Disneyland Birthday

I wanted to take Emma to Disneyland for her first birthday. I thought it would be so much fun for her, we even made reservations to eat with the Princesses at Ariel's Grotto. Plus, Katie hasn't been in a while either, and I knew she would enjoy it too. My Mom, the kids and I got a hotel room the night before, close by, and swam the night before. Katie adores hotels. Especially if they have a pool. So we hung out and avoided a long and early morning drive. We got there on time and waited for the gates to open.

Emma liked some of the rides, but other rides, like Winnie the Pooh, freaked her out a bit. She slept through Dumbo.

Dipping her toes in the water was a big hit. Haha. It was warmer out than we thought it would be today. I thought summer was over by September, but I was wrong.

We took a lunch break to eat with the Princesses, where Emma cried at the sight of cake once again. Too funny. The desserts were my favorite.

We spent time at Disneyland, we spent time at California Adventure. It was a fun day. Hard, with feeding Emma throughout, and changing her, and things. But still fun. I might take her again when she's 2, I think she would enjoy it more. Katie had tons of fun, I had fun, and Emma really enjoyed being outdoors with her family. Plus, she looked super cute ;)

Emma's Hike

Lauryn, Oscar, and I took Emma on a hike this morning, just by the aqueduct. She enjoys the time outdoors, and it was nice to exercise for a bit. The only bummer, I tried to get her tired so she would take a nice nap for me after. She was up most of the day until it was time to pick up Katie from school. Bummer!

Welcome, Emma Riley!

I am officially a mother of two! 

My second daughter was born at 3:39am on Monday, September 16, 2013. I wasn't sure I was really in labor, since it didn't hurt yet, but I started feeling funny, so I did my hair and everything about 11pm, haha. Just in case! About midnight, the pain started, so David made me wait while he hopped in the shower and made a sandwich =/ What a punk! I ran around the house like a crazy person since I'm not responsible enough to pack things ahead of time. I got Katie clothes to wear to school in the morning and grabbed some clothes for me and called my Mom. I didn't want Katie to be up all night or to have to sleep in the waiting room over at the hospital, so my Mom was nice enough to watch her for us while we headed to the hospital. Boy was I in trouble for not calling everyone and inviting them to all sit in the waiting room at 2am =/ (But really, I think I did them a favor. Not like they could have seen the baby for hours anyway.) When I got to the hospital, they weren't taking me seriously. It was close to 2am at this point, and they wanted me to go pee in a cup and get dressed in the gown and all that. I nicely told them that I can't pee in their cup, I hurt too much. lol. I guess if I was a screaming maniac they would have helped me quicker, but how embarrassing would that have been?! haha. So they finally come in and check on me and were surprised to see I was at 8cm already. Well, duh, I said I hurt. lol. So they call my doctor, who cannot be reached, and give me the on call doctor instead. Fine with me, lets just get this over with please. I came in too late to get the full epidural, but they tell me I can get partial. Okay, gimme. Apparently my water wasn't broken yet, let me tell you, it was a very strange feeling to have them reach in there and pop my water. It gushed out like you would have popped a water balloon. So weird! Then my poor Emma's heart is slowing down big time! They make me lay on my side, then try my other side, then give me an oxygen mask to wear. She's now stable, whew! I know this is my second time, but I was not prepared. Katie's delivery was a breeze thanks to the full epidural and the fact that they sucked her out of me since the cord was wrapped around her neck. It took all of 3 pushes. Emma wanted to stay in for a bit longer it seemed. I pushed and pushed, the annoying nurse made me ask her about 25 times to please stop trying to stretch me with her finger, that hurt terribly and she just kept trying anyway. I didn't yell, I didn't get crazy, but I really did keep asking her if she could please stop that. About 30 minutes later, the head was almost out, thank goodness. I was at the point where I was telling the nurse I cannot push anymore, she just wasn't coming out. She made me keep trying of course. At this point David and I still have not agreed on a middle name for Emma. Then, miraculously, when she comes out, I hear David call her "Emma Riley." I think he felt sorry for me and gave me this one, haha. Thanks! I'll take it! I love her and I love her middle name :p My little heifer was a whole ounce bigger than Katie, at a whopping 8lbs 14oz. Yikes I grow big babies. She's beautiful though.

My Mom came over after taking Katie to school. Visiting hours weren't until 10, but they didn't stop her from coming in early =)

My Grandma stopped by later too.

David's Dad

Her first outfit, Brand Sparkling New.

My Grandma made her a tutu :p

Then finally, at 3 Katie got out of school and my Mom brought her to me. She was soooo excited to meet her little sister. She's going to be great.

Our first family photo. Priceless.

Just because I just gave birth, and have been up for very likely over 36 hours, doesn't mean I can't look decent/cute. haha. I'm a happy/proud Mommy!

David took Katie to the gift shop and they bought Emma a present.

After Katie left, more visitors stopped by.

Such a happy day. I was terrible exhausted by the end of the night, but so glad to finally be able to hold her. My beautiful baby girl. I love being a Mom SO much. Katie has been the best thing in my life, and now I have two. So thankful to God for giving me two healthy wonderful beautiful blessings. I prayed and I prayed for this baby and I feel so lucky to finally have her. So grateful to everyone who came to visit me in the hospital because they were so excited they wanted to meet Emma on her first day in this world <3 a="" alone="" and="" baby="" born.="" br="" care="" could="" david="" doctors="" for="" get="" home.="" i="" katie="" me="" mom="" my="" nice="" night="" of="" over="" patiently="" release="" since="" so="" stayed="" surprise="" the="" to="" took="" waited="" was="" when="" which="" with="">

Roscoe's

I always hear how good Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles is, but I've never been myself. So I recruited David, Lauryn and Oscar to go with me to give it a try. When we got there, we realized all their chicken has bones in it. I'm very picky, and I don't like bones in my meat. I found out tonight, neither do Lauryn or Oscar haha. So David ordered chicken, I ordered a waffle, and Lauryn and Oscar each got a chicken sandwich. The end result: All four of us decided we are not a fan, and most likely wouldn't go back again. We tried it, we didn't like it, now we know!

Dessert At Olive, Yum!

Lauryn, Oscar, Katie and I went to Olive Garden, and ate soooo much food we could barely handle it at the end of the night. I think we should have stopped before dessert. Too bad the pictures looked so good!

I love hanging out with these people. I always end up cracking up all night.

My 4 Year Old Princess

Happy 4th Birthday Katie!!! Now that her real birthday has come, I wanted to take her somewhere special, even though she already celebrated it with my family and with David's, it's her BIRTHDAY! We can't just sit at home on her BIRTHDAY! Since she loves Drytown so much, why not go bigger? Lauryn and Oscar had season passes, and they had a $15 bring a friend coupon, so why not? Katie spent her 4th birthday at Hurricane Harbor. This was her first time going, so we weren't sure what to expect. She loves Drytown, but hates being splashed...The lazy river was a success of course. But then we were informed she HAS to have a life vest. Oh, alright. I guess they assume I'm going to be a butterfingers and drop my kid in the river, better to be safe than sorry.

Our next adventure was the wave pool. The wait time til the waves go off can seem like a lifetime. At least there's a huge pool to play in while you wait.

I didn't know that Katie was just under the height limit for every single ride there. Bummer. Looks like we're sticking to the lazy river, wave pool, and kiddie playgrounds today!

Every kid deserves a snack. Especially a great one like mine.

After we left we went to my Mom's to have a small Cold Stone cake for Katie, since it IS her birthday and all. Who doesn't get cake on their birthday? Someone who already had 2 cakes this week you say? Nah, she deserves. It's her BIRTHDAY after all.

Lauryn and Oscar are helping her Disney collection grow. Can't wait until she wears this to Disneyland. Love the movie, love the dress, love the kid about to wear it.

So glad Lauryn helped me make Katie's day so special. Love doing "firsts" with her, and Hurricane Harbor was a fun first.

A Disney Day Is A Great Day

As you can see, she is putting her birthday present to good use. She looks absolutely beautiful in her Tinkerbell dress and sparky pink shoes.

Since she is now almost 4, and a big grown up girl, she decided she wanted to give her pass to the lady at the gate.

Lauryn's dream. She loves Pinoke and he's not too easy of a find at Disneyland.

About to wait in line to meet Katie's twin.

Two Tinkerbell's? Take that Vidia!

Katie's first time on the new Little Mermaid ride.

Got to admit, it was pretty cute.

Our next wait was for the parade. Katie was taking pictures of herself to keep herself entertained.

Katie decided she is now brave enough to try Splash Mountain. While I love trying new things with her and having that special experience, I sure do hate water rides. I don't like when my hair gets wet. I don't like when my shoes get wet. And I don't particularly like when my jeans get wet and take forever and a day to dry. But, I love my kid. I love her so very much. So we went on. She got wet. And announced she doesn't want to go on that ride ever again. Did I mention I love my kid? Haha, I'm sure there will come a day when she's ready to give it another shot, and I will be more than willing to be her ride partner, but for now, I'm enjoying the times when I find out we have things in common.

Tinkerbell's just hanging out in her tree house, don't mind her.