Well, we are here in LA and it is crazy. All I can say is, my kids rock. Just absolutely rock. They are such little troopers it amazes me. After a 1 hour delay, we finally arrived in LAX safe and sound. Leina was an amazing traveller. She listened, followed, sat and slept all on her own on the plane. She amused fellow travellers with her non-stop dialog with Elmo and was a complete and total angel.

Kulia? Not so much. The wounds are just too fresh for me to even try and re-live that flight. Maybe, on her 30th birthday I’ll tell her about what a joy it was to try and confine her squirming 15 month body to a single seat for two hours. Maybe.

Anyhow, we arrived Thurs evening, tucked them in, and then woke up Friday and hit the ground running. Papa and I packed up Leina and headed for Disneyland at 7:30am. Kulia barely had the sleep out of her eyes when we left her with Tutu for the entire day. Tutu reports that she was find and played happily without us. Where this happy child was yesterday on the plane, I’m not sure. The entire ride over, Leina chattered non-stop about how she wasn’t afraid of the characters anymore and wanted to give everyone hugs. Big talker. When we arrived, we met up with Uncle Dan and Daniel at the big Dland.

Right when we walked in, I saw them. A circle of Princesses just waiting to meet and greet the throngs. So, I took Leina’s hand to wait for our turn with Snow White. At first, Leina was ok. Happy, excited, and with big plans about what she would do when it was her turn. As the line moved forward, however, things began to go south. About 4 people away, she announced she was feeling a little nervous. 3 away, and she upgraded to fear. 2 away and she began wailing and tearing at my leg. My the time we were at the front of the line, she was attempting to crawl up my leg using nothing but her fingernails and sheer terror.

We were going to greet this princess. All month long she had assured me she was no longer afraid. I have braved two hours with Kulia in a small, highly pressurized cabin. We were going to hug that princess and get a picture even if it killed us.

So when Snow White smiled at us and beckoned us forward, I swooped up Leina in my arms and marched next to Ms. White. She was very kind, and soft spoken, and smiley. Leina was slack jawed, big eyed, and had a finger up her nose but at least the screaming stopped. After a little chit chat, we turned for our picture. Suddenly, Leina realized that this princess wasn’t going to eat her and the words started to flow. And flow. And flow.

I had created a monster.

Leina didn’t care much for the rides. She spent the entire day looking for more characters. She dragged us from land to land looking for anything Disney to hug and talk to. Her fav? Probably Mickey. There was quite a line for Mickey in his Toontown house. When we finally arrived in the big Cheese’s presence, Leina walked right up to him, and buried her face in this shoulder and held on for dear life. She hugged him, and hugged him, and hugged him. Finally, the camera man had to cajole her to turn around for a picture. I think she could have stayed there, hugging Mickey, until they started the Starlight parade.

I have some great pictures of her with Snow White, Cinderella, Pluto, Mickey, Tigger and Eoyere. I don’t know if she remembers any rides. I do know that she will remeber the hugs for a very long time.

A little nervous? Ha!

Kevin turns 33 today and for his birthday, I’m taking the girls and heading out of town for two weeks. Yup, it’ll be just Kevin, the dog, and as much pizza as he can consume. We will be down in LA visiting Papa and Tutu and doing the Disney. Yeah baby!

First, I have to make it through the airport of course. Lets just say I’m more than a little nervous. I’ve got to get two kids, one car seat, a stroller and three bags onto the plane all by myself. It’s going to take all my extra mom powers to pull this one off. Then the real fun begins. Leina is a wonderful little plane traveller. She sits and colors or watches DVDs or sleeps. Kulia? Not so much. Her main goal in life appears to be to roam free. Free like the wind. And somehow, the idea of a free-roaming 15 month old on a plane stirkes terror in my heart. Thank goodness the flight is only 2 hours long. I just feel sorry for the poor suckers riding on the plane with us!

I haven’t been able to blog lately because someone has decided to drop her morning nap. Yup. Kulia thinks she’s all that and grown now that she has reached the ripe old age of 15 months and no longer needs a nap in the morning. And so my prime blogging time has sadly disappeared. She has definately been growing. According to the doctor, she has sprouted a whopping 3 inches in the last 3 months. Truely amazing. She no longer crawls up the stairs but does this odd little lurching walk. She loves using a fork and has recently discovered the joy of spinning. She also believes that the world revolves around her and that her every whim is law. Wonder where she got that idea?

This is such a busy time of year. The end of summer veggies and coming in and I have to start readying the yard for fall. I’ve started on the girl’s Halloween outfits – Peter Pan and Tinkerbell – thanks to a massive fabric run with Kat. And, I’m getting ready for another trip the Hell-A with the girls. We leave next week and between now and then we have two more doctor appointments, swim lessons, playgroups and a last library run to return everything we’re hording. Just thinking about next week makes my head hurt.

Maybe it’s a good thing sister is foregoing her morning nap. We are going to need every last second of time to get everything done in these last wonderful days of summer!

I’m slowly emerging from some strange funk. I just haven’t felt like myself lately. Not sick or anything just slightly off center. But I can tell I’m doing better because I began looking around my house and felt the urge to straighten up, finish projects, and leap headfirst into more strange endevores. I actually found myself thinking about making my own Tarot card deck as I rocked Kulia down for her nap. Totally random thought, I know but it means my creative juices are flowing again. I find that my urge to create is directly linked with my mental health. When I’m happy, I get busy. When I am sick, I just sit around and watch a lot of bad T.V.

We are slowly marching toward fall. I find myself dressing the girls in every summer outfit they own even though it’s overcast and chilly in the morning. I know that all too soon I’ll be packing away all these cute sundresses and sweet tank tops and they will never be used again. So sad. At least with my favorite skirts and t-shirts, I know that in 9 months I can pull them out again. But with the girls, it’s now or never. So we’ve been hitting alot of parks and playing outside as much as possible.

My head is spinning with everything I’ve left on the back burner this last week. Thank you cards, laundry, grocery shopping, weeding, and a hundred other tasks that have to be completed to keep this house and family running. Kevin seems overjoyed to see me back in the saddle. He’s been trying to juggle the kids and the house for me while I’ve been in my funk and it wore him thin as well. In fact, he called home yesterday when he left work and when I asked how his day was going he actually said, “I’m having fun.” Yes, Kevin actually used the word “fun” and “work” in the same sentence. He quickly realized the error of his ways and tried to backpeddle and tell me how bad things were going but I could hear the happiness in his voice. After a long weekend chasing after these kids and cleaning this house, I think Kevin found the joy in being able to go to work. For me, after a weekend of taking a break for the kids and the house, I re-energized and am ready and fit for another week as a working mom.

Wish me luck!

Kevin and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary on Monday.

Well, I don’t think that’s quite right. I suppose I should say we “celebrated” as in took 10 minutes to mumble “happy anniversary” before stumbling off to complete the mountain of chores that has us buried right now. No romantic dinner. No fancy little jewelry boxes. No skimpy lacy things. Just a hastily wrapped old Amazon box with a couple of DVD and t-shirts from Target which were purchased 20 minutes earlier.

There was no hot air balloon ride, spendy dinner, or magical evening but I found, as I snuggled next to Kevin’s slumbering back, that even though I didn’t have a wonderful anniversary celebration, I had something more. A truly fulfilling and loving marriage that has survived seven years and two children. So I found myself gently scratching Kevin’s back and whispering “I love you honey” as I drifted off to sleep and on to another year of happily ever after.

She’s three.

My little McNugget. My mini-me. My munchkin.

How did this happen? What happened? Where did this little bundle of walking, talking, hugging, pretending, did I mention talking?, reading, and curious little girl come from?

This last year has been a blur with the addition of Kulia to our family. Leina has grown up quite a bit from my “baby” to my “big girl” and she’s done it with such grace and joy. She’s a heavenly big sister, helper, and buddy.

Looking back, the “two’s” weren’t that terrible! Sure, she’s developed a will and opinion all her own but I believe that’s a good thing. At the same time, she’s figured out how to wait, how to ask with her manners, and how to bargain. Our house has turned into one giant Lets Make a Deal game show.

If I say no, Leina takes it in stride and then counters with a new idea. No ice cream for breakfast? Ok, how about a popscicle. Next time we decided to buy a car, I’m letting Leina do the negotiating for us because this girl is good!

We said good-bye to 2 and celebrated the beginnning of 3 with a great big backyard BBQ with wading pools and a slip and slide. My parents flew in from LA and Auntie Suzy and Sammy arrived from SD. Leina loved having her extended family here and our house reverberated with cries of “come on Sammy, let’s play!” Now, if I could only convince Suzy and Dan to move up here to Oregon, my life would be perfect!

I can’t wait to see what 3 has in store for us. I have big dreams of a potty trained child who will eat a healthy variety of food and share her toys with her sister without a fuss… Wish me luck!