Dancing Queen

Maybe it is more like dancing/singing queen, but it just doesn't have a good ring to it.  These days we love jamming out in the kitchen.  I really need to get a video of her.  She has so much personality.

Wesley's 4 Year Stats

Wesley is so silly.  This picture makes me smile so I had to make sure to post it.  I thought it would be appropriate to head up his four year stats.  Wes man weighed in at 36 lbs. (52nd percentile) and was 40.5 inches tall (56th percentile).

The Girls

I managed to catch a picture of three cute blondies.

Big Girl Bed

Guess who got a big girl bed?  We decided to convert the crib into a toddler bed as she was starting to attempt to swing her leg up over the edge.  She never officially climbed out, but we decided to change it before she did.  We were really nervous.  We were afraid we would end up with a 2nd kid that wouldn't go to bed alone and would randomly wind up in bed with us.  Knock on wood the transition couldn't have gone better. It might have had a little to do with me telling her that if she didn't stay in her big girl bed that I would have to turn it back into a baby bed.  She definitely listened as she won't even get out of her bed after naps or in the morning.  We hear a, "Mommy...  Mommy."  I have to go in and get her.  She is so proud of her big girl bed and we are so proud of her.  Now onto the whole potty training thing.

Wesley's Turns Four!

Wesley is now at the age where he can't wait for his birthday to arrive.  Finally his turn arrived.  Before his birthday when asked what theme he wanted it altered from Legos, to Transformers, to Spiderman.  So we did all three.  He had a Lego birthday invitation and then our nanny made him a Spiderman cake and we bought a Transformer cake from the local bakery.  Three in one = Perfect!  Thank you to everyone who came and helped us celebrate.

I ❤ This Picture!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2013 Disney Trip: The Characters

Just like last year Wes wanted pictures with every single character possible.  Last year we just did photos only and didn't get into the whole autograph thing.  My take on it back then was, "Silly kids you are making us spend too much time in line waiting while you make the characters autograph your book."  I kind of had a change of heart after Ben had an idea of creating a photo book that had Wes with all of the characters from our 2012 trip so that we could bring it on our next trip to get the characters to autograph their pictures.  This book was an absolute hit!  Many times the characters would want to look at all of the pictures in the book.  They were always so proud of their pictures and point at themselves and then at Wesley.  Wes was so proud of his book too.  I plan to create a new autograph book with this year's pictures to take back with us next time.

Even though Wes was fearless of all of the characters, Addie was still terrified just like last year.  I probably traumatized her by making her get in a few.  I at least held her though...  :)  How could we go to Disney and not get her in a picture with Mickey, Minnie, Cinderella, etc.?  Oh, I made her get in a picture with Prince Charming too, but that was probably more because Mommy thought it would be cool to have a picture with him and I didn't want to creep him out.  It isn't creepy if you have a toddler in your arms.

We did quite a few character dinners.  These were pretty fun since while you are eating they have certain characters that walk around and visit from table to table.  We did dinners with the Cinderella characters, Mickey & friends, and then Winnie the Pooh & Friends.  Once again, three out of four of us enjoyed ourselves.  Poor Addie was determined to keep her eyes on the characters at all times that she never ate much.  She always got nervous when they were only a table away.

On the day that we saw the princesses, Wes walked away with a lot of lipstick kisses.  Lady killer he is I tell ya!  This year the kisses came from Cinderella, Belle and Ariel.  He also got a special opportunity when we went to visit Belle.  They chose him out of the crowd to play the Beast in a 10 minute reenactment of the story.  Wes was picked to play the Beast because of his good roar.  He danced with her and then they had Wes give Belle a kiss on the cheek and then she gave him a kiss back.  I missed the photo opp. on getting a picture of Wesley kissing Belle.  It was so cute!

2013 Disney Trip: The Parks

We spent time at all of the Disney parks.  We walked, and walked, and walked.  Magic Kingdom is still our favorite!

Wes definitely loved the rides more than Addie, but we were able to get her on a few.  That is her head peeking out of the race car in the picture at the bottom.  Wes was also a very proud driver.  The kids both said that their favorite ride was the It's a Small World one.  After riding that one a few times you realize how long of a ride it is.  Then in the top picture Ben and Wes were able to ride the classic Dumbo ride.  I probably should have gotten more of Dumbo in the picture.  :)

Below in the top picture are our bird watchers.  Right after taking this picture I was almost clocked right in the forehead by a flying bird.  If I had not ducked (fallen to the ground) I would have had a beak in my forehead.  This was a decent sized bird too.  Afterwards Wes said, "It was funny when mommy was almost hit by an eagle."  I don't think so...  I had a sore wrist for a few hours from trying to protect the camera when falling to the ground.  Of course I fell gracefully, because I'm good like that.  :)

The kids demand their Mickey ice cream popsicles.  Ben and I were pretty quick to say okay, because they are really good.  Then in the bottom right picture Ben wanted a picture in front of the castle with "his princess."

Then there are the parades.  We all like the parades, but I would dare to say that Ben LOVES these parades.  Ask him to sing the song...  It is a pretty catchy tune that will stay in your head for days.  "It's the time of your life..."  And once you see the Magic Kingdom parade there is no way you can not be excited.  What can I say, the Mouse knows how to do it up.  :)

2013 Disney Trip: The Resort

We left the snow in Michigan and made our way to Disney again!  We sure do love that place.  This year we stayed at the Disney Animation Resort in a Little Mermaid room.  The entire resort had Little Mermaid, Cars, The Lion King, and Finding Nemo characters all over.  The kids had a blast and were troopers.  We hit at least one park every day.

After we returned from dinner the first day, Wes and Addie discovered presents from Mickey and Minnie.  They were happy to open up their Disney t-shirts and pajamas.

Wes and Addie in the Elephant Boneyard.

Checking out the Cars stars.  We had to make sure to get pictures with the Hudson Hornet.

By the time we got to Sally, we had to wait for a lady to get done posing for pictures first.  When it was our turn the kids did this fancy pose.  They must have decided they liked the lady's style before them...  This picture makes me crack up every time I see it.

In front of Doc, I told the kids to hold out their hands so we could handcuff them.  :)