Alll in a Day's Work

When Jada was a baby I knew it could only get worse. She was literally the best baby ever--she never cried, she slept through the night at 5 weeks, she wanted to eat when I wanted to feed her, and she was always happy. I thought, I was in for it with my next kid, but I had no idea that Jada was going to pull a switch move on me. Don't get me wrong she is still the sweetest thing, but she definitely has a mischievous side. If there is some way to cause trouble, she will find it.

Well, the last couple of days have been full of those moments... Yesterday I had put Jada down for her nap. She had been in there about a half hour and was still making noise so I decided to go check on her and see what sort of mischief she was up to. When I first walked in everything seemed normal. She was standing up in her bed sucking on her fingers. Typical!! As I walked over to her she pulled her fingers out of her mouth and pointed at her hand and said "Guck (yuck)." As I looked a little closer, there, smeared all over both of her hands and all over her face and tummy was poo. Sick! And remember when I walked in the room she was sucking on her fingers. I know that many of you have experienced similar experiences and have children smear poo on things in your house, not fun. That is gross, but what is even grosser is that Jada put it in her mouth. I wouldn't even be surprised if she actually ate a piece. She has been known in the past to eat dog and cat food without batting an eye, so I wouldn't put it past her to have tasted what she pulled out of her diaper. Sorry, I know this is gross, but I am still recovering.

At KFC that night while I was filling up our drinks, the worker was complaining about how people make such a mess and don't clean up after themselves. I was agreeing with him 100%. I take my drinks over to our table and Mia goes to pick hers up and spills the whole thing along with half of her nuggets all over Jada and the floor. That guy was probably looking at me thinking, "now you". Of course I didn't want him to clean up after us, so there I was mopping the floor of KFC on my hands and knees. Why do I try to take my kids out to eat by myself anyway?

Later that night Mia fell of a horse. Then she fell and scraped her knee. Luckily she was more worried about her scrape on her knee than falling off the horse! I finally got my kids in bed at 10:30 and collapsed on the couch knowing that it would start all over again today!!!!

When I got Jada out of her bed this morning I literally asked her "What do you have in store for me today?" She of course just smiled her mischievous smile that I love. Well it was barely 10:30 am and I had already caught her in the act of sticking a key in the electrical outlet. I thought I was safe because I put outlet covers on all the outlets that are not being used, but Jada is smart enough to just unplug the lamp and then plug in her keys. Ten minutes later she found and Advil in my sister's purse and put that in her mouth. Luckily my sister saw her with something in her mouth and fished it out or I would have been in trouble.

Oh the joys of taking care of these girls. I am just glad they add so much excitement into my life. I am not complaining, just sharing with all the rest of the moms out there who experience these same types of things daily. Kids will be kids and I try to not let it get to me. I am just glad that I get to share in these experiences with them everyday and I don't have to just hear about them later. However, I would have gladly let someone else clean up the poo mess!!!

Princess Heaven

Yes, we did it! We finally took the girls to Disneyland. After much debate about where to go for our family trip this year we decided to bite the bullet and go to Disneyland. We had such a fun time and you could say that Mia was in heaven. After two days in the parks we headed over to the beach for a couple of days. It was the perfect trip, but a little exhausting.

Highlights

Meeting every single princess and getting thier autograph and picture.
Seeing Jada run to Mickey Mouse and give him a hug. She has slept with "Mouse" every night since.
Hearing Mia ask Belle if she found "true love's kiss." Belle' was practically speachless and Mia was so excited to find out the Belle knew Giselle. We could not stop laughing.
The princess dinner!! Worth every penny.
Spending hours in the giant Disney store and only spending $30!
Spending the day at the beach and seeing the kids have a blast.
Dad not having to work or study! Some nights he didn't even turn on his computer.
Pina Coladas at the pool.

What We Couldn't Have Lived Without
Fishy Crackers and Chex Mix
The jogger. We love it and it made the perfect bed for Jada during the day!
The princess dinner.
Spending two days at the beach AFTER Disneyland.
Park Hopper passes.
A fridge in our hotel room.
Frozen bananas at the beach.

Overall we had a great time. I think Mia was the perfect age for this trip. She still believes everything and was amazed at everything. The parades were fun and so were all the shows. I would highly recommend the Alladin and Playhouse Disney shows in the CA Adventure. The girls both loved them. Jada was a pretty good travel companion most of the time and she was a good sport. As long as she was strapped in the jogger she was fine, but if you let her out she would have taken off running and not stopped. We had a great trip and made lots of memories.

Here are some of our pictures. I am warning you there are a lot!

Good Bye Winter

The end of winter is always bitter sweet for me. I am happy to see the tulips coming up and know that warmer weather is approaching, but I am also sad to see winter go! Winter always ends with regrets of not enjoying it enough. This year I only got up to ski 1 time for myself. I did get up a number of times with Mia so the season was not a waste! Most of the resorts are closing this week, so Mia and I decided we would try to get in one last day!! We had a blast and she is really starting to get it! We actually made three runs today, which is good for us. She is still trying to learn how to turn, instead of going straight down, but she is getting better.

Although I am sad to see winter ending, I am excited for the longer days and the warmer weather. My tulips are already blooming (even though the darn deer ate half of them), and we have already been to the park 2 times this week. There is nothing better than seasons!! Hopefully we have a good long spring this year before it gets too hot.

More Marriage Talk

The other day I was snuggling with Mia on the couch and she was looking at my wedding ring. She was telling me how pretty it was and then proceded to tell me what she wanted her wedding ring to look like. Serious! What other 4 year old is designing their wedding ring? I don't know where this girl came from.

Today she was playing on the floor with some of her princesses and she said:

Mia: Mom are the princesses at Disney Land real or are they just costumes?

Me: I think they are real.

Mia: Hum, I think they are just costumes, cause they look different. (Mind you, we have not been to Disney Land, so she must have just seen commercials.)

Mia: I hope someday I can be a real princess. Mom, you are a real princess cause you got married.

Me: Oh really?

Mia: (Thinking.) Actually Mom, you're not a real princess cause princesses fall in love ALL DAY with the prince, and dad goes to work all day.

Who new I was that close to being a real princess. Maybe I should tell Chip he needs to quit his job so he can stay home and "fall in love with me all day" so I can be a princess. I don't know what to do with her.

I did it!

Well I actually did it last night. I voted for American Idol. Does this make me a true American now or does it make me a true fad follower?? I have never really been much of an American Idol fan and sometimes was actually annoyed at all the hype about AI. I have watched it here and there when there was nothing else to watch, but this season it is different. Maybe it was the writers strike that turned me into a follower or maybe it is because this season there really are some really talented people. I gave up last season when some of the people that really sucked kept staying on week after week, but this season it seems different. All the people that I didn't love are gone and most of the ones left really are good. I won't tell how many times I voted last night, but I did vote for more than two people.
Chip was in the other room studying and he heard me dial. I was caught!! I was slightly embarrassed when he was laughing, but oh well--I am embracing it now!!! When I was watching it will Mia she said "Mom, when I sing on TV someday will Dad get to be there?" Watch out AI, Mia is already getting ready!!
Go American Idol!! Can't wait for the results tonight. I hope I did not vote in vain!

Underwear Snatcher

This little girl is crazy. Everyone told me that I was in for it with my next child since Mia was so easy, but I didn't believe them. I really thought Mia was a good kid because I had taught her to be. Laugh--HA HA! Jada is sure sweet but she is crazy busy. She will climb anything, empty everything, rip anything and stir the toilet water anytime she sees the door open. Her newest trick is turning on the sink in the bathroom and then emptying all the drawers into the sink of running water. She has also developed a fascination with Mia's underwear. I moved them down into a bin where Mia can reach them, so this also means that Jada can reach them too. Bless her heart, she thinks they are hats. This is what I walked in on one night when we were getting ready for bed!!

From this to this!!

This...

to this... Notice the dear that have decided to make our yard their home...

they better not eat my tulips again

As you can see, we recently returned from a week long cruise to the Caribbean. I am still having a hard time adjusting to reality, but it was worth it. Thanks to our great friends who are "DO'ERS" all 10 of us were able to plan this trip kid free. We had a ton of fun and made lots of fun memories. Cruising is a great way to travel with a group like this. We experienced some great firsts...karaoke, parasailing, endless food and pina coladas, and sea sickness. Since I had all this time on my hand I gave into my friends' urging me to read Twilight and was soon hooked. Of course I got home from the trip with mountains of laundry and two sweet girls who wanted to spend time with their mommy, and all I could do for two days was read. Now I am having cruise withdrawals and Twilight withdrawals. Not a good combination, but I am getting through it. Actually coming back to the snow is a help. I got myself and Mia up to the slopes and skiied for the first time this year!! Love it. I have to say that although I love the beach and the sunshine, I would never trade it for the mountains.