Family Vacation 2010 Part 1--DISNEY WORLD!!!

What a wonderful vacation the Tharpe family had! WE LOVE DISNEY!!! We flew to Orlando on Friday, October 1st and took the magical express to our resort--Disney's Beach Club. It was located inside Epcot--it literally took less than 5 minutes to walk from the resort to Epcot (entering into the park inside the world showcase between England and France). We loved going to eat in the world showcase! Magic Kingdom was decorated so pretty for the Fall--and we went to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween party which was amazing! The kids went trick or treating, and we watched the Halloween parade which was so fabulous--we didn't leave Magic Kingdom until midnight! We had lunch at Cinderella's castle! We exhausted ourselves, but we went to every park and rode and saw just about everything, and the kids did fantastic! Gabe and Emma were tall enough to ride most of the rides, except for 2 roller coasters (one at Animal Kingdom and one at Hollywood Studios). We had so much fun! I'll never forget standing outside Magic Kingdom waiting for it to open, and watching the Disney charaters arrive in a train singing "Zippity Doo Da, Zippity Day..." The looks on Emma's and Gabe's faces were priceless!

The first night, we did not go to any of the parks. We decided to relax at the pool (which was quite amazing by the way), and then go to the campire and movie on the beach. The kids loved roasting marshmallows and singing songs around the fire. Then as they were starting to put the huge movie screen up, a cast member came over and asked us if we would be interested in taking a pontoon cruise (free) down the lake to watch Epcot's illumination show. This year's theme at Disney is "What are you celebrating" and we rode on the "birthday cruise". When I booked the vacation back in the Spring, they asked me if we would be celebrating anything, and I told them we would be celebrating Emma and Gabe's birthday! So Emma was wearing her "birthday" button, which I assume is the reason why the cast member asked us. There was another pontoon that was decorated for the "anniversary cruise". It was very cool, to say the least!


Gabe loved roasting marsmallows!












Waiting on the beach...

Emma loved the campfire!

Gabe and mommy enjoying the cruise!

The movie out on the beach--Our resort is in the background.

The birthday cruise!!


Emma loved it!

Our family on the cruise!

The beach at our resort--across the lake was the Boardwalk Inn.

Gabe and I on the safari ride at Animal Kingdom

The Epcot Globe moving out onto the water during the illumination show.

We LOVE Mickey and Minnie! Doesn't everyone?

Isn't it Magical?

This is what Disney is all about!


Breakfast at Cape May Cafe

On our way to Epcot, we stopped for a picture!

Our babies!


With Jasmine at Cinderella's Castle

Cape May Cafe--this one makes me laugh!

In "England" at Epcot's World Showcase!


Our beautiful resort!
Gabe and Daddy waiting at the bus stop!
Gabe's favorite ride! He loved driving!



Aunt Tonya and Emma at Biergarten!

Cheers!

The scenery at the Beach Club was beautiful!



At the Halloween Party, in front of Cinderella's carriage

Gabe posed for me outside our resort

Outside the Nemo ride at Epcot

The pool at the Beach Club was awesome, and had a sand bottom!

Around midnight...Halloween party

With Smee and Captain Hook. Hook was so funny--he would "steal" the kids' candy and run away with it. But he didn't steal Emma's! He gave her a hug!

Daddy and our babies!

The entrance into our resort!

Playing in the pool



Gabe and mommy playing in the pool!

So pretty!

On the flight to Orlando!

Our pirate and princess...ready for the Halloween party!

On the carousel!


Emma's FAVORITE princess--see the look on her face? Spending the $$$ to eat at Cinderella's castle was totally worth it!

Getting sprinkled with "PIRATE" Dust--arrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

Getting sprinkled with Pixie Dust outside the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique inside the Castle


We had breakfast with Pooh and friends at Crystal Palace--YUM!

Magic Kingdom decorated for the Halloween party!

Birthday Bash 2010

On Sunday, August 29th, we had Emma's and Gabe's birthday bash at Heartland Gymnastics. And let me tell you...they had so much fun! They each invited some friends (15 total), and everyone played and played, had cake and icecream and watched presents being opened, then played some more. They jumped, bounced and played games. My friend Heather organized 2 games--one was a balloon grabbing race (using pool noodles), and the other was a bouncy ball race. What a fabulous day spent with family and friends--definitely one that we will always remember!! See for yourself...




The kids loved the foam block pit!

My friend Heather and her sweet son Jake

The bouncy ball races!

My friend Leann's daughter, Emma who is in preschool with Gabe. FYI--Emma was in Gabe's class last year as well. And her big sister Lizzy was in my Emma's 3 year and 4 year preschool class, and is now in the same first grade class with Emma. And Leann and I did our first half marathon together in April!

Emma took a break from opening presents to pose for daddy!

She loved the makeup kit Aunt Jennifer got for her!

Gabe loves $$$! Thanks Nana and Grandpa!

Emma and Gabe on their "thrones" waiting to open presents!

Brendan had a lot of fun. He is the son of our friends, Carmen and Charles. We were stationed at Ft. Detrick, MD together, and Carmen was pregnant with Brendan at the same time that I was pregnant with Emma. Brendan was born 2 months after Emma! I will never forget our first Thanksgiving together as new parents--catered by Cracker Barrell at their house in West Virginia. We have a picture of Emma in her infant seat and Brendan in his bouncy seat on their first Thanksgiving! :) Oh yeah, and now they live in Louisville too! They got out of the army a year or two before we did.

Macy, the perfectly healthy daughter of my twin! It's hard to believe that she was born with a heart defect and had to undergo open heart surgery at 3 months old!

Our birthday girl!

Our birthday boy!

Running and playing!

More running and playing!

Gabe as he was blowing out the candles on his cake!

Daddy took a turn in the blocks!

Boys having fun!

Even on his birthday, Gabe had to spend a few minutes in timeout. :(

Gabe and Brendan

They played so hard!

Daddy and daughter

More fun!

Ella and Emma--they have been best friends since they were 2!

Party room!

Gabe's CARS cake

Emma's Barbie cake

Happy 6th Birthday Emma Caroline!!

Taken on her birthday, before school...

I cannot believe that my baby girl turned 6 on Wednesday! Has it really been 6 years since I had my baby girl? I will never forget the excitement and anticipation of being pregnant with my first baby...and then when we found out it was a GIRL...all of my dreams had come true.

Emma has a little scar on her cheek...a permanent reminder of her delivery. It is barely a whisp of a scar...you would never notice it if you didn't already know it was there. My labor with her was going so well...I was progressing quickly and the nurse was going over "pushing instructions"after 7 or 8 hours of being in labor--I was dilated to a 9.5. But as she was starting to descend into the birth canal, her heart rate dived and was not returning to normal. I remember my body just started shaking...from labor and mostly from just being nervous and terrified . I just wanted them to get her out as quickly as possible...we all knew the consequences of a baby being deprived of oxygen for too long. So they rushed me into the OR, and within minutes (at 2:03 am) we had our perfect, healthy baby girl. She was perfectly healthy...and the doctor thought that her shoulder was pushing against her umbilical cord which was causing her heart rate to drop each time she would try to descend into the birth canal. And then we noticed the nick on her tiny cheek...and we were told that the doctor did it while rushing to get her out. It broke my heart--I didn't want her to have a scar on her face for the rest of her life. But as Mike reminded me of often, a tiny scar on her face is so minimal to what could have happened had they not acted as quickly as they did.(cerebral palsy from oxygen deprivation for one) (And did you know that when you sign consent forms for a c-section, they list nicks/lacerations as being possible results of the procedure? Oh the research I did afterwards...)

And looking back, I realize that there are so many things that could have went wrong, so that tiny scar really is so very minimal. And look what we have today...a beautiful, healthy, smart and sweet 6 year old little girl who amazes us every single day! Happy Birthday Emma Caroline.

Emma is doing wonderful in school. She has started the accelerated reading program this year and LOVES it. She loves school and loves her teacher. She is doing Daisy Scouts this year, and art lessons with Ms. Regina, and will start ballet next week. She makes her mommy and daddy so proud and we love her more than words can say.

For her birthday dinner, she wanted to make pizzas!
Gabe and I brought treats to her class! (Gabe took this picture of Emma)
Opening her presents...

She LOVES hula hooping...she does it every single day and is great at it!

Gabe's 4 year old checkup!

Today was my little man's 4 year checkup! He now weighs 41 1/2 pounds and is 41 inches tall! (75% for height and 90% for weight). The doctor said that he is growing wonderfully, and that his height and weight are proportional. And he said that Gabe is certainly not overweight.. In other words, he is PERFECT and HEALTHY!! He's definitely going to be a tall boy! And Gabe is so muscular--Mike always points out his little arm and calf muscles when he's hard at play. He has such an athletic build already, which is good since he is going to be a great little athlete! :)

Gabe was so good for Dr. Compton. In fact, he was tallking to the doctor a lot. I had written down that I was concerned about his speech. I can understand what he's saying, but sometimes strangers have a hard time understanding him. And Dr. Compton told me that while he was listening to Gabe talk (a mile a minute), he could understand at least 75% of everything he was saying. He told me that he didn't think Gabe needed any intervention at all. If time progresses and I feel like his speech hasn't improved, then we can have him evaluated. But for now, again, he's perfect. Gabe asked the doctor if he could listen to his heart, and Dr. Compton put the stethoscope in his ears and let him listen. Gabe was so curious and asking tons of questions.

We did a developmental questionaire, and Gabe scored at a 5 year old level! He only missed a couple--he couldn't draw a person with 6 body parts. He only drew a circle with a little circle. And the other one he missed was regarding balance. He only could stand on one foot for 3 seconds instead of 8. He is so smart, and Dr. Compton told us that as well. He was very impressed with our little guy.

And then came the bad part--the shots. Gabe knew because when the doctor left, he asked me why the nurse was coming back. And he told me that he didn't want any shots. I told him that he had to get a few so that he would stay healthy. He told me, "But mommy I am already healthy!" And he had to get 4 shots--5 immunizations since one was a booster. It was terrible. He even cried in the van, telling me that his legs were still hurting. I am so glad it's over with!! Mike took him (and Emma) for ice cream after they picked Emma up from school--Gabe deserved it after all of that trauma.

Now here's hoping for a HEALTHY fall and winter season!

Happy 4th birthday Gabe!!

Happy birthday Gabriel Allen! I still cannot believe that my youngest is now 4 and that it's already been 4 years since we brought him home from the hospital. I know I always write about this...but he was such a calm and sweet and easy baby. I will always cherish the moment when I was finally brought into my hospital room from recovery, and our newborn baby boy and daddy were waiting for me. I spoke his name, and he turned his tiny head to look at me. He has been a mommy's boy from the very beginning. :) I was reading his journal that I keep for him, and the first night home he slept from 11 to 6, woke up to nurse and then went back to sleep until 8! We were totally expecting him to wake every 2 hours to nurse (just like big sister), but he surprised us. And he always slept great after that first night too!

And now, instead of a baby, I have this amazing little boy who loves his family, has tons of energy (and Mike and I always talk about how when Gabe plays, he plays hard and puts every ounce of energy in it), loves to pick his mommy flowers,( and melted my heart when I went to pick him up from preschool last week and he pulled one out of his pocket to give to me that he had picked while out on the playground,) loves riding his scooter, loves playing and running, loves playing with his big sister and will play whatever she wants him to (even if it includes princesses and evil witches which it often does), loves playing soccer and tball and is patiently waiting until next year when he can finally play on a youth league in Rineyville, loves playing video games with his daddy, loves reading stories about CARS at bedtime, loves playing with cars and trucks and trains, still loves his Aw Bear and blanket, loves mac and cheese and chocolate milk (and grapes and apples too) and LOVES giving hugs and kisses!

Gabe is doing great in preschool. He is getting really good at tracing his letters and numbers. He can write the letter "G" and numbers "1" and "0". I have been trying to practice with him on writing his name, but he's just not interested. It frustrates me, but I know that he will do it when he's ready. He knows all of his letters and numbers and shapes and colors. He LOVES show n tell, and is so anxious to get to school on those days. And so far, he loves going to school every day! He loves playing with his friends, and he loves his teacher. He never cries when mommy leaves him. He truly is a big boy! I can't wait until his 4 year checkup to see how much he has grown and developed! (But he will get some immunizations at this visit, which I dread!!)

So on Sunday we let him pick what he wanted to do for his special day, and he told us that he wanted to go to Blazers. So Blazers is where we went! Emma and Gabe had so much fun jumping and sliding and climbing on the inflatables. They also played putt putt golf and loved it. They had a wonderful time. When we got home, we had cake and sang to our sweet boy. He LOVED everything, even the lopsided cake that his mommy made for him. :0) We love you Gabe!!




Happy 4th Birthday sweet boy!
Daddy and his little buddy!
Look how much fun they were having! I LOVE this picture!

Gabriel

I cannot believe that my little boy will be 4 on Sunday! We were looking at baby pictures last night, and it literally seems like yesterday that we were bringing our new baby boy home from the hospital. The years are flying by. Sunday we will have a family party at our house for him. And he and Emma will have a big (combined) party on the 29th at a gymnastics place in town. Gabe invited some of his little friends, and Emma invited some of hers. I know that the time will come when they will insist on having their own individual parties (probably next year), but they both agreed to having it together one more time. I still can't believe their birthdays are only 10 days apart! August is always one long month of birthday celebrations!

Gabe has been doing great at preschool. He likes his class and his teacher. Ms. Diana's class is certainly more structured than Ms. Michelle's 3 year old class was, but structure is what Gabe needs. And Ms.Diana does a wonderful job with getting them ready for Kindergarten.

Last night, we were driving home after eating dinner out, and Gabe said, "Daddy, mommy and Emma are in my family and in my heart." He melted mommy's and daddy's hearts.

And then, last night before bed, Gabe wanted to look at one of his baby photo albums. So we were looking at the pictures, and he started crying. I mean, a heartbroken cry with crocodile tears falling. He told me that he still wanted to be a baby. I told him that he was a big boy now, and that big boys get to do fun stuff that babies can't do--like play and run and play video games (which he loves). He finally stopped crying and was ready to turn the light out for bed. It took me off guard, and will certainly tell the pediatrician about it at his 4 year checkup.

I am so thankful for my sweet little boy, and am looking forward to celebrating his 4th birthday on Sunday!

First Day of School!!

Well, it's official! I now have a First Grader and a 4-year-old preschooler. Today could not have gone any better! We all got ready and drove Emma to school and walked her to class (while mommy took a video). Then Mike, Gabe and I went to breakfast and then we dropped our preschooler off. He absolutely loved his class, and his teacher. Really, the day could not have gone any better! We are so blessed. Emma got the teacher we requested for her--yay! And she really is such a sweet teacher and we have heard only wonderful things about her. And of course, Gabe has the same teacher Emma had when she was in 4-year-old preschool, and she's a sweetheart as well. It really does help when you know that you are leaving your babies in such good hands. Enjoy the pictures!! Gabe and his sweet little class! Making a silly face at daddy! Sweet boy! Mommy and Gabe after we ate breakfast! Our little first grader in her new classroom! Daddy and Emma walking into the school. They really do love each other. :) Our beautiful babies on their first day of school!