in living color

If you have a toddler and subscribe to the Disney Channel, you'll know exactly what I'm about to talk about: Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

Luke is completely obsessed. He wakes up asking about Jake and Captain Hook and continues to ask about them throughout the day. He's even started to memorize some of the songs associated with the show. First, I present to you one of the theme songs:

And now for one of the songs you see at the end of an episode. We have become big fans of Sharkey and Bones (the two dudes that sing each time).

I've tried teaching Luke his ABC's, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and all the other normal songs that a toddler would know and he refuses to repeat them or sing with me, yet he has managed to teach himself the songs from a cartoon. Does this seem wrong to you too?

debinkification

Yep. That's the technical term for what we are embarking on over in these parts.

Reagan is still not talking nearly as much as she should be, so our next step is to try to limit her bink usage to naps and night times only. Of course, this seriously hinders her coping mechanism to deal with all of Luke's craziness. When she's being tackled, squeezed, pushed, pinched, and generally tortured, that bink helps her take all of it like a champ and we hardly hear a peep out of her. Most times you even hear a muffled laugh out the side of her bink because she finds it hilarious. I just wish she felt the same when the bink wasn't there.

So, now that we've gotten potty training 98% under our belts, this is the next mountain we get to climb. Fingers crossed and binks out.

behind

Life has this funny way of sneaking up on you, sucking you in, and overwhelming you with the intensity of it. Or maybe it's just me. Either way you look at it, things have been like a roller coaster around here lately.

My other little blog, Sweet Rose Studio, has really started to take off. I have had more photo shoots and more amazing opportunities find me through my other slice of the Internet that I am in constant awe of what is happening. I mean, how many people's job involves baking a cake and writing about it?

Today I had the chance to photograph my first really intense staged shoot. It started as this sweet little idea that hatched in my head when I saw a pink spray-painted chandelier and now it's this:

The image that has been stuck in my brain for the past three months came to life today and I honestly loved every second of it.

My two sweet babies are growing by leaps and bounds right now. This is a good and a bad thing. Reagan still isn't saying too many words; she prefers the grunting and screaming method of getting her point across, so I've started teaching her the two basic signs that will really help all of us: more and all done. See, Reagan's entire life basically revolves around food, so the more we can help her communicate, the better.

Luke suffered through his first bout with a stomach bug this week and my track record of not having to deal with vomit came to a screeching end. It was so sad as he stood there in the bathroom, shaking like a leaf after it had happened, because the poor kid had no idea what had happened. And I stood there shaking like a leaf, trying not to lose it myself. I'm happy to report that we are both alive, so I'd consider it a success. And now for my newest Worst Mom of the Year moment: I took a picture of my baby hanging his head over the potty waiting for more to happen. Don't worry, I have absolutely no plans to share it here or anywhere for that matter, but I wanted proof down the road that I can survive those kind of situations.

With every storm cloud though, there's a silver lining. I get to spend each day with these two:

And I get to fall asleep next to and share my life with my wonderfully supportive husband. Life is good.

disney: parks, people, and randomness

Now that day 2 of our Disney Adventure has come to a close, I feel like I was able to take in a whole lot more of the experience today. We weren’t rushing from ride to ride today and I took the time to notice random things. It’ll be easier to list them, rather than continue as I am.

1.       Neither kid enjoys a ride that includes more than a few seconds of darkness and Luke doesn’t like anything remotely scary. We found out the very hard way. Did you know that Pirates of the Caribbean becomes the Longest. Ride. Ever. when you have children that start screaming the second you go down that first incline less than 10 seconds into the ride? Oh, and the Finding Nemo Submarine Adventure was definitely an adventure. Reagan seemed so excited when we got on the boat, watching the bubbles and fish. When things went dark and got even remotely creepy, I prayed for the end of that dang ride. The only solution we’ve found so far to help out our cause is food. Stuff Reagan full of food and she remains silent for the amount of time it takes for her to consume whatever snack you’ve shoved in there. We now travel on any ride with an insane amount of whales (the cheap version of Goldfish; they taste better).

2.       I will never knock anyone that puts a leash on their kid. After watching two different moms run frantically around shouting their poor kid’s name today in a brief 15 minute period, I completely get it. Both kids were found pretty quickly and after the moms recovered from being absolute basket cases, I wonder if they felt the same too.

3.       I can’t figure out why there are so many Australians here. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Disney. I could easily go there each year for vacation, but to travel half way around the world to get here? That is some serious Disney dedication.

4.       Teenagers without any parents around move at a snail’s pace and have no qualms about blocking any and all families from getting quickly to their next destination.

5.       We have had to cart Luke’s potty seat around with us. It travels safely in a Wal-Mart plastic bag and Keith and Luke head off to the men’s room when the time calls for it. I love that Luke is potty trained; no accidents yet here (knock on wood), but I can’t wait to not have that baseball potty trek around with us.

6.       My kids love an impromptu dance party. After finishing our dinner in Tomorrow Land, we, along with a few other families, started dancing along to the music playing over the loud speaker. Luke and Reagan both had ear to ear grins as they got their boogey on. Both kids made a break for the stage that was roped off and I can’t help but think maybe one or both might make a career of it someday. Keith would be happiest if I said it was going to be Reagan. She seems to have the personality for it anyways.

 

 

 
7. Disney Junior is even more exciting to Luke in person than it is on television, which is saying a lot for the kid. I thought he might have a heart attack when the Jake the Pirate and Captain Hook came out. And when the gold doubloons rained from the ceiling? He had the biggest smile I might have ever seen spread across his sweet face.

And some other randoms just for fun...

 

Luke was so excited to get to take pictures with Mater and McQueen.

And Luke definitely takes after his momma. Not a huge fan of roller coasters, but love the spinning rides. We {heart} the teacups!

 

first dip

The weather here in Phoenix has taken a turn for the warm, not quite hot, so we've taken advantage of it with our fabulous Wal-Mart plastic play pool. This was Reagan's first real go at the pool and she loved every second of it. Luke wasn't so sure at first; he was actually kind of mad that Reagan got him wet. He got over that after the first few minutes and then they had a great time together.

I see many more of the experiences in our near future...

how we do...

This is how we use water guns given as birthday gifts.

 And yes, this is without water.