Showing posts with label Blakely. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blakely. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

All About Beezie

Stats: Weight: 27 lb, 28th percentile; Height: 2' 11, 45th percentile.

B is all about options--breakfast options, clothing options, video options, game options. Every morning when she wakes up the first thing she says is "I need to check out my breakfast options."

She still steals everyone else's shoes. Whenever shoes are missing at the end of a playdate, we know who to blame.

If you want her to scram, play "get back here with that!" She will take whatever she has and run like the wind.

She makes us smoothies and crocodile soup in her kitchen every day.

She could car less about her garbage truck--unless Kai Kai comes to visit. Then it's immediately the GREATEST TOY EVER.  The truck always ends up in a timeout.

Her imagination has really kicked in recently. She's constantly off on adventures, searching for pirates,  and looking for treasure.

She's a daddy's girl, and loves to work out in the garage and yard with Lance. She tells me all about their projects they work on together.


Church songs--Popcorn Popping, Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam, I am a Child of God. She fusses every morning before church because she hates dresses and tights, but loves it once she's there.

Shows: Caillou, Dora, Diego, Doc Mcstuffins, Tinker Bell, Jake and the Neverland Pirates. She got into Tinkebell after our last Disneyland trip.

In the car the other day, she started singing "this little piggie went to the market, this little piggie went to Iowa..."

She often requests a "light jacket" when leaving the house.

Food: peanut butter crackers, yogurt smoothies, bars, grapes, cheese, chicken nuggets, pancakes (with butter and syrup), strawberries, dried mango, dried strawberries, chicken noodle soup, mac and cheese, toast with butter and jam, cashews, popcorn, avocados, Wheat Thins, cheddar bunnies, fruit snacks, and waffle fries from CFA.

She's always rearranging my front porch displays. Every time I open the door, she runs out to "help" me.


She's into gardening--she loves plants and helping pick lemons from our tree. She planted some soybeans at school, and has enjoyed watching them grow.



She talks All. Day. Long.

She asks if food is gluten free before offering it to me. When I tell her no, she informs me that I should get a gluten free version of her food.

She gets angry when Logan steals her food--even if it's something she abandoned long before it was snatched. She still talks about how Logan stole her peanut butter crackers, and it was a few weeks ago. After he steals her food, she commands him into his doggie den. "Go in your doggie den, Gonie!!"

She loves to do art projects--stamps, paint, stickers, and coloring. I have yet to introduce Play Doh because it seems like a big mess.



She's bossy. She frequently tells us to leave her room, leave her alone, and not to talk. This leads to a time out for bad manners, of course, but she still tries it every once in a while.

She loves to gas up her play car at school. She loves to do all of the things I do during the day.


She's always jumping--on and off the couch, stairs, and chairs.

We rock in Lance's chair every night before bed. We talk about what we did that day, and what we will do the next day. I sing her a few songs, and then we go read books in her room. She always requests at least one song from Adele's 21 album.

We have to sing her Twinkle Twinkle Little Star 3 times each night. After the 3rd one, she says "that was the lasssssssst time." Then she rolls over and goes to sleep.

She's a connoisseur of radio songs. Her faves: Kesha, Pitbull, Adelle, Katy Perry, Amy Winehouse Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Swedish House Mafia, Justin Bieber, and Bruno Mars. She can identify Pitbull in 4 different songs.

She loves to read, and lounges around "reading" her books out loud. She makes up stories based on the pictures in the books.



She's thankfully out of the phase where she fusses in the shopping cart. She's back to being helpful and nice.


Best friends: Kai Kai, Colin, Hadley, and the Grays--according to her.


Her little prayers each night are adorable--she starts off pretty strong (bless Mommy, Daddy, Gonie...) and then she just starts looking around the room--then she blesses clothes, doors, windows, shoes, and whatever else she can spot as she peeks around. Ha!

If you take her to the beach, you can skip all of the sand toys and fancy stuff. Just dig her a hole, and she will stay busy all day jumping in and out of it. Of course this requires some effort up front.



She often dons interesting hats and glasses, and always looks through her binoculars backwards and upside down.


She's starting to understand sizes--she laid these out on the couch, and said they were big Brobee, medium Brobee, and little Brobee.


She's always stealing my phone to look at pictures and videos.

She takes pretty good care of her babies, and animals. 


She's not super clever in the stuffed animal name department: Meow Meow the cat, Pickles the Duck, Brown Duck the Duck.

She's very funny, and tells lots of jokes. She recently moved into the knock-knock jokes. Her fave is the old "banana/orange you glad I didn't say banana again." She also likes to mix up our names, and pretend that she's one of us.

She knows our fave bands: Mine is NKOTB, hers is Swedish House Mafia, and Lance's is M-83.

She dislikes hipsters and banjos like me. Mumford and Sons came on, and she told me she didn't like them. In a poor parenting moment, I said they sucked. She countered with "yeah, they suck--like my juice box!" Poor parenting sometimes leads to awesome quotes.

She always requests "fresh, cool water" in her water bottle.

I recently bought her a Radio Flyer scooter at a garage sale for $1. At first, she whined that it was too hard. After an hour, Lance said something clicked, and she hopped on and took off. Mission accomplished.

When we shop, she will look at items and say "oh, that's cuuuute."

She loves the bath, and stays in until she's cold and pruney. She has an abundance of bath toys.

She so much fun, and even on the days when she drives us crazy, we love her so much, and feel so lucky to have our little crazycakes. We love you, Beezie! You're my favorite sidekick!


Saturday, January 5, 2013

Family Photos

I was sort of a slacker, and forgot to do pics when B was 12, 18, or 24 months old. Then the holidays started to roll around, and I wisely decided to cash in my last session and look super hot for my Christmas card. The work is credited to Meghan MacAskill, but let's be honest--our natural charm and classic good looks went a long way.





Seriously, folks. I don't know if pink is just my color, or if Talbots is my store (did I just write that?) but I have to say I'm not sad about the way these pics turned out. And it's not just me--Lance's evil photo twin, Vance, failed to show up in the photos as well!









Those pictures really capture the essence of Blakely--in all of her happy, smiley, funny glory. I look forward to the next holiday themed shoot. I found an adorable Valentine's outfit, and I think I need someone on the portly side to dress up as Cupid for a themed shoot. Any takers?

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

A Parable


 If you give a girl a Princess movie....



 ...then she's going to ask for a small doll.



 If you give a girl a small doll, she will quickly realize that the doll needs friends. And a Fairy Godmother.


If you give a set of small dolls with friends and a Fairy Godmother, she's going to need a place to live. You must buy her a castle.


If you buy a girl a castle, she will quickly realize that the dolls, friends, and Fairy Godmother are all too big, and demand that you buy a small set of dolls that are just right for the castle. Bonus--they sing and dance!



If you buy a set of just right figurines for a girl, she will quickly point out that transportation is a must. You need to buy a magical carriage straight away.


If you buy a magical carriage straight away, you realize that the just right figurines don't fit. You must buy a set of blocks and figurines that work with the magical carriage.


If you buy a movie, small doll, small doll with friends & Fairy Godmother, castle, just right figurines, magical carriage, and block set...it will just remind her that she needs another Princess movie.

The end.

PS--movie for $11.99 on Black Friday. Small doll going back. Small doll with friends $10. Castle $3.50 from GOODWILL! I have no idea why. It's THE NEW TOY on all of the lists this year. Just right figurines $5 at Big Lots. Magical Carriage $3.50 at GOODWILL. Mega Bloks set $20 for 3 huge bags from Outrageous Outgrowns. I may be giving in, but it's limited to ONE princess, and this crap is meant to last.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Disney on Ice

Our trek out to the circus was a raging success, so I decided to re-create the magic with Disney on Ice. B is still a lap sitter, so we scored 2 cheap tix and headed downtown to party it up with Lancer. I had big plans for the evening. It was going to be like Disneyland 2.0!



B wore her ears, and clutched her Donald. She jabbered nonstop about the various Disney characters, and speculated who she would see. Mickey! Minnie! Donald! Goofy!


We waited patiently in the audience for the fun to start.



Princess Booger could hardly wait. She's a classy lil' gal!


 The lights went down! The excitement was building. B was ready to have her mind blown!!



The skaters came out, and started with a montage of popular characters. It was all good and fun until Belle and the Beast came out. The Beast came thundering out, roaring, and gnashing his teeth.


Thanks, Disney. 

The end.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Spooky

Not, not more Halloween stuff. I was thinking back to THIS post I did when I was pregnant. This software spat out what our 2 year old toddler would look like. I kind of laughed it off at the time, and forgot all about it until tonight.


 The Real Deal



Very Freaking Close to the Real Deal!!!!


How's that for a spooky trick? BWAHAHAHAHA.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Jiminy Cricket--That was Amazing!

This post is long overdue. For the record--Disneyland was AMAZING! I totally bought into the hype. It truly is the most magical place on earth. I cannot wait to go back in October with Lancer and Beezie.

We went with Team Murdock. They are great travel companions. The kids had a blast together, and the adults had their fair share of magic as well.

Colin may have demanded "ACTION CHUGGER" 8 million times. Coincidentally, this is the amount of applesauce (APPLEDOSS!!!) pouches B ate on the way down. We double iPadded them, and made the best out of the time on the road.


We made it!


Our first stop was City Hall where we picked up our "1st Time Visitor" badges. This is when B's love affair with Goofy bloomed.



The weather was perfect, the crowds were low, and the food was plentiful. I was in fake city heaven.

Stop number one was the Mad Hatter. B got her ears. So CUTE! I contemplated buying ears, but it was so hot out, and I didn't want another thing on my head. Plus, my hair was piled on top of my head, and only came down for photos, so there was no room for the ears.



These two monkeys were excited to have their little hats on. Even they could tell they were into something good!

We headed over to New Orleans Square for some pirate action. Luckily, there was almost no line for Pirates, so we took advantage and hopped in line.


B was cheering!

I totally snapped this picture of this wannabe Johnny Depp on the ride. Let's hope it really wasn't him, and I don't end up being mentioned on David Letterman as "the girl who was laughing at my attempt to look just like Johnny Depp--when I actually am Johnny Depp."


We made a few visits to the characters in Toon Town. Mickey was a big hit!

And Colin loved Gepetto



The line for Dumbo (or Dummo as B calls him) was really the only line we waited for. The kidlets stayed entertained by climbing on the railings.





We staved off dehydration by drinking plenty of DC and rootbeer floats. Oh, and Dole Whips. Thanks for the tip, Stephanie! I almost forgive you for that stupid Halloween calendar debacle. Almost.



Thanks to the Jolly Holiday Bakery, I got to eat a delicious sandwich with the bread. They have an extensive GF menu. It ruled.


The teacups were the runaway hit of the park. The kids LOVED them. They cheered for them, and demanded to ride over and over again. We indulged them.



We rode the train, which was a total yawner. The one at GG is much better. This is also true of the cars, which we skipped. (GG rule!)


When at Disney, and you need a pacifier to sleep (but one isn't available) your pin can do double duty while you snooze.

The other runaway hit was Small World. B calls it "Small Small" and it's all I've heard about since this visit. The dialogue goes like this: "Small Small! On the Boat! Through the tunnel! In the water!" I feel a 2nd birthday party theme coming on! I promise to play the song over and over and over again so the party remains short and annoying.








B's (odd) love affair with Goofy was totally cemented when I bought her this Goofy pin. She proudly wore it both days, and constantly talked about him.



Back at the hotel, the kiddios got to watch an episode on the iPad while we got the room ready, and then we all passed out. I'm a night owl, and Inger is, um, not--so I wasn't sure how things would work. I underestimated how tired I would be from all of the walking. We collapsed.

We kicked off day two in style at IHOP. Who doesn't want to start their day with eggs and bacey?

After a quick breakfast, we hit the park HARD, and went all day until they kicked us out at night.

I started day two with the breakfast of champions--Diet Coke and a caramel apple. It gave me the strength to endure the rest of the day.




As you may know, I LOVE Halloween and all things spooky, freaky, dark, and creepy. I think I know where this came from. I blame Walt! I remember loving The Haunted Mansion as a kid (we went to DWorld) and it wasn't until this first trip to Dland that I realized my Halloween village is basically a replica of the mansion.

B LOVED the Haunted Mansion! When the floating head appears in the crystal ball, she was yelling out "The lady! The lady!" with such glee. I think we have another spook freak in the family. That's my girl!

Colin pooped out for a few hours, and this gave the two of us some time to hit all of the rides in Fantasyland. We made it on every single ride expect for Alice in Wonderland!

B eating her 167th pouch of the trip. She had a hard time re-entering the world of real food when we got back home.

We even went on the carousel. This was the one exception to the GG rule. If it's at GG, and it's better, we skip it at Dland. But she was crying out for the horsies, so I indulged her.



I had to text Ashley about this weird phenomenon. Entire families dressed in their (kinda junky) Coug wear. I'm talking Dad, Mom, and least 3 kids, and a baby all decked out. What's the deal? Can anyone fill me in? Nothing says "I care about vacation pics" like an old BYU t-shirt. For shame.

Once the parade started that last night, the entire park ran to Main Street, so Inger and I fled to all of the fun rides that normally have huge lines.


As night approached, these two nuts got extra giggly, and demanded to hold hands. Anyone else hear "Someday my Prince Will Come" when they see this picture?


Goodbye, Disneyland! We bid you the fondest farewell, and hope to return soon!

Check Spelling
In summary, the trip was as magical and amazing as I thought it would be. I absolutely loved Fantasyland--standout rides were small world, teacups, Dumbo, and Peter Pan. Peter Pan was SO magical. I almost teared up as we flew over the London rooftops. I'm not even kidding. Storybook Land Canal Boats was a bust, and I will never suffer through that boat ride again! We skipped all of the princess stuff, since B is oblivious.

Cute girl! Stupid boat ride.


Adventureland was fun--standout ride was the Jungle Cruise.

Critter Country had Winnie the Pooh, which was adorable, and delighted the kids.

Frontierland was a total bust at this age. We got stuck on the pirate ship to Tom Sawyer. That was a mistake that took 30 minutes to fix. I think the kids would have loved this if they were older.

Main Street USA was SO cute!! The food! The shopping! The cobblestone! It delighted every cell in my body.

Mickey's Toontown sort of offended my senses. I don't like the cartoony feel of it. I felt like I was on the set of Roger Rabbit. BUT--the character houses and meet n greets totally make up for it. B was genuinely delighted when she got to meet Mickey and Goofy!

New Orleans Square--this was a close second, just behind Fantasyland. I LOVED both Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. Plus, the nonstop jazz and bayou feel make this a favorite in my book!

Tomorrowland--meh. I think this is better for older kids. We skipped Autopia (GG rule!), and didn't love Astro Blasters. We did, however, ride Astro Orbiter, and that was awesome.

And that sums up our fun little foray into the magical world of Walt Disney! When people ask if Beezie really "got it" I just laugh. She's still talking about Disneyland, and the various rides and attractions. I'm so glad I got to share this with her. It was truly, truly magical.

Love you, Blakely! So glad we could share in the magic together!