First and Fourth

Just sitting here sipping a Sangria and reflecting on the kids' birthday party today.

First off, it was a success, but the morning started off with a bit of a snag. There are two gazebo pavilions you can rent at the park. I had reserved Gazebo A from 10-2. And apparently two other parties were double-booked for Gazebo B for the full day. A very crabby lady in gray-sweatpants (who will be referred to as Gray-Sweatpants from here on) approached me to ask for my paperwork, proving that I had the rights to Gazebo A.

Yeah, I had them... at home, on my desk.

So Ryan had to drive back home and get them. And meanwhile Gray-Sweatpants informed me she was calling the police to see how they wanted to divide up the 2 gazebos between all 3 groups...

Talk about stress just as our party was starting.

Later we noticed that her 'party' wasn't going to start till HOURS later. All she wanted that space for was to 'set up' - and Tinkerbell style for a toddler's party no-less. Come on people! 4 hours to setup a party?!)

Thankfully it turned out so we kept our original reserved spot and they duked out the details between themselves. I had a party to get started.

And partying we did. It was a patriotic-themed party (inspired by the fact that the 4th of July is exactly halfway between the kids' birthdays - with Addie's on the first and Dylan's on the 7th of July).
Dylan had a blast with his friends, running around with water guns decorated up with 'Cars' stickers (per his request), throwing water balloons (provided for the kids to toss at their daddys, courtesy of Kathy), drinking juice boxes, eating lots of fruit snacks and hotdogs.







Addie had fun... eating. She enjoyed strawberries, goldfish, and... her first chocolate cupcake! (Seperate post to follow with pictures of her first cake experience)


She also enjoyed the swings and watching her big brother run around with his buddies. Here she is with Christy, just after the water balloon fight.



At the end of the party, Addie was wiped out, shirtless and sticky from cupcake icing, and overdue for her afternoon nap.

Meanwhile, Dylan somehow had energy to spare. So when we got home, he unwrapped their gifts, took his bath, came along with Kathy and I to get my Saturday Flowers, the grocery store, Panera for dinner take-out (all while Addie napped), and continued to play non-stop until nearly 8pm!


That, my friends, is why this mama is drinking a Sangria at 11:05pm. ;)

First Cupcake

Surrounded by her peers, she examines said cupcake and decides how best to tackle.

She decides the frosting looks promising and takes her maiden taste.
Not bad. I think I'll have some more of that.
Is this how you do it mama?

Meanwhile, Dylan decides he'll go for the frosting first on his birthday cupcake. After all, he's a pro now that he's FOUR.

Pause for a brief moment, then back to business.


When it is all said and done, sweet Addie is a... happy, sticky mess!

Disneyland Birthday

For my birthday this year, we went to Disneyland. Sure it's a fun place to visit, but the real treat was being together with my sister, her family, and my parents for a couple days. The kids LOVED being with their cousins and I soaked up the time with my family.

In Toontown, waiting for everyone on the rollercoaster behind us (see the red rollercoaster? It's made for kids and it's pretty sweet.)

In Mickey Mouse's House, with some balloons to mark Andrew's birthday. (My nephew and I have the same birthday. Happy 4th Birthday, Drew!)

On Small World. Somehow it's even more special when you go on it with your parents and sister, remembering the first time you went on it as a kid.



Pixar Parade. Waiting for Lightening McQueen!
I love that parade. So much in fact, that the day before I dreamt that I was trying out for a spot as a dancer in the parade.

Little Minnie Mouse, asleep after a long day... along with her brother.

Dylan asleep in my dad's arms on the tram back to my car.
I didn't get home that night until after midnight. Thankfully I had my new GPS (thanks Mom and Dad for the awesome birthday gift!) to help me home (otherwise with the poorly marked detour on the 5, I'd have gotten lost for certain. Not good with two sleeping kids alone in LA!)

Cousins

Dylan spent some time up at his "Candyhouse Nandma and Tapa's" house up in Lompoc a couple weeks ago.
He soaked up some quality time with his three cousins and even got to celebrate his youngest cousin's 2nd birthday (Dominick) at his party before coming home. Here's a picture of me with my sister, mom, and cousin Hayley during the party.
Trying to get a picture of the boys...
Dominick decided to turn around the opposite way just as Ryan shot the picture.
Gotta love trying to pin down three toddler boys for a picture, hoping and pleading that they'll look at the camera, not run away, and cooperate just a smidgen. Here is the best one we got of the three of them outside the bounce-house at the party.
The combination of no nap and hours playing with his cousins, led to a VERY tired toddler at the end of the day. Both of our kids were asleep already in the back seat as we rounded the corner to head back to LA and stayed asleep until we pulled into the garage 3 hours later!

Happy Birthday Dylan!

Today Dylan is THREE.

How do I put my feelings/thoughts into words? While Baby Addie sleeps, I'll do my best...

My baby boy is growing up. In a good way, but yet my heart aches. I know it's because of the changes that have occured this past week. It's a combination of my desire to have things as they were before, being the person who is teaching him, playing with him, and singing him to sleep at night - and feeling the changes all around us, transitioning our family from one of three to four now that our sweet baby girl has arrived.

He's growing up. He put on his clothes this morning nearly by himself as I sat and nursed his newborn sister, amazed how much he can do on his own when I can't help him. It seems he has discovered imaginative play overnight, building 'caves' with his toys and airports to Mexico in the kitchen. He sits in a regular chair now at the dinner table and we've put away his booster seat. He doesn't wear a bib anymore.

He's growing up. He's a great big brother, asking how 'baby Addie' is and wanting to help bathe her, dress her, change her, feed her. Loving her. Wanting to keep her 'cozy and safe' whenever he's around her.

But he's still my baby boy. Last night I went into his room after we was already asleep and uncovered his sweaty head from his covers, pulled him into my arms and rocked him. Tears came to my eyes as I thought about how fast he's growing up, how fast he's becoming more independent. I leaned in close and breathed in the sweet smell of shampoo in his hair and kissed his soft neck and face. I thought about how much his world has changed in the past 6 days, how much our family has changed. And at the same moment in time, I was happy and sad and scared and falling in love all over again with my son.

He's still my baby boy. He hugged me and kissed me at preschool as I dropped him off, looking at me from the back seat as we drove there, talking about which 'friends' he'd see today at school.

And tonight when we celebrate his third birthday with ice-cream-cake and pizza, I know my heart will be happy, knowing that he'll always be my son... regardless of his age. And for now I'm going to soak in this time, tantrums and all, because it's only for a season and I love this season of my life!

Camera Love

Because of Dylan's sister's impending arrival in the next couple of weeks (or less!), we are celebrating his birthday today complete with a Lightening McQueen birthday party at the park.

Last night he opened up his first present, which was a BIG HIT!

For months now Dylan has been watching his daddy with the camera, asking to see pictures he's taken and wanting to be part of taking the weekly belly pictures of his mama's growing tummy. And now he has a camera of his very own. Imagine what a 3 year old finds picture worthy: a lego, mommy sitting on the couch, a cat, the table, the wall, ANYTHING.

He loves his camera so much he slept with it last night and woke up telling us "I need to take a picture" at 6am!

I just keep finding myself shaking my head at how much agony it would have been for my parents back in the days when all we had was film cameras... and every pointless picture of a blurry cat running by yielded a bill to develop the film! Thank goodness for digital. And thank you Tagi, for the awesome birthday present. Dylan loves it!!!

Overheard at our dinner table:

Ryan: Hey, I thought of what we could do to celebrate your 30th birthday.

Briana: What?

Ryan: The Getty Museum. And not only is it supposed to be really neat, but it's FREE, which fits into our budget.

Briana: But how does that fit into being on bedrest? When would we go?

Ryan: Well, I figured we could just get you a wheelchair and I'd push you around.

Briana: Wait. I'm turning 30. How does sitting in a wheelchair while celebrating my birthday this year not make me feel old?

Thirty

So if they say that 60 is the new 40, does that mean that me turning 30 is more like I'm turning 10?

Tomorrow we are heading up north for me to spend the week with my parents. It will be good for Dylan to have time with his cousins and for Ryan have time back here to get some work done (while I continue to stick to my bedrest orders with the help of my parents). Dylan is super excited to go to see "Nandma and Tapa" and has already packed up all his cars in a bag to take along and share with his cousins!

So tomorrow my birthday plans include:
1. Spending the morning working on getting my medical release from Jury Duty since I'm on bedrest (at least something has good timing in my life!)
2. Driving up north and dropping Ryan off along the way to meet up with my mom and uncle for his eye surgery at 3pm. Yeah, Ryan is having LASIK eye surgery tomorrow. I'm excited for him, but nervous, wishing I could be there to hold his hand myself!
3. Managing Dylan along with my dad and cousin's help as I try to stick to doctor's orders for bedrest...
4. Locate some chocolate or ice cream or something sweet and indulge after Dylan goes to bed and I wait for my mom to bring Ryan back home after his surgery...

Yup, just your average 10-year-old birthday plans.

Cupcake Cowboys!

Dylan went to his good friend Joshua's 2nd birthday party yesterday at the park. Since my friend Christy and her husband are Texans, they did it up as a Cowboy themed party. Very cute, indeed.

The cupcakes and cake were the hit of the party. Seriously, all you need at these toddler parties are some balloons and some icing and the kids act like they are at Disneyland!

And now that the kids are all getting the hang of "parties" and "blowing out the candles," they all smile when we sing the birthday song like it's their own special day and then practically dive into the party cake to help blow out the candles. One kid actually crawled across the table to get to the candle! (his birthday party was just a couple weekends ago actually, and he was all about the candles then too!)

Another attraction was a firetruck that stopped by (no connection to the party, but just as awesome for the kids) for a few minutes and let the kids take turns sitting up in the big front seat. We got a couple pictures before the firemen got a call and had to rush off. Dylan and his buddy Joshua were actually sitting in the truck when the call came and they had to go. What timing!

Chocolate Mice?

For Ryan's birthday, our friend Kathy sent him a gift - something "perishable" and overnighted to our door. We wondered what it could be, but never would have guessed.
She's probably the most creative gift-giver I know.
Check it out:
Yeah, it's a box of handmade chocolate mice, complete with silk tails, and shipped from New Hampshire.
And for those of you wondering why she sent him chocolate mice, it's actually quite simple and sweet. Ryan's research involves genetically engineered mice in a study related to nicotine addiction. And when I asked her how she found the idea for his gift, she replied, "the internet has everything!" - I guess she's right!

Still Here

Yes, we are still here. Just a busy week (hardwood flooring getting installed and Ryan working like a mad-scientist with long hours each day). Hopefully things will slow down soon and we'll be able to produce a proper post again.
Ryan had his 29th birthday on Wednesday and we celebrated with his favorite meal and cake (Dylan helped and even added the sprinkles at the end!) and a few small gifts (wrapped in Thomas the Tank Engine wrapping paper - as it was all I had besides Christmas paper and Dylan was pretty excited about that!)
The flooring will be done today sometime and I'll get to clean off the 1/4 inch thick dust that currently lives on everything downstairs including my napkins, salt and pepper shakers, phone, stove, and bananas. I'm sure to be busy tonight and most of the weekend (neat-freak emerges).
The latest obsession of mine has been what to use to clean the new hardwood flooring. That, and how I'll get the smell of body odor out of my downstairs once the guys leave today! (any suggestions?)
My dear friend Rochelle (who started up the Stroller Strides in our area) is moving away next week and I'm fighting thinking about that, so being busy helps.
And I promise to post new pictures soon.

Pool Party, San Diego Style

Saturday night, after celebrating with our friends (see previous post), we drove down to San Diego to celebrate with Ryan's family. We enjoyed Sunday by his parent's pool, which was VERY nice indeed (especially with a new bikini bathing suit!) Sitting out there felt like we were on a tropical vacation and the weather was absolutely perfect for an outdoor pool-party.


Daddy and Dylan enjoying the pool.

More singing of the beloved "Happy Birthday" song. Dylan even clapped at the end of the song.

Happy Birthday, my little boy!

Birthday Boy

Dylan turned TWO this past weekend. We had a little party at a local park, which was fun. There were balloons, of course, cupcakes (which he LOVED), a battery-powered bubble maker (thanks to Anna for bringing that - it was a HUGE hit), and lots of fruit (another one of his favorites!)


Here he is with his best friend, Rocco, over by the balloons!
Here's the birthday boy eyeing the cupcakes, again with Rocco at his side (notice how after we took EXTRA care to keep them level during transport to the park, they were knocked over just moments before this picture when Dylan decided to crawl behind the table for them, indicating to us that it was time for the cake).


And here's the family all together!

Things Dylan likes

For starters, here's something he likes (all the way from St. Louis!):


And a few more things that I'd love to get him:
1. Thomas the Tank Engine DVDs

2. The Moon and the Stars or both

3. Fish Prints with white frames for his room

4. Sticker Books (note that Dylan's prized possession right now is his sticker book!)

5. Anything about bugs or ants

6. Tubtime toys (or these)

7. Kids music

8. Little Einstein Kids Videos

9. An Easel (or this one)