Kaili

Disneyland Day 2

~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

I hope you didn’t think I abandoned you. Day 2 is a long one so tuck in with some coffee, wine, burritos…whatever you love.

I can’t tell you who woke up first, probably me but it was early per usual. This was our “magic” morning at Disneyland and we HAD to be in line by 7:45. Turns out they actually let guests into the park at 7:45 but you don’t get passed Main street until 8:00 and that is because all of the United States is behind you, it’s got to be a semi fair game….I guess?

All Kaili was asking for was the Dumbo ride and since we didn’t get that done day one, this was my first stop. I took both the girls and they loved it. We hopped over to another ride because it was pretty empty. Turns out the Alice in Wonderland ride was a tad scary, Averi wasn’t sure about it and Kaili asked immediately when we would be done but they weren’t crying so we were good.

The one thing we did want to do during that “magic” hour was the Nemo Submarine ride.

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Averi pretty much loved it between her bouts of concern.

We then headed to an adult ride. Thunder mountain requires riders to be 40′, Kaili is 39′. We were told by some other parents in line that they are sticklers when it comes to height and we would later find out that was true. So even though Kaili insisted Grandpa stretched her out and she was tall enough, I took the girls for a stroll  while the rest of them could have a go.

Us girls ventured over to Tarzan’s tree house, Kaili skipped up while I dragged Averi with me.

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Having just  watched Tarzan the day before,  Kaili had her eye out for that Leopard who may  was lurking in the tree tops.

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We wandered our way through Tomorrowland and it was out.of.control.

And as  early as it was, it was just a preview of what was to come.

Kaili wanted to go on a ride in Tomorrowland so we waited 45 minutes for another ride that goes around in circles, much like the Dumbo ride. I’m pretty sure we need to bring back the merry go rounds to our playgrounds so we can forgo this boring children  ride people pay thousands of dollars for.

We made our way over to California Adventure and it was a tad overwhelming. I felt like we had done so much already, I couldn’t wrap my head around what was left to do…but there was a lot. Luckily Mickey was one of the first things  we saw heading into CA so that took some pressure off.

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We also ran into Doc McStuffin’s and now they are besties.

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After a few kiddy rides in Bugs Life….

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Food was on our mind. We grabbed some pretty good clam chowder and not so great Mexican over by Paradise Pier, beer is always good.

Our hotel room looks over CA land so the Mickey ferris wheel is a fixture you can’t hide from even the littles. Kaili begged to go on and once everyone agreed,  we payed our dues in line, but the ride was SO worth it…although Shane will disagree.

IMG_8499 We got the rocking car because there was no way standing in line with two kids for a boring ride is a good idea. It turns out that rocking car is a thrill ride for Kaili and Grandpa! Averi was in tears with her head in my lap.

We dragged the tired kids, but not Kaili because she is never tired, back to the hotel. Averi went down for a nap and grandma rested along side her while Shane and I took Kaili to the pool.

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Our early bird dinner reservations were approaching, we packed up the crew and headed out to the Rainforest Cafe. It wasn’t my top pick but I thought it would be perfect to help keep the overtired kids entertained. I was wrong. The place is a joke but it’s hard to compete with a tired Averi. To sum it up, my food wasn’t good, service wasn’t good and my kid wasn’t good.

After overpaying for shitty food, we confidently headed back out to CA land to take on what we hadn’t yet mastered. In other words, we got a fast pass to Tower of Terror and Cars, Radiator Springs.

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Unfortunately, the Cars ride had a 40′ height restriction. We didn’t bother to put Kaili through the ringer but I think we both regret not trying. She would have LOVED that one!

Gramps and I were the only ones that went on Tower of Terror…”because food”  meaning no-one else wanted to ride that because they just ate. But it’s the best ride there.

After grabbing a churro we went back to the hotel to watch the light show from our hotel room. We fell asleep one by one, grandpa and Ave’s weren’t far apart.

 

 

 

 

When it Hurts!

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Kaili does this thing, a few minutes after I put her to bed she  hollers for me. Something she knows not to do unless she is being kidnapped, okay that is harsh but something seriously has to be wrong. She knows this, but still does it. I know, she’s 4!  Anyway, she hollers and I come literally running so Averi doesn’t wake up. “Kaili, what’s wrong?” “I had a bad dream!” I then explain the situation and once she agrees that she wasn’t actually asleep, I slowly back out of the room praying to a God I don’t believe in that she falls asleep, pronto!

These daily occurrences and often nuisances to a mom who is solo half of the time are frustrating. But then something happens and you snap back into mama bear mode, where nothing matters but that child of yours.

Yesterday when I went to pick K up from school, the usually loud chatty classroom was empty, or so I thought. Kaili was sitting on her teachers lap with tears in her eyes and an ice pack on her hand. My mind instantly filled with dread, please don’t let anything be broken. “No, if it was that bad they would have called me!!” <—that all went through my head in 2 seconds.

Turns out she got her finger slammed in the bathroom door. She was being brave until she saw me, then it all let loose. Poor thing was in pain and there was nothing I can do, and that my friends, BLOWS!

You know how it goes because we have all had something slammed in the door, right? Throbbing and aching and it plain sucks. She laid on the couch with some ice for about an hour, I didn’t forget the Advil!

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I asked her if she thought she could go swimming, she said ” yes, I just won’t use my finger!” And that is problem solving 101. She was up off the couch and back to her normal, overly curious self.

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I took this picture about an hour or two after, it actually looks worse now. But she hasn’t complained about it! She is my fierce, strong and lively kid and I hope that never changes!

And I need a manicure!

Don’t Make Me

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I was the last in the family to get hit with the cold and every.single.ounce of my energy has been sucked out of me. Four days and I don’t feel any better, when will it end?!

Kaili has been asking to go to the park everyday and everyday that sounds like the absolute worst idea, insert terrible mom here. Feeling guilty, I somehow gathered all my energy and worked on some crafts with the girls to make up for it.

Kaili worked on a marshmallow bunny, eating more than she glued. I had to refill the bowl a few times.

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Averi would sneak up, take one off the paper and pop it into her mouth before anything could be done.

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We also made Easter bunny headbands. My preschool teacher talents are wasting away so I figured I should put them to work. Kaili said she would help me but really she watched cartoons while demanding more food.

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I got a letter from her school stating that Thursday was their big Dr. Seuss party. They want us to make something “Suessical” for lunch. Wait, I just made 25 Red Fish, Blue Fish cupcakes for Dr. Suess’ birthday, and I don’t feel good, wah-waaa can I get a pass?

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In the midst of searching Pinterest for Suess like foods and creative outfits, it dawned on my that Sunday is Easter…What the holy hell?  While boiling eggs I decided to test run a hair-style on Kaili. Kicking and screaming aside, I think I can get this to work.

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It’s a Minnie mouse bow, not Dr. Suess but seriously it’s cute!

Now I have to spend the afternoon making some sort of silly snack that the kids probably won’t even eat because it looks funny. But on the plus side, soccer is canceled which means I can stay home in my sweats with snot dripping down my nose and nobody is going to care, there is a Jesus.

Another Year Older

~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

It’s here guys, the last year of my 30’s is in affect and it’s gonna be a great one. My birthday week started with lunch on Saturday. Shane took us to Coasterra,  Mexican cuisine with ocean front dining. I ordered the tacos and they were really good, I think they gave Puesto’s tacos a run for their money.

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Blackened fish, Michoacan pulled pork and crispy shrimp

Averi wasn’t too much of a terror and I was actually able to eat and enjoy myself, the key was taking her there hungry and slowly giving her food to keep her busy.

IMG_7549She is a chips and salsa fan like her sister. It’s amazing that they devour salsa but won’t  touch tomato sauce.

It’s a tad overpriced, okay a lot over priced but you are paying for the view and the Chef’s name.

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On Monday, I took the girls to Sprinkles to pick out cupcakes after school. They are my all time favorite cupcakes, especially the coconut one, it’s SO delicious.

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Kaili chose chocolate and only ate about four bites but managed to totally destroy the entire thing in the process, making sure no one else could eat it.

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Kaili had her friend from down the street over for dinner and the girls played while the moms talked and enjoyed some wine. Then bedtime came and things went downhill. I don’t know if it was because Averi was wound up but she cried in her room for two hours, I am not exaggerating. She always goes down without any problems and if she fusses it’s short lived. But last night was something else. So Kaili stayed up with me and ate a second dinner until Averi finally wore herself out. By then, I was ready to eat a cupcake and crawl into bed. The kids were up before 6:30 and just like that, I was another year older.

 

Life Lesson

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“You can’t depend on anyone but yourself.” That is a tough pill to swallow and a hard lesson to learn, at least for me it was. When I moved to the OC   I quickly learned that there were some very flaky people, something I hadn’t encountered before. I remember my dad trying to console me after some of my new friends just “flaked” on me. That was the first time I ever experienced anything like that and I was hurt. I quickly learned that some people are just that way and it doesn’t bother them.The tricky part is trying to teach our kids that lesson. In the past few days I have had to explain to Kaili why someone wasn’t there or why something wasn’t happening, it sucks. I know it’s a life lesson, not everything works out and not everyone shows up…but she is four. Ugh, parenting is hard.

Kaili had her last soccer lesson of the month. They had a little scrimmage…if you can call it that. There were hand balls and wrong goal scoring but they had fun. I missed a few minutes, Averi dove head first off of a large rock on to the cement and I ended up inside the Y attempting to apply ice to her head. She had a really good goose egg on her forehead. Luckily it went down pretty fast, she was fine.

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IMG_7496IMG_7502IMG_0337Last weekend Shane spent the days putting in a raised garden bed in the back yard. A few years back he worked hard to put a play area for the girls in the yard. He moved the play area to another part of the yard and put the garden in, in a of couple days, he’s a monster. I hope this garden brings us the fruit of his labor.  I planted three types of tomatoes, four types of peppers, artichokes, and strawberries.

IMG_7539I told Kaili she was going to start swimming twice a week and I didn’t get a complaint…fingers crossed she just falls in love with it.

IMG_7526Did you all take advantage of national drink wine day? Those made up days are so silly but apparently my birthday is national margarita day, so……

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Dragging my Feet

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What can I say, I have been a horrible blogger lately. I will blame it on the Avester. Every time I stand by my computer contemplating on writing, she is at my heels yelling “Mama, mama, mama, UP UP UP!” It’s ear piercing and nerve-racking.  I end up picking her up and wandering away from the computer.

Averi is now 19 months and quite the handful. She prefers her meals on the go, something I told myself I would never let her do. Wandering around with food, what good can come of it. Well, it keeps her quiet, let’s me get stuff done and puts meat on her bones, so for now, I just go with it.

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Photo by Brian Kerr

Kaili just ended her first month of soccer. She seemed to really enjoy it so I signed her up for another month.  She also started up swimming again, this time it’s at a swim school opposed to the YMCA. But once a week isn’t frequent enough so I am hoping to up it to twice a week. We need this girl swimming.

IMG_7399As I write this, it’s sprinkling outside but the last couple weeks we have been spoiled with amazing weather. I have spent almost everyday outside reading in the sun and then spending the afternoon playing in the backyard with the girls.

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We spent Valentines day as a family eating chocolate, popping in and out of the hot tub, sun bathing and watching Shane work in the backyard. More on that later. Kaili had a school party and enjoyed scouring through her mound of cards and candy.

Kaili and one of her besties.
Kaili and one of her besties.

Shane and I treated ourselves to some King crab for dinner and then I tried making chocolate soufflés for dessert. They didn’t turn out as I expected, the lava cakes I make are much more decadent. Next year, I will go back to making those.

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Meal Times

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I don’t know how I, one of the least pickiest eaters, has a child who doesn’t like anything. I might say that this is the most frustrating part of parenting to date. Each meal is a struggle, one week she likes something, the next she doesn’t. I know this is probably pretty normal but my gawd it’s driving me mad. I am about to let her eat dry cereal and taquitos three meals a day.

Meanwhile, Aves is still a pretty good eater and I hope it lasts.

IMG_7296 The girls just love music. Averi gets into a semi trance while watching any sort of singing and Kaili likes all the hip songs on the radio. I hate to admit this but I just downloaded a Justin Bieber song because Kaili loves it.. 

IMG_7226Kaili’s class had a field trip to the new Children’s Museum downtown. I was worried about having to bring Averi along but it worked out pretty well. A lot of the museum was great for both kids but there were some parts that weren’t Averi accessible, I would have had a hard time rounding them up all by myself.

IMG_7218IMG_7220IMG_7225Days are starting to get easier. Averi is sleeping through the night, Kaili has been pretty good about staying quiet until 6:30. Aves will play by herself and watch some cartoons  while I need to get whatever done, and then she naps from about 10 until noonish. That time I spend working out and reading in the sun or the bath. I am trying to take more of her nap time to zen out. I don’t know if it helps with my patience or not, I like to think it does.

 

Halloween Eve

~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Friday, we took Kaili out of school so we could make our annual trip to Bates Nut Farm. Going the day before Halloween was a big WIN! There was hardly anyone there, meaning no lines for pony rides, plenty of room in the petting zoo and you could actually browse the store without being shoved by the person behind you.

IMG_6386 IMG_6393The kids enjoyed themselves, you goat to believe it.

After the pumpkin patch we went to a restaurant on our to-do list and I was honestly miserable the entire time. Kaili was so good and so easy to take out to restaurants. But Averi, well she isn’t. There is whining, so much whining and she isn’t happy unless she is eating or walking around. It wasn’t a very “kid inviting” restaurant and I just felt horrible for her screeching while others tried to enjoy their lunch. Meanwhile, Kaili fell off her chair hitting the ground head first, causing gasps from everyone around us…she was fine. My blood pressure was not.

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After lunch we hit a few new wineries nearby because after that lunch, we all needed a drink. The first winery, Deer Park Winery and Auto Museum was like walking into the past. Everything in the “museum” had a layer of dust on it. The wine bar was something out of the 70’s as was the decor. The wine though, the wine was atrocious. The whole experience was strange. Yes, Averi is eating off of old dirty carpet.

IMG_6406After that experience we hopped into another winery but I think we were all done and ready to head home. After baths, finally able to relax we enjoyed dinner outside while  the men watched baseball and the girls played until dark.

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Thumbs Up

~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Last week Kaili had her 6 month dental check up. To say I was proud of her is an understatement. I had been reminding her of her appointment a few days ahead of time, to make sure she wasn’t blind sided. When the day came, she didn’t even question it. They took x-rays and cleaned her teeth, the dentist gave us a thumbs up and that was it. She hopped out of the chair like no big deal. I love her.

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Her school had a field trip to Oma’s pumpkin patch in Lakeside. I took both the girls and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. This place was a kids sanctuary, they had everything. Playgrounds, soccer field, corn maze, hayrides, a toddler play area, animals, should I go on? But I think her favorite part was being able to pal around with her BFF’s!

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IMG_6250 IMG_6245The kids got a kick out of the hayride that went through the farms property and stopped inside the rather smelly cow stalls. The nice driver got out of the tractor and attempted to tell us a little about the newly born calf but he was drowned out by all the kids yelling “ew, poop” repeatedly.

IMG_6254 IMG_6256They finished the trip with a group lunch and by this time, almost 1:00, Averi was beat, she was asleep halfway home. First time for everything. Kaili on the other hand, wanted me to take her to the park, the girl is an energizer bunny.

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Before the Sun

~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Oh, it’s only been a month since I blogged last…sigh.

Shane and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary. We went downtown for dinner, without the kids, went to an underground Speakeasy and played pool. It was just what I needed, in fact it’s something I could get used to, say once a month?

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Averi is now 15 months and things are pretty much the same, most days are routine and a tad mundane. Her sleep schedule is 6:30 to 6:30 give or take. We just got over the girls having colds, Averi was waking up multiple times a night but knock on wood, that is over.IMG_6129 IMG_6154

Her vocabulary is coming along, saying mom, dad, all done, bye and a lot of whining. She is waving and blowing kisses bye bye unless it’s to me, then it’s a full meltdown. She is very attached and although she is fine when I am gone, it’s the going and returning part that causes the tears.

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Kaili was going through some 4 year old challenging behaviors. Not listening, trying to get rid of her sister and her sleeping regressed. Can I say how DONE I am with not sleeping? We are hoping that the girls will share a room sometime but the way it’s going, I  am not sure how that will ever work. Sometimes they piggy back each other in the wake ups and if one of them actually sleeps in, I can promise you the other one was awake at 5.

I decided to try a behavior chart with her, made it myself to fit our needs. I have to say it really worked well for the first few months but her sleeping is back to shit. Okay, that is a strong word. She goes to sleep by 7 and is, for the most part (4 out the 7 days a week) is quiet once in bed. She has been waking up in the middle of the night due to nightmares or scary sounds and sometimes it’s a battle to get her back to sleep. But really the problem lies in her waking up for the day. She is usually up before 6:00 and comes into my room. The rule is, she is to stay in her room (aside from bathroom runs) until 6:30 when the green light on her clock comes on, but that is out the window. I could let her in my room or go into hers but I don’t want to create a habit but, I also don’t want to spend that time getting up and down in a fight with her. Ugh, does this make sense?

IMG_6051Anyhow, the chart hasn’t really been working for me in that department. I don’t know what else to do except make a mandatory rest time after school if she doesn’t follow the wake up rule.