Disneyland…still

OK, so sorry for the delay!!!! I’m just a total slacker on this whole blogging thing!!!!! Honestly, sometimes I’m all motivated to be up to date and other times it’s quite opposite feelings!!!  Soooo, here we go!

Our first morning there was breakfast with ARIEL!!!!!!!! Kenzi was SO excited about this.  She would’ve taken her Ariel princess outfit to wear but it had seen better days, so we brought the Rapunzel outfit.    

Right when you walk in to your breakfast you get to meet Ariel.  Kenzi was super excited.  Jax and Kenzi both had their autograph books ready to go!

Kenzi was SO excited to be meeting all these princesses that she has dressed up as and watched in movies.  This was right as they were announcing them:

pure excitement!

During breakfast we got to meet Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Belle.  So fun!  The breakfast food was just OK, however unlimited refills on chocolate milk pretty much rocks when you have 2 kids that prefer this over pretty much anything else!  Well, mostly Jaxson but Kenzi wasn’t one to complain about that chocolate milk goodness!

We were in California Adventure on a Thursday and honestly it seemed like we had the park to ourselves.  Our longest wait was at Toy Story Mania (totally to be expected) but even that wait wasn’t so bad.  And then Jax saw it: the BIGGEST RIDE EVER!!!!!!! Aka the huge Mickey ferris wheel.  I thought no way would he want to go on this huge ferris wheel.  I was wrong.  It was one of his FAVORITES!!!

And then, we spotted him, you know, one of the coolest cowboys around: Woody!

(first glimpse!)

(totally love the hand on the hip thing here)

Not a bad way to start off your day!

And shortly after none other than Buzz Lightyear himself!!! SO cool!!! However, take note that Buzz does not sign autographs but still awesome to take pics with him!

We spent all of the day in California Adventure.  It was great!  There was a new ride ‘Ariel’s Undersea Adventure’ that was super cute and fun and again no line.  So we went on that a couple times and then the biggest ride ever….again!

We were sure to check out the World of Color that night and we’re so glad we did!  It was awesome!  I totally recommend it!

The kids were super tired the first day and so excited to be going to Disneyland the next day!

I sooo loved going to Disneyland during the fall when all their Halloween stuff is up!! It’s fun to see the characters in their costumes and enjoy all the cute Halloween décor!! LOVED it!!

Friday was super fun, we met more characters: Mickey, Minnie, Tinkerbell and more.  Tinkerbell, hands down was my favorite character to meet!! She was so cute, sweet and funny. I totally loved her!!  Even her autograph looks like a Tinkerbell autograph!  

(Tinkerbell was also the only character that Bailee wasn’t afraid of getting close to!  Tinkerbell has her laughing in this pic)

Jaxson really liked this Mickey.  He said that Mickey was in his pajamas! hahahah So funny!  Mickey tried to give him five but Jax wasn’t interested in that, he wanted to pinch Mickey’s nose.  So he did.  It was pretty funny.  Bailee, again was not a fan!

And who doesn’t like sitting in a teacup for a picture??

Kenzi HATED waiting in line to meet the characters.  It was long and slightly painful on Friday because the lines were definitely a lot longer.  However, it was ALWAYS worth the wait once they got to meet them and have a picture taken with them and their book signed.   Rapunzel was one of Kenzi’s favorite character to meet!! She loved her LONG hair.  We asked Jax who the guy was and he said it was Ken…silly boy, he’s been watching a little too much Toy Story 3!  He then came to agree that it was indeed Flynn Ryder!  

Love this.

More fun photo ops:

 

(trying with all her might!)

Nothing like a pose with Goofy in his skeleton costume:

What a fun way to end the night!!! Well that and some fireworks with Tinkerbell flying around in the air!! So cool!

More to come!!!!!!

Happiest Place on Earth

Vacation time!!!! Yay!!!! We were so excited to go.  We didn’t tell the kiddos until…well, until we got off the plane in Long Beach!  We were waiting for our shuttle at the airport and decided to tell them while we waited!

 

Waiting at the airport to get on the plane!

Bailee’s waiting for her FIRST plane ride!

SO excited!!! She did really well on the plane!  Jed held her the entire time and she did awesome!

Arriving at Long Beach!!

~

We had packed their Princess and Toy Story backpacks with tons of fun, cute Disney items (Thank you DisneyStore.com and outlet!).  They opened up their backpacks and looked at all the cool stuff inside.  We asked them where the Princesses live.  Kenzi said “Disney World” LOL!  She’s been asking FOREVER to go to Disneyland, and so of course when I ask her this time, she says Disney World.  hahaha!  We asked her if they live at Disneyland as well.  She nodded yes with a huge smile on her face.  So we asked her if she wanted to go meet the princess at Disneyland.  She started to get an even bigger smile on her face and said “Yes!”  So we told her “We’re GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!”  The kids started to jump up and down and were all excited to be going (as well as FINALLY know WHERE we were going!  They had been trying to guess ALL day!!) 

The shuttle arrived and off we went to our hotel! We decided to stay at Disney’s Grand California. The kids loved the little chairs and tv while we got all checked in.

We asked about getting a room with the bunks and they were awesome at accommodating that! The kids loved that! So fun! 

They also had a pack n play for Bailee to sleep in which was so nice!!

The rooms were kinda small, but when you’re not really planning on spending much time in your room, does it really matter?  What we loved about it was the convenience of it having it’s own park entrance!  What a life saver! Especially with little kids, we could just run back to the hotel without any hassle!  It was so nice!

Once we got checked in and settled into our room, it was getting kinda late but we were all pretty hungry.  However, first they had to check out all their cool stuff they got in their backpacks!

Once we got cleaned up a little bit, we headed over to Downtown Disney (which is so fun!) and got some yummy food at ESPN Zone.   Poor Jax was so tired, he didn’t last 10 mins and he was out sleeping on Jed’s lap! 

We got back to the hotel and got everyone changed in their pj’s (Ariel, Buzz Lightyear and Minnie Mouse…of course!) and headed off to bed.  We had some FUN things planned for the next day!! Stay tuned!

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Kindergarten? Already?

So little Missy here decided she was finally old enough to go to school EVERY day!!

She was SO very excited!

She picked out her new outfit to wear…

Decided what color to paint her nails (VERY important!)…

Wanted her hair curled (not just regular curls, but with the curling iron…there’s a difference!)…

Got her backpack ready to go with her new pencil box (with no pencils in it ironically, just glue sticks and tissues! LOL!)…

And then posed for some very important pictures!

She loves going to school and thinks it’s quite awesome that she gets to see her friends EVERY day!!

She enjoys reading and likes that she gets to bring home a different book each day. 

However, she’s not a fan of outside recess because A) It’s too hot at outside recess and B) She doesn’t get to play with the dolls and kitchen that are inside!  Priorities!! Who needs to run around outside when you have perfectly adorable dolls that need a mommy and a kitchen to play with INSIDE!

Divine Nature

Being the Secretary in Young Women, the YW President asked me if I would introduce the value for each month.  This month’s value is Divine Nature with the accompanying color of BLUE.

I prepared a few things that I would say while introducing the new value and what I would read out of the “For Strength of Youth” book.  I thought of a little saying and treat to go along with the value that I could hand out to the girls.  Something to help remind them of the many divine qualities Heavenly Father blessed them with and to work on developing those qualities. 

So today, when it came time for me, for the first time since doing this, I got really nervous.  I’m not sure why I was so nervous. I had done this before, these were the SAME girls and the SAME leaders I had stood in front of before. But I was nervous this time…

I was also asked to help out with a little part in the lesson today that our awesome President was giving.  She had asked me, as a mom to young children, to stand and share a few thoughts on how it is to be a mom of young children, particularly an infant. 

I shared some of my thoughts and feelings I had after Makenzi was born as well as after Jaxson was born.  And then shared how Heavenly Father had blessed me with divine qualities that I had NO idea I had.  I shared with them how after Bailee was born my emotions were on this constant roller coaster and how there were times I felt unsure of myself.  But then how at times like that, I would witness these tender mercies and feel the Savior’s love that would pull me through.  And it was through these times that I would realize how much Heavenly Father was helping me through this and with these motherly divine qualities (I didn’t know I had) he had blessed me with, that I could do this!

One thing I didn’t share with them, that I wish I had, is how after having kids how much you realize that YOU are a Child of God!! That you were sent here from Heaven!  As a mom to a precious newborn, there’s nothing sweeter than holding your baby for the first time and just taking in that little piece of Heaven right there in front of you!

I did share with them that after having children of your own, you realize how precious life is and how important it is to spend your time living in a Christ-like way and spending your time developing your talents and your divine qualities that they have been blessed with.  How they have many qualities that they have yet to develop and to look forward to discovering their many blessings that Heavenly Father has in store for them.  

I hope they got the message that they are loved, that they are SO loved!  I cried, because that’s what I do.  I try SO HARD not to, but when I talk about something that’s so personal and dear to my heart, that’s just what happens!   I hope they don’t mind.  Our President did an awesome job.  She always does. I’m sure after her lesson today, they got the message that they are God’s children and that they are so very important.  Our President is amazing in so many ways.  She has this awesome ability to connect with the girls.

I love serving in Young Women.  I love to go every Sunday and listen to the lessons and feel the Spirit.  I haven’t been in YW since I was a young woman myself.  I love to go each week and see the Spirit radiating from each of the girl’s faces.  We really have an awesome group of girls.  They are strong and steadfast and faithful.  And why? Because they have to be. They have so many challenges that they are facing that I know I didn’t have.  There is so much “darkness”  around them that they are constantly fighting to keep away.  They constantly amaze me with how brave they are. 

This is long, I know, and if you made it to this point, I’m impressed.  This isn’t a “typical” post from me.  I realize that.  But sometimes, it’s necessary to write down a few of my more random thoughts.

It’s hard to believe in a few short weeks my little Bailee will hit the 1-year milestone.  I’m not sure what happened to this past year.  I know there have been a lot of growing pains along the way.  Not with having three kids (that’s been an adventure) but with me personally.  I’ve grown a lot, I think, in the last year.  Emotionally, I’ve been a mess (hormones are SO not fair!), spiritually I’ve been all over the map.  And physically, well…that’s a whole other post (note: nursing does NOT always help you lose your baby weight!).  Luckily, I’ve had some fantastic family and friends pull me through the harder times and lift me up when I needed it most. 

I love my little family.  I love to look at the faces of my three precious angels here on earth and witness the light and love they each bring to our family.  I love being married to a guy that loves us and honors the Priesthood.  I love my calling and serving in the church.  I’m grateful for tender mercies that get me through the hard times.  And I’m grateful for a loving Heavenly Father that grants me those tender mercies.

Life doesn’t ever go as planned.  Which being the planner I am drives me crazy!! However, I heard a thought today that I tend to agree with: God has a plan for each of us; we can fight it every step of the way or we can hold on and enjoy the ride.  Obviously, it’s not always going to be an enjoyable ride, but I believe that having faith in the Lord and trusting Him and His plan is the way to go.  I choose that route, I choose God’s plan.

So back to being nervous while introducing our new value of Divine Nature.  I think I was so nervous because I felt so passionately about it.  I so wanted to get the message across how divine these girls are and that they matter and they are important.  I hope that was the message they received.

Sometimes life can be hard.  I don’t really write about those times.  I like to focus on the good in life.  I like to focus on my kids and all their milestones and great memories we have.  But no one’s life is perfect.  No one’s life is all hunky dory all the time.  We all have growing pains and learning curves.  We all have trials and tests that we have to face and overcome.  I say it makes us stronger and appreciate more all that we have been blessed with.  However, even knowing that doesn’t always make it easier to endure.  Sometimes it’s just plain ol’ tough! 

So here are my thoughts.  Life definitely has its ups and downs. Hormones are in no way a fair part of life.  Being a mom can be hard.  Kids are smarter than you sometimes give them credit for therefore, leaving us, as the parents, the students and our kids teaching us.  Heavenly Father knows us individually.   He loves us unconditionally.  I am blessed.

9 Months!!

What?!  How can she already be NINE months old?  Well, I’m not really sure but I DO know that I LOVE this age!! LOVE it!! Our little Bailee is just so much fun!! I could just love on her ALL day, no really, ALL day!

She’s a blast. She ADORES her sister and brother (and they ADORE her!). They try to include her in EVERYTHING they do (sometimes that doesn’t always work out but I love that they make the effort!)

The girl has some skills now I tell ya! Here’s what she’s up to:

~clapping her hands (loading the dishwasher is worth it when you have an applause after every dish you put in!)

~sticking out her tongue (we’ll work on manners later )

~pincer skills…finally able to PICK UP that elusive puff AND put it in her mouth! Success! (Not the best skill for NON-edible items, however).

~growing more teeth! At 6 months it was her 2 bottom teeth coming through…now her 2 top teeth are making their way, well are pretty much here! And YES it hurts much worse when she bites! (Again, working on the manners later!)

~She likes to think she’s going to crawl but currently gets stuck and just does a goofy little rocking diddy.  That’s OK, we’re in NO rush (did you hear that Bailee, NO rush!).  Once that crawling bit starts it’s time to strain those peepers a little more for all the possible things she could put in her pretty little mouth!

~Waving, oh how could I forget the wave!?!  I LOVE her little wave that she uses her ENTIRE arm to do, from shoulder to fingertip she has got the wave DOWN!

~And also, when she greets you, she puts her hand out to touch your face with the sweetest little touch.  Her little way of saying HI!!

This little sweetcake just melts my heart!  She is so much fun (have I mentioned that yet?).  What I love just as much as watching her grow is watching her brother and sister and how much they truly LOVE her.  Jax loves to lay right in front of her so she can reach him and pull on his hair.  He thinks it’s HILARIOUS and loves that she plays with him.  Kenzi can calm her down quicker than anyone!  She sings songs to her and talks to her in a way that soothes her little soul.   I hear her talking to her at night if she hasn’t quite fallen asleep yet and singing a little lullaby to her to help her get to sleep.  Adorable? YES!  I see so many wonderful qualities the kids have come out even more when it comes to their baby sister.  I hope it never changes.