Natalie's Wishes

Star bright, starlight
First star I see tonight.
Wish I may, wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight.

Natalie usually wishes for more wishes when she does this. Tonight was different.
Here are her wishes from earlier this evening.

"I wish Mommy didn't have to work any more."
"I wish for Daddy not to have flies any more."
"I wish for Elsa to not have any more fleas."
"I wish Matthew could have some new toys."

And for herself . . .

"I wish that I didn't have to go to Kindercare anymore."

Very profound.

Hooray! Natalie Turns Four Today!

Yes, it's true. My little bundle of bouncing baby girl is now four. She calls herself a "big kid" and she certainly believes it. I have been totally reminiscing and looking back at her baby pictures. I know she's only four and I am sure I'll say this again, but where did the time go?

I love when birthdays last several days, although I have stopped counting mine! So, our birthday celebration began Saturday morning with an Ariel party. This party has been in the works for quite some time. It had some high expectations and it was really important for them to be met, at least for one little girl. Natalie did much better than last year where she hid up in her room for awhile refusing to come down and tearing off her birthday flair. This year the party was smaller and the focus was on her and her friends. As suspected, she took some time to warm up with the adults - totally NORMAL for a four year old, especially one that does not like to be the center of attention. But she was in her element interacting with the kids and, really, that's what was important. The cake part didn't go over that well due to underlying circumstances and the fact that Natalie didn't want to be the center of attention. One of my friends mentioned afterward that we probably shouldn't have asked Natalie to turn around and face everyone. She was perfectly happy looking at her cake and we should have left it at that. She did enjoy her birthday cake later after everyone left. Matthew was just as happy to attempt to blow out the candle anyway. Did Natalie have a good time at her party? She will tell you yes!

After her party we gave Matthew a little nap and headed out to Auntie Jeneal's house to celebrate Max turning three. We hit the tail end of the party but ended up staying pretty late just visiting with Jen, Dan, Max and their neighbors. The kids had a blast playing and were so good. We didn't even pay for it the next day with crabbiness.

A little joke between Natalie and me was that she wasn't really four yet and wouldn't be until Tuesday. She would say things like now that I am four and I would say, "You're not four!" And we'd banter back and forth and giggle. This went on for a few days until her REAL birthday. For her real birthday we sent her to school. I had to work and it was her last week so I figured she'd enjoy going. She had treat bags to pass out and cookies too. Daddy went to help her celebrate it. Then we headed off to California Adventure for dinner at Ariel's Grotto to dine in birthday splendor with the princesses. Nat loves Ariel and had been looking forward to this for a long time. She was so excited and waited patiently for each princess to come by that she barely ate her dinner. After that we went to Disneyland and officially made it known that Natalie turned four today by visiting City Hall. Throughout the park Disney employees and strangers wished the little princess in the mermaid dress a happy birthday. I think it added to her feeling special. We were able to go on a couple rides: Pirates of the Carribbean and the Toontown Go Coaster. Then they started closing things to get ready for the fireworks which seemed a bit premature to me. But it gave us time to shop and get Natalie a new crown to go with her Ariel dress. The fireworks were great and after that we headed home. Happy birthday Princess Natalie!

Gotta love ranch dressing!

Decorating crowns.

Posing with Belle.

Happy Birthday, Princess Natalie!

Read This

My time on the computer tonight is limited to mere minutes due to the fact that Ryan is monopolizing both computers so I must be brief. Any other posts must wait. I felt the urge to read this afternoon and picked up Stone Fox. It's a short children's book that I've had for a while and had been meaning to read. What a tearjerker! Since it's a 3.5 it's a super fast read, but well worth it. If you haven't read it go and read it!

Grumpasaurus

On Tuesday Matthew must have been tired. My good natured little guy was terribly crabby. He didn't eat much for dinner and didn't even want to play outside. All he wanted to do was "play Play doh." So, I set it all up for him and was ready to help him. This is how it went.
Matthew: "Make a penguin."
I start to make a penguin.
Matthew: "No! Make a dolphin!"
I start to make a dolphin.
Matthew: "No! Make a penguin!"
Me: "You want a penguin?"
Matthew: "No! Make a dolphin!" tears
Me: "Okay, I'll make a dolphin."
Matthew: "No! Penguin!"
Me: "Penguin? Okay, okay."
Matthew: "No! Make a pig.!"
Me: "A pig? You want a pig?"
Matthew: "Yes, make a pig." Laughing hysterically through tears.
Oh, my goodness! And he was totally serious and upset!

We Are on the Mend

Ryan was round three . . . and me, well . . . I am afraid to say anything for fear of a jinx! I am getting over some type of respiratory thingy. I think that it was a whole lot stronger than the first bug because it knocked me down over the weekend. I really think that loading up on Airborne helped. My sister had it first. I guess that means she gave it to me! And she was way more sick than I was.

Round Two - Nat's Turn

Yes, it's round two and it's Natalie's turn. Poor little punkin. We picked her and Matthew up with big ideas of going to dinner and doing a little shopping. It's a good thing that we stopped home so I could change out of my very uncomfortable clothes. She laid on the couch and complained of a stomach ache. First red flag. Then for a split second she felt better and went upstairs to get her blanket to take with us. That should have been the second red flag because rarely does she take a blanket any more. From the top of the stairs she started to cry, "My tummy really hurts." I just made it to the top of the stairs to catch my daughter's vomit in my hands. Poor baby. Well, at least I saved the carpet! She's now in our retreat watching movies on the floor and has been since about five o'clock. I think now that the worst is over . . . for her. But I can't help but wonder who is next because these things shoot through our house faster than a . . .well, I can't think of a metaphor so I"ll leave it at that and use my positive thinking will away any stomach bug evils.

We're Starting the Planning Early

This little excursion should be logged for all posterity so I must record it before I forget. Last weekend I needed to get a baby shower gift. I tried going after shoe shopping and that was a nightmare. So, the following day I decided to try a different Babies R Us in the opposite direction. When we got there we discovered a party store and Lakeshore. We hit the jackpot! After getting the baby gift, Natalie and I walked over Lakeshore which she likes to call "the teacher's store." In between the two stores there happened to be a David's Bridal. Natalie's eyes got really big and she asked what kind of store that was. I told her in was a bridal shop where they sold wedding dresses and asked her if she wanted to go in. "Oh yes, Mommy, " she replied. We walked in and were greeted by the welcoming staff asking, of course, if we needed any help. I told them we were just looking. They got a big kick out of watching Natalie ooze with excitement as we looked at the different wedding dresses with her eyes wide. It was absolutely priceless to see her walking around and looking at all the pretty dresses with her eyes all a glow and the biggest smile on her face. I know the saying goes, "like a kid in a candy store," but for Natalie it would be, "like a little girl in a bridal shop!"

Aw Sick Again

Ooh, I just love games, don't' you? I like the challenge of guessing how many m & m's are in the baby bottle or trying my hand at Pictionary. And the other night we played Scene It. That was fun. How about this guessing game: Guess how many times Matthew threw up on me and how many times I had to change my clothes? Yeah, that one is not so fun. He's sleeping right now and I am crossing my fingers and toes that he will sleep through the night. If he sleeps through he night that's a good sign that it's over, right? Oh, I hope so. There was that time Natalie had it really bad and it lasted for days. We had my sister's wedding and the poor little punkin was a walking . . . well, it wasn't pretty and she lost a good chunk of her weight. My kids usually seem to get the good ones. Oh, and then we all get them too. Cross your fingers . . . and your toes.

Retraction

Well, actually Auntie gets credit for the songs. What about the hand movements? I didn't know my sister had such talent! Ha, ha!

Daycare Gets a Point

The other day I took Natalie and Matthew out to shop for new ballet shoes for Natalie. Of course Matthew didn't really find it all that interesting, even though he was sitting in his new umbrella stroller. He was even interested in pulling shoeboxes off of the shelves. That's usually a winner but not this time. Instead, it was "Ready to go shoes." He was done. So we left and made a quick stop at Target for diapers and headed home. This is when he expressed his happiness. He gave us a beautiful rendition of The Itsy Bitsy Spider complete with hand movements. I couldn't have done it better myself. Really, I couldnt' have. . . especially since I didn't even teach it to him to begin with.

Then yesterday morning I heard him up early but not complaining. He was singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and, you guessed it, doing the hand movements. I didn't teach him that either.

I get the hand gestures for The Itsy Bitsy Spider. That's pretty common knowledge. But Twinkle, Twinkle? That takes talent.

That's one plus for the daycare.

Crazy Kid!

Me, trying to grab Matthew so I can put him to bed, "Okay, Matthew, it's time for night-night."
Matthew, while jumping on the beanbag, "No! Want to play!"
Don't worry, he went down easy. He was tired. He just didn't know it.

Earlier this evening while watching the Ariel ride on disc 2 of the dvd The Little Mermaid . . . the song Kiss the Girl Comes On. Guess who started singing?

Matthew!