The Patricks take on Disney World!

Well, we made it! The trip we have been looking forward to for the last month and a half or so has quickly come and gone! It is always sad for me to leave Disney World because it is such a "magical" place, but, I feel like we had the perfect little trip and I would not have changed a thing!! Ali's first trip to Disney World was one we will never forget!

We arrived at the Wilderness Lodge on Saturday morning - it only took us 3 hours so it was a nice little trip. We went to my parents Beach House in St. Simons on Friday afternoon and met my little brother, Sig, and his girlfriend, Frances, and then got up early Saturday morning to head to WDW. Ryan, Sig, and I all stayed there the last time we went to Disney and enjoyed it so much that we thought it would be the perfect place to stay again this time since it is close to the parks. (great for afternoon naps, etc.) The minute we walked in - we were all so excited to be there! Ali kept talking about "Mickey Mouse!" (she sounds so cute when she says it!) and they gave her a "First Visit" pin to wear at check - in and I also got a "Happy Birthday!" pin to wear since it was my birthday! What a way to spend my birthday! Being the huge nerd I am, I wore it from time to time (Ali would only wear her pin when I wore mine so I'll use that as my excuse - but, when in Rome...) and it made my birthday special b/c everyone we saw (well, mainly the "castmembers") would wish me happy birthday. We spent the rest of that day hanging out at the pool! It was very nice and VERY hot and extremely crowded, but still a great time! After a fun afternoon, we headed to Downtown Disney that night for my birthday dinner at Fulton's Crab House (I think that's what it is called). I always make a BIG deal out of birthdays and Ryan is good about letting me enjoy it and surprising me. He even sent me flowers to my room at the hotel! Anyway, we enjoyed Downtown Disney for a little while and came back just in time to go out to the big deck on the lake at our hotel to enjoy the water light parade that night! It was a great and exhausting day!!

The next day, all five of us headed to the Magic Kingdom. After a quick breakfast near the pool at the Roaring Forks cafe at our hotel, we headed to the boat deck to catch the boat to the Magic Kingdom. That is one thing I enjoy about the Wilderness Lodge. It is just a short/fun boat ride away from the Magic Kingdom and I thought it would be fun for Ali to get to enoy her first boat trip too - she loved it! We got to the MK and after watching the show at Cinderella's castle (Ali's first sighting of Mickey Mouse - she was so excited!), we were already sweating! It is SOOO hot down there!! Ryan also told Sig and Frances that at our last doctors appointment (when I told my doctor that I was going to DW and she looked at me like I had lost my mind!) that my doctor told me to be sure to drink lots of water, wear sunscreen, and rest often b/c if I didn't I could go into labor. I do not remember this at all (the part about labor if you get overheated!) but that's what Ryan said, so it freaked me out and I just drank a ton of H2O all day long. Sig and Frances headed to Space Mountain and the Patrick clan headed to Fantasyland. Ali is typically all smiles but you should have seen her face all morning - she was like "where in the world am I and who in the world are all of these people?" - she as just a little bit overwhelmed. :) That's a lot of new things for an 18 month old to take in all in one trip! We had a full/fast morning with really no lines, so that was nice! (although not that I would mind standing in lines since they were air conditioned!) I got nervous b/c when we started to get on our first ride (Small World), Ali started going "No, no no no no no no" but then after getting on and sitting in the comfort of her mama's lap, she was fine! After we rode It's a Small World (I actually enjoyed it!), SIg and Frances enjoyed us to ride Dumbo, Mickey's Philharmagic and then Peter Pan! Ali and I needed a break at that point so Ali got in the stroller and we cruised into some air conditioned stores until our lunch reservations. We had lunch at the Crystal Palace. This was our first real test of how Ali would react to the characters. I had been nervous about this b/c Ali was TERRIFIED of the Easter Bunny, etc - but, I had hope b/c Ali LOVES Playhouse Disney and talks about Mickey, Pooh, etc often! :) Lunch at the Crystal Palace was a nice buffet and lunch with Tigger and Pooh and friends. At first Ali started to whimper a little when she saw them, but then when they got close, she was very excited and got all of the characters to sign Autograph book that Sig and Frances got her. It was such a treat for us! Plus, they came out with a cupcake/candle for me and sang me Happy Birthday! From there, we all headed back to the hotel for a nap/pool break and made it back after dinner at the hotel - it was soo much cooler then! We rode a bunch of rides - Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Buzz Lightyear, Mad Tea Party, Adventures of Pooh, and Ali even got to meet her beloved Mickey Mouse at the Judge's Tent! It was so much fun! The Magic Kingdom was actually open until 2 a.m. that night for resort guests - but with an 18 month old toddler and a 21 week preggo - we were way past being beat by 10:30/11. We slept great that night, to say the least!

Yesterday was a much more low key day. After stopping in and buying Ali her own personalized Mickey Ears and a water fan for Mama, we headed to the train! Ali was not up for this today and behaved but I felt like we were pushing her too hard to ride things and that the girls should just take it easy on Monday! Unfortunately, Sig and Frances were at Hollywood Studios this morning, but Ryan got a Fastpass (we love Fastpass - no lines!) and rode Thunder Mountain by himself after our lunch break. Ali and I walked over to Pooh's playground at that time and to be honest, I think that was the biggest hit for Ali of the entire place. She was grinning from ear to ear for at least an hour straight and probably could have stayed there for 12 straight hours if we let her. Ryan met back up with us there and we headed to Toontown to tour Minnie's House and Donald's boat (which wasn't working) and buy a few souveniers! Ryan, Sig and Frances went to go check out the line for Space Mountain (too long! and even the Fastpass was too long! It was much more crowded on Monday for some reason) and Ali and I went to go see the 3:00 parade. Luckily, Ali was finally taking a nap at this point and unfortunately missed the parade! We took lots of pictures though to show her later! :) We had fun the rest of the afternoon but no big events to talk about! We hit every part of the park that we wanted to and had such a "magical" time. There really is no place like it! I was already asking Ryan on our way home (to the beach) when we should go back next! We had a fun-filled and exhausting trip and there is nothing like seeing the excitement in your little ones face when they get to meet the one and only Mickey Mouse! There was one moment where I was sitting there holding my little munchkin and looking at her face and wishing time would just stand still and thinking that these were the little moments in life that I never want to forget!

I will try to post pictures later this week but I have hogged the computer for enough time now and need to get out to the beach with my family! The Patrick's first trip to Disney World was a success and we look forward to many more! Now...on to enjoy the beach!! (and the cooler weather - compared to blazing hot Orlando!)

A house full of princesses!

Well, who would have known! Today, Ryan and I went to my 20w4d ultrasound and found out we will have a house full of Patrick girls this October!! It's a girl!! She looked great - the sonogram tech said that she weighed about 13 oz and was the size of a banana! All of the important things - her heart, brain, spine all looked great and she measured up to be exactly my due date!! We are SO excited! Never in a million years did I think I would have two little girls two years apart - coming from a family with two boys and one girl (and Ryan only has a brother!) - but we are thrilled beyond belief! I am looking forward to seeing my little girls grow up and hopefully be best friends one day! :) I never had a real sister (although friends close enough to be my sisters!) so I am thrilled for Ali to get to experience something I never had and I can't wait to see these two grow up! (Well, as long as they grow up VERY slowly!)

Here are a few pictures from our ultra sound today:

Baby girl #2's cute profile! I'm thinking she may look more like her mama!

Cute baby legs!
Her itty bitty foot
Another side shot - with her little belly!
I really can not believe it! Now - the tough part - Ryan and I have to start thinking about names!! I have a lot more boy names that I like (since I like family names and we have more boys in our families!) so I think this may be tough picking just the right one but I am excited!!

Aside from the excitement from the ultrasound, we then met with my doctor and heard the heartbeat again. We talked a little bit about my thyroid b/c I had called her frantically a few weeks ago after I found out my synthroid dosage was way off - 4 weeks after they had tested my blood. I was worried that I had gone that long on the wrong medication b/c it is very important to keep my thyroid under control during pregnancy. I have had hypothyroidism since I was 10 and my synthroid dosage got out of whack when I was pregnant with Ali too (and she turned out perfect!) , but they usually let me know right away after my test and I would change my dosage immediately. I read online all sorts of things that could happen if my thyroid is not under control during pregnancy - including mental retardation - but my doctor made me feel a lot better today, but, we never know, but hopefully since it was off for such a short amount of time, everything should be fine. She told me not to worry - so I am just going to rely on that! There is always a chance but she said usually the conditions are a lot worse than my condition! So that was all VERY good news! Plus, I used to worry all the time when I was younger that I would not be able to get pregnant one day b/c of my hypothyroidism - but obviously that was WAY off! Turns out, I get pregnant just by letting the thought of pregnancy cross my mind! :) And, I am grateful to God for that! Keep us in your prayers if you think about it - just to ensure that everything does turn out okay - although I am pretty sure it will. A few prayers never hurt, though!

I am so excited about the great day we had today and all of the good news we got at the doctor!


And, now, and Ali shot for the day! My little future computer genious!

Morning Predictions

Well....we have 2.5 hours until our sonogram! I have been thinking we are having a girl this whole time b/c my pregnancy has been so similar to my first one with Ali, but for some reason my gut is telling me it will be a boy, as of this morning (and the last week or so). Ryan still is banking on a girl though - so we will see in a few hours! Just wanted to give our last predictions until we (hopefully) know for sure!

Little things I love about my 18.5 month old!

I feel like I have been obsessed with putting pictures up for people to see - but, I have not been good about talking about little things Ali is doing lately! (which I want to be better at so I can look back later on and remember!) Here are a few thoughts on my mind of funny little things my little girl does:

Ali is turning into quite the little person every day! It is amazing to me (although probably quite normal - as her mother, I, of course, think she's a genious!) how many words she picks up on and knows. She repeats so much of what we say - so we have to be careful! :) She also is good about pointing at things and telling me what they are - things I don't even remember teaching her! She is still obsessed with her ABCs and E-I-E-I-O and this week she has been obsessed with Elmo (moved on from Mickey Mouse) and she loves to talk about him.

One of my favorite things she does - that she has been doing for over a month now - is saying (and sometimes screaming with excitement - my personal favorite!) "Love you!".(or LUH LOO!!! - as pronounced by Ali!) She says it when she goes to bed or says goodbye (if we're lucky, with a kiss - although she can be stingy with her kisses making the ones we do get all the more special!) and every time I hear it, it makes my heart melt. There is nothing in the world like it! She also is into telling EVERYTHING bye bye when I tell her it is time to go. I will be getting everything ready and tell her it's time to go and she will go in our living room and turn off the tv (if it's on), grab her purse (or ask for it if she doesn't see it!) and then go around telling everything "Bye, bye" - this includes the door, tv, baby doll, etc. Today, we were going to run errands and I told her we were leaving and she said and waved bye bye to her favorite "big ball" (beach ball) outside and then said "Luh loo!!" - I was dying laughing - it was too cute! She is quite the little comedian! (and she knows it!)

She also has a new fascination with babies. She has a couple "babies" around the house that she strolls around in her little stroller and gives the bottle too. After our little 3 month old friend, Harry McNeel, came over on Sunday (and cried very briefly - he is a very good baby!) - she now will hold the babies and start pretending to cry to them and give them a hug to cheer them up! It is precious! I am glad to see this new fascination with babies - since she will be getting a real one in a little over 4 months!

Tonight, Ali did something for the first time and I don't know if it was a fluke or what! I have been considering potty training but since she is only 18 months old, I have merely thought about it and not put it into any action - other than having a toddler potty in our bathroom. I think that if she is willing to do it, that would be great so I would just have one baby in diapers in October - but, then I think that may be unrealistic. Especially b/c I have also heard that sometimes toddlers who are potty trained revert back to diapers once they see the baby in diapers, getting attention. We shall see. Anyway, tonight, Ali came running into the room that I was sitting in yelling "Mommy! Mommy!" (She also now LOVES to say this or Mama these days - it's so cute to wake up in the morning to Ali on the monitor just saying "Mama!!" - it's so hard to resist but she is smart because it always gets my lazy body out of bed!). She came up to me and I said "Yes, Ali" and she looked up at me very distraught and started pulling on her diaper and said "I pooped!!" I couldn't believe it! Our conversation went on to say "You pooped??" "Uh huh" "Do you need a diaper change?" "Uh huh" - and sure enough she did! It was so crazy! We shall see where this goes (if anywhere) from here!

Ali is such a fun little girl and I love her more every day! I know I say this every time though! I can't believe that tomorrow we have our ultrasound for baby #2! I think it will make it so much more real and I can start decorating the nursery - which I am excited about! At this point, it is so hard for me to imagine life with Ali and her little sibling - but I know we have a lot to look forward to and I feel extremely blessed!

Ali's early modeling career

A friend of mine started a company making adorable children's collegiate clothing and just started her own website. Ali was lucky enough to get to be a model, but I wasn't sure that any of Ali's pictures turned out good enough to make their website. Mimi actually took Ali a few months ago to the "photo shoot" on the square b/c Ryan and I were out of town and Ali was a little unsure of the camera man! I just found the website, though, and am excited to report that I found a few of Ali - our little model! Here are the links to some pictures of our little Georgia Bulldog model:

(Ali is on the 7th row - 3rd from the left, then on the first one on the 8th row!)
http://www.minimedesigns.com/photos.html

(Ali is the top picture!)
http://www.minimedesigns.com/girlsOptions.html

We are looking forward to dressing Ali up in her precious Georgia Bulldog Mini Me Dress this Fall to cheer on the dogs!! Ali already practices saying "Go Dawgs!" every time she sees a Georgia Bulldog so I know her daddy can't wait to take her to her first game!

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day! I hope everyone had a fun/relaxing Memorial Day weekend! We had a fun-filled Memorial Day weekend and I think I am going to have to catch up on some rest this week! :) We are leaving for Disney World on Friday night (to spend the night at my parent's condo in St. Simons on Friday) so we are going to need all of the rest we can get before then - but are so excited!!

We kicked off the weekend with Marcia's (or, as Ali is calling her these days Mammama) Retirement luncheon at her school. She was the honored guest and had to go on stage to get "roasted" and it was a special luncheon! Ali luckily behaved throughout it all (and colored) and we had a fun time! We are so proud of her that she is now retired and Ali is excited to get to see her even more now! Congratulations Marcia/Mammama!!



Ali is not so good at letting others be the center of attention - and, had to get her time on stage as well!

We relaxed on Friday night through the storms and it was so nice! I feel like our lives have been so go, go, go these days - there is never time to sit and relax with my husband! On Saturday, we were excited to go to the club to enjoy the opening day at the pool! Ryan and I joined the MCC two years ago when we lived in our house in Brookhaven and sometimes I wonder if it was a wise decision, but I wanted my children to get to go up to the club pool, tennis courts, etc like I got to do with all of my friends and I am so excited summertime is here so Ali can start enjoying it more! Days like Saturday make me SO glad we did join b/c we had so much fun (although the water was FREEZING!) and had a bunch of our friends there to play with! When we pulled up to the pool at 10:01 (it opened at 10) we were the first ones there to open the pool for the season and pretty much had it all to ourselves until friends of ours started arriving around 10:30! We had so much fun playing in the pool and can't wait to play more all summer long!

Unfortunately, those are all of the pictures I got from this weekend!! We grilled out with my parents one night to kick off my birthday week celebration :) since I will be in Disney World on my actual birthday, we played in the backyard with the wagon and beachball/sprinkler and just had fun being with family and friends! Last night we finished off the weekend by having our supper club over for our month of hosting! We always enjoy being with them so much! Ali stayed up and joined the supper club party for a little while and especially loved looking at baby Harry McNeel, the newest baby member of the group. Now, if only we could get the rest of the supper clubbers to start having babies! :)

I hope you all had a happy Memorial Day and a great week!! We have a big week ahead of us this week! I turned 20 weeks this past weekend and have my sonogram on Thursday to find out the sex of this little one kicking my belly!! I am excited/nervous and am having fun guessing until then. Our gut is telling us girl - but, our gut told us boy last time when we were blessed with Ali! I will be sure to post when I find out! Then, on Friday we head down to WDW and Saturday is my 28th birthday! Big week!

A belated congrats!

Well, I don't have any pictures to show but we had a big Tumlin family event this past weekend that I have been meaning to "blog" about! My older brother, Ty, got married! We had such a fun weekend celebrating with Ty and Ashley and I'm not sure if they ever even check this but I just wanted to say how proud I am of them and how excited we are for them! Ali loves her Aunt "Ash EE" already and we were thrilled to stand by them as they took this next step in life! Congratulations Ty and Ashley! I hope you are having an amazing time in Hawaii - I'm so jealous!

Redneck swim party!

Ali has been obsessed lately with washing her hands and taking a bath. I mean, I can not pass by a sink without her grunting to get over there and saying "Hands!" I hate it because we are under water restrictions here in Marietta and I don't want to waste all of the water, plus, I do not want her to sit up on the sink for hours b/c it's high up and not safe(and whenever we actually do wash her hands - a fit is definitely thrown at the end when I tell her we're all done!). Today, Ali was a little grump when she woke up from her nap and washing her hands seemed to be the only think to turn that frown upside down. I finally broke down and told her we would go wash her hands outside (her other favorite thing to do - be outside!) and that got her down with ease (Thank the Lord!) so we went to go put on her bathing suit and head outside! Now, I thought I had her swimming pool ready to go ( I didn't remember it was one that had to be blown up!) and so I went to get it and there was no air in it and it was filthy! We decided to use another alternative instead! Yes, we may have looked a little like rednecks but it did the trick and Ali LOVED it! Looks like we will be spending a lot of time in the outdoor "tub" until the MCC pool opens - thank goodness that is this weekend!

Ready to go!
Ali LOVED playing with the hose! I tried to get her to put all of the water in the tub but she missed a few times! I promise I was trying to be conservative with the water - hoping to use it later to water plants during our "watering hours" so as not to break out watering restriction, but a little bit of it was already used to water the grass, by Ali!
Ooops - another slip up! :)
Enough water in the tub - so, time to test it out! The perfect size for Ali - as redneck as we may have looked in our backyard!

Fill er up!
And give the grass a little sprinkle!
Ali is definitely a summertime girl - we are ready for lots of fun in the sun (and water!) this summer!

A visit from Aunt Corn

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Dr. Kelly Cornett Homlar (Although to me she will always be "Corn") actually got away from her busy life as a doctor for a few days and came in town yesterday for a visit! It was SOOOO good to see her - I really can not think of the last time we got to spend any amount of time together (maybe my wedding??) b/c of the craziness of jobs and living hours away from eachother. Corn is a resident in Orthopedics at Vanderbilt University (yes, she is brilliant) and so, at this point, we live completely different lifestyles - but, it doesn't change a thing when we get together - same as it always has been for the last 27 years! :) Ali instantly fell in love with Corn over the past day and we had so much fun today going to Laurel Park to play, going out to a veggie lunch at Gabriel's and walking around old Marietta. I am keeping my fingers crossed that there is a chance that Corn and Robert may move back here after she finishes her residency!! It would be so fun to have her here and I know Ali would LOVE it to get to see her Aunt Corn more often! She took very good care of her today & it was such a special treat for the Patrick girls!!


Here are just a few pictures of Ali with Aunt Corn going up and down the "big girl" playground at Laurel Park!

We love you Corn and miss you and hope to see you again very soon!! :)

Pippy Patrick!

Ali is finally growing a tiny bit of hair so I tried to see what it would look like to pull her hair back in little pigtails today! It didn't last for long - but here are a few shots of Miss Pippy Patrick!


Dance machine....

A few of Ali's 18 month pictures

Here is my attempt at a slideshow of Ali's 18 month pictures! I only picked out a handful as a "preview"! Enjoy!

18 months - where did you go?

Well, my little princess turned 18 months today. Really...where does time go? I can not believe that Ali is a year and a half. I feel like if I let myself blink, she is going to be 20! Time flies when you're having fun! Ali is the absolute light of our lives and even though it seems like it was just yesterday that she was born - I also can not even fathom what life was like before her - definitely not half as entertaining! Yes, life has always been great - but, I feel like once you have children, the meaning of "great" is taken to a completely different level!

Happy birthday to my little hat wearing comedian! We love you more everyday!

This is the day that the Lord has made!

A day like today makes me so happy to be alive! The title above reminds me of my grandmother, Gindy! It is a song we used to sing when we were little and a phrase she used to say - she even said it the morning of the day she passed away. This is truly a day I thank God for. It is beautiful outside - I hope to catch some rays after Ali wakes up from her morning nap! I started off this morning with a 16 week checkup on baby #2. Everything looked great and it is always so great/reassuring to hear the little one's heartbeat going strong. I go back in 4 weeks (5/29) and have my ultrasound to see what this little one is going to be. I kind of go back and forth at what I think it will be and it is kind of fun to keep guessing - so it will be weird to actually know what Ali's little sibling is going to be. I am looking forward to telling Ali about her little "sister" or "brother" rather than just saying "baby". After my doctor's appointment, I came home to pick up Ali and we headed to Laurel Park to play with friends. We went for a little stroll around the park, played on the playground, had a picnic lunch and it was so much fun!! It wore Ali out and she is now down for an afternoon nap. This is my first week only working one day a week and I am loving my stay at home mom days. Getting to be with Ali and watch her learn new things, play with friends, etc makes my heart happy! I wish I had a picture of the fun little playgroup from today but I forgot my camera!! I am enjoying the silence before going out to play more in the sun with my sweet little girl!

We also had a very fun weekend this past weekend. After church on Sunday, we headed up to the square for Taste of Marietta. Unfortunately our trip was cut short due to a rain storm - but, it was still a fun experience and I am already looking forward to next year! After that, we went to celebrate the new marriage of Ryan's brother, Evan and his new wife, Jill, and the rest of Ryan's family. We are very excited for the newlyweds!!

Here are some pictures of Ali trying to wait out the storm in the car at Taste of Marietta.

Monkeys in the bed!

This "blog" today is dedicated to my friends since zero. There is nothing like them! I love all of my friends for different reasons - but, the reasons I love these friends is because they've seen me through thick and thin (and even diapers!) and still are gracious enough to be/stay my friend!

One of the hardest things throughout my pregnancy with Ali was that I did not have any close friends that were pregnant at the same time and I was terrified that Ali would miss out on friends since zero - that I hold so near and dear to my heart. It bothered me so much (I am somewhat obsessive/compulsive) b/c I just didn't think that would be fair to her! Luckily, I started worrying to early and Ali has made lots of adorable little friends through church! (Just like my friends since zero!) Last night, we went up to the concert on the square (so fun!) with some of Ali's friends and their parents and it was so much fun - although a little past their bed time! Beforehand, some friends came over, including Ali's bff, Libby! :) Ali gets so excited to see Libby and loves to talk about her when she's not around. It's crazy to see them start to recognize and know eachother - it is such a special little thing. Here is a picture of the two little monkeys jumping in Ali's bed! They were having the time of their life and screaming (in joy!) and cracking up so we had to take some pictures!! Two little peas in a pod....