Kevin, Emily, Josie, Donny & Rori: February 2012

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Progression

Just some thoughts I've been having lately:
I've had moments this pregnancy (usually when someone had a cranky day) when I've doubted my ability to handle 3 children. Sometimes the thought of having 2 toddlers and a newborn sounds totally terrifying to me. Of course it doesn't help that everyone is always telling me how easy and well-behaved my kids are. It's true, they are pretty good kids and I am left thinking, "Crap. If I can hardly handle my 2 angel children, I must not be a very good mom!" I think a big part of it is pregnancy exhaustion makes me feel like I can't or at least don't want to do anything. I'm hoping this will pass and I will get that new baby energy that I've gotten before. Even now as I am entering the 3rd trimester, I am getting more energy and feeling better about my abilities.
It's interesting how the motherhood progression works. I remember when Josie was born, everything was new and different and many things were much harder than before. As they say, babies change everything. It was hard at first, but became easier and easier as I got the hang of things. As she approached a year, I started feeling up to a new challenge and got the itch for another baby. I felt ready.
The first year with Donny was a little rough for me. Neither of my kids were amazing sleepers the first year, but Donny was especially hard at night. He was fairly needy and sensitive. Now as a toddler, he is seriously the easiest child. He sleeps like a champ (both of them do) and is not especially naughty (yet). The transition from one child to two was hard, but it progressively got easier. Once again, as Donny neared the one year mark, I felt ready to make the jump to three.
As a new mom, one child was hard. Then after having two, one seems like such a piece of cake! I sometimes think about how totally simple my life would be if I only had Josie or only had Donny. I suspect it will be the same with #3. At first, I'm sure I will feel overwhelmed and look back at how easy things were with only 2. Hopefully, things will settle down after a few months and thoughts of a #4 might even be possible.
Anyway, I'm just thankful for that growth and that my kids have come one at a time, lol.
Just out of curiosity: Those of you with 3+ kids, what was harder? Going from 1 to 2 or 2 to 3? I have gotten lots of different answers, even that #4 was the hardest. I suspect it depends on the ages of the other kids, their personalities, living situation, etc. Thoughts? Advice?

Saturday, February 18, 2012

California 2012- DISNEYLAND!!

I just realized I never did an 18 month update for Donny. Can't forget that! Next post, I suppose.....

First, DISNEYLAND!!! Our kids are so spoiled. They have been to Disney parks more times in their short lives than most people ever do!

They still remembered (even Donny?) Disney World from October so it was super fun seeing their faces when we told them where we were going....

"Mom, where are we going?"

"Disneyland?!?!? Really?!?!"

Doing a happy dance : )

Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Sarah, and cousin Cash came too! We HAD to whip out the matching shirts again : )

It's tradition that Dumbo is first. Plus, it seems like it's usually the longest line in the park.

Best crier ever, right?? Cash took a little time getting used to the rides. It's so busy and crazy for the young ones.

Grandma is a major spoiler. I knew that Josie would be green with envy seeing all the little girls dressed in their princess garb. Of course, I'm the mean old mom who hasn't indulged her in this way yet. She would never even think about asking for such a beautiful dress, but my mom HAD to get one for her. Straight from the castle store, this beautiful (and pricey, sheesh!!) Cinderella dress was Josie's to enjoy.......and never want to take off. Oh, you should have seen her face.

I had to do the pigtails so she retained some of her toddler-ness. It kind of creeps me out seeing girls with the "princess makeovers" where they are made up and glittered and have their hair all professionally done in a bun and everything. I don't want her to look like a prom date, just a little girl in a dress : )

These two are bff's : )

Donny had a looong nap (1-2 hours) and felt quite refreshed after!

While waiting for the boys to get off of Star Tours (the 3D makes me dizzy) we watched a Mary Poppins show by the castle. Both the kids love Mary and Josie was very engaged during the show. She plopped right down in front and could not be moved.

And it was a good thing cause they picked her to participate in the show!! I'm pretty sure she was totally confused and had no idea what she was supposed to do, but she looooved it. She barely smiled (instead looking very concerned) but was just concentrating on what they were trying to have her do. It was funny to watch. She talked about "dancing with Mary" the rest of the day. It was definitely her highlight : )

I LOVE the look on her face in this pic. I can tell she is really wondering if he's the real Burt and just trying to make sense of the whole situation, lol.

Skipping with Daddy through California Adventure : )

Grandpa was loving all the grandkiddie love

The kids both immediately loved the cast member that was just their size, lol. He was super fun.

Words cannot express how much Donny loves the characters. All of them. He never wants to leave their side and we have a hard time tearing him away. He is just so fascinated by them. It's funny, he has healthy stranger fear but I'm pretty sure if a character picked him up and walked off away from mom and dad he would just smile and wave goodbye.

We had to visit Mickey more than once. He kept cutting back in line.

This is "Duffy the Disney Bear." Pretty lame if you ask me, but the kids loved him so I guess Disney wins on that one.

There was no line to see him so we indulged Donny and let him visit for a long time. He went back 3 or 4 times. I think the workers actually liked it cause he was so stinkin' cute.

He would not let the bear stop hugging him. I think he sat here hugging it for an uncomfortably long time.

Woody showing his support for thumb-suckers : )

Awww......so cute, right?

It was such a perfect day. We saw, did, and rode everything we wanted and actually took things a little slower than normal. We didn't do many adult rides, but the best ones I couldn't do anyway with my belly. Josie still talks about that day all the time. Also, she wears "the dress" at least once everyday. : )

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

California 2012- the non-Disneyland pics : )

Just like every other year, we spent 2 full weeks in California as Kevin did business and we visited family. It's a trip I always look forward to, especially in the dead of winter. It was a little disappointing that it was warmer than usual in Indiana and colder than usual in California. It was really only about 10-15 degrees warmer, except for the last couple days when it got super warm. Kevin did things like attending the VH1 Critics Choice awards and rubbing elbows with lots of famous musicians (lots of pics of that, but I don't feel like uploading). He also had lots of work preparing for the NAMM show at the Anaheim Convention center (the main reason we go). It had record attendance with almost 100,000 people attending. It's the biggest convention they have and is always a big part of Kevin's year. His company won a Best in Show award and they held a pretty rockin' debut party for their new product lines. This was actually the only picture I have that I'm in. I was busy taking pictures of other people : )

As for the kids and I, most of our time was spent at Grandma's and at the park or zoo. The kids were loving all the outdoor time since it's been sparse the last couple months. The first word out of Donny's mouth in the morning was usually "outside" while running to the door.

We got lots of time with Auntie Sarah and cousin Cash. If you remember, Cash is only a day older than Donny. It was really fun seeing them interact with each other!!