Friday, April 29, 2011

Dancing with Mary Poppins

I have been trying for three days now to post the video of Madison dancing with Mary Poppins and Burt, but for some reason Blogger won't let me. Anyway, here are the pictures we captured of Madison dancing and having the time of her life!







Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique


On Monday, April 25th, we arrived at the Disneyland Hotel around 9:00 in the morning! We took all of our stuff up to our room and then headed off to Disneyland. Our first stop for the day was the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.

Now, when we'd been telling Madison about this trip, we told her we were going to Disneyland and that she was going to get to turn into a princess for one day as a special birthday gift from grandma and grandpa. So, naturally, we began asking her which princess she wanted to be. First, it was Belle, then it was Sleeping Beauty and then Cinderella, and then Rapunzel. Needless to say, she had trouble making up her mind because she is so in love with all of the Disney movies right now (and I'm in heaven with this phase, being the Disney nut that I am). Finally, about three days before leaving for our trip, she decided she wanted to be Sleeping Beauty because she wanted to wear a pink dress. So, we were all prepped and ready for Madison to turn into Sleeping Beauty.

Okay, so back to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, when we walked in to the Boutique, Madison was pulled in every direction as all of the gowns, shoes, accessories, and wigs were on display for pretty much every princess you can think of, including some of the popular non-princesses (Tinkerbell, Alice, Minnie Mouse). At that moment, I had a feeling Sleeping Beauty might have some competition. Madison ran back and forth between all of the beautiful dresses. She finally decided that she wanted to be Rapunzel, but the only problem was because she was so new, they didn't have all of the fun accessories to go with her. Once Madison found that out, it was back to the drawing board. We were running out of time because when her name was called for her appointment she was supposed to have picked her princess so that her Fairy God Mother in training, could take her shopping for all of the pieces that went with her outfit. Madison decided that she wanted to be Sleeping Beauty once again because she wanted a pink dress, BUT once she started looking at the accessories, she liked Cinderella's better, particularly the shoes! And, well folks, Madison is all girl...the shoes were the deciding factor. Cinderella won! (I personally was thankful that Cinderella beat out Sleeping Beauty because it was already so hot and Sleeping Beauty's dress was the only one with long sleeves and I was worried that she would overheat).





Finally, we heard them call "Princess Madison" and the transformation was getting ready to begin. Madison met her Fairy God-Mother in training, who was very sweet. Together they went over the Cinderella's section and began the "shopping" process. Madison's dress was already picked simply by virtue of picking Cinderella, but she then got to pick between two different shoes and several different accessories. Next, her Fairy God Mother told her she was going to go ask the mice if they could make a dress that fit her. We waited in the Boutique for a little bit and then we heard "Princess Madison, your outfit is ready."




So, we went back to the dressing rooms and it was sooooooo cute! When the curtain was opened Madison's dress was hanging with her shoes set up nicely underneath and all of her accessories were laid out waiting for her to put them on! I went into the dressing room with Madison and helped her begin the transformation. Madison was simply glowing! We walked out of the dressing room and showed off her outfit to Dad, Grandma and Grandpa.



We then, had to wait for her special chair to open up, so that the rest of the transformation could happen. Madison lucked out and happened to get the chair right next to a HUGE stained glass window of Cinderella's Fairy God Mother. At this point, Madison was shown three different pictures of hair styles that she could pick from and she picked the one that she said looked like Cinderella at the ball. She then got to pick out her tiara, her ring, her make-up, and her face jewel.



Once everything was picked out, the hair was started! It was so much fun to watch Madison in the spotlight. It was kind of funny though because when Madison was closing her eyes to get her make-up put on, she was starting to nod off. It had been a long day already for her (since she decided to wake up at 5:45...she couldn't contain her excitement) and I guess closing her eyes was all she needed :)




The Fairy God Mother finished up with her hair and make-up and it was time for the big reveal, but before that could happen the Fairy God Mother used her "special wand" (which dusted her hair with glitter) and waved it over her head saying, "May all your dreams come true." Disney has seriously thought of everything! They had such a cute curtain set-up that "magically" opened so that Madison could see herself all done up. She looked stunned and happy at the same time. I don't think she recognized herself. Later when she got down she told me, "Mommy, they really made me a princess." It was priceless!




After all of the finishing touches were completed, Madison was taken back to the studio for a photo session. It was too cute! They had Cinderella's carriage and a meadow with some of the "enchanted" animals. Madison had so much fun during the photo shoot, but I think her favorite part was sitting in the carriage! She didn't want to get out when it was time to leave!






Not only did this transformation make Madison feel so special, but everywhere we went throughout the park people were stopping her and telling her how beautiful she looked and some people even asked if they could take pictures with her. It definitely had it's perks; as we were leaving Sleeping Beauty's Castle and ready to venture out in to the rest of the park, we came across Mary Poppins and Burt performing with their band and they pulled Madison out with them to be apart of their song and dance, but I'll post more about that later!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Disneyland


On Monday, after Easter, we went to Disneyland for Madison's 4th Birthday. For those of you thinking her birthday isn't for another few months, you're correct, but we wanted to go before the summer crowds and the summer heat. My parents wanted to take her to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique for her birthday and it was so much fun! I have several posts that I am going to be putting up for our fun visit to Disneyland, but here is a sneak peak of our little princess, while I work on all of the posts from our amazing trip!

Hudson is 2 Months Old


Where does time go? I can't believe my little boy is already two months old! He has brought so much joy and happiness into my life!

Here are his stats from the doctor's office:

12 lbs 6 oz (65%)
23.725 inches (78%)
Head 65%

My little guy is almost as big as Madison was at 6 months (13.1 lbs, 25 inches, and head 95%)

Easter Potluck

(Kristin being the starting gate for the Egg Hunt)



After church, we went to our friend's the Sumption's to have a nice potluck lunch/dinner with a group of friends out here in San Diego. We were joined by the Potter's (whom we went to TBS with) and the Matthew's. We had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone and it was especially cute to watch Madison with all of her little buddies, as they went searching for the eggs that the daddies hid in the backyard (in some of the most peculiar places). They had a blast and it was a blast watching them. I love watching Madison's face light up when she does something "all by herself" and the pride she takes in her accomplishment and she definitely gets excited about finding eggs. I think she has a little bit of my competitiveness in her, which isn't a bad thing, as long as she learns good sportsmanship :)







Oh and while playing in the backyard, Madison kept finding baby snails and was obsessed with picking them up and letting them come of their shell and slide around on her hand! Yuck! I am hoping this phase is over soon!

Easter Morning



Easter Morning is a special time, as we remember that the tomb is empty! What a glorious day indeed! We had so much fun with Easter this year and being able to tell us what she's learned at church during her Sunday School Classes, as well as what she's learned from stories we've read her. Madison truly grasped Easter this year and it was so cute to see her so excited about it. When she woke up on Easter Morning, she ran and told me Happy Easter and that Jesus is Risen. It made my heart melt, especially because she was so excited about that, she forgot that she probably had an Easter Basket waiting for her in the living room, along with a bunch of eggs to find. Before going into the living room, she insisted on getting dressed first, such a little girl! :)





I grew up searching for Eggs every Easter Morning and it was one of my favorite things to do (and probably still would be if there were adult Easter Egg Hunts), so getting to watch Madison search for Eggs and discover what was in them was a blast! When Madison was finally dressed, she came charging into the living room and saw her basket, which contained a bunch of fun goodies, but her favorite item was the new Tangled Leapster Explorer Game. She was overjoyed and so excited! Once she emptied out her basket, she began searching for eggs, which was hilarious! I don't think the Easter Bunny was believable because she kept referring to Alex and I hiding the eggs. She'd ask, "Why'd you put the eggs so high?" "How did you get the eggs to stay?" So, we'll see what happens next year. There wasn't even an Easter Bunny for us to go take pictures with at any of the malls out here. I love the cuteness of the Easter Bunny, but if Madison doesn't believe it, I won't be heartbroken because the day has so much more meaning than a bunny and I will always hide eggs and have an Easter Basket waiting for the kids because it is so much fun!




Here is a little video I recorded earlier in the week of Madison telling me what Easter means.

Easter Brunch with the In-Laws



We celebrated Easter with Alex's parents on Saturday. They came out for the morning/afternoon and we had a brunch. I have always loved brunches. There are always so many fun items to make for a brunch. We had a yummy egg casserole (my friend Susan's recipe), spinach and artichoke dip, deviled eggs, a cheese and cracker platter, a veggies platter, and homemade chocolate chip cookies, along with sparkling lemonade.



Oma and Papa brought Madison a cute Easter Basket. She enjoyed seeing all of the goodies inside and loved that the outside of the basket turned into a skirt. After everyone was done eating, Madison showed off her bike riding skills and went with daddy, Oma, and Papa to the park for a little bit.



The weather was perfect outside and we enjoyed the day of visiting and hanging out as a family.



Dying Easter Eggs





Madison was so excited to dye Easter Eggs this year. This is one of my favorite things to do also! Madison picked which eggs went in each color and how many of each color we were going to have! She had so much fun, as did Alex and I. We can't wait to do this next year as we introduce Hudson to egg dying!




Before we started, I had written Madison's name on one of the eggs with the wax crayon (without Madison knowing). When she finally dyed that egg, it was priceless to watch her take the egg out and see her name on it. She thought it was one of the most amazing things ever and was beaming! She called it her special egg.

Easter Parade




The Thursday before Easter, Madison's school hosted a little Easter Parade. It was so cute! Each class had on different Easter hats/bonnets that they had made and some sort of musical instrument and they paraded around the front of the school! It was darling!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Volunteer Work


Friday night, as a family, we helped with the prep for our Church outreach. This involved filling eggs and stuffing bags with fun goodies to hand out to our neighborhood to simply wish them a Happy Easter! We thought this was such a cool event! We also thought Madison would have fun with it, so we headed to our church on Friday night. When we arrived there were at least two to three hundred people easily also there to help. It was so much fun! Here is a picture that Alex was able to snap of Madison being a "big helper" doing her first volunteer work! There is also a picture of the room we were in to show all of the organized chaos that was happening around us! :)


My Little Shopper



Helping Mommy Shop at the Commissary!

My Star Fish


Last summer, Madison took swim lessons and she still remembers all of "Miss Meghan's" instructions very clearly. Yesterday, Alex took Madison to the pool to enjoy a nice swim in the beautiful weather we were having! Madison had fun jumping in, swimming to Alex while holding her breath, and floating like a star fish. I was able to get a good one of Madison floating all by herself :)

Saturday, April 16, 2011

My Sleepy Boys



I snapped this picture last night just before taking Hudson and putting him in his bed for the night! Love them!

Mission Beach

When we woke up today, we knew it was a day to be spent outdoors! We started off the morning with a walk from our house to Starbucks to get some tasty coffee and tea, as well as some yummy donuts from the local donut shop. Once our bellies were full and we had our drinks in hand, we went for a little stroll down Tierrasanta BLVD. On our way back home, we decided that it was too beautiful of a day to not go to the beach. So, once we arrived back home we switched gears and packed for the beach and headed back out.



We had decided to go to Mission Beach so that Madison could ride her new bike on the Board Walk and we could easily push Hudson in his stroller. Madison started out sort of timid on her bike as all of the other people zoomed by, but once we had been moving for a little bit she began to gain confidence and had a blast. She did a great job on her bike. All in all, she probably road at least 1.5 miles (pretty good for a 3 year old).



When we were finished walking/riding, we stopped at Roberto's Taco Stand and had some amazing Carne Asada soft tacos and some amazing beef rolled tacos (taquitos). This is definitely a place I want to take my parents next time they come out because they would LOVE it; as they also LOVE Mexican food as much as I do! After lunch, we had to still walk/ride a little bit to get back to where we parked. On the way we stopped at a local ice-cream shop and Madison had a soft-serve chocolate and vanilla swirl ice-cream in a waffle cone.



It was about 80 degrees at the beach so Madison had to eat that giant ice-cream cone quickly, but luckily, Alex was right there willing to help out when it began melting. I don't think Alex minded, in the slightest, being her "clean-up" crew.



We had a great day at the beach and fully taking in a beautiful day in sunny San Diego. Now we are home and enjoying the Angel game. I'd have to say that today has pretty much been perfect! We are blessed and enjoying out time together as a family of four!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Bird Nests with Ko


Yesterday we went to my friend Kristin's house and the kids all made little bird nests for Easter. I'm not sure what Kristin is up to, but she's going to have something inside of them for Easter when we have lunch together and the kids have their Egg Hunt.

My other friends, Jen and Jess, were there too and all of the kids had a blast! I forgot I had my camera with me, but here are a couple of pictures that I managed to snap!