Almost Wordless Wednesday.

Bella's been having some bad dreams lately, and usually after having them, she doesn't really want to talk about them. So after telling me this morning that she had really scary dreams last night, but she didn't want to tell me about them, I asked her to draw her bad dreams for me. Judging from this picture, they WERE pretty scary! The guy in the brown bubble with the mustache and goatee is God-He's coming to protect her from the bad aliens. Funny how she draws God the exact same way she draws Daddy.


After watching Ramona and Beezus, Bella wanted to draw "the longest picture in the world" with her Daddy too. It's a great family movie if you ever get the time to watch it.
I love watching Bella and Daddy draw together; it's a talent she gets straight from him, so it's really neat to watch them share this gift together.


Even Brother and Beau helped out a little.

That's Bella in the back seat of the car smiling and waving :). It's my favorite part.

50 free cards!!

It’s Christmas Card time!!! Getting cards is one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season, especially now that almost everyone sends photo cards. It’s so much fun to get pictures of everybody’s kids, and see how much they have grown and changed from the previous year. Plus it just makes me feel loved that people took the time to send us a card.
We’ve been sending photo cards since the Princess was born. Since most of my family lives far, far away in magical lands, it’s been a nice way to let them see how much she and the little Prince have grown (he’s officially taller than me now!). Every year we get our cards from Shutterfly, and every year we love them more and more. They have the cutest designs, and the quality is definitely unmatched-especially for the price. This year, there were so many cute ones to choose from, I had the hardest time narrowing it down!! I finally decided after trying our about ten different designs. I’m not going to show you my pick (so cute!), but here are a few of my other favorites:




Here is a link to all of their cards. You should really give them a look-you are sure to find a least a few you love!

Not only do they have great cards, but they also have adorable gift ideas like mouse pads, stationary, ornaments, and calendars

I love these because not only can you put your own pictures on the big top page, but you can put little pictures on the calendar itself to mark special days! CUTE!
Photo mugs are another one of my favorites. We get one for Papa almost every year. Now he has a collection of special coffee cups that make drinking his coffee even more fun! ☺
Something else I am super excited about this year are the baby announcements-literally hundreds of adorable designs!!! As of right now, here are a few I’m loving:



Yes, I realize they are all blue, no we still do not know what the baby is. I just like blue and green. Isn’t that little bird the cutest?!

My favorite part about Shutterfly, other than their great quality, is that once you sign up, you get awesome coupons ALL THE TIME!!! As a photo crazed mom, these come in super handy!! And right now:
****BLOGGERS!!!!!!!!! Get 50 free holiday cards!!!!
Good luck choosing!!

Princess Update

*adorable, crazy smart, great sense of humor UNTIL it comes to laughing at herself. Super sensitive. Bit of a drama queen. Silly with Mommy and Daddy, usually quiet around others. Extremely well behaved where ever we go. Becoming more and more of a picky eater. Introspective. Adorable little lisp. And just a little bit weird :)

height: 42"
weight: 37 lbs.
shirt: 5T (barely)
Pants 5T (again, barely. She still fits into an 18 month in her waist, but needs 5T for her long leggies)
Shoes: 9.5

loves:
*Lovie. Forever and Always. I asked her the other day if she was going to give Lovie to her little girl one day, after reminding me AGAIN that she is NOT going to grow a baby in her tummy, she is going to get one from the baby store, she looked at me like I was crazy and said, "NO! Lovie is MINE!"
*Dresses. Dresses. Dresses. Period. The end. Dresses.
*the color pink.
Pink Dress? DOUBLE BONUS! She has recently informed me that she wants me to paint her room pink and get pink "covers for her bed" and a pink rug for her floor. (little overload maybe?)
*Drawing.
Morning, noon, night. In the dark. In the light.
It doesn't matter. The child LIVES at her whiteboard. LIVES. As in, sometimes I relish the hours, yes HOURS, of silence it provides, other times I start to get a little concerned that she has no interest in doing anything else in the whole wide world..
When she can't be at her whiteboard, such as in the car, she has her "notebook". This is any spiral notebook with enough blank space on a page for drawing. We have about 40 of them.
Seriously, drawing is all the kid does.
When I force her to take a small, begrudged break from the whiteboard, like to eat or go to the bathroom, she likes to play with her doll house. Briefly. Until I say she can draw again. Are you starting to understand??
Lately, something new has developed, with each drawing comes a song, long and detailed about the picture she is drawing AS she draws it. I've tried and tried to catch it on video, but she refuses to let me.
*her imaginary friends.
Jacob, Alice, ET, Destiny, and Alexandra are just as much a part of our family as Beau and Lily.
*Beau and Lily.
*playing on the computer.
Nick Jr. and Starfall are 2 of her favorites.
*cities.
She loves them. The big buildings. The bustling atmosphere. The noise. The lights. She loves it all.
*Barbie.
I can't wait for this phase to pass.
*Princesses
*having her picture taken.
Good thing since I'm her mom!
*tulips
*Ballet
Mostly just making up her own in the living room.
*the #8. It's her favorite #. When we first started math she could not write a nice 8 to save her life, but quite unlike her, she didn't give up, and now writes them like a #8 writing professional!
*snuggling and having her arms and legs rubbed. (Just like Mommy. Poor Daddy. )
*broccoli and cheese
*cheeseburgers with NO CHEESE. But not hamburgers!
*grilled cheese
*classical music
Suites from the Nutcracker are her favorites
*being at home.
She comes by this naturally. Like me, she is a homebody.
When we CAN get her out of the house, she loves
*going to the movies
*the Children's Museum
*THE ORPHEUM. Musicals. Ballets. It doesn't matter. It's wonderful and magical to her. I love that.

*the book Today I Feel Silly by Jamie Lee Curtis.

dislikes:
*the colors black and brown. They "are not beautiful". I happen to disagree.
*pants in any form: long pants, capris, shorts. If it's not a dress, she doesn't like it.
*not being able to draw. It's her own personal version of hell.
*the dark. It scares her. A Lot.
*having to go anywhere in the house alone, without Beau and Lily at her side. Something about their company makes her super brave and able to conquer anything. Even the dark.
*anything remotely scary. Even if it's funny, but a little scary, she does not like it and will fret over it at bedtime.
*anything that is not "beautiful". This mainly means things that are not pretty colors, sparkly, or uber girly.
*dips of any kind-no Ketchup, no ranch, no nothing.
*the thought of actually having a baby. Growing it in her belly, delivering it. According to her, none of that is ever going to go on inside of her body! She is getting her future children from the baby store.

Current favorite baby names:
Girl: Lay-lo. Don't ask where this came from. I have no idea. All I know is that she was seriously ticked off when we told her we weren't naming the new baby Lay-lo.
Boy: Troy Bolton. From High School Musical the movie. Kill me please.
BUT she is not naming HER baby boy this bc she is not having any boys. Only girls. She wants me to help her make sure she only gets girls at the baby store when we go one day.

Currently learning in School:
-addition.basic $$ counting. Telling time to the hour, half, hour, and quarter hour. Counting by 2s,5s,10s. Bless her heart. She inherited Mommy and Daddy's "gift" of math. Poor darling. At least in real life, basic math is all you really HAVE to know. Maybe by 3rd grade we will have mastered addition.
-reading. Not really doing a structured phonics/language arts curriculum. Just doing a lot of reading together. Her ability here never ceases to amaze me. As a book lover, it makes me so proud every time she reads me a story or new word. Daddy and I are constantly surprised at the words she can read. Each night as she reads us her bedtime story (yes, she does that now. It's a little sad) there is always a word we think she will stumble on, but more often than not, she just reads right along without any hesitation. We get prouder and prouder every time.
-State capitals
-science. this year we are learning about our bodies. The skeletal system. Our heart. Nerves. Veins and Arteries. The senses. etc. We are covering each topic lightly, and will get more in depth next year. I think we might do a little study on the planet Saturn soon though. It's her favorite planet. . .because it's the prettiest. Love that girl.
Sometimes I have to remind myself to slow down and not get caught up in the whole "are we learning enough" guilt trip. She IS only in Kindergarten. There are going to be many, many more years to learn the essentials, and she will have the rest of her life to learn anything else she wants. Maybe we won't be adding double digits or know every bone in the skeletal system by the end of the year. But we will have learned a lot, laughed a lot, snuggled every day, and spent immeasurable amounts of quality time together. And those things are more important than anything else.

Funny things she says and some she has outgrown :(:
"Accordion to" instead of according to
she doesn't call band-aids "boo-boos" anymore :(

"Praptice" instead of practice
When she sings Mama Mia's "It's a Rich Man's World" she says, "It's a Rich Man's Squirrel"

"Strawberrian Orchestra" instead of Trans-Siberian Orchestra
"As you insist" instead of "if you insist". The mere fact that she says anything resembling "if you insist" is funny to me.
Now she just asks for Lucky Charms instead of "Delicious Yucky Charms." This was one of my most favorites. I'm super sad to see it go.
For the longest time, she'd ask for a drink of "fresh, cool water before bed. now she just asks for a drink. Boo.

This list is constantly growing as I think of more.

Jingle Bells, Batman Smells

(quick note: I have no idea why I named this post THAT title. Something came over me. Sorry.)

Saturday was another exciting day for the family as we had another surprise in store for the munchkins: Santa was landing at the Pink Palace in a helicopter (the reindeer we in a secret location, resting up for the big night), and we were going to be there for the arrival! Brother decided to sit this one out, as he'd much rather get his beauty sleep (he got up at noon-I thought that started closer to 15?!), than go see a big guy in a red suit get dropped off at the crack of dawn (9am).
While we waited, we got to listen to a children's choir, which also happened to include "violin girls", which also happens to be Bella's current love in life right now.
(Listening is very serious business)


of course Lovie was there to enjoy the fastivities too!

When she grows up, she wants to be a nurse AND a violin girl. We'd love to put her in lessons now, but those things are crazy expensive! Like $150 a month expensive! NOPE! At 5, I can't imagine she'd be doing more than learning how to hold the thing and drag the bow across the strings and somehow managing not to drop it. And truthfully, I'd be pretty impressed with that.
Anyways, after watching without blinking for about 15 minutes, the big moment arrived.


Once he stepped out of the helicopter he was totally bum-rushed by about a million people, kids and parents.
(three seconds before the trampling began)


See that face? No, really look into his eyes. That is not the face of a happy, jolly old man. That is the face of a man, stuffed into a big red suit, surrounded by hundreds of pushing, screaming people. The face of a man hoping beyond hopes that one of us parents will be kind enough to slip a little cyanide into his hot cocoa and put him out of this misery. But we have been standing out in the cold for half an hour waiting to get a close up of you old man, so buck up. It ain't gonna happen.
There was a lot of pushing. A lot of shoving. And we pretty much had 2 choices. Get in on the action or get trampled. I am sort of ashamed to say, we got in on it. But hey, our kid got to see Santa instead of having her face plastered in the grass. That was the better choice, right?

See her there, right up in the front?! Shout out to Daddy for that one! No she didn't get to be the one to hold his hand, but that was a set up. Those kids had connections on the inside and were already chosen before He even got there. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure he would have chosen the Princess. How could he NOT choose her?! I mean really, did you see those socks?! How could you not choose the adorable little blond, with the lisp, and poof balls on her socks?! Let's get real here people. It woulda happened.
So He landed, got attacked, took a little walk with all the heathens around the building, and then "went inside to set up." Really he went inside to charge sucker parents $20 apiece for a 5x7 photo, but for us, he "had to go rest up to see all the kids another day." Seriously, $20 for some crappy photo? No thanks. Bass Pro Shop Santa looks way more legit, is super nice, AND He's FREE. AND he lets me take all the pics I want of her with my own camera, which happens to be a lot nicer than the one they use. AND there is a whole "village" full of crafts and games for the little beasts to get involved in. It's a win, win, win, win situation for us all. So later this week, we're gonna get all fancied up and head on down to the local Bass Pro for pictures with our favorite creepy guy that sneaks into our house one night a year! YAY!! Just kidding BassPro Santa really isn't creepy at all; he's super sweet and grandpa-y.
But seriously, let's all take a moment here to think about the concept of Santa. . . it IS a little creepy.

She's Daddy's Little Girl

These past few days have been crazy busy, but super fun.
Thursday, Daddy took the day off to spend some much needed time with his girls. The little one in particular was really needing some special time with her Prince. Since he doesn't get to take too many random, for no particular reason days off, we wanted to really make it great. And since Daddy is so sweet, he packed the day full of the Little Princess's favorite things.
We started the day with a trip to the Children's Museum, which just so happens to be one of Roo's favorite places ever. She was so excited to show Daddy how she can climb to the top of the bird's nest now- because she's 5 and that means you're brave. Her whole life she has been terrified of this thing, and I can't really say I blame her. It's a climbing maze contraption thing that goes insanely high with nothing more than plywood and some chicken wire to "keep you safe." No thanks. BUT as we hear so often in our house now, she IS brave now. As soon as we got there she bolted up into the maze and carefully made her way to the top. Every so often she would stop to look down, with a huge smile on her face, to make sure her Daddy was watching this newly mastered death defying feat. And of course, like any good Prince, he never took his eyes off of his Princess.
(That's her at the top :)

After a few hours of dancing in the disco room

and grocery shopping



and just being plain silly (that was all Daddy!)


(well, maybe not ALL Daddy. . .)

we headed out to the next stop: Gigi's Cupcakes.
On the way to the magical cupcake shop we had a very interesting conversation with Bella about her future career choices. It went like this:
Bella: I've changed my mind about being a nurse (said in her adorable little lisp). I'm gonna be a fire girl now.
Me: Really? Wow! That's exciting!
Bella: Can you get burned being a fire girl?
Daddy: Yes, sometimes you can. That's why those people have to be very brave.
Bella: *long pause* then (said in total valley girl voice): well, then I'm just gonna ride on the big truck.
HAHAHA!!! That's my girl!
It cracked us up, because that is such a typical response for her! It reminded me a lot of our "Bella why won't you give soccer a try" conversation not long ago. Last year, we sort of signed up up for soccer without really asking her. We thought we'd be able to con her into it with the pink cleats, pink shin guards, and pink ball we purchased for her. WRONG. The first night of practice, before we even got in the car, she looked me dead in the face and without hesitation said "NO." Later, when I was trying one last time to guilt her into giving it a try (she'd be SO CUTE!), I asked her why she wouldn't even consider it. Her response? (You must imagine this being said in the most exasperated, 17 year old, pouty, valley girl voice you can) "Momma! You have to run in soccer, and. . . I MIGHT GET SWEATY!" Oh the horror!!!
So, we look back on that little learning experience and make ourselves feel better by telling ourselves we simply made a $90 contribution to the local youth soccer program. We did our part to promote local physical activity. Somehow, we cannot seem to figure out how to do this in our own home however. Anybody need a brand new pair of size 9 pink soccer cleats or a pair of teeny tiny shin guards? Never been worn. Ever.
Ok, back to the story.
If you've never had a Gigi's cupcake, stop reading this, go get one, and come back. You can finish reading while you enjoy the yummy deliciousness. Two warnings though-the flavors change seasonally and daily, so be prepared. Also, if you don't like icing, it may not be the place for you, because seriously, these little cupcakes have a literal mountain of icing on them.

Some people like that more than others

They look pretty, but if you eat all of that buttercream, you are sure to pay for it later, in the form of a horrible stomach ache or crater sized cavity. Either way, it's not gonna be pretty. . .
After browsing over the array of flavors, it was kind of funny to me that none of us really went wild on our choices. Daddy got white cake with chocolate icing, I got lemon on lemon, and Little Miss, in true Princess style got the one with the most Princess-y name: Wedding Cake. Of course she did.

After a few attempts with the icing, she decided a hands free approach suited her better.

Just like a lady.

Pretty in Pink

For about 3 or 4 years I have been obsessed with raspberry pink. I have dreams about painting my bedroom (or living room or kitchen or ANY room) this color. It just makes me so happy! But, the houses we have lived in have never really been suited to support a bold color like that, so sadly all of my walls are raspberry free.
I'm not sure what came over me, but this morning I woke up and decided I MUST paint something that color (pregnancy hormones??). The front door was the lucky pick! I was tired of it being the drab grey/green it was, and it just seem to fade into the house. Nothing about it said "Welcome to our happy home!"


So Roo and I set out on our painting supply buying mission. I think she was just as excited as I was! Pink is, after all, her signature color.


We even got her a sponge brush so she could help layer on the gorgeousness.
After just one coat I knew I had made the right decision. It was splotchy and completely not finished, but I was already in love.

By the time the 3rd coat was on, I was beginning to contemplate painting my whole house very berry raspberry. The pictures do not do it justice AT ALL! I just can't get the color to show up right on the computer.
I've still got some accessorizing to do-fabulous white house numbers to put on and a gorgeous bright green and white arrangement-so that it's not just a big pink door. The numbers have been ordered, and since Rob took the day off today (YAY!!!), I am going on a hunt for the stuff to make the arrangement. I'll post another pic once it's completely finished but for now. . .




Isn't she lovely?! Isn't she wonderful?!

Magical Adventures!

This past September we took a trip that I hope the Princess remembers for a really long time. We went to DISNEY!!
We took Brother when he was 5, so when Little Miss was born, we knew we'd be going when she was 5 too. We actually started planning the trip when she was almost 3, so when the day to leave finally arrived, we could hardly wait to get there. We originally planned on flying, until we realized how much it would cost! So we all piled into the car and took the 14 hour journey to the place where magic happens!
We arrived in Orlando on Friday and stayed our first night in the Nickelodeon hotel. It was SO MUCH FUN!! Basically there are two huge pools with tons of water slides, so for my kiddos, no other entertainment was needed! They swam and swam and went down the slides over and over again. Daddy, Aunt M, and I even got in on the sliding action!










We checked out of the Nick Hotel on Saturday and headed over to our Disney hotel, Pop Century









We spent our first night there at Downtown Disney shopping and just enjoying the atmosphere. It was actually one of my personal favorite places. rob and I spent a night out there alone and had a lot of fun!






Sunday began our actual Disney adventure. We started off at Magic Kingdom, and surprised Bella with lunch in the castle with the Princesses! She was so excited, and the experience really was worth the insane price :) The rest of the week was spent hopping from park to park, so enjoy, in no particular order, all the pictures!!












































































It really was a magical vacation, and I really hope it was all the the Princess dreamed it would be. After all, she waited patiently and counted down for over a year (we didn't tell her about it until then)!
Helpful hint: if you have a daughter, you MUST dress her in a princess gown and tiara at least one day of your trip! Honestly, it totally transformed the experience! All of the Disney workers addressed Roo as "Your Highness" or "Princess" and even bowed to her! And every single parade was like it was put on especially for her! All of the characters waved to her. Prince Charming even paused during the parade to ask her if the glass slipper he had belonged to her. She was so overwhelmed with excitement that she didn't respond. She just stared at him with her mouth hanging open in awe! I am so glad that she dressed up almost every day! It really made a great vacation spectacular!!