Happy Halloween 2011!

I threw together a slideshow below that I will work on more later today.
You can check out "The Pollard Squadron" for now....
Do we look tough???
Yep, nobody wants to mess with us!!! :)
We had a nice Halloween with the kids although we didn't make it to the Festival on Sunday as planned because I was so exhausted (apparently). I didn't mean to, but I fell asleep Sunday afternoon and slept until about 1:30am on Monday- I guess our crazy schedule finally caught up to me. Anyway, John came home from work early Monday, so we could take the kids to the Festival Halloween night, but we got there just in time for them to close, so we stayed a short time and then headed for the Elephant bar.
John's dad (Pops) is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force so when John's mom saw some Air Force costumes at the Bx she couldn't resist getting them for the kids. Apparently they found the one for Maletch first, and when Pops spotted the baby girl 'Air Force Princess' costume/dress he completely flipped, hehe! They are adorable! They were able to give me plenty of time to find John and I some Air Force costumes too. I decided on flight suits for us, since the kids had fatigues, so that we would not all be twins, and also so that we would look a little more like Air Force than Army. They also sent some "Pollard" name tag/patches and official Air Force Patches and pins that we attached to all of our costumes, as well as official AF hats for John and I which really made our costumes complete!
My costume is shorter than I would have liked, but it was the only flight suit I could find in my size. I don't know why so many Halloween costumes are that way? My costume aside, I thought we looked tough, hehe! Even little Sariah, our newest recruit in our squadron was ready for trouble! And our leader sure looked HOTT in his uniform! :)

We received lots of comments, although.... if I hear "Look at the Army family" one more time, lol! I don't know how many times I said, "We are AIR FORCE", LOL!

One of the highlights of the night was when Maletch asked me to dance with him. Although I dance with him a lot- the way he asked me seemed like a boy asking a girl at a dance- it was so cute! Of course Maletch danced in his true "Dancing with the Stars" fashion, and wouldn't let me do otherwise either. And while we were dancing in the Elephant bar (where nobody else was dancing) not only were we not caring what anybody thought, or who was looking, there was something about that moment I can't explain that I just knew that I would remember it forever. Thank you for the dance Maletch!!

Sariah 5 1/2 months
Maletch 3 1/2 years

I just realized that I did post pics of Sariah trying her first smoothie (which she LOVED) but I didn't post the pic of her facial expression when she first tasted it- it was HILARIOUS! She made the face like she didn't like it, apparently she had to get used to it first, hehe- she looked like it was the most disgusting thing ever- ok note to self- I will get that pic later today (it's on the other computer) AND also Maletch (my super picky eater) cracks me up, he never wants to try anything new- WELL he didn't even want to try a dessert that he LOVES (for some reason it looked different to him), and I also snapped a photo of the look on his face (the look he makes when he is looking at food he is unsure of) and that photo also made me laugh out loud, and I didn't post that one either. OK, so that is 2 pics I need to add....

Halloween 2011 Slideshow!

Backing Up!

I have so many things that I want to go 'back' and blog, in addition to keeping up with the new updates, and I am working hard to get it all caught up. It was shortly after Halloween last year, that I began having complications during my pregnancy and I wasn't able to keep up with the blog after that.
I will at least go back to include some of the big events, holidays, and family visits from the past year that were missed. Initially when I post something new, it will be at the top of the blog, and then after everyone has had a chance to see it, I will then put it where it belongs chronologically in the archives (so you may see some posts disappear from the front page). I mention this because I know some of you download photos from the slideshows and posts, so I wanted to give you fair warning that I will be moving some of the posts. If anyone has questions about how to see or find older posts, please don't hesitate to ask.

Scroll down to see photos, videos, and details from our "Day Out with Thomas" the train...

When Little Boys Misbehave!

What do you get when little boys misbehave?? A HUGE mess, hehe!

I don't know what it is that attracts little boys to mess and destruction so much, but when Maletch decides to make a mess it is always a BIG one.

Tonight, I served Maletch a cup of hot chocolate, told him I was going to take a shower, would be back in 15 minutes and I told him when I got back we would do a special project I had planned. He was excited.

But before I came back, he came into the bathroom and this was the conversation:
Maletch: "Uh-oh, mommy, I made a huge mess, you need to come and see this! I think I need a spanking."
Me: "You think you need a spanking?"
Maletch: "Yeah mommy, come here and spank me."
Me: "You want a spanking?"
Maletch: "Yeah."
The irony here is that we don't use spanking to discipline. We just don't find it necessary, since we have found what seems to be more effective with him (and no we don't use "time-out" either).
So this was kind of funny that he was asking for a spanking... what the heck??

I went downstairs to find he had taken a straw and used it like a spray gun and sprayed hot chocolate splatter all over everything within a 1o ft radius. When I say on everything I mean everything, it was all over the table, the cabinets, the walls, my sewing machine, laptop, the floor, even the stroller... EVERYWHERE! Uggh! I don't know how one cup could make such a huge mess, but everything was so covered in it!

It took me over an hour scrubbing the sticky film and spatter off, and I am still finding it in the weirdest places. Although I didn't see him do it, I can just picture him having fun trying to see how far he could shoot it, like- 'I wonder if I can hit this or that?'

Although that was probably 'fun' mischief, he definitely knows better, and of course I did not find it funny. So needless to say, he got in big trouble tonight! Little stinker!

Another whopper of a mess:
A few months ago Maletch made "cat food soup" in the carpet. We keep the cats' food and water dishes on the landing (on the stairs). Well he had taken the dry cat food and their water, mixed it together and mashed it in the carpet with some kitchen utensils (I remember a spoon, fork, and hand can-opener were used in his 'project'). And I am still not sure what the hand can-opener was used for (as there were no cans). When dry cat food gets wet, it becomes soggy and smelly- so super gross to be smashed in the carpet. When I asked him what the heck he was doing, he said, "I'm trying to help feed the cats." I found out later that he was chasing the cats around with spoons and forks loaded with his soup creation trying to 'spoon-feed' them, LOL! Ok, even though that mess was big and gross, I did find that kind of cute and pretty funny, but don't tell him that, hehe!

I will admit that even though he gets into mischief occasionally, we know we are blessed that we don't have to deal with a lot of the typical 3 year old bad behavior. We know that he is a very good kid and we are so thankful that he plays with other kids very well (sharing), and he never hits or throws tantrums. So I will gladly deal with his mischief over that any day, and count my blessings!

My Blog Efforts:

I am making an effort to add a little to the blog everyday. So far, I am doing it, YAY! So keep checking back, hopefully I can stick to it, and there will be something new everyday. Sometimes I'll make new slideshows, and sometimes I will add new pics to existing slideshows (like I did the last few days).
Especially since I don't have much time to talk on the phone, I hope this is a good way for me to keep in touch with everybody- it's great that I can do this in the middle of the night when I have a few minutes- it's too bad most of you are sleeping and don't want to talk to me then, hehe!

Below is a Slideshow!!

Well, our lil ones are getting bigger everyday, and there is just so much I want to share! I wish I had more time to spend on updates, and I will make an effort to post more often now.

Sariah is just amazing! She is 4 months old now and already has 2 teeth and more on the way! She can also sit up by herself (without support) and she doesn't stay where you put her anymore (she scoots around) and she is on a mission! She prefers her brother's toys over her own and she LOVES to play with him! She is a very happy baby and likes to laugh and smile but she gets fussy after he goes to bed- because she misses him- apparently he is way more fun than mommy!!

Maletch is doing great! He is getting very good on the computer and enjoys watching videos and playing games on the internet. He still loves Thomas the train and is very excited about the "Day out with Thomas" that is coming up in November - he talks about it everyday. We went to it last year and I will be posting pics and more about that soon!

I have a million photos that I just uploaded from my camera- since I am tight on time- I just threw together about 20 pics (all from one day) into a slideshow below and I will add more to it throughout the week (when I have time to pick a variety from more folders).

A Few Pics of Our Lil Princess!!

Funny "Maletch-isms"

I have always loved hearing about the funny things that kids say, and until a few years ago (before I had kids) my favorite stories from friends with kids were always the "kid-isms" that they would share. So I am especially loving the fact that I get to scrapbook and share the ones that Maletch says and since there are so many already, I can tell there is not enough space in his baby book for all of his quotes, so I just purchased a special journal just for his "Maletch-isms", and I hope he enjoys reading the funny things he said when he was little.

Here are a couple from the past few months:

I asked Maletch, "So what do you want to be when you grow up?" I could tell he wasn't sure exactly what I meant, so I talked about what daddy does for work, and what Grandma does, and then I added, "You can go to college and be anything you want to be, like a fireman, or a doctor, or an astronaut, or even the President of the United States." He was thinking about it, and then with the most serious look on his face, he answered, "I want to be Elmo when I grow up."
Later that week, he brought the subject up again on his own, and I guess he decided to 'change his major' because he said, "Mommy I want to be a conductor when I grow up" (and he was playing with his trains at the time)

Maletch drinks a lot of milk and juice throughout the day, and he likes to switch off constantly, so I always have 2 cups in the fridge (one for milk and one for juice) that I keep full so he can have whichever he wants.
I guess since Maletch had always heard me say that it was time for Sariah to have some milk, he thought it was time for a change because while I was breastfeeding her:
Maletch comes over and says, "Mommy, I think Sariah would like some JUICE now, I don't think she wants milk right now" and he was trying to give her his cup of juice.
I said, "That is very thoughtful and sweet of you, but she can't have any juice right now, so I am just going to give her some milk, but thank you."
Maletch, "Oh, OK."
A few seconds later, he asks, "So mommy, does that one have milk and that one have juice then?" (he was pointing to my chest, the different sides).
...does that one have juice then, LOL, wouldn't that be cool?

Today, Maletch was playing with a toy bus, and there was an Etch-a-Sketch sitting beside me, so I picked it up and said, "I am going to draw a bus like yours." Remember the Etch-a-Sketch, you draw turning the little knobs. So I thought I would impress him with my drawing, and I thought I had done pretty good at drawing the bus. When I was finished I showed him and asked, "So what do you think?" He said, "That isn't really right, mommy. The wheels should be circles not squares, and they should be the same size. You probably want to try it again."
OMGosh, he is an observant little man, he was right, those were my mistakes! So I had better not ask his opinion if I don't want my work critiqued, LOL!

I'll add more quotes soon...

Happy 4th of July!!

We had a blast at our annual 4th of July place (University of Redlands or U of R)

Of course Maletch started dancing in the parking lot right when we got there since he could here the music, shouting excitedly, "Come on mommy, let's go, let's dance!"

As we walked, holding hands, he was walking faster and faster, to the point I was being pulled- he wanted to get inside and he couldn't wait!

The only drag about going to this place is the amount of people going that don't have tickets. That is totally fine (in reality, I think they don't know what they are missing inside, since there is an entire show)- they want to watch the fireworks show for free- and I don't care that they want to see fireworks (why would I care?)-- BUT--- the traffic to get there is so insane- the streets are filled with cars and nobody moves forever- and we learned most of the people backing up the streets don't have tickets and that makes the people that do have tickets have to sit in that mess- that is pretty annoying!

That was off the subject a little, I just remembered that we were late getting inside, and that was why-- but it didn't take away from our fun- I just wished we wouldn't have missed any of it due to traffic delays!

Back to the actual fun- I was so surprised that Sariah wasn't scared at all by the noise. I knew the fireworks would be loud, but I forgot that to get a good spot to see the show, it puts you close to the speakers and what I really forgot was HOW loud the speakers are-- holy moly! But she didn't care a bit! She was staring at everything and having a good time! We really expected her to sleep through a lot of the event, since she is only 7 weeks old and sleeps a lot normally-- but she didn't sleep a single wink and we were there a LONG time- we didn't get home until midnight and she didn't fall asleep until the car ride home!! What the heck?? She wasn't going to miss a thing! She also didn't fuss one single bit the whole time! She loved all of it!

Maletch has seen fireworks many times since we have year round tickets to Disneyland and we always watch their fireworks show- so it wasn't as big a deal to him. Funny and surprising to me: Although he enjoyed the fireworks part, he was unimpressed you could tell hehe- he loved the music and the rest of the show more, and his favorite part was running around with other kids he met there. I was surprised he knew what the track in the stadium was for, he kept asking other kids to race him, and he knew to 'get in a lane' (on the track) and even funnier, he got in the sprinter's starter stance (one knee down, both hands down) and everything! Don't ask me where he learned that, but it was fun to watch, and that boy is seriously fast! I knew he could run fast, but I have never seen him run as fast as he can apparently, until tonight- and I will be looking for a Track & Field team that allows 3 year olds because he has speed! He was the fastest kid out there, and he was beating kids MUCH bigger than him. This might be hard to believe- but even the biggest kid who was 11 yrs old couldn't catch him!
I have a TON of pics so I threw some together in a slideshow below-- BUT I just realized that I didn't put a photo in that made me laugh OUT-LOUD -- a pic of the first time Sariah saw the fireworks- her eyes got so HUGE! I am so glad we got a photo of her reaction- it was so funny! I've got to find that one and add it to the slideshow, plus a few others that we took at the house before we left!

4th of July!

Welcome Baby Sariah!!

We are SO very blessed with TWO beautiful children!! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world!

Welcome to the world baby girl!!

I love to just stare at Sariah, and every time I gaze at her- I always hear a song playing in my head (kind of like a soundtrack) as I look at her- and it is the song playing right now. Since I am always hearing "Could you be the most beautiful girl in the world..." in my head, I just had to upload it so you could hear it too!

She is amazing!
She is very strong physically, the very first day (only a few hours old) she lifted and held up her own head without support (just like her brother did) with total neck control as she turned her head both ways and looked around the room to check things out.
In fact minutes after she was born- when she was brought to me for the first time, she immediately recognized my voice and opened her eyes. I was amazed that she knew which direction to look- with all the commotion and people around- she looked straight at me and we locked eyes. I was so happy because I knew that very moment that her hearing was fine and that she had a lot of sense of her surroundings already! Also, I was surprised for being just minutes old that she was very alert and trying to focus her eyes so intently!

Immediately after birth, while she was being cleaned up beside me- she was sucking, rooting, and looking for her milk! She was born hungry and ready to eat, and unlike many babies that have to endure a lot of practice breastfeeding- she was successful on the first try!
The doctors were joking and commenting that she had the "loudest suck" they had ever heard. One doctor (the one that broke her collar bone), felt compelled to visit us the next day. He recalled, "I think I will always remember her as the baby with the strongest suck," he added, "I could hear her from across the room- and there were a LOT of people in there- I could hear her ABOVE all of that noise!" Hey, when she's hungry, she's not messing around! hehe!
Soon to be posted, the now funny, but crazy story of the day she was born- which was like a movie, but was real- I only know it was real because I must have asked, "Is this really happening, or am I dreaming, is this a movie?" at least 95 times!

Meet Baby Sariah!!!

We Spent a "Day Out With Thomas"!!

This is from last November (11/2010):

Oh man was this a treat for Maletch!! As everyone knows, Maletch is a HUGE 'Thomas the Train' fan, and so when I found out they had a "Day Out with Thomas" event- I was ALL over it! It turns out that they only have ONE Thomas (it is a real train that drives on real railroad tracks) and is an exact replica of Thomas. Since there is only one, they travel the country and stay about 10 days in each city. So when I looked into it originally (thinking it would be a cool birthday idea) they happened to be back east someplace, and wouldn't be here until November (the closest location to us was Perris, CA) so I bought tickets about 6 months in advance and we couldn't wait to go. Even though it wasn't going to be a birthday deal, we decided to still make it a surprise to make it more fun! I also surprised my dad and Denise with tickets, since I knew it would mean so much to them to experience it with him. Thankfully they live close enough and were able to make it!
It was held at the Orange Empire Railway Museum, which is a cool place all by itself- having many antique trains that still work, and offering rides with reasonable ticket prices- something we will most likely be doing in the future.

Anyway, back to our 'Day Out with Thomas':
They had so many areas at this huge place set up for kids, they had:
* A store that was filled with EXCLUSIVE Thomas merchandise (exclusive to event-goers only, not available in any store)- which I took well advantage of buying scrapbooking supplies, clothing, picture frames, toys, and more!
* Movie watching room, where kids could watch movies (Thomas films of course) being played on a huge screen TV
* A ginormous play area with every type of Thomas track and so many train tables and trains that you can imagine
* A couple of huge Bouncy House Castles
* Petting zoo
* Meet Sir Topham Hatt area with photo op
* Tattoo Station
* Story Telling & Live Music areas for entertainment
* Arts & Crafts station
* Photo ops with Thomas (in between passenger trips)
* Additionally, there were all of the museum things to see and there were plenty of trains that the kids were allowed to climb on: some antique trains/cabooses and they also had several neat wooden trains (not real) that were meant for kids to climb on.

All of these activities made this an all-day event. When we purchased tickets, we had to choose a Departure time out of the many trips Thomas would make throughout the day. I chose one of the later times, and we had plenty to do while we waited to board Thomas for our 25 minute train ride.

Maletch loves to tell the "Train Station Story" and he tells it everyday, or he asks me "Mommy, can you tell me the train station story again?" Often times he wants to tell it over and over (many times in a row).

This is how the story goes when Maletch tells it (these are ALL his words verbatim):
"Mommy and Daddy took Maletch in the car but they didn't tell him where we were going. I said, mommy where are we going, and she said, I can't tell you it's a surprise. Then Maletch fell asleep in the car and mommy said, wake up Maletch, we are here. I said, where are we mommy? She said, it's a surprise. Right then, a train whistled, I said, I hear a train mommy. Mommy said, yes you do, take a look out the window and see who it is. It's Thomas, it's Thomas! Mommy said, yes it's Thomas, it's REAL Thomas, and guess what? We get to ride on real Thomas! I said, No way really? Mommy said, Yes we do. I said, Can we go? Let's go! Then we got to ride on the coaches Annie and Clarabel and Thomas pulled us forwards and backwards. Grandma and Grandpa came too. We also got to meet Sir Topham Hatt and Sir Topham Hatt said, what's your name, and I said Maletch. He said, nice to meet you, and I shook his hand. We took a picture with Sir Topham Hatt. I got a Thomas tattoo too and mommy gave me a Thomas whistle surprise. Let's see, what else did we do? Oh yeah, I also got Shake n' Go Thomas and Day out with Thomas toys at the train station store."
Maletch is quite the story teller, and he is 100% correct in his version, and it is almost the same way I tell it to him. The only thing that he doesn't know is that John and I teared up seeing his initial excitement and reaction. It was awesome, and the look on his face and the excitement he had is something I will never forget!

Needless to say, he has been asking when we can go see Thomas again. I wish we could do this more than once a year, but that is the only time they are in our area. If you ask Maletch about this, in addition to the story, he will tell you that, "Thomas is coming from the Island of Sodor to California in November."
He also adds, "First it will be Halloween, THEN Thomas." And yes that is all true, that is where Thomas lives, and he will be here in November, so Yay- that is only next month now!! I hope my dad and Denise can come again, Maletch has been asking about that! I really hope we can make this an annual tradition (until Maletch looses interest in Thomas). I suspect he will 'be into' Thomas longer than most, since we have such an elaborate train set-up.

I have SO many pics and videos from that day- scroll down to see the slide show and videos. In the last video, you will see Maletch 'watch' one kid high-five another kid, and he wanted a high-five too, but he was too late.
... oh and of course be watching for our new adventures with Thomas next month! Hard to believe that last time I was 3 months pregnant with Sariah (so technically she went too, LOL) but this time she will get to see it for herself!

**Don't forget to pause the music player (at the bottom of the blog) before you play the video clips (or the sounds will be battling). The pause button is towards the top left corner of the music player, the same button can start the music again if you wish.

"Our Day Out with Thomas" Slideshow!!

Day Out with Thomas Nov 2010 VIDEO!

Day Out with Thomas Nov 2010 VIDEO! (2)

Day Out with Thomas Nov 2010 VIDEO (3)

13 Weeks Checkup!

Well, I have made it through the 1st trimester which is a terrific milestone! I have met with my High-Risk OB twice now and I am on the 2nd trimester schedule which means I visit him every 2 weeks. My due date has been altered by just one day to May 11, and my appts will fall every other Wed (unless changed due to scheduling conflicts).
This past Wed, I was 13 weeks exactly and that meant that I was due for another ultrasound (YAY, my favorite) among some other routine tests. We got lucky and had a trainee (being trained by a qualified tech) doing the US-- which meant it took much longer than usual and it was a treat to watch the baby for SUCH a long period of time. We even got to see the baby in 4D. It is the most awesome sight to see inside the womb: every little kick and turn and hand movement- just amazing!! The baby is much more substantial in size now than the first US, so it was much easier to see things. The baby is also way more developed and looks totally human now (not like a turtle at all). The leading technician was a very sweet guy and gave us MANY photos to take home! Everything on the US looked good so far, and they gave a very thorough exam. I will scan the photos as soon as John fixes the scanner- weird- we had a black-out and it won't power on now, he plans to look at it later today. I will upload a few US pics to this post the minute he gets it working...

The Not-So-Good News: (Scary Situation)
Prior to becoming pregnant:
My chronic sinus infection that was pretty serious prior to becoming pregnant (was classified as acute and chronic and had spread to all of my sinus cavities)... for those of you that don't know: it didn't respond to medication and I was told I needed immediate surgery, got a second opinion with the same results. I went to the surgery consultation and I completely FREAKED out when I was explained the surgery risks (it was a scary consult) so I decided to wait on the surgery and see if I could ever find another solution or if it might heal in time.... The ENT explicitly expressed he thought I was nuts to want to wait, he acted like he had never seen someone let it get as bad as mine, and he didn't understand how I was walking about in that much pain (little did he understand the chronic spinal nerve pain I deal with daily). So I figured if this is as bad as it gets, and it was bad, I could tough it out as long as it took to either feel better about the surgery or better yet find a way around it...
Well 1 1/2 years later, it didn't heal, but it didn't get worse... UNTIL I became pregnant!! Now, apparently due to my suppressed immune system, it decided to go rampant! The pain has become so severe that I have been driven to tears (and I NEVER cry) and I have been wanting to drill a hole in my own head just to release some pressure, I am also feverish and achy. It is so severe that not only am I completely miserable- but I grew concerned for the health of me and the baby. I discussed this with my OB, and he confirmed my worst fear- that if left to go rampant, it has the potential to spread- and could get into my blood and could be fatal. He is referring me to another ENT and my OB has already pre-approved the surgery, and a host of medications and CAT scans to be done-- none of which are EVER done during pregnancy otherwise! It is never a good idea to go under general anesthesia or get CT's when pregnant BUT he is weighing the risks vs. benefits and feels it might be a good idea. Uggh! So, we are awaiting the consult with the ENT, and we will be facing some VERY difficult decisions in the near future! Whether to allow them to test, treat, and perform surgery- which could pose possible threats to the baby -OR- suffer through excruciating pain and hope that it hasn't/doesn't spread into my bloodstream and kill me. There is one major stipulation: my OB wants anything that will be done by the ENT to be done during this (my second trimester) and NOT my third. In the third trimester the risks go from low to extremely high, so we have to decide and act... NOW. I still can't believe that I might have to have surgery while I am pregnant! Oh what a headache- literally and figuratively! Due to the stress and physical pain, I do not want to talk about this too much, but I did want to share so that all of our friends and family can PRAY! We need lots of prayers for the health of me and the baby and for God's guidance (for the doctors and for us) during this pregnancy! I have to constantly reassure myself that ALL is in God's hands!
When we meet with the ENT, I will obviously know more, and I will post the outcome here as soon as that is. My OB's office is scheduling that for me and they will contact me when it is set up. John and I will be seeking a second opinion (on our own) as well.

Happy Halloween 2010!

I love Halloween- I love seeing all the kids in costumes, I love dressing up, I love carving pumpkins and I love all kinds of Halloween decorations! It is just so fun!!
This year we were Hansel, Gretel, and umm... lil Hansel?? hehe! And in our story Gretel is 3 months pregnant... hehe (Yay, 1st trimester down- 2 to go!) I was so happy I could squish my belly into my tiny dress that I bought before I knew I was preggo. John and Maletch looked so CUTE in their German Lederhosen! We got LOTS of attention and comments on our costumes, which made the night even more fun! One lady asked Maletch if he could say "Yodle-ay-eee-ooh" and someone else asked him if he had any Ricola, hehe, some people are just witty! We were told it was too bad we missed the costume contest, cuz everyone said we would have won- oh well, we didn't know they even had a contest there!
We started off taking him trick-or-treating for about an hour. He thought everyone that opened the door and gave him candy were his new friends- so he wanted to talk to everyone at each house. Although he didn't want to stop- he kept saying "Let's find another house, let's go this way, let's knock on that door"... we really wanted to take him to the Halloween Festival in Yucaipa, but since it got a little late, we went to the Festival in San Bernardino.
He had fun driving the John Deere Gators. The cars are powered by a gas (foot) pedal. His driving started off a bit crazy style since he was so easily distracted and took his eyes off the road often- but his driving improved a lot after a few minutes and a few collisions.
I posted 2 videos of him driving, the first one is funny cuz he was driving crazy, in the second one, he had the hang of it.
I also posted a video of him talking to the animals, if you listen closely (be sure to pause the music player at the bottom) you can hear him ask the pig, "Do you want some water?" When the pig got nervous, he tried offering reassurance, "It's OK pig, it's OK" Then he told the pig, "If you go poo-poo, you can get surprises." hehe, I guess he wanted to teach the pig about potty-training.
After the Festival, we went out to a late dinner at the Elephant Bar- yummmy! Maletch made friends with our waiter, so Maletch "performed" for him with some dancing and somersaults in the restaurant. I will go through those videos and post one soon!
I am still working on the slideshow of our photos, but I threw together a few for tonight! Be sure to keep scrolling...

Halloween 2010 Maletch 2 1/2 yrs.avi

Halloween Festival 2010 Maletch 2 1/2 yrs.avi

Haloween Festival 2010 Maletch 2 1/2 yrs 027.avi

Our First Look at Our New Baby!!

Our Little Peanut!

Yay, I almost couldn't wait for today! We got to look inside my belly- and the new baby is tiny (right now) but already has a strong and fast heartbeat (150 beats per minute)- that was a BEAUTIFUL thing to see!
Our radiology technician was a sweetheart and told us everything "as we went" which was a wonderful surprise! So we were happy to leave with not only a feeling that everything looks good so far, but also with a DUE DATE!! The ultrasound said- I am 7 weeks and 1 day along, and it also provided a due date of May 12, 2011.

I am so excited to officially begin our countdown to "when 3 become 4"... and I am so excited we are going to have TWO kids running around here soon!!
It is possible to find out the gender as early as 12 - 13 weeks of pregnancy with the new high tech ultrasound machines, so we could possibly know what we are having within 5-6 weeks from now! Standard machines can take up to 4 weeks more, the place we go has both kinds of machines.
We were so happy that they allowed Maletch to be in the room, because he already knows about the baby coming (well as much as he can understand). If you ask him what is in mommy's belly- he will tell you "A baby!" He is already such a sweet big brother too, he talks to the baby sometimes, "Look at this, baby!" while holding (showing the baby in my belly) his toys or whatever, and sometimes he kisses the baby (my belly)- he just melts my heart!

It was hilarious, while he was watching the monitor (which does look weird- it looks like a storm tracking video to me, LOL)-- well Maletch pointed to the monitor and said, "Look a turtle! A turtle is swimming in the water!" Then he went on to talk about "Dude Crush" and "Squirt" which are 2 turtles in the movie "Finding Nemo." So I may be having a turtle or a baby, definitely one or the other! The girl doing the ultrasound was giggling the whole time at "Maletch's commentary" and she just fell in love with him! I don't know how many times I heard, "He is so CUTE" or "He talks so well" etc. He has a way with the ladies, hehe!
Above are 2 of the ultrasound photos that they gave us- although the 'still photos' are extremely hard to see any detail- it is much easier to tell what you are looking at when you can see it "real time" as we did (which is almost like a constant video). I am still playing with adding 'pregnancy widgets' to my blog, they are fun and also provide a realistic view- more like what we saw today live on the monitor. The widgets will be changing and growing daily, as our baby develops daily- it should be fun to watch!

What Happened to Jack and Bulgy??

In case you don't know who Jack and Bulgy are: They are 2 of Maletch's favorite characters from his wooden "Thomas the Train & Friends" collection. Now what happened to them is a lovely story.... (yes that is sarcasm)

"Jack"

"Bulgy"

Why is there a toilet in our front yard???

What happened here??

And who the heck is this guy??

All good questions...

The pictures truly tell the story, but in case something isn't quite clear...

One day (about a month ago) I briefly ran upstairs leaving Maletch downstairs and I heard the bathroom door open and then I heard the toilet flush... I immediately thought "Uh-Oh!" I went tearing downstairs to find out what he was up to. He told me, "I put Jack and Bulgy in the potty chair!" Uh-Oh was right!!! I was hoping so badly that it wasn't true- but 2 yr old's never lie- at least not this one! Sure enough after a quick search Jack and Bulgy were missing-- and then after a test flush came a HUGE mess! Jack and Bulgy were lodged deep down and clogging the toilet!!
We called a plumber. He tried to "snake" them out (among other things) but they were STUCK! He had to pull the toilet out and even then- he had a lot of trouble trying to get them out! At one point, he was pretty sure we were going to need to replace the toilet completely- but they finally came out- first a sock- then Bulgy- then a LONG time later out came Jack. They were so covered in sludge (Oh-- so gross) that there was NO WAY we were going to clean them and let Maletch have them back!

I had a talk with Maletch and now he knows that he can't put any trains, cars, or any other toys in the toilet. He thought it was a fun game to name everything that was NOT allowed in the toilet, hehe! For example he said, "No putting Thomas in the toilet." "No putting ___ in the toilet." Among listing MANY of his toys, he also added, "No putting pizza in the toilet." He got very creative and this was a pretty long game!

He has been pretty sad and talks about his missing "friends" very often and says, "Jack and Bulgy are gone." (he says it with such a sad face) and then he'll say, "Don't put trains in the toilet" Although we feel really sorry for Maletch, since they were two of his favorites- we thought that if we replaced them too soon that he might think that toys can "come back" from the toilet somehow. We know that he didn't know better when he did it- so he shouldn't be punished for it- but we thought that missing them a little while might help teach a good lesson. He has shown us that he can be completely trusted and that he has learned about not putting things in the toilet. In case you are wondering, several weeks later we did replace Jack, and we will replace Bulgy soon.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time he put a bunch of stuff in the toilet- and it is too bad the first time- that I didn't find it until he was in bed for the night. I had received a package that day and he took all the air pillows and bubble wrap and stuffed it down the toilet- and took a bunch of "Thomas" books we had just bought at Barnes & Noble and put them on top of the air pillows/ bubble wrap! That night I went into the bathroom and found the toilet was full all the way to the lid with stuff, hehe! Luckily that time I was able to pull everything out and we didn't need a plumber! BUT, since he was sleeping, I missed my opportunity to talk to him about it, and then forgot to bring it up after that. Had I "caught him" the first time, the Jack and Bulgy incident probably wouldn't have happened.

This probably deserves it's own post, but...
One good thing that came out of this was that not only was he eager to learn what was NOT allowed in the toilet, he was super excited to learn that he COULD put pee pee and poo poo in the toilet. Shortly after this incident- he began using his potty chair regularly and we let him pour it- from his potty into the toilet- and flush it all by himself cuz he loves doing it so much!
BTW, he is pretty much potty trained now. He wears "big boy underwear" ALL day (not training pants) and the only time we put training pants on him is at bedtime or when we go out in public, because he is too small to use a real toilet- (or at least he will need some practice with it first). Even for naps he holds it till he wakes up.

Although normally you teach boys to do everything sitting down (at first) and teach them standing and "aim" later- Maletch made it very clear that he wants to stand to pee (like daddy) and he has not had a single pee accident in over 2 weeks. He does need help with taking his clothes off- well he pulls them down- but he thinks they need to come 'all-the-way-off' for him to use the potty, hehe. I am sure these little quirks will get worked out as he gets more experience.

Almost 2 Years of Wishing and Hoping......

Well, after almost 2 years of trying, wishing, and hoping and getting a little help from the doctor..... I am pregnant! (insert doing a cartwheel here) YAY!!
It is funny that it seems when people focus on trying to get pregnant- that it doesn't happen- and when you stop thinking about it, give up, or in my case- "Give it to God"... then He takes care of the rest!!
It wasn't long ago, that I realized that I was worrying too much about it, and every month I was disappointed when I found out I wasn't pregnant. We wanted Maletch to have sibling(s) and we wanted them to be close in age and then taking into consideration my age and medical problems-- as the time went by in the past almost 2 yrs, we knew that the window for opportunity was closing..... One day it finally "clicked" that children are gifts from God, and that I needed to stop worrying about it and completely "Give it to God." I 'wrapped my heart' around believing that He has His own timing and plans and that it will happen if it is supposed to, and that I need to 'be OK' with whatever happens... John and I even 'revisited' the idea (and were getting on-board) of adoption... and soon after I got my head and heart in the right place.... I found out YESTERDAY that I am pregnant!! God always takes care of us so I wonder why I forget that sometimes?
I am so excited for Maletch because I know he will love having someone to play with, and this baby is very lucky because I know Maletch is going to be the BEST big brother anyone could ever have!!
We can't wait to share the news with everyone, and I wanted to post this for anyone that stops by my blog!
Tomorrow (Tues) we will be calling my OB, and hopefully we will be able to get an appointment soon. I am anxious to find out how far along I am. We figure that I will be due in May, if not sooner.
I am in the "over 35 yr old category" now (YIKES, I can't believe I am that old) so that does put me in a higher risk category. I mention it because all prayers for the health of our new baby are important and very much appreciated!
I will post updates here on my blog as we find out the "guesstimate" due date, the sex of the baby, get ultrasound photos, and all those good things!
And just for fun, I posted a "Baby Gender Poll" in the upper right hand corner of my blog- I thought it would be fun for everyone to try to guess if it will be a boy or a girl? So be sure to vote, LOL!

Another Fantastic Disney Adventure!!

WOW, this trip was awesome! We went back to California Adventure last Sunday (Aug 1st). We plan to go at least every other Sunday and we plan to alternate going to Disneyland one visit and California Adventure the other, since there is so much to do at each park!

Highlights:

Water Fountains:
Maletch played in the water fountains for over an hour. Water shot up from the ground like springs, but also from overhead too- and that was kind of a surprise for John and I, haha! What made it more fun was that the water was completely unpredictable and would go off and on from all different directions! So fun! He had a blast, and by the time we left, he was completely drenched. It was too bad we didn't have a change of clothes with us- it took all day and night for him to dry off- at least it was a nice day!

The Best Show EVER:
We saw the Brand New show "World of Color" and HOLY MOLY did that blow our minds! We were told (many times) that tickets to the show were near impossible to get- so we were thrilled when we got ours! That show is a MUST see and it left me amazed at how they can even do it?? The show is done by shooting up tons of water fountains and is like a laser light show with projection onto the WATER (in the air)! The water shoots up over 250 feet in the air! They show clips from everybody's favorite Disney movies, and so much more-- AND they even had pyrotechnics going off at times! Absolutely spectacular! John and I have never seen anything like that before and if you get a chance to go to Disney this Summer- that show will knock your socks off!
John and I heard that if you want the BEST seats in the house, you can request to watch from "The Boardwalk"! We were also told that from this front row viewing area- you will get very wet and we thought that sounded like fun- so we went for it! They have some people walking around "The Boardwalk" selling 'rain ponchos'. After watching the poncho salesperson make a few trips up and back, funny thing we started getting concerned- just how wet are we gonna get?? So we got me a poncho just in case- and holy moly- yes we got soaked- and we froze our behinds off all the way to the car!! But it sure was fun!!

I have a TON of videos to post, but I will have to do that another day!

------Lots more to add------ although this post is unfinished, I posted a slideshow with some pics below!

Manners, Directions, and Impressions, Oh My!

Maletch continues to surprise me with the things he says and does:

Maletch has very good manners, always "please", "thank you", and "excuse me", and now he even says Grace at the dinner table!!

Saying Grace:
Since he was born, he has always watched us say grace for each and every meal (even snacks) We have never asked him to wait to begin eating until we say grace, since he is so young, but he has been doing this all on his own. He always waits to eat until we say grace. He always says "Amen". Since he has shown interest in saying grace, I started giving him simple things he can say, like "Thank you God for Tacos" and other little things.
Tonight while I was making dinner, he said with such excitement, "I get to say grace!"
After he sat down at the table, I put his plate down in front of him and I went to get his juice... I heard, "Thank you God, Amen" and he had hands together and his head bowed. I was so proud that he said grace all on his own! So when I sat down, I said, "Mommy is going to say grace too." As I was saying it out loud, he repeated every line word for word, and he had the biggest smile on his face!

Driving Directions:
I always tell him which places we will be going while out running around. He always remembers all of the places we will go and also the ORDER of places we will go (example, I will tell him we will go to one place first, another place second, and so on) and he always remembers which is supposed to be next, and he can quote exactly what I said (most times there are 4-5 places).

Somehow he is very good with directions already! Here are a few examples (all from today):
When we were leaving K-Mart to go to Toys R Us, he said, "We need to cross the street and go this way" (pointing left) and he was right.
After that, we were at a light getting ready to turn into the store parking lot, he said, "We need to turn left!" (the store was on the left).
Another time today, I changed my mind about one of the stores, I was going to do it a little 'out of order' and he said, "We need to turn around, the store is that way!" (he was twisting around in his seat trying to look behind us). He was right, that was where we were supposed to be going. He does this constantly in the car! He is my little navigation system, haha!

He also completely understands about time (today, tomorrow, first, after, etc). Last weekend, he wanted to go to the store, but we didn't have time to go. So I promised him "We can't today, but we can go tomorrow." Well the next morning, he woke up and did his routine with daddy, and he waited for me to wake up. As soon as I woke up, he said, "Hi Mommy, we go to the store now, OK?" I had completely forgotten about it (until he reminded me). John was cracking up that he remembered AND that he waited to mention it until I got up (since I was the one who said it)! So I asked, "OK, where do you want to go?" Maletch said, "How about Walmart and Jamba Juice?" I said, "OK, that sounds fun." He said, "Mommy, go get ready, OK?"

Impressions:
I love listening to Maletch play, and what is so hilarious is that he actually does "voice impersonations" now!! I'm not kidding. Ok, so he is really into Thomas the train, as probably all of you know... we watch videos, read books, and have loads of train characters for him to enjoy! Well just like in any movie, of course each character has their own different voice, and several are very distinctive. Maletch first started imitating "Diesel 10" (a train who has a deep and raspy voice). Maletch will say his lines in his best deep and raspy voice, "Hi, stinky steamies, I am Diesel 10!" He started doing "Sir Topham Hatt" (the person in charge of the railway) too- who has a different deep voice. Now he does impressions of them all, and he also "does" Mickey Mouse too! He will say, "Hi Pal!" (a famous Mickey line) in his best high-pitched squeaky voice. We have NO IDEA how he came up with 'doing voices', but it is hilarious, and he is actually quite good at it! Now when he is playing with his trains, they have conversations, and he has a whole boatload of different voices he can do.
Another tidbit: he also knows the story lines of Thomas and he can tell you which trains do which jobs (ex: pull freight or coaches, etc), where they are supposed to go (ex: the wharf or docks, etc) and all sorts of information. If you put the trains together wrong, he will gently correct you. He is quite the little Thomas expert!

More for Your Entertainment:
Maletch has loved music since he was an infant. He loves to dance and play in his band... and since we have purchased several 'kids music videos', he has learned and memorized MANY songs. The songs he knows, he knows quite well and he can really put on a show! I will be video-taping him singing this week, and I will post it here, for those of you that can't make the "live show." I will also type in the lyrical mistakes that he makes, he doesn't skip words, but there are a few words that he hears/pronounces wrong, which make it so cute! Just for one example: In "Row, Row, Row your boat" he sings, "Gently down the street." I think a boat rowing down the street is way more cool than rowing down the stream, hehe!

Maletch just LOVES to talk to people everywhere we go, and nobody can believe that he is only 2. It is a little harder to get Maletch to sit down for a long phone conversation, but he loves to talk on the phone, so if any of you would like to call him...

Another Day At Disneyland BABY!!

So we went back to Disneyland Sunday (July 18)-- YIPEE! It's such a good thing we have Season Tickets, cuz there is so MUCH to do there, it will probably take us all year to do it all!
This visit was so much different than the last, and as much or more fun!

This time:
We explored "Toon Town"- we went to 'Mickey's crazy house', where we met Mickey and had photos taken with him.

Meeting Mickey:
It's too bad that there was a line of people waiting to meet Mickey, so we couldn't spend more time with him. Most kids this age are afraid of the large characters and usually cry when they meet them, but Maletch was super excited! He wanted to check him out, like really stare at him, and I could tell that he didn't want to leave when our turn was up. Mickey first asked him for a hug, then a "high-five" and then a "fist bump" and Maletch thought he was so cool!

We also visited Goofy's house and a few other places, then off to 'It's a Small World' which was closed last time, so we were happy to get to go on that. As soon as we got off the ride, we ran into the "Celebrate You Parade" going by! We saw Woody and Jessie (from Toy Story), Chip n' Dale, Tigger, Pooh, Mickey, Goofy, Pluto, and many others go by, so that was fun!
We of course went back on Nemo Submarine and Autopia (two of his favorites) and he was over the moon excited about those! We also watched the spectacular fireworks show again!

Funny Highlights:
At night we purchased a TON of "light-up" goodies to walk around with, and Maletch got a Light-Up Bubble Blowing Gun- that thing is so cool and it shoots TONS of bubbles per second- like a bubble gun Uzi, LOL! The funny part was he started shooting himself in the face with it- and he kept on shooting himself in the face! He thought it was HILARIOUS! Everybody walking by stopped to watch him have fun, and we were all giggling. I knew the soapy bubbles would sting his eyes, so I felt bad that instead of instantly stopping him (figuring it would sting)- I was snapping photos of him, and Daddy was video-taping! When I stopped to clean off his face, I couldn't believe the THICK layer of soap on his face! His face was covered in goo- including his eyes- but he didn't even complain about it. and he couldn't stop laughing!

Maletch kept dancing to music EVERYWHERE we were, sometimes there wasn't music, so he made up his own- although there was usually music. He tries to impress girls that he likes by dancing in front of them- which is so cute and funny to watch. He met a few little girls that he really liked and got a little upset when we had to leave them. He is a huge flirt, and it is something most people have to see to believe! When there aren't any little girls around, he will dance with teenagers and ladies- and people were just cracking up at his personality. Of course he danced with mommy and daddy too! We did get a video of him dancing with one lady, which I will post soon!
We heard a live band playing off in the distance and he preferred to dance and flirt with girls than leave the area (to go on rides)... so we walked over to watch the band play- and he went RIGHT up to the stage and was dancing with the teenage girls and adults.
I posted a slideshow below with lots of pics!