Any Advice??

We were invited last Christmas to go on vacation with my step-brother, his fiance and their 2 kiddos to Myrtle Beach. After seeming like it would take forever for September to get here, it is already next month!!

We are going to be traveling by car for a little over 12 hours to get to our destination. In our car we will have Alyssa and Morgan. I'm hoping to borrow someone's portable DVD player so that we don't have to purchase one at this time. I'm really hoping that works like a charm, because Alyssa tends to get antsy in the car after like an hour.

We are leaving at midnight after my stepbrother gets off of work. So, we are hoping to get a few good hours in of driving while the babies are snoozing.

What do I need advice on?? Well, with a 6 month old and a 2 1/2 year old in tow driving 12 hours away from home, does anyone have any suggestions on making for a pleasant drive and a pleasant vacation overall? Any advice would be appreciated.

Where have I been??

Alright, I've been a busy girl and now I get to finally write about it all!!

My sister did end up losing her baby. There was no heartbeat and her hormone levels dropped from her one visit to the next. I went with her this past Friday to get her D&C done. She seems to be doing alright, but I know inside she is having a difficult time. She is questioning a lot of things now even though the doctor has repeatedly told her she has just had incredibly bad luck with these last three pregnancies. I feel terrible for her and I have a hard time finding the right words to tell her for comfort. I just hope that she can have a successful pregnancy in the future!

This past Thursday I got to meet some women and their children from a parenting board that I frequently visit on the Internet. It is awesome to meet people that you feel like you already know because you share stories of your lives, your children, your spouses and just general discussions. I was so lucky to get to meet them and hopefully we will be able to get together again in the future. We drove 2 1/2 hrs to meet them and although it was a long drive with 5 kiddos in the car (I went with someone else who lives close to me), I'd gladly do it again!!

Morgan was baptized yesterday. It was a beautiful day and Morgan looked like an angel. She wore Alyssa's dress and that truly was so special to me. One big reason was I got to save the money on buying another dress (totally kidding). But really, it was like a bond was created by them both wearing that dress and the sap inside of me wants to preserve it in hopes that future grandchildren can wear that dress.

Here are some pictures of the day (before going to the church):




One of me, Gary, Alyssa, Morgan and the godparents (Alyssa just wanted down so she could run around the church more).


And one of Alyssa. She kept saying "cheese, cheese, sissa (Alyssa), cheese", so I took a picture of her and this is what I get...


Everything turned out so nice and the party afterwords was great. The weather was perfect and everything went without a hitch.

So other than having some back muscle spasms in my back, not much else is going on around here.