Bienvenido a Miami

I am deliriously happy today. Shaun applied to go to a medical conference in Miami. I asked him last week if he was going when I saw the application on the desk. He told me that there were a limited number of spots and you had to be selected to go. He didn't sound very optimistic. Then yesterday, he yelled from the office that he got picked and he was to go to Miami in May. He then said "wanna go"? My immediate response was "uh, yeah but I'm pretty sure we can't leave Julianne alone to watch Claire yet". :) He said "maybe your mom could come and watch the girls for us". Hmmmmm.

I called my mom. She was planning on coming in late April for a visit anyhow so I thought maybe she could just push that trip back a bit and come in May. My mom is awesome. She immediately said "of course I can...no problem...I'm there....that timing works better for me anyway." We booked our tickets about 5 seconds later.

A four day all expense paid (except for my plane ticket) trip to Miami alone with my husband - yes please! I get to go to Miami which is a place I've always wanted to go. I get to go with Shaun. I get to sleep all night, every night and sleep in everyday for FOUR days! I get to stay at this fabulous hotel. I get to sit by the pool and read a book that is not about farm animals, or ladybugs, or a cat in a hat. I get to relax knowing that my girls are taken care of by my mom.

I got so excited after we booked our tickets that I may have started playing "Miami" by Will Smith over and over and dancing around a little. Or maybe I didn't (but I did). I also immediately started wondering how I can lose 20 more pounds in a month (they do it on Biggest Loser but I don't have 6 hours a day to workout). I'm going to start the Shred immediately - what a great motivation to get in swimsuit shape!

Anybody been to Miami? What do we need to do while we're there? I have visions of renting a convertible and cruising in South Beach while blasting "I'm in Miami bit*h" (I love that song) but I'm pretty sure that we can't pull that off.

Can you tell this mama needs some R&R? Oh, and I'm pretty sure I need this bag in yellow (or maybe the green). And maybe some pretty new shoes!

Julianne loves the Easter bunny

We went to an Easter brunch this weekend that was hosted by the mom's group I am a member of. I joined the mom's group about 6 months ago and it has been so wonderful. They have great activities for the kids, a book club, mom's night out, couples night out, and many other wonderful events. I love it! It's been a great way to learn about events/places to go in our area and a nice opportunity to meet other mom's and also to get miss shy (Julianne) to socialize. This weekend was the Brunch with Bunny event. They had crafts for the kids, brunch, an egg hunt and of course, the Easter bunny. I was prepared for a fiasco like we had with Santa Clause (Julianne hated him and we weren't even able to get a picture because she was too busy screaming). It turned out to be quite the opposite and we had a really fun time!

Here she is right before we left the house. She's all dolled up and looked "pretty" according to her...I had to agree!

We ate brunch and by we I mean Shaun and myself. Julianne was too busy running around to bother with eating. She did take a break to get a drink though.
Those cheeks. I can't stand it. Seriously....TOO CUTE!

This is our dainty little daughter's newest thing. Sticking her hand in her pants. She does it ALL THE TIME and even sleeps that way now. I found it a bit less amusing and a bit more embarrassing when we were out in public for the display...

She also likes to stick her fingers in her belly button.

Here she is wondering how to bust out of that door and get outside

And here she is talking to a boy....and so it begins.

The Easter bunny came out and at first Julianne just admired him from afar.

She stared and stared....

She did get up the courage to go up to him. She was shy but willing.

She even sat on his lap. She doesn't look that happy in the pictures but I assure you she really liked it!

After the bunny, we all gathered in the kitchen so the eggs could be hidden (it was a bit too cold to do the egg hunt outside). The kids waited by the door with much anticipation. Julianne chewed on her bag.

And chewed on her bag some more.

They opened the door and the 20+ kids that were there made a run for it.

And the egg hunting began.....

This is Julianne stealing an egg from another little girl. She didn't quite get that you can't take the eggs from the other kids. She just ran around shouting "egg....egg" and grabbed them wherever she could.

She got really excited and clapped every time she put one in her bag.

She also decided to help clean up when the event was over.

And if you're wondering where Claire was the whole time...this is where. In the baby bjorn on me. She stayed in it the ENTIRE time we were there which was a couple of hours and just slept. If only someone could carry me around in a bjorn so I could sleep!

A great event and now I don't have to go to the mall to get her picture with the Easter bunny! Woo hoo!!!!

Neighborhood egg hunt

Our next door neighbor was nice enough to host an egg hunt last weekend. It was a bit cold out but we braved it and Julianne had a blast! She even wore her petal headband that I got in the dollar section at Target. She is finally starting to wear things on her head - woo hoo!

Our dainty little flower

Ready to grab some eggs
This is our attempt at a group shot of the kids.....Julianne wanted nothing to do with it. I put her over there and she immediately took off

Ryan tried to tempt her with his basket to get her to come back...this is as close as she got.

She was trying to grab the eggs without actually going into the flower bed. She HATES dirt. Such a girl - I love it!

Still avoiding the "yucky" dirt

I was the official bag holder

Contemplating her next move

Realizing that most of the eggs left were in the dirt

Finally going into the flower bed but she was very careful not to get dirty

bag getting full

distracted by the tree

She loved the tape that divided the big kid side from the little kid side...back and forth, back and forth across it

cutie pie

The girl is obsessed with slides. Thank goodness all of our neighbors have them since we don't

We love this neighborhood and this is one of the reasons why. SO MANY KIDS. This wasn't even half of them. So many kids to socialize with - this summer is going to be a blast for her!

Claire's Newborn Photo Shoot

We had Claire's newborn photos taken when she was 10 days old. The photographer came to our house to take them and it took about 3 hours! Of course, Claire decided that it would be way more fun to be awake in all of the photos when we wanted her to sleep. She finally fell asleep towards the end of the shoot. I'm so happy with how the photos turned out. Newborn shoots are always so fun. You never know who or what will get peed on (thank you Claire for peeing on daddy instead of mommy)! Enjoy!