A week of "2 old..."

Our sweet Aubrey has thoroughly enjoyed her 1st week of being "2 old!" She refuses to say "2 years old", so people often get confused when she answers their question of "how old are you now?" and she says "2 old." But...it has only taken a week for her to learn how to show she is "2 old" with her fingers =)

She will make sure to tell you that those other finger have to stay down ;-)

Last Tuesday evening, we had a little birthday celebration at home on Aubrey's actual birthday. Aubrey wanted to invite our neighbor, Mr. Fleming, over for cake. He was happy to join the festivities; Aubrey acted as if she was an ol' pro at the birthday gig.

Everyone helping frost the birthday cake. (Then mommy realized that we had thrown out the loose candles that were in the drawer when we moved. Before the celebration could continue, Daddy had to make a quick run to the dollar store!)

Aubrey opening her presents. She ripped into her cards and money fell out. When we asked her what was in her card, she replied "Paper.." She even called Grandma Bernice and said "Thank you for paper!" If she only realized how valuable that paper is....

 Aubrey then got tired of presents instantly. She refused to open her last present and instead questioned us, "Where's my cake?!"

"There it is, my cake. Candle!" She was so happy =)

Aubrey blew the candle out without any prompting. She was just on a roll with the party activities. However, she did get a little confused on the next part.... After the candles were blown out, she plucked the candle out of the cake to lick it. Here is where she got mixed up, she licked the end of the candle that had just previously been on fire!!! No, it didn't burn her but it wasn't nearly as sweet as she had expected.

Aubrey had a wonderful birthday on Tuesday, which was verified by the fact that she sang herself to sleep with "Happy birthday to you!" =)

Wednesday brought her 2 year checkup with the doctor. Of course, Dr. DeKlotz wanted to see all the big girl skills Aubrey has acquired... Aubrey wanted to show him her personality! Dr. DeKlotz asked if Aubrey knows her ABCs, so I asked her to tell him. Her reply went like this, "A, B, twinkle! HaHaHaHaHa!!" Yep, she refused to say anything else. He could only laugh, as could I, which has now reinforced this new versionn of the ABCs.

A Mommy side note, our new couch finally arrived and makes it much easier for everyone to snuggle at the same time!

Saturday was Aubrey's birthday party with all her little friends at OGA. She got to jump and play her little heart out. It was a great place for a party, there were 2 coaches that split the kids up into a group of older ones and younger ones. Here are some pictures from the party:

Whats not fun about jumping off a trampoline into a HUGE pit of foam blocks? Aubrey couldn't think of anything =)

Concentrating so hard on running and jumping down the big trampoline!

Time for pizza, a caterpillar cake and presents in the party room. I would love to say Aubrey remembered her lesson about the candles from earlier in the week... but she did not! Another burnt end into the mouth...

Its SIlvermist (from Tinkerbell for those of you without little girls!). I didn't get many pictures of her opening her gifts. We had planned to just open them at home, but EVERY little kid wanted Aubrey to just open their gift before everyone went home. It was sweet, she had a blast and there was a large group of little kids with presents and paper everywhere.

As if this all wasn't enough excitement for one week, we had one more big celebration. 

AUBREY WENT POTTY IN THE BIG GIRL POTTY!!!

She has been trying for the past couple of weeks, and she finally had success. I had told her that as soon as she went potty in the toilet she could wear Dora undies. I'm not so sure that she was that impressed with the pottying part, but she was SUPER excited for undies!

 Ella was so excited for her little sister. It was one of those moments that just gives you those warm fuzzy feelings and you can truly remember how precious our family is!

And that sums up our week =) Happy Easter to all. We have lots of plans for the weekend. Hope your weekend is full of fun too!

[[[[ Happy Birthday to my sweet sweet girl ]]]]

My precious Aubrey Grace... I can't believe that 2 years ago I was still ever so patiently waiting to snuggle you in my arms. The personality that we saw then (stubborn, determined, oh-so-sweet) is growing even bigger today. And your cheeks, those chubby little cheeks, are also growing bigger every day. Mommy, Daddy and Ella love you so much!!! May you have a wonderful birthday.

We are celebrating Aubrey's birthday at home with our family tonight. Then on Saturday, Aubrey and all her little friends will spend some time running/jumping/tumbling at a local gymnastics place. Sound be lots of fun!! Pictures to come...

Disneyland---From the eyes and mouth of Aubrey

Aubrey talked a good game about Disneyland. She knew we were going to get on an airplane, go to Disneyland and there she could meet Mickey Mouse. But she really didn't comprehend what all that meant ;-) She was completely in awe of being at the airport. She spent lots of time just hanging out at the window looking at all the airplanes. 

Watching all the planes =)

After her initial hesitation with the characters, she was all smiles for Disneyland. I was so surprised by her lack of fear for anything! The few times that she couldn't go on a ride, she would stand by saying "Aubrey's turn!"

Riding on the Astro Blaster. Then HUGE smiles on the carousel =) 

 We borrowed the cute little puppy backpack that Aubrey is wearing from a friend. It was a lifesaver because she was able to walk on her own without getting too far away or lost. I was actually shocked at how much she walked versus rode in the stroller. She was a girl on a mission!

That smiling face makes you forget about all the $$$ it cost to get in the gates ;-)

All that excitement definitely takes its toll on a little girl, but she was a great sport and wanted to keep on truckin'.

Her mood perked up drastically when she won Mickey Mouse on one of the pier games. He was quite the arm load but she was not about to let anyone else carry him for her. It was quite cute to see her dragging him home. She remembers where she got him even now...she will say 'Mickey Mouse at Disneyland!"

Aubrey's favorite ride by far was the 'Umi cars' aka Autotopia. One of the cartoons the girls like to watch is Umizoomi, little tiny people who go on adventures in their Umi cars. I guess it makes perfect sense when you are a little girl! 

Anyways, we get in the car and Aubrey takes charge instantly. I have to push the pedal, but other than that I'm not allowed to do anything...especially help steer! I'm pretty sure that everyone behind us was super bummed at how slow they had to go around the track. Aubrey was crashing constantly!! She would run into the center runner whenever there was any sort of turn and we would be tossed around the car all crazy. This, she thought was HILARIOUS!!! ***See the pictures below*** I would tell her, "You are a crazy driver! Who gave you a drivers license?" Again, she would just laugh and laugh! I was bummed that they didn't have fast pass open for this ride, we would have definitely done it again if it weren't for the wait.

Those smiles can't deny the fun Aubrey had in Disneyland!!

Now its been almost 2 months since we got back from our Disneyland vacation. The girls still play 'going to Disneyland.' Aubrey will put on her little pink puppy backpack and say "Go to Disneyland. See Mickey Mouse." =) If it were only that easy! 

Although she may only have the memories of this trip that are associated with these pictures...that in itself was well worth it for Neal and I!! Hope you all enjoyed our trip as much as we did =)

From the mouths of babes::::::

We recently received out Blog2Print book in the mail. I had no idea how much the girls would love this! For each year of their lives I have created a photo book for them, but they are mostly photos with a few captions of what is going on. The blog book, however, contains all of the funny anecdotal stories of their lives....Ella just laughs and laughs at the things she said as a toddler learning to talk. I started thinking maybe I haven't been noting enough of Aubrey's sayings... So without further ado....

As she is doing this she says, "Aubrey funny face!!"

Aubrey is our trouble-maker these days...no 2 ways about it. Lotions/creams/water are her FAVORITE obsession, not to mention HUGE mess-makers.

Last week, Aubrey had pushed her learning table over to her changing table, climbed up one to the next until she was happily perched on her changing table. Once up there, she found a container of vasoline. (With all the snotty noses around here, we have been putting vasoline on their noses to help with the chapped/painful blowing.) She decided that she needed to put vasoline on her own nose. Ella comes running downstairs, I go running upstairs; mess cleaned, Aubrey time-out. I no sooner get to my tasks back downstairs when again here comes Ella, "Aubrey got into the sunscreen in my top drawer!" Again, Aubrey had climbed up onto Ella's bed, reached over the end and into Ella's dresser. This time Aubrey knows she is in trouble. She looks at me so serious and says "I tubble maker." Yes, yes Aubrey you are that indeed!!!

Yesterday in the car, Aubrey is applying chapstick to her lips (I'm supervising in the front seat). I swear I no more than blinked and she was rubbing chapstick from her lips to cheeks to under her chin. I sternly said "No thank you, Aubrey!" She looked right back at me, furrowed her brow and said "EXCUUSE ME!" I couldn't help laugh, I know I shouldn't...I know it just encourages the behavior---but she was mimicking me! I say that all the time when the girls talk back to me.

***Disclaimer*** While typing this very blog, I had to pause in order to go clean up Aubrey's latest mess on her changing table----powder, vasoline and her Bolt stuffed dog!!! She did try to clean it herself with baby wipes, but you can imagine how well that worked ;-)

I swear I do not leave my children unattended only to surprisingly find them wreaking havoc on my house. Only minutes before this happened, both girls had been happily making music upstairs with their instruments pretending to be the Fresh Beat Band!!!

One of my current favorite things of Aubrey's large bank of witty remarks is regarding when Ella takes something away from her. Aubrey has learned to use Ella's words against her...up until recently, Ella could outwit or just bully Aubrey into giving her back whatever toy she wanted. Now we hear Aubrey say:
"ELLA...GIVE IT BACK TO ME RIGHT NOW!!"
Then we say, "Aubrey thats not how you ask for your toy." So then she brings out her sweet, innocent voice:
"Please can I have it?" 

Ella is not without her own witty remarks. It has been raining incessantly this month (the newspaper said that it has rained every day since March 6th with a measurable amount of rain each day!). During one of the brief breaks in rain, Ella went out outside with Grandpa Rick. She spun around in the easement and said, "Awww, new air. I really needed some new air!"

We have also been trying to instill in Ella the fact that she should  not watch Aubrey make all these huge messes, or even worse, help make the messes just because Aubrey did it first. Today, Ella told me about Aubrey dumping some water on the floor; as I was mopping up the water Ella says "Its a good thing I told you 'cause kids can't clean up grown-up messes!"

Disneyland---From the eyes and mouth of Ella

Ella is our little thinker. She loves to figure out and understand just exactly what is going on. As we are walking down Main Street USA, we point out the castle in the distance. She seems excited at first, but when we finally got to the point where we walked through the castle..she seemed so unimpressed! I just likened it to the fact that she was just taking it all in, I mean, there is SO much to see when you are at Disneyland for the 1st time. It wasn't until we got home and Ella was talking to Grandpa Rick on the phone that it finally all made sense. Grandpa had asked her who she saw at Disneyland. And here was the side of the conversation that I heard: 

"Oh I just saw Ariel and Aurora.

Yeah, they were on their way to a tea party. 

(that's what the princesses had said when they had to stop greeting little girls and leave)

But I don't know where they have tea?

No, I don't know...there are no stairs in the castle.

Where could they be having tea?"

Apparently the reason she was so unimpressed was the fact that the castle appeared to not have any rooms in it. She doesn't let those little details slip by her ;-)

She had never been on any kinds of rides before going to Disneyland (I know...bad parents, right?!). She talked a big talk about going on them, but any of the rides that where indoors and/or dark were a no go. In fact, she climbed onto the boat of Pirates of the Caribbean prompts walked off the other side and left crying. Buzz Lightyear, again hated every minute. Roger Rabbit...probably the most hated of all!! Her favorite ride, surprising to me, was Grizzly River Run in California Adventure. She rode it 4 times in row...literally!!! There was no line at all for the ride, she would get off, head down the stairs, back through the line maze and run for the next raft. At the end she was soaked, and if Aubrey hadn't been so tired, Ella would have continued to ride it =) 

Ella playing in Toon Town.

Riding on the Astro Blaster with Daddy. Riding in Dumbo with Mommy. Taking a spin on the carousel with Daddy.  

1st time in the driver's seat at Autotopia. Ella's favorite ride---Its a Small world =) Then Ella grabbed the camera for a close-up of Daddy. She surprisingly struck the same pose for her Daddy with the camera later that night ;-)

As we were waiting in line for the Fairies of Pixie Hollow, it occurred to Ella that she is a princess. Well, she has known she is a princess for some time...but she realized that she is a princess yet she hasn't signed a page in the princess autograph book =) Of course, Aubrey did not want to be excluded from the princess signing party either. 

Ella and Mommy on Grizzly River Run. She had already rode twice with Daddy, so she was an old pro telling me the ins and outs of the ride.

Ella, the drowned rat, after Grizzly River Run!!!

Now that we have been home for a while, Ella is realizing there may have been things we didn't see while we were at Disneyland. Any movie that has Tinkerbell flying over the castle in the opening credits must be a Disney movie...but why didn't we see all those characters, like Bolt? Then she grabs the park map, "I bet they are right here...in the place we didn't go. Next time we go to Disneyland we can go there and see Bolt." I try to politely explain to her that its going to be a long time before we go to Disneyland again. 

"Well, we can just make a calendar to count down until we leave again." =) 

Oh my gosh!?!?! Its....

As part of many lessons learned as a parent, the 1st one with regards to Disneyland was....pay for the character meals! I had no idea how much of each day would be spend waiting in line to see the much anticipated characters, and we didn't even get to see all of them =( No longer to all the characters wander around the park all day, now there are stationed at their respective houses (Minnie and Mickey Mouse each have a house) or lands (Princess Fairy Tale area- you must wait in line for the better part of an hour just to see which princesses are there; Fairy Hollow- again we spent 30 minutes to find out that only Tinkerbell and Rosetta were here today). We did get lucky enough to see some characters roaming around.

We were still struggling with getting good pictures with that bright orb in the sky, but alas...this is the girls with Ariel.

Things were corrected by the time we got to Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty...or Shake your Booty as Aubrey calls her!)

Aubrey was a little unsure of going up to the characters as 1st, but Ella went straight for the hugs! In the end everyone loves Goofy =)

I love Ella's HUGE smile with all the characters! Aubrey wasn't nearly as excited to see Mickey Mouse as she was when she talked about seeing him.

They were both excited (and tired) by the time we saw Minnie Mouse.

Aww....Pluto :-)

Of all the characters, White Rabbit (from Alice in Wonderland...of which Aubrey has never read or watched) was Aubrey's favorite. Ella on the other hand, refused.

*Rosetta*                                *Tinkerbell*

On the last day we found Ella's favorite princess..Jasmine (with Aladdin)!! And Aubrey was pretty happy too.

As a pleasant lunchtime surprise, Tiana (from Princess and the Frog) was singing down in New Orleans =)

~~~~>>Nostalgia about our blog<<~~~~

Neal convinced me to do it...Just bite the bullet, pay the extra $12 I would have saved waiting for a coupon and go ahead with printing the blog book. Wow! I had no idea how much blogging I have done since the beginning of 2008. In printing the blog posts from the beginning of 2008 through 2010, our book is 186 pages long!!! I was shocked.... And then at the same time I was so grateful that I had taken the time to do all these blogs. I am a terrible scrapbooker, even worse at filling in prefilled booked (poor Ella has about 1/3 of a 'baby's 1st year' book filled out; Aubrey doesn't even have an unfilled book!). This blog has been a great way for me to remember all those funny and/or irritating things the girls have done. Its a great thing to look back on and laugh, smile and reminisce =) And to think, if Shannon hadn't started blogging I may be still living in the dark ages!