Broken fences, dirt, and Victoria Secret

What do these three things have in common? Nothing really, except a story behind each one. Adam and I noticed while we were driving around Puyallup that there are a lot of run-down, broken fences. One of those conversations where you don't think your 3 year old is really paying attention to what you are saying. Until later that night. :) We always have the same bedtime routine with Jacob... once he is ready for bed, we read a bible story, say a prayer, and mommy and daddy tuck him in. Jacob wanted to pray tonight and his prayers always go something like this ~ Dear God, Thank you for Jacob and his baby brother. Thank for you our food, thank you for friends... and thank you for the broken fences. Amen

When Jacob is experiencing something brand-new or something he is scared of, we always compare it to what he likes and knows. For example, we got him on the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland by saying it was "kinda-like" It's a Small World. Adam can get him to try almost anything by saying it's "kinda-like" a motorcycle ride. (Daddy is a huge motorcycle fan and takes him on rides around our neighborhood on his mini-Honda) And of course, almost everything is "kind-like" Curious George, right? ;) So we were eating dinner and Jacob said, "Mommy this is yummy. It's kinda-like dirt." Hmmm, still figuring out if that's a compliment or not.

And Victoria Secret. We were in the mall and stopped briefly at Victoria Secret to look at what was on sale. Jacob liked hiding under the tables and Gavin liked pulling out all of the bras from their neatly organized drawers. Needless to say, we didn't stay long. But the funniest was as we were leaving, when Jacob said, "MOMMY! I LOVED that store!"

Squishy, sweet brother love is the best!

Good luck hugs for Daddy's first trip
Painting at the Children's Museum
C'mon mom, I'm trying to eat!
This plastic bin was a pretty good hiding spot!
Thanks for the headstart before the bigger kids get them all!Finding eggs at my auntie's house

And... he's FINALLY walking!!

Gavin took his first step one week after he turned 10 months old. After looking at Jacob's baby book, I saw that he was walking across the room at 9 and a half months, just two weeks after taking his first step. So we were expecting Gavin to make that famous trek across the room a few weeks later. And a few weeks turned into a few months! :) I knew he could do it all along, but he would always take two steps and dive head first at us with a smile. He loved to hold our fingers to go for a walk, but just wouldn't even try by himself. Seriously, STUBBORN. Already. We waited patiently until one day, he decided to walk short distances (from couch to chair) on his own. Before we knew it, he was full-blown walking within a few days.

I know most mommies aren't super anxious for their child to walk because then they have to chase them everywhere. I actually LOVE it. Partly because I waited SO LONG for this miracle to happen. Partly because Gavin was such a fast crawler that walking actually slowed him way down. Mostly because I think the little toddle walk is the CUTEST thing in the world!

I guess people do celebrate dog birthdays!

I was at school today and oddly enough, the topic of puppy parties came up. (Seriously... not even by me ;) I actually hesitating posting about Sy's birthday because I thought it was a little uncommon. UNTIL, a few friends from school were talking about planning their puppy's first birthday party! Yes, with pupcakes, hats and all. One even had invited other people to her puppy's first birthday and they all brought presents. So considering I completely forgot about every birthday Sy has ever had until now?! I guess I'm a bad puppy mommy. :)

The story of Sy

So I'll rewind a bit to tell you the story of Sy. In college, my roommates and I were pet-sitting a pug for the weekend. Everyone thought he was pretty much disgusting, with his squished-in face and constant snorting. I've always been a dog lover though and I thought this dog especially was the cutest thing ever. After that, I pretty much fell in love with pugs and wanted one for my very own. :) Adam knew this, and as a surprise for my birthday, had purchased a baby pug from a nearby breeder. When we went to pick out the pug we wanted to bring home, there was only one left. The breeder said she couldn't understand why he was the last one because he had the cutest face of all of them. He looked at us with the sweetest puppy pug look and we were smitten. Sy has been part of our family ever since (even though he has taken an extreme back-seat since Jacob and Gavin were born, poor thing!) For some reason, we have never remembered his birthday though. Does ANYone remember their dog's birthday? I think the only reason we did this year was because Jacob has been asking about it all year long. "When is Sy's birthday? How old Sy will be?" So on April 22, I finally remembered Sy's birthday and in Jacob's excitement... we bought a birthday cake. And I only let Sy eat a piece if Adam promised to clean up if he got sick because of it. :) So Happy 5th Birthday Sy. You are officially older and wiser than all of us now!

The latest Jacob-isms

If you decide to read the "every last detail" blogs of our trip to Disneyland, make sure to read from the bottom up! It'll make a lot more sense that way ;) I wanted to share the latest Jacob-isms... those super cute sayings where you have to write them down immediately, otherwise you'll forget!

When we're driving Jacob says, "Mommy, I want to take this path!" This, along with many other things Jacob says, is from Dora. e.g. Would you like to take the yellow path, the green path, or the red path?

Gavin is a total bopper to any music we play. Whether it's a song on the radio or a song mommy is singing out of tune, he will bop to anything with a smile. Jacob was never a bopper, but he LOVES to sing. Especially since we went to Disneyland, his favorite song to belt out is "It's a Small World." Regardless of what he is singing though, he always asks afterward, "Mommy, do you like that song?!"

Jacob walked into our bathroom and was very amused to see his Daddy in the bathtub. Since he had never seen Daddy in the bathtub before, he had several questions. "Daddy, are you SWIMMING?! Do you need me to get you a rubber ducky?!!"

Here are some other cutenesses... "Happy Easter Eggs!" While working on his puzzle, "MOMMY! Can you turn the sunshine off?!" Out of nowhere at the dinner table, "Daddy I love you today." And finally, after getting out of the bathtub and rubbing his eyes, "The bathtub is in my eyes!!"

3 year olds are the best... they always say something that cracks you up! It makes life pretty entertaining.

Saying our goodbyes!

We were going to sleep in today to make up for the day before, but Gavin decided he wanted to go back to Disneyland early. It was pretty cute... he would crawl as fast as he could to the door and try to open it. I guess he knew there was fun outside! There is this yummy restaurant called Mimi's Cafe right next to our hotel. We ate there twice for breakfast and once for dinner. It was really good food and way cheaper than eating at Disneyland. :) We saw that we needed to fly home from LAX since there were more open flights available, so we only had a few hours of fun left at Disneyland. :(

We wanted to do a few more of our favorite things at each park, but ended up spending all of our time at California Adventure. Jacob wanted to go on the ferris wheel again and we found some more cute kid rides nearby that Jacob could go on. Jacob hit the 40" mark exactly so he was able to go on rides like Soarin', Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Matterhorn, and yes, even Space Mountain! The latter two we didn't even attempt in fear that he wouldn't go on any rides ever again. One of the rides we went on were these rockets that went around and around until they went almost sideways over the water. There wasn't a height requirement, so I decided to take Gavin in one while Adam took Jacob in another. I was so surprised that they let little guys on this ride! Gavin was strapped in this lapbelt as tight as I could get it, but it was still a little loose. The rockets took off and we went flying over the water and seriously, if I didn't strap Gavin's little legs down with my hands, he would've gone flying into the water! This was the only ride where I was a little afraid for his life.

Our last stop was the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. This was the reason we didn't make it back to Disneyland! There were trails, forts, ropes to climb, slides, and little streams of water. It entertained Jacob and Gavin way longer than we expected. :) I took Gavin's socks off and let him stand in the stream of water. Well, since he can't quite walk with confidence yet, this turned into him crawling and splashing until he was soaked from head to toe! But we just went with it because he was bursting into fits of giggles and having the most fun we had seen yet at Disneyland. It's definitely true... you give a 1 year old all of Disneyland to choose from and they choose the littlest stream of water to splash in. Kind of like the wrapping paper at Christmas I guess ;) So after taking turns on California Screamin' (we just couldn't pass up the funnest roller coaster ever!) we were on our way back to Washington. Jacob said goodbye to Disneyland... hopefully it won't be too long before we can come back!

One funny thing about Smiley though (remember his sacred toothbrush :) He held it all the way home until we had gotten into our car and noticed he wasn't holding it anymore. We asked, "Jacob, where's smiley?" He said matter-of-factly, "I left him on the bus." Guess he wasn't as attached as we thought because he really didn't seem to care. Adam and I started to drive home and both of us felt sad for some reason. We just couldn't leave Smiley on the bus! Any other parent I'm sure would happily leave the situation if their child was indifferent. We, on the other hand, turned around and waited for our shuttle bus (who had headed back to the airport) to return with Smiley. And there he was! I know, all for a toothbrush... we must be a little crazy. I guess love makes you do even more crazy things than wait in line for the Dumbo ride. :)

Getting up early? US?

OK, so our family vacations never involve getting up early. Ever. I would probably do it, but Adam - there's just no convincing him. Until we realized that we could get through all of the little bean rides in one hour that would usually take all day. That was enough to get even Adam up. We made it to Disneyland by 7:15 and headed straight to Dumbo, of course! Jacob made up the cutest Dumbo dance while waiting in line. He bounced from tippy-toe to tippy-toe, meanwhile moving his arms up and down one at a time. Is this kid cute or what? We then went to the little train ride nearby and Jacob went inside the little monkey bar cage. For some reason, this was my favorite little kid ride. There was a little cute song that played during the ride and Jacob and I sang at the top of our lungs while going "CHOO, CHOO!!" with our arms. During the first hour, we were able to get on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (which was the lamest ever to me by the way. Seriously. If someone paid me to go on this ride, I'd really have to think about it) Pinocchio, and the Tea Cups. Jacob didn't like any rides that went in the dark and didn't want to go on anymore after this :). These "storybook" rides are a little scary. I mean, come on people, these are little kids... and this is Disneyland, right?! Can we get some cheerful rides please? Gavin went on all of these rides also though with no expression.

We went to California Adventure after the Disneyland morning fun. We headed for the sun ferris wheel and I walked toward the non-swinging side, while Adam pulled us to the swinging side. I really couldn't believe Gavin could go on all of these rides! I thought maybe It's a Small World and Monsters Inc., but he could go on almost everything Jacob could! I then convinced Jacob to go on Soarin' Over California (my favorite ride in both parks!) by telling him it was a big movie, kinda like Curious George. For those of you who have been on this ride, it was definitely a stretch. But fortunately, he seemed to accept that we were merely going to the movies. This, along with the electrical parade, was the highlight of my Disneyland vacation. I held his hand and talked to him while we watched the kayakers paddling through the water, planes taking off, horses riding through the desert, fireworks going off... it was the best. After staying up late and getting up early, we were all super exhausted and went home after this to sleep! :)

By the time we got up, swam in our pool, and ate dinner, it was late when we got back to California Adventure for the electrical parade. This time though, Gavin was up and watched the entire thing with a flashing necklace (which he wouldn't give up for anything:) around his neck! This parade is just pure happiness to me. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. The crazy crowds all departed for bed after the parade, but we had just gotten up! So we went to Bugland and got right on every ride with no wait at all. It was the best and super fun to be there at night, spinning in ladybugs, going up in the air in a chinese food container, and bumping around in bumper cars. That was the end of our last night in Disneyland!

This place is CRRAAZY!

We soon discovered exactly how crowded and crazy Disneyland is on spring break. August... not so bad, spring break... cannot move, lines everywhere, crazy! There's even a line to get out! Adam waited in the first line to get our tickets from will-call while I posed Jacob and Gavin inside of the letters in CALIFORNIA. Gavin could fit perfectly, standing inside the letter A! We went to Disneyland first and decided to go straight to It's a Small World. I loved every minute of watching Gavin and Jacob stare in awe at the boys and girls singing and dancing. Did I watch them at all? Not really... just watched Jacob and Gavin the whole time and how they reacted to each scene. That was much more entertaining for me! Jacob proceeded to sing It's a Small World after all through the whole trip, especially when we were all laying in bed at night. :) We got a fast pass for Buzz Lightyear and headed to California Adventure, hoping the lines were shorter. Hmmm... not so much. Gavin fell asleep from the excitement of his first ride ever, so Adam took a walk with him while Jacob and I went on Monsters Inc. The only part that weirds me out everytime is when the monster at the end says, "Hey you - with the glasses in the second row! Want to TRADE!" There's someone back there watching, I guess. But is there always someone with glasses on every ride? At this point, we had to head back to Disneyland to use our fast pass. It wasn't until later that we found out you can always be late with your fast pass, just not early. We went through the Buzz Lightyear ride with our light-up guns, which of course Jacob and Gavin LOVED! The only problem was when I looked at our scores at the end. Me - 8000. Gavin - 8000. (I was shooting for both of us. :) Jacob - 22000. Wait a second, how did my three year-old beat me??!! No, then I look at Adam's score. 64000! What?! Was I playing the same game? What were we supposed to be shooting at anyway?

Now we decide to go back to California Adventure. We really couldn't figure out what we were doing the first day. We just kept switching between the parks, hoping to find a ride that magically was lineless. We took Jacob and Gavin into the Bug's Life 3-D show. Both of them took off their glasses immediately, but seemed to enjoy the show all blurry nonetheless. :) Back to Disneyland for the big Pirate Adventure. We debated whether or not to take Jacob on this ride... but I didn't remember it being that scary. We headed off into pitch-darkness, accompanied by scary music and Jacob starts screaming GET ME OUT!! at the top of his little lungs. A little scary. Then we enter into the skeleton scenes where bodies with bones are drinking and singing. How do you explain that one to your three-year old? Somehow, we made it through by pointing out all of the kitties and dogs. Gavin was happy as pie through the whole thing... that crazy kid! We ate some dinner afterward and headed for the Jungle Cruise. Jacob took one look at the boats, was reminded of Pirates of the Caribbean, and started to panic. We somehow convinced him it was more like Small World than Pirates. :) Somehow I remember this ride being WAY more entertaining when I was little. And over here ladies and gentlemen, we have this amazingly fake elephant. Maybe I thought the animals were real or something. :) We then took our first stroll into Fantasyland. Jacob really seemed to want to go on Dumbo most of all, so we finally buckled and waited in the 40 minute line. I kept looking around thinking how much we parents must love our kids to wait this long for a Dumbo ride. Seriously. Jacob absolutely ate this ride up though and it instantly became his favorite. Mommy, I choose Dumbo. Can I go on the one with the green hat? Can I go on the one with the purple hat? Afterward, we headed straight across to the Carousel, in which Jacob walked immediately to the big seat instead of the horses. Why this kid will go on a roller coaster ride no problem, but is scared of the carousel horse I'll never understand! It was now time for the thing I love MOST about Disneyland, the electrical parade! There's something about the lights and the music that is the essence of Disneyland to me. Although Gavin was crashed, Jacob watched and made comments about each float from Adam's shoulders. Again, I missed most of the parade watching Jacob. Priceless.

Disneyland... from the eyes of a 1 and 3 year-old!

Adam and I had been to Disneyland just this past August, when we went to Southern California for my friend's wedding. We had a lot of fun and went on every ride and roller coaster imaginable. So we were ready to do Disneyland the little kid way now... and it was amazing to see this magical place light up the eyes of Jacob and Gavin.

Jacob was super excited as soon as he heard we were going to Disneyland. I don't know how he even knew what Disneyland was, but somehow HE KNEW! I always say, "It's so exciting!!" about everything we do. So he kept grinning and shrieking, "Disneyland! It's so exciting!" Sometimes we would even shriek it together. Of course, it all began with Daddy's airplane. That was exciting enough in itself! Adam was super proud to tell Jacob all about his airplane and show him around. ;) The whole first experience with stand-by went more smoothly than I ever could have hoped. We got seats all-together, even one for little Gavin right by the window! The boys were really good on the flight and we were in Anaheim before we knew it. After taking a taxi to our hotel, we immediately went for a walk and pointed out all of the fun Disneyland banners and stores to Jacob. Adam and I found this pizza joint that we LOVED back in August, so we took the boys there for dinner. Jacob was so thrilled to be there and we hadn't even gone to Disneyland yet! :) i forgot my swim suit accidently, so we stopped at an ABC store to pick one out. Then Adam and I raced the strollers back to the hotel and we all went swimming. I think Gavin might be a swimmer like me... he LOVED it in the kiddie pool! He would crawl until the water went over his mouth and then I would have to save him. Shrieking and splashing, we played until it was time for bed. At the ABC store earlier, we picked up a toothbrush for Jacob that he immediately became attached to and called Smiley. This is significant because he never gets attached to anything! Not a binky, blanket, stuffed animal, anything. But he wanted to sleep with Smiley and talked our ears off about going to Disneyland for the next hour or so. Does he talk that much to himself before he goes to bed?!!