Tatum turns 3!!

Tatum had her 3rd birthday party on Sunday and she had a very bouncy day in her bounce house with her friends. The bounce house arrived at our house at 9:00 am and didn't leave until 9:00 pm so we got lots of bouncing out of it!

Tatum had lots of friends join her at her Tinkerbell themed party and everyone enjoyed her fairy cake.

Besides the bounce house, dress up station, crafts table and ride on toys, there was a pinata! Everyone took a few whacks at it...

but then everyone pulled a string or two and Tatum happened to pull the winning string which let down all the yummy candy! Now, as an adult, I would have been diving in there with my candy bag, grabbing up as much candy as possible and I fully expected all the kids to react this way as well...

but shockingly all the children just stood there, watched the candy fall, took a few pieces, and then requested to get back into the bounce house. I guess candy appreciation comes later. :)

Ty even got in the bounce house and had a fun time. :)

On the morning of Tatum's real birthday, she couldn't wait to open more presents! After all the gifts, Daddy made her a special birthday pancake with chocolate chips and bananas, yummy! When I asked her what she wanted to do, she said shopping. Oh the trouble. :) She took some money she got from her Great Aunt Diane and Grandma ($3) in her purse and we went to the 99 cent store (one of our favorites). She got two books and a Dora doll and then we were off to another favorite store, Target. She wanted to eat lunch there and then shop with some more birthday money. (have I trained this girl well or what?!) She bought a few more books and decided to keep the rest of the money till later.

Then when Daddy got home from work, we bought a bunch of yummy pizza toppings and made our own pizzas! They were delicious!

Tatum and I made cupcakes earlier in the day so after dinner, we had fun frosting and decorating them...

and then eating them! :) Happy birthday my beautiful little girl!

Ty is finally eating solids!!

Ty's doctor suggested we wait to give him solids at 6 months. But since Ty is a TANK and he eats almost every 2 hours around the clock (sad for me!) I thought we'd start solids at 5 1/2 months. Here's his first bite of rice cereal. I really thought he'd react just like Tatum and love it...

and by the looks of this face, you'd think he does. But nope, he hates rice cereal. After two different kinds, and three attempts, we had to move on to...

green beans, which you see he likes about as much as the rice cereal. We were able to get a few spoonfuls into him...

but after two nights, he still hates it and gets very little down. But at least he slept from 9:30 pm to 4:00 am! Much better than up three times a night! Tonight we'll be trying rice cereal mixed with fruit and maybe carrots. Come on Ty, you can do it!

Football and rain!!

We had a little football party for the Cowboy game and the Charger game on Sunday, lots of fun. Just before this picture, the house was engulfed with smoke from the fire in our oven! Garrett had to cook wings in BOTH ovens (even though we'd never used the bottom one nor cleaned it out!) and a grease fire erupted! After trying to blow on it with no avail, Garrett finally got the fire extinguisher and put it out. It definitely cleared out the house! :)

Here's Tatum enjoying a game with one of her favorite people, Kyla. She enjoys Nick too, of course. :)

And here's Keira showing her Charger support. Such a cutie!

Garrett tried to get Ty to start drinking early. No no Daddy!

And here's everyone enjoying the game. That is, until the Chargers lost. Boo! :(

Then Monday came and the rain began! Sadly enough, Tatum hasn't experienced much rain out here in San Diego so the rain was quite a treat! We got dressed in our rain jackets and boots and played in the rain...

... and ate the rain...

... and danced in the rain. So much fun! Of course, after our 5th day of rain here, we were all going stir crazy. We also had a flood in our garage which wasn't fun but we got everything to higher ground so I don't think too much was damaged.

An AMAZING day at Disneyland

Before I start in on our trip to Disneyland, I have to post a few pics of my big boy. Here he is sitting up in the bath like a little man. He loves the bath and water, so different from his sister.

I can't believe he's already 5 months! He's always got a smile on his face and he absolutely loves his sister. And he's such a big man! We weighed him the other day and he was 17 1/2 lbs!

Here's Tatum pushing her little baby around in her doll stroller. The little baby barely fits. :)

And now for the most amazing day at Disneyland. It started by arriving at the parking structure and being sent out to park in the Pinocchio section, right next to the trams! Then we took the tram in (which was wide open) and didn't even wait in line to check purses or get in! We went straight back to the Princess place since we'd never been before due to the long lines we always see there. After a short wait, it was our turn to see three mystery princesses. We were really hoping to see Cinderella and who was the first princess? Cinderella! Tatum was overjoyed! She got her autograph and everything!

Then it was on to see Sleeping Beauty...

and Snow White. They were all so sweet and beautiful, what a wonderful experience!

And then Tatum had her face painted. She got to sit in a special chair in front of a mirror and felt like a princess herself!

Look at that face!

Ty enjoyed the day as well. I had forgotten to bring a stroller from home so we used the pink umbrella stroller we had at Grandma's. Ty didn't mind but was a little offended when a passerby picked up his dropped slipper and said, "She dropped her slipper." :) Does this look like a girl?

Tatum and Grandma enjoyed Dumbo and the park was so uncrowded that we enjoyed Peter Pan, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Buzz Lightyear and The Pixie Hollow!

We had never been to the Pixie Hollow so we weren't sure what it was. It turns out it's just like the princess area where you get to meet some of the fairies! Here's Rosetta, the garden fairy.

And here's Tinker Bell and Terrance (I think). Tatum was a little afraid of Terrance. She'd never seen a man in wings and tights before. :)

On our way out of the park, we saw Pluto at the Fire Station and Tatum said she wanted a picture with him. I was shocked since she's normally afraid of the characters. But Pluto was so nice and it was a great ending to a wonderful day at Disneyland. Can't wait to go again before our pass runs out!

A blast in Big Bear

We spent a weekend up in Big Bear with our close friends and had a wonderful time. But before we got up to Big Bear, we stopped in Lake Arrowhead and enjoyed some lunch and play time at the park.

Tatum and Mattie love to swing.

The next day we enjoyed some sledding right outside our cabin. Here's Tatum taking a spin on her own!

And here's Ty enjoying Mattie's old snow suit. At least it was blue!

And Ty loved his first sledding experience...

and his first snow angel. :)

Look at all that snow!

Then, to warm up, we enjoyed some hot cocoa. :)

And the girls had lots of fun playing around the cabin. Too bad we have to wait another year for all the fun again.

Saying goodbye to 2009

I just love this little face.

But wow, are there two babies in my house? :)

Speaking of babies, my girlfriend Erica had her sweet little baby boy Jack William Nevens on 12/30/09 at 6:18 pm. He's as cute as can be and weighed in at 7.15 lbs. Just a cute little peanut!

You just want to kiss those lips!

After visiting Jack, we came home to get ready for the fun festivities on NYE! What were they? Getting little girls in her cute, froggie pj's and watching Ice Age 2.

Then some of mommy's friends came over and we enjoyed some grown up beverages, a game of Catchphrase, lots of laughs and ringing in the new year together. There were husbands there too but they wouldn't line up for a cute picture. :)

We had to say goodbye to our GM Shauna but we gave her lots of hugs and kisses and can't wait to see her next week when we go to the snow!!