Tuesday, March 23, 2010

1 year old.

Henry Levi, March 23, 2009

12 months ago we welcomed the sweetest baby into our family. he was (well still is) described as the happiest baby. and rarely did he ever cry. he was perfectly content being worn or held by mama- there is no way around it, this baby is a total mama's boy (sorry sam). he is just always smiling. for awhile we cherished him as "our last" baby, but he will soon have a playmate of his own.
he adores his brother and sister, loving to follow them from room to room, searching them out. he super enjoys getting to tackle campbell when he is on the floor. i don't think he sees himself as being a baby, but instead just assumes he is their equal.
campbell and mason weren't walking by one, and neither is henry- although he pulls himself up to everything (mostly mama) and walks from item to item- he is getting braver, and has taken the falls to prove it.
he has adjusted well to sharing a bedroom with loud siblings, and has learned to sleep through their shenanigans. and this poor guy didn't follow the strictest of eating schedules as i couldn't keep him from putting everything off the floor into his mouth (as i write he's currently eating part of his pancake- via the floor).
he is a curious and care-free baby, and i can't help but wonder if that will continue on as he grows.
he is much loved by all of us, and i can't imagine my life without him.
the greatest surprise we have had yet.





Saturday, March 20, 2010

Disneyland!!!!!!!

Beware- a super long post!

Day One!!!!!!!! it was a beautiful day, however it was incredibly windy- i wasn't ready for it to have such a chill. our first night we stayed at a super 8 motel, that was quite a walk to the park (not as close as hotels.com had me believe) and by the time we got to the tram we were all ready to go)
on the tram, heading over to disneyland!
little mason, and my dad (pappy) and uncle paul.
can you make out the expression on mason's face?
mason and uncle paul (pointing at snow white and the 7 dwarfs by the wishing well)
campbell is fairly obsessed with water.
looking at ducks in Sleeping Beauty's water.
standing in line for the Casey Jr. train
caged animals.
taking everything in.
nona and pappy.
i just love this face, and i love this girl.
look quick- a smile on campbell's face
nona was a little worried mason was going to tumble out.
look at those good looking people (that's aunt ashley coaxing mason onto another ride after a Pinocchio diaster)
it's a small world (but a terribly long ride when both your kids are screaming)
mason and sam before it's a small world.
sam trying to convince campbell that disneyland isn't scary.
uncle eric and campbell on the jungle cruise. campbell enjoyed it for about 30 seconds and then wanted off.
aunt ashley and henry.
during the pixar fun parade- look henry seems intrigued!
as does mason.

Day 2: after our trip on the Casey Jr. train my mother disappeared to work on a secret project. what was that secret project? upgrading me and sam and the kids into the AMAZING Grand California Hotel- the one that is right smack in Downtown Disney and California Adventure. this was by far the nicest hotel i had ever stayed at. i only wished we had more time in the hotel, cause they had everything! wish i had brought shoes- i would have checked out the fitness center :)
we all loved getting to hang out in the beautiful lobby- really wish i had taken a picture of it. but being able to quickly get back to our hotel room during our time at the park was just amazing. thank you, thank you, mom and dad- this was one of the best parts of our stay. and i definitely want to stay there again.
campbell cruising in our bed.
henry just loves playing in the bathroom- side note, the shower nozzle, well it rotates while you shower. awesome.
the fountain in downtown disney- right outside of our hotel room :)
brother and sister.
i think the fountain was one of their favorite parts of our trip.
ok, seriously- how cute is she?
henry with his fingers. although, i don't think he will be a finger sucker like the other 2.
mason loves her baby.
the only character we took pictures with. we would point everyone out to campbell and mason, and then ask campbell- do you want to meet them? and he'd say "no". he was quite insistent.
but quite happy to pose in front of the balloons!
the wide-eyed expression of campbell on the train.
other happy train riders.
and yes, she enjoyed the train too.
it only kind of looks like campbell is trying to get out. he sort of cried the whole time. but the very next day, he happily rode dumbo with momma and henry!
during the ride.

momma and henry during the pixar parade, we watched the parade both nights as it has all of the kids favorite people in it- and an added bonus- bubbles!

Day 3: our last day :( we got up early and made it for our magical morning (early admission) we went straight to fantasyland, as we were going to try and see if the kids would go on a few more rides- which they surprisingly did!
sam and mason riding dumbo- she absolutely loved it.
trying to steer- she wanted to go up
Align Right
can you see her smile?
and that there, is campbell's disneyland face. hopefully next time he will have a bit more fun.
mason and pappy on the carousel. she loved it.
no fear in this little one (well no fear when her brother isn't beside her screaming its scary)
daddy and mason on the carousel- she loved it enough to go twice

such a sweet little girl.
look at that face, i think she is expecting that horse to do something magical.
campbell and uncle paul
my dad and i tried to convince mason to get a little stuffed minnie, but she just kept handing it back to us- she wanted the mickey. and she sure does love him, here she is at the fountain being super goofy with mickey in her mouth.
pappy and my boys, resting before our long drive home.

our trip was really amazing, i am so glad we got to go- thank you so much to my parents for the trip and especially the hotel. there were a lot more memories that we don't have pictures of. i know for a fact that my sister has some pretty priceless ones of campbell on its a small world.
i got to go on as many rides as i could go on, what being pregnant and all. i loved watching the kids see the parade. my mom and i had a great time taking the kids to turtle talk with crush (it's amazing). the night of day one my brothers and sister and dad and i saw a late showing of alice in wonderland, tim burton is fairly awesome. during day 2 my dad took care of all 3 kids while us big kids got to explore the park- i finally made it on the finding nemo ride (which if you've heard the story disneyland ripped off from me) and it was really fun.
we had an awesome buffet dinner at the Storyteller's restaurant in our hotel- my dad got mason a tinkerbell tea set which she was absolutely obsessed with, and made her dinner a blast (she still loves her tea party), and after dinner on day 2, ashley and paul and i raced back to disneyland to see it all lit up, and to sneak in 2 more rides- peter pan and alice in wonderland.
day 3 with really quick- just a few hours as we had to get on the rode, but it was well spent as my dad came and got to take the kids on a few rides and got campbell a much coveted lighting mcqueen toy (a really stupid toy, but he only had eyes for it)
i just love disneyland, and sam and i hope to go back just the 2 of us for my 30th birthday -in like 5 or so years :) and then maybe do another big family trip when our youngest is 5, hopefully it will be less scary then.
and hopefully i can let my disneyland awe and wonder rub off on my children!