Hello blogger-land!! It's me, do you remember me and my crazy family at all? We've taken a long hiatus from blogger and want to pick up right where we left off. It can't be too hard, right? Like riding a bike; lets give a whirl!
I sit here tonight wondering where the heck to begin. My last post on this blog was four months ago, in June. So much has happened and we have done so much in those four months. I'm ready to piece together and recap the summer and vow to never let so much time pass between posts ever again! So strap on your helmets and if you're Lexi, you'll need knee and elbow pads, and lets go for a long ride.
June
The end of May and beginning of June we moved from one side of town to the other. It was not easy but thankfully Andy did pretty much all of it. With the help of family and friends (THANK YOU) it went smoothly. We spent most of June unpacking and making our new home, well, a home. We also spent a scary day at the ER with Lexi. She went into anaphylactic shock after eating a small piece of a Butterfingers. After tests we now know she's extremely allergic to peanuts, like 10 times higher than the highest range of sensitivity. She's also allergic to pine nuts, cashews, Brazilian nuts, etc. So we spent most of June in doctor and allergist's offices and cleaning out our kitchen cabinets and refrigerator throwing out any nut products! (this Halloween is going to be fun! :( )
July
July 3rd Nate and Cristina got married on a beautiful evening in St. Augustine. We drove up for four fun-filled sunny days. All four of us were in the wedding which made it a tad more hectic but my friend Jen and her kids came to the rescue. They met up with us in St. Augustine and basically took care of our kids so Andy and I could enjoy the wedding and reception. Jen is a life saver and we are forever grateful for her friendship. Here are a few pictures from the Schaps wedding weekend extravaganza:
 |
| Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Nate & Cristina Schaps! |
 |
| Cutest ring bearer EVER! |
 |
| Prettiest flower girl EVER! |
 |
| Mommy & her angel |
 |
| The Schaps Boys getting ready for the big day! |
 |
| The Fellas: Dave, Andy, Bill and Sean |
 |
| The Ladies: Kier, Abby, Melissa and Kara |
 |
| Introducing the newest Mrs. Schaps |
 |
| Sweet picture of Andy and his mom. |
 |
| The After Wedding Party!! |
 |
| Each couple had to dance their way into the reception; Andy had no problem with this request! |
 |
| Kara and Cris before the ceremony...what a beautiful bride! |
In July we also took the kids to Disney for the first time. They are still young so we kept our expectations low and only planned to stay for 1/2 a day. We all had a great time and can't wait to go back again. Andy took Devin on the big boy rides like Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean while I took Lexi on Dumbo and Aladdin's Carpet Ride. Poor Lexi isn't tall enough to go on the big kid rides yet. Hopefully she will be the perfect height by our next visit.
 |
| Thanks to a generous family connection, our Disney tickets, parking and stroller were all FREE!! |
 |
| This was Devin's face throughout the whole 'It's a Small World' ride...PRICELESS! |
 |
| Pokey on her carousal horse. |
 |
| Devin enjoying his ride |
 |
| Andy keeping the kids company. |
 |
| Lexi cooling off with a frozen lemonade. It was 103 degrees that day...it was HOT! |
 |
| Flying Aladdin's Carpet |
 |
| Andy and Devin on Splash Mountain...Devin has no idea about the BIG DROP coming up. |
 |
| You can't even see Devin...he is buried in Andy's lap! Devin loved it and talked about Splash Mountain for days. |
 |
| The most expensive thing we spent money on that day was BALLOONS..money well spent, they lasted for weeks! |
August
August was a big month in our house. Devin turned four and started school. He has never been to day care or preschool before so this was a pretty big event for all of us. He is going to Pre-K at Poinciana Elementary School which is the last school I taught at. Lucky for us, I still have some friends there who help look after Devin and keep a close eye on him for us. We also are extremely lucky to have one of Andy's long time friends, Kristin, as Devin's teacher's assistant in his classroom. He just loves his class, his school and his teachers. We are all so happy!
Here are some pictures from his fourth birthday:
 |
| Devin's actual birthday was spent celebrating with Miah Jane, Joanne, Tanya, Jordan and Grandma & Grandpa Schaps. |
 |
| The Beckman/Poppa Crew brought Devin his favorite cake; a spiderman cake! |
 |
| Do you think he's excited?! |
 |
| The sparkler candles weren't the easiest to blow out. |
 |
| We had a small birthday party for Devin...Spiderman themed of course! |
 |
| At Devin's request I made Spiderman cupcakes. |
 |
| Brennan driving his lady around. No birthday party is complete until the Brewer's bring the Power Wheels! |
 |
| One day Devin will really be driving Lexi around...whether he wants to or not. |
The First Day of School...sniffle sniffle...
 |
| Devin's first really short hair cut...looks so much older. |
 |
| Lexi being silly, of course. She started going to Miss Dawn's house 3 days a week. It was a big week for both kids. |
September
September was a fun month!! We got to celebrate Andy's Birthday. I arranged a small, sort of surprise, get together for Andy's birthday at a great restaurant in town. We had our own private room so we could be as loud and obnoxious as we wanted! I can't thank our friends enough for coming out that night. It was so much fun! Grandma and Grandpa O'Dean had the kids overnight (thank you Lord!) and we got to hang out with friends late into the night, or morning, however you look at it. We had a fun night celebrating and a not so fun morning recovering. LOL
We also celebrated Miah Jane's 2nd birthday in September! Joanne threw her birthday party at one of our favorite places, the Naples Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful day to be outside and the water fountains were perfect for children to beat the Naples heat. Happy 2nd Birthday to our Miah James...we can't wait to celebrate many more with you!
 |
| The Birthday Girl |
 |
| Adrey and Devin in the tree house. |
 |
| Lexi in the cottage |
 |
| Brennan hanging out in the cottage with Lexi. |
 |
| You can dress a girl up... |
 |
| I love the sequence of these next three pictures. |
 |
| Gavin playing with Lexi...he's always so sweet with her. |
 |
| Devin striking a pose. |
 |
| Gavin and Devin hanging out in the tree house. |
 |
| Our dear friend Monet took pictures at Miah Jane's party and these are just two of her many great shots. |
That was a lot of catch up for one post! This one post took me three days and that is one reason I haven't posted in s long. I can't seem to find the time. I will make more of an effort to MAKE the time. I have a lot to post for the month of October as well, so I'm saving that for another post. We had our first trial run for our Halloween costumes last night at the Sullinger's Halloween Party. It was a blast and the costumes were awesome! Can't wait to share the pictures. :)
Hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween!
