I've always wanted to do one of those bloggy give-aways...you know, one of those drawings for a prize. The only problem is that I could never think of a good prize. I've been thinking that since I love to mess around with digital scrapbooking and not everyone in Blogville has a blog header they love, why not create a blog header as a prize.
If you're interested in having a new header created just for you, leave a comment on this post and I'll draw a name or two on Friday morning. Oh, also leave an e-mail address I can reach you at if you have a "non-reply" blogger profile.
While Lauren was napping today, I put together some pages for her 1st year scrapbook (click to enlarge). I swear if Lauren didn't nap, I'd never get anything done!
For those of you who follow what goes on at Disneyland, you know that the Small World ride has been closed for renovations for quite some time. Now that it's re-opened there are some Disney purists who don't like the fact that Disney has incorporated characters into the attraction. For those of you interested in how they did it, I snapped some pics of the ones that I noticed...
I'm kind of torn on if I like them incorporated or not. Some of them blend into the attraction and fit in better than others. I do think that kids will like trying to pick out their favorite characters.
TIP: If you're heading to Disney soon with your little ones and it's their first time at the park, the shops have cute little "1st Visit" buttons they will give you.
Lauren ripped it off in two seconds, like her hair clips, but it makes a nice souvenir.
We got back from Disney yesterday evening and we had a GREAT time! I would say the biggest struggle was the car ride there and back. Little Miss doesn't like to be cooped up in the car seat for longer than an hour or so at a time. After that, she starts whining and then goes into full throttle crying. We actually got lucky and she fell asleep shortly after we left and got a good two hour nap in. After a quick rest stop, we put Elmo on the DVD player and she was good for another hour or so and didn't start whining until right before we stopped for lunch. After lunch was another story though...she whined and cried every half hour or so and we ended up making quite a few stops. A ride that should have taken about 6.5 or 7 hours took us 8 hours.
Once there we checked into our hotel, the Candy Cane Inn,(we love this place) and headed to Downtown Disney for some dinner and to pick up our park tickets. On Sunday morning we actually got up, had breakfast, took the hotel shuttle and were at the main gates to Disneyland by 8am. I thought that was pretty darn good for new parents on our first trip! We made a beeline to Fantasyland and rode Dumbo, the carousel, the teacups, Alice in Wonderland, the storybook boats, and Small World. Lauren seemed to like them all, especially Dumbo (she called it "Bo"). We really expected her to fuss and cry on the rides, since she doesn't like the carousel at the zoo or train ride at the park. I'm chalking it up to that Disney magic!
After that we met up with Michelle. It was really nice to see her again. We met almost two years ago to the day on a bloggy friends trip to Disneyland. It's so hard to believe that two years has passed! We all had lunch together, visited with Pooh and Tigger, and rode the Winnie the Pooh ride. Michelle, thanks again for meeting up with us and for the adorable little bracelet you made for Lauren. I put it away until she's old enough to wear it without ripping it off her arm! ;)
As we were saying our good-byes to Michelle, Little Miss decided to catch some sleep in her stroller and gave us a nice break. We took advantage of it and took a nice rest while sipping on some Hagen-Dazs malts (yum) in the air conditioning of the Grand Californian Hotel lobby. After that, we headed back into Disneyland and did all the attractions in Toontown.
We ended our day with the new fireworks show, which was AMAZING. Kim, do not miss this show on your trip. Also, make sure you watch it from a spot where you can see the castle (center is best). The show is a medley of the music and sounds from the major Disney attractions. The images they reflect on the castle and the fireworks they display are totally in sync with the music. It was a 9:30 show and we noticed people already starting to sit for it at 7pm! We got into the circle area in the front of the castle at about 8:45 and still had a great spot. I was holding Lauren up to see everything during the show and the cutest part was when she pointed up to Tinkerbell, who was flying over the castle, and said "bird?"
On Sunday, we went to California Adventure. It was record breaking heat that day, which did put a little damper on things. I actually broke down and bought one of those stupid squirt bottles with the fan on it...that thing was my saving grace! Also, we kind of made a little vow to try to schedule future Disney trips in the fall.
Oh, about the pink, puppy dog harness...there were TONS of kids with these stuffed animal harnesses on at Disney. We saw the monkeys and bears mostly, but no other pink puppies. No one gave us a second look. We used it every time Lauren was out of the stroller in a crowded place. She loved it and wanted to wear it. Also, when she had it on, she insisted that the "tail" be held. It worked out great and gave us peace of mind.
The Safety Tat also worked out great, but this is what it looked like after the wear and tear of 1.5 days at Disney. Next time, I will remove it each night and apply a new one each morning. We got several comments on it while in lines...all positive.
It was so great watching Lauren experience Disney for the first time! It was awesome seeing the look on her face when she saw the characters...especially during the parade. Besides the car rides, she was a real trooper and hung right in there all day thanks to her stroller power naps.
Here's a compilation of our photos. You parents will definitely recognize the music from Playhouse Disney (gotta love Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and My Friends Tigger and Pooh)...
We take off for Disneyland on Saturday. I'm getting a little worried about having Little Miss in the carseat for that long (about 7 hours). We are planning on leaving in the afternoon and stopping about 3 hours in for dinner. After dinner, I'm hoping that she will crash out for most of the rest of the drive. I'm planning on bringing some kind of neck pillow to prop up her head a little bit while she's sleeping, since she always looks so uncomfortable. I'm also going to bring along a few inexpensive new toys that she hasn't seen yet.
We'll be doing Disneyland on Sunday and California Adventure on Monday. Joe gets in free on Monday for his birthday. If you haven't registered yet for your free day, head over here to register. It's great if your birthday falls during a nice weather time of the year. Mine is in July and you would have to pay me to go then!
Here's Little Miss on Saturday all ready to go to Ava's 3rd birthday party...
Can you believe that Michele made this beautiful Dora cake herself? We were all quite impressed.
It was a really nice party and the kids had a great time. On the way home, Lauren finally decided she would hold hands with her friend Lily, which is a major milestone for Lauren. Lily is always trying to hold hands or sneak in a hug and Lauren just won't have it. They got a big kick out of me spying on them from the passenger seat mirror, so I had them say "cheeseburger" and took a pic. They thought it was pretty funny. Here's a scrapbook page of the pics (click to enlarge)...
Completely off topic...are there any local friends out there who use (or will use) Playtex drop-ins? I have two 8oz bottles and one 4oz bottle plus about 150 8oz drop-ins and some 4oz drop-ins. We only used bottles in China and gave them up for sippys when we got home. If you can use them let me know and you're welcome to them!
I hope everyone had a great Easter Sunday! We spent the day with my mom and my brother and his family. Lauren had a great time playing with her cousins.
Here's a couple of pages for Lauren's scrapbook (click to enlarge)...
Here's a little video of Lauren "reading" her picture book with Baba. She can't really identify the pictures yet, but she loves to repeat the words as we read them. Some of the words like "apple", "juice", "shoes", and "milk" she's been saying a lot lately, but others she is learning from her book...
Today we had a great day at the park. Lauren's friend Lily and her mom and dad, Ann and Mark, hosted a Spring has Sprung party complete with Easter crafts, an egg hunt, cupcakes, and the bunny hop. Little Miss had a ball gathering up her eggs and checking out the surprises inside.
Here's a couple of pages I did for Lauren's scrapbook (click to enlarge)...
Ann, thank you SO much for hosting this adorable party. You were the hostess with the mostest and had every detail covered right down to the bunny ears! We all had a great time and memories that will last a lifetime!
After all your advice on using a harness and a call from my bloggy friend, Shannon (mom to twin boys), I decided to open up both harnesses and try them out. Shannon said her boys loved their monkey backpacks, so I decided to open the pink doggy first. As you can see it was a hit with Little Miss...
She loved having the doggie strapped on and when I tried to take it off to try the other harness it just wasn't happening. I guess we'll give the other one a try tomorrow.
Shannon also told me about temporary tattoos you can order so your child has ID on their body. I know I'm a crazed new momma, but I found SafetyTat and had to order some for Disney. They are really cute, as you can see here...
and if Lauren happens to get separated from us somehow our cell phone number will be printed on it. I know I'm being an over protective momma bear, but I just can't help it.
Oh, and I had to post a couple of pics today since I think she looks so cute in these colors (hey, I just noticed that I ordered the tattoos in the same colors)...
Momma, I can't take even one more picture...ok, here comes the whining...
that is the question of the day. We have been thinking of our Disney trip and how much Lauren likes to be out of the stroller. The idea of Little Miss walking around among Disney sized crowds makes me cringe. You moms know that even if you glance away for a second at a mall play center, they disappear behind play equipment and out of your sight.
I used to tease my mom relentlessly about putting me on a "leash" as a child and how I'll be forever scarred from it. In reality I only know she used a harness from photos...I don't even remember it. Mom, the truth is out now and I guess the teasing is over!
I never really liked the idea of using a harness, but that's before I was a parent. Now that I see first hand how quickly Little Miss can disappear, it may be more of a necessity and less of a choice.
Here's the two harnesses I found. This one is from WallyWorld and can be used as a standard harness or on the wrist...
This one is from Tarjay and is disguised as a cute puppy dog backpack...
I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with either of these and how they worked out for you. I bought both and I think I'll try them on her and see which one fits better. Based on that and any advice I get here, one of these will be going to Disney with us.
I'll leave you all with a few pics from last week. Lauren and I joined a friend for a tour and lunch at a local olive mill. They harvest olives and bottle their own extra virgin olive oil.
