Christmas

Christmas as always was really fun, and really exhausting. With 4 separate parents to see we are very very busy, but Emma loves it because she gets to open presents again and again. Every year it gets more fun though when it comes to the magic of Christmas. At 4 1/2 Emma totally understands the true meaning of Christmas and can tell the whole nativity story. She also is into the magic of Santa Claus and on her own this year reminded us to make cookies for him and leave something out for the reindeer. I totally get now why my mom always told us it was more fun for her than it was for us. Emma also knows most Christmas songs, even ones that kids don't usually know, and would sing from the moment she got up until she went to bed. She now carries the nickname I did as a child, "Our little Christmas spirit. I always get a little sad on Christmas though because I love the spirit of Christmas and to know it's come to an end and I have to put all my decorations down that I love so much is a little depressing, but luckily it comes back around so fast. Okay and also I love wrapping presents and making bows for them all and having them arranged just perfectly under the tree and to see them destroyed so quickly is a little hard, but that's just my "OCD" talking. We had a fun day though. We did the traditional Christmas morning with just the 4 of us in our PJ's. Making sure Santa ate the cookies and drank the milk. The kids LOVED their Santa present, a huge train table with a huge track and 3 trains. Good thing because it took 4 1/2 hours for Santa to put it together, just to find out it was too big to get in the house so it was another 90 min of taking some apart to get it in and then re-assembling it. All worth it of course. Then my mom and brother came over for presents. Then we had our annual brunch with a lot of our family. Then we opened presents with my dad. Then we went to Josh's mom's house to open presents, and then stayed for dinner where my mom and brother joined us. See what I mean, it's little crazy, but it's a lot of fun too and I love spending time with the people I love. I wouldn't want to go a Christmas without any of them!. I'm so thankful that we are able to have such a nice Christmas because not everyone can, so I tried to remember how lucky we are anytime I started feeling a little overwhelmed. So goodbye Christmas, but we'll see you next year.

Emma's first tap dance recital

Emma switched from ballet to tap this year and it's a lot harder but she's enjoying it. They had a Christmas recital and it was cute too watch, but since they had only been in class for 3 months there wasn't much to showcase. I'm looking forward to the June recital when she would have had another 6 months of classes. She could just stand on stage and look cute and I'd be proud so I guess it doesn't really matter. Here's the video of the dance though.

Lily

December 2nd I had the honor of witnessing a life enter this world. Lilyanna Christine Rodriguez entered this crazy world so now I have another person in my life that I love so much. My kids love her too and I'm glad they have another friend to play with who lives right down the street.

Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Emma wanted to be Supergirl for months and I had already got the costume, but 3 days before she changed her mind and wanted to be Princess Belle so she could wear her hair extension from Disneyland. Since we already had the dress we let her with the promise she'd wear the Supergirl costume next year. Jacob at 19 months gets no say so he was an elephant. Josh wore a mullet and dressed like a hillbilly rocker guy; sorta looked mike Wayne from Wayne's World. And for me, well I wore a Halloween shirt and a silly hat. Since I was the one with the camera of course there are no pictures of me in it. Melanie, Lalo and Carter live across the street and since we have an awesome neighborhood for trick or treating we decided last year we'd switch off hosting Halloween dinner and this year was her turn. We had yummy spooky food (like Mummy Dogs and meatloaf shaped and decorated like rats), and the kids went trick or treating. It's so much fun for the kids but exhausting for the parents, but at least we get candy to pick through and eat for 2 weeks.

Daddy's girl

Emma saw a kitten up for adoption at a pet store the other day. I explained to her that it was very cute but it would create more work for mommy and I didn't need that right now. Emma said that was fine but she would talk to daddy about it later. I couldn't believe my ears, did she actually say that to me? Well later she talked to her daddy on the phone and a few hours later he arrived home with the kitten. Further proof that Emma has Josh wrapped around her finger. This is what they mean when they say "Daddy's girl".

Emma and her new kitty Ariel

The Happiest Place on Earth

So we finally made it to Disneyland! We had been planning this trip since I was pregnant with Jacob. It seems these days people go much more often than when I was a kid, but I like keeping it very special and only plan to go once every few years. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was coolish in the morning, and warm in the afternoons. We were never cold or hot. I love going in October because it's usually never too busy. There ended up being more people than I thought there would be, but it was still fine. We waited 10-15 minutes for the kids rides, and used fast passes for the other ones. It's so neat having it all decorated for Halloween too. My brother used to work at Disneyland when he was in college and told me Christmas time is even better so maybe we'll go around that time the next time we go.

The main reason for wanting to go to Disneyland was becasue Emma loves the Disney princesses. Emma had been talking about meeting them since she was 2 1/2, so to see her face when she met them was the best thing in the world. I love that she's 4 years old because she's old enough to remember the experience, but young enough to still believe in all the magic. Emma met Jasmine, who is her current favorite, and Belle. The 3rd "princess" was Minnie Mouse dressed in a princess dress. I have to say that waiting for 40 minutes to see them and seeing Minnie there taking up one of the 3 spots was a little annoying, Emma likes Minnie, but she's not a princess. After Emma got her picture with Minnie and was moving on to meet Belle, Snow White appears and changes place with Minnie. They would not let Emma take the 5 steps back to meet Snow White and Emma was so wanting to run to her. Snow White did wave and blow kisses, so she was very sweet at least. Belle was still with another little girl so it wouldn't have held the line up. I wish that I would have told Emma to go and give her a hug and ignore the guy. Luckily Emma got over it very quickly when Belle motioned for her.



On the 2nd day we made her an appointment in the Bippity Boppity Boo boutique where a fairy Godmother does the girl's hair up like a princess. She was catered to and referred to as "Princess Emma" when spoken too. She got a hair piece that was like Belle's and she was so excited that she got to have long hair! Emma hair grows VERY slowly and she has said she wants long hair for quite sometime so she finally got her wish. We did have to explain to her that the hair would come off, because she talked about showing her teachers at school her new hair. She got to spend the rest of the day with her new hair do and she asked several people if they liked her hair. I definitely recommend this experience for parents of little girls. I must have said 100x that this is why I love having a daughter!! We got the cheapest package which came to $48 and it was the best money spent there. Besides getting their hair done (which they spray with glitter at the end) and getting gemstones put on their face and a little make-up, they get to bring home a little make up kit, sash, the brush and keep the hair. If you are a big spender, you can pay $210 and get a gown, shoes and photo shoot too.




Jacob didn't know what to think of Disneyland. He would point out Winnie the Pooh and Tigger when we saw them, but wasn't interested in being close to them. He gave them a high five and that was all he was willing to do. He went on a few rides and stared at everything intently. I wish I could know what he was thinking. He did enjoy the giant balloon Josh bought for him, and all the yummy treats he got. He was such a good boy though, in the car both ways too. You cant ask much more from a 19 month old!





It was so nice having both grandma's there who were a HUGE help! We got them their tickets for Mother's day and were so happy to have them with us. The 2nd night they let Josh and I go to the park alone after dinner so we could ride space mountain. We waited in line for 2 hours (we hadn't planned on having the night alone otherwise we would have gotten a fastpass like we did for all the other rides we wanted to go on!) but it was nice to just be child free for a little bit, since we very rarely get anytime to ourselves. The grandmas spoiled our kids rotten of course, and actually spoiled me a little too. It also was nice to have 2 extra set of eyes on the kids. While in the Pirates line there was a little girl who had gotten lost from her mommy and was very scared. Emma was holding 2 hands at all times so we never had to worry about that.


When it came to rides Emma was not wanting to go anything scary. The first ride we tried was the "Scary Snow White" ride, and when waiting in line you could hear the witch laughing. Emma made us get out line right away. She did not want to see the witch. She loved Small World, so I told her the Pirates ride was just like that except with pirates instead of children. Well it would have been fine except for at the beginning the scary octopus pirate's head appears and starts talking and she said she wanted her daddy (who was with a sleeping Jacob). She started crying silently but by the end was fine. We tricked her into going to the Haunted House the last night, We called it a pumpkin castle and explained a little of what she would see and made it sound silly instead of scary. She looked a little upset when we first got on it but we would laugh at all the scary stuff so she was okay with it. She liked the rides at California Adventure better and went on all of those, some more than once since there were no lines.




Other things we enjoyed were some of the fun shows put on. Emma was pulled into a music parade 2x and got to dance with the dancers. She thought that was great! Jacob liked the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show becasue he knew most of the characters and would point to them and say their names.






Well it was fun but all fun must come to an end, and boy did ours ever! We all got sick the last day with horrible colds and the drive home was no fun with all the throat clearing and nose blowing. Emma was the only one who did not get sick. She has a super immunity as I call it and is always the only one in the family to not catch illnesses we pass around to each other. But not wanting to be left out she got car sick and threw up 2 hours into our drive home. This has happened 2x before and we usually give her Dramamine for long rides, but I had forgotten on the way home. We pulled over in the middle of no where and I cleaned it all up. Luckily most got on her blanket and sweatshirt so I bagged them up and used wipes to get the rest up. I knew this was going to happen too, because 5 minutes before she said "mommy my tummy hurts" and looked pale. We were on the Grapevine and we were 10 miles to the nearest gas station. I had Grandma Carol give her Dramamine but it was too late and it was 2 minutes later she threw up. I will NEVER forget Dramamine again!! Oh well though, the trip was awesome and looking at the pictures I have that magical feeling all over again! The next time we go will be even more fun since Jacob will be older and more into it and Emma might even go on some of the more "scary" rides with us. Disneyland really is "The Happiest Place on Earth"!!

Emma's growing up

Emma had a very busy month. She started a new style of dance, Tap!! The shoes are adorable and reason enough to have her in the class. The first night was very overwhelming for the both of us. It's a 4-6 year old class and the 5 and 6 year olds had already taken the class before so they all knew what to do. Emma, her friend Olivia, and the other three 4 year olds were totally lost. You could tell who the moms of the 4 year olds were because we all had the same expressions on our face. An expression that read "Oh my gosh. What was I thinking? Four is too young for Tap. Can I return the shoes and get a refund since my kid is totally going to get kicked out of this class!" Luckily the teacher came out half way through and told us not to worry, that the class was so big and she could split it up, and give the 4 year olds their own beginner class. We were all very relieved! I was very impressed with Emma though, who tried so hard that night to follow all the instructions, and was watching the feet of the teachers and trying to do the steps. Some of the other 4 year olds started spinning in circles and staring into space but Emma didn't give up at all. Little experiences like this gives me more insight into the wonderful qualities my daughter possesses. When she walked out of class she stopped and asked the teacher if she did a good job. The teacher told her she did and Emma came skipping to me and told me "It was very hard mom, but the teacher said I did a good job". The class has since been split up and this class is much more appropriate for Emma! There are only 5 children now, all 4 years old, and they all are doing well!



Preschool has also started for Emma. She has been so excited to go to school and has asked for the last 6 months when she could go. She loves her princess lunch bag, and helps me pack the snack. Actually it's more like she's monitoring what I put in, since the 2nd day I put in a little snack pack of blueberry muffins, since she loves the ones I make, and when I picked her up she told me that she didn't eat her snack because it was "disgusting". She told me she will only eat the ones that I make, not the ones that come in a bag. Luckily Josh likes them so they were not wasted. Emma knows a few of the kids in her class and one of the teachers is a friend's mother, so she got some special attention that first day. She loves school, loves learning, and loves telling me every detail of her day. I hope she's this enthusiastic about school in the future! I'm very proud of my daughter and although it can be sad sometimes that kids grow so fast, I actually love seeing her grow and develop and become who she is. She will always be my baby, my sweet little princess, and I look forward to what each year will bring!