The Quotable Dory

One of my favorite Disney/Pixar quotes is from Dory in "Finding Nemo". It comes to my mind quite often when I'm holding my kids, worrying about them, praying for them and loving them. 

Nemo's Dad says: "I promised I'd never let anything happen to him." 

And Dory says "That's a funny thing to promise. You can't never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him."

So true. As much as I want to protect my kids, and "never let anything happen" to them...then they would never get to experience anything. I often find myself being a borderline "helicopter" parent...I guess I just have to find the balance between helping them through things and protecting them from things completely. 

I found this picture in my "drafts" folder in my email. HA HA. I guess CJ was coloring on the iPad and somehow exported his picture into my email. Glad he did. What an artist, huh?! ;)

My parents arrive tomorrow for a visit and to meet E. I am SO excited!! We haven't seen them since December, so we are so looking forward to this time together! Lots of fun things we can do, but top priority is just family time!

Doc McCJs

CJ loves the Disney Junior show Doc McStuffins. It is super cute and has catchy little songs. The "time for your checkup" song has come in handy lately when visiting the pediatrician for various "checkups".  

CJ decided that E needed a checkup! I thought it was too cute! Listening to her heartbeat!

 Checking her eyes and ears!

 Pumping up the blood pressure cuff.

 She needs a bandaid.

I look forward to many more memories of these two playing together! :-)

Prepping for Baby & Nursery Tour

I'm excited that almost everything is ready for Baby Girl! We had our hospital tour a couple weeks ago. All the clothes have been washed, freezer meals in the freezer, pack n play beside my bed, and nursery is done! Just need to finish packing for the hospital this week and we will be as ready as we can be!

I wanted to share pictures of the nursery! I am so pleased with how it turned out. When we first moved in to the house in July this was our office. It was the only room we hadn't hung pictures up...and good thing because then we found out we needed to make it into a nursery! :)

So even though we don't use real names on this blog (other than mine), I felt like I could still share this picture because I'm not going to write Baby Girl's name. :) She will be called "E" on the blog...for obvious reasons I couldn't call her "ET" (hello movie!) or "EH" (less than pleasant sound), so E she will be. I painted all the butterflies, flowers and ladybugs on the letters!

I bought the quilt hanging above the glider in Hawaii before we moved in 2008. We'd started trying to have a baby, and it was the only thing I allowed myself to buy ahead of time because I didn't want to jinx things if we couldn't have a baby. What a sweet reminder of God's promises fulfilled it is for me to see it hanging in her room. :) This was CJ's crib (that he outgrew), so now it belongs to little sis! The pom pom of blue hydrangea flowers hanging from the ceiling was a decoration in one of my best friend's weddings where I was a bridesmaid! We had blue hydrangeas in our backyard growing up, so they also bring those memories. I thought this was the perfect "reuse" for that decor! And the rocker got moved into the nursery too from CJ's room, and CJ now has a beanbag chair.

Baby E's room is directly across the hall from CJ's room and caddy-corner across the hall from us. We had a limited amount of space for a changing table because we couldn't block her closet on the left (the one on the right opens from the other side of the hallway). I found the changing table I wanted on Craigslist for about half the price!!

I got the pink baskets from Michaels, and the drawer pulls are Olive Kids. Her coming home from the hospital outfit (laid out on changing table) has an elephant on it just like her big brother's did! :) But E's pants have a ruffle butt! 

I was inspired by a couple of different bow holders I saw on Pintrest, and I made this bow holder! I painted the different pieces of wood and put it all together. I should have taken a close up, but the bows are hanging on braided brown yarn (because she'll more than likely have brown hair?). The bows are a mix of some that I've made, and some that have been given to our sweet girl.

This is the view from the glider. Blankets, and burp rags on top shelf for easy grabbing, and "baby" toys and board books on the other shelves. CJ loves "sharing" E's toys already! And our little "princess" couldn't NOT have a little Disney in her room...Sleeping Beauty prints.

We have been SO very blessed by the generosity of friends and hand-me-downs with this baby. We were given new clothes for CJ as gifts, but the majority of things we had to purchase. Expensive! So I was concerned about the finances of a surprise baby. We were taken care of! E has been given boxes and boxes of beautiful girl clothes. I have them all sorted by size and ready to go! :)

On top of the toy shelf, the bear music box and angel figurine were mine as a little girl. So neat to have those to pass on to her. And I LOVE the frame that has Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in your mother's womb, I chose you".

The view from the hall, coming from our bedroom. The big window looks out into our front yard, but is shaded/given privacy by a camellia tree (which reminds me so much of SC!) The pink bunny hung in my room as a girl. The crocheted blue hat with pink flower was made by my Mom a long time ago. That word "HOPE" hung in our empty room, would-be-nursery in Michigan as we prayed to be blessed with a child. Now, that will be E's middle name, and I glued it to a frame holding the scripture Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a future."

Now all that's missing is a baby girl!!! :) 

Seeing Stars at Mickey's House

Life has been very full lately, and this post is old, but I gotta try to catch up some!

We had two tickets to Disneyland that expire in June. Seeing as how things are just getting more and more challenging for me to go do, as I get bigger and more easily tired, we know we needed to use them "now or never" (because we aren't going to take a baby that little either!) So, the week that JT returned from Chicago (the week before CJ and I got sick) we took a trip up to "Mickey House".

When we arrived and were walking down Main Street, we saw there was a whole section roped off in front of the castle. Being nosey, I walked up to one of the workers and asked what they were filming. I figured it was a Disneyland commercial or some reality show or something. Boy was I surprised when he said "An ABC comedy called 'Modern Family'". I said "Oh my gosh! SHUT UP!" and ran back over to JT to fill him in. That's only one of our favorite comedies!!!! So we got to see them film a little bit.

So if you watch the show, and don't want any potential "spoilers" stop reading! ;) I won't share JT and my hypothetical theories for the episode plot.

"Phil" & "Jay" talking with several other cast members in the background.

Here "Phil" and "Luke" are waiting on the sideline until their turns.

"Jay" & "Claire" talking during a scene.

When CJ started to get restless (can't blame him, he doesn't watch the show, so I'm sure that was boring for him!) we went to go ride some rides! We rode "Pirates of the Caribbean". JT and I were so excited to get to ride that one because it was closed for renovations when we first moved here, and has been too busy the last two visits to the park. We were a little worried if CJ would be scared or not, but he thought the Pirates were cool (and the crabs and birds, pigs, goats and being in a boat. HA HA!) We posed in front of the castle, but CJ was more excited about going inside!

CJ asked to go on the "Elephant Ride" so JT and CJ rode Dumbo and I sat and rested and took their picture.

And we HAD to do JT's favorite ride: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. CJ enjoyed the "frogs". It is really such a joy "seeing" through his eyes and watching his reactions to everything!

CJ's new favorite movie right now is "Finding Nemo" (we've gotten a temporary break from "Cars" but it's still a close second). He was excited to get to do the ride! Here he is looking at the seagulls in the water saying "mine!".

CJ was so excited to get to ride in the submarine and get to see Dory, "Nemo Dada", Nemo, "Three Sharks!", Mr. Ray, and all the other friends.

As we were leaving Disneyland to go over to California Adventure, we saw they were filming another scene for "Modern Family". POTENTIAL SPOILER: "Dylan" returns!! Because he was in this scene!
Sofia Vergara & Julie Bowen are both SO beautiful in real life!!!
When we were standing there watching, they grabbed some people out of the crowd to be extras!! How neat is that?! Pre-kid days JT and I probably would have spent the day watching them film and trying to get to be on the show, but priorities are different now! :) When we were walking out, we got to walk about 4 feet away from the stars!! It was so exciting. They asked us not to take pictures that close (right in their faces! understandable!) So, I snapped one when we got right past. I know they're just people, but it was still pretty cool for us!
When we got to Cali Adventure, I wanted a Mickey Ice Cream. Even though CJ doesn't typically like ice cream (the texture/temperature), he ended up taking it from me! (We did NOT let him eat the whole thing!)
This is quite possibly my new favorite picture of my boy! It totally captures his personality and pure happiness!! LOVE IT!!
We helped CJ's second cousin in Ohio with her kindergarten's "Flat Stanley" project, so one of the many places we took Stanley with us was to Disney!
All of us got to meet Mickey Mouse!
We did Ariel's Adventure ride twice because there was no line and CJ loved the "fish, crabs, octopus, bird..." Do we see a love for animals theme?! :)
We walked past where "Cars Land" will be opening this summer! I know it will be quite the hit in our family! Side note, we found the "Baby Care Center" nearby and learned where the one in Disneyland is...it is really nice and clean and they had private nursing areas (with rocking chairs!) and high chairs, microwaves and a kid potty, so I know we'll be utilizing those care centers in the future!
We went to the Disney Junior Live show which CJ LOVES!!! They have all his favorites: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, Little Einsteins and Jake and the Neverland Pirates and he gets SO excited to see them! JT was a trooper and sat on the floor with CJ so I could sit on a bench and rest. We went to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner in Downtown Disney. CJ loved the aquarium, but they sat us next to a gorilla that would sporadically come to life. It must have been scary for CJ; he spent the dinner watching that gorilla out of the corner of his eye and crying when he would "come to life." Next time we'll ask to be seated next to the butterflies. HA HA! We had a really great day, and our stubborn boy didn't even fall asleep on the drive home! It's exciting (and a little daunting!) to think that the next time we go to Disney we'll be a family of FOUR! :)

"Mickey House"

One of the activities our visitors wanted to do while they were here was go to Disneyland. JT and I were SOOOO bummed to have to go there, since we can't stand that place. ;) HA HA. It was by far the busiest day we've seen there, but we made the best of it and still had an awesome time (as usual)!

On the way to Disneyland, my friend and I were talking and one of us said the word "cereal". CJ heard "seal" and started demanding "dolphin" and "whale" (I guess he thought we were going to Sea World?) So when we got to Disney at first he was upset that we weren't at Sea World. Thankfully seeing the Whale in front of the Storybrook ride managed to suffice and he eventually forgot about it. Phew! I told him we were at "Mickey's House" so CJ started calling Disneyland "Mickey House". Meeting Geppetto.

All of us in front of the Walt Disney & Mickey statue and the castle!
The kiddos waiting in line for the carousel. KD really enjoyed it. CJ on the other hand, flipped out and started adamantly saying "No" "No" "Down" so JT removed him from the ride before it started (or else that would have been a really long ride). This is the third time CJ has not wanted to ride a carousel. Not sure why? He loves every other ride we've taken him on.

We also rode It's a Small World, Winnie the Pooh, and Dumbo. (Our friends also rode the teacups but JT and I don't do that ride anymore...). JT sacrificed one for the team and rode the Dumbo ride backwards to get this great shot of all of us on the ride!
Posing for a pic in a Dumbo. CJ was yelling "CJ chair" because he wanted to sit on the seat like a big boy (instead of Mama's lap). HA HA.
Our family of three.
Probably my favorite picture of our kids that we were able to capture. (They are actually standing next to each other willingly. HA!)
Our friends and CJ (he's too busy watching the Dumbo ride to look at the camera!).
Such a fun day!!!!

The little princess all tuckered out from her first trip to Disney! :)

The weather was perfect, and it was so much fun getting to share one of our favorite places with some of our favorite people. We hit a little traffic on the drive home (typical LA), so we stopped at Outback for dinner. The kiddos were tired and so was I! It sounds funny, but sometimes I forget I'm pregnant...until it's too late and by then I'm exhausted! It was worth it though, what a great day!

Toy Story 3 on Ice

Last Friday, JT took a day off work so we could go to Toy Story 3 on Ice together as a family! I wasn't really sure how CJ would do since that is a LONG TIME for a 2 year old to sit still. He did great, especially in the beginning when he got to see all of his favorite Disney characters: Mickey "D", Minnie "Nin-Nee", Goofy "Fee-Fee", Donald Duck "Kak-Kak", Daisy "Day-She" & Pluto "Tu-To". He was also excited to see "Buzz" "Woo-Wee" & the Hamm the Pig.

I tried to take his picture in front of the souvenir stand, but he was too busy looking at Woody and Buzz behind him to smile!

For my own memories, this was the first time CJ ever ate popcorn. My picky eater has to try things when HE is ready...so he helped his Mama devour a bucket of popcorn. ;) By the end of the performance, CJ was definitely "done" (ready for a nap!). But we had a good time and I'm glad we had the chance to go!

Trip to Disneyland

Last weekend we took advantage of our "week of fun with Dada" as well as the great deals Disneyland is offering Active Duty Military families, and took CJ to Disneyland for the second time. It is only 1 hour and 15 minutes away from our house!! When we checked in, they gave CJ balloons. "Ba-ooon". He was excited, but took his job of balloon carrier seriously!

At California Adventure, they were having a dance party for the kids with Phineas and Ferb, and CJ ran right out there like a big kid!! No fear.

And speaking of no fear, he also walked right up to Sulley (A MONSTER!!) and gave him a big hug!!
He rode Heimlich's Chew Chew Train with his Mama.
Having fun with Dada.
In typical CJ fashion...his first night at the hotel was not good. He woke up about 2:30 am and in our usual efforts to not have him wake up the entire hotel, we let him come "sleep" with us. None of us got back to sleep until around 5:30... One funny story was at 5am (trying to find humor in a delirious, desperate for sleep state) was when CJ said "ride?" Because he wanted to go ride some more rides! How do you explain to a 20 month old that the park doesn't open for another 5 hours?! ;) He is so beautiful when he finally does sleep, isn't he?!
The next morning, we went to eat breakfast with Chip & Dale and their friends. CJ gave Dale a hug and enjoyed the waffles that were in the shape of Mickey's head!
Kenai stopped by to say hi too.
Driving the car in front of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.
Family pic. It was neat to see all the Halloween/Fall decorations Disneyland had done!
Wow! Buzz!!
After all three of us took a nap to recover from the rough night of sleep, we went back to the parks! CJ was tall enough for his first "big boy ride"! Exciting!! (32")
CJ's first big boy ride! He enjoyed riding in the "vroom vroom" with Dada on Autopia!
Um, why did they think it was a good idea to put toilet paper in the changing area? It was like an invitation for my son to pull the roll!!
We all enjoyed going "Under the Sea" on Ariel's Undersea Adventure.
Watching "World of Color" that night on Dada's shoulders.
The next morning we decided to head home in time for CJ to do nap time in his crib at home! But thought we'd have breakfast with Mickey and his friends before hitting the road!
Dance party with Pluto! (CJ is on the far left, look at the smile on his face!)
And then he helped Goofy's son, Max lead the other children in a dance.
We had a really fun trip, and it is so neat watching CJ's little brave, outgoing, independent personality come out!! And, it is so GREAT that CJ is a Disney lover just like his Mama & Dada (who got engaged at, honeymooned at, and just overall LOVE Disney!) I guess we won't have to kick him out of the family! Ha ha! :)