting her mama know she is alive and well in there, she has begun her gymnastic routines. mama couldn't be more excited!

so proud of our boy...

getting greyson to write his name or practice his letters has been somewhat of a chore for awhile now. Even though he has been doing both for almost a year. i can't really blame him, he's four and well he would much rather be chasing grover around the backyard or playing dinosaurs (especially sharp tooth ones). but recently something just clicked! this photo was taken after breakfast when he decided he wanted to write our names and his on his art easel. completely by himself!! last night before dinner he surprised jim and i with writing the numbers 1-4 also. neither of us had any idea he has even practiced numbers before. we are so proud of you greyson!

and look what we found waiting in a small little package yesterday? it looks so tiny next to greyson, or he just looks really big! i am completely in love with monograms, embroidery, and personalized baby clothing. a girl is gonna be so much fun....
here's a close-up of the gorgeous detail:

p.s. thank-you to those who have emailed us to says congrats. and who have shared in the love for her name Ava. that will be her first name, but she will go by her middle which is luciana. i'm thinking she might be called luci a handful of times too! :)

Happy Monday!

Today is a snowy, windy day here in Maryland. We woke up to around two inches of snow! (grandma, papa, aunts, uncles, & cousins in Chicago are laughing hysterically right now) Later we are going to attempt to go out and play for a little bit, but it is just blowing too hard right now. Check back later for snow pictures! Grover our weimaraner and Asher our Great Dane have loved playing out in the white stuff!

Greyson is really itching to get out there too! (having a lazy pj day)

I’ll leave you with a recap of our Sunday. After church we went to a party for my grandparents as they celebrated 60 years of love and devotion.

My cousin Jennifer and I with our babies!

Taylor-1, Greyson-4

Greyson and his pop-pa being silly!

My brother, Dad and me:

My grandparents even renewed their wedding vows in front of hundreds of friends and family.

It was beautiful! They have accomplished so much in their lifetime, which includes 5 children, 8 grandchildren, and 8 (soon to be 9) great grandchildren.

Yesterday I also managed to make a yummy cake for last nights’ bible study. Lemon Apricot Chiffon cake (scroll down for recipe)

Lemon Apricot Chiffon Cake

5 large egg whites

1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter

1 box white cake mix

3 large egg yolks

3/4 cup apricot nectar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 Tablespoon lemon juice

glaze: 2 cups 10x sugar

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 Tablespoon apricot nectar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, place rack in center of oven. Beat egg whites and cream of tarter until stiff peaks form, 2-3 minutes. Set aside. Mix cake mix, egg yolks, apricot nectar, oil, lemon juice, and lemon zest on low speed for one minute. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Increase mixer to medium and beat for two minutes, until well combined. Place egg whites on top of mixed batter. With a rubber spatula fold whites into batter. Pour batter into a greased 10-inch bunt pan. Bake cake until golden brown and springs back, about 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan for 30 minutes. Run a knife around edge of the cake and invert onto a rack to release. For glaze: mix all ingredients and blend on low for one minute. Drizzle on top of cake and let set for 20 minutes. Slice, serve and enjoy!

A few tips.... #1-I use a stoneware bunt pan from the pampered chef. It is very heavy but an awesome pan, nothing ever sticks! #2- Microwave fresh whole lemons for 10-15 seconds and then roll on counter top before cutting. You will extract tons of fresh lemon juice this way! #3- Apricot nectar was found in the latino isle.