Disneyland!!

Princesses wear panties - That is our motto around here, anyway. We had a wonderful trip to Disneyland, all in celebration of our new-found sanity and Claire's new commitment to the potty and panties. We got to see so many princesses on this trip to Disneyland! We opted to spend the money and go to Ariel's Grotto for lunch to make sure we saw them. Claire is at the right age to be really excited about everything we saw - her reactions were priceless, and worth the minor meltdowns we had with Claire and Miles.


Ariel's Grotto is a restaurant in California Adventure where five of the princesses come around to your table and you can take pictures with them and have them sign your autograph books. They are pros - they never blink, I swear! All the pictures came out great and they even posed Claire, moved her hand, etc to get a great shot.

It was definitely a splurge, and you can see the princesses throughout the park if your timing is right and you are willing to wait in several lines, but in about an hour we had lunch plus saw Ariel, Belle, Mulan (is she a princess?), Snow White and Cinderella. This was one of the first things we did on Thursday, and it kind of set the tone for our entire visit because we were on a mission to get more pictures and more autographs. Claire was into it this time around - last year she wasn't so excited to hug strangers, especially the ones that didn't talk and were of the stuffed variety (Pooh, Goofy, Pluto, Mickey, etc). But not this year - Claire and even Miles liked every character we saw.




Miles especially liked seeing Woody - he just lit up when he first saw Woody, and Miles tried to run over to him right away. But of course we followed Disney rules and waited in line for our chance to see Woody.




And more princesses - Tiana and Aurora in the park. We have so many cute pictures - so bear with me when I post a thousand more.

Don't Jinx It...

... but I think Claire is potty trained, at least during the day. We aren't quite 100% yet, but it is soooooooooooooooo much better than where we were even 2 months ago. We went about a year between the times she was willing to go poop on the toilet. What a long year it was.

She cracks me up with her excitement to go poop, yes poop. One day she just went into the bathroom on her own and went. Months and months of begging, pleading and crying, and she just does it. Now when she goes she yells for either me or Matt to "come check this out!!" It is hard to stay excited every time, but we do because we can't face the alternative - Pull Ups. Yesterday she called in both me and Matt and said we had to come see something - then she started counting to what I assumed would be to 3 before she would show us the results of her efforts. Once she reached 12, we had to stop her. :)

So, as part of our long list of bribes for pooping on the toilet, we are going to Disneyland to celebrate! If that doesn't keep her motivated, I don't know what will.

First Talk

Claire gave her first talk in Primary on Sunday - this the children's Sunday School class in the LDS church. She is three and a half, and already she's been asked to speak in public. She did well and repeated her lines as I whispered them in her ear, though not until after staring at me with a funny face for a few seconds (see second photo for a taste of the silly look she was giving me up in front of the group). I had a moment of panic, thinking she was going to just freeze up. I had a short version and a longer version (2 minutes total) prepared complete with visual aids, so after her silly faces I went with the shorter version of her talk on Heavenly Father's Plan for Me. She is such a little lady now - Claire, you can't grow up anymore! Seriously.

Rest in Peace DVR

So, we finally did it - we cancelled our cable. We have been talking about it for about a year, but we were always one sporting event away from calling Cox Cable. First the World Cup, then football season and the Super Bowl, and we just had to draw the line before March Madness starts up.

I am honestly excited to watch less TV - I don't even mind only having 7 or 8 channels. But I am having DVR withdrawls. I feel like we have stepped back into the dark ages - watching TV live seem so... barbaric! :)

It is hard to explain to Claire why we can't pause a show while she runs to the bathroom, or pull up the latest episode of Phineas and Ferb at any time of day. Our kids are growing up with such a different experience with technology, aren't they?

But for now they will have to learn to love PBS.

Miles - 18 Months

Miles Man is now 18 months old and is such a character - he is loving, cuddly, spunky and adventurous. He is getting taller, though he is all torso with short little legs. He can still wear 12 month old pants, but he is in 18 month or even 24 month shirts. Here are his stats from his well-check this week:

Height: 33 inches (50-75%)

Weight: 24.2 lbs (25%)

Head: 47.5 cm (25-50%)




Miles' favorite movie is Toy Story 3 - he can find it on the shelf of DVDs every time. He has sippy cups with Woody and Buzz on them, and likes to point out the characters to me over and over again. He is starting to say more words and is still really good at signing. People outside of our family might not understand all of his words, but he can say:

1. Mama
2. Cuh (for Claire)
3. No
4. All done
5. Got it
6. Hot
7. Penny
8. Charlie (so says Uncle Charlie)
9. Da-da
10. Shoe
11. Ball
12. Go, go, go! (from the song on the Cat in the Hat show)
13. It's cold!

Miles loves, loves, loves his sister and all of her toys and accessories, as you can see from his pink glasses.

Happy Valentine's Da- Ew!!

Claire's latest thing is saying "ew!!" to several things she sees on TV or in real life, including any kissing or romance, or bugs, or slime, or many other random things, like people falling in Wipe Out or even cartoons on Disney.


So in the spirit of Valentine's Day, here are a few things she has said "ew!" to lately:

When Matt and I share a quick hug or kiss in the kitchen, and she can see us through the archway, she says something like - "WHAT are you guys doing? Ew!"

I told Claire that Matt and I were going on a date, and she asked why. I said because we love each other, in a schmoopy voice, and she said, "Is it cause, you're married or something?! Ew!"

While watching Enchanted, when Patrick Dempsey leans in to kiss the princess to wake her from the curse, with romantic music in the background and a slow lean in, and Claire busts out with her latest word - it's getting kind of annoying, though I must say I am encouraging it in a way.

I told her that you have to be married before you can kiss someone like that on the lips. Here's hoping she believes me at least until she's 16.


Then again, as we were leaving from church yesterday she asked me out of the blue, "Mom, are you in love?" It kind of took me back - I don't know when I was last asked that question, or had to give an answer. They must have talked about Valentine's Day in primary class or something. Of course I said yes, and then she said, "Oh, because you are married to Dad?" Yes Claire, that's right. Happy Valentine's Day Matt!

I Have to Get One of These

She jumped on this trampoline for no less than 30 minutes straight, by herself, out in the backyard at the Scholer's. It was awesome!! I guess I better get a backyard first though...