Warm Fuzzies

I have always been in love with nature and with animals.

I especially loved my stuffed animals and toys as a young child.

I used to spend hours playing make believe with them.

Dave and I both really enjoy the holidays - and now with Chloe we can really get into them!

We had Chloe's picture taken with the Easter Bunny a couple weeks ago on a whim.

I hid (she is in a "mommy" phase now) while Dave took her to see Mr. Bunny...

This was one of the pictures I snapped of Dave being a goofy dad...

Needless to say I gave away my hiding place by laughing so much at the picture.

Oh, and Chloe wanted to stay with the Easter Bunny...

Last week we went to FL for a Disney vacation with Dave's family for the first part of the week, then my dad's family the last few days. Well, our first official day was spent at the Sarasota Memorial Hospital with Chloe. We went to visit granny there (Chloe's great grandmom), but Chloe was throwing up and was getting dehydrated, so we spent the entire day in the ER with her instead. This is her when we were leaving to drive back to the hotel - she was feeling much better after the medicine and fluids.

Monday was our Magic Kingdom Day. On the Ferry Boat ride to the Magic Kingdom, Chloe was standing up and she liked the way the rumbling of the boat made her feet vibrate. She sure has Dave's eye expressions - oh, those eyebrows!

I always wanted to get a job in Disney as one of the characters (one of the chipmunks preferably), but thought that it would be way too hot in that fur. So instead I just kept holding onto that love of my stuffed animals, and the fact that these living stuffed animals lived in Disney and really help make the experience super magical... I think Chloe is following the same path. She just melted into this character (playhouse Disney?) and didn't want to let go. And the people inside saw that and they really gave her a lot of attentions. Usually kids this little are way too freaked out to want to be near the characters. Not Chloe...

This picture is a bit blurry, but it was one of my favorites. I think I can see the happy in my eyes and knowing that Chloe was just hanging out on my shoulders looking around, trying to fight sleep while we were in the parks.

And on our final night, on our way out of the park (can I just comment that I was not a happy camper at this point. I have always hated not having "just another day" in the parks - with family. I miss being with my FL family every day, and I usually end up getting all teary and crying - such a mess sometimes...). Well, we were walking towards the exit of Epcot, and we just happened by where there were a bunch of the characters lined up and people were going in line and getting to see each and every one of them. Well Donald Duck (up to this very moment, my least favorite character - I can't stand the voice... but lucky for us, the actual people/ characters don't talk) saw Chloe and me looking in the window at them, and he came right over and put his hand up to the window, and Chloe put hers up to his, then he blew her kisses... It was such a moment. It was one of those "magical" moments when something just happens, and it makes everything seem all better and that you wish you could freeze it in time and just stay there in that perfect moment for just a bit longer.

So now that we're home, I'm happy to be home.

I'm delighted to see that my garden is starting to peek at me through the dreary soil.

The grass seems brighter green, and the trees are in bloom with flowers or with buds.

I have ideas for new work, but frankly, I feel no urge to make anything.

I want to clean. I want to de-clutter. I want to give myself a clean slate to work with.

So, I'm looking forward to getting an I-phone for my birthday/business to help with the de-cluttering of my technology side of procrastination. Once I get it, I will be able to upload things so much easier and then I will hopefully feel a bit more connected to the world outside of my house and procrastination piles that surround me in every room...

I hope that you are getting out too...