Disneyland

The highlight of our trip and the whole reason we came was for Disneyland! No matter how old I get I think I will always be a kid at heart because I probably more than anyone in my family, including my kids, gets so excited when I come to Disneyland. The best part about this trip was that it was also our Daughter Nichole's 7Th birthday. We kept the trip to Disneyland a secret to the kids not letting them know were going there. When we got to that hotel in Anaheim earlier in the week we had to told the kids that we weren't doing Disneyland this time and were going to do something special for Nichole's birthday. They were so surprised and excited to find out that we were going for Nichole's birthday. She got in free that day being that it was her birthday and they gave her a special birthday button and everyone that worked at the park that saw her would come up and wish her a happy birthday, it was so cute and you could tell she really felt special. The best part was my parents and sister and brother flew out to celebrate with us and help out with the kids, and to top it all off two of my uncles and two cousins came that day as well.

It was such a blast we had a big group of family members, something the kids don't really get to experience living in Texas away from the rest of my family. They loved all the attention and my aunt Hope, one of the greatest women I have ever met just showered the kids with attention and gifts! She was so great, in fact all my family was so awesome that day. We never would have had such a wonderful time. Everyone helped with the baby and my kids, and I got to catch up with my cousins. I will never forget this day and neither will the kids! We got to go on so many rides and the baby just loved it, he went on a ton and never got upset once. Probably one of the cutest things from that day was a dance party parade we saw. I watched as my little girl Elizabeth was so happy and as Mickey shaped confetti flew through the air she ran around catching it and stuffing it in her pocket as if wanting to hold onto that moment forever. It made my heart swell I was so happy, thanks to my husband for doing this for us!

Lego Land and the Beach

Our first full day in California we took the kids to Lego Land. I have to say it wasn't my most favorite nor do I think we would ever go back but the kids seemed to have fun and that is what counts. It was hot that day and we had been driving for the past do days prior and it was the first time taking the baby to a park like that with no help. All that combined made it a bit of a difficult day. The next day however was a blast! We took the kids to the beach, the first time where all but the baby were aware of where they were at.

We had so much fun. Russ and I enjoyed just being near the water. I so miss the beach, although bringing a baby is not something I recommend. It was such a hassle getting the kids with a baby in tow as well as an umbrella, a cooler chest, a diaper bag, a bag of clothes to change, a bag of food, a bag for the babies bottles, a tent for the baby, and two bags of sand toys from the car all the way to the water. I felt like I was going to loose an arm trying to help tow all these things with Russ through the sand. And of course its the beach and there's sand everywhere. the poor baby was not liking the beach, he had sand in his hair, and his eyes, no matter how hard I tried sand kept getting in his little tent. He finally just fell asleep. We were also so worried about making sure the kids had sunscreen we kind of forgot about ourselves, my back and face and scalp were burned and poor Russ. The front of his legs and face were like a lobster. No matter what though we thoroughly enjoyed it. The girls loved it there and we couldn't keep them out of the water. And JT preferred the sand and getting the sand all over the towels.

Our little Elizabeth is such a ham. Every time I tried to take a picture she would make a weird face or pose it was so funny, the most hilarious thing though was she developed this weird habit at the beach of spitting or something. After a while she had developed this beard and mustache of froth that hung off her chin and came out her nose. It was the weirdest thing, but so darn funny Russ and I could not stop laughing.

Summer Vacation

Well we finally made it to our summer vacation! We waited until right before school started to take the kids on a vacation. I completely believe in always taking a vacation each year with the kids as long as we're able to because I know these are memories that will last a life time. We only get one chance with our kids and each day that goes by they are growing and I want to make as many memories with them as I can. I love to see them happy. Not to mention the fact that each year Russ and I can use the break in our everyday life to do something out of the ordinary for us. Anyone with kids, especially four can agree that a vacation isn't really a vacation for the parents when there are kids in tow because there is still much work to be done with four little ones but it is fun to do things that make your kids smile.

This year we decided to take a trip to California again which has seemed to be a bit of a tradition we have done it three times now since having kids. It just seemed like the logical thing to do, since Disney World was out of the question with a new baby and the humid hot weather so we took to the west coast to tackle some smaller amusement parks like Lego Land and Disneyland. We took a road trip since we are such a large family now, flying costs way too much with this many people.

Our first stop after a 14 hour drive was Tucson, AZ. We only stayed here overnight to take a break before we got into California. We left at 3 am so we were able to get there by 5 pm. I have to hand it to my kids. They were such troopers for being confined in a car for that long, with only TV to occupy their time. And the baby was fantastic he was so good. The next morning we headed out at about 7 am and got into San Diego by the afternoon.

We checked into the hotel and decided that we definitely had to take the kids to do something. Four little ones in a car for two days equals a heck of allot of pent up energy. JT was so hyper he was running in circles around the hotel room. So we headed off to the Aquarium at Lego Land. It was small but very well done and so cute the kids just loved it and they had a few things they could play in and they even got to touch sea anemones and star fish.

Teeth

His tooth is gone! We finally had to have it pulled. Jt had to have his tooth removed after his body finally rejected the knocked out of place tooth. His sister, the one who hit him with the swing, felt so bad. Poor thing. I was more traumatized than anyone I think. With four kids this was our first major medical event, thank goodness but still all the more stressful. He was given what is called a Ketamine shot and I wasn't allowed in the room during the procedure. They had JT sit on my lap and they told them that they had seen some mosquito's in the room and they were biting people and then they gave him the shot when he wasn't looking. He got so mad and then within 2 minutes his eyes glazed over and he went limp. I laid him down and left the room, crying of course. But no sooner had I sat down and started saying a rosary then it was over before I even got to the final prayer. Thank goodness for the rosary, it always eases my mind. He did awesome, he is missing his front tooth and he will get the fake one put in before the end of the month. I have to admit he looks even more cute without his tooth. The drug wore off pretty quickly. He did make me laugh in the car on the way home though as he was still doped up and was making his stuffed animal talk to me in funny voices. The bright side to all of this of course was the prospect of the tooth fairy. He was very excited about the tooth fairy, and we assured him that little boys that have healthy teeth pulled not only get money but presents. He was so happy about that telling us that the tooth fairy was pretty. But we were not allowed to leave his tooth in his room because he was afraid of the tooth fairy. He made us leave it on the kitchen table and the next morning he discovered $1 and a Mickey Mouse bubble set, and some new cars.

Fourth of July Cuties

Just wanted to post some pictures from the 4th of July weekend of my little cutie pies!
All four of them decked out in their "Red, White and Blue"

Cute Brothers!

Bryce in his cute hat

He has a giggle!

Bryce made his first giggle last night. I have been tickling him for a while now but he would just make a struggled gurgling noise. Last night he was laying on the carpet and I tickled him real good under the arms and he let out a loud high pitched stream of giggling. It was the greatest sound in the world. He is getting so big so quick. As I type he is in his exersaucer and he is actually spinning himself around. He is such a strong little boy. Now if we could just get him to channel that energy into rolling over, which he has showed no interest in what so ever.

Tooth Surgery

Well it is official my little guy, JT, has to have his front tooth pulled. After his older sister hit him in the mouth with the swing and pushed the tooth back we have been keeping an eye on it with bi-weekly visits to the dentist and the tooth has turned brown and will have to come out. I am so upset, one because he has to have the tooth removed and he isn't going to understand what is happening, two, because he has to have a shot that will basically paralyze him for 20 minutes so that they can do the procedure and, three, for the close to $1000 bill we have for getting the tooth out and having a fake tooth made to put in its place, yay! I am such a freak about anesthesia, it just freaks me out, I don't like the thought of it, I had my wisdom teeth pulled with just a local because I refused to be put to sleep and I refused to have my tonsils out for the same reason when I was told I needed them removed. I just love my little boy so much and it scares me to think something might happen. I started crying in the dentist office when they handed me the waiver for the anesthesia. I will have trust in God though because we have no other choice. And we plan to thoroughly spoil him this weekend after he gets it done.