Wednesday, April 27, 2011

take me out to the ball game

Treeland has Spring Training season tickets for the Cubs, so Keith was able to take Luke to his first baseball game this year. I wasn't able to go (someone had to watch Reagan and Heaven knows there was no way she'd last through the game), so I sent my boys off with the camera and prayed for some decent pictures. Here are some of my favorites:


Jeanne and Holly got to go too. Lucky ducks.


A little old lady sitting in front of them gave Luke a real baseball, not the soft version we have at home. He was so excited to show me his new treasure when he got home.


This is how close the seats are to the field. They really are fabulous seats.


Luke got his hands on the camera at one point and took some of his own pictures. Maybe he'll follow in his Momma's footsteps...


And the game is done. I'm sad that I didn't get to experience this with Luke, but I am so happy that he had such a great time. Maybe next year I'll get to go too. Fingers crossed.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

easter?

My babies need to know the truth: Keith and I kind of suck at being the Easter Bunny. In fact, Luke and Reagan really have no clue that the Easter Bunny even exists. It was sad today when people asked them what the big guy brought them and Luke just looked at them with this confused stare. I will readily admit that I dropped the ball with Easter this year. Between Disney, Luke's birthday, helping to host an engagement party, Reagan's teeth, and Luke's asthma among other things, I just didn't get to it.

Sure, they both had Easter baskets this morning that they were more than happy to tear through. With the exception of a new small wooden train set in Luke's basket, each basket was filled with things I found around the house at 11pm last night that they didn't know that we had. The plastic eggs were found at the bottom of a basket of toys and neither one noticed that they were mismatched or filled with marshmallows instead of the typical Easter candy. Reagan was lucky enough to be gifted a box of sidewalk chalk that I found buried in the back of our pantry on the top shelf that I'd bought for Luke before princess was even a thought in our minds. And to cap it off, I didn't take any pictures.

And after all that, you know what?

They still had a great time. They didn't know the difference between slightly stale puffs of sugar and jellybeans (sugar is sugar, right?). We still got to attend Mass and celebrate the true reason we observe this holiday. We were able to spend time with family and enjoy each others' company.

In 20 years, Luke and Reagan won't care how much we spent or what they got. What matters most to me today was the experience and they still had an awesome. So even though Easter wasn't exactly what we'd hoped and planned, it was just what we needed.

Friday, April 22, 2011

i hate teeth

Yep, you read that right.

Teeth suck. I know its some rite of passage that every kid get to go through, but really, six teeth all at once?

I'm over it. Reagan's over it. Luke's probably sick and tired of hearing all of her screams from the room next to him.

And you know what the kicker is? When she wakes up sobbing and wailing and I go into comfort her, she wants nothing to do with. I set her back down and she melts down even more. By the time I finally convince her nearly an hour later to go to sleep and try to set her in her crib, she magically pops back up and the cycle begins to repeat itself.

Ridiculous.

I really wish at this moment that she was like Renesmee' from Twilight, born with a full set of chompers. Oh how grand that would be.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

disney: parks and pictures


Our first day at the park didn’t disappoint. We rode rides, waited in lines, met with characters, did a little shopping and ended up getting the requisite ear hats, ate some food, and enjoyed our time. There were a lot of people at the park; many more than Keith or I had originally anticipated, but we didn’t have to wait too long in any line. If it was long, we moved on to another ride or attraction where the wait wasn’t nearly as bad.


Luke’s favorite ride of the morning has to be the “baby train.” He is currently obsessed with all things train, so this was at the top of his list. The rest of the day can really be told best in pictures; enjoy!


We did learn that our precious babies do NOT enjoy any ride that is dark. At all. Too bad we figured that out 10 seconds into Pirates of the That ended up a complete disaster of epic proportions.


The rockets in Tomorrowland were a great solution and perked them up quickly!


Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!



Tuesday, April 19, 2011

disney: the arrival

Luke is slightly obsessed with all things Disney, so Keith and I thought that for our family vacation and for his birthday this year, we could take him and Reagan to Disneyland. Really, I wanted to go and this was a marvelous excuse to get Keith to finally agree.

With fears of horrific traffic in our future, we set our early so we wouldn’t have to deal with it. As it turns out there was hardly any to deal with anyways, so we were lucky. The kidlets did remarkably well and we had only a few minor distractions along the way.


Before we even made it out of the Phoenix Metro area, we had heard, “DAD! Mack Truck right there!” 23 times. Seriously. We counted. With Luke fresh off of potty training, we were really worried that our ride would be accident after accident and a complete disaster. Luke was a champ; when he needed to go, he let us know. Of course when he did tell us, he needed to go in the middle of nowhere so Keith had to take him in the bushes to do his business.


I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. Luke has a special bond with his baseball potty and has a difficult time doing his business without it. Going poo in a random plastic crate that Keith found on the side of the road just wasn’t working for him, but it was dang cute to watch. We headed down the road a while further until we reached Love’s, the truck stop mecca. I watched as Luke and Keith headed off to the bathroom, baseball potty in hand. Reagan and I had a few moments for an impromptu photo shoot and Luke was finally able to go and we headed right on our way.

We’re now sitting in our hotel as Luke and Reagan are taking naps. Or Luke is taking a nap and Reagan is sliding all over the pack and play wasting time and refusing to nap. At least she’s quiet for the most part.  Keith and I are praying this last, because this is what we currently look like:


Speaking of hotel, I feel like there are a few points that need to be said about it:

1.       It is absolutely gorgeous. I’d really expect nothing less from a Hyatt Regency, but this is by far the nicest hotel I’ve stayed at. Ever.

2.       This is the only hotel I’ve ever stayed at that has a valet and a doorman and a bell hop. Amazing.

3.       I’m fairly certain we are a solid 20 years younger than any other parent in this building.

4.       This is the kind of hotel that has a pseudo-blanket placed at the end of the bed; I refer to it lovingly as the bed scarf. There is no real purpose to it other than to look pretty. I never knew that hotel had anything other than weirdly uncomfortable polyester bedspreads.
5.       I feel really out of place. I kept apologizing to the door man for the state of our luggage and the quantity. And yes, it is the same luggage that I bought with one of my first paychecks at my first job when I was 17. (Side note: Who buys luggage when they’re 17? Me apparently.)
I am so incredibly excited to take Disneyland tomorrow and I can’t wait to see his face when he sees everything for the first time. Fingers crossed he doesn’t freak out when the characters come near him.
Fast forward three hours later…
Reagan has upped her game tonight. For the first time and certainly not the last, I had “that kid.” You know, the screaming, thrashing, snarling toddler that everyone cringes at and thinks to themselves, “Why don’t her parents do anything about that?” or “What is wrong with her?” In typical Reagan fashion, she refused to sleep this afternoon which was our main culprit for the hideous outburst. Do you know what finally calmed her down? Food...or empty coffee cups. Oh that girl…

We spent some time walking around Downtown Disney tonight and if Luke’s reaction is any indication to what tomorrow will be like, we should be in for an awesome time tomorrow.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

little man luke


Friday was our little man’s birthday and I am having a tough time wrapping my head around the idea that he is three already. I feel like he’s been such a huge part of our family for so long, but that these past three years have flown by. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was being induced and that he was refusing to come out. I remember how tiny he was laying on my chest, looking to me for comfort after what he just went through.


I remember his first smile, his first tooth, his first steps, his first trip to the hospital, and now, his first trip to Disneyland. I am so happy to be his momma.


Happy birthday my sweet Luke.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

flashback

Sometimes when I'm having a day that is harder than expected or when I need a good reminder of how  truly blessed I am, I go back and look at old pictures. Sure I'm a sucker for pictures in the first place; I'm a photographer, right? But there is just something so calming and refreshing about looking back on moments passed, remembering the story or emotion of that single moment in time my camera caught.

Today was rough and today I needed those reminders.


Just like the widely used phrase says: Keep calm and carry on.