Inara learning to dive for rings

After a 3 month delay, here's the latest & greatest from the Tomlinson fam

Oh my goodness, how did I get so far behind on my blog? Am I really 3 months behind? Seriously, what happened to 2010 and how are we a fourth of the way through 2011? It could have a lil something to do with a busy 3 year old in the house, a very pregnant mommy who's tired most days and needs a nap, or it could be I've just gotten to lazy. Whatever the reason, it's time for a long overdue blog. I have so many funny stories and quotes from Inara to share and fun updates on baby boy too.

Inara's been all about being a big girl lately. I tease her and tell her I want her to stay my baby girl. She now retorts with "But I'm not a baby. I have to be a big girl because I'm going to be a big sister soon." Then the other day she said, "When I get bigger, I'm gonna be 33 just like Daddy." I replied, "Wow, that is big. Do you wanna be 66 like Nee Nee when you get bigger?" She quickly said, "NO! That's old and I don't want gray hair." I cracked up and couldn't stop laughing. She's so quick with her responses and seriously, how does the girl know what gray hair is? She's SO hilarious!

Some of her funniest jokes come at Nee Nee's expense lately. Shawn, Inara and I were at the park last weekend. Inara was of course running because the girl runs ALL day long and she always wants to be first. Shawn asked who's the fastest to which Inara replied, "I am." Prego mommy was taking her time and waddling in the back. Shawn asked who's the slowest. Inara quickly blurted out, "Nee Nee." (Poor Nee Nee.)

For some reason lately, Inara's been making references to pirates. One day when she and I were playing with her Barbies, she nonchalantly said, "Mommy, princesses don't marry pirates." I cracked up. Ummm...yes, you are correct, sweet pea. My favorite pirate comment came when we were having dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. Shawn and I were telling her she needed to eat more carrots. We had recently told her she needed to eat at least 2 carrots since she has 2 eyes. That night at dinner, she said, "If I only eat 1 carrot, I'll be like a pirate. Arrrgh!" I can't remember the last time Shawn and I laughed that hard. I just love how hilarious she is. She's got the best personality EVER!

One of my other favorite lines of hers was when I picked her up from school one day. They had a special lunch that day of hot dogs, baked beans, and lemonade. As we were driving home, she suddenly started coughing. I asked if she was ok and if she just got a froggy in her throat. She said she was ok. I think it's just a froggy. She paused for a second and then said, "Maybe my lemonade turned into a froggy and made me cough." The randomness of her thoughts are what makes them so priceless.

Because she gets so sad when Daddy leaves in the mornings, we've always told Inara that Daddy has to go to work to make money for her piggy bank. Her latest reply when sad that Daddy was leaving was adorable: "But Daddy, I have enough money in my piggy bank already." Shawn then explained he has to make money for his piggy bank too. She paused then asked where his is (because of course, she's never seen his in our house). He then told her about the bank we go to and that's where we keep Mommy & Daddy's piggy bank. "Well what color is your piggy bank?" "Um, it's brown." "Why isn't it blue? You like blue." Such conversations occur on a daily basis and amaze us because it shows how smart she is and how she processes every new thing. It's truly awesome to see her grow!

As many of you know, Inara has become quite the fan of Disney's movie Tangled and the main character Rapunzel. She frequently talks about Mama Gothel (as Inara calls her) from the movie as well. This is the character who kidnaps Rapunzel and holds her captive in the tower. One day, Inara comes to me and says, "Mama Gothel isn't very nice. She doesn't let Rapunzel leave the tower and go to school or My Gym. That's not very nice." It impressed me that she was able to rationalize the meanness of Mother Gothel's actions and the two things she keeps Rapunzel from are school and My Gym, obviously two things that are important in Inara's life.

Inara's developed quite the imagination too. It's not unheard of for her to personify inanimate objects. This is a daily case when I do her hair in the mornings. She loves to make her toothbrushes talk to each other. Or she creates voices for her brush & comb and hair clips. I'm continuously eavesdropping on her while she plays with her toys because I'm in awe of how much her imagination has grown. At times, I think she's much wiser beyond her 3 years. Recently, I was washing dishes when I looked over and saw her on her hands and knees looking under the coffee table with her flashlight. I was a bit taken by what I saw, so I asked her what she was doing. "Just looking for clues like Scooby-Doo," she said. I seriously wish I could have a camera on her at all times. She's a riot.

She's also becoming WAY too smart. If I think I'm in awe of her creativity and sense of humor, then I'm totally taken aback by her intelligence on a daily basis. A few weeks ago the three of us were shopping at Super Target. We were walking out of the store and she points to the big sign and says, "S. U. P. E. R." I gasped and hit Shawn on the arm to make sure he was paying attention. We both got the biggest smiles and congratulated her. She then continued spelling "T. A. R. G. E. T." Then on Thursday, she and I were driving around and I hear her from the backseat say, "F. O. R. D. F. O. R. D." It took me a sec to figure out what she was spelling. I started looking around and asked her where she saw those letters. She then pointed to a truck 3 lanes over. I had to squint to see the letters. So not only does she know her letters and can spell, but the girl has amazing eyesight too.

I just love how excited she is about baby brother and can't wait to be a big sister. This morning we snuggled on the couch and talked to "baby budder." We were asking him what name he wanted. We started with serious names and then ventured into silly names. If he kicked, then that meant he liked the name. At this point, it looks like brother wants to be named Mickey Mouse since that's the name that got the biggest kick.

My little girl loves to pamper mommy lately. She's always offering to put lotion on my back, which I don't turn down since I've developed a slight case of eczema on my back and need to put lotion on it every day. She also offers back massages now. We have a little hand massager that she loves to use on my back. She thinks it's so fun to play with. The other way she loves to pamper me is by brushing my hair. This morning I must have gotten a 20 min scalp massage and hair styling. She was even so gracious as to hand me a magazine so that I could read while getting my hair done. I LOVE our mommy-daughter time! And I'm trying to take full advantage of it right now since we have less than 10 more weeks till baby brother arrives, possible 8 weeks if he makes an early entrance like Inara did.

I'm happy to report that we made HUGE progress on home projects while Pop & Nee Nee were here a week ago. Shawn & Pop built shelves for the basement so we can get a lil more organized. Or at least Shawn thinks we will be more organized...in one corner of the basement. There's still a lot of "stuff" to organize in the rest of the basement. The best part was the old sheet Shawn hung to close off the new organized corner and even put a doormat in front of the curtain so we don't track any dirt into the newly cleaned up corner.

Pop also painted the nursery with help from Inara. She was SO excited to be helping Pop paint baby brother's room, and she did an awesome job. Honestly, she did a LOT better than I did with no major spills anywhere. It was the cutest thing watching her rolling paint and asking Pop to fill up the paint tray. She's such a hard worker and always wants to help out with any home projects. After we finished the nursery, she then asked if we were going to paint her room. I hadn't planned on doing it, but after she gave Pop & I her sad puppy dog look, we couldn't resist. So we went to Home Depot, picked out several paint colors, put swatches on the wall, decided on the color, and started painting her room the next day.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the colors we picked for both kids' rooms. They are perfect! I went with a soft sage-y green for baby boy's room. I think it goes perfectly with the brown furniture and the bedding, which has mocha brown, brick red and dark blue. I also got dark brown curtains, which really helps break up the green walls. It's such a peaceful, relaxing, yet boyish room. I couldn't be happier. Inara's room was a bit of a shock when we first started painting it because she chose purple...Rapunzel purple to be exact. Pop & Nee Nee bought her new bedding since we moved her into a twin bed and they surprised us with a huge Rapunzel mural. This, to me, is the perfect bedroom for a 3 year old little girl. I want her room! With the white furniture, purple paint, Rapunzel murals, and pink/purple sheets, I just love it!!!! She does too! The first night as she laid in bed, she rolled over and looked at Shawn and I and said, "I love my new room!" Doesn't matter how much work it was, hearing her say those words made it worth every second...and every penny. I just feel like she is only this little once and I want to do everything to make her childhood the best it can be. I truly adore her more than I ever thought I could love another person and want to spoil her as much as I can.

The other great compliment that made my long fight to win Shawn over to painting the kids' rooms was a few nights later when we were laying in Inara's room getting her ready for bed and he says to me, "I really like the colors you picked for the kids' rooms. I think they make the house. You guys did a great job painting. Makes me want to paint our room now." Holy cow! This was huge for me since Shawn has fought me since the day we moved into our house and all the times I've said I wanted to paint. He now has faith in my color choices and sees how color adds personality to a home. Score one for me!

It truly shocks me when I think baby boy will arrive in less than 10 short weeks. This pregnancy really flew by. It's been an easy pregnancy in that all my doctor visits have been positive and I haven't had any really bad issues. I did recently develop leg cramps at night, but I know how to deal with those since I had them with Inara too. My skin has been itchier this time around, so I've had to resort to putting heavy lotions and creams on every day to help alleviate the itching. I haven't had many food cravings. I did find this great ice cream that I annihilated in a couple days, then bought a second container and ate that one all to myself. Shawn was giving me a hard time about eating so many desserts. I was worried what the scale would show at my appointment this past week. Hooray! Only 15 pounds total gained at 30 weeks. Can't say that's so bad if I do say so myself.

One thing that's different about this pregnancy from Inara is what a kicker this boy is. I remember Inara kicking quite a bit, but baby boy kicks NON stop it seems like and he's got a super strong kick going already. It never fails that since I'm on the go most of the day with Inara and just doing my daily work that the second I sit down, he starts stretching and kicking. It gets really bad around 7pm and right when I lay down for the night. He just knows that Mama wants to rest and wham-o, he reminds me it's his turn to get some attention.

I've had a couple great dreams about baby boy. One was last week where I totally felt like I was starting labor. The contractions got stronger and stronger and then suddenly things went black and then I was holding baby boy. If only labor went like that, right? The other labor dream I had was so awesome and I could totally see baby boy's face plain as day. He had light eyes and brown hair. He was small like Inara and I just couldn't stop staring at him. Although we have stuff still to do before his arrival, I really do hope these next 10 weeks go fast because I just can't WAIT to meet him!!!

Inara the big sister and other funny stories

Inara is so excited to be a big sister. She's started sharing our news with friends before I get a chance. One day when I picked her up from school, her teachers came running over and told me Inara shared some good news with them today. At first I was worried...what embarrassing story would she be sharing now? The teachers then told me Inara was so excited to tell them that she was going to be a big sister and that mommy had a baby "budder" (brother) in her tummy. I couldn't stop smiling. Yes, we were having a baby, but we don't know if it's a boy or girl yet. Both teachers gave me hugs and congratulated me and Inara. They agreed that Inara's going to be the best big sister.

At first, Inara kept saying she wanted a baby brother, but the past few weeks she is adamant that we are having a baby sister. I love talking with her about names for the baby. When she wanted a baby brother, she said we would name him Clifford. Sorry, but I'm gonna have to veto that one. I asked if we could name baby brother Wyatt. She looked confused and said, "But Mommy, Wyatt is in my class." Yes, she does have a classmate named Wyatt. Boo! Now I've got Shawn and Inara vetoing my name choices. When I would ask her about baby sister names, she always said we should call baby Mulan. This cracks me up because Inara's never seen the Disney movie Mulan nor does she have any Mulan toys, so how in the world does she know who Mulan is? That Disney brainwashing is amazing! Now all she ever talks about is her baby sister named Sissy. No matter what we name a baby girl, I have a feeling Inara will call her Sissy, which I think is quite cute.

Inara asks about baby all the time and loves talking and reading to my belly already, which can be a bad thing when we're out in public and she asks if she can talk to baby and starts to pull up my shirt. No need to be flashing the big belly to everyone, sweet pea. She's going to be the best big sister in the world! Although one day she told me, "I be Mommy #1 and you be Mommy #2." Brings me back to when Michael was born and how excited I was to be mommy's little helper with baby brother. Soon after we told her she was going to be a big sister, she laid a blanket down on the floor by her bed one night. When I asked her what she was doing, she said that baby could lay on it when she crawled into her room. She's already so concerned about baby's comfort. It's so adorable to see her brain working when asking about baby related things. She asked one day if she was in my tummy when she was "zero." I explained to her that yes, she was in my tummy growing before she was born just like our new baby is. She pondered for a sec and then asked, "Mommy, did I have toys when I was in your tummy?" Uh, no, sweet pea, but that's a great question. Had me chuckling for days.

One night at bedtime she asked where baby was going to sleep. Shawn and I explained that we would move her bed into baby's room and make it back into a crib and she would get a new bed to which she replied "yippee" and started jumping up and down in her bed. We did do some "window shopping" for a new bed for her one night. It was so darn cute watching her walk around the furniture store, feeling the softness of the mattresses, trying some of them out, and telling us which ones she liked. Shawn and I have had some disagreements about what kind of bed to get her. He said we should get her a double so we don't have to get one for her down the road when she's a teenager. I told him I don't want her in such a big bed yet...she's only 3! Plus, who said a teenager needs a double? I had a twin until I moved out, so she can have a twin til she goes to college too. Someone suggested that I tell Shawn that Inara definitely needs a double for when her boyfriend wants to spend the night...that should change his mind real quick.

Besides baby-related stories, Inara has many hilarious quotes and antics every day. I took her for her first dentist visit about a month ago. We've read the Dora book about going to the dentist and talked about what a dentist does to get her ready for her first visit. When we arrived at the office, she was in great spirits. The dental hygienist come out to the lobby to say hello and introduce herself: "Hi, my name is Erin." Inara got a big smile and said, "Just like my auntie Erin." I thought yes, this is going to be a piece of cake. She then held Erin's hand and walked back to the exam room. Then everything took a turn for the worse. Inara sat in the big chair but was speechless and looked frightened. I finally sat in the chair with her and had Inara sit on my lap. She refused to open her mouth for Erin to look at her teeth. Dr. Twiss came in and introduced himself. Inara barely cracked open her mouth for him to look inside. He said he doesn't like forcing kids to get examined. The first step is just getting them into the office and familiar with the setting. We'd try again in six months. Both of them said that she actually did pretty good considering that she didn't scream and cry like many kids do on their first visit. No, instead, she just sat there tight lipped refusing to open her mouth. My daughter's not stubborn is she? The real fit came when we got to the car and she asked if we were going to get Yogurtland now. I explained that she was only going to get yogurt if she did good at the dentist and she didn't let the dentist look at her teeth and clean them, so sorry, no Yogurtland. She screamed and cried. We called Shawn to tell him what happened. Again, I told him he needs to take her to her doctor appointments from now on. They are too stressful for mommy.

I always make fun of the the Shawn-isms that Inara picks up. It's crazy to me just how much she is like Shawn. It's bad enough that she has to look just like Daddy and not Mommy, but she now even acts like him and even laughs like him. Why can't my baby girl be more like me? haha. So as long as I've known Shawn, he's always driven me crazy by saying "my dogs are barking" when he takes his shoes off. Don't know why that saying drives me crazy, but it does. Of course, now Inara says it when she takes her shoes off. One night I asked her if she wanted her shoes off. She cracked us up when she said, "Daddy's dogs are barking, but my kitties are barking." Guess I don't mind that she's made the saying her own now.

I'm always on her to not turn lots of lights on because I know that it annoys Shawn. I've got her to understand that we don't want to waste electricity because it makes Daddy mad. One day when she and I were shopping at Super Target, she says rather loudly, "Mommy, Super Target is wasting electricity. Look at all the lights." Love it, sweet pea! Love it!

I love when she tells me stories about things she and Shawn do together. I cracked me up when one day she started laughing telling me stories about Daddy and says, "Mommy, Daddy always kidding me." Yes, sweet pea, your Daddy is a big kidder isn't he? Then yesterday, she was playing with her big blanket and got the biggest smile on her face and says, "Mommy, I'm gonna burrito you." She then laid the blanket on the floor and instructed me to lay on it, so she could wrap me up in it like a burrito, a favorite Inara-Daddy game.

She always misses Daddy when he's at work. We taught her long ago that Daddy has to go to work to make money for her piggy bank. One day when she was whining for Daddy to come home, I reminded her why he had to work. She sadly said, "But Daddy always works but never gives me money for my piggy bank." I texted Shawn that day and told him, so when he came home that night, he greeted her with several shiny coins to put in her piggy bank. She was happy to see him that night.

Shawn and I are both known to check caller-id and get annoyed when we see it's a sales person calling. When she's playing, I've caught Inara playing with her phone, getting upset, and saying "Ugh! Sales people." Gotta be careful what we say around her at all times because we never know what's going to be repeated later on.

Quite awhile ago, when we were driving by some new houses that were being built by our house, Inara told me that Pop should buy one of those. I've joked with my parents about that for awhile. Then out of the blue recently, as we were driving by the completed houses, Inara says in a stern, serious voice, "Pop didn't buy one of those new houses yet." Sorry, sweetie, I don't think Pop and Nee Nee will be moving out here any time soon, but I still had to share this one for Pop's sake.

I love the 3's so far. Yes, she has her temper tantrums and what not, but overall, the 3s have been much more mild than I thought they would be. I know I'm jinxing myself, right? One of my favorite things about this age is her love of role playing and her imagination. She's all into making up new games and telling us the rules for new games. During the summer, she fell in love with Red Light, Green Light. I used to love playing this game too when I was little. However, Inara added a new twist to her version of the game. She started adding new colored lights to the game along with new activities to go along with those colors. So the game is now Red Light, Green Light, Pink Light, Purple Light, Yellow Light, Black Light to which she has added falling to the ground, walking backwards, hopping, and jumping in place. She is also becoming quite the little mommy while playing with her baby dolls. She often times has sick babies to tend to and has to take them to the doctor. She reads them books and rocks them to sleep. Yesterday, when we were playing dolls, she told me she was a mommy and I was a mommy, and we were going to MOPS. I love that she knows what MOPS is and that it's something important enough to add to her role playing. So cute!!!

She's also quite the independent child now and wants to do EVERYTHING "all by myself." She now gets herself undressed and dressed for the most part. (She struggles a lil with getting her shirt on.) She loves getting her shoes and socks on all by herself. She can go potty all on her own, but still needs Mommy and Daddy to help her when she goes poopy. She always wants to get in her carseat and buckle herself without any help. It's a constant all day long to hear her say, "That's ok, Mommy. I can do it all by myself." She's always reminding us that she's a big girl now and can do or not do certain things. One night at dinner I asked if she wanted a bite of my pizza with bell peppers and tomatoes, she said, "I can't eat that pizza until I'm 5 years old." One day when I picked her up from school, she said she didn't want me to pick her up because she wanted to go in the yellow school bus. I was so shocked. I told her she was still too little to ride on the bus. "But mommy, I'm not little. I'm 3 years old now." She's growing up way too fast. I want her to stay my little baby girl forever. She's simply the coolest, most adorable thing in the world.

The one skill that still shocks me every day is her reading books to us. It amazes me how many books she has memorized now and can read them to us, almost word for her. She LOVES reading us "Green Eggs and Ham" and Berenstein Bears' "Inside Outside Upside Down." She's always loved the Mercer Meyer Little Critter stories. I was completely in awe one day when she started reading me the Little Critter collection book, which has at least 7 of the stories in it. She has every one of those stories memorized!!! I am continuously surprised by how smart she is. The best thing about her reading to us is her inflection and tone. She has such personality when she reads. It's so cute! It makes Shawn and I crack up every time she reads to us.

There was one incident recently that I know she will be embarrassed about me sharing when she's older. I was cleaning her room and noticed there was a row of Kleenex stuffed behind her bed on the floor. I called her over and asked her what that was. She said she didn't know. I didn't do that Mommy. I then had to collect at least 20 Kleenex from the floor. As I was squeezed up against the wall to clean up the mess, I noticed something on the wall. Oh my goodness...dried boogers!!! Inara Grace!!! I couldn't understand if she had stuffed 20 Kleenex down the back of her bed, then why not use them to wipe her boogies. So gross!!! When Shawn got home that night, I had her tell Daddy what we found. He was grossed out too, but later admitted he was kinda relieved that she wiped them on the wall rather than eat them. Leave it to Shawn to come up with that justification.

I love the funny things she says every day. One day she floored me when we were pulling out of the garage and she told me to close the garage so a skunk doesn't get in. Where in the world she came up with that one I have no idea. I've always said she was a gassy girl, but it cracks me up when she starts farting and says, "Mommy, I've got lots of toots in my booty."

Lately, she's become obsessed with learning Spanish. I have Dora and Diego to thank for that. We can be driving around and she suddenly will start asking me how to say random things in Spanish. "How do you say bus in Spanish? How do you say street in Spanish? How do you say horse in Spanish?" If I don't know it, she says, "I know how to say it. It's cocosaymana." Again, I have no idea where she comes up with these made-up Spanish words, but it's so hilarious. It's also impressive because the Spanish words she makes up sound like they could be a legit Spanish word. Sometimes if I don't know how to say the word in Spanish, she will tell me to call Nee Nee and ask her, and we have done that quite a few times because she's adamant about knowing how to say it right then and there. She loves the Shrek 2 soundtrack. One of her favorite songs is "Livin' La Vida Loca." She oftentimes tells me, "When donkey says livin' la vida loca, that's Spanish." I swear she is the greatest daughter in the world and I tell her that every day. I'm so excited to be bringing another child into the family and can't wait to start our journey all over again and to expand the journey we've started with Inara. I can't say it enough...she's going to be the best big sister a sibling could ask for.

How did my daughter get so smart?

Here are so pretty funny things Inara's said over the last couple months.

Before I start this story, I have to give a little backstory. One of the lightbulbs in our main stairway blew out a few weeks ago. It's super high up and hard to get to. Shawn bought one of those long, claw-like devices to reach the lightbulb. Given Shawn's luck, the claw got stuck around the light fixture and won't come off. If he pulls on it, the whole darn fixture comes out of the ceiling. I now have a nice yellow claw stuck to my stairway light. Once in awhile, Inara likes to point it out to me and asks, "What did Daddy do to the light? Why did he leave that on there?" So the other day, Shawn, Inara and I were shopping at Ace Hardware. I stopped to look at paint, and the two of them went to go get popcorn, Inara's favorite reason for hanging out at Ace. They come walking back and Shawn says to me, "You'll never guess what your daughter just said to me." Oh boy, I brace myself. Shawn proceeds to tell me that as they were walking, Inara points to the tallest ladder in the store and says, "Daddy, there's a tall ladder for you to fix the light with the claw on it." We both stood there cracking up. She's so bossy and constantly reminding us of our foibles.

Before bedtime, I asked Inara to pick up the toys she had left in the hallway. When I went in her room, I stopped dead in my tracks because the toys she picked up were placed right in the middle of her room. I then asked, "Inara, why did you leave your toys right in the middle of the room? You know mommy or daddy can step on them and get hurt." She slyly responds, "Mommy, I lined them up and you can just walk around them. See."

I was putting laundry away when I called her into my bedroom. I pointed out that she left her super tiny baby doll comb on the floor where it's going to get lost. She flops down on the floor right next to the comb. I then start going on about how I've already asked her several times today to pick it up because she's going to forget where she left it and it's not my responsibility to pick up her toys. She abruptly interrupts me and says, "Yes. Yes. Yes" followed by a deep sigh. Oh I'm so sorry to sound like a broken record your highness. She's almost 3 but the sass sometimes comes across like a 12 year old. Seriously, where does she learn such things?

She likes to congratulate me for doing things I congratulate her on. She loves to see my empty lunch or dinner plates and will say to me, "Mommy, you ate all your lunch. I'm so proud of you." I'm always checking her panties when I take her to the bathroom to make sure she didn't have an accident. Well now she likes to see if I've had any accidents: "Let me check your panties. Good job, Mommy. You no pee in your panties."

The other day Shawn took Inara potty and she asked him to lock the door. She's very much about having her privacy. She then stated, "I don't want mommy to come in. Or Snowflake." Snowflake is her favorite baby doll. Shawn cracked up and had to come share this one with me immediately.

Last night, when she was going to bed, she asked me to sleep in her room with her. I told her I had to go to bed in my room. She said, "No, mommy. I want someone else to sleep in my room with me cuz I'm all alone." I knelt down and told her she was a brave girl, to not worry, and that she had friends in her room with her: Snowflake, Mickey, Minnie." She frowned and said, "Mommy, they're not real. I want a real person to sleep in here with me."

Boy, do I love this age. She's so smart it's surprising every day what comes up with. Man, do I love her!!!

Our trip to Wisconsin and Minnesota

Figured I better do a blog update before I forget all the "adventures" from our trip to Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Barb & Ed wanted to have a family memorial for Erin and were already set to go back to Wisconsin at the end of July. Thane's family and our family headed out on June 24. We all know the wonderful luck that follows us, so, of course, this trip wasn't without its hurdles. We cut it close getting to the airport on that Thu. When Shawn checked us in, we were given security passes and had to get our boarding passes at the Southwest gate. We were lucky to get in line at the gate when we did, because by the time Thane and his gang got there, the flight was already full. We've never had an over-booking issue with Southwest, but there's a first for everything. The ticket agents started offering deals to anyone willing to give up their seats. Kristi had a seat, but they needed 2 more for Avery and Thane. One man was generous and gave up his seat, but they were still one seat short. No takers! Thane, Kristi, Avery and Jack had to wait 5 hours at Denver Airport for the next flight out to Minnesota. JACKED!!!! During the flight, James, one of the attendants, ended up coming over and talking with us and apologized for the situation. He said he felt horrible, especially when he started telling Thane "We're sorry, sir" to which Avery broke down and started balling. He said it killed him to see her crying and wished he could have helped in some way. We thanked him and explained our niece was crying because she is best buddies with our daughter and they hate to be separated. We all got a little chuckle outta that at least. When we got our luggage, we realized all of Thane's families' luggage was on our flight and spoke with the Southwest rep at the luggage carousel to make sure they were going to be able to get their stuff. She guaranteed she'd still be there when their flight arrived at 11pm. That night we stayed in one of the nicest hotel rooms at Hyatt Place just down the street from Mall of America. They had a pack & play for Inara even. It was hard leaving this hotel given what we knew was waiting us in Wisconsin.

The next morning after our free breakfast we met up with Thane's gang and enjoyed the hotel's pool. Thought we better take advantage of the amenities this place had to offer. We finally headed out for our 3 hour drive to Elroy, Wisconsin. We stopped to pick up some food for the next few days since we figured we were on our own for most meals and Elroy doesn't have much to offer. We finally arrived at the Elroy motel, complete opposite of our digs in Minnesota. The rooms looked like they were stuck in 1970. They had a definite smell to them. I was afraid to set things down on the ground since the carpet was rather dingy and dirty. No pack & plays for the kids, so we knew we were in for an adventure with Inara in a double bed. In the lot next to the motel, a carnival was going on, so I was also worried how loud thing would be at night. Not to mention the crew of bikers staying at our motel. (Thankfully, the rooms are rather sound proof and the carnival and bikers didn't keep us up at all. We did also have the window A/C blasting all night, so I'm sure that helped.) Barb, Ed, aunt Becky, and Grandma Esther met us at the motel that night. We ended up having dinner at the restaurant next to the motel. Too bad my tummy paid for the meal later. Ahhh yes, the joys of meals out in the boonies. After dinner, Thane's group and the three of us went to the park right by the motel. It was getting late, so it was kind of hard to see. Inara did very well at first, but then while climbing through a tunnel, she lost her footing and face planted. She ended up with a nice bruise on her right cheek. Ahh it's never a dull moment with kids around.

That night we learned that we had guests sharing our room: ANTS! Oh joyous! I was terrified given how dirty the room was. There was no telling what else besides ants were going to be in the room. I wasn't looking too closely because I knew I was already going to be freaking out all night sleeping in the place. When searching for where the ants were coming from, we saw the huge spiderwebs gathered behind the dresser. I SOOO wanted to leave right then. It broke my heart to hear my daughter freaking out: "Mommy, I no want ants seeping wif me." My poor baby girl. I was also repulsed when we started the bathtub for Inara only to find nice yellow water coming out. Yes, I know people lived in worse conditions in the past, but in today's modern world, there's no reason for a child to be subjected to such things. Things didn't get any better the rest of the trip. I had noticed our bathroom sink was leaky and there was a towel wrapped around the bottom of it. When I mentioned it to the manager one morning, that night I noticed all she did was wrap more towels around the base. I wasn't expecting the best service ever, but I was annoyed that Thane had to ask for more toilet paper, I had to ask for fresh towels after a couple days (considering I was using them to kill bugs), and our rooms were never once checked or cleaned. I mean we had to take our trash out several times a day, especially given our ant problem. Yes, this all prompted a nice fight between Shawn and I. Like I've been saying for years, there should never be any doubt in Shawn's mind how much I love him to make the sacrifices I've made. My new saying is I better get something pretty and sparkly that I can wear for my birthday this year.

Saturday morning was kinda slow going. I realized there weren't many plans set for the rest of our trip and just had to play things by ear. We did learn about the fun night Thane's gang had next door. Jack didn't like the sleep tent they had brought for him and cried for a couple hours straight. Then the towel rack in the bathroom came out of the wall. My favorite though was that morning when Thane was getting ready to take a shower. As he lifted his arm to take his shirt off, bang...he hit the lightbulb hanging from the ceiling and shattered it all over the bathroom floor. Guess the manager should have considered buying a cover for the lightbulb to avoid such accidents. Ahhh yes, the joys of our wonderful hotel experience in good ol Elroy.

We ended up heading over to Grandma and Grandpa's house on Saturday to hang out and show the kids around. Grandma brought out their 4-wheeler and took the kids for a ride around their yard. We didn't make it to Uncle Steve's farm that day. Lou, his mom Kathy, and Erin's best friend Wendy arrived that night, so we met up with them and walked around the carnival that was going on right next to the motel we were staying at. Inara had a blast going on rides and we walked around to see the livestock. Poor Wendy, a vegan, had a hard time seeing all the animals in the barns. She even pointed how the big sign that said BEEF in big ol letters. "They're not beef; they're cows," Wendy sobbed. It is hard for me to see the animals knowing most are going to slaughter some day. I can't imagine how hard that was for Wendy. At least the townsfolk were good for some fun people watching. Inara didn't nap that day, so I was worried what the night would be like. The whole trip her schedule was thrown outta whack. We struggled at night getting her to sleep and had some cranky situations, to be expected given she was out of her daily routines. Once I got her calmed down that night and guaranteed her there were no ants in her bed, I joined Shawn, Thane, Kristi, and Lou sitting outside the motel and chatted for a bit.

Sunday morning Thane's gang and Shawn went to the American Legion Hall to help get things ready for the memorial that afternoon. Inara and I stayed at the motel and played games, not that I wanted to stay in the motel, but I thought it might be good to have some down time for Inara since I knew it was going to be another day without a nap. We all then got ready and headed over to the Legion Hall at 1pm. We chatted with family for a bit. One of Erin's best friends, Kelly, happened to be in Wisconsin visiting family the same week, so she and her husband drove into Elroy for the memorial. It was wonderful to talk with her. It meant a lot that Erin's friends would make the trip to be with her family. The memorial was nice, different from the one in CA with all of her friends, but good for the family who had made it to learn more about Erin.

That afternoon we headed over to Uncle Steve's farm. I knew Inara would love to see all the cows, calves, pigs, and the silo. She always talks about the Curious George story when he gets lost and looks for landmarks, such as a silo, to find his way back home. Inara liked one of the cats that roams around the barn and got to hold her. Next Shawn took Inara for a ride on the 4-wheeler, which she loved. Then cousin Nicole asked if anyone would want to ride her horse. She brought Spock, the horse, out and Avery, Inara, Barb, Kathy, and Lou got a horseback ride. Inara LOVED riding. She went twice actually and after getting off said, "I want a horse." OK Daddy, better add that to her wish list. We had dinner at Esther's that night since the few restaurants Elroy has to offer are all closed early on Sundays.

Monday a big group of us headed out for a bicycle ride starting in a neighboring town called Kendall. It was quite a chore to pick out bikes and trailers for the kids. It was a beautiful day for a bike ride at least and such a scenic route. It was about 3 miles til we got to our first tunnel. The bike route is an old train path with a few tunnels along the way. It cracked me up when we stopped and took pictures outside the tunnel. Aunt Becky said there were monkeys in the tunnel and Inara and Avery were so enthralled. Becky then started making a "monkey" noise. It scared me and I thought it was more like a rat sound. It freaked me out. Thanks, Aunt Becky. We all had to walk our bikes through the tunnel, which got really dark at one point. You pretty much have to stay focused on the light coming through the other end of the tunnel in order to make your way through. We then got to riding again, enjoying the beautiful tree-lined path. The group in the front stopped to wait for the group in the back to catch up. This is when our trip became a typical Tomlinson trip: Thane blew a tire on his bike. We had to call the bike depot to have someone bring us another bike, which meant a good 30 min delay taking the trailer off the bike, waiting, then getting the trailer onto the new bike. Inara started getting cranky, so while everyone else continued on with their ride, Shawn, Inara and I headed back to the depot. She was so tired and tried falling asleep but bike trailers are bumpy and not the comfiest places to nap. (We later learned that Inara actually got a bruise on her back from the bike trailer. The girl was pushed more so on this trip than any other that's for sure.) By the time we got back to the depot, Inara got her second wind and was energized again. Figures. The three of us went back to the motel and napped. Lou, Kathy and Wendy were heading to the airport that evening, so we said our good-byes, which is never easy lately. It was wonderful that the three of them came out to Wisconsin with us, but it sucked having to say good-bye. That night Grandma fed us all dinner again. So much for needing all the food we had bought. We ended up just bringing most of it to Grandma's house and leaving it for them since we were heading back to Minnesota the next day anyways. Inara got cranky that night and wasn't having anything to do with saying good, so we decided we'd come back in the morning before heading out to say good-bye.

Tuesday morning was a glorious day since I knew we were finally leaving this god-awful motel. We packed up and headed to Grandma's to say our good-byes. We got on the road and stopped in Kendall to check out the Veteran's Memorial Grandma had told us all about. It's very nicely done. There is a brick with the Vlasak family name on it (Barb's maiden name). Uncle Steve and Roger are both represented as Vietnam veterans on one of the marble walls. We then got back on the road for another hour and stopped for lunch at a Red Robin. Since it was Shawn's birthday, he got a free lunch. Can't beat a free meal. Once back in Minnesota, my eyes lit up to see Hyatt Place once again. Oh glorious Hyatt how I love you! We went to cousin Erik & Beth's house for dinner. It was so nice to sit and chat with them and play with baby Maya for a few hours. We ordered pasta and pizza from a local restaurant. It was one of the best dinners we had our whole trip. Erik & Beth also picked up a cake. I really didn't want Shawn's birthday to go unnoticed. So thank you guys for getting the cake.

Wednesday morning we took our time getting up and getting ready. Our flight wasn't leaving until 6pm that night, so we had all day to spend at Mall of America. I really wanted to take Inara to the amusement park in the middle of the mall, so we could wear her out as much as possible and hopefully get a nap out of her later. She had a blast! They had so many fun rides she could go on. We bought an unlimited ride pass for $30. Since the height requirement for most of the rides was 36 inches and Inara's 37 inches, she got to go on many rides with an adult who got to ride for free. Nice! It's a Nickelodeon theme park, so we also got pictures with Dora & Diego and Tyrone & Pablo from Backyardigans. I ended up walking around the mall by myself for a bit while Shawn took Inara on rides. I can't believe how much cool stuff this mall has to offer. I could spend a whole weekend hanging out at this place. They even have a live-action role-playing place where you get to go through a maze with a wand and find treasures and stuff. We will definitely need to take another trip to Minnesota just for the Mall of America.

We headed to the airport to begin our journey home. Of course, two minutes before arriving at the car rental return Inara falls asleep in the car. So Shawn and I had to pull all 3 suitcases, deal with our carry-ons and the carseat, and push a sleeping Inara in the stroller. But we made it to the airport and we got boarding passes this time. But no Tomlinson trip goes without snaffews. Our departing flight got delayed because the air pressure light came on in the plane during the previous flight. While we are waiting, Kristi bought Jack a milk and gave some to Inara, which Shawn put in a regular cup without a lid. As luck would have it, Inara ended up dropping her cup, milk splashed on Jack and Thane, and both kids ended up in tears. Kristi had to change Jack's clothes and we had to calm Inara down because she was screaming over her lost milk. Finally, 30 min later we board the plane and all was well. Avery ended up falling asleep immediately, Inara watched a movie, and Jack finally fell asleep 10 minutes before we landed. Now it's like 9pm at this point and we are all exhausted, well except for Inara who seemed to be running on Red Bull or something the girl was so wired. We take the tram from the terminal back to baggage claim. As we get off, Shawn takes the stroller from me since Inara wanted to walk. Suddenly, he yells, "Where's the pully thing?" I don't know what he means at first (mind you because Shawn was in charge of the carry-on while I had Inara, the stroller, and her backpack). We turn and see our carry-on suitcase sitting all by itself on the tram. The doors close and our luggage takes off. Holy crap! Can we please just get HOME?!?! We end up having to talk to security to find out where our luggage is. And it's got my laptop in it, so I'm freaking out. Inara even yells at Shawn, "Daddy, why did you leave my luggage on the choo choo train?" Thane's gang, Inara and I head over to baggage claim to get our suitcases while Shawn waits with security to get our carry-on. Thane's gang heads out while I wait for Shawn. All is well after another 20 min delay. The three of us head to the shuttle to get to the off-site parking lot where our car is. Mind you, it's getting close to 11pm now and Inara is still on fire. We find our car with no problems and wonder if Inara will fall asleep in the car. Nope. She kept us entertained the whole ride home, well that is until she falls asleep 10 min away from home. What else would we have expected? I can't tell you how wonderful it was to enter my home. After a long, rough, exhausting week long trip, we were all thrilled to be home and to sleep in our comfy, ant-free beds. Hope we can get pictures posted soon to share with you all.

2 1/2 going on 10

I am loving the 2's. Inara is such a riot these days. Yes, we have those typical rough 2 year old moments, but for the most part, they aren't as often as I had expected. I wonder how it is that kids know how to throw temper tantrums when I know for certain I never act out in such a way. Although, I would love to be able to pout my bottom lip, fold my arms across my chest, and stomp my feet when I don't get my way. Something tells me society would make fun of me if I did this though.

Inara's latest addition to her pouting routine is when she doesn't get her way or when she's being scolded, she says things like "I want da-da" or "I wanna go Avery's/Whitney's/Gammy's/Pop's house" as if these people won't tell her no or discipline her like mommy does. Or she will pout even more and go sit in another room. When I ask her what's wrong, she says, "I sad. Mommy yell at me." Boy, does she now how to work it good.

Her other favorite saying when I'm telling her to stop doing something is "But I love to do [fill in the blank]". Inara don't stand on the chair. But I love to stand on the chair. Inara stop kicking the back of my seat. But I love to kick the back of your seat. Inara that makes Mommy sad. But I love to make Mommy sad. Yes, that last one has been a conversation we've had. It was so hard to hear the first time. I ended up walking away from her because I was so frustrated, hurt, angry, etc. etc. She knew she was wrong and had hurt my feeling. After a few minutes, she found me and asked, "Mommy, will you talk to me now?" Even the silent treatment doesn't last long around here.

Many times after she's done something wrong, she will ask if I'm happy now. For example, we could be arguing about a meal. When she's finally given in and eaten, she will say, "Mommy, I ate my lunch. Are you happy now?" Oy vey. A good thing though is that Inara knows when she has hurt my feelings or done something wrong and always comes up to apologize for what she's done. It's good that she can empathize with other's feelings and knows when she's been wrong. Heck, I even know adults who can't do this still, so the fact that a 2 year old is in tune with other's feelings is very good.

As I'm sure all mommies and kids do, Inara and I have a lil game we play just the two of us. I will whisper in her ear and say, "I have a secret. I love you, sweet pea." She then gives me a hug and says, "I have a secret too. I love you, Mommy." Another lil thing she started doing is giving little hugs and little kisses. She will come up and say, "I give you little hug" and reaches in and very gently gives me the softest little hug ever. She then says, "I give you little kiss" and pouts out her bottom lip and leans in to ever so gently give me a kiss. I love when she does this. It's so adorable! In March I had gone back to CA for a girls' weekend. When I returned home, the whole next week, Inara would come up and give me a hug and say, "Mommy, I miss you at the airport." Nothing like a few days away to make you adore a child even more, if that's possible.

Every day there's something new she learns to do. Somedays I just can't seem to keep up with her. She's now big enough to get her own water out of the fridge. She goes in the cupboard, gets her own cup, and pushes it on the water spout. It floored me the first day she did it. I could just imagine water cups sitting all around the house. Thank goodness she hasn't done that yet. I've also started teaching her how to set the dinner table. She puts the napkins and silverware out, picks out her cup and plate for dinner, and sometimes I'll let her carry the salt & pepper to the table. It think it's important to start teaching kids responsibilities as early as possible. Plus, Inara loves being my big helper. She also loves helping with baking. She's getting quite good at cracking eggs, pouring ingredients into bowls, and stirring things up. It makes her feel so special when she gets to help out in the kitchen.

Back in February, we started potty training. She's been doing so well with using the big girl potty, even when out in public. This last weekend, though, we hit a few rough patches and she started peeing in her pull-ups. When I asked her why she did it, she said, "Cuz I love to pee in my pull-up." Guess how Mommy responded? I put her in big girl panties. Time for me to bite the bullet and I know she won't like having wet panties. She's done great the past 36 hours. She even used the public restroom at the park today. Let's hope she keeps it up. I seriously don't want pee stained rugs around the house.

It's easiest to show how cool Inara is by sharing some of the hilarious things she says. Today, as we were getting ready for naptime, I picked up a stack of books and tossed them to the corner of her room. She turns to me and says, "Mommy, don't throw my books. Use your manners." Doh! Boy, did she school me. I always tell her to take care of her toys and to use her manners. Shame on me for not following my own advice. I, of course, had to apologize to my little girl for not being disrespectful of her toys.

Today, we were talking about her love for books. I told her books are good for us because we can learn lots of new things from books and books make us smart. She joyfully said, "Yeah, mommy, books make us fart." You gotta love when kids struggle saying their s's, which end up sounding like f's.

Every night, Inara loves to lay on her bedroom floor and read books. The past few months she's been requesting that both mommy and daddy lay with her. After we read books, she yells "Family Hug!" and puts one arm around each of us. It's so cute. I love when she demands a family hug because it makes me smile to oblige.

One thing I really miss once I became a mom is privacy in the bathroom. Inara constantly has to follow me to the bathroom. The other day I told her I was going to go poopy, so for her to play in the playroom. Yeah right. Seconds later, she comes walking into the bathroom and says, "Mommy, I tell you a story while you go poopy." I guess she didn't want me to be bored and lonely. She's so sweet that way.

Inara loves to sing. She can frequently be heard belting out her ABC's. It cracks me up when she gets to the LMNOP part. She ends up saying L, M, N, N, N, O, P. It is kinda a tongue twister for little kids. She also loves singing Baa, Baa, Black Sheep or should I say yelling it. She get so into singing now that it ends up being more like yelling than singing. She's even been known to sing so loudly that she ends up stopping, coughing, and requesting water before continuing on. Maybe we have a future rock star on our hands. Hee hee. In school, they say a prayer before lunch and Inara loves to say it now throughout the day, not just at meal time: ABCDEFG Thank you God for feeding me.

Lately, she has become infatuated with marriage. We have a special wedding picture on the buffet in the dining room. She always tells me she loves mommy's pretty dress in the picture. She also likes to look at my wedding rings and says that's the ring daddy gave mommy when they got married. Her newest saying is she wants to get married. When I ask her, who she wants to marry, she says, "Daddy cuz I love my da-da." It's so cute that she loves her daddy so much and associates marriage with love as she should. She has also started calling herself a princess and Daddy a prince. Although, the other day she killed me when we were talking about the movie Shrek, and she said that I'm Princess Fiona. I asked who Daddy was from Shrek and she said, "Donkey." Gotta love that one!

She is so much like Shawn at times though it's scary. She now does this one laugh that kills me because it's seriously Shawn's laugh. I will ask her throughout the day how does Daddy laugh and she'll do it: hee hee hee. I love that she now imitates us. She also has a love of cereal just like her Daddy. Shawn's introduced her to Chocolate Chex, one of her absolute faves. As she was eating them one day, she says, "These are amazing!" Shawn and I were cracking up. She also loves the milk in her cereal bowl, especially after having a chocolate-y cereal. She tries slurping it with her straw but ends up making a mess, so some days I'll give her a straw to drink her cereal milk. The girl loves her cereal just like her Daddy. My favorite saying related to Daddy though is when I ask her why Daddy has to go to work and she says, "To make money for my piggy bank." Boy, does she have Daddy wrapped or what?

One night Inara and Shawn were pushing the strollers around the house, a nightly ritual. Suddenly, Shawn lets a fart rip. He says, "Oops, Daddy stepped on a frog." Inara says with a puzzled look, "Where's a frog?" Great Shawn. Can't wait til she uses that one in school one day.

Shawn was working from home one day, so I took Inara cruising around town to give him some quiet to work. We went to Ace Hardware, one of Inara's favorite places because they have kid size shopping carts that she loves to push around. I wanted to look at some paint colors. She asked what I was doing, so I explained to her. I then added I sure wish Pop was coming soon so he could help Mommy paint. Inara then starts looking at paint colors and saying, "Oh I like this one, Mommy. Oh no I like this one. I want to paint my room." "What color would you like to paint your room?" "Ummm Red. I want Pop to paint my room red." She's so funny. We then walked around Ace Hardware a bit more as she was carrying her favorite paint sample colors and saying, "Pop needs to paint my room, Mommy." Yes, my dear, I heard you the first 20 times. You've now got to be careful what you say around her because she repeats everything and seriously never forgets a thing.

She's becoming more and more into playing with her baby dolls. One funny thing she does when playing with them is telling me her baby is sick, so we have to take her to see Dr. Katz (her pediatrician). We start this whole dialogue: "Oh no. Baby is sick. What's wrong?" "She has a cough." "Oh no, a cough." "No, she has 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 coughs!" "Oh no, 5 coughs. I'll hold her and make her feel better." "We have to take her to the doctor right now. Let's go see Dr. Katz." "OK. Let's take her to the doctor's office." "I have a cough too. I need to see Dr. Katz too." "Oh my poor Inara Grace." Then I give her a big hug.

Inara's really starting to show her creativity more and more. I absolutely love this age because imaginative playing is so fun. I was in the kitchen yesterday and she was in the family room. She was playing with a calculator, which she calls her cell phone. She tells me, "Mommy, I have to make some phone calls." "OK. Sweetie go right ahead." She proceeds to walk in the playroom talking on her phone. This is what I heard: "Hi. What you doing? My name Inara. What's your name? Oh that's a nice name. What's your mommy's name? Oh wow. We both have mommies name Marisa. OK. Bye." I was cracking up listening to her. Boy does she have a great imagination. I love it!

My girls' weekend

2 weekends ago I took a trip to CA on my own for a weekend away from mommy and wife duties. It's been the first time in over a year that I've had the chance to do this and thought I was long overdue. I fly in Thursday night and stayed at my parents' house. While the weekend was an excuse to spend time with my best girlfriends, it was also a chance for me to see my parents and brother.

Friday morning I had an appointment at Burke Williams. I'm embarrassed to say Kristi and Thane gave me a BW gift certificate oh about 5 years ago and I never used it. I figured what better way to start my weekend away than with a facial and visit to BW. This was the first time I've ever been to a spa and had a facial and let me tell ya I'm hooked! It was pure bliss! Nothing says time to relax like a few hours at a spa. I loved it!!! After my pampering and relaxing, I drove around Orange County for a bit, got to visit Michael at his Pier One store in HB, did some shopping at Trader Joes, and met up with Sierra at Barnes & Noble for a brief visit. It was so fun walking around Pier One and showing Michael all the things I want to buy once he transfers to a store in CO. That could be dangerous for me. I'd love to decorate my house with stuff from his store. You may be wondering why I shopped at Trader Joes. Well, we don't have a TJ in CO, and they have some of the best snack foods. I actually brought an extra duffle bag to load up on TJ goodies. I especially had to get a few boxes of TJ Fig Bars, which Inara, Avery and Jack LOVE!

For dinner that night, Mom, Michael and I went to one of my favorite restaurants: Lazy Dog Cafe. Boy do I miss that place. It was great to get some alone time with Mom and Michael. After dinner, they dropped me off at Bella Terra shopping center to meet up with my girls: Elizabeth, Sierra and Cami. They were dining at Cheesecake Factory, so we hung out there for awhile and chatted and, of course, indulged in a little cheesecake. Hey, I was on vacation, so I splurged. We then walked around our old stomping grounds, Barnes & Noble. Boy, has the store changed. It was fun looking at books with my best friends I met at the store what seems like a lifetime ago.

The next day the four of us girls met up with our other best friend Chara for lunch at Kabuki. It was great chatting with Chara and hearing all about her experiences student teaching. (She's getting her credential to become a health teacher. Way to go, Cbu.) We then went to a showing of Alice in Wonderland. It was perfect that I came into town the weekend this movie opened because Elizabeth is a huge Alice fan. I'm so happy I got to see it with the girls. It was a fun movie, weird, but fun. I headed home after the movie to rest a bit and have dinner with Michael and my parents. Later that night I headed over to Elizabeth and Cami's place for game night and hanging out. I have to send a big thank you to Mike, Sierra's hubby, for watching their baby girl Layla all weekend so Sierra could hang out with us as much as possible, which I know isn't easy to do with a 5 month old.

I had hoped to get in a trip to California Adventures to do a little Disney shopping, but (my luck) the weekend I was in So Cal was crummy weather. I was bummed to have to cancel my trip to CA Adventures because I was looking forward to getting time to see Diane (Jason's mom). I did get to chat with her on the phone for awhile though at least. Instead of a trip to Dland, Sunday morning I visited Sierra and Mike and got to see baby Layla. She's so adorable!!! I can't believe how big she is already. Sierra and Mike are such amazing parents, and it made my heart sing to see the two of them SO happy with their baby girl. I joined the three of them along with Cami and Sierra at Rockin' Crepes. They had warned me that they come to this place because of the food and the atmosphere, not the service. The restaurant was super cool looking with pictures of metal bands all over the place. The crepes were scrumptious too!

That afternoon we all got together at my parents' house for our Academy Awards celebration! The four of us used to always watch the Oscars together, so this was a big reason why I chose this particular weekend for my trip to OC to spend time with my girls. It was just like old times. We even had our ballots out, gabbed about who was wearing our favorite dresses, and munched on yummies. It was a perfect ending to my trip. I'm so grateful I got to spend time with my best gals. I miss them all so much. I love you girls!!!