Spring Sneak Peek

This is not a fashion post, sorry! We had such a fun weekend, Tim had the weekend off, the weather was beautiful and we had family in town. So we spent a day at the new Aquatics Center with some friends, and also at our very own pool in Talega. Luckily, Adella remembered a lot of what she was taught in swim lessons and is quite comfortable in the water. Nolan is also a big fan of swimming, and happily chased and swam after all the big kids.

Nordstrom Fun

Our kids are so chic.

Sometimes the mall is the best place to let the kids run around and play. We visit the pet shop, the Disney store, check out the fountains... and try on hats at Nordstrom. Not quite sure if the sales associates appreciated my form of entertainment. But I did purchase a couple of cover-ups for the summer, so hopefully that made up for it.

Do-Ne-Deer

"Look Mimi, I'm like do-ne-deer kids!". Adella has had this little number in her dress up closet for sometime now, and we really haven't done much with it, as I figured she was still too small. But just a few weeks ago she threw it on for the first time and could barely button it over her tummy.... for those of you who don't know the significance of this dress, it was one that I wore for Christmas eve when I was just around her age. My cousins also have matching ones. It's a dirndl from Germany, and I can still remember wearing it as a little girl.

This particular morning Adella put it on and came downstairs to tell me that she was just like the "do-ne-deer" kids. I thought it was pretty cool of her to make the connection with the style of the dress to the movie (The Sound of Music).

and then she put her own style into it, and removed the under shirt.

Nolan is Nuts

Sometimes I worry that I'm not giving enough time and attention to the kids individually, so I really love and appreciate the one on one time that I get to have with both of them. While Adella is napping, Nolan is usually awake and ready to play, and when Nolan goes to bed, Adella and I have our special girly time. Here is a little video taken of Nolan while Adella was napping... he still has that same deep belly laugh!

Disney Days

This is the best time of year for visiting Disneyland. We have been going about every other week, and sometimes once a week. The weather is perfect for it, and there are no lines. This one day at Disney, I decided to brave the teacups with the kids for the first time, and 5 rides later they were still loving it. WE RODE THE TEACUPS 5 TIMES IN A ROW. I deserve a medal.

Mary and Mary and Bert

THIS WAS THE BEST DISNEY DAY EVER!!! Adella has the habit of wearing a princess dress whenever we go to Disney, but on this day she chose to wear her white Mary Poppins dress that Santa brought. We stumbled upon Bert while walking towards Small World, and he told us the Mary would be out shortly... that she was currently tutoring the children. So we came back a while later and spotted Mary strolling around with Bert. I grabbed Adella and whisked her over to them, Mary was thrilled to see her! She said that she had heard all about Adella from Bert and that she would like to take her for a walk around the park. So they held hands and headed off for a 20 MINUTE WALK AROUND THE PARK. It was amazing. Tim and I trailed behind with Nolan, snapping photos in awe of what was going on. Mary stayed in character the whole time (of course) and chatted with Adella as they went to go look at the teacups, checked to see if the mad hatter and white rabbit were home, and blew kisses and wishes into the wishing well. I think Mary was thrilled to have a little girl dressed up as her, and politely paid no mind to any other kids that approached her, it was all about Adella. During their walk they got swarmed by "paparazzi" or international tourists that were also amazed at the mini Mary. There were a few times when I could tell that Adella was getting a bit overwhelmed, but Mary did a great job at keeping her comfortable and entertained. Even Nolan joined in for the fun and held Mary's hand during their walk, he was happily skipping along until Bert offered his hand... Nolan wanted nothing to do with Bert.

This was such an amazing experience for all of us, and makes the years of annual passports well worth it!!

Sugar Plum Fairy

A few days before Christmas Adella's dance studio held an in-house performance for friends and family. So I FINALLY downloaded all of the pictures... here are a few of the gems from the performance:

First Boat Trip

We've had a beautiful winter in socal, very little rain and warm weather. So we took the kids out on the boat a couple of weeks ago, it was Nolan's first trip and he loved it!

All the excitement wore him out, and he passed out in my arms. This hasn't happened in months...

Turkey Trot

Adella's school hosted a Turkey Trot/food drive a week before Thanksgiving this year. All of the kids made turkey hats for the occasion and ran around a small track in the parking lot. The kids had a blast and the biggest grins on their faces while running around, the photo's are awesome. We were supposed to spend Thanksgiving at the firehouse this year, but the kids and I were sick, so we ended up just staying home :( Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Cheerleader

Lately it's been "Mimi I want to be a Cheeleadah", "Do my hair like a Cheeleadah", "Do Cheeleadah's wear that?".

Uniform C/O the Ruocco's! Thank you!!

Nolan's Accident

As most of you know by now, Nolan had an accident this past week and had to be hospitalized for a couple of days after grabbing some hot tea that was left on the kitchen counter. We are so grateful for all of the kind messages and phone calls, and apologize for not being able to get back to everyone. I thought it would be best to write a blog post with some pictures so that everyone can hear, from us, how it all happened.

After a fun afternoon at the pool we headed home to make dinner and tea, as we have all been fighting a nasty chest cold that seems to have infected 90% of the kids at Adella's school. Anyway, I am upstairs and hear "Oh no, no, no, no.." (typical when the kids are running around and anxious to be fed) so I thought nothing of it, but then Tim yelled for me, in a concerned tone that I knew wasn't good. So I flew down the stairs, literally never have run so fast in my life. Tim was holding Nolan, who was still in shock from it all and not quite crying yet, and then I saw the burns, and his delicate skin peeling back. We immediately put the kids in the car, and thankfully Chrissy was home at my parents house (THANK YOU CHRISSY!!!) and able to take Adella while we headed for the ER. The waiting room was empty and we were brought in with Nolan immediately. They put some gauze with saline solution on his burns, which he wasn't happy about, and then brought us into a room at CHOC. They had an Elmo movie on for him and the Child Life Specialist came by to help entertain him and keep him calm while doctors and nurses examined him. After a quick exam they decided that he needed to be transfered to the Burn Unit at UCI, where they could better determine the type of burn and watch him closely over 48 hours. I guess it can take 24-48 hours for burns to blister and really show how deep they are. Then it was time for an IV... a few nurses came in the check his veins, and one didn't even want to attempt to get a line on him because of his little veins. So a brave nurse came in and failed at 2 attempts and on the 3rd managed to get a line in his foot. This was probably the hardest thing I have ever been through, far worse than child birth or any other injury. Holding my baby screaming in pain and fighting to get away from the needles as they were fishing around was the WORST. After they finally got a line on his foot, they gave him some morphine, I could feel his whole body relax and he pleasantly fell asleep to Elmo on TV. (Thank god for Elmo, those people against allowing their kids to watch TV are weird) Within minutes of him falling asleep, some other nurse came in to start examining him, and then lights were being turned back on, decisions were being made, and all I wanted was for my baby to get a little bit of sleep (it was close to 9 at this point). We did a lot of waiting until finally they got us a transfer to UCI, I was strapped into a gurney and held Nolan during the ride in the ambulance. He fell asleep again, only to be woken up in another 20 minutes. We were brought right into his room at the Burn Unit, and the night nurse did a quick evaluation and explained what was to happen the next day. Finally I was able to put Nolan to sleep in the crib they brought in, at this point it was close to 12:00. Tim drove home to get some things knowing we would be there for a couple of days. Nolan woke up a few times throughout the night, so it took a lot of comforting to get him to sleep.

The next morning he was able to sleep till about 7:00, and seemed to be in good spirits. He wanted to get down and play, so the nurses told us about the play room just a few steps away. It was a miracle. Tons of books and toys for Nolan to get into and toss around, he was having a blast and didn't even notice the burns or struggle with the IV in his foot. Around 9:00 the doctors came in to do a procedure to clean the burns and apply dressings to help with healing. Nolan was heavily sedated and pretty much out during the whole thing, which only lasted about 15 minutes. He was pretty fussy the rest of the morning, and just needed to sleep. He managed a couple of naps throughout the day, and we took advantage to catch up on sleep ourselves. In the afternoon a nurse in his unit brought a big red wagon over, so we cruised the halls and waved to all the people, it provided some great entertainment. As bed time approached we thought it would be a good idea to give Nolan some good pain medication to help him sleep, so he got tylenol with codeine. Big mistake! He was WIRED!! I have never seen him so crazy, and happy and giggly. It ended up having the reverse effect on him, rather then getting sleepy, he got crazy. 2 hours later he finally fell asleep, 9:00 pm!!! Thankfully the night nurse let him and us sleep. She didn't bug him in the middle of the night to check vitals. He needed the rest, and woke around 8:00 am the next day.

After breakfast and more playtime in the playroom, the nurses came in to show us how to change his dressings, something we will need to do for the next 2 weeks. He has a special patch that acts as a scab, to allow for healing underneath, and we need to change the dressings that are over it everyday. He can't take a bath for 2 weeks and needs to stay inside. He's at a risk for infection, so we really have to be careful. We were discharged around 9:45am, and happy to head home. Nolan took a nice long nap in his bed when we got home and was thrilled to be allowed to run around on the floor again.

Right now he is needing a lot of love, and Mimi. He wants to play, but needs me to be with him all the time. He doesn't seem to be in any pain, just a little more fussy than usual, which is expected. We'll have follow up appointments at the burn clinic for 6 months, and the burns should fully heal in about a year. Nolan was such a great, and cute, patient. Everyone was wonderful at the hospital and we are so grateful for that. We plan to donate a bunch of new toys to the Burn Unit and if anyone is interested in contributing, let us know. Their toys need a little updating, and some batteries ;o).

*Nolan had to wear a mask when out in the halls or playroom because of his cold.

**Happier posts of Halloween will come soon...

Tanaka Farms 2011

Last weekend we went to Tanaka Farms for our annual pumpkin picking. It was our second year going with the Bosick family, and we hope to continue the tradition for years to come. Lunch and beer at BJ's after was an added bonus, and a good way to kill a Saturday. The kids have all grown a lot since last year.

Family Photo Album 2011

It's ready to view!!! Having these photo's taken of our family every year (sometimes twice) is really the best gift ever. We just love Ginette's candid style of photography, and how she really has a creative eye which can't be taught. The texture's that she places on the photo's gives them a lot of depth and interest, more of artsy feel. She knows me well! Plus I think it really makes the subjects stand out, in this case our babes! Check out the link below.

http://sundinphotography.smugmug.com/Other/Mehringer-2011/19409872_CqgfLs
Password: Family (The password is case sensitive, so you must use a capital "F")

Our Little Ballerina

Look who started dance again! Adella is enrolled in a 3/4 year old combo class, which is 20 minutes of tap, 20 minutes of ballet, and 20 of tumbling. She was so excited to start dancing again and has been leaping and sashaying around the house since.

Family Photo's

We had another round of family photo's taken by Ginette last week, if you haven't noticed we try to do them at least once a year. As you all know, I am a planner and I planned everything out far in advance, wardrobe, setting, food, etc. But nothing ever goes as planned, Adella was in the midst of a cold, Nolan was teething terribly, and we had a thick marine layer the morning of. Somehow, with Ginette's patience and creativity, she was able to capture some beautiful photo's and filter out all the cranky faced ones. To see a sneak peak click HERE.

Image via Sundin Photography

I will post a link to the album once it's available to view and purchase if you are interested.

Boating

If you haven't heard yet, Pops got an awesome new boat. Adella joined us (while tutu watched Nolan) to Christen the boat (yet to be named). It also happened to be the Tall Ships weekend, so she had a blast checking out all the big "pirate boats".

Dress Up

Adella has been infatuated with weddings and brides ever since we watched the royal wedding last spring, I guess little girls really do start planning their weddings at 3 years old. She was given this amazing white dress-up costume and insisted upon wearing it the minute she got it, typical 3 year old. Then I remembered that I had an old J.Crew wedding dress (I got it before our wedding with the intention of shortening it, or using it somehow, which never happened). So I ran upstairs, threw on the dress and surprised her in the white gown. In her animated ways she said "OOOhhh Mimi! I can wear YOUR dress, can I wear your dress now?". And so yet another Mimi/Della dress up session began...