May -hem

May has been quite the eventful month so far. At the beginning of the month, our friends from college - Jake and Tara - came to visit for a long weekend with their two kids, Maddie and Micah. We went to the beach one day, and then over to Orlando for a couple of days. We stayed at Sabal Palms which is one of Marriott's vacation clubs - the first time I have stayed at one - and it was fabulous! What a fantastic product our company sells. It had been recently remodeled, so it was extra nice. I will definitely be staying at another as soon as I can. The resort was right next to the World Center Marriott which has a million gallon swimming pool. The kids loved it, and will love it even more when they get a little bigger, as it has a big water slide. The adults all tried it out and gave it a thumbs up. On Mother's Day, the boys surprised Tara and I with a manicure/pedicure at the World Center Spa. It was a fantastic treat!
One afternoon we hopped over to Downtown Disney for a couple of hours. We decided it was perfect. For the age our kids are at (all under 4) that was enough. We will save the actual theme parks for when she is older and can enjoy it more. They had fun, and so did we. Natalie came home with a little Minnie Mouse which you can see in quite a few pictures below. She gave her quite a few hugs and kisses and just kept saying, "my Minnie Mouse. Pretty Minnie Mouse." It was SO cute.




Picture with Cinderella. :)



Lego World with Buz and Woody



The last day we spent at our house just winding down from the busy but fun weekend.


Thanks for visiting us Perkin's family.
This week, Nick took Natalie (I had to work and was very jealous) to a big petting zoo over by Orlando with some other parents. She had a blast. She loves animals, and Nick said he had to watch her because she tried to kiss them all. :)











Finally, here is Natalie "making everyone smile at Sam's". She is such a hoot.

In other news, I have still been extremely exhausted and pretty sick. I am very much looking forward to the end of the first trimester - next week - when I will hopefully start to feel a little better. I just want to feel like something other than what one would scrape off the bottom of their shoe. I guess the good news is, that means baby is growing. I will have my next dr. appointment on Monday to see how things are going.
Also, next week, I am looking forward to a visit from my mom, dad, and sister! My mom's twin sister will even be down for a couple days as well, so we are sure to all have a big fun time.
Wishing everyone a great week!

Happy Easter!

April was quite the eventful month. We literally had something going on every weekend.
In early April we headed over to the space coast to celebrate our beautiful Goddaughter's 1st birthday. Even though it was a quick trip, we were so glad we made it.




Nick got the garden bug and has been busy turning our back yard into a farm. I am excited about the prospective bounty, and hope he can prove to have a green thumb. We've got a billion tomatoes, give or take, two cucumber plants, some pepper plants, a raspberry bush, blueberry bush, strawberry bush, Mandarin orange tree, lime tree, little lemon bush and little key lime bush. We maaayyy see our water bill go up a tad.
Natalie has been excited about it, and she even got her own little garden kit. She planted some pumpkin seeds, so we will see how those do.
Here's some pics of our trees going in.









We had a really great Easter. Saturday, we went to St. Paul and hunted Easter eggs. Natalie got three eggs, realized something was inside, and then stopped. Oh well, she had fun anyway. :) She also had time "riding cars" with her friends.









Then, after church on Sunday, we headed over to my Aunt Elaine and Uncle Dick's for a great family dinner, and one of Natalie's greatest days ever. She started the day with a new train set, a Veggie Tales movie and two eggs with play dough. Then, she got spoiled rotten at Elaine and Dicks with a private egg hunt, banana pudding, got to watch two movies, and eat pop corn. :) Fun for all. She also LOVED her "pretty new Easter dress". She looked quite adorable.












We have had lots of new additions to our house this past month. First, we adopted a new kitty. We went to the SPCA thinking we wanted a kitten, but instead, we ended up with 2 year old, Lilly. She is a fantastic cat and has adapted very well to our family. :) Nick said I have a knack for picking out great cats.

Our back screened in porch is really coming along. I recently got my new porch swing put together and up. We love it!


Easter is always a time to reflect on the new life we have because of Jesus' selfless sacrifice, death, and glorious resurrection. Likewise, our family is celebrating and giving thanks for another little new life He has blessed us with. Baby M2 is expected to arrive around December 1st. :)
Big Sister, Natalie has been keeping us smiling as usual. Blessings to all!