O Tannenbaum!

The Christmas tree finally got put up last night. Christmastime definitely can't be fully enjoyed until the tree is up and decorated! I like to turn off all the room lights and lie underneath the tree and look up through the twinkling Christmas lights. :) Happy Almost December!

Babbling Becca

Becca's "vocabulary" has been growing lately, with new sounds and noises. She's funny to have a conversation with.

Turkey and Disney Adventures

Well, we definitely had a very memorable Thanksgiving this year! On Thanksgiving morning we left early and drove to Ben's aunt's home in Upland, California. Upland is about a 45 minute drive from Disneyland. We had a very yummy Thanksgiving meal with them. My favorite, of course, was the mashed potatoes! The Tuttle home is very busy with 11 kids and a dog! Wow! Between their family, ours (including Ben's parents and his sister's family) and the missionaries, it was quite the little crowd. Emma and her cousin Adam looked so cute dressed up as a pilgrim and an indian. Ben's mom made the pilgrim dress and it turned out adorable! After dinner and visiting with them, we took off to our hotel across the street from Disneyland (my FAVORITE place!!). We played for two days in the two parks there and we were soooo exhausted after it all! We hit every big ride and most of everything else. I was a little disappointed that we didn't ever get to ride the new Nemo submarine ride. However, every time we walked by it was an hour and a half wait or more. We just didn't want to wait that long with all of our little ones. So, maybe next time. Hopefully they will someday decide to have some fast passes available for that one. Goodness sakes! On the first Disneyland day, we had some special passes that would allow us to get into Toontown an hour before it opened to meet Mickey and watch a little show with all his friends. Emma just loved this! When we got to see Mickey she went right up and hugged his legs. It was super cute. I was a little surprised at how scared Emma was on some of the rides... I was hoping she would be more brave! She did NOT like any of the 'dark' indoor rides... we couldn't get her to go on Peter Pan or anything. It was a real struggle to convince her to go on Winnie the Pooh or Small World, but she ended up enjoying both. She whimpered the whole time on Pirates and Monster's Inc. However, there were many rides that she wanted to ride over and over again, like the teacups, Dumbo, Astro Orbiters, all of the rides in the Bug's Life land and also the big Ferris Wheel in California Adventure. So, overall, she had a really good time. Of course, we weren't able to convince her to ride the Matterhorn. She said it was too scary because she could hear the "snow monkey". That's what she called the Abominable Snowman. What a funny girl. We also got away with hardly having to wait in any lines, because while part of our group was at Toontown on the first day, Ben's parents and sister were surprisingly given Dream Fast Passes (part of Disney's Year of a Million Dreams thing) that allow you to get on all the big rides without a wait. You just have to show them your special passes that wear around your neck. So, between those and baby swap passes, we hopped on a bunch of rides without a wait. How pleasant! I also enjoyed the little arrangement we made with Ben's sister, Emily and her hubby (also named Ben). The kids were exhausted after dinner on both days, so we swapped taking the kids back to the hotel to go to bed while the others continued to play. This worked out well. The second night was Ben and my turn to play late, so we went on California Screamin' and Tower of Terror. We also got some ice cream and shopped for some souvenirs for Emma and Becca. What a fun date! Happy Belated Thanksgiving everyone!

Disneyland... here we come!!

I mentioned in the previous post that my dear Rebecca has been much happier since starting up the formula. Well, I took these pictures of her this morning because she was sooo happy. I love it when my girls are giggly and in a good mood. Emma's happy today as well because we'll be leaving for Disneyland tomorrow!! We've been perusing the Disneyland site together and she is excited for the following: teacups, Dumbo,Mickey and Minnie's house, Bug's Life rides, and Matterhorn. Can you believe she is actually big enough to ride the Matterhorn? Of all the bigger thrill rides, the Matterhorn is the one that only requires a height of 35 inches to ride. For most of the other big rides you need to be 40 inches or taller. Well, Emma is now 36 inches tall! What a growing girl! Maybe next time she'll be even bigger like Addy and be able to ride Splash Mountain! :)

Hurry and lock up the cupboards mom!

Becca's almost crawling! 'Almost' means that she keeps pulling herself up onto her knees and rocking a little, but not quite going anywhere. However, even though she's not quite crawling, she still somehow ends up traveling across the room through other methods such as scooting, rolling, reaching, stretching and other creative means of getting somewhere. Also, to update on the formula feeding - she is happier and sleeps better, and I hope she is also gaining some weight. Do you think she looks a little fatter? I think her head is looking a little less bulbous, so maybe that means she is putting on some weight in her face and elsewhere. I hope so! Her next weight check will be in a couple of weeks, so I hope she passes the test! :)

I love Heather!!... and Becca too

Heather took these adorable pictures of Becca and I LOVE them! I'm having a hard time narrowing down which ones to print and frame... maybe I'll just have a whole wall devoted to cute Becca... but perhaps that would make Emma feel bad. ;)

Bring on the formula!

Greetings everyone! Another week is beginning and I was just looking at my blog and realizing it's about time I updated with something new. I took Becca to her weight check this morning. At her 6 month well-baby visit, the pediatrician wanted me to come back in one month to check her weight to see if my bitty little girl is making any progress. Well, at 7 months old she weighed in at a mere 13 lbs, 4 oz... so I was instructed to start supplementing three times each day with formula. Well, I fed her with formula right after nursing her at lunch and at dinner today and I was shocked at how much she ate! I feel sooooo sad that I've been short-changing her for so long with the nursing. Apparently I'm just not cutting it with my milk supply. Oh my! This was a surprise to me, because I never had to use formula with Emma.. she was never as small as Becca is. Well, anyway... I'm distressed at the fact that my little Rebecca has been needing more to eat, but I'm also relieved that she's finally getting the food she needs to start filling out and hopefully get a little chunkier. :)

On a lighter note, below I've posted a video of Emma dancing along during Dancing with the Stars last week. I mentioned in a previous post that this has been one of her favorite things to do recently. She loves dancing and I get a giggle at how serious she'll be about it. The video below is a little dark and she spends some of the time staring intently at the dancers on tv trying to think of how to imitate them. I like how at the end of all her dances she collapses on the floor for a dramatic and theatrical finish! :)

Soccer Girl!

Emma started her soccer class this morning. She was so excited. Last night we bought her shin guards (which hardly fit her skinny legs) and her very own pink soccer ball so that she can practice during the week. I was very impressed with her soccer skills! She did so well! We have a pro soccer player in the making. :) We'll be doing this every Saturday for the next six weeks, so I'm glad she liked it!

Yay for me!

Look I got a haircut! It's a miracle! Guess when the last time I had a haircut was? It's hard to believe, but it's been since last October! Phew... it feels good to finally break that streak. I put Becca in the picture because I feel weird taking a picture of just me. Becca's so cute. Anyway, if you ever actually read this Melanie, thanks for the great color and cut! Now go get going on your blog! :)

Cute costumes and... la cucaracha!

You're probably all getting bored with Halloween posts... but I'll try and aim to entertain! We spent the evening at Ben's parents home in Gilbert and enjoyed trick or treating throughout their neighborhood. Emma's cousin Adam was Christopher Robin... aren't they all so cute together?! My favorite is that Becca can't see... that's hilarious. Well, Emma had a lot of fun! Once again, she impressed me with her trick-or-treating skills. She'll do whatever it takes to get candy. This made me think of the following Jerry Seinfeld act about Halloween (which Ben was quoting and joking about last night as we went door to door getting candy).


Becca and Emma are having more and more fun together lately. Particularly at bathtime. Now that Becca can sit up in the tub, I can more easily give them baths at the same time. It's much more convenient for me, and a lot more fun for them! Becca is so cute and funny. I took a video during their tub time a couple days ago and you can view it here.

And now on a much more random note, here is a very amusing clip of Ben and I dancing (I really must have no shame!):