Day Trip to Disney

Briana had three weeks off for Christmas break this year. So I convinced Alan to take the day off so we could head over to Disneyland. It was a beautiful day, not too crowded and perfect for taking a few pictures. :-)


In the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room . . . .




Playing in Goofy's Garden.


Yes, even Alyssa rides in the teacups now.



Tuck and Roll bumper cars.


William didn't feel like getting his picture taken with Mater and Lightening. Alyssa was crying so I had to run over and be in the picture too.


Briana's very first time on the Hollywood Tower of Terror. She was a little shaken at first but absolutely loved it. You won't be catching me on the ride anytime soon!

My smart little monkey!

I don't think I have become a full fledged germ-a-phobe just yet. I do carry hand sanitizer, make my kids wash their hands and cover their sneezes & coughs with the crook of their elbow and not their hand. William, out of pure rebellion, will fight me on all these fronts no matter how many times I explain about germs and sickness. I'm constantly showing him how to cover his mouth and chasing him down with hand sanitizer. Alyssa learned to rub sanitizer on her hands months ago. I just did it for her a few times and she quickly caught on. (We frequent the gym and one can only imagine the germs in that place!) She is only 19 months old and so I haven't really shown her how to cover her sneezes. Apparently, she has caught on anyway. My smart little girl was outside today playing when she had to sneeze. And wouldn't you know she covered her nose and mouth with her arm and not her hand. What a smart little monkey. She smiled so proudly as Briana and I complimented her on a job well done.

Happy New Year 2010!!

Back to blogging once again. What started out as a few weeks off became several months of no new posts. I have really missed blogging about my kids and their adventures. So, I suppose this is one new year's resolution I have for 2010. I do have several posts under construction that I'll be working on from time to time of things that happened between March 09 up till now. So, here is my first post of the new year with the intent of posting regularly in 2010.

Wishing everyone happiness and prosperity for the new year. Hoping that all of your goals will be met and you won't have to make any new resolutions for 2011! :-)

Bedah!

Apparently for Alyssa this means TV. A few months ago we purchased a new television set that makes a small sound each time you turn it on. Whenever Alyssa hears the sound she will yell, "bedah!". If you say "bedah" to her she will automatically point to the tv. Of course William loves this and will also yell "bedah" each time the tv is turned on. Briana will ask Alyssa, where is the "bedha"?

In addition to this particular word, she does say a few real ones like; mama, dada, ball, choo-choo, kitty, cheese, nice, and night-night. I'm looking forward to hearing her vocabulary grow during the up and coming months.

Alyssa and the Choo-Choo

For the past 4-5 years we have set up a train under our Christmas tree. The kids love playing with the train and wait impatiently each year for Christmas to come around again so we can set it up. This year Alyssa fell in love with the train. We let her use the controls and she would sit and watch for up to an hour at a time. Then one Sunday while the kids and I attended church, Alan cleaned up all of the Christmas decorations in the house. Alyssa walked into the front room and said, "choo-choo, choo-choo?" I had to tell her that choo-choo went bye-bye. She didn't quite understand and has asked me a few more times where her choo-choo has gone. :-(

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning the kids ran downstairs to find the cookies had been eaten and the milk was all gone. Under the tree they found their gifts from Santa. Briana and William were so excited as they ripped the paper away and found the gifts they had asked for. Briana had a fur real kitty. William asked for Bumble Bee. Alyssa is not really a morning baby and slept while the other kids discovered their gifts from Santa.




Later that morning all three waited patiently as we loaded up the car to head to grandma and papa's for more present opening and merriment. The kids spent the rest of their morning with their cousins Michael, Joey and Lexi.



Alyssa did eventually get to open her new stroller from Santa with a little help from big sister and big cousin. Michael.


Briana helping Papa open gifts.


William and grandma


Our family picture on Christmas morning.

Daisy Troop Meeting

Briana really enjoys her girl scout meetings. Tonight's meeting centered around wind. The girls made wind socks, paper helicopters and had balloon races.

The Christmas Tree

Each year Alan and the kids get together to decorate the Christmas tree. Alyssa happened to be napping so, I was able to get a few pictures of the kids hard at work. They love looking at all of the decorations we have and placing them on the tree. We even have a Christmas spider decoration and the first to find it on the tree gets to open the first gift. This year William was able to spot the spider first. :-)

Redland's Christmas Parade

Briana's Daisy Girl Scout Troop marched in the Redland's Christmas Parade this year. It was very cold outside and the walk proved to be a little long for Briana by the end. It was also a first for me. We would look into the crowd to try and see familiar faces but it was very difficult to do as you march along. I think it was a great experience for Briana and we look forward to next year.


Bundled up to watch big sissy in the parade. They actually fell asleep which worked out great for Alan since the wait was a little long.


Briana with some of her fellow Daisies.




All dressed up and ready to march.


Me and Briana


The parade is finished at last!

Callie Bear - The Class Pet

Briana was able to host another fun-filled night with the class bear, Callie. Briana had many plans for the bear as the evening began. During our last visit there wasn't much time for bike riding and she wanted to take Callie bear for a spin. Briana had never taken her bike down this particular hill near our house and unfortunately fell off the bike. :-( She soon recovered in order to go to Lowe's for a planting project daddy had planned that night. William, Alyssa and I had visited Lowes with our mommy group a few weeks prior where they had given us seeds to plant. Our plants had been doing so well, we actually have to transfer them to a bigger pot. Alyssa really got into the project and wanted to help. Finally toward the end of the night Briana was tired and headed off to bed with the class Callie bear and her own personal Callie bear!

Another Day at Disney 10/25

Just one of our many trips to Disneyland. This trip is the first since we renewed our passes for the THIRD time! We almost skipped it this year but we have become so accustomed to our trips to the magic kingdom. It's so nice to spend a few hours on Sunday morning enjoying the park before the major crowds catch up to us. We decided to do another year since the kids really enjoy themselves and now Alyssa is finally old enough to really know what's going on - she has been going to Disney since she was 4 months old. We go so often that we don't always take the time to snap a few pictures. Every once in a while we remember to take the camera along . . . :-)

William's First Day of School 8/25

I have decided to send William to school twice a week for a few hours a day. He is watching Briana take a big step into Kindergarten and feels left out. In fact, he keeps asking me, when does he get to go to Kindergarten? Since he is really not ready for that just yet, I have decided to let him take his first baby step out into the big world away from my side. Good Luck Big Boy!! :-)

Second Tooth gone!

Second baby tooth is gone! Of course Briana is excited to get her big girl tooth and of course for the tooth fairy to make a visit! :-)

Our New Cat: Surri

Meet the newest addition to the family, Surri. A few months back William began asking for a kitty. He likes the dogs ok but, like me, he's not much of a dog person. I was very hesitant about getting a cat at first because I developed an allergy to them at 16. The last cat I touched made me break out in hives. After talking to a friend who has cats and an allergic husband, I decided to give cat ownership a try. So far, so good - no major allergy attacks. And William absolutely LOVES his kitty!

Scary Hair!

So, after a few years of going with my natural hair color, I decided to get highlights again. I have missed having blond hair and was ready to commit to the up-keep. So, I get my hair done in the morning while Alan and the kids head down to the Wild Animal Park. The kids came back home around 4 and can't wait to give me a big hug after being away for so long. So, I bend down to give William a big hug only to have him pull away with a worried look on his face. He stood there silently for several minutes with such a serious stare. Finally he told me to "change it back!" "Change it back to black!" Which was his way of telling me to change my hair back to the way it was. He then continued by saying, "Your hair is scary mommy!" He ran into the playroom and refused to get near me for a few hours. I pointed out sometime that afternoon that my hair was more like his now. So by bedtime he was far less frightened and came up to me with a big hug and said, "your hair is like mine!"
Scary hair really wasn't the "look" I was going for. But I think my little guy is starting to come around. :-)

Alyssa's Doctor Visit

Weight: 23lbs and 4 ounces (She is in the 95th percentile)
Height: 29 inches

Alyssa did very well for her Dr.'s appointment today. She received one shot today and didn't even cry. She is very healthy and has already tripled her birth weight. I suspect she'll be close to 25lbs by the time her first birthday rolls around.

William is 27 lbs and is still 4 pounds heavier than his baby sister. I suspect that she will catch up to him very soon!!