One of our favorite things about Harry Potter World is the drinks. Butter Beer regular and frozen, Pumpkin Juice and Fizz. Yum. We ate at the Three Broomsticks and got drinks from the Hogshead.

These are the shops with fun/expensive Harry Potter stuff. That is Hermione’s actual dress from the movie. We also saw a wand choosing performed by this guy dressed as Ollivander. The two kids chosen were so excited.

The most magical place on earth is not Disney.

While waiting in line for the best ride ever we saw the Herbology greenhouses, real plants that looked like mandrakes, Dumbledore’s office, portraits, the Fat Lady which didn’t come out well in the picture, and the Gryffindor common room. We didn’t wait longer than 30 minutes for any rides. Ryan picked the best time of year to come. It was so much fun!

For my birthday, we are headed to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter today and staying for a week. I have had the Harry Potter theme song stuck in my head all month. Bah buh buh bah buh buh buh. In the words of Juno, this is so wizard.

Lexi is almost 5 months old. In the last two months or so she has been rolling over every chance she gets. She will only sleep on her belly now.

She is working on sitting up straighter.

Lexi loves to grab her feet and talk to us and herself.

She started eating solids and hated it at first, but that’s because it was rice cereal. Yuck! She likes her fruits and veggies.

She is half-way weaned. She weighs 17 pounds and is 27 inches long. In other words, gigantic.

Lexi is our little giggler, and we love her.

I just pre-ordered the last book in the Hunger Games series. I’m shaking with anticipation.

Ryan is starting his 3rd year at the end of this month, and I am starting my fourth in September. Ryan first has to finish his qualification exams. Ugh, someone please hangout with me while I am a “single mom” that week. After two relatively easy first years at UNC, I am prepping myself for Ryan’s last few to be busy and difficult.

At least I have my studies. I skipped Hollins this summer to acclimate myself to mommyhood, and now, it’s back to the grind with an online class about Middlegrade novel writing. Maybe this will be the age group I write my thesis for. I better choose quickly or I will become an eternal grad student…which doesn’t sound too bad if it weren’t for all the loans piling up.

I am having a slightly obsessive love affair with cookinglight.com. What a glorious website for delicious dinners with most of the nutrition facts on the bottom of the recipe (I wish they had the amount of sugar). They also have great substitutes to make familiar meals more healthy.

Huzzah, a yummy way to cook at home and lose weight. I have only tried 1 recipe out of about 15 that I haven’t liked. Even Ryan has liked them, and he HATES healthy food. We have tried a lot of new ingredients and recipes. Thank you Internet.

We are almost on a routine with Lexi. We still have some kinks to work out, namely she wakes up crying from her naps after a half hour or so. Here is what we have achieved so far.

• Lexi wakes up at 7 am and is in bed by 7:30 pm! She sleeps all night (but she was doing this before)
• She only eats 5 times a day. What a RELIEF! What was I thinking feeding her 8 times a day. Live and learn.
• She naps 3 times a day…we are still working on her staying asleep for 1 1/2- 2 hours for her first two.

Perhaps by the end of the week she will be right as rain.