The One With All the Disneyland Pictures

Monday afternoon we got off the plane, grabbed all of our luggage (it is seriously amazing how much we had, a bag for Eric, a bag for Me, a bag each for Parker and Preslie, Preslie's car seat, a booster for Parker, a stroller) and went and checked in at our hotel. We threw all of our luggage into our room, an then walked to Disneyland.

We were lucky enough to be in the hotel right across from the entrance to Disneyland. Literally, you walked in front of our hotel, across the street, and there was Disneyland. It was awesome.

WE went on Peter Pan first. It is Kellie's (Eric's Mom) favorite ride. I love the ride, but I hate the LINE! And there is always a line! I love Disneyland. I love the experience, I love the rides, I love the food, but I hate the lines. We have learned that February and September are the best times to go to avoid massive lines. February because it is right after the holidays when so many people go, and yet still before Spring Break. It's warm enough in California that you can get away with wearing a t-shirt during the day and a sweater at night. And September is good because it's right after school starts, and most parents don't want to take their kids out for a week right after they start.

But lines are something you just have to deal with at Disneyland. A line to get your bag searched. A line to get your rented stroller. A line to get into the park. Lines to see the characters. Lines at the rides. Lines to walk down the street. Lines to get into stores. Lines to buy things. Lines at dinner. It is a place based on lines! It's funny because I think we probably only ended up getting on 10 rides (MAX) a day. That's not a ton, but it's so fun. IF it wasn't for the atmosphere and the fun you get to see your kids having, I don't think anyone would wait in all those lines.

Parker and Preslie on our first day just walking in to Disneyland! Can you see the excitement!?!? Ha ha.

Can you believe this is a "non-crowded" Disneyland? We were SO excited to FINALLY be there!

In Chip & Dale's Tree house. I had never been in all the fun little houses and play areas in Toon Town! SO CUTE!

Mickey's house! It's funny because this is probably what Parker looked forward to the most, and yet it was the fastest moving line I think we were in the entire time!

Even Mickey Mouse wanted to wish Preslie a verry HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY! :)

Rain Forest Cafe for dinner the first night! THE LONGEST WAIT EVER! And we even had reservations! But the kids had so much fun, and we had a table right next to a huge aquarium!

Parker at the Bug's Life Ride. I loved all the movie posters they had hanging up.

It wouldn't be Disneyland without a TON of hats and Mickey Mouse Ears!

Parker's first roller coaster ride was Thunder Mountain Railroad, he loved it so much that Daddy took him on Matterhorn, which Parker refers to as "Hatterhone" when Mommy was back at the hotel sick with Preslie.

Parker got to meet so many fun people!

We rode the train back to the front of the park every night. They have changed that so much that it is almost a ride itself, even if it is just a quick way to get around the park!

Parker with Grammy and Papa

I love this picture because of how she is looking at Eric. She adores her Daddy.

I kept trying to squat so that Eric could take pictures with Parker, Preslie and I without there being a huge gap between us. Unfortunately, Parker saw me bend over, and he woudl do it too, every time! Funny little boy!

We sure do LOVE our little kiddos. Preslie's favorite ride was Small World, we rode it every night right before we went back to our hotel. Parker's favorite was Pirates of the Carribbean, and we rode that one every day a few times a day! We can't wait to go back and make more memories!

The One Where We Fly To John Wayne

Saturday we had lunch at Spaghetti Factory for Rita's 80th birthday. Sunday, the 20th, was Preslie's offical birthday. It was laid back and relaxed, and mostly filled with everyone finishing their packing for the trip we were taking the next day. But there were presents, and cupcakes, and Preslie had a good time.

Monday morning we got up early, got everything packed into our van, and went to the Portland airport. I LOVE the Portland airport, it is beautiful, and there is so much to do there. If you ever have to get laid over in an airport, make it the Portland airport.

Parker had such terrible ears when he was little, that planes were not fun for him. We always dosed him up on Benadryl so that he would sack out before we even got on the plane, and then we crossed our fingers that he would stay asleep the whole plane ride. This was the first plane trip where he had his own seat, and he did great. When we walked onto the plane, the stewardesses put him up in the cockpit and let him sit with the pilots for a bit. I am SO sad that we didnt' get a picture with him up there. Maybe he will be a firefighter AND a pilot.

Eric and I didn't have seats together on the ride down, and Horizon kept telling us that the flight was completely full an that there was no way we could move people around and sit together. I was so scared to have Preslie by myself and try and take care of her by myself while I was smashed in between (because yes I had the middle seat) two people. You always hear horror stories about people who had a plane ride and there was some baby on there that just cried the whole way and blah blah blah. People ALWAYS complain about screaming kids on airplanes and how annoying it is.

But it's like the don't think of it from the opposite side.

As a mother, I am PETRIFIED of my children being massive inconveniences on other people. So a plane ride was a nightmare for me. I just kept having these ideas that Preslie was going to freak out when the pressure change made her ears pop, and that I wouldn't be able to comfort her, and it's not like I can stand up anyways to calm her down, but especially when I was inbetween two people. And it's not like you can never expect little kids to get on planes. I mean, we can't drive EVERYWHERE with them.

So anyways, we start walking back to our chairs and we get to Eric and Parker's row, they have the middle and window seat, and there is already this guy sitting in the aisle seat. I walked past them and started to sit down in the row right behind them and then this amazing man says, "Do you guys want to sit all together?"

It was incredible! I literally almost cried. I was so relieved that Eric and I would be sitting together and that he would be there to help with Preslie if she got out of hand. A weight had seriously been lifted off my shoulders.

The guy started joking about how of course he would wind up witht he middle seat now, and Eric and I just kept thanking him.

Then down walks this family with a little boy about Preslie's age and they walk to the row with the guy who just gave me his seat and say, "Would you like to sit on the aisle? We would love to sit together." Which made me want to cry again because this guy had been so nice to us and given us his seat, and then he was rewarded for it. But then it got even better when they announced that although all the seats had been purchased, that a flight had been delayed and consequently our plane woudl only be 1/3 full. The family moved to their own row, and this sweet man got his own row, and the people in front of us kept turning around to play with Preslie and talk to Parker about flying, and it was just the nicest group of poeple I think I have ever been around, and the best flight we could ever ask for.

And we didn't even have to knock Preslie out with Benadryll!

Tommy Emmanuel-House Of The Rising Sun

The One With Tommy Emmanuel

February 17th Eric's Grammy, LouRita McNeil turned 80 years old! It's crazy to have a birthday party with a person who has lived a full life and seen so much, and a baby, turning one, who is just starting out. It's even more incredible to think that his Grandma was that age at one point in life, and now has become this amazing, incredible person who has raised 4 kids, 14 grandkids, and 5 great grandkids so far. It makes me excited to see what Parker and Preslie will become. . . . . although I am enjoying the ride in between and don't want this time to fly by.

On Friday night we went to a concert. Now I am slightly embarassed to admit this, but at 23 years old, this was only my second concert. When I was younger, my mom never let me go to concerts, she always said there was bad things that happened there so I couldn't go by myself, and she didn't want to go them either, so I couldn't have her as a chaperone. Our friends, Stan and Jenn invited us to go and see Dave Matthews Band in August, which was awesome! and it was one of Eric's favorite bands of all time. It was at the Taco Bell Arena and there were thousands of people there. This concert we went to in Portland was a little different, but still awesome.

It was at the Alladdin theater, and there were may 4oo people there. But this guy, Tommy Emmanuel, is incredible. I mean, it is the craziest thing you will ever see. He plays the guitar, but he more than just plays the guitar, it's hard to even describe. Look him up on YouTube because you will be blown away. I'm going to upload a video for you below, but you should still go and find this guy!

The One With the Carwash

Our trip to Portland and Disneyland was so full of fun, and we took so many pictures that if I put them all under one post it would be the longest post in Guiness world history! So I am going to break them up a little bit.

It has been FOUR YEARS since Eric and I have had a real vacation. We go out of town for a few days to spend the holidays with family occasionally, but the last time we had a real vacation was our Honeymoon where we went to Disneyland (ironic). I think Eric checked out right after New Years, we were so ready for a break. Work is hectic, family life is hectic, there are crazy medical issues happening, add in our church responsibilities (Eric is the Executive Secretary, and I am an Acitivity Days Leader) and we are lucky if we get 5 hours of sleep.

It's hard when you feel like you are trying to be a good parent by providing for your children - giving them a house to live in, and heat and air conditioning, food, clothes, etc -that all cost money, and so you work, and one day you wake up and feel like by providing financially for your family, you aren't getting to spend enough time as a family with them. So when Thursday, February 17th came, we were up and ready to leave our house at 9am.

It was SO COLD at our house, it had snowed, not much, but it had snowed! When we went to Disneyland for our Honeymoon in January of 2007 it SNOWED in ANAHEIM! The first time it had snowed there in like 25 years. We were joking about how with our luck we would go to Disneyland this time and the snow would follow us again.

The kids did great in the car. Parker watched movies, and Preslie watched movies and every couple of minutes she woudl start yelling at me, and I would turn around, give her a honey wheat pretzel (the really huge ones) and she would eat and be quiet for a little while again. She LOVES pretzels. She now also thinks that whenever she sits in her car seat she thinks it is time to eat. She yells at me and puts her hand out, and yells and yells until she gets what she wants.

Denny, Eric's Dad, always has us stop in Hood River, a city an hour outside of Portland, where his dental practice is for dental work every time we come up and visit. We got to Hood River about an hour early, so we went and grabbed some lunch and then Eric said he wanted to take the kids to a playground that he played at when he was younger.

He was telling me about this huge wood playground, but I wasn't expecting to see the playgroudn we pulled up to. It is AWESOME! I seriously want one even half the size of it in my yard someday. Look at it! Eric and I even wanted to play on it! :)

Preslie took her first ride down a slide with Mommy. And she took her first ride in a swing. She loved that too. She giggled and laughed the whole time, blew kisses to Daddy.

Parker made friends with a couple little girls and ran around the whole playground shooting guns, and laughing. I am so grateful that he knows how to make friends.

After we tired the kids out at the playground, we went and got our teeth worked on. Parker is a sippy cup kid. He LOVES chocolate milk, he loves juice, he always carries around his sippy, everywhere he goes. Apparently, although this is great for his hydration, it is NOT great for his teeth. Denny told us that his front four teeth were really badly damaged, even though we brush a lot, it wouldn't have helped. So now Parker gets a new GrIlL! At the end of March we are going back up to Portland and Parker is getting caps on his teeth. I'm a little nervous about how he is going to do in that chair.

After that we drove the rest of the way up to Portland, decided that our car, after having driven through snow in Boise, through snow over the Blues, and through snow in Portland, was disgustingly dirty, and went to through a car wash.

I have never seen Preslie so terrified in my life. It was hilarious and so sad all at the same time. Every time one of those big brushes came by her window she got so scared she couldn't even cry, and she would shake and look at us with her big brown eyes like she was about ready to die. That of course got Parker freaking out too. So we had two kids in the back seat crying and shaking convinced they were going to die, and Eric and I up front laughing and shaking, and yet trying to comfort them all at once.

Preslie is ONE!!!! Let's RECAP!

This year has gone by SOOO fast with Preslie. With Parker it was all screaming, and cholic, and ear infections, and no sleep and blah blah blah that by the time he turned one, I think we had aged a decade. We were ready for Parker to walk, we were ready for Parker to turn one and start entertaining himself, just so we could get a break. But I have loved Preslie being little and a baby, and so of course that means that time flies!

In May of 2009 I was at work and I continued to run to the bathroom and throw up. Leah, who I worked with at the time, was always joking saying I was pregnant, and it was this huge joke because HELLO Eric isn't supposed to be able to have kids (so Parker was already a miracle) and I was on birth control (just to be safe). We figured there was no way you could get pregnant on that stuff twice. I mean one in a million chance happens once I guess, but I guess I just didn't figure you could be the only exception in two one-in-a-million scenarios.

When it finally reached the point where I was like "okay, I feel like death all the time, sleep fourteen hours a day, throw up if I even smell salami, and it's been forever since that 'week' " I was a little nervous.

Well . . . . the stick never lies!

Actually, that's not true, I guess there are false positives occasionally, but in our case it was a positive positive, and at the end of June the stick said "You guessed it kids, you're having a baby!"

It was mixed emotions. Parker's delivery, my recovery from his delivery, and his entire first year were, for lack of a better word, HELL. I swore up and down that I would never have another baby. If we ever decided we wanted more kids, I was more than ready to adopt. Not to mention I felt TERRIBLE that here my sister had been having such a hard time, it felt wrong that we should get it without even trying.

But at the same time, we had lost Parker's twin, so I think deep down we knew there was still another spirit up there that was supposed to be in our family, so we were excited.

August 8th we went in for our fist doctor's appointment, and we had a sonogram. From the second that little bean popped up on the screen I knew it was a girl. It exuded girl! I was 11 weeks along, so she was a little more developed than a jelly bean, she had little stubs for arms and legs, but even those just moved like a girl. She somersaulted, and flipped around just like a little ballerina gymnast.

We didnt' actually find out for sure boy or girl until October 14th. At the time I was being calm about which I thought it woudl be. I always find it a little crazy when mothers are like "I KNOW it's a Boy!" (or a girl) an then they go in and it's not. It would be awkward to have to back track. But looking back I can say I was pretty sure it was a girl. Well the ultrasound happened and YES she is a GIRL!

Parker was in the room for the ultrasound and he was so enamoured by the little baby on the screen. He just kept saying "That's a baby" "THat's MY baby" and I knew they would be good friends.

The labor was pretty normal. I had a TON of heartburn (my sister-in-law Katie will say that this is why her kids have so much hair) and a LOT of tightness, but the doctor just said it was because of the crazy delivery I had with Parker.

Let me just put a plug in for my doctor, Doctor West, at the Women's Clinic is AWESOME! If you don't already have a baby doctor that you love, I suggest you switch, cause you will love him. Not to mention that he won "Best Looking Doctor" in the Treasure Valley in 2010.

In December Preslie started to try and come early. I would have contractions five minutes apart for an entire day, and then they would go away, and then a couple days later I woudl have it again. We went into the hospital right before Christmas and they hooked me up on the monitor. Indeed I was having contractions, they were very strong, but after a few hours of laying on my side, they went away. Which was good, I didn't want to have a baby that early. They started seeing me every week, and because there was no dilation happening, they decided to put me on terbutaline to help try and stop the contractions.

I was on SPEED!

I am positive that is what speed would be like. My heart was racing. Even sitting at my desk doing nothing but typing my heart woudl be running away. My legs were constantly bouncing, and my fingers and hands had to always be moving. I walked way to fast whereve I went, and when I talked I sounded like I was talking in fast forward. It was INSANE!

But it worked. After 48 hours of taking terbutaline the contractions stopped for long enough that I could work without being uncomfortable.

Friday, February 19th, I had a doctor's appointment. Dr. West measured me, talked with me a little about the c-section that was scheduled for March 4th (a week before Preslie was due) but because things were so backed up at the doctor's office (and let's face it, it's not entirely the funnest thing in the world for us ladies) we decided not to check and see if there was any progress.

Saturday, February 20th, at 7am I started feeling something. It was different than what they had put me on Terbutaline for, it wasn't as much pain as it was just PRESSURE. It would come and go and come and go. I took a shower, got ready for the day, cleaned up the kitchen, the entire time telling Eric about them and we both assumed they would just stop.

By 4 o'clock that afternoon they were still going. The pressure would come every 3-4 minutes. I was terified of going back to the hospital just to have them tell me I was having Braxton Hicks orr something and send me home. I am terified that the nurses will jus sit there and laugh at me after I leave.

We drove over to my parents, which is halfway to the hospital, and my Mom soon figured out what was going on. She called the hospital and the nurse talked to me and was asking me my symptoms. I told her about the pressure, but that it didnt' hurt so I wasn't sure they were even contractions. When she heard how close they were she said "Come down here right now."

Do NOT pass go, do NOT collect $200.

Eric and I kind of laughed, but my parents said they would watch Parker while we went down and got checked out.

We got to the hospital at about 5:45ish. The nurses gave me a gown, which I put on over my street clothes, kind of assuming there was no way we were going to be staying. Eric was on the phone with his parents. I distinctly remember him saying, "Yeah, we're at the hospital again." and looking at me and rolling his eyes and laughing.

Then the nurse came in to hook me up tot he monitors. She said, "well let's check you first" and then we all laughed when she pulled up my gown and realized I still had all of my clothes on.

So she started checkign and then she checked again, and then seh looked at me funny, and Eric and I started looking at each other and I'm sure we were both just thinking, "we are definitley going home."

"Are you sure you want to have a c-section." The nurse asked me. I kind of looked at her like she was insane, and Eric snort laughed. Umm what? And then she repeated herself and said, "Why do you want to have a c-section." I breifly told her about Parker's delivery, how I ripped a four, and all the problems that had happened, and said YES! I ABSOLUTELY WANT A C-SECTION!

She pulled her hand up, took off the glove and yelled out the nursing station right outside the door to get the doctor up here right away. Eric and I were confused. "You are at a 6. You are having a baby right NOW."

I will never forget Eric's face, I wish I had a camera on him at that moment. I almost cannot wait until I die and get to review my life just to see that moment in real time once more. His mouth completely dropped, and he just stared at her. I kind of laughed.

And then everything was in fast forward. One nurse was ripping my clothes off, while another one was throwing scrubs at Eric. There were people running around everywhere. The doctor, who was not my doctor, came in and said "Crystal, we have to get your baby out now. You are too dilated. If your water breaks, or if the baby slips down farther into the canal, it will cause problems for a c-section, and we don't want you to have to have this baby natural." Eric was calling his parents and then teh nurses came in and were wheeling me out and started yelling at him asking him why he wasn't in his scrubs already, and he was saying I didn't know I needed to be right now, and they were yelling HURRRY HURRRRYYY!!!

They were wheeling me down the hallway and I was telling htem my feet were freezing and I wanted my socks and they just kept telling me there was no time. And all the time the nurses and the doctors and Eric and I were laughing cause it just seemed so crazy.

They put me in a room without Eric and gave me my epidural. The anesthesiologist started laughing when they realized I still had my shirt and my bra on. It came off and was then hung from my IV - thank heavens I was wearing a fun one that day. Then Eric came in, (let me tell you he looks pretty delicious in scrubs) and they sat him down by my head.

There were residents everywhere to watch and I started joking saying if I had known I was having a baby that day and especially that there would have been so many people watching I would have gone and gotten a spray tan and a pedicure. Then when they started cutting Eric said,
"Whoa! That's just like gutting a deer!"

To which everyone laughed. I didn't know that Eric and I were so hilarious until I was there sprawled out on that table with a doctor's hand literally in my stomach.

Preslie came out (the wrong way, just like her brother so it was a good thing she was a c-section) and she wasn't breathing. I'm sure it only took a minute or two, but it felt like forever. Finally I heard her! And she sounded beautiful, and there were so many nurses and residents and NICU in the room because she was three weeks early that I couldn't even see her.

7lbs. 2 oz. 19 1/2" long. For being three weeks early she was a chunk! If she had waited to come out until her real due date, I swear I woudl have given birth to a 10 pound baby.

The nurses told us how much the loved having Preslie in the nursery, they loved her hair, and they loved putting bows in it.

We have loved seeing the difference between a little boy and a little girl. Preslie is sensitive. She hates to see people hurt, or crying, and if she ever hears someone yell, she starts to cry. Parker was walking at ten months. Preslie is still crawling, and I kind of like still having a baby. Parker grew up too fast.

We were going to be in Disneyland for Preslie's actual birthday. So we threw a party for her the Saturday before we left at our house. I made her a flower cake with an idea I saw in a magazine. For being my first attempt, it didn't turn out so bad looking, and the cake was DELICIOUS. I learned how to make them from my Grandma Carpender.

We purposely put her in something that we didnt' mind her getting dirty, so don't look at her birthday outfit and think AWW SAD, and then we put clothes and hair things and jewelry that she got for her birthday on over the top, so by the end of the night, she was pretty weighed down.

I especially love this picture. Even though she is dressed up like a princess, she still wants to play with dinosaurs!

Happy 1st Birthday to our little Princess PRESLIE!

Office Built-Ins

When you first walk into our house there is an office on the left. We always wanted a designated office, not just a room set up as an office, or a corner in a bonus room taken up by a desk, so it was one of the bonuses that came with buying THIS house. It has great etched glass double doors and the room is pretty big.

It's good that the room is bigger too, because with the addition of Preslie to our family, it has also become the guest bedroom. We got an awesome black leather living room set, super modern - which we love! - , the sofa (which is a queen pull out) ended up in the office, love seat in Preslie's room and the chair is in our living room. The pull out is great! It allows the room to still be an office the 99.9% of the time that that is all it is, but then that .1% of the time when it is a guest bedroom the room becomes not so big anymore. Between the bed, the desk, and the shelves that we had in the room, it was hard for a guest to do anything but walk around the bed.

So we FINALLY did something about it. My Uncle Brent is an expert carpenter and he and Eric got together and made custom built-ins for the office. Now witht he built-ins, which have two separate desks, when the pull out bed is "out" there is MORE than enough room for guests to kick back and relax.

I wish we had taken better before pictures, but we kind of didn't think about it until the room had already been pulled apart to paint. But you will get the basic gist of it now. It's also not entirely done yet. WE still have to finish the back board above the desk area, put in the drawers, and finish the baseboards. But we had to prime everything, sand it, prime it, sand it, paint it, sand it, paint it, sand it, etc etc etc . . . . . so I think we have done pretty well considering we are never at home!

I will get the final pictures up as soon as we finish it completely, but here are some for the time in between.

Here is the paint color before. It's kind of this sage/khaki green. Our entire house is painted this color (with the exception of the rooms we have already painted) and we loved it because it was super modern and yet super neutral. But we have reached the point where EVERY room painted that color is getting a little old. We chose a chocolate brown - literally the paint color is called chocolate milk. It looked dark at first, but after we got the ceiling painted, and drapes up, and the cabinets were painted, we LOVE it.

Here's all the cabinets in the office, just after Eric and Brent finished building them, getting ready to prime.

Eric with the cabinets hung. My Dad and brother-in-law Jared came over and helped get them all up. They only have the first coat of primer on in this picture. We had to sand them all down, and then prime them again before we could even put the first coat of paint on.

And these are the cabinets after the first coat of "Lincoln Cottage" black paint. As you can see, if you don't sand them out and repaint, sand them out and repaint, again and again, you can see the paint lines. We are also doing a backer board of magnetic metal and we're thinking cork board between the desk and shelves, that is not in yet. That's why you can still see the "Go Ducks" sign Eric put up. And the drawers aren't done yet, and the black trim needs to go up still, but I am already in love with the way it looks!

They look pretty custom I think, I am very proud of Eric, he has so MAD skills! And I don't think anyone will believe how much we actually spent on them! :)