Disneyland

So since Zackary was so determined, we got to take an amazing trip to Disneyland.  I have to be honest we didn't think this would happen so fast.  We had about 2 weeks to figure out how we were going to pull this reward off, but we did, and it was so worth it.  We left Chloe at home with my amazing mother.  We figured she was way too young to enjoy any part of it and would much rather be home playing with Nana. So here is our trip.  We booked our stay through getawaytoday.com which was such a great way to go.  Thanks to some social networking websites we got lots of input and ended up super happy with everything.  We stayed at the Fairfield Marriott which was right across the street from the entrance of Disneyland, so we got to head back for a nap and some dinner then back to the park for the evening events.  The boys All of us were cooked and ready for naps about 2 in the afternoon so we took advantage of the convenience.

 Anywho, on the the festivities.

I was really horrible about taking pictures the entire trip.  I just wanted to soak in the fun and the sparkle in their eyes seeing everything.  Oh, and keeping track of them so they made it back safe with us.  

 

 

We were so lucky Lane was pretty much tall enough for all the rides.  The first day he was willing to ride pretty much everything.  Surely not knowing what to expect, he was a little trooper.  The next day, however, he was a little more reserved on what rides he would go on.  We didn't push him, so while one of us took Zackary on the roller coasters the other took Lane on more age appropriate rides.  This only happened a few times and with the fastpasses and switchback passes we managed just fine and actually didn't have to wait in any lines longer than about 20 minutes.

This is pretty much what most of my pictures look like.  The backs of their heads watching everything and climbing on the rails.  That alone is pure entertainment for 2 little boys.

 

 

 

 

Zackary was still ready to go at 10pm however Lane was cooked by the end of the day.   

Both All the boys were so well behaved and listened very well.  It brought back so many childhood memories for Aaron and I.  It was such a great feeling to get to take them to a place and let them experience things we did as kids.  I can't wait until Chloe is 4 or 5 because we already have plans to go back and enjoy it with our whole family.
  It truly is the Happiest Place on Earth!

Outside

I think I said this before but this little lady can spend all day outside.  I picked up the sweet little shades the other day.  Every time I put them on her she does her famous little nose crunch and smiles like she is the cutest little thing ever.  We just need to work on her keeping them on longer.  She won't touch her bows but is not the biggest fan of her new hat or glasses.
I finally got a good picture of her standing.  She loves it and will just stand up all them time.  She also loves sitting in a squatting position.  Chloe is very graceful and careful.  You won't see her plopping down hard or crashing into things.  Hopefully she will be as agile and balanced as her brothers.

 

A Past Season

My sweet Zackary has officially transitioned into a new season.  I can now say he no longer is a thumb sucker, and boy did we celebrate!  Although, this does make me a little sad, it is refreshing to no longer stress or worry that this might be a huge battle we will have to fight.  We had been discussing last year that when he turned 5 that he should probably stop sucking his thumb, but we didn't want to make too big of a deal about it to create some sort of power battle that he would easily win.  Along with the thumb sucking remember Monkey?  Monkey was a major part of his thumb sucking and self comfort.  Remember all the monkey hunts we did or the impostor? So at the beginning of the year, after all the crazy holiday festivities came to an end we brought it up again.  I can remember the conversation perfectly.
It went something like this...

Mom: Hey Zackary, remember you said when you turned 5 you would stop sucking your thumb.  Well you are 5 now, so you should probably try to stop.

Zackary: I know

Mom: Mommy and Daddy will take you somewhere special or go buy something special for you (thinking a new toy he could pick out or a place he wanted to go).
Aaron:  Maybe we will take you to Disneyland!
Mom:  We're going to Disneyland!  Alright Zackary you can do this! (thinking how much fun this would be, and how out of character this is coming from Aaron) 

Well, this task was easy peasy for this kid!  We said if he didn't suck his thumb for 1 month we would go to Disneyland.  And well, after a month, I was scrambling to book a last minute trip to Disneyland for the family.  Talk about will power and self control.  I couldn't believe it.  He even realized that Monkey really made it hard to stop, so he completely got rid of him.  He no longer slept with him, took him anywhere, or played with him.  He now resides here.

I hope he continues to have this self control and will power growing up.  What amazing traits to have.  Zackary we are so proud of you!

10 Months

Here is what is going on now at 10 months.  Miss Chloe is discovering everything from the toilet to the pantry.  We are trying to lay down some new rules of completely shutting the toilet lid or closing the bathroom door these days, oh and she found how great it is to unroll the toilet paper, well and Lane still thinks it is pretty great too.  You will frequently see unrolled toilet paper around our house.  Chloe is also, as we like to call her, a microbiologist.  She can find everything on the floor.  Seriously, every, single itty bitty morsel on the floor.  As you can see in the picture out of all the things on the ground she is picking up some tiny rock to eat.

She could spend every moment of the day outside.  If she spots the door open, it is a beeline super speed bear crawl to get outside.  I try to let her play outside as much as possible, but it is hard to keep every single tiny thing out of her mouth.  

 

She continues to bear crawl all the time.  It might be the cutest thing I have ever seen.  I can watch her all day every day.  She is so fast and coordinated on all fours.  I absolutely love it!  Her sweet little nickname that has really stuck is Sister Bear.  It fits so perfect. 

 

Standing

So Miss Chloe decided she would just stand up right in the middle of the bathroom tonight after bath time.  Not only did she stand up she played into all (yes the entire family watched) our family cheering and did it several more times.  I was behind her and watched her do it and quickly scurried over to make sure she didn't topple over on the wet tile and she went up and down 3 times.  I couldn't believe it.  So of course I quickly ran down stairs to grab my trusting camera to document it and here is what I got...
A blank stare...

Stair climbing...

over and over...

Zackary trying to get her to do it again...

The cutest knee sit (I love when babies are propped up on their knees)

and the famous bear crawl... Needless to say I missed it.  I followed her around for way too long trying to get her to do it.

See how worn out she got.  She spotted her blankie and decided it was bedtime.

Better luck next time.

Happy Valentines Day

We aren't huge Valentines Day people.  But it is sure fun to do extra things for the kids.  Well, I did for Aaron too, but we don't go out on a special date or buy random gifts.  This year we stayed home and celebrated with the kids.  The boys set the table and had it all ready for when Aaron go home with the lobsters we were going to tear up for dinner.  I think they did a pretty great job setting it so nicely.  We had just a little mishap getting the lobsters but it all worked out and they were delish!

Aaron being the great guy he is, cracked all our lobsters for us!  

This is the worst part for me so I really appreciated it.

I made these super cute picture albums for each kid and Aaron.  Thanks Kyna for teaching me, they turned out so cute and they all loved them.  This might have to become a tradition.  

Happy Valentines Day!

Pancakes

This girl loves her some pancakes.  Check it out, she can really tear it up.  I was really good with Zackary and feeding him certain foods on schedule and waited days in between to make sure he didn't have any problems with foods.  All I can say is that process for us went out the door real quick with the second and third child.  My goal is to keep her from eating what the boys would like to give her.  I like to at least know what she is eating.  

I just had to throw this picture in for good measure.  This is how happy Aaron looks in the morning!

9 Months

9 months old...this is sure going way too fast for me.  Chloe is so much fun right now.  I swear between 8 and 10 months babies are so much fun.  They are mobile, there personalities start shining,  and they are always happy or trying to make someone else happy.  Chloe is definitely shining right now.  She still continues to be the easiest most content baby ever.  She is willing to go with the flow and put up with her older brothers constantly loving on her.  They sure do like to love on her.  I taught Zackary how to safely pick her up so now that is all he wants to do.  She goes with it and lets him carry her everywhere.  We had her 9 month appointment she is my little peanut 17 lbs 5 ozs (35%) and just shy of 28 inches (50%).  Compared to the boys she is little but growing and eating just fine.  She loves to eat all kinds of food and is starting to not like baby food as much.  She prefers what we are eating usually, it's just not always safe for her to eat.  Girl loves her pancakes and french fries already!  I'm really sad this picture is blurry, cause she looks so cute.  This is the first time I have captured her famous little nose scrunch she always does.  Man she is cute!  

This is my attempt at getting all 3 of my monkeys in the same picture.  This is a true challenge.