Disneyland!

As a true So-Cal gal, I *heart* Disneyland. I didn't get to go much as a kid, but once I was old enough to work and buy an annual pass, my love affair flourished. In high school, my friends and I would go and hang out, buy expensive ice cream cones, watch the Electric Parade, and eat sour balls (well, except for the green ones cause those taste funny).

Then in college, I was there on the weekends in my vintage dresses swing dancing at Carnation Plaza. I would still buy expensive ice cream and sour balls too.

I met Mr. D and he gamely bought an annual pass and would accompany me to the Happiest Place on Earth, or at least Anaheim, CA. However, he never did quite share my infatuation.

So it had now been over TWO YEARS since I visited the Magical Kingdom. A few years back we stopped renewing our passes since we weren't going out there enough to warrant the cost. The last time we went I had won free passes at work. I was pregnant with Grace. I can pinpoint that visit because I felt uber-guilty that I went on Space Mountain anyhow. I just couldn't pass it up... maybe that explains why Grace loves all the fast rides.

Well I have been hankering to visit D-land for a while now. Mr. D kept telling me that we should wait until Grace is old enough to appreciate it (since its freakin' expensive to go at full-price). Then I was pregnant again. Then we had a newborn. He just kept bringing up one excuse after another.

But I found a loophole!

Thanks to Disneyland, in 2009 you get in FREE on your birthday. Yes, F-R-E-E. So how did Mr. D get to celebrate the big 3-2 on January 3rd? Why, only with Mickey and friends. He got in free, Grace and Paul are both still free, so we just had to splurge for a ticket for me.

It was the best birthday I he ever had!

Post Christmas Wrap-Up

Howdy friends. Now that Christmas has passed - the cookies have been eaten, presents unwrapped, the tots have already broken their new toys (kidding!) - I am back. I think. I am still planning on limiting my computer time - especially in the mornings, but I am hoping that overall I'm on course to managing my time better.

It's been great this last month - I have been dedicated to getting up each morning (preferably before the kids, but that doesn't always happen), getting dressed and cleaned up right away, going downstairs and making breakfast for the family (Mr. D has been in hog heaven - he loves breakfast, even if its pretty basic as I've been doing). But the key has been I've been sitting down with Grace (and Mr. D if he's home and awake), and we spend breakfast together. (Before, this is typically where the tv came on and I would do other things while Grace ate breakfast with Dora). Its really made a world of difference in how the day proceeds. We eat breakfast and I've been reading to Grace a little from the Bible. She nods and looks like she understands. I figured its never too early to get the Word straight from the source.

So as much as I love the holidays, I am excited to get into "regular" life. That sounds strange, but I haven't really gotten to get into a routine with Grace and Paul. Mr. D was home for so long and then the holidays came and changed things up. And anyone who really knows me, knows I love things organized and scheduled. I like my routines.

But I digress. Our Christmas was great. We were able to spend time just the four of us in the morning and relax over breakfast and open our gifts before going my brother's house for see my family. Grace was OVERWHELMED with gifts. My family was very generous, and she not only got to open her gifts, but Paul's as well. It was cute - she would open up something for Paul and hold it up to him as if he cared. (As demonstrated as she opened his stocking Christmas morning).








Paul was a doll baby and was so content being passed around from grandma to great grandma to auntie and back again.



But of course they say that you don't need to worry about gifts with kids when you have boxes. So true, so true.

Electronic Restriction

So I've been MIA in the virtual world lately. As I tell my hubby, I put myself on "electronic restriction".





In an effort to focus on getting into a routine with the young-uns, keep the house in order, and prepare for Christmas - I made a new rule: no television or computer until 3pm. I know that the computer is a stealthy time-waster during the day. I leave it up and running and then during the day, I'll just "pop on" to check my email, message boards, or blogs which then leads to 15 minutes here, 15 minutes there.

As for the television - that is mostly for Grace's benefit. I had been feeling "mommy guilt" that I was using the tv too often to keep her distracted. She likes it - I got things done - it seemed like a win-win, except for the nagging in the back of my mind that there's a reason I am staying at home with the kids... and its not to make sure that the kitchen is spotless (or my email is up-to-date!). Also, now that I'm back to the nursing routine with Paul - its so easy to turn on the tv and zone out. And often, get caught up watching something after Paul has finished and is snoozing away. So now, while I'm nursing, I've been including Grace by reading or coloring with her. Now, I would call that a better win-win for us.

All in all, my rules have been working out pretty good. I actually thought it would be a little harder to keep the tv off, but Grace has really only asked for it once or twice and then was easily distracted when I said no.



So between my "restriction" and Christmas planning, shopping, wrapping and baking - I've been neglectful in my updates.

However, baby Paul is doing great. He will be two months this Sunday. Its gone by so fast. He's started smiling and cooing. It's so much fun. I find myself relishing so much more than I did with Grace. With her I was so nervous, was trying to balance work and motherhood, and was so anxious to get to the next milestone - I missed a lot. But Paul is pretty laid back, so he lets me enjoy things much more.




So that's the rock under which I've been hiding. We're looking forward to Christmas around here. Grace loves the tree, the lights, the goodies, and knows who all the gifts are for under the tree - especially the ones for "Gee" (that's what she calls herself).



Well off to clean up my mess from baking Chocolate Toffee Bars - and I think they need a taste-test as well!

Just One More Week

Mr. D's five weeks of vacation from work (yes, five weeks, I've been a lucky and spoiled new mama) is coming to a close. He has to go back next Monday. It has been great having him home to help with the kids and to just hang out. I've been able to stop and relax and let the house get dirty lived in and just enjoy this time. It's been worth it too.

So today we enjoyed a fun day at the park feeding the ducks at the park, the "ucks" as Grace calls them. Our neighbor came along with her four kids (which include 3-month-old twins). The "ucks" enjoyed some PB&J, the kids had fun at the playground, and the moms enjoyed some sun on the park benches with the babies while Mr. D helped herd the three older kids.

We then enjoyed lunch at Chipotle. Yum!

Tonight, after dinner, the kids had bathtime. Long overdue bathtime.

It's embarrassing to admit, but Grace didn't get a bath all weekend! We were out late both Saturday and Sunday evening, so when we got home, Grace went straight to bed each night. Eh - she's a kid. They don't need a bath EVERY night, right!? I know we used that rationale growing up - especially if we happened to go swimming during the summer. That easily replaced bathtime.

After baths, both kids went to sleep at decent hours, and Mr. D and I enjoyed frozen yogurt. It's been a nice day. I'm going to wrap this up and pray that Paul lets me have a nice night's sleep too!

Goodness, Gracious

GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!!!

Wow - what a weekend - Southern California was on fire. Literally.

With the Santa Ana winds and hot, dry weather, we are used being on "fire watch" around here and seeing the latest blazes on the evening news, however, it is a whole different thing when it's at your back door.

I was enjoying a lazy Saturday morning - baby on my lap, talking on the phone with my mom, when Mr. D comes in from the backyard. "Get off the phone and go get dressed. You've gotta get out of here. There's a fire."

I dash upstairs and while pulling on my jeans, peek out the window. OH.MY.WORD. The hill behind our house is on fire. I could feel the heat on the window pane. I dash downstairs grabbing things here and there as I go... the pile of clean laundry on the bed, a pair of tennis shoes, diapers, my hairbrush. It was a pretty interesting pile of things that accumulated by our front door.

I look outside again and the flames are licking the top of our concrete block wall (Thank God it's a concrete wall!). Mr. D is pulling the dogs inside. I'm getting ready to leave, then, almost as quickly as it came on us, the fire ate up everything in its path and moved eastward along the row of houses. There wasn't even time for the firefighters to show up and put out the flames. So the fire moved along the perimeter of our neighborhood community. Some of the houses on the other side weren't as fortunate as us and our neighbors. There are about 16 burned and/or damaged homes.

This clip shows some of the damage to the homes. It's devastating - especially when they are our neighbors. I may not know them personally, but there's a connection. It could have been me.


Anyone local knows that this fire, which started in a tree less than a 1/2 mile from our home, then traveled to numerous cities and destroyed hundreds of homes, evacuated thousands. It was a crazy couple days watching the news and following the fires. I am so thankful for all the friends and family who called to check up on us and offer any help we needed. Again, I have to thank God that we didn't need any help.

This is our backyard, showing the smoldering hill behind the fence. In retrospect it would have been cool to get a picture of the flames, but you know, priorities - had to prepare to flee for safety!

This is our backyard from yesterday. The smoldering is gone, but the layer of ash is still back there.

Bring on the Vermonster

Mr. D and I have officially started our post-partum diets. Unfortunately my body doesn't follow the "you can eat whatever you want and lose your baby weight as long as you're breastfeeding" motto that I hear some mamas claim, so its back to Points we go.

So what better way to have fun while dieting, but watch this. (World's Best Places to Pig Out). Thanks to the Travel Channel for sharing this valuable information to two hungry folks.

We learned about where to go to eat a 3-pound hamburger paired with 5 pounds of french fries; gagged while watching patrons inhale hundreds of oysters in one sitting; and found out when we travel up to Northern California, we can stop in and indulge in a stack of 5 pound pancakes.

Mr. D's personal favorite on the list was Beth's Cafe, which serves 12 egg omelets.

Meanwhile, my sweet tooth was wooed by Ben & Jerry's Vermonster. This is what we are talking about:

For those who take their passion for ice cream to staggering extremes, participating Ben and Jerry's scoop shops have an ice cream container more their size. Served in a plastic bucket, the Vermonster sundae is big enough to give even Godzilla an ice cream headache. It takes 20 scoops of ice cream, four bananas, one fudge brownie, three chocolate chip cookies, four ladles of hot fudge, 18 scoops of toppings and loads of whipped cream to create this sinful concoction.

Yes! I seriously would give this a try. Of course, I don't think I could eat it all, but boy, does it sound good right now.

Wow - three days of dieting and I'm already drooling over a monster size bucket of ice cream.

From the Homefront

Week two and everything's still a-okay on the homefront.

Mr. D is still fulfilling his role as wonder-husband/father and taking care of things while I enjoy some downtime to recover and relax.

As I just mentioned, I am actually taking it easy and trying not to fulfill the role of super-mom. Instead, I've been enjoying lazy mornings in bed that I have missed for the past two years.

Grace loves her new little brother in her sweet, slightly rough two-year old way. She loves to kiss on him and hold him, and keeps us on our toes watching out for baby Paul.

Paul is still a doll-baby. He's been such a good baby so far - doing what babies do best: eating, sleeping and dirtying diapers. He hardly cries or fusses. Now, while this all sounds like mama bragging - what it really is is mama relief. I kept telling Mr D that not all babies are a challenge, but he didn't believe me.

So that's been our house lately - pretty lazy. For example, today, Grace hung out in pjs all day; I didn't put on make-up (gasp!); and my big accomplishment was cleaning the downstairs bath and doing some laundry.

Oh, and wait: speaking of laundry - one little baby causes a whole lot more! We've yet to master diapering a baby boy without having the occasional (frequent) accident on clothes, blankets, bedsheets, etc.

Oh, and I must share some cutie-patootie pictures from Halloween. As a rule, I am not a fan of October 31st, except for the fun on dressing up. So, dress-up we did and we took Paul on his first big outing to our church Hallelujah party. He wasn't too impressed as he slept through the whole event snuggled up in my wrap.