Sunday, August 17, 2008

Maverick's 6 month photo session

We interrupt this Disneyland review for a very special message...Click on this link to see my little man's latest.  I love him so much....I don't know how I was so blessed that I hit this jackpot.  He is such an amazingly wonderful and adorable kid.  If you click on recent sessions, there is also some pics from the beautiful Barziza Girls session last month.    Enjoy!!!

Our favorite photographer - Now back to the regularly scheduled blogging...

Saturday, August 16, 2008

The Adventure...

There were wonderful adventures every day.  Ashton and Uncle Dean conquering their fear of California Screamin'.  Me taking you out of the hotel on any day in the July heat!  And many other documented here

Bella's first slide with NO FLOATIES on the big slide at the hotel.  And she swam all the way across at the bottom too!   She rocked the slide!!!

Buzz Lightyear...if you look real close you can see your head behind Ashton's laser gun.  You LOVED looking at all the lights and glow in the dark stuff.  I worried you might be afraid of the dark rides, but you were a champ!  By the way, I kicked Ashton's tail at Buzz...you can see Uncle Dean and Aunt Lori behind too!  I have no idea who was taking this picture....hmmmmm

One of the biggest adventures was Beaux getting her glamour girl make-over AND getting her ears pierced.  Finally!  She was so excited about this and I think she looked absolutely beautiful!  This is before...

And this was after.  No crying...her eyes didn't even water....show-off.  I think she looks much older with EARRINGS!!!

Austin's adventure included sliding down the kiddie slide at the pool.  He must have gone down that thing 100 times while we were there.  

Bella driving the cars.  What is is about these things that kids LOVE?!?!?  I mean its ok...but kind of like Barbies...I never "got it".   But these girls LOVE these cars.  And if you are riding with Bella, then it is definitely an adventure.  However, I do have one complaint since Disneyland has made their cars more eco-friendly, they have lost the loud, fuel smelly, long line goodness they once were.  The good news is we can still find that version along with the people mover in Florida....now the smell of fuel in the air, the noise pollution of the LOUD engines, and cruisin' Tomorrowland from the People Mover...that is good times!

These four braved the Maliboomer!  I snapped this one just as it launched....it makes me giggle.

And again back to the water...it was an adventure...I think we could have done nothing else and these guys would have had the best day ever.

This is a boy with a mission.  What it is...I am not sure...

Ah, the sisterly sucker punch to the gut.  Always a fine move when you get the chance...

"Maybe if I run fast, the water won't hit me!"...um, yeah, right.

"Okay, surely it won't hit me if I put my face next to the hole it comes out of".  Though I must admit that it is definitely a brave adventure as this is a good way to get an unexpected eye wash.

Fun...fun...fun...

Having a very good day...what an amazing adventure....


Friday, August 15, 2008

The Silliness or is it Silly-ness?

Silly was the operative word on this trip.  Here is about the cutest Goofy I ever saw!

Mack sampling his first "real" food at the 5 star Napa Rose restaurant.  As a child of a self proclaimed "foodie" it is only appropriate that his first food be some of the states finest.   Ashton showing him how it is done...she has been eating for a while now...

The excitement of the VERY FIRST RIDE of the trip...you can see it in her face...so much fun.

Now, don't ever tell my boy that his first ride at his very first Disney park was Alice is Wonderland.  Can you get any more girly than Alice?  I don't think so.  I'm sorry.  We were there...there was no line...we tried to do Nemo but it was broken and the next thing we saw was Alice.  And when you don't speak well enough to get a vote, you can easily get outnumbered by your female cousins.  But we quickly went over to Dumbo which should be every first timers first official ride....a classic. Don't worry.  When we go on our next trip when you are more aware and the trip is all about you, I promise your first ride will be something you can be proud of!   I hope...

Stop with the paparazzi!!!....these children of today who will have hundreds of thousands of images of their childhood.  I look forward to seeing what happens to them all someday.  I think Beaux is saying enough is enough...

Bella doing her part to keep the scream machine fully loaded for Monstropolis...

Ashton on Austin duty...sometimes you just have to pin 'em.

Who knew you could spend hundreds of dollars to get into the park and instead of classic Disney attractions, you can waste hours playing in the special Disney sprinklers which are clearly so much more fun than the sprinklers at home...

And again...

And again...did I mention how much they LOVED the water play at the parks?  

I want to know what this joke was...

"Uncle Dean....throw me!!!!!"

"Wha' chu lookin' at????"

Stop with the paparazzi!!!!!!!!!  Leave me alone!!!!

Smiles say so much...

I love a good smile...they can speak volumes as to what is happening.  To me they are direct reflection of what lies ahead and where we are...the anticipation...

The excitement of all the new things we are going to do...

The silliness we are all feeling as we get ready...

The joy of all being together...

The fun of a new experience...

and new times for cousin fun...

It is almost time...how do they expect us to sleep?

And then it begins...

And off we go...

For our first fun-filled day...

At DISNEYLAND...It was so much fun.  I am not ready to let it pass by without blogging about how much fun this trip was.  What a trooper Maverick was and we had so much fun.  It was hot and crowded, but we were all together and making the most of it....highlights from our trip coming soon.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Dear Mack - Month Six

Dear Mack,

On Monday, you turned six months old. Half a year! I can't even believe it. I remember thinking, when I had been pregnant for six months, that I could barely remember not being pregnant and that it felt like I would be pregnant for the whole rest of my future life and for a while it looked like you thought that might be a viable option. I do know that it felt like a long, long, long, long time. But six months of your being here in my world has gone by so quickly that I almost feel like someone is playing a trick on me. Of course that person could be you. It is hard to believe you have been here for a whole half of a year and I am astounded at how far you have come in that time.

I am starting to think you practice your new baby tricks in your crib at night as you are really moving along quickly on your milestones which I try to not put much stock in anyway, but it is nice to see you accomplish them in good time. You have had a very busy month developmentally, socially as well as physically. 

I have had to weed through another 1200 pictures or so of this latest month of your life. They are all so precious to me. I don't know how you will ever have 3 years in the future to look through them all, since I am certain that is how long it will take to get through tens of thousands of photos of you and your life....maybe you and your cousins will get together one day and put on a non-stop 7 day slide show marathon of all your adventures and life moments that were never printed - "the lost photos" as we shall call them. You know - the majority of the ones that will most likely get lost on memory cards that are tucked about the house in junk drawers and camera bags waiting for the "someday" that I get around to printing them all in some form. I can tell you there are some true gems and some funny sequences in the bunch if you ever do find yourself with time to weed through them all.

This month you have mastered the art of sitting up, which seemed for some time to be the height of your ambition. 

However, now that you learned you can hold yourself up and play with your toys, you seem more intent than ever to learn to crawl or to develop some sort of mobility as you thrust yourself forward, get up on all fours and generally try to figure out what you are supposed to do in what order to move in forward motion. 

So far, putting all the pieces together in sequence is eluding you. Aunt Lori predicts within 30 days you will be on the move. I am told that I should enjoy being able to put you in one place and know that you will still be there if I turn my back for a few minutes, because soon enough you'll be all over the place. And I am sure it's true.

Developmentally, you are right on track. You weigh 17 pounds, 3 ounces and are 26 inches long. You are in the 45th percentile for weight, 40th for height and 50th for head circumference. You are growing well and I did not even have to ask the pediatrician about any weird baby behavior or phases this time. We seem to be settling in pretty well so I am happy to say that our frequent flier status at the doctors office that we have been working on in the first 6 months is now on a definite hold.

You also like to stand up alot and occasionally dance. However, I do have a touch of bad news. It appears that you have terrible taste. Because while you will dance to just about any music I play, your favorite thing to dance to is...the Chicken Dance song, as hummed by me. This one it totally my fault, because at some point when you could stand on my lap, I started jiggling you back and forth and singing that ridiculous song and making you do the clapping part. And now, you think it is a riot. At least you will be prepared for every wedding reception you will ever attend in the continental US.

This month, you have finally found your feet and you now spend a great deal of time holding onto your toes.

I am not sure what you are planning. Sometimes you appear to be trying to figure out whether or not they will fit in your mouth. Because you see, for most of this past month or so it has been fairly obvious that you are, in fact, teething, and I wasn't hallucinating the whole thing even though your doctor said he saw no teeth coming soon. Up until now for the past month or so, you would chew on just about anything...and it has become clear to me that you are developing some pretty strong jaws. 

The other day, my finger ended up in your mouth and you chomped down on it. Imagine my suprise when where there used to be some super baby soft gummy gums, there were sharp little puppy teeth! It hurt! I have since learned to keep my fingers to myself and to provide you with lots of options for your tiny teeth workout rather than my flesh.


You actually have TWO TEETH! You have definitely and definitively at last sprouted two teensy tiny little teeth and they are about the cutest two teeth I ever saw!

You now spend a good portion of every day checking them out with your tongue as you stick it out and give raspberries on a fairly regular basis to anyone who happens to walk by.

Maybe it's because of this that you also babble and squeal a lot more lately than you have in the past. I don't know what it is, but I'm loving it, because you have such a cute voice. You have also discovered that your voice is capable of great volume, and as I write this, you are in the living room, playing with your toys and squealing with delight about...something. I have no idea what.

As a result of these cutest teeth on the planet, we have begun eating solid foods for the past week and this has been hilariously fun. You have had avocado, cantaloupe, peaches, sweet potatoes, bagels, broccoli, tomatoes, pasta, apples, jicama along with an assortment of teething biscuits. And you LOVE it!

I have already blogged about your love of the plum. But you enter each meal with enthusiasm as to what is to come. We have tried a bit of oatmeal and other veggies on the spoon, and one night recently you powered down an entire tub of organic baby food carrots, but you clearly prefer to be in charge of what is going into your mouth.

Of course this may also be your way of getting up to 3 or 4 baths a day, since that continues to be one of your favorite activities of your day. You are a very very very messy eater. But once we strip you down and hose you off, we go at it again a few hours later. I find it great fun. I hope you do too.

You took your first trip to Disneyland this month where we had you on the go so much that you slept 2-3 hours every afternoon which is something you never do at home where you are the master of the 30 minute nap. You had fun seeing all the people, the colors, the activity and hearing the sounds of the Disney parks, and getting all the attention of your cousins.

But by far, your favorite thing was actually one of my all time favorite Disney things...The Electric Light Parade which we saw well after your normal 7pm bedtime.

But you kicked and squealed and churned your little legs and arms just as hard as you could through the whole parade just trying desperately to get close enough to .... well I am sure you would have put it in your mouth as you do with everything else these days, but you were so very excited as we sat at the curb and watched it go by. I don't know what float you liked best, because I was too busy watching you and how into it you were. It was by far the most fun moment for me too.

We had another trip to Texas this past month where you convened more meetings of the "Baby Mack Fan Club". 

Your cousins absolutely adore you and I love watching them with you too.

You are so content to have them hold you all of the time. I think it is because when we are visiting them or they are visiting us, basically they are so very excited just to see you. So that means that during times when you would normally have to entertain yourself while I do something like, I don't know, shower or eat or pay bills, you can be held and entertained non-stop by someone who tells you how cute you are 12 times a minute. Who wouldn't love that?

You got along so famously with your cousins that once the month-long visit-fest was over I could see that your cousin withdrawal was a tad rough. I wish we lived closer so you could all see each other more.

You do however have your Uncle Dean and Aunt Lori here now full time. They are settling in nicely in CA. 

You LOVE having Austin around too. You spend all day watching him and seeing what he is doing. I am sure once you are on the move you will be quick on his heels trying to keep up with his 2 year old antics. I think you will both give your Aunt Lori a run for her money once you are both "on the go". I think you two rugrats have some very fun times ahead.

You are also getting very affectionate and snugly this month. One day this past weekend, I was getting ready to put you down for a nap and sat down at my computer to send a quick email. Most of the time if I have you on my lap while I work on the computer, you try to assist me by pounding on the keys. But that day you put your arms around my neck and put your head on my shoulder, and in a few minutes I realized that you had fallen asleep there. It was so sweet that I just sat there for a few minutes and drank it all in. Because you really are growing up so fast, and I know that soon, you will have better things to do than fall asleep in my arms. And oh, how I will miss that.

I love you,
Mommy