Testing

I wanted to test out blogger to see if I liked it better than xanga, it certainly seems more popular. We'll see.

That is Evan's new word.  I gave him some raisins for a snack today but not enough apparently because he polished off the bowl and wanted more.  He "asks" for more by jamming the bowl in my face and yelling, "MOE".   Lately I've been wanting to teach him to be more polite but I wasnt sure how to do that because he barely speaks.  So I made my first attempt today at teaching him to say please when he wants something.   I told him to say please if he wanted more.  He continued to hold out his bowl and smile at me.  I told him that I wouldnt get him raisin until he said please and he kind of frowned for a minute and then said "moe".   I said, "No."  He got a little upset and then asked again.  I said, "Say please."  He said "yeah!"  I said, "Say please or no more raisins."  He scowled at me and started whining.  I sat quietly for a few minutes while he threw a small fit.  Then he pulled himself together and asked again.  I didnt respond and wouldnt you know it the next word out of his mouth was "please!" Well, I guess it was "pease" but close enough.  I told him he was a good boy, grabbed his bowl and gave him more raisins.  A few minutes later,  the bowl was in my face and "pease" was shouted.  Now, "pease" is apparently the magic word for everything. :)  I think it was a good thing though because I learned that he's capable of speaking and he definitely understands most of what I'm saying, he's just choosing not to speak unless its necessary.
Also yesterday was Jed and my anniversary!  I cant believe its already been 4 years!  This is what we did to celebrate:
  and  
Jed got a great deal on annual passes last week and we both love theme parks so we thought, what a fun way to spend the day.   We spent most of our time at Universal Studios trying to see and do as much as we could.  We went on almost every single ride except two because the lines were so long.   Then at the end of the day we headed over to Islands of Adventure.  We didnt get to see much because we got there at 6:30 and the park closed at 7.   We'll be going back though!  Gotta love the annual pass! 
]]>

Yum

We had crab legs for dinner tonight and decided to give Evan a taste and he LOVED it! 

 Yum Yum.

Then the boys took a bath together.  Seth has learned to pull himself up on the side of the tub and stand.  We have to watch him very closely so he doesnt slip. 

 Look at me mom, I'm standing. 

I'm going to climb out.  

Evan and I were wrestling and somehow this happened.  :) 

The Boys

 Rolling around on the floor.  

What do you see out there?

 Seth in his cute new pjs.

Sea World

As soon as we were in the park we headed straight for the Shamu show.  It was really impressive. 

 We visited the Polar Bear exhibit.  There were fake caves for the kids to play in, Evan thinks he's a big scary Polar Bear. 

 Evan dragging me to the next exhibit. 

 Then we saw the Penguins, they were really cute and so are Judah and Gianna! 

 We also saw the big Clydesdale horses. 

 The kiddos waiting for the Sea Lion and Otter show.

 Lets get the show started!

 The boys were ready for naps.

 We saw the Dolphins underwater.  Then...

 We went up top to feed and pet them. 

 I was nervous that one would bite me. 

 Jay's done this before. 
So where was Evan?

 Napping!  Can you believe it, he missed out on seeing the Dolphins up close.

 Hi, Tiernan.  He's such a sweet boy. 

 Jay and Jamie goofing around at the end of the day.

Family photo!

The Hatton Family

Jed's sister, Missy, her husband Ben and their three kids, Judah, Gianna, and Tiernan, visited us last week.  Ben and Missy are Missionaries with New Tribes Mission up at the bible school in Jackson.  It's Christmas break at the school so they decided to take advantage and come to Florida.  Their kids and our kids are about the same age so it was fun to watch, Evan, Judah and Gianna play together.    After the kids went to bed at night we had sometime to catch up with Ben and Missy.  It was interesting to hear about what they're doing around the school and at church.  We also kept pretty busy during the day, Missy, Joy and I were able to get away one afternoon to go shopping, we went to the park with the kids one day, the adults got away one evening for dessert at the Cheesecake Factory (yummy!!), we went to New Smyrna beach then rushed home to have a party with some friends and went to Sea World for an entire day (something I NEVER thought we'd do with the kids all being so young).  They headed home today and we'll miss them a lot.  We cant wait for the next time we can all get together!

 The Hatton family.

 The cousins.

 Evan and Aunt Missy.

 Tiernan and his Uncle Jed. 

 Judah and Evan openned Christmas presents.  Thanks Uncle Ben and Aunt Missy for the doctor's set.

 Joy and Gianna.

 Uncle Jay and Tiernan bonding.

 At the beach!

 Gianna before she got sand and salt in her eyes.      And after. 

 Judah had a blast!  He loved the waves.    He and Evan ran in and out of the water all afternoon.

 Close ups of Seth and Evan.

 Tiernan and daddy testing the water, it was a little cold for Tiernan. 

 Heading home from the beach, exhausted. 

 Some friends at our little get together after the beach.

 The park.

 Seth and Tiernan, Seth is actually a whole month older than Tiernan but he weighs a good 4 or 5 lbs less than him.  My kids are tiny. 

 Aunt Missy giving Evan an underdog.  He loved it! 

 Gianna doing her own thing.

Judah, giving Seth a little push. 

Well this post is getting super long and I still have TONS more photos to put up so I'll do more later.  We have some cool ones of Sea World so check back tomorrow.  Have a great day everyone!!