Disneyland 2013: Isaac's First Trip

We left for Disneyland when Isaac was just 7 weeks old.

I was SO nervous to go on vacation with a newborn and I debated and debated whether or not to stay home while Jeff took the older kids.

I decided to go but after last year's Disney incident (you can read about that here) I wasn't too sure about things.  I sat on a park bench the entire first day while everyone else rode the rides.

I had zero expectations for this trip.  A fussy newborn who doesn't like to sleep in new places can sure ruin a vacation.

But....

Isaac turned out to be a traveling rockstar!

He slept the entire drive.  We only had to stop about every 3 hours so I could feed him and change his diaper.

He slept great at night (4-5 hour stretch, eat, 2-3 more hours).

We discovered he LOVES his stroller and he happily napped in the stroller all day long.  I got over my anxiety after the first day and rode some rides with my older kids.  

Another reason I love Disney:

They have a baby station in each park where I could go every 2-3 hours and quietly feed Isaac.  They even provide rocking chairs!  How amazing is that?!  I would go in there, sit and rock, put my feet up, close my eyes, and just relax while I fed Isaac.  It was heaven!

A few more of my favorite photos from the trip.

I can't tell you how many people tell me they think Jake looks like Justin Bieber.

Haha!  What do you think? 

I'll tell you what Jake thinks.  He hates it.

Lucy goose waiting for her brothers.

Mickey

This was fake vomiting.

Isaac's first character encounter.  He slept right through it.

Party of Seven (!!!) for Mickey's fun wheel.

One of Isaac's first and only rides.  It's a long ride and as soon as we got on....

...he blew out his diaper.

This took a good hour to clean up and I just threw the clothes away.  (His first time wearing them, btw)

The view from our hotel.

Bieber sighting?

Disneyland 2013 was a smashing success!!

Can't wait to experience it several more times through the eyes of my sweet little Isaac as he grows up.

First Day of School and a Bit O' Nostalgia

Our first day of school around here didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped.

Jacob woke up in the night and started barfing.  

(Bless his heart, he said he didn't want to wake me up so he just vomited and took care of it all on his own all night.)

Josh was absolutely furious with me because the new uniform shirts that I bought him, WHICH HE TRIED ON AND APPROVED AT THE STORE, were too big and he had to tuck them into his pants.  Oh the shame!

Nothing significant happened with Sam, except this was a Tuesday and he didn't start until Wednesday.

So, the only picture I got was of cute little Lucy.

She had this outfit planned for days, if not weeks.

 Sam's first day of pre-school.

At this point I'm crying.

It's always hard when they start school for the first time.

Speaking of firsts, for the first time in 14 1/2 years I have 2 1/4 hours three times a week ALL TO MYSELF!

And you know what?

I'm bored.

Ha!  Not for long.  Can't wait to have this new little one.  I'm so glad to have another buddy with me at home for 4 more years.  

Alone-ness does not suit me.

I haven't posted any flashback photos for awhile, but here are three gems I found while cleaning out my laundry room cupboard.

This was October 2006 at my sister, Julie's, wedding.

All the sisters L to R:

Keri, Stacey, Julie, me, Steph, Nicole (my brother's wife)

All I remember from this day was that Josh woke up with a raging fever and a sore throat.  We ran him to Instacare as fast as we could--STREP!!!

But what can you do?  We can't miss a wedding.  So we loaded him up with ibuprofen, tylenol, and antibiotics, and told him to stay away from people as much as possible.

Hawaii--May 2007

Lucy celebrated her 3rd birthday there.

We had planned and booked another trip to Hawaii for this October over UEA.

Haha!  Then I found out I was pregnant and would be 7+ months along by this time.

I'm not going to spend a load of money to be fat, irritable, and pregnant on a trip to Hawaii, so we postponed it until baby is here and old enough to take along.

Circa 1996

I'm pretty sure this was in our first year or two of marriage.

We look like babies.

Summer 2012 Wrap-Up

Ugh.  I just can't make myself blog anymore.

I'm to that point in pregnancy.

The point where I'm uncomfortable all. the. time.

I just want to sit on the couch all day and read. 

(Speaking of reading, I could use some book recommendations.  I'm going through at least one book a week.)

I still have three months left and the baby will triple (or quadruple) in size!!!

Yikers!

It's all good.  I can't wait to meet baby boy.

Here's how the rest of our summer played out.

We took a trip to Southern California just for the heck of it.

Jeff's dream is to live in Orange County someday.  We absolutely love the warm weather, the beach, Disneyland, all of it.

Our first day in CA we met up with the Mitchell's.

His boss owns the Splash Kingdom water park and we had our own private cabana with all the free food we could eat.  The kids were in heaven.

We spent 4 days at the beach where all the kids, even Sam, boogie boarded to their little hearts' content.

Me?  I sat on a chair all four days and barely got my toes wet.

The beach (and traveling) just isn't as much fun when you're pregnant.

We took a day trip down to the Mormon Battalion.

Panning for gold.

Sam was so worn out from swimming all day. This happened every time he got in the car.

Of course, we HAD to go to Disneyland a couple times and check out the new Cars Land.

We had our four-week summer ballet session in July and August.

This my cute Lucy's class.

Cheesecake Factory with the fam.

Sam talked and talked about cheesecake for two weeks before we went.  I tried to describe what it was and he was very curious but very skeptical.

I think it's safe to say he was not disappointed in his chocolate cheesecake slice.

After Cheesecake Factory, I took the three older kids to see Wicked with Nana.

I bought these tickets almost two years ago and it was soooo worth the wait.

It's my fourth time seeing it and it never gets old.

We had awesome seats.  Fifth row. Center. Amazing!

The kids LOVED it.  Jake laughed through the whole thing.

I know I'm ridiculous, but I seriously choked up when the music started playing and the curtain went up.  It's THAT good.

And good-bye Summer.

Usually I'm sad to see it go, but I just want time to go faster so I can get to December and have my baby.

It's time to get down to business and get working on the nursery.

Last trimester:  Bring it on!

Trader Joe's Favorites

Life/pregnancy has gotten the best of me.

I've been on vacation.

I've been sick.

I've been trying to get 4 kids ready for back-to-school.  

I've been on bed rest.

I've been upgraded to modified bed rest.

I'm just plain tired, uncomfortable, overwhelmed, and ornery as I come up on my third trimester.

Anyway, I've been dying to do a post on one of my favorite stores, Trader Joe's.

They are FINALLY coming to Utah.

Best. News. Ever!!!!!

 While on vacation a few weeks ago in Southern California, I made not one, but two gigantic shopping trips to Trader Joe's.

I have had several people email, message, or text me telling me that they are headed to Joe's for the first time and wondering what they should buy.

Well, here it is.

A list of some of my favorites.

*Note:  All of these items are non-perishable.  I have to be able to transport them back to Utah.

I have a whole new world to discover of perishable items once they come to Utah late this year.  

First thing in my basket this year:  one pound of belgium milk chocolate!  AND it was only $4.99!

Granola bars: high quality, huge variety.

Lucy's favorite

(I accidentally got reduced fat--couldn't really tell the difference)

These corn puffs are so much better than the Pirate Booty you find at Costco.

Huge variety of cereal and granola.  I had a hard time narrowing it down to four.

Hundreds and hundreds of cookies to choose from.  These are a couple of my favorites.

Once again, a huge selection of "different" candy.  I especially love their licorice.

I always try to find something new.

These weren't my favorite--but I don't usually like Salt Water Taffy anyway.

Around the Holidays these Joe-Joe's come in peppermint.  Divine!

More cookies.

Dried fruit in Utah stores does not even compare to the selection and quality of Trader Joe's dried fruit.

Better than Ritz

Not pictured:  There were two favorites that I couldn't find this time.

Chili Spiced Dried Mangoes

and 

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels

I also bought two Tea Tree Tingle body washes.  Finally a body wash with a smell that doesn't make me gag.