DISNEYLAND!!!!!

"It's a world of laughter a world of tears, it's a world of hope and a world of fears". . . the perfect description for a 3 year olds' first trip to Disneyland.

We had a long great day, here is the blow by blow with pictures included. First we woke Andi up at 6:30, which I know is normal for most little kids, but that's an hour before her normal wake-up time. She was very cooperative about rushing to get ready and out the door by 7, even when it was time to put a pull-up on. She does not like how they feel, but we decided it would be better to wear those then have her panic every time we had to run find a bathroom, and change her if we didn't make it in time. She was really good on the drive there and only asked a couple of times if we were there yet; which really made me laugh, because it's funny how even a 3 year old knows to ask the same annoying question over and over.
When we got there we snapped on the cute teddy bear harness that we borrowed for the trip and it lasted all of 2.3 second. Not that Andi was fighting wearing it, she just thought that it was sorta like when she helped Kelsie walk the dogs and they drug her all around the neighborhood. Andi though she was supposed to drag us around the parking structure and weave in and out of people. Dumb. So we took it off and she stayed with us all day just fine.


We of course headed straight for fantasy land where all the little kids rides are, and the first one we saw with no line was Snow White, which I thought would be prefect because she's been watching it a lot lately. It too was great for about 2.3 seconds and then most of the ride focuses on the wicked queen and it was dark and very loud and Andi was traumatized on the very first ride! But Dumbo and the teacups restored her smile and confidence in us as parents/protectors.
She loved peter pan, casey juniors railroad, and the jungle cruise, the Carousel, and Winnie the pooh.

Waiting in line for Dumbo

On Dumbo
Watching the Teacups

Sitting in the teacups

In line for the Jungle Cruise

On peter pans flight

We came to the conclusion as we entered the star tours line that her biggest issue of the day was dark and loud. We told her we were going to see C3PO and R2D2 and she was vey excited untill we got into the dark and noisy room, she saw them and was like okay, now we can go. And as we headed further in she started crying and yelling"No Dark Vader!" so obviously we headed right back out.

She was good with Small world, alice, and the toon town coaster. I was glad she like the toon town coaster and took that as a green light to try bigger rides, as long as they were outside rides and not noisy, She is tall enough for all of them, however big thunder railroad killed that idea quick and we headed back to fantasy land to try to find Tinkerbell and Nemo.
We "saw" tinkerbell. They have this whole place set up called pixie hollow and I was very excited to take Andi to this because she loves tinkerbell. Pixie hollow however is not on the map, and is not in a logical place in the park, and there are no signs for it. We finally found it after asking directions to find out that it was closed for the day. But we walked around the giant blades of grass to the tinkerbell shop and saw that she was indeed still in the hollow. So of course I turned into one of those pushy parents because Andi was really excited about seeing tink. So I took her in the exit and we saw her taking pictures with little girls. Don't worry I didn't get too crazy, I wouldn't let Andi cut in the line, we just stood back and waved and took a picture from where we were. Next time though, we are hitting pixie hollow first and getting a picture of them together!

Her face painting outside of the elusive hollow

She had one meltdown the second time we were in the dumbo line. By then it was almost 8 she had not had a nap, her legs were sore from walking around all day and she was just spent. Dumbo however dried her tears, we found her some tylenol, and she was happy again, so we decided to ride Nemo and then watch the fireworks show.

Asleep in the Nemo line with her tinkebell wand in a stroller we found that had been abandoned

Of course the minute the fireworks started she was covering her ears and hiding her head. So we just ended up leaving and beating the crowds out of the park. All in all it was a really fun day. I loved watching her get excited about seeing characters like pooh and tiger and singing along to the songs she knew on the rides. Hopefully the next time we go she'll be ready for the bigger rides;)

Almost there

Sammy got his cast changed on Wednesday. I was really surprised at the huge difference in his foot after only 2 weeks. Really I didn't think his foot looked all that bad before the surgery, but now it looks perfect. Only 2 more weeks in this cast and then we go down to LA again to get him special shoes. I swear he'd be crawling now if it weren't for the full leg cast. He holds himself up so high now and squirms around trying to get his legs underneath him, but obviously it doesn't work. He is now rolling over, at least front to back, and scooting around in circles when he's laying down.



Andi woke up sick this morning so I have to get her in to the Dr today. Her allergies have been acting up all week, at least that's what i've been thinking it was, but now she's coughing and sounds so hoarse, so i'm taking her in. I am crossing my fingers hat it's nothing she won't be over in a few days because we are taking her to Disneyland on tuesday. yay!!!!! I'm very excited to be going, and i'm not sure if it's just for me or because I know she is going to LOVE IT! We checked the height requirments for the rides, and she can ride everything but space mountain I think. the cut off is 40 inches and she's 41, so Thad wants to make her a shirt that says "i'm 41 inches" just so we won't get stopped all the time.


In other very good news Grandma came home Tuesday and is getting better little by little.

the teething monster

We had a check up with Sammy's foot Dr today. They took an x-ray and from it the Dr said the surgery was a success. He said already his heel has dropped and is pointing the direction it is supposed to. So yay for that! We go in again next week to get the cast changed, but in the meantime we started to decorate the cast he's got.

As you can tell from some of these pictures Sammy is in full teething mode the last two days. It's bad! I don't remember it being a big deal with Andi. It only seemed to bother her at night, and then once we gave her tylenol and some teething tablets she was fine. But he has been clingy, and more than fussy. He has these fits where he will straight out scream if I sit down. It usually lasts an hour before he calms down again. Hopefully the teeth come through soon.

This is a pretty normal example of Andi being "loving" to Sammy and smothering him.


And this is what happens when Andi tries to help Sammy play in his jumper. He's just a little dizzy.

Andi has been really in to walking her baby doll lately. Mostly I think because I have started walking a few times a week. Okay I just started this week and I've only been twice, but I'm going again tomorrow and I'm going to make it a habit. The kids have been pretty good on our walks and it has been so nice to just get out and get a little bit of exercise. I haven't done that since Sammy was born, but now that my wonderful friend Tarin let us borrow her double stroller, we've been getting out of doors more often.
We've had kind of a crazy few weeks. My Grandma has been in the hospital for almost 2 weeks now and so all of my dad's siblings came in to see her. It's been really nice to see everyone, just unfortunate that it's because Grandma is sick. She is out of ICU now and on a regular floor and hopefully will be coming home soon.

Pay it forward

Okay, I am giving in and playing the game. You know the rules, the first 3 people to comment get a homemade gift from me but you have to re-post this on your blog as well.

A surprisingly good day.

Yesterday came and went and I think the hardest part of the day was just having to get up at 3 am and drive to LA. Seriously, Sammy did so well. The Dr kept telling me that once he woke up he wouldn't really notice anything had happened, but I didn't believe him. I should have. We got to the Surgery center at 5:30 and they took us back about 5:45 and did Sammy's work up. Keep in mind he hadn't eaten since 8:00 the previous evening and he sat there and smiled at all the nurses and gave us a big smile when they took him back in to surgery. When he woke up he only cried until we gave him a bottle and the rest of the day it was like nothing happened. His new cast is plaster so it's much heavier than the other ones he's had, and he's having a harder time moving his leg because it is a full leg cast again. But on the bright side, this one we get to decorate and keep as a souvenir.


The rest of the day we hung around the house working on yet another project. Surprised? Didn't think so. We are working on Andi's bathroom now and thus far Thad has put in the new medicine cabinet and lights, put the new sink on and re-vamped the old vanity cabinet, and put new hardware on everything. Next is tiling the tub and floor. I helped by painting. Once the tile is done I'll put up some before and afters. Andi enjoyed having Thad home and managed to talk him into some interesting play time.

This is her "Argggg!" face

Thad got to be Captain Hook.

I'm still not sure who's idea this was.

Sammy's "toe toe's"

Well it is going to be a big week for Sammy next week. Right now he is enjoying his cast free foot. At his last appointment they decided he could be cast free for 2 weeks until his surgery. We go in very early Tuesday morning to have his tendon lengthened. The Dr says it's a very quick little procedure and that once the put the cast back on he won't really notice that they did anything. In & out. . . except for the fact that it's in LA! Luckily Thad got the day off and will be coming with us. After the surgery he will be in the cast for 4 weeks and then there is talk of "special shoes" but we'll see after he gets the cast off if that is necessary.

I thought i'd also post a picture of the 100% finished product in the kitchen. The drywall up and painted and the trim back up on the cabinets. Yay!

Thads Projects

I realized halfway through his post that it mostly all about Thad. Being that it was Valentines weekend, and I usually write mostly about the kids, I thought it would be nice to give a little shout out to my wonderful husband who makes all my little ideas and projects a reality.

Thad was supposed to go on a scout camp out this weekend, but due to the winter storm warnings for the area they were going to, the camp out got canceled, and it turned into a fabulous weekend. Thad had friday off and since we had nothing planned for the weekend he started into our list of projects. The list has grown since we got our tax refund ;) But Thad installed the over the range microwave I've been wanting since we moved in. As you can see from the pictures the cabinets were put up with that in mind, but for some reason the people who lived here never put one in. But what they did have was this weird "nook" for lack of a better word, that hung down below the rest of the cabinets and sat pretty much on top of the microwave on the counter. Lame. So Thad fixed it this weekend! Also, as you can tell from the picture it's not 100% finished. He still needs to put up the drywall to cover the vent but I was so excited to have it in and working that I had to post pictures anyway.

Here's the before with the awkward gap above the stove and nook above the microwave.

And here is the after with all the added counter space!


Thad has just been on a roll lately. After a little bit of harassing(from me) about planning a camp out valentines weekend he decided to do something very cute and give me a gift earlier in the week. So he got a cute frame and put a bunch of pictures of the kids(and one of the old us) in it. You can't tell from the picture but the frame has this really cool effect with the pictures, every other one is right at the front of the glass and the other are at the back kind of shadow-boxy. And yes, he wrote a poem to go with it.


Other than the great projects, we had a mellow relaxing weekend. We went to Rosemary's for dinner with Thads parents Saturday, and to an intense scary movie with some friends way past my bedtime Friday night. We had dinner with the rest of Thads family Sunday at his grandparents and just hung out.
And just for your enjoyment, here is the latest photo comparison of Thad and Sammy.

artsy fartsy bumbo

So Thad and I came up with this idea for a different way to hang something artsy in the dinning room. We used to have two small van Gogh prints on this one wall, but replaced it with this one bigger print, that we cut up and mounted on wood and then hung. I don't know if you can tell from the picture but it's pretty big. I love it!
Excuse the glare.

Sammy seems to be growing so fast. He has gotten the hang of the bumbo chair now and loves to sit on/at the table with us at dinner time.


Now that his cast is only knee high he will stand if you hold him up, which is something he couldn't do before. He's not as strong as Andi was at this stage, but like I said, the cast was hindering him before. He has also transitioned himself to an earlier bedtime these last two weeks. I didn't even try to make it happen, he just started crashing at 8 pm and waking up at 7 am. Life is good ;)

Photo Shoot

We borrowed Thad's Dads sweet new camera this weekend and had a photo shoot with the kids in the yard and around the house. It is amazing how much difference a good camera makes in the pictures. We took about 500 picture in less than an hour, here are some of the highlights.


I really can't believe how grown up she is getting. Right now she loves to color, paint, play dress up, shoot nerf guns with daddy, help mommy in the kitchen, play on the computer, ride her bike, sing, watch anything with music and dancing, and play with Sammy. She knows all her letters and number to 10 and talks like such a little grown up.


Okay, so that last one obviously was not part of the shoot, but it is a perfect example of who he is these days. He is just so happy all the time. He is only unhappy if he is left out of the action and loves to sit with Daddy and check everything out. At 3 months he is 15.5 lbs and growing so fast.

One of these days we will get a real family shot done, but for now these pictures were a lot of fun.

Friends

Lately Andi seems to have a renewed interest in Sammy. She thought he was cool when we first brought him home and asked to hold him every time he woke up, but after a week that wore off. Then she pretty much didn't care if her was around unless he was stopping me from doing something with her and then she wanted him back in bed. But this last week or so she wants to sit on the couch and hold him by herself.


And this one is just the best morning face, I had to post it ;)


She really likes him these days. In fact, some of you might know that she is super cranky if you have to wake her from a nap instead of letting her wake up on her own. But I had to last week to get some errands run, and I discovered the trick to waking he up and having her happy is to lay Sammy on the pillow next to her. She hears him and just rolls over and smiles and kisses him. He seems to like her to and always gives her a big smile when she gets in his face.
On a totally unrelated note Thad and I have an ongoing argument on a nightly basis just about. I won't tell you the opinions on the matter cos we want your un-biased input. First question is, do you have assigned sides of the bed? and if so, is trading sides an option?
Next question, Do you kick and flail to un-tuck the covers at the foot of the bed because it restricts your feet, or do you leave the covers tucked in?
I'm fairly certain the comments will back up my opinion on the matter, but we'll see ;)

Andi's Birthday

Saturday was Andi's first real birthday party. I say real because it's the first time we sent out invites to her friends. She is into Tinkerbell these days so we made Tinkerbell invitations and had little fairy wands in the goodie bags. Andi has been talking about her party for weeks and inviting everyone she saw. " You come to my party? I almost 3." Here are a few pictures from the party.

playing pin the tail on the donkey

playing in the tunnel with Nicholas and Caidence

blowing out the candle on her cupcakes that she kept calling pancakes

we really thought cupcakes would be easier/less messy than doing cake and ice cream, but she proved us wrong.

All in all she had a wonderful day and loved all her presents. Especially the Tinkerbell doll and jewelry box. Thanks to everyone who came and made her feel so special!

I told you I've been taking pictures!

Andi looking so grown up on her first day in Sunbeams!

Wearing mommy's "boops"

This is what happens when Thad helps her with the dress up clothes. I know it looks like she's doing the triple snap, but Thad was telling her to growl and that's what happened.

More playtime with Daddy.

Dude on his playmat

I finally pulled the swing out of the shed and he loves it.

But his favorite place is the changing table. He could be crying at the top of his lungs and then you lay him on the table and he's all smiles.

I feel like a slacker for not posting any pictures but this post is basically just my excuses as to why I haven't posted. I have been better about taking pictures of the kids but the cord to connect the camera is on Thads desk at work. I have also been getting things ready for Andi's first real birthday party that will be happening Saturday, the big 3. And taking care of a very sick Sammy, who we found out this afternoon has RSV. Poor little guy is miserable, but hopefully now that we have the breathing treatments started he'll start to improve. I promise a more detailed, entertaining, picture filled post next week.