Smile and Say Cheese!

Howdy! Yes, we are all still alive. Its been a crazy few days with Ken home sick, but we are all finally on the road to recovery. The cough is lingering longer than I hoped, but I still feel much better than I did. We had to pull it together this morning because we had our family portraits booked with Maria this morning at Frozen Reflections. It was a great session and Ariel did awesome considering she wasn't totally feeling 100%. The final picture we picked of our family is soooooo nice and I can't wait to show it, but you have to wait.

But, since you have to wait, I have lots of other pictures for ya all to see. First off, after our session we stopped in Richmond briefly so I could go to the Gymboree sale. I got Ariel a few goodies to go with her new hat and mitts since she is a goober for chocolate, and how can you pass up a line that has nothing but little cute chocolates all over it.


'Yummy,' Ariel kept saying while pretending to nibble the chocolate design on her mitt. She is so funny sometimes! Haha.

Did someone say chocolate?

Ariel spent a good amount of time trying to count all the chocolate bon bons on this skirt. Personally, I want this outfit... er more so the chocolate. Gosh, why don't we ever have chocolate in the house when I am totally craving it. (Note to self, you don't have chocolate in the house because you lost 50lb and don't want to gain it back... gotcha... but I still want some, doh!)


In the mail today was also another fun surprise, our Disneyland photopass pictures! I joined a group order for a disc back before we left on our trip. We all put in $20 and bought the disc with all our pictures that the Disney staff take of you in the park. The disc normally costs over $100 for unlimited pictures and printing rights (buying a print in the park is about $20 for only one image), so if you get enough people going around the same time it can be a great savings. We had over 100 pictures taken, so it was a great deal! So I got my copy from the group leader and have some new pictures to share with you all.

This was our first picture taken at the castle on the first night. It was so exciting! Ariel had her new mouse ears on too.


Another nice shot of our family in front of the gardens outside the main gate.


The next few we had done the morning Ariel was decked out in her Cinderella dress. The photographer was having a great time and we had a huge group of people watching Ariel pose. I just think this is the best shot, I love it!

The princess and her castle.

Only in Disneyland do you get a picture with Tinkerbell herself. Hee.

Finally, Stella asked me if we got a picture of Ariel in her Cinderella dress with Cinderella herself, the answer... YES!

I have many others, but only posted a few more on facebook that you can see HERE if you wish.

Tomorrow Ariel and I are going to Dad and Rita's for breakfast, since we were busy this morning. However, its messing my brain up. I kept thinking tomorrow was Sunday because Ken was home, but its Saturday. Now Tomorrow is going to feel like Friday. Oh man, I need a nap.

Another thing I keep forgetting to bring up is the binkie status report. Thanks Kelly for reminding me. Well, Ariel has been binkie free since that day we took it away. She doesn't talk about it or look for it. Kinda strange but true, she just doesn't care. In fact, when she sees a baby with a binkie, she says 'babies gets binkies'. So she has that down, but there is still trouble with bed.

Naps are not a problem, but bedtime still hasn't improved. She is suddenly afraid, and does not want to be in her bed. She would rather fall asleep in our bed and then we carry her back to her room later, where she does sleep the entire night. Is this an ideal situation... in one word no. Do we worry and freak out about it... no. I let her nap in our bed, so I knew it might happen. I think that she personally prefers our bed because its big and comfy. We are planning on getting her a twin bed in the next few months, so I really think that will make a difference. She wants a 'big girl bed' and frankly I think she realized the 'toddler bed' is nothing like it. I know some of you may be saying, oh come on, she isn't that smart... um, trust me. Our daughter is all about being a grown up... she is 2 going on 20! Ariel is very determined and strong willed and if falling asleep in our bed is the biggest problem we have with her at this point, big whoop! There are far worse things.

Ok, well I should go to bed myself but I will leave you with the Ariel moment of the day. While I was cooking dinner, Ariel was pulling herself along on her tummy along the kitchen floor. When I asked what she was doing, she replied, 'I'm swimming! Splash, splash!' Makes perfect sense right?