Consistency vs. Fashion

It is Sunday morning and I am in the midst of a battle with Jenna. A battle that I really want to give into because it's so ridiculous, but the golden rule of parenting tells me that I must be consistent. And I know that when I am not consistent, I become a doormat to my children and it takes a while to correct that behavior.

In general, I like our family to be a little bit dressed up on Sunday--which translates to no jeans. I don't think it's wrong to wear jeans to church--in fact, we have all worn jeans before on a Sunday morning and all wore them last night at the Saturday service, but in general, I like to have one day that we all look a little bit nicer than usual. I guess in my mind, it makes Sunday a little bit different than the rest of the days and I like that.

I asked the girls to get dressed for church this morning on their own. Yes, it would be way easier to pick out their clothes and help them get dressed, but I am also a big fan of teaching independence. Abby came out in her purple sparkly dress (surprise, surprise) and Jenna came out in jeans and a cute shirt. I nicely asked her to put her khaki pants instead of her jeans and she flipped out. She said she looked so cute and didn't want to ruin the outfit.

I so wanted to give in. After all, wearing jeans to church isn't wrong and in the end, it's not a huge deal to me if she did, but at that particular moment it became an issue of her listening and following my directions. I couldn't give in, even though I really, really wanted to.

I showed her the pants that would work with her shirt, and she still refused. I felt like I was getting a preview of the teenaged years. She finally put the pants on, stomped downstairs, and is currently pouting on the couch telling me how I don't understand "fashion" and that it is my fault that she doesn't look cute today. :)

Consistency reigns for the moment and hopefully Jenna will listen to me next time I ask her to get her church clothes on. Until then, I guess I better start studying up on my six year old "fashion."

It Was Worth It

Monday's trip to the allergist was good. Nate came with me and helped with the "pricks." Abby took them like a champ, didn't cry, and even sat still while we waited for the results to turn up on her back. Two good things came out of this appointment: 1. Abby is not allergic to anything. I was suspicious of certain foods, but they call came up negative. Even though finding out that Abby had an allergy would have explained her asthma, I'm really happy that Abby doesn't have to deal with an allergy on top of asthma. 2. The doctor changed her course of treatment for her asthma. One of my biggest frustrations was that I was giving her this medicine that wasn't working. She took her off the inhalers and put her on Singulair. We will see if it works. I hope so:)

And just because I feel like sharing some of my opinions on happenings in the world, here's a few thoughts . . .

I am really disappointed in American Idol this year. We watched first "top 24" episodes this week and couldn't find any performance worth being excited for. The good thing is that I love Ellen DeGeneres and I love that she's a judge on the show. She's so funny.

I am really angry at Toyota. We bought a Toyota Sienna a few years ago mostly for the safety ratings and good reputation it has. And now we find out that they intentionally cut corners on safety, didn't issue recalls at the appropriate times, and even bragged about how much money they saved . . . all while people were dying. Our car has not been recalled, but it seems like many of the Toyota models are having trouble and just because our car hasn't been recalled doesn't mean that I trust that Toyota got it right with the Sienna. Next time we buy a car, Honda is looking really good right now.

I hate what Tiger Woods did to his family, but I am all for forgiveness and think he deserves it as much as anyone else does. I hope that he can turn his life around, save his marriage, and put his family back together. It might seem like a long shot, but I know that God can heal anything, and how awesome would that be if such a horrible situation could be turned around for good? Not condoning his behavior, but rooting for forgiveness here.

8-12 inches of snow are coming our way in the next 24 hours, and I'm off to go buy food and wood for our fireplace just in case we lose power. This storm is being called a snowicane, so I better be ready!

It Better Be Worth It

Tomorrow, I have to take Abby to the allergist and it better be worth it. For those of you who have kids who have had to go to the allergist, you know the anxiety I am feeling. Abby is being tested for allergies (again) and this involves a blood draw and a whole bunch of pricks on her back to try to determine what is causing her asthma. We went through this last year and it was one of the hardest things to watch, because it's pretty painful for her. Why are we doing it again?

From the beginning. . . . when Abby was three months old, she coughed all night for three straight nights. I'm talking all night, every 30 to 60 seconds. But during the day she was fine and didn't cough at all. I took her to the doctor who accused me of being and overreactive mother. After firing him on the spot from being our pediatrician, he went on to tell me that this could be the beginning of an asthma issue for her.

A few years went by and she never had any signs of wheezing or trouble breathing, just this crazy cough. I knew that she was getting a cold because she would be up the night before the runny nose hit coughing every 30 to 90 seconds. I just thought she didn't handle colds well.

Then she had trouble breathing when we had wildfires in California. And she couldn't run or play without coughing uncontrollably. She would cough during the day and I couldn't take her out anywhere because all the other moms looked at me like I was inflicting this sick kid all over theirs. She just coughed and coughed and coughed.

My new pediatrician diagnosed her with asthma and got her started on inhalers. They worked a little bit . . . they helped decrease the coughing, but never got rid of it. So I am supposed to fill her with these medicines every day and not fully prevent these asthma symptoms. Last Spring, she saw an allergist in CA, but she tested negative for everything, although the doctor told me that #1 she refused to diagnose Abby with asthma because she was so young and #2 many kids that young might have allergies, but don't test positive for them.

So now we are a year out and the inhalers aren't helping at all. She's had 5 episodes of uncontrollable coughing since October and I am hoping that tomorrow's appointment will give us some answers. Her new pediatrician here in NY took one look at her and said that she definitely looks like "an allergy kid." She thinks that we are treating the asthma, but it's not helping because she has underlying allergies that aren't being treated.

I hate the idea of taking her to the doctor to have them prick her back many times and have to hold her down in order to do so. I don't really want to subject her to this, but I want to get her asthma under control because it's not getting better, in fact, it's getting worse.

It better be worth it.

From Her Heart

On Valentine's Day, Nate set out a card and a balloon on the kitchen table for the girls so that they would see it when they woke up. Jenna was up first and Abby was still sleeping, so Jenna and I went downstairs together after Nate left. She walked into the kitchen first and saw the gifts. She was a little confused . . . she said, "Mommy, there are some weird things on the table that weren't there last night." I knew exactly what they were and encouraged her to find her name on the card.

We read the card together, and she was beaming! She was so incredibly happy that Nate left this surprise for her on Valentine's Day! She spent the whole morning trying to find ways to show him that she loved him. She found her "My heart belongs to Daddy" and put it on. She cleaned her room:) And then she made this . . . .

I particularly like the Barbie sticker on the first page and the eyes and nose made out of hearts! Jenna is such a sweet girl and this card totally came from her heart:)

18 Week Baby Bump

Don't get used to this! I am not disciplined enough to take weekly pictures of myself pregnant. I think I only have a handful of pregnant pictures from both my pregnancies with the girls that actually came from our camera. Pregnancy doesn't make me feel so good--you know . . morning sickness, yucky maternity clothes that never fit, and for me, those lovely kidney stones.

So this is 18 weeks, right before we found out that he's a boy! I was surprised and a little worried to find out that I haven't gained a whole lot of weight yet. I'm sure that's due to the morning sickness hanging on longer than usual this time. I am so waiting for that feeling of overwhelming hunger, and I think it's only happened a few times so far with this baby. Food kind of repulses me, and it's really most food. Nothing looks good to me, except the occasional Pizza Hut pizza or Golden Oreos. And this really disappoints me, because this is our last baby and I was looking forward to the excuse of being able to eat anything. Hopefully, that'll come in the next few months!

It's a boy!

You will not see any boy parts in these pictures, but Nate and I CLEARLY saw them this morning at our sonogram! We are very happy to know that the baby is healthy and doing well so far. That is the most important thing!

Nate was sure we were having a girl, because he only thinks that he can have girls given our track record, but I had a feeling that this might be a boy. My mother-in-law told me three years ago that she dreamt that we were going to have a baby boy. At this point, Abby was one and quite the handful. I couldn't even imagine another baby and told her she was crazy. But here we are three years later, and pregnant with a boy:) She was right!

We are excited for this new adventure . . . buying Thomas the Train instead of Barbies, shopping in the boy section instead of the girl section. Nate will get to experience a child of the same sex and I will get to have momma's boy. A totally new experience, but a welcome one to our already wonderful family!

Me & Two Kids, the Mall, and a Little Bit of Crazy

Why does it always go like this? I am bored to death and have come up with the bright idea to take the kids to the mall for an afternoon out of the house, because it's too cold to go sledding today. It's 9 degrees. Crazy. In the two minutes before we get our coats, boots, hats, etc. on to go out, all hell breaks loose.

Jenna can't find her wallet. She wants to buy something, so I offer to loan her money and she can pay me back when she finds her wallet. This turns into out of control sobbing and anger on Jenna's part because she obviously doesn't understand the concept of loaning. She thinks I am trying to steal her money and goes on and on about how she wanted to give some to church and spend some at the store and all I want to do is steal her money. Seriously. I was really just trying to help her. But she doesn't get it.

Then Abby refuses to go to the bathroom because she hates going poopy. Really? You do it everyday, and the day that I want to get out of the house (even if that means taking two kids to the mall by myself) , she decides she's not going to go to the bathroom and puts up a fight.

So I have two kids who are sobbing uncontrollably about ridiculous things and all I want is to get out of this apartment and do something somewhat fun. "Somewhat" must be used here because two kids, the mall, and me is only kinda fun. Me and the mall without kids would be way more fun.

So I'm trying to tame the ridiculousness in the house and get them out the door. As crazy as I may be to now add cranky and crazy to the list of this afternoon's activities, I'm still going to try it because I am dying to get out of the house.

I'll let you know if it was worth it.

How's It Going?

That's the question I get quite often these days. I know that's a silly title for a post, but I don't have a specific event to write about, but thought I'd share what's been going on lately at the Hartke house. We've been here in New York for about 3 months and I've been asked "how is life in NY? how do you like the snow?" a lot these days. So here's an update.

Life is good here in New York. A transition to a new place is always longer than the few weeks it takes to get moved and unpacked. Transitions involve new relationships, new jobs, schools, doctors, and learning the ropes of a new town. So we are still in transition and have a while until this feels like home, but it gets more and more like that every day.

A brief update:

Nate: Very busy with the newness of St. John's. He's been learning the ropes of the congregation, getting to know people, and feeling overwhelmed at times. A good overwhelmed though. This church is large and there's more than enough work for one pastor. Not to mention that the members have huge hearts of service and are constantly wanting to do new things and serve the community. Not a bad problem to have!

Laura: I spent most of the first two months feeling sick and miserable from the morning sickness, but that is subsiding. I was thankful to not be working and to be able to hang out at home while I was feeling yucky. But now that I am feeling better, I have been enjoying life a littel bit more:) I joined a Bible study at another church that has been such a great gift in my life. They love Beth Moore, like I do, and we even are going to see her in March in Toronto! They are fun, smart, open, and Godly women. I look forward to Tuesdays every week! I also will be teaching online for Orange Lutheran starting in March. Very excited to start teaching again, even if it's from my house:) A new adventure. Oh, and we find out the sex of the baby next week. Stay tuned!

Jenna: She is thriving in Kindergarten! She's reading and writing up a storm--which is so fun to see! She has transitioned quite well to New York and has made lots of friends. I am a little worried, however, about this little boy, Mickey, who apparently wants her to be his girlfriend. This morning she told me that he likes the color black and that he likes when she wears black shirts. Hmmm . . . . a little worrisome. Jenna also asked me if I would go to the movies with Mickey and his mom on a date. I had to say no to that one. No dating in Kindergarten! Nate threatened to break his legs:) Just kidding.

Abby: She's in preschool two days a week, so we've had lots of Mommy/Abby time at home, which has been good! She's easy to have at home. We have been struggling with her asthma lately. She had several flareups recently and it's obvious that the course of treatment she's on isn't working. Her doctor thinks she has allergies that are related to the asthma, so we have to go through the dreaded allergy prick test again. That will be an awful day. But if we can get her some relief for the asthma, I'll be happy.

So there you have it. Just a glimpse of our transition. And yes, we like the snow. It's the bitter cold and wind I could do without. We're looking forward to Spring!

Happy 6th Birthday Jenna!

I can hardly believe that Jenna used to be this little! In six years, she has grown up to be a beautiful little girl:) On Friday, we celebrated her birthday at Chuck E Cheese's with our friends, the Rozelles. Jenna begged for a Chuck E Cheese party, but last year she has a big swimming party so this year was going to be small. Of course, Jenna told her whole Kindergarten class that they were invited to her party after we talked about only inviting the Rozelles. We didn't have any additional kids show up, so I assume Jenna took care of that:)

Happy birthday Jenna!

Remember Who You Are

Nate and I have the privilege to be involved in an organization called PLI (Pastoral Leadership Institute). It's a four year program that trains pastors and their wives in leadership, specifically missional leadership. We attend a yearly week long conference, retreats that are for the women only or the men only, and the guys get to visit "mentor" churches to see how other churches do ministry. Our Class of 2009 is broken down into small groups called collegial groups and we will spend the next three years learning and growing with these other couples in ministry.

Last April was our first conference, and our group fell in love with each other right away. We are all from different backgrounds and ministries and places, but I haven't laughed so hard or shared and grown so much with a group of people in while. I guess it's because we all have the pastor's family thing going on and it's nice to connect with people who are in your same boat.

Last weekend, I went to Dallas to attend our class of 2009 women's retreat. I came home a much different person. And I wasn't expecting that. I really expected to die on the way out there . . . I flew out on a very snowy and icy day and had to fly my first leg on a prop plane. Yep, that's right, an airplane with propellers. I made it, but not without an almost anxiety attack as we walked OUTSIDE to board the tiny plane.

It's not that I wasn't looking forward to this trip, I just didn't know what to expect, and now that I look back on it, I was too wrapped up in myself and my hurt to give much thought to it.

The theme of the weekend was Value and was based on Luke 13: 10-17. That's the story about a woman who has had been "bent over" for 18 years. Jesus sees her, calls her forward, heals her, and gives her value and worth. We studied the passage for understanding, but then our leaders started to ask the hard questions like, "Are you a bent over woman (burden-carrier), or a burden-loader, or a burden-lifter?"And while I know I've been all three at some point or another, I have felt like a bent over woman for a while in a particular area and in the past few weeks, it's kind of consumed me.

And I was called out. I had been trying to deal with this huge hurt by myself and when we were asked these questions I realized that I had never even asked God to help me. I left this huge gaping hole open and was vulnerable for Satan to sneak in and take over. How could I let that happen?

Over the next 24 hours I processed the story of the bent over woman. God truly saw her pain, healed her, and gave her worth. And I knew that could happen for me. I needed to talk about it, which I hadn't done, and I needed to hear that I was loved and worthy and "seen" by God. I had to tell Satan to get behind me because there was no room in that hole I created because God had filled it in the short time I was in Dallas. I needed to hear our last devotion about identity. Rachel kept saying it over and over: Remember who you are. Remember who you are. You are a daughter of Abraham, you are seen, and you are loved.

How could I have forgotten that?

So my weekend at PLI was a really, really good one and I look forward to three more years of learning, growing, and remembering who I am.

Arriving July 2010

. . . specifically on or around July 8th! Yesterday was our first peek at our new little baby and even though I knew what to expect and have been through this twice before, there is nothing that compares to the first glance at this little person moving and hiccuping and waving their arms as the nurse tries to get just the right pictures.

In the past thirteen weeks, I've been shocked, scared, so very excited, and really, really nauseous. I often make a nice big dinner for our family, only to get ready to sit down and eat and have to leave because the sight of the food makes me feel sick. Nate's coffeemaker is banned to the basement on top of the dryer because I can't stand the smell of coffee these days. My regular pants don't fit and my maternity pants are too big still. Through all of this, I've, of course, always known there was a baby int here, but to actually see him/her moving around on the screen is like being given a dose of reality.

I really am going to have to change diapers for two more years and we will experience the sleepless nights again. Seeing that I basically only have a crib and a pack n play, I get to shop and plan for all the baby supplies we'll need. That's kind of exciting! Oh, and we should probably start thinking of a name!

Lots of exciting stuff coming up in the next year for us:)

Christmas Dresses

My friend, Tamara, sent the girls ornaments for Christmas, and Abby refused to leave hers at home. Somehow, Barbie made it into every picture at church this year:)

Sound Spelling by Jenna

I love watching Jenna learn. She has learned so much in just six months of Kindergarten and it's so exciting to watch her learn to read and spell. The other day, she gave me this card. Apparently, they've been working on sound spelling in their classroom. They sound words out and write them how they sound. Of course, her teacher shows her the book spelling too, but here's what she gave me. I'll translate:)

Page 1: Love Mommy--I think she's trying to tell me she loves me:)

Page 2: I love you mommy. I hope that you have . . .

Page 3: a good day

Page 4: and you are so beautiful.

How cute is that? I am not sure who she's looking at lately because I feel like one nauseous, big, cranky pregnant lady these days. I'll take the compliment though!

I've Been Taken Over By An Alien

I thought that with my other two pregnancies, and I don't know why I expected anything different. But I am not myself and there is an alien that is controlling so many things at this point.

I have fully accepted that I am not the best pregnant chick. I love all the parts of being pregnant that don't include nausea, cankles, painful breasts, heartburn, and in my case, too many kidney stones. If I could get rid of some of those, I'd be such a great pregnant lady. But I'm not.

Here's my deal with the nausea. Everything is repulsive to me these days. Everything. Thin Mints sat in my pantry for weeks. I can't even look at Totino's Pizza Rolls without thinking about throwing up, and Pizza Hut Pizza usually doesn't taste good to me. How can this be? But a pregnant girl has to eat, and here's the problem. I force myself to eat whatever looks kinda good at the time. Lately, that's been applesauce, Wendy's Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers, chocolate milk, Triscuits, and Pop Tarts--the brown sugar kind. I know, not enough nutrition, but I try there too. I make myself eat carrots and salad and even bananas. It's just really hard. I carry around ginger ale and always have crackers. They have saved me often.

Tonight, I had a glimpse of what eating could be like if this nausea ever goes away. Nate had the leftover Pizza Hut cheese pan pizza (which is my favorite) and it smelled so, so good. I asked him if I could have his last piece, which included a part of the crust. I swear, when I put that food in my mouth, I thought I had tasted a little piece of heaven. It tasted so good to me that I cannot adequately put into words how good it was. I'm hoping this returns, because I really miss enjoying food!

A New York Blizzard

I had absolutely no idea that the snow was going to get this crazy today. I knew we were getting a bunch of snow Thursday, but had no idea that it would be a blizzard!

One of the things I loved as a kid was to wake up and turn the TV on to see if my school had a snow day. I would patiently watch the ticker at the bottom of the screen for the "M's" for Mt. Lebanon. If our district's name showed up, it was one of the best feelings in the world! No school, back to sleep, and a lazy day in front of the TV. I did the same thing today, switched on the TV and saw that school was cancelled for Jenna. I had that same excited feeling as I went back to sleep for two more hours.

As the day went on, however, I realized that parents probably aren't as excited about snow days as kids are. We were cooped up in the house because it was too windy to spend much time outside. So it was me and the girls cooped up all day. I did let them go out for about 20 minutes because they have been so excited for snow. Enjoy the pictures!

Yep, you see that right. The snow is up to Jenna's knees in the picture above.

This last picture has a story behind it. A pretty funny one, actually. Nate left the house this morning with no boots. I bought boots for the girls and for myself, but Nate didn't get around to buying his quite yet. I laughed at him as he left the house today with no boots and a blizzard outside! He decided to go to Kohl's to find some boots and got caught in horrible weather. It was dark by the time he left the store and had such a hard time seeing and driving that he parked the car in the church parking lot and walked home (which is about a two minute walk). So here's what he looked like when he walked in the door . . . covered in snow (apprently he fell down once . . ha ha), new boots, new clothes he bought in the Kohl's bag, and his computer bag covered in snow. So, so funny!

I'm thankful that he made it home safely. Going to Kohl's probably wasn't the smartest idea, but at least he has boots now!

We'll see what tomorrow has in store. When Nate walked home he said the snow was up to his knees--so a few feet of snow on the ground. We are supposed to get 6 to 9 more inches tonight. Welcome to Western New York:)

A Few Funnies

I was talking to my friend, Tamara, last night and was telling her all these funny things that have happened and thought that I should share.



The fish saga: I am most likely disqualified for mother of the year, because I left Jenna's fish, Alison, in San Jose. I was prepared to travel cross country with her. I had her in her travel container and had her food and necessary supplies ready. I put the fish and all her stuff in the kitchen cabinet so the movers wouldn't pack her:) And that's where she stayed.

So we told Jenna that we would have the fish "mailed" to us. I went out to the pet store and bought what I thought was the perfect look a like fish. I was quite proud of myself, actually! The new fish totally got past Abby, but when Jenna came home, she said, "But Mommy, Alison didn't have a fin on top of her in San Jose!" AHHHH--I had to think fast. I said, "Really? Maybe she grew it on the way out here? She's getting older, you know!" Jenna totally bought it and in the end, the fish saga ended happily:)

Our first social outing at the church: We arrived here in NY and then Nate left the next morning to go to a PLI conference. He didn't want to leave me here with a house full of boxes and two kids, but I insisted that he go and I even bought his plane ticket behind his back so he had to go. That Saturday night, the youth group was hosting a spaghetti dinner, so I took the kids. This very nice gentleman came up and introduced himself to me. Here's how the conversation went:

Man: Hi, I'm Steve, welcome to Orchard Park!
Me: Hi, we're happy to be here!
Abby: My momma has a baby in her tummy!

Abby then proceeds to rub this man's belly and says, "And you must have a baby in your tummy too because you have a big tummy!"

I wanted to find a hole and hide in it.

Nice first impression, huh?

The underwear incident: We were hanging around after church a few Sundays ago talking to some members. The girls were talking to some other little girls from the church. Apparently, they were talking about what characters they had on their underwear. :) Nice. Instead of just talking, Abby decided to pull her underwear down and show the other little girls. Awesome. While I was standing there talking, someone shouted, "Oh my goodness . . .she's got her underwear down!" I so knew it was Abby! Yep. Another great first impression.

Maybe they'll realize that pastor's kids are normal too:) Maybe normal isn't the right word . . . yeah, it's not about being normal. They're just getting a nice dose of Abby:)

We are Full of Scrap!

If you have ever been to Disneyland or Disneyworld with kids, you know that they love to get the signatures of the characters they see at the park. I had no idea about this when we first went a few years ago and we ended up buying an autograph book at the park. But this year, I bought personalized books for the girls from my friend, Maria, who runs her own business called We are Full of Scrap. She makes all kinds of crafty goodness . . . and she is good! Check out her site here! She makes invitations, announcements, photo books, autograph books, wedding card boxes, and so much more!

She worked with me to get exactly what I wanted. For example, Jenna's favorite princess is Belle, so she is on the cover. If you are like me and love the way scrapbooks, homemade cards, etc. look, but you detest making them, please contact her! She does excellent work:)

We Are Full of Scrap
Maria Egal: wearefullofscrap@gmail.com

Dirt

That's what my Honey Nut Cheerios tasted like today.

I remember the last two times I was pregnant, feeling like an alien took over my body. But this is nuts! The morning sickness/nausea deal went to a whole new level today. I really thought I was eating dirt. I was reading this article on weird things happening during pregnancy, and this was one of the things. Seriously! When I read that, I thought about how awful that was and how that could never happen to me. I mean, who eats Honey Nut Cheerios and tastes dirt instead of golden honey goodness? Dirt!

This pregnancy is a little bit different . . . so far I don't have the cravings that I did with the girls. I used to always want pizza, specifically Pizza Hut Cheese Pan Pizza. That was heaven to me. The thought of that makes me want to get sick right now. Before, I would eat anything with sugar in it. Anything. I drank way too much juice and loved cookies and cake. I really had to watch myself because I didn't want to have an issue with blood sugar.

I only had a few aversions--eggs and red meat. But this time, all food seems to fall into the aversion category. I mean really . . . there's a whole roll of uneaten Thin Mints in my freezer and I don't even want to think about eating them. If you know me, you know that I can eat a whole roll in minutes. There's even a huge box of Totino's pizza rolls in there. I bought them when we first got here, but can't go near them now.

So here I sit eating tiny bites of applesauce so that I can have something in my stomach. I guess I should be thankful that at least the applesauce doesn't taste like dirt . . . yet.

Oceanside and Legoland

After our two days in Disneyland, we drove down to the San Diego area. We were planning on going to Sea World or the zoo on our first day in San Diego, but we never made it there . . . Oceanside was too inviting! We stopped there for lunch and found ourselves in a beautiful seaside town that we ended up spending much of the afternoon in. First, we walked down a long beautiful pier and had lunch at a cute diner, overlooking the ocean. Then we headed to the beach, where the girls played and played and played and played!

Day two in San Diego was spent at Legoland. It's a little kid theme park where everything is made out of Legos. Very cool. We happened to be there on Halloween, so the girls wore their costumes all day and even did a little trick or treating at the park!

Mom with the girls on the pier.

I love playgrounds on the beach! I don't think we'll find these in Buffalo:)

Abby

Jenna

Ladybug Girl and Fancy Nancy!

Trick or Treating was a little different this year!

They loved the airplanes!

Disneyland

After our night in Morgan Hill, we traveled during the next day to Disneyland. We stopped in Huntington Beach to have dinner with the Gibsons and then spent two days at Disney--which is more than enough for me! Disney is awesome, but draining with two little kids:)

This is how we roll . . . a packed car, dvd player, and the ever important headphones!

First day at California Adventure . . . on our way to lunch with the princesses!

Lunch with the princesses was a huge hit again! The only problem was that Abby's favorite princess, Snow White, wasn't there. We spent the rest of our time hunting her down and finally got a picture with her at the end of our trip. Well worth the wait! Here's a picture with Belle, Jenna's favorite princess.

Cute sisters!

A pictures with Minnie all decked out in her Halloween dress!

(See the autograph book in Jenna's hand? My friend, Maria, makes them, and they are awesome and affordable. If you go to either Disneyland or Disneyworld, consider buying one from her! More details to come in the next post!)

Grandma and Abby

The Toy Story game in California Adventure was, by far, the favorite ride. We went on this ride a lot! Each player had to wear 3D glasses and got to shoot at video game type interactive screens throughout the game. Very fun! There's even a Wii game for this and I think we're going to ask Santa for it this year:)

And finally, Snow White! Abby was SO happy to finally get a picture with her!