Disneyland Days....with a 2-year old!!

So this year for our family vacation, we decided to take Shelby to Disneyland. We went once a few years ago before we had her and we had a blast, so we thought "this is going to be soo much fun, she's going to looove it!!" Well.... the trip overall was fun, but Disneyland wasn't quite what we were expecting. We bought 2-day park hopper tickets (which by the way is TON of money, and we didn't even pay for her!) in advance online. So that first day we got up early and drove straight there.
We woke her up at 6am, and she didn't sleep a wink the whole way up there. So that means by the time we got there she was ready for a nap. This pic is of her passed out as we're just pulling up to Disneyland! Part of me wanted to let her sleep, but since we already spend a ton in tickets we didn't want to waste the day!

Shelby waiting for the monorail, she was soo excited about the "bus". I'm pretty sure we could have rode this all day and she would have had a blast...

Shelby on the carousel.. thats right, the carousel. Not on a ride, or seeing Mickey Mouse, but on the same kind of carousel they have at our local mall. This was one of the only things that she could go on that was age appropriate and didn't have a ridiculously long line! We probably went on it 15 times!

Shelby and dad in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle. Oh and that was another thing, our camera's memory card was acting up so we got barely any pics. Most of them are on Ryan's phone. She got really cranky and didn't understand why she had to wait sooo long to go on rides, not pleasant!
NOTE TO SELF: 1) Don't take a 2 year old to Disneyland. Way too much going on for them, and without a nap they're going to be cranky no matter where you are! Not worth the money!!!
2) Never go in June, or summertime for that matter! It was soo packed with families that have kids that just got out of school. Im not exaggerating when I say that every ride for Shelby was an hour wait! And no, most of her rides didn't have fast passes available.
3) Don't go to a theme park for 2 days when your 7 months pregnant. We walked... a lot! My back was so shot by the time we got back to the motel!
On the next leg of our trip, after we were done at Disneyland, we took Shelby to the Santa Ana Zoo. She loved it! She loves animals anyway, so Im glad we went. This is us in the "farm animal" area.
Haha they have fake cow that you can "milk" (its actually just water, but still fun!) Shelby barely got up to the cow before it mooed, then she ran off cause it scared her. But now she walks around telling people that she milked a cow :)
My favorite thing about our trip was all the time she got to spend with her dad. It was much needed since he's such a busy guy with work and school! It made the whole trip worth it. She was his little buddy.. so cute!
Day three we hit up the zoo and the beach. When we got to the beach she had also just fallen asleep in the car so she was a little cranky at first, but then she had lots of fun! She still asks me everyday if can go to the beach, oh and if she can milk a cow too!

We had a lot of fun overall, but we learned a lot. Like the fact that it doesn't take much for a 2- year old to have a good time. The zoo and the beach would have been plenty of fun for her. Oh well, you live and learn. I still like Disneyland, but next time we go she'll be quite a bit older and not nearly as busy. I loved the quality family time though, it was so overdue!

And the Mullet was Tamed.. kind of!

A couple weeks ago Lindsi was down and she FINALLY convinced me to let her cut Shelby's hair. I would say it was more like a trim (Lindsi would probably say it was less than that!) The girl's hair is wild and it grows in "mullet" style, which means her back grows way quicker than the front. And it gets this curly fro thing going on in the back. So while she was getting it cut I decided to snap a few pics. And she was so good for her aunt Lindsi!

The Before Picture (Scary!)

Is that my hair?!??!?

"I feel pretty, oh so pretty!"

After pic.. I know not much of a difference but I thought it was a cute pic of her and her auntie was cute!

The Lamb Follows the Sheep

This week when preparing for my visiting teaching (yes I waited until the last minute..again!) I realized that we didn't have a specific message this month. Instead, we got to pick a general conference talk. I came across Richard J. Manyes talk titled "Establishing a Christ-Centered Home". I don't remember this talk during conference, or the speaker, but I'm really glad I took the time to read it. In it he talks about how we have a responsibility as parents to teach our children the principles of the gospel, and to follow them ourselves. But my favorite part of the talk was the poem he included. It really touched me and I thought I would share with you guys.....
(C.C. Miller's "The Echo")

’Twas a sheep not a lamb

That strayed away in the parable Jesus told,

A grown-up sheep that strayed away

From the ninety and nine in the fold.

And why for the sheep should we seek

And earnestly hope and pray?

Because there is danger when sheep go wrong:

They lead the lambs astray.

Lambs will follow the sheep, you know,

Wherever the sheep may stray.

When sheep go wrong,

It won’t take long till the lambs are as wrong as they.

And so with the sheep we earnestly plead

For the sake of the lambs today,

For when the sheep are lost

What a terrible cost
The lambs will have to pay.

It made me analzye the way I speak and act in front of my daughter, and more importantly what I am teaching her. Even though she's only two, I know she's watching everything i'm doing.

Later that night I went went to a Relief Society gathering and the topic was on parenting with love and Christ-like parenting ( I think someone's trying to send me a message!) I was so glad I went, it was really great and the speaker was awesome. It reminded me that I might not always be the perfect parent, and down the road my children may not always make right choices, but if I rear my children with patience and Christ-like attributes He will know I did my best.
Thanks Sister Paul for the spiritual boost!!

Easter Recap

I know i'm posting again for like the third time this week, but I had some serious catching up to do! And I wanted to post this before it got too late. So this year we spent Easter Saturday at my aunts house with my family and Easter Sunday at home with Ryan's family. I will have to say that one of the things I love most about living in Vegas is having so much family around (okay maybe the only thing I love about living in Vegas) So here's a little recap:
Shelby's first egg hunt! She had so much fun.

A daddy daughter moment. I love these.......

Shelby sharing her eggs with her cousin Gauge. All the eggs were real, so she did what any 2-year old would do, smashed them on the ground and peeled the shells off!
Her Easter basket from Grandma Kathy. Filled to the brim with pure sugar (and yes those are chocolate Band-Aids and no I don't know what to do with them!)
And this is her basket from mommy and daddy. Since my mom went beyond over-the-top with her basket I didn't feel the least bit guilty about filling my basket with a new toothbrush, bubble bath and a new pair of pants. Ya so I would have got her that stuff anyway, but hey she doesn't know the difference and she loved the bubble bath! And her cute little dress is from grandma and grandpa Nelson.
Oh haha I thought I would throw this precious moment in here too. So after church and right before her nap I had the "brilliant" idea to try and take some family Easter photos. This picture pretty much sums up how that went! It wasn't exactly what I was going for, but I still love it!

Oh BOY progress is good!

I Just thought I would take a moment to introduce our soon-to-be little bundle of joy! We found out I was pregnant right after Christmas. Some family was down the week before and I said to Ryan in front of everyone JOKINGLY "hey honey I think I'm pregnant cause my hip joints hurt." Ya know that ligament pain you feel when you're like 7 months along! Little did I know that that was not a joke :) I decided to wake up early one morning and take a test. I left it there for ryan when he woke up. I didn't know that pregnancy tests could turn positive before you were even done "following the directions" if you know what I mean! He was so excited, it was really sweet. Then just a couple weeks ago we went in for the big ultrasound and found out were having a boy! I can't believe that in a few months we will be blessed yet again with a new sweet little spirit in our family. My days are so consumed with all things Shelby (and I love every minute... well most minutes!) I can't imagine having time for two. But I know things always work out fine and I'm so excited just to have him and hold him and kiss his soft little baby cheeks! Being a mother is truly the most amazing thing about being a woman and I feel so blessed...

Anyway, I just wanted to take a moment and show how much he's grown. It amazes me how much they change and grow in such a short period of time. And trust me when you're pregnant, progress is good....

This was when I was about 10 weeks along (he's just a little nugget)



And this was a couple weeks ago when I was 20 weeks along. I love this pic cause I can see his little nose and both hands.

I'm 22 weeks along now, and still feeling good! The second trimester is always the best. I'm due the first week in September, well technically September 9th but the ultrasound tech said i'm just a little earlier than that. And you know when your pregnant, the earlier the better! I was a week overdue with Shelby when I was induced, and I made it really clear to my new doctor that that was NOT going to happen again! I feel like this pregnancy has been going by so much faster than my first, and I just keep telling myself I just have to make it through the summer here alive, and he'll be here! (No he does not have a name yet, and that's a whole other issue!)

The time has come...

Yes the time has come when I've finally decided to work on my blog and actually have people look at it (imagine that!) Up until now I've written two posts, both of which are from last year, and neither were published! So i'm excited now to be able to share experiences with my family and friends and do the same with them. Its so much more detailed and personal then facebook, and I can't wait to get started!

The Girl is Growing Up!

It was Shelby's 2nd birthday a couple of weeks ago, and what a difference a year makes! She was much more aware of what was going on. She really liked having all her little friends and family there, but to be honest I think she enjoyed the swing at the park we had her party at the most. We couldn't get her off of that thing long enough to aknowledge anyone that came to her party! (sorry guys!) Oh well, what do you do, the girls 2 years old! Every partygoer took their turn swinging her and she loved it!
This is the cake I made for her party. Her theme was pink ladybugs so I tried to make a cake to go with it. Last year I made it with fondant, but I've learned at a birthday party, especially kids, always go with regular frosting!
Aside from the swing, this was her absolute favorite part of the party! She loved being sang "Happy birthday to you!" She was all smiles!
I love this picture. She's grabbing my arm, and it looks like she's thinking, "Mommy are they really all singing to me!?!?" So precious. I was so bummed though because somehow the setting on our camera got all messed up, so these pictures came out awful. This is the result of a lot of editing, and they're still bad!
This is one of her birthday presents. My brother got her a vintage tricycle and put it together (so sweet!) The only problem is she's still a little too small for it. Her birthday was soo fun, thanks to everyone who came to show our little girl how much you love her! And a special thanks to Lindsi! It was sooo nice of you to come all the way from St. George for the day, by yourself, with the twins, AND go back the same day! You're the best, you know how much she loves her aunt Lindsi! Aunt Courtney, uncle Tyler, and uncle Robbie, sorry you couldn't be there, we sure did miss you!!