A Long, Long Time Ago...

I took the girls to Disneyland. The week after Charlotte's baptism Stephanie and I braved Disneyland with two kids each. It wasn't too bad. We decided to try again the next week (as there was a special show of Little Einsteins for passholders). The second time was a disaster. Not because of the babies, more because we went to California Adventures (Where is Disneyland? I want to go to DISNEYLAND. Is this Disneyland? No!).

Also, no nap for two year olds makes for a tough day. Ella finally succumbed to tiredness at 5 pm. Just as the parade was starting. Luckily, it was a lame parade (and they wonder why CA Adventures isn't very popular??) but what amazed me was her ability to sleep through it. In the front row. With water squirted in her face. Why have I been careful not to wake her during nap time? A GIANT parade with bubbles and water in her face didn't wake her up from her stroller nap!!

Here are photos from the first trip, the fun one, when we went to the REAL Disneyland.

The girls danced around the maypole with Belle at a coronation. They were in heaven!


Our first trip to Disneyland where Ella chooses to stand with a character, happily following "Ya Ya's" lead. She is still talking about seeing Eeyore and Pooh.


Meeting Ariel.


Meeting Jasmine last year.


Pushing Tigger away last year.


Sitting with the honeypots this year.


Ella and the honeypots one year ago (almost exactly to the day!).


Waiting for the parade to start. Charlotte's first parade! Really, something every 8 week old should see.


A happy Ella. She was patiently waiting for her parade to begin and decided to pull all the blankets from the stroller so she could sit on the ground and "get cozy."


Once the parade started she left me on the ground and went to find one of her favorite people to cuddle with: Stephanie (Stephie, as Ella calls her).

Singing in the Backyard

Here are the two best friends singing in the backyard. No, Ella didn't choose that outfit. It is laundry day. And time for new pants. She has outgrown her clothes yet again and has very few tops and bottoms that match, as you can see. No, she did not go out in public this way! Enjoy the adorable singing.

Friends

Ella and Lillian have been friends for two years now and are so happy every time they see each other. Sometimes that ends the second they both want the same toy, but often they play together well for quite some time. lately it has been very enjoyable to sit and listen to them converse. Some of it remains intelligible to their ears only, but today I heard Ella saying "Ya Ya, you're so funny." Yes, Ya Ya. Both girls called each other that at about 14 months. By 18 months Lil began calling Ella by her name. Ella never veered off course, so Ya Ya it is for Lil's name.



This photo is of Charlotte and Maddie. One of my closest friend's in LA, Kelly, had the same due date that I did, on December 29th. Maddie decided to surprise everyone and arrived a few weeks early, on November 24th, and Charlotte stayed in until December 21st. So they are a few weeks apart but were due on the exact same day. Hopefully they will be friends for many years to come.

Ella and her kitchen

One of Ella's very favorite past times is for us to take a video, then download it to the computer so she can sit and watch it over and over again. We have a whole lot of videos we could show you. However, most of them are a bit lengthy. So here is another video, not necessarily our best one, but one that is the right amount of time for blogspot! We will work on shortening future videos. Sometimes we just get too chatty.



By the way, thanks Kait and Erik for building the kitchen that Santa brought.

Sisters

So in my effort to capture the two girls together I got a couple of OK ones (why is it when one is looking at the camera the other one invariably has her eyes closed?). These two are so wonderful together. Truly, Charlotte gazes adoringly at her big sister and turns to wherever she hears Ella's voice. Ella, in turn, responds to the tiniest sound Charlotte makes. "Charlotte, are you OK? Do you need your paci and fifi?" And she is now willing to let me abandon our play when necessary to get Charlotte. "Mommy, Charlotte is crying, she needs you!."

I feel very lucky that the two will always have one another, I know how wonderful a sister can be. Cheers to sisters!

Ella discusses witches

Ella has a fascination with all things fairy tale, and in those fairy tales there tend to be many things that can be scary. Currently witches and ghosts and the big bad wolf are sources of fascination and ,at times, terror. Here Ella discusses these a bit, though at times it may be difficult to understand exactly what is being said. Suffice to say, here is a two year old talking through some of the things that can fascinate and frighten.

Charlotte Talks!

Charlotte is such an incredibly sweet baby. She is wonderful at letting us know what she needs and so in that sense is pretty easy. She loves being held by her big sister. Last night I had a chance to capture a smiley, chatty little baby. We love our little Charlotte!

Happy Baptism, Charlotte

Once again we had a houseful of people and we loved it...the only bad part is when everyone leaves! Nana came to stay to help with Ella and Charlotte while I had surgery and she really saved the day. Ella didn't even notice mommy was gone having Nana here. Thanks, Nana!

Then Kait and Grandma came as well, and everyone was here for Charlotte's big day. Erik is the godfather and was not able to be here in person but was definitely here in spirit (and often on the webcam). Ella said he couldn't be here because her had to work and exercise. Hmmm...

Charlotte did pretty well at the baptism, but felt the ceremony got a little long. The last five minutes were not pretty!

Also, she has a splendid new habit of NOT GOING BACK TO SLEEP after night time nursing sessions. Anyone encountered this? If so help please. I mean, the upside is 3 am blog postings, the downside is Ella wakes up at 6am and I may go crazy due to lack of sleep....

Here are some photos of the big day. And thanks to everyone who came to our party, we loved having you here. The yard full of kids running around (yes, living in southern CA in March can be nice!) was such a treat to see.

Grandma and Charlotte


Charlotte and Mommy


A baby is baptised


Is this over yet, Charlotte asks, and when she realizes it is not she figures some very loud cries should end it...


Charlotte and Nana


Charlotte in the baptism dress that has been worn by TWO generations of Vicars babies



Kaitlin the Godmother and her very happy Godchild. It was a long day of photos for a little baby who just wanted to sleep!



Three generations - the third being two very tired little girls...

Another day, another batch of photos...

Happy Charlotte, she gets cuter every day!


A pensive girl - although her favorite thing is to be nakes, mommy really likes this outfit.


One of the difficulties I have encountered with 2 kids is the evening ritual. Bathing two at a time and getting them into bed without one having a major meltdown (Charlotte) is tricky, but luckily Ella is here to help me!


Sisters!


Kait and Ella