P Update

Just wanted to do a quick, short post on how Peighton's 5 year old check up went yesterday. We had an appointment at 330 in the afternoon and I anticipated spending the rest of the day there. Thankfully, Henry was in Hourly on Post until Brandon could pick him up after work. Although the appointment was long and we were there well over an hour, it didn't seem too daunting and Scott did really well waiting that long in his car seat. I am proud to say Peighton is growing very well and developing right on track! She is 41 inches tall and weighs an even 39 pounds. Doctor was pleased with all her stats. Poor P had to get 3 shots.. she actually would have gotten 4 shots but they were out of her MMR booster and we will have to go back and get it sometime within the next few months. She needed all her booster shots especially with her starting school this fall. The nurse put them in her thighs and she was such a trooper. A few tears but she did really well for not having to get shots in over two years. For a reward, she picked out some smarties at the store! :)

P's Birthday in Pictures

Happy 5th Birthday Peighton!

Can't believe my little girl is now 5 years old!!! Where has the time gone?!? It seems like just yesterday she was born and then a toddler and now such a big girl who will be starting school this fall! Craziness :) I think 5 is going to be a fun age for her... lots of new exciting adventures with this upcoming year. Her birthday was officially yesterday but we had her birthday party on Saturday. The original plan was to have it at the local Children's Museum that we love to go to but unfortunately the museum is getting a new HVAC unit installed and while that process is going on, the children's area of the museum will be closed. Thus, no point in having the party there if the kiddos can't play. So we switched to plan B and hosted the party at our house. It went really well and I think everyone had a good time including the birthday girl. P decided on The Little Mermaid theme and I ordered the necessary decorations and supplies. The weather was nice & sunny but cool so we ended up having a houseful, ha! But we made it work and surprisingly there was plenty of seating and room for everyone. We invited our good friends the St Johns as well as three other families from Brandon's company that have little kids and we've gotten to know quite well. It worked out well there were a few little girls and some boys. The kids played upstairs some as well as downstairs. And we all enjoyed some yummy pizza before cupcake time! Peighton was shy as usual when it came to singing her "Happy Birthday" and Henry cried the whole time as he does not like it at ALL, ha! Then she got to open her presents and made out quite like a bandit. She was gifted a few Barbie and Princess dolls as well as two new stories for her LeapFrog Tag system and a new game for her LeapFrog Leapster Explorer. We are very thankful to our friends for coming and blessed to be able to give P a great birthday party! Everyone left around 230 and we got to cleaning up the party. Then we were off to Target so P could spend some of her birthday money she received in the mail. She picked up the charger for her LeapFrog Leapster and another new game for it as well. She even paid the cashier at Target herself with her own money.. such a big girl! After that we headed over to Outback for some yummy dinner to celebrate P's birthday once again. It was a great day filled with lots of precious memories :)

Scott Update

He is getting SO big!!! Scott is 5 weeks old today!! He is growing like a weed and such a sweet little boy!!! Here are some recent pictures of the little scooter :)

Less than 50 days!!!

In just 47 days, the Doggette family will be at the Happiest Place on Earth!!! We are getting so excited ... just a little over a month to go. We have been planning this trip since back in August and can't wait for our vacation to begin! A little update in the details department... our accommodations have changed and we will now be staying at the Polynesian Hotel! We've been upgraded for FREE!!! When we originally booked our stay at Port Orleans Riverside, we picked the Grand Royal Room. Its a new room that mixes the elements of all the Princesses into the decor. They were expected to be done in March and we were booked in that room for the beginning of March. On a side note, we did have to pay a little bit more to stay in this style of room versus a typical room at the Hotel. Well we got a call on Thursday afternoon/evening that unfortunately the Grand Royal rooms would be not be meeting their deadline of completion and would not be available to stay in for the duration of our vacation. Thus, WDW would be upgrading us to an available room of our choice at one of the Deluxe Resorts. We were surprised and thrilled! These are not cheap rooms and even with the military discount they offer on them we've never even considered them. Well we went home and researched them all and decided on the Polynesian and were in luck because a room was available for the length of our stay. Can't wait to stay there.. definitely someplace new and exciting!!! The Polynesian has a great family atmosphere and has superior location to most of the places on our itinerary. The Monorail and the Boat are great amenities that the hotel offers. We are just a skip away from the Magic Kingdom which works out perfect since two of our days will be spent there. One of our character dinners at 1900 Park Fare is next door at the Grand Floridian... within walking distance. And another character meal is across the street at the Contemporary. Lots of pluses on our short list for the Polynesian so it wasn't too tough of a decision! Now just to wait till our vacation begins...

2 Weeks Old

Can't believe our little scooter is 2 weeks old!!! Time just goes by too fast!!! Scott is still such a mellow, content baby unless he is hungry or is having gas issues THEN he lets you know it, ha! He is still sleeping well at night. He gets up a few times to feed and some nights has a few spats of fussiness. He is trying to give up one of his night feedings... he only takes an ounce and that is back to sound asleep until the next time. It would be nice to be down to only two nightly feedings and an early morning wake up call. I am hanging in... adrenaline kicks in every now and then plus I go to sleep early and have no problems going back to sleep between getting up with him. Thank goodness he is so darn cute and sweet :) This past week has definitely been an adjustment for us (mainly me). I know it will take a few weeks if not longer for me to get use to life with 3 kiddos especially the getting everybody ready, bags packed and out the door in a timely fashion! Scott had his 2 week baby well check up yesterday afternoon. He is doing well and growing good! He now weighs 9 pounds 15 ounces and is just shy of 22 inches long and his head was 36 cm. He is in the 90% for his weight and head circumference & 95% for his height. He is well portioned! Scott was a trooper and stayed alert for most of his visit. He will have his next checkup at 2 months. So blessed and grateful to have another healthy baby!!! :)

Little scooter snoozing in his bouncer before his doctor's appointment!! Sweet baby boy!!! :)

Our Week Rewind

Our week after Christmas went much differently than we originally planned or thought of. Since Scott waited till just 3 days before Christmas to be born, we had to make a change of plans. We knew a South Carolina visit was out of question even though we would have loved to be able to visit with our family and friends. It just wasn't going to be feasible with a newborn as well as a recovering mama. Peighton did go back with my parents to SC for a visit. So for the week it was just the four of us... Brandon, Henry, Scott and I... I am completely out numbered, ha! We tried to make the most of our last week of Brandon's Christmas vacation and I think we did a fairly good job considering our circumstances :)

On Monday we decided to brave an outing with the two boys and got ready for the day. We roamed in town and checked out Target first. We picked up a few things that we needed but mostly that place was just a zoo. Next we had lunch at a Chinese Buffet restaurant. Henry ate well and Scott slept the entire visit so those were both pluses! Then we traveled over to Home Depot and scored a few after Christmas sales on some decorations. We bought a Christmas village and some accessories for it. Our shopping trip ended there because we had a standing appointment at the hospital to get Scott's jaundice levels checked. He had them checked on Friday before we were discharged and they want to keep monitoring them since his blood type and mine are incompatible and thus increasing his chances of getting it. Henry fell asleep in the van so Brandon stayed in the car with him while I took Scott to get his blood work done. After that we traveled back to the house and had a quiet afternoon. We had leftover ham from Christmas for dinner as well as a broccoli cheese casserole that Brandon made. That evening we took down the Christmas tree and all the interior decorations and I tided up the living room. Brandon also took down the outside Christmas tree as well as all the lawn decorations. All in all it was a productive day!

Tuesday morning came early as we had to get up and get ready for the day since Scott had his 3-5 day baby well check up at the hospital. Those appointments always take longer than necessary especially with the waiting. Afterwards we went to get breakfast and it was another successful out to eat meal with two under 2, ha! Then over to Walmart we went to pick up a few things and to have something to do. Scott is a great little trooper and so far has done well with riding in his car seat and being out & about. We came home and the rest of our day was productive. Brandon wanted to work on a project around the house this week and also give him a chance to use his new tools he received for Christmas. We decided to redo our closet. He picked up a new closet storage system from Home Depot and also decided to paint the closet. It took a few hours but it turned out great and looks so much better not to mention way more organized. I love it!

Wednesday for the most part was our catch up day around the house. Stuff had been neglected since bringing home Scott and the holidays. I had a few loads of laundry to do and the upstairs needed a deep clean. Not fun and probably shouldn't be doing housework but I'm OCD and can't help it. I'd rather get it done when Brandon is home from work and I have help. Brandon worked on the outside of the house and the garage. He got all the Christmas decorations and lights down as well got them organized into their totes and back up into the attic for another year. Henry and Scott took an afternoon nap then it was off to Home Depot (again, ha!). We picked up a few more things for the closet redo and then had a yummy dinner at Chili's. Both boys behaved; so thankful for the little things in life :)

Thursday morning we got up and got ready for the day. Brandon had to go to work for a little bit since he signed back in from his leave on Wednesday. He took Henry with him because I had to take Scott back up to the hospital to get his billirubin checked again. Thankfully it was down even more since Tuesday and we no longer have to have it monitored. We then met up at the PX to pick up a few things then had lunch at the food court. Henry laid down for his afternoon nap when he got home and I worked on even more laundry. We had a quiet night at home.

Friday was another lazy day and catch up on housework day. I still had more laundry to do, ha! Its a never ending cycle especially with having a newborn and Brandon off work. I also had to get the bathrooms cleaned.. not the most glamorous activity but nonetheless needed to be done. It was by far the most uneventful day of the week, ha!

Saturday morning we woke up early, got ready for the day, packed up the car, and headed out. We had made plans to meet my mom and aunt in GA to pick up P. It was Scott's first car trip and I was nervous how the day would go. The morning went fairly well.. no major meltdowns. We met up with them at a Cracker Barrel for lunch and a visit. P was happy to see us and my aunt was excited to meet Scott and visit with Henry. After lunch, they headed back home to SC and we had just a short drive to our hotel for the night. Since this was Scott's first travel and he is less than 2 weeks old, we decided to split up the drive and stay the night giving us only about 4 hours to drive each day. We picked a Country Inn & Suites in Calhoun, GA because there are Outlets there and that would give us something to do Saturday afternoon. Upon arriving, we checked into our hotel, got settled as well as Murray. Then over to the Outlets we went. The kids rode in the double jogger and I wore Scott in my Moby wrap. It was our first successful trip with 3 munchkins. We then had dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. Once we got back to the hotel Brandon took P and Henry to the hotel indoor pool for a while to let them burn out their energy. Then it was time to call it a night and get the kids ready for bed. Brandon and I fell asleep before midnight.. I guess that's what happens when there is a new baby, ha!

Sunday morning we slept in a bit then got ready for the day and headed downstairs for breakfast. Brandon got the car packed up and on the road back home we were. We stopped for lunch and to feed Scott about an hour or so from home. We were back at the house around 1 o'clock and got to work on unpacking the car. The rest of the day was spent putting things away, laundry and getting the van tidied up. We had pizza for dinner before our typical nightly routine began.

Can't believe Christmas Block Leave is almost over. Brandon heads back to work on Tuesday and reality will set back in for this family. Thank goodness we have our Disney vacation to look forward to in March!!! :)

A Year in Review

Well I can't believe its 2012!! Time just seems to be flying by.. another year gone. 2011 was a big year for our family.. lots of highs, milestones, and memories were made. Its hard to pinpoint just a few highlights but let's recap!

2011 brought...

• A husband home from a year long deployment safe and sound

• Peighton turned 4!

• Henry turned 1!

• The lost of our dog Pete and the addition of a new puppy named Murray

• A vacation to Disney World

• The exciting new of expecting another little one

• Another birthday, another year older, another year of feeling blessed

• Finding out baby #3 was a boy!

• 10 year class reunion... Wow, are we really getting that old?!?!

• Celebration of a string of holidays that were not the same last year with our solider at war

• The birth of our sweet baby boy Francis Scott.. better late than never :)

• One of the most joyous and amazing Christmases ever!

• Ringing in the New Year fast asleep missing the whole thing... the life of parents with a newborn, ha!

• A thankful and blessed family of 5!

For 2012... Could not ask for more than what we have now. Looking forward to what's in store for our family and this upcoming year!!! Happy 2012 everyone!!! May we all have a wonderful year :)