Lola's 18-month-old Stats
Height: 33 inches (2 ft. 9.07 in.) - 81st percentile
Weight: 28 lbs. 3 oz. - 95th percentile
Head Circumference: 19.4 inches - 99th percentile!
I forgot to put that Lola says, "Whoa!" whenever she tumbles or regains her balance after stumbling. It sounds just like Joey from Blossom...anyone remember that show? :)
This is how Lola kept herself (& us) entertained while waiting for the doctor:
Last July, we went to Sacramento for our anniversary! It's funny, people were like, "Ohhh, Sacramento?" when we told them. But it was because the Oakland Temple was closed for renovations and Sacramento was the next-closest one. Also, Matt had never been to our state capital, so we thought it would be a good time for him to check it out. We'd originally planned to take a tour of the capitol building, but that didn't happen. He saw the outside & we just enjoyed being kid-free thanks to my mom :)
We stayed at The Citizen Hotel downtown. It was beautiful! It used to be an old law office building, and they still had tons of law books in the foyer.
Actually did my make-up instead of slapping it on while fending off two little ones!
He's so smart, he needs a mustache.
For breakfast, we went to Tower Cafe on the recommendation of a friend. Thank you Ben! I got the Custard French Toast and it was like a dessert. Everything was HUGE and our bellies were so happy when we left.
We went to the Temple and it was perfect. Peaceful & rejuvenating.
I loved being in the Temple 6 years to the day that we were Sealed for time and all eternity!
We did some Sealings and it was awesome. I was proxy for a mother being sealed to her daughter, and I was overcome with such strong emotion! I could feel how long this mother had waited to have her precious daughter sealed to her forever.
So happy that we are each other's forever :)
Afterwards, we went to the mall to shop. I picked out some cute earrings at Nordstrom Rack & still wear them all the time. People compliment me on them and I say Matt got them for me on our anniversary ;) Technically true!
We went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner...mmm!
I look way too excited to dig into the Red Velvet Cheesecake! It is my favorite there, which is surprising since I am such a chocoholic.
I love you Matthew Miller & and am so happy to have shared the past 6 years with you! Thank you for laughing with me every day :)
How can this be?! My baby is 18 months old! I almost forgot and didn't put her in Nursery until halfway through the second hour. She was perfectly happy to go in during singing & snack time :) She kept happy on the rocking chair with no tears at all. Matt said when he went to pick her up, she whined a little fake cry, like, "Awww you leeeeeft me!"
We lovingly refer to this as her Chris Farley face.
Lola is such a crack up! Her little personality is so funny. She loves to give raspberries, kisses, and hugs. She's our little snuggle love!
This picture was taken by Ada. Lola has toothpaste on her face. I can't leave them alone for 2 minutes!
Loves the rocking chair our friends are loaning us :)
LOVES to dance!
She used to be strictly a Mama's girl, but since being weaned she sure loves her Papa a lot more :)
- Loves her stuffed animals and blankies.
- Starting to give sassy looks...dramatic eye-rolls already!
- Realizes when she's being funny and keeps doing whatever is making us laugh
- Says, "Eeeeeee" for Please
"Iiiiiiii" for Ice (frozen Gogurt)
"Day Dew" for Thank you
"Day-Duh" for Ada
"Huh" for Yes
Papa
Mama
Uh-Oh
No
Heya
Ello
"Balah-la-la" for Banana
YAY!
And many other, indistinguishable, words.
She is such a fun, sweet little girl. Sometimes she gets a crazy streak and just wants to steamroll everyone and wrestle...it's wild! She loves to watch people at first. Ada will run out and say hi to every single person while Lola hangs back and observes until she is comfortable with the situation. We are so glad that you are ours, Lola Jennie!
I have come to a realization. I am not a very good friend. Well, I guess I mean to say that I'm not good at making friends.
I used to think that I was really good at making friends! And I was, er, good at having lots of friends. I think. I guess it turns out I was just a big flirt and good at making lots of guy friends :)
Since being married, I haven't been able to make friends the way I used to. It's just so different. You have your family who wants to see you more because you are not living with them anymore. You have a spouse that is your built-in date and companion to everything. So you lose the need to call a friend unless your spouse is busy. Also, I am paranoid about the appearance of anything inappropriate with someone of the opposite sex. Probably because I was such a flirt in the past! I don't ever want to have anyone think there is anything inappropriate going on. Once you throw kids into the mix, forget about it! Unless you have a friend with a child that is around the same age, or you have a nanny, you probably won't be spending much time with them.
I am also pretty selfish. I think of my dirty house and don't invite people over. Or I don't think to invite someone to something because I am doing it with my family. I want to stay in my yoga pants and be lazy instead of pulling on a pair of jeans and looking presentable. But then I think, "Wouldn't it be awesome to have a friend who could stop by and I don't care about any of that?"
Marina & I walking West Cliff
I get so frustrated sometimes because I miss having a good friend to be around. I started a moms group for our ward, but with our kids it feels like we can't talk more than 30 seconds before having to run and save a child from falling in the pond. And it's always too short when I get together with a girlfriend and we have our kids with us. We take 2 bites of our lunch and have to tend to our kids. I always get home and realize we started a ton of stories but never finished them! Or I've come home from hanging out with a friend and realized that I did most (if not all of) the talking. Sorry ladies : /
My closest girlfriends that I talk to on a regular basis are my mom, Nana, my sister, and Tiana. Tiana and I have been best friends since we were 3 years old. We met in Sunbeams at church and bonded over shoes. We schemed up a plan to get our moms to buy us "big girl shoes" by telling each of our moms that the other girl had shoes with no straps on them, when in fact neither of us did! I've been a terrible friend to her at times. Mostly when I was in high school and boys were #1 priority. But, she stuck by my side and we still call each other (well, she calls me - see...bad friend) and have such a deep friendship because of everything we've been through and know about each other. She likes to tell my mom stories about us in the past...it's hilarious :) Every time I go home to visit, we lament the fact that we live so far away from each other.
Tiana & I in High School (pic from Natalie, thanks!)
I admire people like the aforementioned (along with Brittni) because they are such good question askers! They think of such thoughtful things to ask me and others. They really make people feel important. I think that I'm too busy trying to make everyone laugh or too concerned with myself that I need to shift and think about who I'm with more.
I was talking to my mom about being sad that I couldn't participate in a book club. She said, "It's just not the right time for you now. You will have plenty of years to be in book clubs." She's right. Wise momma :) I think the same thing applies here. Life with young children comes with so many joys, but some of the changes and sacrifices that we make as mothers leave us feeling guilty.
On a date with our hubbies
I think that this season of my life is just all-consuming. Gone are the days of leisurely lunch dates where I got to hear all of the details of my friends lives. Or double dates that could go late into the night because there wasn't a babysitter that needed to be paid and driven home waiting at home with your children. Being a mother can be very isolating. It's good, and I appreciate this time of young children. I would not trade being these girls' mommy for anything! I had a moment the other day, where the girls and I were holding hands and walking outside in the warm sunshine. My neighbor and I started talking and she said, "Do you just love watching them grow?!" I said, "Yes! It's amazing!" And I really was thinking how awesome my life is. I get to spend my days with two little people who trust me entirely and fill my heart with the biggest love I've ever felt!
Tonya shared this quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley today and it made my heart ache and my eyes fill with tears. He said, "You have nothing in this world more precious than your children. When you grow old, when your hair turns white and your body grows weary, when you are prone to sit in a rocker and meditate on the things of your life, nothing will be so important as the question of how your children have turned out...Do not trade your birthright as a mother for some bauble of passing value...The baby you hold in your arms will grow quickly as the sunrise and the sunset of the rushing days."
I guess the point of all of this was for me to get this out in the open. I needed to see the things that I do in order to correct them. I realize that I put up mental barriers that prevent me from being a better friend. Like thinking that someone works & wouldn't have time, or that someone's kids are older than mine so they wouldn't want to hang out. Even if that's the case, an invitation is always appreciated, right? Here's to being a better friend. I've been working on it, but there's always room for improvement! I hope I'm not the only one who has felt this way. Please let me know if you've found a way to remedy the bad friend syndrome!
"I wanna make a bungo couch." - referring to when we push the ottoman up against the couch and call it jumbo couch.
While listening to music in the car, she always asks what the name of the song is and who is singing it. Last night it was Taylor Swift's, "You Belong With Me." She listened to the song a minute then said, "Mommy, I just belong to you." I was fighting tears back so I could keep driving!
Handing me a paper shaped like an oval, "It's a Bolbo. Just like our car." (We have a Volvo.)
Putting laundry into the dryer and Ada's helping me. While wearing her Google hat. I say, "Put it in soup boy!" She says, "I'm not a soup boy!" - pause - "Yes, I'm a scoop boy. Cuz I got my hat. I'm a scoop boy all day long."
"Is that Heavenly Father?" - Ada while watching Lebron James speak. (Maybe she knows something we don't?!)
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Matt & I took Ada to Disneyland for the first time! It was 5 days before her 3rd birthday, so she was still free. Yeah! We dropped Lola off with Nonnie in Santa Maria and continued down the road in terrible traffic to Long Beach, where we stayed the night with Matt's college buddy Steve. He treated us to dinner & his mom runs a regular B&B! She had little water bottles & snacks out for us, then made us crepes for breakfast, and made sure that we had snacks in our bag to get us through our day. Thank you so much Williams! We love you guys!!
So it turns out that their neighborhood is where Ferris Bueller's house is! I freaked out a little bit and had to have my picture taken in front of it in true geek fashion :)
Ada was so excited! She had played the Disneyland Explorer app on Matt's iPad so she was excited to see everything in real life! It's free & fun, great marketing Disney ;)
She thought the tram was a blast...we were joking that we could go home after that!
We brought the stroller for her and told her that was the only way she could go on rides, if she rode there in the stroller. She really wanted to walk but we knew she would get way too tired and might get lost in the crowd. We are so glad we brought it!
I definitely recommend getting there early. We were at the park by 8:30 AM and it wasn't even crowded. We were able to go to City Hall and tell them it was Ada's first time. They gave her that cute button and she wore it with pride! Along with the two pins Steve gave her :) She was one accessorized little Cinderella! We saw Chip first and got a picture with him. Ada immediately had to wrap her little arm around him like they were old pals. She says he was very soft :)
Our only plan was to stay calm and relaxed so that we didn't have an overwhelmed, crying child on our hands. We just walked leisurely around and let Ada decided what looked like fun, instead of pointing at every single thing and trying to get her on every ride.
The first ride we went on were the Astro Orbitors in Tomorrowland! Don't watch the video if you get motion sickness, I'm talkin' to you Aunt Lizzie!
Then we made our way over to the Teacups because word is that Fantasyland gets really busy the later it gets. I used the app Mousewait on my phone and it told us which rides had the shortest wait. The only bummer was that it sucked my battery dry.
This picture is right after Matt accidentally bonked Ada in the head with the camera :( She took off running and he reached out to grab her and forgot the heavy camera was around his neck.
She was not happy about it!
Poor girl!
Once we got into a giant purple teacup, she was magically healed!
Then to try and pull out the Sword in the Stone:
She gave it her all!
Look at the tongue action!
She ultimately concluded that she needed Papa's help and that it was just for big kids to pull out.
Ada's #1 favorite ride:
It's A Small World!
Look at the wonder in her eyes!
She was singing along with the Christmas carols and waving to all of the dolls:
I must say that the Christmas version is much more enjoyable than the original. This was the first time I'd ridden it since I was a little girl...I think my parents took us on it once and that was it! While in line we saw Meridia from Brave and Ada got to wave to her. We also passed Cinderella and she waved but Ada was disappointed that she was in such a hurry. We told her Cinderella needed to go potty :)
...
Enter Frontierland around noon! We laid the stroller flat and put the shade down so that Ada could take a nap if she wanted. She ended up just laying back because Billy Hill & the Hillbillies put on a fun show she couldn't sleep through! It was perfect for her to decompress and relax as we hung out. Frontierland is incredible at Christmastime. They had a huge area for kids to play reindeer games, make Christmas cards, do crafts, meet Santa & Mrs. Claus, and listen to the show. This is where I found these little nuggets of fried goodness:
MONTE CRISTO BITES! I was so happy. The best Disneyland lunch in bite-size form!
...
Now over to California Adventure. The only ride I cared about going on was Tower of Terror, my all-time favorite! Ada & I waited for Papa to go on the ride and had a snack. The child swap is incredible. The second Matt got off a ride, I was given a pass and went to the front of the line. Genius!
While we were waiting for Papa to get off the Cars ride...
suddenly a dance party began in the middle of Cars Land, and the cast members were trying to get kids to come out and dance with them. A ton of older children around us said no, and when she got to Ada, she just ran out and danced her little heart out with no hesitation!
So happy (note the glass slippers have been traded out for comfy shoes)!
Then, Lightning McQueen cruised right in front of us! He was talking and thanking everyone for being there. Ada was big on waving to everyone :)
Getting into the evening (notice the little bags under her eyes), we asked Ada if she was still having fun. Her response:
She made friends all over, in every line we waited in. This was for Mater's Tractor Ride and we all laughed SO hard on it! We were heavy with the 3 of us so it whipped us around really fast! Ada giggled the entire time.
Her second favorite ride was Ariel's Grotto in CA Adventure. After riding it, she said, "The Sea Witch was SO mad! She was like, grrrrrr!" And made the expression below:
Last ride of the night for Ada girl...King Triton's Carosel on the Boardwalk.
After all of that, I was ready to head home. Matt insisted that we stay for the World of Color show so we did & it was brilliant! Like the waters of Bellagio in Vegas x 1,000,000.
All day long, I went on any ride that spins with Ada. Matt says he can't handle them, so I did them all. After World of Color, he says, "Babe! The line is so short for California Screamin'! You have to go on it!" I said no, I was ready to go home, but he talked me into it. I do love that roller coaster...normally. After splitting a churro with Ada and being so tired, I wasn't really feeling it. But I went against my better judgement. It was awesome until I got off the ride. I said we are going home now! I had the worst headache and decided that I just needed sleep. We get to the car and Ada falls asleep immediately. As we're pulling out of the parking structure, I tell Matt he has to pull over NOW. He pulls straight into the AMPM and I run inside looking for the bathroom. No bathroom to be found! I ran into a room that turned out to be a closet and threw up on the floor :( I hear a teenage valley girl's voice behind me say, "Uhhh ma'am, what are you doing?" I turn around, mortified, and say, "I'm so sorry I couldn't find the bathroom in time...do you have any napkins?" She rolls her eyes at me, no doubt thinking that she's the one who has to clean it up later! She brought me some towels and I cleaned myself up and RAN to the car. We continued to an Albertson's where Matt went inside to buy me Saltines and 7UP. I threw up again in the parking lot and a random lady is sitting in her car and asked if I was okay. It was just easier to tell her I was pregnant instead of, "Oh, I just ate a churro and went on a roller coaster and don't have the stomach I used to since having children." She was very sympathetic with the pregnancy claim ;)
So: aside from the last events of the day, Disneyland was a raging success! Ada loved everything and still talks about it.
My Packing List for Disneyland:
- baby wipes
- Purell
- change of clothes (she was not about to take her princess dress off, but you never know)
- comfy shoes
- extra panties (she's been potty trained for a year, but excitement can get the best of any kid)
- sweatshirts/cardigans for everyone
- blanket to hang over stroller during nap time & to keep warm at night
- water bottles
- snacks for waiting in line (clementines, grapes, fruit snacks, crackers, Steve's cookies!)
- Advil, Excedrin, etc. for mom & dad :)
It was so much fun sharing the magic of Disneyland with my daughter! I can't wait until Lola is old enough to appreciate it too, I think we'll go again right before Lola's 3rd birthday.
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