Boat parade and Disneyland

Every year we go to the Newport boat parade. For me, Amanda, it's one of those things that I look forward to. We get a coffee at Starbucks on our walk down to the harbor, cozy up to eachother in our coats and hats, and watch the decorated boats go by. There is just something about it...I love it. This year was no different. Except we had one more set of interested eyes. Cruz just really seemed to take it all in. The lights kept his attention the whole time we were there. Aidan enjoyed it even more this year, than he did last year. He loved the house that always wins the competition. They have everything from singing bears, to a REAL snowman. There is even a Santa, riding a unicycle on a tightrope that's suspended over the walkway. The boys both loved that! It was so fun to see the excitement and wonder in their beautiful, innocent eyes. It truly makes it feel like Christmas. This time when we rode the ferry over to the island we took a ride on the ferris wheel. All four of us squeezed into one chair for the ride. I think Aidan liked it the most. As for me, well, I'm afraid of heights a little, so it makes me feel kind of uneasy. But the view was beautiful.

On Thursday we took the boys to Disneyland for the first time. Aidan was so excited to "see Mickey and go to Pluto's house." He had so much fun. We got him a pair of ears that we weren't sure he would wear. He ended up not wanting to take them off. He would have slept in them if we allowed him to! I think his favorite was probably the tea cups. When we got off the ride, he turned to me and said: "Go in the cups, again, mommy?" He also loved the huge ferris wheel at California Adventure. Joe took him on that one, and said that Aidan just cracked up when the basket would swing. I guess we shouldn't be surprised that he doesn't get scared easily. He's a little daredevil!

It was such a fun trip. It's funny how once you have kids,what makes them happy, makes you happy. And-at least for now- that is what will make our vacations fun. To see their JOY!

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we went to Mark and Lisa's house in La Canada. The boys were both so good on the drive up there and it only took us an hour and a half. Aidan had so much fun playing with Uncle Mark's matchbox cars. He also loved playing with his cousin Natalie (Natawee) and talked about her for the next several days. They played the piano and watched TV together once dinner was over. Cruz was still newly crawling, so he scooted around on the floor a little bit, and slept a lot. He was his easy going self. It was such a good time visiting with family that we only get to see once a year. Aunt Marge was there too, and of course Nonnie, Poppy, Aunt Michelle, and the new favorite, Uncle Brad. (Aidan has a blue matchbox car that, whenever he is playing with it, says that Uncle Brad is driving it, because it's "Uncle Brad's car".) Its really cute. We had such a good, Thankful day at the Durkin's home, who were such great hosts, as usual.

Cutest little injury

On Sunday we had our first trip to the ER with Aidan. Joe had taken Aidan with him to the drugstore on Saturday night. He was standing there holding Aidan's hand, when Aidan suddenly dropped to the floor, as toddlers often do. Aidan cried, but just a little, and was fine on the way home. But when they got home and he told me that he hurt his arm, he started crying again. He got really worked up and kept complaining that it hurt. We were really hesitant to take him to the ER because we thought it may be a minor injury. After talking with our chiropractor, we decided to give it a couple of hours and see if he got better. If it was a sprain, he said the pain should get better within that time frame. If not, we were going to have to take him in. It did seem to get better, so we let him sleep with us to kind of test to see how much pain he was in. We figured if it wasn't that bad, he would forget about it in his sleep. Sure enough, he woke up a couple of time wimpering in his sleep. So when 5 am rolled around I decided to take him in. I was so thankful to see the ER empty when we got there. Aidan did great. He made friends with everyone in there, of course, and even witnessed to everyone in there by singing "Jesus Loves Me" at the top of his lungs. It was not fun when they had to put the splint on. He fought me and the nurse with everything he had. Poor thing, I think he was just scared. By the time we got home he was laughing and playing and didn't seem to be bothered by only being able to use one hand. He called it his "big arm"-so cute!
It's now Thursday and he seems to be completely healed. The splint "broke" last night so he finally let us remove it. Now he's back to himself being a normal fearless 2 year old.

Halloween

This year, Aidan was a farmer and Cruz was a rooster. We took them to a pumpkin patch and had so much fun! We all got to go on a train ride and Aidan went on his first pony ride. On our way home we stopped at Nonnie and Poppy's to "Trick or Treat." Nonnie got a good laugh when she answered the door to a rooster sitting on her doorstep! After we got home, Aunt Michelle came over to give her nephews some love. Aidan loved that his Aunt came over (and Wolt, as he pronounces it). We are just thankful that we made it through Halloween without Aidan discovering candy.

Uncle Brad's Birthday

Yesterday was Uncle Brad's birthday. So Aidan called and left him a message, singing "Happy Birthday." Then, he wanted to call everyone (Daddy,Nonnie, Papi and Aunt Michelle) to sing to them, too. We sent them all "I love you" texts instead. What a sweet boy we have. The rest of the day, everyone we came in contact with heard that it was Uncle Brad's birthday. And, today when he wanted to call to talk to Daddy, the first thing he did was start to sing "Happy Birthday" to him. He's so cute!

Our new Jeep

Joe decided to sell his motorcycle so that we could buy something that the whole family could use.(I love that he wants to be with us more- he's such a good daddy!) My dad was thinking of selling his Jeep at the same time, so we decided to buy it. We thought it would be neat to keep it in the family, and Aidan definitely agreed. Since the day Joe brought it home, it is all he can talk about. I don't know exactly what it is; The fact that it is so open, it's so loud or that the tires are so big, he is so into it! On our first ride, Aidan sat in the back seat of the Jeep, and Cruz rode in his carseat with Nonnie and Papi. Cruz slept on and off the whole time, and Aidan fell asleep about 5 minutes into it. He fell into such a hard sleep that he didn't even wake up when we stopped for a break! The Jeep has also been a great bargaining tool for Joe and I. Because of the recent fires in the area, our first trip home from offroading was extremely long. It took us 9 1/2 hours to get home. During that trip, poor Aidan's bladder was stretched to the max because he refused to go standing up, let alone in the middle of the desert, on the side of the road. So, it was great motivation for him to finally start peeing standing up. So we said: "If you go standing up, you get to sit in the Jeep!" He took to it immediately! I am maybe a little too excited about this... Oh, the joys of parenting!