Family Trip to LA for Susan and Troy's Wedding

This past weekend we went to LA for Mike's sisters wedding. I was a little nervous about the trip because Noah likes structure and quietness and I knew that this trip was going to be anything but that. This is also his first real trip.

I packed way more than I needed to, but I didn't know what the weather was going to be like. We had to pack for wedding, wedding rehearsal, 70 degree weather and 90 degree weather.

SATURDAY 7/13/2013: Drive and wedding rehearsal
It is a 6 1/2 hour drive to Redondo Beach, CA which is where the wedding was being held. We woke up and we were out the door at 4 am. We figured that the kids would fall back asleep for a while, but we were wrong. Ava did for a bit, but all the lights leaving Phoenix kept Noah awake Noah did some quite reading with all the new books we brought along (Thanks Mom). Noah had a moment about 2 hours into the drive where he was super tired and started to melt down. I just rubbed his leg and he eventually passed out. Ava got to read the books then and we also brought the DVD player for them to watch videos. We made 3 stops and overall everyone did pretty well.

We arrived around 10:30 am, checked in, grabbed a quick bite to eat and then it was off to the rehearsal. The location of the wedding was absolutely beautiful. It was on a Palos Verdes Golf Course. Noah and Ava practiced walking down the aisle as ring bearer and the "number one" flower girl. That was what Ava was calling herself and number one flower girl she most definitely was. (More on that later).

This is the view from where the guest sat.

We all met up at El Torito afterwards. It was right on the pier and beautiful. Unfortunately Noah was complaining of some problems and crying so we had to cut it short just as our food arrived. We headed back to the hotel and got a short nap in.

SUNDAY 7/14/2013: The beach and wedding day
The sleeping situation had me a bit nervous too. Noah has never slept anywhere but his crib. He ended up sleeping in a bed with Mike that was closest to the wall and we put a comforter in between the bed and the wall as a buffer and Ava and I shared a bed. As always, sleep was an issue. They did pretty good, but Noah was up at the crack of dawn (5am) despite the black out curtains. I think Ava could have slept another 2 hours, but she got up too. After we woke up, I had to find the nearest Starbucks because none of the restaurants opened until 6:30am. We met up with Grandma Nini for breakfast that morning and then headed to the beach.

Noah and Daddy sleeping.

The kids have mixed reaction to the beach at first. Once they got into it, they really enjoyed it. The weather was still overcast and not warm at all, which was nice. Noah was a bit scared of the noise the waves made at first, but Mike took him down to the water to look for shells and he warmed up to it. Ava on the other hand, was having a blast running and jumping face first into the sand and making sand angels. What a weirdo!

There she is running down into the sand as if it was a slip and slide.

And down!

Ava and Noah playing with the shells

Noah and Daddy collecting shells.

Ava making Sand Angels

Noah trying it too!

They were so tired from the lack of sleep and the fresh ocean air that they fell asleep in the stroller on the way back to the hotel (which is how they spent a lot of this trip), so we took them for a walk to Whole Foods too so that they could sleep longer.

We went to the hotel pool for a little bit after that and a lot of people that were there for the wedding were just hanging out, including the groom.

Then we got ready for the wedding.

So stinkin' cute

With Mama!

There was a bus that took everyone to the golf course and home. Ava was so excited to ride without her seat belt.

Then it was wedding time!!! OMG. Noah and Ava were so cute. I really didn't think that Noah was going to walk down the aisle, but he did.

Then the flower girls followed... Now, let me tell you.... There are 4 flower girls, but if you look in the next picture very closely, you will see 3 in the back ground...all but Ava. My immediate reaction was that she wasn't going to come...

Now you can see them getting further down the aisle and still no Ava...

Ahh, here she comes. She was taking her sweet, sweet time very specifically placing the rose petals down. 

Still coming down and still placing each petal down...

still placing them down...

So stinking cute!!! 

I was laughing so hard. She took her job very seriously and she did a great job! She gave Troy a high five when she got to the end.

Mike's dad giving Susan away to Troy!

Such a beautiful ceremony and we all had a blast. It was a 6 o'clock wedding and there was a cocktail hour after. So by the time it was dinner time, Noah was dunzo. He was covering his ear to drown out the noise. He finally fell asleep on me with me covering his ear for a little while. He woke up just in time to have some cupcakes and chocolate!

MONDAY 7/15/2013: MIKE'S MOMS HOUSE
Monday morning we checked out of the hotel and headed back to Mike's moms house. His mom's side of the family was coming over that afternoon to visit. There was family from Germany in town, so everyone wanted to visit. This is where Noah started going downhill fast. There were about 30 or so people there and Noah doesn't like being around big groups. He was whiny and tired. He just wanted to be held, but when we would hold him, he would cry and whine and want the other parent to hold him. It was all just too much over the past 2 days. He said that he wanted to go home a number of times. Poor thing.

These kids were tired because we went to bed a lot later than normal every night and even though they napped here and there, they didn't sleep a full ten or more hours of sleep each night.

TUESDAY: 7/16/2013: MIKE'S DADS HOUSE
Tuesday we had a low key day. We hung out at Mike's moms house in the morning and headed over to his dads house in the evening.

WEDNESDAY: 7/17/2013: HEADED HOME
By Wednesday we were all ready to be home. The ride home always seems longer and of course both kids fell asleep within a hour of being home.

Besides the sleep issues, Noah is a really picky eater so trying to find something for him to eat a restaurants was a challenge. We just stopped ordering him food and made sure to load him up on snacks that we stocked up on at the grocery store. I don't think he ate one meal. He just snacked. As soon as we got home, he finally had his first meal and was a happy boy.

That first night home, Noah woke up a couple of times and I suspect it was because he had 4 nights of sleeping in the bed with Mike and when he would wake up, Mike was always there to comfort him and tell him to go to bed. But by Thursday night, he was back to normal.

It was a great trip. I think we all do better with short trips and having Noah in a different room. I think next year will be better because they will be older and there won't be as many people so many days in a row.

Dress Up

Aunt Susan and Uncle Troy are getting married in a couple of weeks and Ava is going to be a flower girl and Noah is going to be a ring bearer. Well, at least we are going to try to get them to do it!!

Susan came over the other weekend to have Noah try on his suit for the wedding and it was the CUTEST thing ever.

Isn't he so handsome! I can't believe it.

Here he is with the jacket!

We also got dressed up with homemade hats the other day. Out of boredom, we made some crowns.


They played with for a day or two and now they are done with them. But that is how we roll!

High Five

Nana and Papa Ron bought Ava a subscription to High Five a while ago. It is her FAVORITE thing. She gets so excited when we get it in the mail. We all sit down and read it cover to cover. Then, she reads it by herself again and again. Noah is really starting to get into it too! It was the best gift she ever got and it just keeps giving.

Weekend in Prescott

It is nice to escape the heat for the weekend and Prescott is the perfect place. This past weekend, we went up to Prescott because they were having a Blue Grass Festival and Mike really wanted to go. So Friday afternoon, we headed up there.

The kids love to go and visit with their Grammy and Papa Dee. We love to visit with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa too. Aunt Judy is always a fun playmate for Ava as well.

My favorite part when we go to Prescott is the walks Mike and I take in the mornings. My mom lives in a neighborhood that has lots of hills. In fact, when we leave the driveway, it is up a hill to kick it off! We usually do about 3 1/2 miles in an hour or less. We did a little running both days. The first day because we felt good, the second day because our shins were killing us and it was easier to run down the hills than it was to walk down them. Ha!

Here are some of the views:


We went over to my grandparents house on Saturday morning and then off to the Blue Grass Festival.
Unfortunately, we did not last long downtown because the kiddos were tired from being up late the night before and waking up early that morning.

They WOULD not look at the camera. I think next year we will plan it out better and the kids will be older and I think they will enjoy it more.

We had a BBQ with the family on Saturday night and Ava had a blast playing with Aunt Judy!!!

The one part I don't really like about traveling is the kids sleeping. Noah doesn't like to go to sleep in the crib and Ava is usually so excited she is up so late. Oh well. I tried talking her into sleeping in the same room as Noah, but she wasn't having it. Maybe next year.

The best part is traveling up to Prescott at nap time.

Pure Bliss!!!

Ava's New Sleeping Quarters

The other day my mom told Ava that if she got rid of her side rail on her bed she would buy her a horsey purse that we saw at Barnes and Noble the other day. Ava was so excited, so we took it off. I have been wanting to do it for a while, but she would always say no. We need it for Noah soon, so now was as good as a time as any.



It is so weird to go in there. She did fine. She didn't fall off! Ha!

Speaking of sleeping, we are going through yet another sleeping phase with Ava. It is always something with her. About 2 weeks ago, when we would put her down to bed, she would come out a couple of times before finally falling asleep. There were so many reasons why, my eyes are dry, I can't sleep, I had a bad dream (before she even fell asleep) and the most common one lately, my tummy hurt (because she knows she will get the most attention with that one). THEN, she was waking up for about 2 hours in the middle of the night and coming into our room several times with the same excuses. I had had enough. I implemented a ticket system for her. She gets 2 tickets every night. Every time she comes out of her room, she has to bring us a ticket. It is going well, with the exception of last night (more on that in a minute). She usually uses one right away and some days she has one left over and some days she comes out again before she falls asleep. If she has one ticket left in the morning, she gets some stickers. If she has two tickets (which she has not done yet), she gets to pick a toy/craft from a bin of things that I have bought. If she calls for us and we have to go in, we take a ticket. If we get to #3, she looses something along with the next nights ticket and so on.

Last night, she lost her 2 tickets for tonight and her new horse. I was fed up. She is pretty much staying up 1 hour past the time we put her to bed. No matter what time it is. She always makes up for it at nap time, but that is the problem. She will take a 3 hour nap if I let her. She usually gets 2 hours before I have to wake her. I have been shortening them to 1 1/2 hours, but waking her up is a 30 minute drama fest. You name it, crying, fake puking noises, kicking and yelling. It is brutal. I am sorta at a loss on this girl. Last night we let her stay up until 7:45 to hang with Grammy and she didn't go to bed until 9pm. Then she was up at 5:45 am and cranky and is dying to take a nap today!!! I know this is a short lived problem, but it is tiring nonetheless! This too shall pass!

The Terrible Two's

Yup, we are skin deep in the terrible two's with Noah. I don't remember Ava being this bad and I do remember people saying that boys are much harder at the younger ages. Well, Noah is a terrible two.  I am only documenting this so that I can remind Noah when he has kids (20+ years from now) that payback my not be so much fun for him.

On a daily basis, Noah spends a good amount of the day in timeout. He bites, hits, yells and tells Ava that he doesn't like her any more. Time out really doesn't do anything, because many times he will come out and repeat the same bad behavior.

On the flip side, he can be very apologetic and caring. When he does come out of timeout, he will say he is sorry and give hugs and kisses.

On a daily basis, he won't eat and will constantly ask for food and once you give it to him, he will put his head down and pout and walk away from "said" food that he asked for. He just doesn't eat!

On the flip side, when he is hungry, he will eat his food and almost always says "thank you".

On a daily basis, he won't nap longer than an hour or sleep past 5:10 am and then throw a fit by kicking his legs and whining because he is SO DAMN TIRED!!

On the flip side, when he does wake up at 5 am, he gives the best snuggles. I love my snuggle time with Noah in the morning before Ava gets up. We sing a snuggle bunny song!

On a daily basis, if we take an outing in the car, Noah will fall asleep within 5 secs because he doesn't sleep.

On the flip side, the car rides can be a peaceful time for this mama because Noah is sleeping.

I know this has aged me, but I hope that he will make up for it in his teenage years when I will be blogging about our Drama Queen, Ava.

Cutting Hair

I remember as a kid loving to play hair dresser on my barbies. I don't remember ever cutting their hair, but I would definitely style it. I think every kid has some sort of fascination with cutting hair. My niece had her bangs cut by a neighbor right before my sister's wedding. Well, Ava has hit this stage. One night I went out after dinner and when I came back I saw "fur" everywhere. Not real fur, just stuffed animal fur. Mike informed me that Ava had given Peep, a little stuffed animal chick, a haircut. It was like a drug to her and after that, cutting her animals hair was all she wanted to do. So, like every good parent, we let her.





At least we told her that she had to ask first, but I think she is getting her animals ready for summer!