Serious Catch Up- Part 1 Disney and Family Photos

My goodness I have not been on it with keeping up to date here.  I have some time tonight and hope to (sort of) correct that.  So, here we go. =)

First things first.  I mentioned we did a little family photo shoot back in August.  The pictures are lovely.  Here are some sneak peeks for you!

And the best part?  These aren't even the best ones!  So many adorable pictures of my littles.  But I have to save the best ones for our holiday cards! =)  We spent the day out at Tomales Bay visiting Hog Island Oyster Company and the Marshall Store.  Good food, and beautiful pictures.  I also had Ron Miller take some photos of the kids in Nick's corvette since we are working towards selling the car even though we do love it.  This was a way to capture its beauty in our family.

Early September we found ourselves traveling down to southern California for a family vacation at Disneyland.  We visited with Nick's Aunts and Uncles down there and played at the "happiest place on Earth" for a few days.  It was a very nice week.  Something I realized we need to do more often.  It is too too easy to get caught up in the craziness of daily life, especially with two young children.  To take some time to just get away from it all is so important.  The kids particularly benefit from some relaxed time with the four of us together.  Bella went on her first big kid rides.  She went on Splash Mountain- twice!  Once with me and once with Nick.  She also went on the Tower of Terror.  She wasn't such a big fan of that.  I think mostly she found the lead up to the ride scary.  If it was a simple elevator ride with no spooky start, she probably would have giggled through the whole thing.  Finally she went on Soarin Over California.  She really liked that too.  She is still waiting to be big enough to go on the roller coasters.  It will be interesting to see how she takes to those!  She is big enough for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but it was closed for renovations.  I suspect she will LOVE it once she can go on it.  I'm sure there are probably some other stories to tell but frankly, it's been too long for me to remember all the details!  Here are the pictures from Disney...

Crazy. Town.

That is my current home- Crazytown.  I'm not entirely sure why.  I keep hoping/ thinking that things are going to get easier.  In some ways- they do!  Gio is a very cool little boy.  So sweet and snuggly.  His reflux is basically gone from what I can tell, all of the meds have been ceased (though I will still use Zantac as needed as this is new).  But, he is also now teething, and eating, and hitting developmental milestone after milestone.  So he is very demanding.  He wants no one but me if he is tired or unhappy for some reason.  When it comes to bedtime, I'm it.  Meanwhile, Bella is her amazing self.  Such a sweet, kind, funny, smart person.  I really like her.  She is also asserting her independence a ton, which means tough moments for us, and also I think struggling with how much Gio still requires.  We are officially in the phase where the two of them are "fighting" for attention.  I'm constantly triaging their needs which often results in Gio screaming at me while Bella gets into trouble.  So I'm looking for other ways to deal.  Nick and I have determined that Bella needs one-on-one special time regularly now.  So hopefully this weekend we can schedule a Mommy and Bella date.

On top of all of this craziness with our day to day lives, I have several major project balls in the air.  We are looking to possibly refinance our house.  The market has gone crazy in the last 6-12 months and we think our value may be high enough that with a refinance we could drop our mortgage insurance.  This would be an awesome improvement for us.  We are also looking into getting solar panels to help us "get off the grid" (at least mostly).  Our electric bills have gone crazy in the last couple of years so for both financial and environmental reasons it is time to do something other than pay PG&E.  Additionally, we are going to sell the Corvette.  I know, I know.  It hasn't been that long and it is sad to see it go.  The truth is that we just simply don't have the time to put into the vehicle.  Classic cars always need tinkering, and really it should be properly garaged.  We don't have any of that to give.  So we will sell the Corvette and replace it with something modern, probably still convertible, but with a back seat that we can put car seats in as needed.  On top of all of that, I am checking out preschools for Bella to start in the fall.  Yes, Bella is going to preschool in the fall!  Very exciting.  However, choosing the "right" school is tricky business.  It's hard to know what is right for your kid and what will prepare them the best for the future- or even what that preparation looks like!

Anyhow, as you can see, I am crazy busy.  Hoping to find my own oxygen mask soon too.  I need something though I don't have any idea what that will be.  It's time though since I am melting down by Wednesday or Thursday each week.

I'll try to post soon about our trip that we took.  So many sweet moments with friends, family and of course- Disney!

Oops!

I just made a little mistake!  I wasn't planning to make the official pregnancy announcement on facebook until we got through the first trimester.  I technically still haven't, but in my post-plague fog (more on that later) I rushed to get our Disney photos up from this last week and realized too late that there are a few shots with Bella wearing her "Big Sister" shirt loud and proud.  So far no one has said anything, and only one person "liked" one of the picture.  I'm hoping it goes by unnoticed, but you just never know who will see what on Facebook! =)

So moving on to the fun that we've been having!  Starting today and working backwards I think will have to do.  Today I left the house for the first time in four days.  Yep, it's been that bad.  The plague struck our house this week.  Oh, I mean the stomach flu.  Bella started with it on Wednesday, and Nick came home that night also under the weather.  Thursday the two of them battled it out while I just tried to hold it together.  Let me tell you, vomit and pregnancy do not go together.  Then Friday, I was struck with the plague.  I was calling in reserves left and right.  I spent the entire day in bed.  Saturday my mom joined the crew since it looked like so much fun.  Gratefully I'm on the mend, one day in bed, one on the couch, and today I started to do a little bit more.  Poor Bella only today seems to be done with the awful stomach mess.  Here's hoping that carries through the night, because then I'll actually trust that we are on the mend!

Prior to our household succumbing to the plague, we enjoyed a spring trip to Disneyland.  We drove down Thursday and enjoyed a visit with Nick's aunts and uncles.  I wish we lived closer to them since in many ways they were more like grandparents to Nick than aunts and uncles.  It would be nick for them to get to see Bella more often.  But it was a lovely visit that I hope we can enjoy again soon.  Then Friday we visited the La Brea tar pits with my sister KC and her family.  The tar pits themselves weren't exactly what I'd expected- more like a pond with some oil slicks- but it was still quite interesting.  I had no idea what a wealth of ice age fossils the area had been.  I knew they had made some major discoveries there (whole skeletons, etc) but the numbers of fossils is staggering.  They have a couple of visual displays to really  drive home the point, one of which is a wall of wolves skulls.  It was incredibly impressive.  Nick, Bella and I went back to the hotel after lunch since we were all pretty wrecked from the week leading up to the trip, and the drive down.  I of course was blessed with morning sickness on the drive down, so was still suffering through that a bit.  Since KC and family continued their touring, we had a few minutes to pop into Disneyland for a few attractions before dinner and a family photo.

Saturday our friends the Shelah family joined us for some Disney fun.  Although our already later morning was delayed even more due to a "suspicious package" shutting all of Disney down, we held in there and had a fun first day.  Rides, and characters, and fun all around, ending in a delicious BBQ dinner and hoedown!  Sunday we hit up California Adventure for more big kid fun (Tower of Terror anyone?) and ended the day with a delicious dinner at Ariel's Grotto that landed us some much coveted seats in the "splash zone" for the World of Color show.  It was truly amazing from this perspective- and we've seen the show before!  Monday was our final day since Nick had to be back to work on Tuesday.  We split the day running from California Adventure so the "big boys" (aka Nick and Brian) could go on California Screamin (the super roller coaster), and all the boys could play some midway games.  Then we traveled over to the magic kingdom after some lunch in downtown Disney for some quality character visiting and final rides.

I'm afraid I sort of failed on the camera front, not getting many pictures of Bella with anyone other than characters and me or Nick.  Shame too since it is a rare treat to have so many loved ones with us at Disney.  But the memories are there and will have to do.  Hopefully someone else's camera captured some moments that I failed to.

Anyhow it has been quite a couple of weeks for our household.  I feel like I've been running non-stop for a month.  At least the pregnancy hasn't been too rough so far.  I'm not sure what I would be doing if I was as exhausted and nauseous as I was with Bella!  Rough times.  I have another doctors appointment this week with my OB so we can make sure everything is still looking to be on track as expected!

Disneyland

I should really write posts closer to the time they happen since my memory is just not what it used to be, and details like to fade... Anyhow this is a little recap on our fabulous visit to Disneyland at the end of November.
As you already know, we visited Disneyland in July with Nick's mom and brothers for Isabella's first trip.  When we were down there we tried to convince my sister Sarah to bring my niece Mia for a day too.  It proved to be too much but we all agreed on a trip after Thanksgiving for Mia.  This was that trip.  I'm telling you this because I have never had such a princess-centric Disney trip, but this was all about my beautiful little niece and what she loves.

Nick, Bella and I drove down late Saturday night after Thanksgiving number two at my dad's house.  Like crazy people we arrived Anaheim sometime around 2:30 a.m. and quickly found a cheap, clean hotel room to grab a few zzz's.  Sarah, Alex and Mia flew down to Orange County Sunday morning, and we all convened at the hotel we had booked for our stay.  Once we had dropped all our luggage we headed straight over to Disneyland.

Mia didn't know where we were all going so as we approached the park we kept asking her if she had figured out where we were.  Finally, once we were in line at the gate, she knew exactly where she was.  The house of the mouse of course!

As we strolled down main street Mia was just taking it all in.  Christmas at Disneyland is pretty stimulating after all.  We quickly found Mary Poppins, and then Ariel!  A princess roaming free right in the middle of the park!  We stopped for Mia's very first picture and autograph from a princess.

Mia was in princess heaven and we'd barely begun!  We then went straight to Fantasyland for some kid friendly rides.  We enjoyed the Carousel and Dumbo to start, and then had to get some lunch.

The details from here start to get a little fuzzy for me- where we went and when is a bit jumbled.  As you can see from the pictures, Bella was exhausted.  She was happy, just really tired.  So tired she actually just fell asleep on Nick's shoulder while waiting for the Tiki Room!  Mia danced with Mary Poppins, and we found our way on to a couple more rides in the park. 

Eventually we worked our way back to the hotel for a nap before dinner.  We went to the Big Thunder BBQ for dinner and stuffed ourselves on sausage, chicken, ribs, and all the BBQ fixins.  Delicious!  After dinner we watched the fireworks and Fantasmic! while indulging in some desserts at the French Market Restaurant.  Not to give away our tricks, but if you want a seat, and a decent view for Fantasmic! grab a table at the French Market.  You can see the whole show, you have a chair the whole time, and you can get dessert (or dinner) at the same time! 

After a late night and a long first day, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for day two!  Here's the whole group required castle shot!  (Yes, we did put the girls in matching Snow White Shirts for the day.)

The second day was my actual birthday, and we had a very important date to attend.  I had scheduled us for the Princess Luncheon at Ariel's Grotto!  We started off the morning with fruit and bagels (with a birthday candle for me!) and then headed off to California Adventure.  The boys went off to ride the big roller coaster while Sarah and I and the girls went on The Little Mermaid, Undersea Adventure!  It was sweet to experience the magic with our little princesses.  We stopped for a girls photo op along the way.

We rode some rides (I finally got to ride Toy Story Midway Mania, which is insanely popular and always has a very long line), and eventually worked our way to Ariel's Grotto for our Princess Luncheon.  This was the highlight of the trip for me.  Mia was in absolute heaven.  Ariel greeted us at the door, and then Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella and Belle worked their way around the room one at a time, greeting each little princess personally.  Mia became more and more excited with each princess that approached (we were at the end of the circuit so she watched them work the whole room before reaching us), so by the time Belle joined us, Mia was over the top.  Belle also happens to be a favorite, so when she arrived, Mia literally tackled her with a hug.  It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen.  Bella slept through the entirety of lunch, but I was almost glad because that meant Mia got to have her very special experience all for herself.  Bella will get to have her own Princess lunch when she is old enough to appreciate it.  Here are some pictures from our fabulous lunch.

After lunch we wanted to hit up a couple more rides (both kid-friendly and adult-friendly) before heading back to the hotel for our daily nap.  On our way to A Bug's Land for some fun for the kiddos, we stumbled across Minnie, Mickey and Pluto.  We happened to be the last allowed in line to greet them and so lucked out with probably one of the most awesome Disney pictures possible.

We finished up California Adventure with rides for all (big and small) and headed back to the room for a little rest.  We had originally planned an earlier dinner with the girls but quickly realized that the park was closing early that night, so we pushed back our reservations for some more Disneyland fun.  We went on It's a Small World (always a winner with the kids), the Tiki Room (another favorite of Bella's) and the Haunted Mansion.  Once we had shut down the park, we headed over to Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen for a delicious birthday dinner!  After a tasty steak dinner, we indulged in a birthday beignet and some banana's foster.  Yummy!

Day three was planned to be a partial day since we were all heading home at various points throughout the day.  Alex left in the morning (or at least he was supposed to, but due to fog in the bay ended up getting stuck in Anaheim until Sarah and Mia left in the afternoon!), so it was Nick, Sarah, Mia, Bella and I for day three.  We planned to visit Pixie Hollow to meet Tinkerbell, and the Princess Faire to meet whichever Princesses were on duty.  Done and done!  We met Tinkerbell, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine and Belle.

We finally made it on Peter Pan (the best kid friendly ride in all of Disneyland in my opinion), and got a little shopping done.  It was truly a wonderful trip.  It made me that much more excited to take my kid(s) and experience the magic time and again as they appreciate new and different aspects of the Disney magic.  I know it is cheesy, but it really is the happiest place on earth.  I think I should do this every year for my birthday! ;)