My Peanut is 21 Months Old!

My baby is growing up!! He's so fun. In just a few short months he'll be 2 years old. The time has gone by awfully fast.

He's talking a lot. He loves to talk on the phone to anyone who will listen. He often asks to speak to Grandma, Papa, Aunt Katie, and CHOKA! He loves to play with his cousins and talks about them frequently as well. He calls Kensington, "Tinsey," and Juliette, "Baby." He is pretty good with Zayaa and Ariunaa's names but calls Danny either, "Nanny" or "Zayaa." He still says his own name "Didi." He can kinda say Scarlett. We're working on it. It hasn't sunk in, we don't think, that he's going to have a baby sister. We talk about it but I don't think he understands yet. Maybe he does. He often surprises me with how much he knows and understands.

He recently started saying "I'm stuck" but he says it, "I'm cuz!" It's pretty funny. He loves to talk about cars and Buzz and Woody still. He's also expanded to talking about Mickey Mouse and Wow Wow Wubbzy. The latter two are his favorite shows at the moment. He often says, "I want Wow Wow Wuzzy." He sings along with the theme songs to both shows. He loves to sing along with whatever music is playing. It is adorable. My little singer. I need to get it on tape. He can turn on his music on his iPod. He also knows how to turn on his shows or play his games all by himself on his iPod. Such a smart little thing.

He loves to read books. He loves to dance. He loves to ride in the car. He sometimes will bring me my coat or my shoes and tell me, "I want carseat." He loves his shoes too. He wants to wear them all the time. He can put them on by himself. He also tries to dress himself and put on his own diaper. We're working on laying the ground work for potty training and I think he probably could have been trained awhile ago but I've just been too tired to try very hard. There was one time that he said, "potty" to his daddy while he was naked but peed on the floor before Tyler knew what to do about it.

He's really into coloring and drawing right now. We sit on the floor for hours and scribble. It's also been a good quiet activity for church. He won't go to nursery yet, but he had a traumatic experience there awhile back. Last week he stayed for a good ten minutes and I'm happy with any kind of progress. I think that's where he caught his cold though. I'm not thrilled about that. I We have both been sick the last couple of days. This next short story is not for the faint of stomach so skip it if that describes you. I was changing his first poopy diaper of the day yesterday and ended up throwing up on his pajamas. Poopy diapers, pregnancy, and being sick is not a good combination for me I guess. Luckily I had the diaper pad down and the mess was localized to his pajamas and the the pad so it was pretty easy to clean up.

He's pretty good at eating by himself as well. He likes to use utensils and doesn't really make much of a mess unless I give him a cup without a lid. He loves to dump his drink out and splash in it.


Derek is just the sweetest little thing. He often grabs my hand and kisses my palm. He kisses everything right now. I drew Mickey Mouse the other day and he leaned down and kissed it. His laugh is magical and he is usually happy and smiling. His daddy makes him laugh the hardest. He still loves to play coy and flirty with all the girls. Most everyone comments on his gorgeous eyelashes. I'm such a proud little mama. I just think he's an amazing little kid.

Weeks 20-24 Gestation

20 Weeks

Well, I've been pretty good. I'm exhausted. I forgot how tiring it is to grow a baby. I thought going to school and being pregnant was bad, but having a toddler and being pregnant is much harder. My grandma mentioned that I looked tired and had dark circles under my eyes. Yes, that is how I feel. I'm glad I look as haggard as I feel, haha. I used to sometimes use my "free" time during Derek's nap to watch tv or get things done, but now I nap right along with him. There are even days, blessed, blessed days where we sleep for three hours.

21 Weeks

I can feel little Scarlett kicking now! I absolutely love it. It's one of the best things about being pregnant. I love to just watch my stomach jump and bounce. I now get kicked on the outside and the inside from my kids. Derek's kicks hurt just a tad more than little Scarlett's.

22 Weeks

Try not to look at my hair in that picture above. Bad hair day. I don't like to do my hair if I don't have to. Earlier that day it was in a bun and I waited too long to take the picture. Bad decision.

23 Weeks

Things are starting to get uncomfortable now. For the most part, I'm fine and dandy. My tailbone has started to hurt when I stand or walk. I've also started getting the little aches and pains associated with pregnancy. Still not bad though. I'm not trying to complain, just trying to give an accurate description.

24 Weeks

My next appointment is on Monday where I get to have my Glucose Tolerance Test. I'm just thrilled that Tyler can come with me! We start HypnoBirthing classes at the end of this month. I'm excited!

Thanksgiving

I know it's almost Christmas, but things got a little crazy and now I have to play catch up! We had an excellent Thanksgiving in Las Vegas at my Grandma and Grandpa's house! My brother and sister-in-law did most of the cooking and it was fabulous. Way to go Cory and Katie! Katie made some excellent yams with equal parts yams and brown sugar with marshmallows to top them off. They were my favorite. Cory made the turkey and I'm very impressed.

Derek loved playing with his "Papa" and wearing his "Woody" hat. He also loved teasing Cory by calling him Aunt Katie. The joke was encouraged by laughter and now Cory and Katie are known as, "Aunt Katie and No Aunt Katie." Haha. Silly little boy.

We saw Disney's "Tangled" over the weekend there as well. If you haven't seen it, you should! It was such a cute movie! I highly recommend it. Derek liked it just fine but was running around the theater by the end. It wasn't boyish enough for him, I guess.

As the holiday season is here, I am truly grateful for many things. I can't list everything, because that would be a very long list but I'd like to list a few. I am grateful for friends and family. I'm grateful that I get to be a mother to Derek and to Scarlett. I'm grateful for a husband who loves me and works so hard and does so much for me and for our family. I'm grateful for our good health. I'm grateful to live in this country. I'm grateful for my beautiful little house and for working cars. I'm grateful for the lessons I've learned this year. And I'm grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ.


I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and I wish you all love! Hopefully I'll post about Christmas before the baby is born.

19 Weeks

Here I am, 19 weeks pregnant with little Scarlett. (Try not to focus on the horrible hair-do. It was curly at the beginning of the day and I brushed it out and it just looks awful!) I love being pregnant, ya know, except for all the crazy moodiness. That part is not fun for anyone.

Scarlett has been kicking me all night! There has only been one other time that I have felt her move. It's so enchanting and one of my favorite parts of the whole pregnancy thing.

Things are going well! I have an ultrasound on Tuesday. I am very excited and anxious to make sure she's growing and developing properly.

Have a great week!

Wishy Fishy Halloween

Derek was Nemo for Halloween . He was the most adorable little fish I've ever seen. We went trick-or-treating with Derek's cousins, Kensington and Juliette. Kensington was Little Bo Peep and Juliette was her lamb. They were adorable. I didn't get a picture of them. I thought I'd get one after dinner but they changed out of their costumes too quickly. Darn it!

Is that fishy eating sushi? Yes he is. Hahaha.

We first went shopping at "Soda Row" at Daybreak. We went to each of the shops to get a little treat. The last stop was at a gymnasium where they had an obstacle course set up for the kids. They had a trampoline, foam pit, tumbling mats, and bars. Derek loved hanging from the bars.

Shanda made us tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner and after a short break, we went out trick-or-treating in Shanda's neighborhood. Derek got the hang of it pretty quickly. I guess candy is a good motivator. He'd knock on the door and say "chee chee" to get his candy. So cute. It was so cold! It rained on us and Derek didn't want to keep his top fin on. I was finished with the whole ordeal after the first block. I was freezing. Derek didn't mind though. He had so much fun!

It was a good Halloween! We hope your Halloween was happy as well. Derek is actually wearing his costume right now, again. He loves it. He sleeps with it. Funny funny kid.

It's a Girl!!

I had an ultrasound on Thursday! I was only 17 1/2 weeks but they let me try to get the measurements for insurance reasons. Turns out I'll have to have another one in a couple of weeks because she wasn't sure she could see everything properly and she wanted to make 100% sure the baby was okay. I was a little worried about having another one but it turns out I'll have insurance to cover it, so it's going to be just fine. PHEW!

And... it's a GIRL!!! My little Scarlett.
Tyler and I both guessed right.
Look, here's her Halloween picture:

Happy Halloween!

We'll post pictures of Derek and his Halloween costume soon. Love to all!

Wedding and A Subaru

We found a car! Derek and I are no longer stuck at home all day while Tyler is at work. It's extremely liberating. We bought a 2001 gold Subaru Legacy. I usually don't like gold cars but this one actually looks pretty nice. Tyler is enjoying it. I still love my Jetta. We're thinking about making the move to an SUV or minivan. I don't know if I'm ready for that. I guess it would be practical. At the same time, it will be awhile before we'll have to fit three carseats in one car, so maybe we'll wait a little bit. I don't know. The debate is on.

Kyle and Jenn got married on Tuesday, October 19th! Congratulations to the newest Mr. and Mrs. Prestgard! Everything was beautiful. Jenn looked gorgeous and the ceremony was perfect. Derek had the great honor of being one of the ring bearers. He looked like such a little man! It was adorable. Welcome to the family, Jenn! We love you!

I am still pregnant and get to have an ultrasound on October 27th. I am very excited. Can't wait, can't wait...

Derek is 18 Months!!

He's doing great! He had his 18 month appointment last week and he's in the 50th percentile for his head circumference, 45th percentile for height, and -10th percentile for weight. He's following his own curve for weight and the doctor isn't worried. He's gaining weight steadily, he's just not very heavy. The doctor said he looked perfect. I agree.

Derek still loves the movie "Cars" but he also loves "Toy Story" and "Finding Nemo", which he calls the fishy movie. Well, he actually calls it "Wuh wuh wishy." He started saying "wishy" and I was trying to get him to attempt the /f/ sound so I kept saying "fuh fuh fishy." He's talking up a storm these days. Among some of his newest words are: down, "side" (outside), "biser" (spider), "baba" (banana), "kickin" (chicken), yogurt, happy, and sad. He also constructs a few simple sentences like, "I see Woody" or "I want cars."

We bought him a toddler bed and last night was the first night that he slept there the whole night! I am so proud of him. He loves the bed because it has Toy Story characters all over it. He also loves the Lightning McQueen pillow his grandma bought him.

He's growing so fast. He's just adorable. The other day I was getting a little frustrated with him. He had been whiny for awhile and we were at the end of a long day. He worked and he worked to climb up onto the couch, gave me a kiss, and climbed back down. Completely melted my heart and, of course, my frustration as well. He's such a sweet little boy! He still calls me Tara once in awhile but mostly he'll call me Mommy now, which I love. He sings too. His favorite songs are "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Halloween Cat." He also sings the "Wow Wow Wubbzy" theme song and "Break Your Heart," that song by Taio Cruz. What a funny kid.

He had his first couple of weeks in our church's nursery. He did fine as long as I or Tyler were there. I think he'll do fine when we move church times back to the morning. We have church at 2 and every day at 2, Derek and I take a nap. Nap time is not a good church time. He's supposed to be in nursery from 3-5 and that just isn't going to happen while he's sleepy and grouchy. He loves to play with other kids though! I guess we'll see when January rolls around. I just got released from my calling in the Primary, so I'll be able to stay in nursery with him if he needs me to.

Needless to say, I love being Derek's mother. Happy 18 months, my beautiful little Peanut!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

So our family has a few new things to report. Tyler accepted a job with Strayer University yesterday! He will be the Student Account Representative. He starts at the end of this month and we are very excited. Derek and I are also a little sad. We've been terribly spoiled these last few weeks having Tyler home with us all day every day. It's been so nice having him home!

We are also expecting another addition to our family! I'm 10 weeks and 6 days with an estimated due date of April 2, 2011. We were able to have an ultrasound on Tuesday to determine dates and everything looks healthy so far!


I'm pretty much tired and nauseated all of the time. I'm still working and that's really hard on me. The day after I work, it's all I can do to get out of bed in the afternoon. Hopefully I'll be able to cut back on hours now that Tyler has a job!

Derek is still doing well. He has his well-baby appointment next week. Can you believe he's almost 18 months old!? He's a beautiful and intelligent child. He says "bless you" when you sneeze and loves playing with cars.

Anyway, there's a quick update on our lives. I promise to be better with posting.
Love to all!

Independence Day

We had a fantastic Independence Day weekend! It started on July 3rd when Tyler, Derek, Dan, Choka, Zayaa, Danny, Ariunaa, my Dad, and I went to BYU campus to have a picnic and wait for fireworks! We had Panda Express and then just enjoyed the sunshine. The kids had so much fun running around, rolling down hills, bouncing balls, and eating ice cream. The picture above is all the kids in the outfits that their Grandma Sherry bought them.

This is my favorite picture. Such handsome boys!!

Our little family.

Papa and his grandkids.

The fireworks were amazing and I think we all had a pretty good time. Danny and Zayaa don't like loud noises, so their hands were over their ears the whole time. Derek liked the fireworks. He didn't seem bothered by them at all. He even was possibly even bored by the end.

On the 4th of July, we went to church and then had a barbecue at Dan and Choka's house. I was a little skeptical of the T-Bone steak they made me, but it turned out to be tender and yummy! I was very impressed. Dan made ice cream and, as always, it was delicious.


On July 5th, Dad, Tyler, Derek, and I met Dan, Choka, Zayaa, Danny, and Ariunaa at the park. Here's Derek in the outfit his Grandma Prestgard bought him:

We fed the ducks and played on the swing-set. Derek LOVED the swing. That's all he wanted to do. He probably would have stayed there all day if we would have let him. Every time we tried to get him out to go feed the ducks or run around or slide down the slide, he'd scream. He just wanted to swing.

After the park, we went to eat at Five Guys where we had some delicious burgers. I'm not a big meat eater but I dream about the burger I had at Five Guys. Yum yum.

I worked that night but the whole family came in to the restaurant. It was so fun to be their server! It made work go by much quicker. It wasn't too busy that night, so I got to visit with them a little.

All in all, it was a really good weekend! Happy Independence Day! (Late as always....)

Title Cliche: Calm Before the Storm

I have put off writing about this but I'll update anyways.

Last Wednesday I went to bed and had one of those rare moments of perfection, of complete bliss. Everything in my life was right where it should be. Before I even had a chance to enjoy the moment, blind panic set in, for I've had this feeling of perfection before and trials inevitably follow. I had to calm myself down so that I could sleep.

The next day, Derek and I went to swimming lessons and had a great time. I had forgotten about the panic the night before and didn't think anything of our neighbor's car parked in front of their house. Tyler and our neighbor carpooled to work that day and I thought they might have come home because his wife needed help. I thought to myself, "I'll have to call Tyler when I get in the house to see if he needs a ride home." When I opened our front door, Tyler was walking up our stairs. It startled me, but I wasn't thinking that anything out of the ordinary was happening. I asked him what he was doing home, chiding him a little for scaring me in that way. He sadly answered, "What do you think?"

Tyler's department downsized and outsourced and didn't renew several contracts, including Tyler's. So we are back to job searching and unemployment. Hello uncertainty; I can't say that I've missed you.

We're dong all right, considering. I'm still working at the restaurant and Tyler's all ready had a couple of interviews. He's such a good man and I'm sure he'll find something soon. We're hopeful and we're happy and healthy otherwise. So that's something.

Derek at 15 Months

We had Derek's well-baby appointment a week or two ago. He is in the 60th percentile for height but isn't even on the charts for weight. The doctor said that by looking at me and Tyler, she's not expecting him to be very big, but she'd like to see him on the charts. We're trying to give him lots of good fats like milk, peanut butter, etc. He won't drink a lot of milk, but he likes yogurt, so that's something. The picture above is Derek with a mouth full of french toast. I especially love the powdered sugar on the nose. He loves to feed himself. He almost won't eat unless we let him do it himself. He's really good at using a spoon.

We did mommy and me swimming lessons for the last two weeks. He LOVED it. We'd get to the pool and he'd start saying, "water! water!" which sounded more like, "wadee! wadee!" It was fun to get in the water everyday, sing songs, and play. It kept us busy while Choka was gone. It actually kept us busy until Tyler got home everyday.

Derek's favorite movie right now is Disney/Pixar's "Cars". He's obsessed with all things cars. I'm fine with it. It's a good movie and very entertaining and I was getting a little tired of "Yo Gabba Gabba". He also loves to ride in the car and to play with toy cars. He also loves to pretend to drive our car. Such a boy.


He says quite a few words for a 15 month old. 3-4 words is normal and Derek has a vocabulary of 15-16 words. I am trying to make a list of all the words he says, but I'm fairly certain that I'm forgetting some. He also is a little gymnast. Last night he kept trying to do somersaults. I was pretty impressed.

Unfortunately, he's also started with the tantrums. He's still adorable though and we love him very much. He's a smart kid, charming, and happy. I'm still loving motherhood. I love you, Derek!

Dear General Public (and especially the eccentric couple at one of my tables the other night...)

Hating something because it's popular is just as bad as liking something just because it's popular.
love,
Tara

Bumblebee and Baby

Kensington had her first dance recital on Monday. She was adorable! We were glad we were able to make it and with the traffic up to Salt Lake, we almost didn't make it. We got there at the beginning of her second dance. She was the cutest bumblebee.

We also got to meet new baby Juliette. What a cutie! She's tiny and slept most of the time that we were with her. I wish I could have held her! I still had some sinus issues and weren't sure if they were allergies or cold related, so I stayed at arm's length. Shanda made it to Kensington's recital as well, which is amazing since Juliette was born on Wednesday! What a trooper. She looked great.

I love this picture of Tyler and Juliette.

It was good to see everybody and to get out of the house. I have wanted to meet this sweet little baby all week and was so glad to finally get to see her. She's adorable. It kinda makes me want another one. I forgot how cute and tiny and sleepy fresh babies are. Then again, I also remember how tired I was.

I do want Derek to have a sibling though. Look how sweet:

Welcome Juliette and Congratulations to Kensington for a dance well danced.

Eating Out and Visiting is Fun

Katie and Dad came to visit in the last couple of weeks. We had lots of fun just hanging out with them. The first couple of days that Katie was in town, she, Choka, and I had some quality girl time with all of our husbands gone or busy. (Cory couldn't come because of work, Dan was in at a conference in California, and my Tyler is always at work.) So we did a lot of shopping and talking.

Dad came into town on a Thursday, I think. We, of course, had the "Dad Special" that night - Costco Pizza and Caesar Salad. He convinced us all to get up extra early on Friday to go to my Aunt Debbie's birthday breakfast in American Fork. It's the earliest we've been up and ready to go in a long time. It was a lot of fun! And Happy Birthday to Aunt Debbie!

Choka, Dad, Tyler and I played "Taboo" after the kids went to bed that night. Choka always teases me and Tyler about our method of "Taboo" playing. She says it's freaky that we nearly read each others' minds. Tyler and I won.

Saturday, we got up early again and had breakfast at Kneaders. I've wanted to try to the unlimited french toast breakfast forever but could never get out of bed early enough to try it. Lazy bones. Man, was it good. Good and rich and delectable. Mmmmmm....

That night, my dad and I went to a commitment ceremony for my Aunt Debbie and her beau Jeff. She looked beautiful and they both seemed very happy. They exchanged vows and rings and they had the best little chocolate cupcakes.


The last day Dad was in town, we had breakfast at Mimi's Cafe. Derek had so much fun. They gave him a little place setting with an orange, cup of cheerios, crackers, and even a bib. He loved having his own little place and feeding himself. He was being such a ham too. Tyler gave him a bite or two of butter and Derek loved it. Derek also loved having his Papa here. All the kids loved having him here. They all wanted to climb all over him. Ariunaa calls him, "my Papa." Most of the time he had to hold Derek and Ariunaa 'cause when he had one or the other, there was lots of jealousy.

It was sad to see Dad go. We loved having him here. He helps out so much. We love you, Dad. Come back soon!
Katie, too! We loved having you, too! We miss you!

Sickies

I've been sick since Wednesday night.

We have a new baby niece, little baby Nuila, who was born that day and I was so excited to go see her!! Derek and I met Choka at the mall while she was getting her nails done so we could say goodbye to her before she left for Mongolia. After we said our goodbyes, Derek and I picked out a few little things to give to the new bundle of joy, her Mom, and her Big Sister. I made sure to have them all ready to go so that when Tyler got home, we could go up to the hospital for a quick visit.

Derek and I took a nap and when I woke up, I started feeling a little off. By the time Tyler got home, I could barely move. I didn't check my temperature that night, but I'm pretty sure it was over 104. I think I was delusional. It's all a bit fuzzy but I remember being really scared. I was shaking because I was so cold but Tyler said I was burning up. I ended up alternating between sleeping on the bathroom floor and throwing up.

I woke up with a HUGE headache, partly because I was sick, partly because I was dehydrated. I was afraid to eat anything on Thursday. I don't remember a lot of Thursday. Most of the day was spent trying to entertain D-Bug without moving too much. We watched a lot of television and movies (which I usually try to avoid more than about 20-40 minutes a day) but I kinda feel like Mommy sick days are somewhat of a special situation. Derek loves the Pixar movie, Cars, right now and of course there was a lot of Yo Gabba Gabba watching.
My fever was down to 102.9 that night.

Friday morning was about the same. Every step I took made my head hurt. I finally broke down and called the doctor. Went to the doctor. They gave me medicine. I started to feel a little better and called work. "Sure I can work tomorrow. I all ready feel a little better; I'm sure I'll feel even better tomorrow." When will I learn? The initial relief felt when you start to get better is always greater than how you feel the next day, especially when you do more than you should and wear yourself out.

Saturday, I didn't get out of bed until 4pm. I got ready for work slowly. It was not fun. I went to work. It was torture. I came home and was exhausted.

So today is Sunday and I'm still not feeling well. I feel awful, actually. Needless to say, we still have not met our new niece or had the opportunity to see Shanda or Kensington, or to check on my brother and his kids while their wife/mommy is away. What a horrible time to get sick.

Another thing, if you tell people you threw up, they automatically think you're pregnant. I put on my Facebook status that I threw up and in came the e-mails, the messages, and the comments all asking if I was pregnant. In case you, reader, are wondering, no, I'm not pregnant. At least those questions were somewhat solicited by the headline of throwing up. The other day at work, one of the cooks told me I looked different and asked if I was pregnant. I asked, "what, because I gained a few pounds or because my face is broken out you think I'm pregnant?" Anytime I go to LA, my face breaks out and every time I go on vacation, I come home a few pounds heavier than when I left. It had nothing to do with pregnancy, but thanks for noticing how bad I look. Then he followed with, "no, you just have really big bags under your eyes." Well THANK YOU. A girl always loves to hear how tired and puffy she looks.

All right well I'm done with that rant. Hopefully we'll get to meet cute li'l baby Nuila soon. I don't have anything contagious, so I might be able to go sooner than I would have been able to if it was like a virus or something. I also should go play with our nieces and nephew on the other side of the family and give their daddy some relief. And I have to feel better by tomorrow at 11:30am because Derek and I start our Mommy and Me Swimming class tomorrow!!

Derek's First Trip to Disneyland!!!

Disneyland was so much fun!! Our two days there were not long enough. I can't wait to go back. Our first day was on Monday, the 17th. We met Pluto, Derek's favorite Disney character, and took some pictures. Then we went on Derek's first ride, Peter Pan's Flight! The wait was twenty or thirty minutes and Derek was just about asleep before we got on the ride.

When we got off, he kept pointing at Dumbo so we had to give that a try. Derek loved it.

Derek wasn't feeling great so we were pretty glad that he was able to sleep at the park. He took a few really nice, long naps. I was a little surprised, but delightedly so.

Most of our trip was shopping with mom and showing Derek the sights and magic of Disneyland. We didn't get to do our favorite major attractions like, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, or really any of the mountains at Disneyland. We did, however, get to ride California Screaming, Soaring Over California, It's a Small World, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Speaking of Pirates, here's the hottest pirate I've ever seen:

I love that picture. I might have to go back to Disneyland to buy that hat.

We did buy one hat, some ears, actually, for my Derek. He would only wear them if he was looking in a mirror. The lady that embroidered them for us was really sweet too. I was waiting in line to buy the ears and some woman cut in front of me with three ears to be embroidered. I was so mad. The cast member told the woman that it would take awhile and to come back in twenty minutes to pick up her ears. Then she helped me, embroidered Derek's ears, and even gave him a "1st Visit" button. She talked with us and totally turned a somewhat sour experience into one of my favorite moments in the park.


It was a good trip. We got to see Jeff and Rachel Anderson, the first night we were there. We met them for dinner at Disney's House of Blues in Downtown Disney. It was good to see them. Our waiter was a complete jerk though. We had our stroller with us and he asked us to move it. Tyler was moving it while he took our drink orders and he never came back to get Tyler a drink! He kept talking down to us like we weren't good enough to be eating at the House of Blues. What a jerk! He didn't check on us once during our meal and then had the nerve to charge us gratuity. I was so mad. He was the worst waiter I've ever had. And to charge gratuity for a table of 5? Who does that? I wanted to talk to the manager and give him an earful but Jeff was rolling his eyes and I didn't want to embarrass him. But, I'm still mad at that &%$#*@&$ of a waiter.

Anyways, enough negativity. We'll move back to positive things, like the new Vinylmation campaign. Oh my gosh, I love them. So in stores, all over the parks and in Downtown Disney, they have boxes of painted Mickeys. They are in Mickey form but not Mickey coloring. Some are all black with white swirls, some look like food items, some are painted like Disney attractions, and some are holiday inspired. They are collectible figurines, but when you buy one, you don't know which one you are buying! They're in sealed boxes and buying one is like gambling. I'm addicted to it now. It's silly but fun. I bought two regular sized Vinylmation figurines and one keychain sized. I got one that looks like a cupcake, one that looks like a hamburger, and my new li'l guy has a princess crown. Mom bought one that looks like a ladybug. So cute.

I wanted to get Derek this set of fake Disneyland food but the store was all out! So we let Derek just pick anything he wanted for his souvenir. (Of course, this was after he all ready had a few souvenirs like the Pluto dog his Grandma bought him, Mickey Ears, and a bouncy ball.) We showed him the stuffed animals and the blocks and the action figures. He found this "Kooky" pen with Pluto's face on it and would not let it go. So that's what he got. Here's a picture of Derek, Grandma, and his Pluto souvenir:

He did not let that sucker go until we got home a couple of days later. Even then, he held on to it until he found his new favorite toy, Mommy's old makeup brush. Not much of an upgrade, if you ask me.

We had dinner at the Blue Bayou the second night. It was excellent! The food was good, the service was excellent, and I was so happy that we were able to eat there. I love Disneyland.


We had a lot of fun. I can't wait to take Derek back. It was kinda sad, the day that we left town, when we got up, Derek went straight for the stroller. He was ready for another day at the Happiest Place on Earth. All good things have to come to an end, I suppose. Hopefully we'll get to go back soon!