Disneyland

I figured I should write a post about our little mini vacation to Disneyland earlier this week. Dan took Monday off and while we were planning on going to Disneyland on Monday, we woke up Sunday morning and decided to be spontaneous and get a hotel for that night so we could go down there that day too!

We left late Sunday afternoon and had a great time going on a few rides. We had dinner at The Golden Horseshoe. I think I've only eaten there once before and it was neat! I took Bella on the Gadget Go Coaster in Toon Town, she loves it! She is too short to go on any of the big rides but she really wants to! We measure her every time! Haha. She's got about two inches to go! The height limits didn't used to be so high. A few years ago they remolded a lot of the rides and update the high limit. Bummer!

We stayed at a Holiday Inn about a mile away. While it was further away, it was a nice Hotel, not some cheap Motel like all the others.We got back to the hotel pretty late, and the girls slept good, but woke up at the crack of dawn. -_-
I heard Bella jump out of bed and say "Olivia, wake up! It's morning time! We need to go to Disneyland!"

The park didn't open till 10AM that day, which was a bummer because we wanted to have breakfast there. But we settled for Denny's nearby...

            Here's the girls at Denny's after breakfast, very ready to go to Disneyland!
The EXCITEMENT! Haha

   

The double stroller

                                                                      

We got there shortly after opening and it was already pretty busy, but not terrible. We went on the Haunted Mansion Holiday and Pirates and some other rides.

We went over to CA Adventure to go on The Little Mermaid ride, one of Bella's favorites.
We usually don't spend much time in CA Adventure at all. We decided to try lunch there for once. We ate at the food court on the Fisherman's Wharf. The Mexican place has some vegan options just like the Mexican restaurant next to Big Thunder in Disneyland. Dan got that, but I decided to try the Rice Bowls at the Chinese place. They give you a big take out box of rice, veggies and sauce, they even had tofu as a meat option! It was really good! It's rare I find a healthy, filling meal at Disneyland. As a vegan, I usually end up eating French Fries or Pasta almost everywhere.

Anyway, after a while we went back to Disneyland and Bella got to meet her favorite princess, Ariel!

    
This ride is so beautiful. I love the sound of it, listening to the echos of the bobsleds going in and out of the mountain. I haven't been on this ride in probably 6 years between  pregnancies and it being closed down for updates. Unfortunately, it was having a lot of issues as always, and after I waited in the single rider line for a few minutes, they shut it down!! I guess it will be a while before we get on this ride again!

        Isabella and I on It's a Small World. This is one of her favorite rides
We went on it 3 times! She sings the entire time.

 

           The carousel! I think this was Bella and Olivia's first time.

       We don't usually go on the little things like this.

We had dinner that night at Cafe Orleans. This is a sit down restaurant that usually requires reservations, but it wasn't too busy so we walked right in! Dan loves the Monte Cristo Sandwich here. I would love to eat at the Blue Bayou, it's been years! But we never get reservations ahead of time. I'm not too found of the menu and it's crazy expensive. But I'm hoping we can do a big family trip this Christmas and have dinner there.

              Jungle Cruise was our last ride. It was hot and humid....feeling a little bit like DisneyWorld!

 We stayed late to watch the Parade since the girls have never seen a parade or show or anything like that. They LOVED it! We had a really good spot and it was so fun. Reminded me of all the parades I watched there as a kid.

We took the monorail back to Downtown Disney and walked to the parking garage. It was a loooong two days! Especially with Bella trying to dictate the itinerary. She is in that fabulous three year old phase of

"I want a pretzel! I want to go on that ride! Let's go here!" So it was frustrating always having to say no to her and explain why we were doing what we were doing. It was so much fun though. We have annual passes but usually only spend a few hours there. There was our first full day/multi day trip in a long time. I think we'll be going again in a few weeks :) I look forward to going with other family members too.

---Natalie

Autumn

   Hello again, it's now the middle of September! I wish I could say ..I'm sitting here writing this blog while I sip hot cocoa and watch the rain fall outside my window... But in reality, it is sunny and 103 degrees outside! While the weather is not cooperating, I still have Fall decor and Pumpkins up around the house and our front doorstep. ;) I can't wait for real Autumn weather! Although we never experience true "seasons" here in Southern CA. Sometimes I wish I lived somewhere where it's cold and rainy in the Autumn months and there's red and yellow leaves blowing in the wind. Any cooler would be nice though.

It was a very busy, fun summer. We didn't really take any vacations, just a couple one night things.
As this new season starts, I find myself looking back. It's now been over six months since we moved into our new house and it has been such a blessing! Our lives are so different here and I'm so grateful for that. I am especially thankful for the changes within us, all growing closer to the Lord and closer together. I know this is very vague, but it's difficult to explain and probably unnecessary. Anyone that's been on a long walk with the Lord will understand. There's been many changes to the way we think, act, and dress. Old habits dying and new things becoming our focus. With summer over, and a new season starting, I also sense many other changes and it's very exciting!
    We're becoming pretty busy now. I enjoy spending my days gardening, baking, doing Homeschool Preschool with the girls, going to bible study, or the Library story time, or our church community group.
Dan has been working a lot, and it is difficult, but he's finally decided to take a break from side jobs at home. It's a good thing, considering he's been very busy with cars at home and he injured his wrist months ago and has been undergoing physical therapy for it and is supposed to be resting it. I pray it will heal properly. He should be going back to regular duty at work again soon. I know he is looking forward to this.

Other than that, there's nothing huge happening around here. We are re-landscaping the front yard right now. I'm very excited to work on it and finally have it looking nice! We tore out the dying lawn and are replacing it with beautiful drought tolerant ornamental grasses and plants. I'm also looking forward to the Holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, all the birthdays. It will be the first time we've had a house during the Holidays! We'd like to host a Holiday this year but I'm not sure which one.

Hopefully next time I write a blog it will be cold and cozy like it's supposed to be ;)

Mid Summer Update

This month went by very quickly!

   A month ago today, my grandmother passed away. :( It was not entirely unexpected, but the family still grieves. But she is pain free now. Oh how glorious it must be to be in Lord's presence! I have many memories of my grandmother. She was often around or living with us when I was young. She watched and cared for myself and my sister and cousins. She was a very intelligent, caring, strong individual. She was also a talented artist. And she taught me how to be a neat freak! I will miss her dearly.
The first half of this month was a little difficult. I had a root canal, Olivia got terribly sick one night and it was also a time of mourning, planning the funeral.  So we stayed home on the 4th of July, and just went to my parent's house for dinner. We celebrated Grandma's life with a memorial service and a reception afterwards. It was so wonderful to see extended family that I don't see often. It's sad when it takes something like a death to bring people together. But it's difficult when many live so far away.

The latter half of this month has been quite fun! We had a BBQ on the Beach one Sunday with some of Dan's family members.We cooked great food, made S'mores and danced on the beach to Rend Collective :)



And then the girls and I took a trip with my sister and mother and all the kids to a Resort Hotel. It was so fun! The kids swam in the pool all day. Isabella is finally getting the hang of swimming and actually enjoys it now!

Later that week, my husband took some time off so we could have a "Staycation." We went to the beach on the first day. Then we spent the weekend at the annual family reunion for my dad's side of the family at a fancy hotel. It is so nice to see everyone and watch all the kids play together. The next day we came home and went out to dinner at a neat new restaurant. The last day we mostly just stayed home, getting things done and relaxing. This Staycation thing was actually a good idea!


Today we finished off the month and the girls and I went to the County Fair with my mom and my niece. They loved riding all the little rides and seeing the animals!

View from the Ferris Wheel

Summer is not over yet! I look forward to next month :)

Recap and Anniversary Vacation

My goodness! I can't seem to keep this thing updated!

Since my last post, Olivia turned 1 year old in April! We went to the local farm and picked berries, and had cake at home :)
Then we celebrated Easter with family and had a huge brunch at our house. We went to Disneyland a few times and the girls had such a great time. We had many other fun weekends, including our first Dodgers game this season.
  Last weekend we celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary! I can't believe we've been married five years!





Dan and I went away for the weekend, just one night, and the girls stayed with my sister. It was our first time doing that and it went well!


We stayed at an adorable Victorian Bed & Breakfast with themed suites, we had the Pirate Suite! It was beautiful and so fun!

  We stopped in the little Danish Village of Solvang for lunch and walked around a bit. Then continued on to our hotel and later ate dinner at a local saloon and then went to a Beer Tasting lounge (I don't drink beer, but Dan likes it) We finished the night at an Indian Casino and found we are not very good at Gambling and didn't enjoy it much hahaha.
   It was a lovely weekend and it makes me want to plan a short trip like that with the kids.

New Home

Wooh! I apologize it's been a while but it's been a crazy few months! But now it's over! After many hurdles, we FINALLY sold our Condo and bought our new house! Praise God it feels so amazing!
 But February was a rough month. Dan was working so much overtime. On top of all that was going on, we got sick again! I don't know why, but we basically endured three months where our family couldn't go more than 8 days without getting sick! I've never seen so much puking in my life! Haha. But seriously, it was challenging. It would go away and then come back! And when it wasn't the stomach flu, it was a cold or sinus infection. Dan even ended up in the Hospital, That was a rough night indeed. Thank God he is okay. But then the children got it! Nothing is worse than seeing your tiny baby throwing up constantly. I felt so helpless. Praise God for friends and family that continued to pray for us. I am so grateful. And I'm so sorry to everyone else that had or has this stomach flu.We are praying for you!

Right after we recovered from that, we moved in our new house in early March! It was a much needed fresh start! But the first few weeks were much more difficult than we expected. Dan worked overtime 6 days a week, and All I can say is, my husband is amazing! Whenever he was home he did countless home repairs, installed doors, built a fence, fixed cars. I am so blessed to have a very handy strong Godly Man! We painted, had carpet installed, did some landscaping. It's a lot of work but so worth it. The house looks beautiful and we're very happy here. Even though there is still a lot to do, at least the major things are done.

We had a our first gathering here, a small going away party for my mother in law and it was so nice.

  Here's a picture from our little party, enjoying the new yard and fire pit.

 
Now that things have settled down a bit, we are really enjoying life here. It is so peaceful. Life is never perfect, but for the most part we've been healthy and happy here. Sometimes I wonder if there was something in our old house keeping us/making us sick. I know that is crazy but it doesn't make sense we would get sick so often. That was our first real "home" and it was definitely a blessing. But there's a lot of memories and things there I am so glad to leave behind!

Spring is in full force now and I am so excited for the hot weather. Easter is a couple weeks away and I can barely contain my excitement about it! God's greatest gift to us! We're having a huge brunch here Easter morning. I am equally thrilled and terrified about this.
The dogs and children love playing outside. Our backyard has fig trees and grapes! I'm gonna start a vegetable garden very soon. I hope I'm successful! Haha ;)

And through it all our family has grown so much closer to God in the past few months. I am so grateful for this. God's presence fills this home and it is a beautiful thing. I can't describe it. And we're so grateful for our Church. We're slowly making more friends there. And of course, our family <3

So happy for new beginnings. :)

It's Raining! Changes ahead..

Yes, It's actually raining here!
Where we live, it's pretty exciting! There's been a major drought here and all Winter long it's been sunny and 80 degrees! I really enjoy the warm weather, that's why I live here. I usually hate rain. But rain is good for the earth and the soil. And it has deeper meaning.

Raindrops on my favourite Birds of Paradise Flower outside my window <3

I remember a Beth Moore lesson about rain, and how she related rain to the times in our life when God is very present; pouring out blessings, or very obviously speaking to or guiding us and life is wonderful! She compares those "rainy" times to the "droughts" in our lives when we feel lost, when God feels distant, when nothing is going our way. I'd like to point out that God is never actually distant, he's always present. It's really just that we can't see him for some reason. This could be a number of reasons, and it's usually our own fault.
Beth Moore was comparing this "rain vs drought" idea to the stories in the Old Testament, where they would have a terrible drought for months and months and they would pray for God to bring rain. These farmers needed rain for their crops to grow, for life to continue, and sometimes God just wasn't allowing it to rain. Other times, it's pouring rain and the crops are bountiful!  I've been in both situations, I'm sure all of us have.

Well, as difficult as everyday life can be, it's still most certainly raining in my life right now! Praise God! Both spiritually and physically haha, hence the rain outside my window.

MOVING
We are definitely moving! In less than two weeks!! I didn't think it would happen, because this escrow has been a crazy roller coaster with many hurdles and issues and somehow God worked miracles along each step of the way. We are so grateful for this. I'm so glad we followed our heart and where God seemed to be leading us. It's crazy! I really need to start packing, but I just don't want to live out of boxes for the next two weeks. But I'm so excited I don't know what to do!

SLEEP AND HEALTH
Yes, sleep is very important to us around here. But it's rare! Dan's been working overtime and six days a week. He got the stomach flu on Sunday and it was his only day off! :( It was terrible. I just don't understand why we all keep getting sick!
Dan wakes up for work at 3AM and I rarely get sleep because of Olivia. My last blog post was about how she was sleeping so much better. I shouldn't have jinxed it! It got progressively worse! Thankfully, we've gotten her to sleep a little bit better these past two nights. But now Isabella, my three year old keeps waking at 4AM thinking it's time to get up!! Hopefully things get better. We are always praying for sleep.

GETTING OUT OF THE HOUSE
 I've also been trying to get out of the house each day to do something. The girls and I just go crazy sitting here all day. I get depressed and anxious sometimes because I don't really have friends and never get out on my own.  Dan has work, his Men's Bible study, and men's group, so he gets time to himself and time to socialize. I'm just always at home with the children. If I'm ever out on my own, it's to grocery shop for about an hour. It's pretty pathetic haha. I never thought I'd be that mother that says she feels trapped...but I do. I never sleep, we rarely get out of the house to do something really fun as a family, and I never get out on my own. Someone please tell me, does it gets better as the children grow older?
I have joined some playdate groups with fellow Christian mothers, but the meetings rarely happen and it never seems to work out for some reason. I have been trying for years to get into some kind of community or women's group and never really been successful. Usually because we don't have a babysitter or can't find any groups with young parents like ourselves.
I don't know why it's so hard for me to make friends, I haven't had a real group of friends since High School. (Is that sad??) I've been in my own little world for like 7 years. Our Church is always encouraging people to get into groups and make friends, saying life is much better with fellowship. I bet it is. It makes me sad. 
But I am continuing to pray that God will provide somewhere for me to go.

Anyway, I'll try to update again before we move.
:)

As the fog clears

Hello again!

The title might sound a little silly ;) But it sort of describes my life lately.
As I've mentioned previously, we've been doing great these past few months. But we've also had some serious struggles. We've been exhausted, busy, and fighting multiple colds and the flu, amongst the normal stresses of daily life. Most of this stems from the baby and I not sleeping at night. We tried for months and months anything and everything to get her to sleep better. And then I could not sleep either! My insomnia from my teenage years returned! It was so terrible, I became so unhealthy I got the stomach flu twice in one month and lost 10 lbs! I was mentally and physically unwell, and our entire lives were severely affected. If you are a mother of a baby that doesn't sleep at night, you know this feeling. It's often described as "living in a fog." I was tired of living in this fog, and I prayed for it to clear.
I prayed every day the Lord would give me strength, and he did. I prayed the Lord would provide for us, and he did. I prayed someday things would start to change for us, and of course, he did this too. :)

About a week ago my family, who has always been extremely helpful, decided to step in and help. My sister watched the children overnight so me and my husband could go out and have dinner and sleep somewhere else so I could get some rest. She stayed at our house with her kids and our kids and they all had SO much fun having a little sleepover! I am so blessed my children have cousins! With the help of my sister and a few nights of trying different things, we were able to get the baby on a better schedule and she is finally accepting bottles and sleeping through the night! Praise God!! This is huge! She only wakes once a night now, but that's pretty normal for her age, and okay for me, considering I was up 10 times a night before.

Anyway, things are so much better now! The baby and I are well rested and I have the energy to keep the girls busy busy during the day! We've been going on playdates, Church groups, errands, going to the Library for story time, and so much more. While even in my "fog" I never stopped cleaning the house (hahaha) I now have much more energy and time to really keep everything organized and clean, and this is great. I feel like we have a brand new start to this year. I feel like so many wonderful things are on the horizon now. God is clearing the Fog and God is good.

MOVING
We're hoping to close escrow on our new house in about a month so we've started to sell, donate and organize stuff here as we prepare to move. I cannot wait to move into our new home! Escrow has been complicated and stressful as usual ;) But as of right now it's still moving along, despite many hurdles! God is good! I often find myself dreaming about all the things I will do with the backyard at that place. I love being outdoors. The weather here has been fabulous this Winter, with Sunny warm, spring like days. I would love to plant a garden in that backyard and sit outside while the girls play. They so need an outdoor space to play in. I pray everything continues to move forward and we do get call that place our home someday soon.

ISABELLA TURNS 3
Anyway, I have many things to do as I prepare for Isabella's birthday tomorrow! She is turning 3 years old, I can't believe it! My little girl is growing up! We are taking her out with her cousin tomorrow and then having a small "party" here on Saturday. It's not much, but she is so excited. This is the first year she really understands what's going on. :)

I hope to talk to you all again soon
<3