Melissa McCarthy

Addy just saw this magazine cover and asked if it was me. LOL. I do love me some Melissa McCarthy, so I guess that's a good thing.

DISNEYLAND - DAY 2 (finally)!!!

To start off today's festivities, please enjoy a little early morning video from Addy. Doesn't she look hung over? I swear we were not drinking the night before.

On Day 2 we were joined by our friend Mandy and her family (who also let us crash at their house), which included Mandy's 4 year old daughter, Sydney. Ohhh was Addy ever in heaven to have a friend, and especially ANOTHER friend named Sydney (this is her 3rd).

I tried to start the day off with something less traumatic than the first day, so Finding Nemo Submarine was stop #1. Survey says: kids loved, mom not as much. One of many taken for the team.

Hallelujah for the multiple adults thing again, because I got to hit my favorites - Space Mountain and Indiana Jones, both with Ethan. Maybe I'm getting old, but I.J. was way more exciting than I remembered. Space Mountain, on the other hand, scared the pants off me. The ride was the same, but they made some changes for Halloween to the images projected inside and they were terrifying! Maybe I'm a wimp, but giant red floating skeleton heads popping up while I whiz by at 60 mph tend to make me nervous.

Another fun Halloween change was the Haunted Mansion. AWESOME!!! This ride seems like it's always closed when I go to Disneyland, so I was thrilled it was open. And holy cow, amazing!!

Of course, we had to hit the Teacups again - this pic shows Addy looking a little nervous about riding with all the boys, so she hopped into our cup right after this was taken.

It's a Small World was a HOOT with these two! Sidenote - Sydney does not have a gold tooth - that's popcorn.

As you can see, these girls thought IASW was the best thing EVER!! Seriously, I thought they were going to climb out of the boat and hug all the puppets. I also quite enjoyed myself because it's a LONG ride and was a nice little chance for me to change my shoes (yes, I switched shoes), enjoy some Diet Coke, send some texts, and basically sit in a stupor for 10 minutes.

Not as big of a hit was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. I sort of knew this would happen going in, but it was the only ride in Fantasyland that had less than a 25 minute wait, so there it is. Here's the classic group pic: Tyler, Connor, Mandy, me, Sydney, Addy, Cassy, and Ethan.

We trekked back to California Adventure and Ethan and I went on the River Run with some hilarious little Japanese girls and their dad. Next time I won't wear jeans on this ride.

Our only major mishap of the day was losing Sydney for about 20 minutes inside the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. Apparently (this happened while Ethan and I were getting soaked on the river) Sydney is a jungle cat and blew Addy out of the water with her climbing skills on the ropes course. She got to the top and took off before Cassy could catch up with her, but luckily we found her before we had to shut down the entire park.

This is Addy meeting Russell (from the movie Up).

Heimlich's Chew Chew Train at Bug's Land. I know I complained about other rides being boring, but this one wins not only the most boring, but also the shortest ride ever award. I swear it was 7 seconds long.

Last stop was the Tower of Terror. And no, I did not take Addy on this. The funnest part of the whole thing was waiting in line, and getting laughed at by Ethan while I peed my pants in suspense. OK not literally, but it was close. Even being wheeled into the operating room for a C-section was not as scary as getting on that ride. The ride itself was also pretty darn terrifying...at one point I couldn't tell if we were going up or down or east or west or what but it was crazy. CRAZY!!. My blood pressure stayed at approx. 200/120 for at least 15 minutes after it was over. What a rush!

And that, you will be grateful to know, concludes our Disneyland travelogue. What a totally wonderful and magical vacation! It was so fun watching Addy experience everything Disney for the first time. I just loved it. And it was SO cute watching Addy with my Cassy and Ethan. She really misses out on a lot of good family time living so far away, so it was great for her to have a little bonding time with her auntie and cousin. Love you guys!!!!

DISNEYLAND!!! DAY 1

Be still your beating heart! I bloggeth!

If anything deserves a blog post, it's definitely Disneyland (although I just realized that apparently the birth of my son didn't warrant one - yikes). This last weekend, Addy and I took a mommy-daughter trip to Disneyland!! And yes, I am a mean wife and left Ammon at home with Emmett, poor man. We met up with my sister Cassy and nephew Ethan at the airport and stayed with our fabulous friend, Mandy.

Disneyland was super fun and fancy for Halloween! But note to everyone - it was pretty darn busy. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as the best time of year to go.

As soon as we had a chance, I let Addy pick out a pair of Mickey ears, and of course, of all the Princess paraphernalia available, these are the ones she chose...

My daughter is so not a girly girl, and honestly...thank heavens. Some mom told me on the way out of the park that she paid $230 for her daughter to get a dress and her hair done (which consisted of a hairpiece that I swear had once been home to a flock of pigeons)...and she said it like it was such a bargain!

Our other California friend, Lisa, and her family joined us for Day 1 of Disney. Addy's FIRST RIDE ever at Disneyland was Autopia. She loved it.

Next we hit the Matterhorn, which I was SO excited for. This pic is waiting in line, where our friend Benjamin picked a little flower for Addy. Results on her first rollercoaster: not good. There was a lot of eye covering and screams of "make it stop!!"

Teacups - one of my personal faves, and thankfully not scary after the Matterhorn.

I took Addy and Lisa's daughter, Megan, on Dumbo and the Carousel while the older kids did something scary. Note - the Carousel is a motorized sedative. Be sure to bring your caffeine. After touring Sleeping Beauty's castle, Addy had her first Disneyland Churro. You must understand that this was a momentous experience (for me anyway), since I still remember my first one, also enjoyed at age 5. Note - Disneyland Churro's are NOT the same as Costco Churro's. Disneyland Churros are much, much better, and have 12 calories!

Apparently, I did not get the blaring "Addy is not ready for rollercoasters" message after her Matterhorn experience, and we went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad anyway. I spent the 45 minutes in line (in blaring sun near some really pushy Portguese ladies) convincing her that"Fast is fun". This was our mantra as we were buckling in... "Fast is fun, Fast is Fun!", and as soon as the train started picking up speed, Addy quickly changed to "Fast is NOT FUN!!! Tell them to stop!!!!!"

Oy. That was an award winning Bad Mom moment - especially since she wisely tried to back out at the last minute and I wouldn't let her. I did not stand in that blasted line for nothing!!

I don't know if it was the speed or the noise or what, but apparently this girl is NOT ready for rollercoasters. I am seriously disappointed. I was so hoping my daughter would share my love for speed and adrenaline. Although, she is only 5. Perhaps I need to lower my expectations.

May I just insert my opinion here that Disneyland should never be attempted with less than 3 adults? Unless your idea of pure Disneyland bliss is rotating between It's a Small World and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, you will want to participate in some kid swapping. It was SO DREAMY to experience all the magical and cute little kid things with Addy, and all the scary stuff with my nephew Ethan and the other kids. He and I went on Star Tours together, which I wisely realized Addy would NOT enjoy - it was great, but seriously nausea inducing.

Dinner at California Adventure with Ethan:

The whole front entrance of California Adventure is under construction, which means that to get anywhere, you have to walk the whole length of the park one direction, and then back again. I swear it was a mile. BUT, I got to go on California Screamin' which was AWESOME and worth any amount of walking. That rollercoaster RULES!

C.A. was closing early for a show, so we trekked the mile BACK to Disneyland to hit a few more rides before Addy's bones pooped out (as she put it).

Ethan and I did Splash Mountain while Addy went on Winnie the Pooh with Cassy. By that point, it was getting late and dark and I think her nerves were shot. She didn't enjoy it.

To avoid a little walking time at the end of the night, we decided to take the Disneyland train back around to the front entrance. Here comes Mom mistake #2 - I thoughtfully warned Addy ahead of time about the fake but slightly scary dinosaurs we would pass by on the way, and she had a GINORMOUS meltdown. Sobbing, crying, pleading, begging, etc. ANYTHING to not go on the train. THE TRAIN. You know, that really super slow "ride" that goes all the way around the park in a speedy 40+ minutes? Yes, that is what terrified her most about our day at Disneyland.

By promising to plug her ears for her the whole way (which I did), we managed to wrestle Addy onto THE TRAIN, and made it safely, and with no dinosaur attacks, back to the main gate. She conked out on the way, and my heroic sister carried her almost all the entire way back to our hotel.

We stayed in a hotel just for that night, but it was SO WORTH it. Addy thought it was a marvel and proclaimed "This is my favorite hotel EVER!!!!" Day 1 down.

The Party is Over.

So, Ammon went back to school today after being off for almost a month. A month! You can really get settled into a new version of your life in a month. Having him tell me to pull out my earplugs today at 6:30am was PAINFUL. As was realizing I was out of Diet Coke with no car (have no fear, we walked to the gas station a few blocks away).

Anyway, we had a great time having him home even if we didn't do anything more exciting than go to the Rec Ctr. Emmett had his first pool experience, which he seemed to like and was pretty cute until he threw up in the pool. Ah well. That's what chlorine is for, no? We got TONS of projects done, which has made me feel a little more organized and a little less tense. Having an almost daily nap helped too. =)

I realized today that I have given almost no updates on Emmett! He is 8 1/2 months old now and such a squishy love!!!! I want to just eat him up all the time. He is squealing to himself in his exersaucer right now, and it is so adorable. He is eating all his unappetizing-looking "solids" with great gusto, and thinks it's really funny when he sneezes and sprays peas all over Mommy's face.

He LOVES his sister and thinks she is hilarious. He giggles and goos every time he sees her, and she is so sweet with him. Is there anything more precious than seeing your children love each other? He rolls pretty well now, but still can't sit on his own because the child has no butt and an enormous belly. This doesn't make for good balancing.

He really is a delightful and easygoing baby. We are quite lucky. Don't get me wrong...he has his opinions and is not afraid to share them, but most of the time he is fabulous.

These pics are totally out of order and I'm too lazy to sort them:

Emmett on Easter Sunday, and enjoying some green beans last week.

Addy snuggling Emmett around Christmastime (hence the blanket), and one of Emmett's finer moments:

This was during one of the days I was teaching preschool in Jan/Feb.

Getting a little Vitamin D time over the winter.

Enjoying some more green beans. Or peas.

Dance Recital!!

Addy's first (and likely last) dance recital was on Saturday night, and oh my heavens, she was a hoot. Between the thumbs ups, finger pointing, and random spastic moves, she was a STAR. Not a born dancer, mind, but a star nonetheless. I honestly don't think she hit the right move at the right time once, bless her sweet heart. *Note to self: if you forget your choreography, just shake it (she did some serious butt shimmies during the dress rehearsal).

For a variety of reasons, each class ended up doing their number a total of FOUR times. This particular video is Round 2 and is by far her funniest. Although I wish you could see Round 4...anyone age 5 or under basically just stood on the stage looking like they were in shock. Or else heavily sedated.

Addy starts off on the back row, 2nd one from the left. Please ignore my cackling in the background.

By the way, I just showed her this video and told her she did awesome. Her response: "Oh it was nothing. Why were you laughing in the video?"

Insomnia, again.

Why is it that I only blog when I'm unable to sleep? Am I turning vampire-like into a creature of the night? Although that title sounds vaguely "escort-ish" so we'll leave it alone. I've got to start writing comprehensible things during normal daylight hours or you will all start gathering for an intervention of some sort, I am sure.

Anyway. As Awesome-Wife-Number-One (I claim that title for today only), I slept on the couch because Ammon's last day of finals is today, and apparently, I snore. Rather loudly. Or at least I did last night and interfered with his R.E.M. sleep, which is a crime in our house punishable by communication exclusively via grunts and excessive glaring. So I Took One For the Team (mine) and slept quite comfortably on our Furniture Row Beauty until about 45 minutes ago when I woke up with my nostrils pressed into the cushions, my leg thrown over the top (and asleep), and my neck in what felt like a post-mortem contortion.

So, I rolled over and started "thinking" which went something like this: "Oh man, I am going to be so tired tomorrow. I wonder if I can get a nap at some point. But I do need to get preschool ready which means I have to clean the house oh shoot I haven't done any laundry and Emmett is out of clothes I wonder if this new formula is helping. He still seems to be spitting up a ton but he's so cute oh nuts I haven't posted any pics of him, like, ever and I really should and I need to post pics of Addy's recital too man that was funny. I sure hated dance when I did it, but my friends seemed to like it and I wonder what happened to Friend X? Man I was so jealous of her in high school I should teach a YW lesson on jealousy sometime (this thought followed by 20 minutes of planning said lesson from start to finish - even though I'm not in YW or have been asked to teach, ever)...holy hannah I just planned a YW lesson, I am losing it maybe I should blog?"

And so I got up and here is the fruit of my nuttiness. Don't you find your train of thought when you can't sleep totally INSANE? I love that I can start thinking about napping and end up writing fictional lessons to kids I don't teach or have any authority over whatsoever. I am without calling, which is like being without country, but maybe not so much?

OK I'm tired again. Going to try to get a little nap in before kids wake up. And by the way, you people out there that get up at 5am ON PURPOSE are also INSANE. Loves! =)

A night in the life of Emmett the Nugget and his sad, sad mother

No one should blog at 1am while they're baby has been screaming for an hour after having recently taken an Ambien, most especially me. But, as you'll see from my FB posts I threw in here, I just couldn't leave this glorious and joyful night undocumented.

Here it is, starting at around 12:30ish:

Is there anything suckier than listening to your baby cry themselves to sleep? The sleeping part hasn't happened yet and I just want to cave, but I know this is what he needs. ARGH.

16 minutes ago ·
and the longer I sit here, the more Cadbury Mini Eggs I stress-eat. Dang you Cadbury. Dang you.

14 minutes ago

And now of course, the little stinker is asleep, and I'm all kinds of keyed from chocolate overconsumption and stress and will probably not sleep at all tonight.

14 minutes ago

Keyed UP I meant to say. Oh for the love.

And...I lied. Back to screaming. I love my life I love my life I love my life. Sorry for the running commentary, but this night of fun must be documented.

9 minutes ago

And starting here is where I decided to give FB a rest (my junior high math teacher probably doesn't care much about this. I'm only speculating? Maybe she does):

1:06 - Intermittent yelping. Sort of like the sound a car turning over. RRrrrrrrrraaaaaaarr. Rrrrrrraaaaaaar. OK that is not even CLOSE to what he sounds like.

1:08 - Giant scream/squawk/bark/snort, and....silence.

1:08 - I spent 60 seconds of that time trying every way I could think to spell squawk before I gave up and looked it up.

1:11 - Still silent.

1:21 - Still silent. Have I subdued the beast for good? Gads I hope so, but seriously, I am totally wide awake now. I may be typing incoherent nonsense, but hey - it is ALERT incoherent nonsense. Funny how it's now 1:23 because I had to spend so much time thinking about how to spell all those big words.

1:23 - So. I managed to put down the bag of mini-eggs (yeah me), and I've already played like 5 games of Mah-Jong. Online shopping?

1:28 - I have enough wits to realize that making any purchasing decisions in my present state has never produced positive results. Although...that's not strictly true. My Super Slim Shaper, which is the best little fat sucking number I've ever tried, was purchased at just such a moment. Who knows what glorious things could show up on my door in a few days?

1:30 - I wonder if tomorrow I will blame Ammon for eating such a huge amount of Mini-Eggs. Probably. And I will read this post and be heartily embarrassed. But right now it's just fun to see how long it takes me to fix all my spelling errors with my eyes crossed.

1:31 - Bless the child he is still asleep. Shoot though - I just saw a lot of head movement in the monitor. Yes, we have a video monitor, but it was really cheap and Emmett looks kind of like a fuzzy turtle on it.

1:33 - Why am I sitting here in the dark? It's not like the 'lektricty quits working at our house after 10pm. OK now I am just blathering about absolutely nothing. And starting to write in the same voice as a character from one of the books I'm reading.

Shoot damn. I best get m'sef on up to bed.

Now I have really lost it. I'm sorry you had to witness this, you mysterious intrepid readers. I'm not necessarily going to bed, but I really think this post needs to end.

Goodnight! and hopefully you have a laugh at my expense tomorrow! Today! St Paddy's Day!