September 15, 2009

A Little Bit Bigger



This girl makes me laugh.
There are only a few people who truly get to see the real Addy because she isn't very friendly or personable until you really get to know her (just ask Ariel). Lucky for me, as her Mom, I am one of those few.
She has been so excited for her birthday, that for the past 2 months, anything she sees at a store or on TV or at someone else's house she says to me, "Mom, can I get that for my birthday?" And I always say, "We'll see." so I avoid any meltdown or tantrum. Now most parents would think that their child would forget about that random Dora book she saw at Kohl's 2 months ago, or the little purse that her cousin Annie has, or the MANY other items that have fallen into the "birthday" list...but not mine. I'm getting a little bit nervous that she's going to be VERY disappointed at her birthday party when she recites back to me all of the things she still needs to get.
Other fun things Addy's been saying lately:
a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle bit bigger, with her voice going high on the strung-out 'little'
For example: When I told her we can't pick up Calvin and Oliver (cousins) because we don't have room in our car, she says, "Our car needs to grow a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle bit bigger."
Or the time when she watched her cousin Calvin go to the bathroom, she reported to me, "Mom, I can go pee pee standing up when I get a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle bit bigger." When I explained to her that she has different parts than Calvin, she questioned, "Calvin has peanuts?"
She is still confusing 'feed' with 'eat' so I can't help but bust out laughing when she is frustrated that I can't help her at a particular moment because I have to feed London and she yells out, "NO MOM, DON'T EAT HER!"
A rousing rendition of the ABCs always includes: "LMNOP Pyu R S..." Makes me laugh everytime...Pyu.
She loves to help me iron. I set up the ironing board behind the couch, she stands on the couch with the spray bottle and sprays the clothes in one spot until it's saturated. She prounounces 'iron' a little like this, "er-ee-on" which confused me the first time she asked if I was going to "er-ee-on."
She has learned the ways of getting sweets and treats at this house. She reports that if she "eats something healthy first" then she can have _________. So she just cuts to the chase. She'll ask for a cookie first thing in the morning, and I'll say no. So then she'll say, "I'll eat something healthy first (very well knowing that she is going to have breakfast anyway) and then I can have a cookie Mom?"
Watching a Dora episode this week, as Dora and her posse were breaking open a pinata with candy and toys and stickers falling everywhere, Addy said, "Mom, can I jump in the TV?"

I Am Grateful For

great friends!
These are some of my best friends from high school and it was so fun to get together over the past month to celebrate Heidi getting married. At Heidi's shower (above) I didn't get home until after midnight...don't know the last time that's happened. I had sore cheeks from laughing so hard and a full heart from some great conversation. Can't wait for the dinner groups to start...I nominate Melissa to be the hostess with the mostess first. (I'll just wait for my food assignment)

Wedding Luncheon
(sporting my new, sassy hair do)
Can't wait for Suzie, Brinn, Katie, and Sarah to move back! We miss you!

Oh Sweet Sadie!


Listen up ladies! If you have never been to an Oh Sweet Sadie! Art & Gift Show, you are truly missing out on spending lots of money on fabulous items. My amazing and talented sister who can do anything and everything is the co-founder/producer/creater of this show. I go everytime to support her and walk in repeating over and over to myself, "I am not going to spend any money. I am not going to spend any money. I am here to support Dani." Nope. Doesn't work. This weekend they are at the new, hip SoDa Row in Daybreak, so go and check it out, and just plan on spending something!
For more info: www.ohsweetsadie.com

Mancation


Jonathan enjoyed a fun trip with the men in mine and Jenni's family to Yellowstone. He can expound if he would like. This is an annual trip for the most part and only the 2nd one that Jonathan has been able to go on. They canoed this year, which they haven't done before, to Trail Lake to fish. Unfortunately, for the second year, Jonathan didn't catch any fish. Bummer. Looks like the gods of Yellowstone know that you are associated with me.

September 13, 2009

Trip to California

Jonathan had to travel to So. Cal for work, so we decided to tag along and make it a little mini-vacation. The first day of our vacation was supposed to start with a 4:50 pm flight to LAX. We left our house 2 hours before thinking it was plenty of time to catch a flight on a Tuesday afternoon. Well, after running into construction, hitting every red light, changing shifts with the shuttle driver, by the time we tried to check-in with 30 minutes to spare, they wouldn't let us check any bags. Awesome. So, we ended up on the 8:25 pm flight. But Delta was really nice and waived the $150 fee to change the flight, wow, now that's customer service (sense the sarcasm). So, with Addy having no nap, it was a fun-filled 5 hours of airport time, flight, more airport time, and car rental craziness. When she was finally strapped into her carseat in the car at 11:05 pm, she fell asleep.



Day 2 was Disneyland!





Waiting for the bus to pick us up. Because it was a business trip, I took both girls to Disneyland by myself. Thanks to the nice dads who helped me load my double stroller on and off the shuttle and giving up seats so I could put London's carseat down and for not saying out loud how crazy you thought I was.













So, this Disneyland trip was very different from any other because it's the first time I've taken kids. Jonathan and I went numerous times when we lived there and pretty much just skipped Fantasyland in general. Not this time. I didn't really do much research or plan anything ahead of time. When we first got in the park, Addy kept asking to see the princesses. I knew we had a breakfast planned with the princesses the next morning, but she kept asking to see them, so I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I was behind this family and I overheard the dad say to his little girl, "We'll do that ride later, we're going to see the princesses first." Well, I just hopped on his coat tails and followed him here. Since we were there right when it opened, we only had to wait 15 minutes, but by the time we left the line was an hour and a half wait. Because Addy had such a great reaction to the princesses, I'm sure glad I didn't wait any longer.














Classic Addy.





This was our first ride. Addy kept asking, "Mom, how do we get out of here?" over and over again.




London on the train. She was such a GREAT baby.



The night before was taking its toll and we rode the train twice around the park hoping that she would fall asleep, no luck.



Alice in Wonderland









Tea Cups







Waiting for Dumbo







Best baby ever!


On the way home, sweaty and tired, we had this conversation:

Me: Hey Addy, what was your favorite part of Disneyland?

Addy: Riding the bus.

Next time we need a vacation, I'll just buy a day pass on UTA and save a few bucks.


Day 3: Princess Breakfast, California Adventure, Dad

So, if you pay enough money, you can have a meal with the princesses before the park opens at California Adventure. Most young girls would be thrilled for such an opportunity. Ariel greets you when you walk in, since you are eating at Ariel's Grotto, and then the other princesses come while you are eating and stop at your table to talk with you and take pictures. With Addy's extreme LOVE for the princesses the first day, we thought we'd give it a try hoping she may warm up a little more.

Hmm, not so much. Let's take a closer look at that happy face.

Can't you just feel the love? What horrible parents we are, making our child meet these Disney characters.

Couldn't wait to see Snow White again.


See how happy she is?

Progress...doesn't need Mom in the pictures anymore. More of a neutral face, not so much disdain.

Wow! She let Cinderella actually wrap her arm around her.

So here's the funny thing. After each time a princess would stop at our table and we'd twist her arm to meet them and take her picture with them, she's hop back in the booth and say, "When are we gonna meet the next one?"
Next time I think we need to go with some friends or cousins...a little peer pressure may help her out a bit.


After such a fun-filled breakfast, we hit the rides.

Loving the ferris wheel.
Happy face in front of Yosemite Falls.





I love this picture. Enjoying the parade just before Disneyland closed for the night.
Just as a side note, Addy was tall enough (40 inches) to ride on every ride...Space Mountain, Big Thunder, Soarin' Over California. She only did the latter, but we thought it was somewhat crazy that our still 2-year-old met the height requirement. Maybe she'll be a model one day with her 6' frame and her photogenic faces...oh wait.

Day 4: Beach Day

On Friday, we packed up, checked out of our hotel, and headed to the beach.


London just won't stop talking about her first beach trip.


Since taking our boogie board cost us $40 (thanks Delta!), I made sure that Jonny got his money's worth. And yes, it would have been cheaper to just rent one, now we know. (again, thanks Delta!)





Addy wasn't as thrilled with her beach experience because her hands kept getting dirty. Once I showed her how she could collect seashells, that became her focus.

She didn't like the big ones, just the little ones.

See Dad, these are the little ones.
All in all, we had a great trip and on our ride home from the SLC airport decided I would only do 4 things different.
1. Not miss the flight
2. Not take the boogie board
3. Take a DVD player or have some kid-friendly shows on my ipod. (I know, I know...all you parents are rolling your eyes saying, "DUH!" But Addy hates wearing headphones and I had all sorts of coloring, stickers, crafts, books, etc to keep her occupied. The problem came when I had an extra 3 hours to fill due to missing flight, so those got old when it was time to come home and for some reason she just didn't like looking at the SkyMall magazine. Hmm.
4. What was number 4? Can't think of it right now.

Carlson Grandkids 2009