DISNEYLAND!!

We took Lincoln to Disneyland this weekend and it was such an awesome experience! I didn't know if Lincoln would even like the park but he loved almost every second of our time there and it was so much fun to see how excited he was. None of it would have been possible without my wonderful Aunt Marcia who not only housed our family and our friends the Berretts for two nights, but also watched Reagan ALL day so that we could enjoy Disneyland without a baby in tow. A million thank yous would not be enough to explain how grateful we are to her.

Anyone who knows me knows how crazy I get with planning things, and our trip to Disneyland was no exception. I think I spent three weeks online looking for tips and suggestions for taking toddlers to Disneyland. I even found a software that will plan out your entire day so that you don't have to wait for longer than 20 minutes in any ride (totally worth it, if you are going to Disneyland any time soon think about getting RIDEMAX). So everyone thought I was a little psycho when I dragged all seven of us out of bed at 6:30am so we could be at the park by 7:20am and walking through the gates as soon as they opened. I'm sure people thought we had lost it when they saw Carroll and I running down mainstreet with two giant strollers but we were at Dumbo by 8:05am and we walked right on (the rest of the day, the line for Dumbo was at least 45min.) The rest of the day went so smoothly- we rode everything we wanted to ride, had good seats for the parade, and even had an hour and half to go back to Marcia's for lunch and relaxing. The kids hung in there with us and stayed up late enough to watch fireworks (my personal favorite). At the end of the day, we just couldn't stop talking about how wonderful everything was, definately my best day at Disney ever!

Riding Dumbo- he wouldn't let us go down at all, he only wanted to fly as high as it would go

Meeting Mickey for the first time

Had to stop and climb on the firetruck at ToonTown

On the caroussel- his favorite ride

At Tarzan's Treehouse

Jungle Cruise

Autopia- his second favorite ride. Nate said the whole time he kept saying, "Daddy, I driving"

The teacups- Nate was getting sick but Lincoln kept wanting to go faster

It was such a great day, we had so much fun with the Berretts, it would not have been the same without them there. Now to plan our next family trip together, I'm pushing for Hawaii...

Bowling

We decided to take Lincoln bowling for the first time at Fresno State's bowling alley. He was a little scared when we first walked in but after seeing Daddy and Mommy do it a couple times, Linc was ready to go. He bowled his own 10 frames and half of mom's and ended up with an 83, not bad for a two year old! He didn't want to leave but we promised we would come back soon, Grandma and Grandpa Bond are so excited to take him when they come to visit in March! Maybe he will pay for our retirement with his PBA tournament winnings!

He was a little nervous at first...

I LOVED the shoes!!

He loved pushing his ball down the ramp

His favorite ball (only 6lbs!). I made him hold it for the picture and

when he handed it back to me he said, "Mama- that heavy!"

He thought it was so fun to pull the ramp out of the way so Mom and Dad could bowl

Reagan enjoyed the show


On an unrelated note, after we finished bowling- Lincoln requested Chicken Nuggets so we went to McD's for dinner and...

Reagan had her first French Fry! YUM!

Our Week in the Hospital

So by now I'm sure everyone has heard that our little Reagan was in the hospital last week with a bad case of RSV. Here's the details about our crazy week...

Reagan started wheezing on and off last Monday after having a cold for most of the previous weekend. On Tuesday she was wheezing pretty constantly and I thought it sounded like she was breathing hard. Our good friends stopped by on their way to dinner so that THE P.A. (his new superhero title) could check her out and tell me if we needed to get her checked out. He listened to her breath and sent us packing to the urgent care. So Reagan and I headed out to the doctor.

We finally got in to see someone at the Urgent Care. After two breathing treatments, a steroid, and a chest xray still didn't stop her wheezing the doctor came in and told me he was calling the paramedics to transfer her to Valley Children's Hospital. I had been trying to hold it together up to that point but when the paramedics strapped her into her carseat and put her on the stretcher I very nearly lost it.

That night in the ER seemed never ending. Nate and his dad had come to give Reagan a blessing and then Nate and I just sat there with our poor wheezing daughter. We were finally admitted to the hospital around 5am and after Reagan got used to the breathing tube up her nose, she got some much needed sleep.

The next five days were a blur... we had great nurses and doctors who took care of our daughter and we are so thankful that we have such a wonderful pediatric hospital close by. Everyone who took care of her commented on how cute and chubby she was- I think every nurse on the floor had to squeeze her chubby thighs!

Enjoying her toys after a very long night

She hated her breathing tube, I don't really blame her

Our home away from home for five days, notice

the SUPER comfy sofa bed by the window (my neck is still recovering)

the annoying foot monitor that came off about every 10 seconds

Feeling a little better

She would only sleep sideways in her crib

A very big THANK YOU to all of our friends and family who took care of Lincoln, made us meals, and called. Although I was physically exhausted I always felt bouyed up by the outpouring of love and support from so many people. A thousand THANK YOUS!!

Reagan at 6 months (and a couple weeks)

Photo courtesy of Jordan Juarez Photography :)

I haven't written much about Reagan, mainly because we haven't had internet for most of her short life, so I wanted to write about how much we love our sweet little girl...

At her most recent checkup Reagan weighed in at 20lb 8oz and 27.5 inches long so she is keeping pace with her big brother.

She has now had three ear infections in six months and if this most recent round of antibiotics doesn't work we may be looking at getting tubes put in her ears (it pains me to even think about it)

She is sleeping through the night and taking naps during the day- definately loves sleep WAY more than Lincoln ever did

She is a semi-picky eater. She loves her fruit and cereal but we haven't really found a vegetable that she likes yet

Reagan is a VERY happy baby- as long as she is being held, talked to, or simply looked at. She will literally scream her head off until she sees you looking in her direction and then she is all smiles. Where did I get these kids that always have to be the center of attention? (I blame my mother)

We have decided that Reagan looks just like her Grandma Sandy, I have the baby pictures to prove it

We do love our little girl and really can't remember what life was like without her. It has been fun to watch her grow up but I'm starting to think it is going by too quickly, I need her to slow down a bit so I can enjoy the ride a little more

Here goes nothing

My wonderful husband is a lover of running. I, on the other hand, can barely run a mile. Yet, a few months after we got married (almost five years ago) we ran a 5k race and a biathalon together and it turned out to be a lot of fun! Who knew? But in the last five years we have moved 9 times to three different states and had two children so, needless to say, running has not been a top priority. With the new year I have been wanting to get in better shape and when a friend told me about the Couch to 5k program it seemed like a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, there are no 5k races near Fresno around the time that I want to run one. And then I stumbled upon the Morro Bay 10k in April. So I think to myself, I can do a 10k (I am not getting a lot of sleep right now so that may have something to do with the crazy idea!) I even found a Couch to 10k program online and here I am in the middle of training! If anyone would like to make a trip to Morro Bay the weekend of April 17th I could sure use a huge cheering section to get through this race. Here's hoping I can make it!

October 2009

Fall finally arrived in Clovis, although it only lasted for two weeks, but we enjoyed the cooler temps after what seemed like a VERY long hot summer. Lincoln and Reagan had their very first sleepover (sort of) with our good friends the Berretts. Nate and I went to the Rascall Flatts concert, so both kids got to stay with the Berretts until Mom and Dad got home around 1am. I couldn't help but take a picture of my little boy on his first overnight trip.

We had a wonderful time at the concert, easily one of the greatest nights of my life. Rascall Flatts was amazing and Darius Rucker, who opened for them, was equally good. Nate and I found ourselves singing along to a lot of the old Hootie and the Blowfish songs- I was amazed at how well we remembered them! Here is us posing in front of Nate's new truck. We didn't actually take the truck to the concert but I thought it was only appropriate to take a picture with it since we were going to a country concert. I felt a little more redneck!

Nate finally got his long awaited Ford Truck. It is truly his baby, he spends at least a few hours a week cleaning it and buying new things for it. He is so excited not to have to drive my sissy Toyota Corrolla around anymore, I think he feels more manly driving his truck.

We had a great Halloween. Lincoln was Diego (although nobody knew because he is a little too white to pass for hispanic boy) and Reagan was baby jaguaer (sp?). I only got one picture of Lincoln, I can never remember to take pictures at important events.

Another great month, not enough pictures. Maybe November will bring more photos to look at...

September 2009

We finally have internet again so I am going to try to catch up month by month. September was a great month for our family.

We started out at the Clovis Hot Air Balloon Fest. The balloons were amazing, and HUGE! We had to wake up super early to get there before they all took off but it was well worth it, Lincoln loved seeing the balloons up close.

We watched a lot of football, most of the BYU games and a Michigan game or two when they were available in Cali (which is not nearly enough). Linc learned to yell at the TV and shout GO GO GO whenever his father did (which was quite a lot). I was a bit disappointed with both our teams this year but there is always next year. Here is a picture of the kids showing their school spirit.

And, finally, we celebrated Lincoln's 2nd Birthday at the end of the month. We invited a few friends and family over for a barbeque and a Dora and Diego cake. Originally it was supposed to be just a Dora cake but Nathan didn't think that was manly enough for his little boy so it quickly became a Dora AND Diego cake. Linc had a great time, sang Happy Birthday to himself, and received WAY too many presents. Thanks to everyone who helped make our boy's day so special.


Reagan continued to get bigger and cuter. I think she looks more and more like her dad but everyone seems to have a different opinion. One thing we know for sure, she got my pasty white skin- now both our kids are doomed to a life of sunburns and white legs :)

So that's September in a nutshell...I'll try to get to October sometime soon.