Happy 2012!

We brought in the New Year with Matt's family by spending the weekend at Gaylord Palms in Orlando.  Matt's dad and Kathy, along with her daughter Michele's family and son Bobby's family, plus us Borrack's, spent the weekend enjoying the hotel, meeting characters and getting frostbite in the ICE exhibit.  There were 8 adults and 7 grand kids.  I must say, I was very impressed with how well it all went.  The kids to great and the adults behaved too ;).  It was tiring and fun.  Elyse stayed up WAY too late both nights but no one in our room managed to watch the ball drop.

I'm not much of a New Year's person.  I like that Matt gets extra time off from work, but that's about it.  I did set a couple of goals for this year but they needed to be set regardless and probably would have happened had the year changed or not.  However, it was a wonderful excuse to celebrate with family and ponder what an amazing year 2011 was for us.....new house, new baby, new friends, potty training, preschool, crib emptied and refilled, and growth.....on all levels, happened in this house.  Like most, I'm looking forward to what's in store for us in 2012!

I'll post some pictures from this weekend.

 Getting in some warm clothes before ICE.

 Looking at the crocs and turtles.

 Crocs and turtles inside the hotel!

 Sweet, sweet baby girl.

 Daddy and Elyse

 Putting on her mittens.

 Bundling Adley....as we went through you could hardly see anything but her eyes.  Opa (Matt's dad) happily pushed her around in the stroller and he said Adley enjoyed the ICE sights very much.

 Shrek was the theme this year.  Elyse has never seen the movie but she immediately fell in love with the characters.

 There were 4 slides made of ice.  Elyse was unsure at first but of course asked to go again.

 Nativity scene all of ice.

 Watching a live Christmas performance in the hotel.

 Who knew watching a glass elevator would be so fascinating. 

 This is a habit I love and am afraid of.  It's so easy, she soothes herself and it's always available.  However, I sucked my thumb until I was 9 and it took an orthodontic appliance to prevent me from getting my thumb in my mouth to get me to stop.  Of course I also had buck teeth and needed braces as well.  I've tried to get her to take a pacifier and once she can maneuver it on her own maybe she will take to it better.  Either way she looks so darn sweet doing it.

 Opa and his girls

 Characters at breakfast New Year's day making the kids honorary Ogres.

 Of course, she loved him.  Looked for him everywhere!

 Adley got to meet him too.

 5 of the 7 with Fiona.

 Big hug for Puss n' Boots.

 Opa showing Adley the koi pond.

 Elyse playing shapes on my phone.  She works it better than I do.

 Some lion from some movie we don't know of.

 Same for the huge Panda.

 A family of Ogre's.  Adley was asleep in the stroller.

 A cookie named Gingy.

 That night we ate at the T-Rex restaurant at Downtown Disney.  It was pure chaos down there Sunday night.  Very, very crowded but the food was great, atmosphere pure Disney and great company.

 Elyse watching the "meteor shower" that happened every 15-25 minutes.....we were there for several.

 Adley, enjoying everything as always.

 Make a funny face!

 Smile!

Bedtime books with his beauties.  We began reading to Elyse several times a day when Elyse was just 2 months old and have continued it everyday since.  It's been a harder routine to get into with Adley but Matt does a much better job than I do of making sure she gets read to as well.

Wow.  That was a lot of pictures.