Double Date

Last night we went to Benihana's with Lanie and Todd.  It was fun to get out for a bit and grab a bite to eat.  I love that place, the food is so good!  The only problem is that I usually eat my what's on my plate while waiting for the rest of it to be cooked. 

It's funny because that is probably the only time I have gone there and left sober!  We used to go every year for the August birthdays and the saki shots would be flowing all night long.  But alas, this was a Thursday night so we decided to behave ourselves.

I love spending time with Rob and having Lanie and Todd along too was that much more fun. Finding another couple that you totally get along with is the best.  Especially when it's your best friend and her man has stuff in common with your man.  I love that!  I can't wait to plan some more fun evenings for the four us to share.

Time Out

Sometimes, I just need a break.  Sometimes, it can get all a bit too much.  I love Dom with all my heart, but when he is testing his boundaries with me, pushing my buttons and doing the exact opposite of what I ask him to do...I just need a moment.

This was one of those days.  And with Rob going to Phoenix tomorrow, I knew that if I didn't get a much needed mental time out, it was going to be a rough couple of days ahead of us.  Rob could see my stress and suggested that maybe I go get my nails done.  Did I just get a free pass to leave the house for a couple of house? 

I text Lanie to see what she was up to.  Within the hour, we were meeting at Metro Point and standing in line to go see "The Vow."  Now that's a good friend.  One who drops everything to go watch some sappy chick flick with you.  Thank goodness for my BFF.

The movie was cute, but oh so unrealistic.  Lanie and I sat in our seats as the credits rolled like two jaded divorcee's.  No man talks to a woman like he did in this movie. No man goes to the ends of the earth for his woman like this guy did.  All the romantic and mushy things happening gives young girls unrealistic expectations of what a relationship will be like.  And then they will be disappointed when it doesn't happen.

Ouch, I DO sound jaded huh?  Or maybe I'm just being realistic?

Regardless, it was a prefect way to get my mind off how stressful it can be to raise a two year old.  By the time I got home, I felt refreshed and happy and ready to be challanged by Dom again.

All about me

I first filled this out back in 2008. It would be fun to look back and see how my answers have changed.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes, my beautiful Grandmother

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Hmm...non personally it was on Sunday when Rob and I were watching undercover boss. Personally, it was last Saturday when I realized that Rob and Dom's videos weren't in Mum's birthday slideshow

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Not really, it's totally all over the place

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Not a huge fan but if I had to pick one, turkey

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? YES! I have a wonderful and amazing 2 1/2 year old boy

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yep, I'm pretty awesome

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM? Um, yea...it's my favorite form of humor. Although, now that I think about it, I don't use it nearly as much as I used to. Yikes, does that mean I'm old?

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? yep

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Maybe back in the day, but now that I'm a Mom, no

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Captn crunch or honey bunches of oats with the strawberries

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Usually not

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Ooooh, so many! Butter pecan, peanut butter cup, cookies and cream, mint chip...I could keep going

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? superficial I know, but probably what they are wearing

15. RED OR PINK? Red

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My stupid muffin top that just won't go away, even though I'm working my ass off to make it go buh bye

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My Grandparents for sure. Others I miss ...Maureen's friendship, having a big group of girls that we my group, the closeness and emotional goodness that Rob and I shared at the beginning of our relationship

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue jeans (shocker) and salmon colored converse

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The radio, 104.3-Lady Gaga

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Bright green

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Rob's deodorant (honest!) jasmine and gardenias, food cooking in the crock pot

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Mama

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? LA Lakers basketball and Arizona Cardinals Football

27. HAIR COLOR? Brown with a few blonde chunks and a lot of gray's in the front eek!

28. EYE COLOR? Brown but usually blue

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? yes

30. FAVORITE FOOD? Way too hard. How about food types? Mexican, Italian, American.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy Endings

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? At the movies it was "the vow" with Lanie and at home it was "tower hesit" with Rob

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? black

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer!

35. HUGS OR KISSES? Both please

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Ice cream:) or Frozen Yogurt

37. IF YOU COULD MAKE A WISH: so many. I guess to be truly happy. And to never have to struggle with my weight again. And for everyone's health. And to have no money worries. And to be a bit taller. And smaller boobs.

38. WHAT (in general) IRRITATES YOU? Stupid people, stubborn people, lazy people, non-emotional people

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? No book at the moment, but I'm reading some magazines: cooking light, real simple and parents

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Mapcargo logo

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? Interior Therapy, Jersey Shore and The Voice

42. FAVORITE SOUND(S)? Dom, live music, sophie snoring, Rob laughing

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? The Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? London

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Not really, but I always wanted one. I guess some people would say writing.

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? London baby

47. WHAT WAS THE LAST NICE THING YOU DID FOR SOMEONE? Bought Lanie dinner last night, but we alternate every week so I'm not sure that counts. Ooh, I brought frozen yogurt home for Rob

48. WHERE DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER? In another lifetime

Birthday Mama Surpise!

Last night, we surprised my Mum for her 60th birthday.  We arranged a dinner for about 25 people at Roma Cucina and when she showed up, she was totally shocked.  It was awesome to make her feel so loved by so many people, and I hope she could feel the love that we all have for her.

I'm so thankful that everyone got the restaurant on time and when we all yelled "surprise!" she was definitely shocked!  Ahhhh, I love a good surprise! surprise

 After dinner was the real surprise.  We all went back to Stellagio and presented her with a slide show of her life.  Dimitri, Alexia, Marcus and I all worked our butts off to put this thing together.  We got photos out of storage, had family in London scan their photos and email them to us, we even had everyone do videos wishing my Mum a happy birthday.  Lexi and I were SO nervous before it began, we hoped that Mum would love it as much we thought she would.

It started with her as a little baby and followed her through out her teenage years, getting married, having four kids and turning 60.  She cried through the whole thing, and so did my Dad.  It was so sweet to watch them as they were glued to the screen.  It was like they relived their lives together through the photos and music and reminded them how precious their love is.  The night was a huge success!

After we left the party, my posse and I headed to "The Harp" for a couple of drinks to end the night.  I love my crew.  They are so funny and I always have such an awesome time hanging out with them.  The laughter never stops and there are always a few good photos to come out of it.

Losing 20

November 20th, 2011 is the day I went back to Weight Watchers. Since that day, I completely changed my eating habits, I’ve been working out 2-4 times a week and really giving it 100%. My first goal was 10lbs and I hit that. My next goal was 20lbs, and that was a little tougher to reach. But with persistence and commitment, I finally did it! Yesterday at my weigh in, I reached exactly 20lbs lost. Wooo hooo!

It felt so good to get to my goal! My next one is 26lbs. I know that seems like a weird number, but it’s the amount of weight that I had gained when I realized I had to do something to change it all around. I’ll be so happy if I can get there. The more weight I lose, the harder it is. And I’m losing my personal trainer in a few weeks, so I’m kind of panicking about that. Around the 20lb mark is when things start slowing down for me. My metabolism has gotten used to eating better, and I have to work extra hard. What usually starts to happen is I get frustrated, or burnt out. But I have to stay focused on what I’m doing and keep going. I can’t go back to where I was, I was miserable. I feel so much happier and healthy now; I just have to keep going!

Open House

Dom had his first open house yesterday. It was so cute to see him show us around his classroom, show us the books he likes to read the most and all the different projects he has been working on. He really loves his school so much, and that’s such a relief.

Rob and I are really happy with how it’s going, and know that it’s worth the extra money to give him a good, strong foundation for his education. He’s loving the school, the kids and the teachers. On Tuesday’s he also participated in gymnastics and Friday’s he has soccer. They come to his school for about 45 minutes and teach the basics. He really loves the extra –curricular activities and even though it’s another expense every month, we feel it’s worth it. What kid doesn’t love jumping around and kicking a soccer ball? But it’s also teaching him control, patience and coordination. Double bonus! I asked him what his soccer teachers name is and he told me “Coach!” I’m dying. Seriously.

Happy Birthday Mama Fudgie!

Today is my beautiful Mama’s 60th birthday!

She’s the most amazing Mom in the whole entire world and I’m so lucky to call her mine. She is completely selfless and so loving and generous. She does everything for everyone and never asks for anything in return. She works tirelessly to make sure her home is beautiful, Dad is happy and everyone has whatever they need. She hilarious, crazy, smart and my true life hero.

I love you so much Mama, Happy Birthday!

Potty Training Blues

Is Dominic going to 17 and still wearing diapers? It doesn’t seem like there is any hope that he’ll be without them. At school he doesn’t pretty good and usually goes in the potty. But at home, he gets lazy. Will there ever be a day when I do not have to buy three kinds of diapers for this kid? Regular ones, pull ups and night time ones. That boy can soak a diaper like nobody’s business. I mean, sometimes it’s so wet in the morning, it has started to disintegrate. It’s crazy! I’m hoping that he’ll get to a point soon where he uses the toilet full time, because I sure could use those extra dollars I’m spending on diapers!

Oh Happy Weekend

This past weekend was a special one for a few different reasons. Reason number 1 is Eric came out to see us. Dom hadn’t seen him since he was 5 months old, so he was super excited. When I picked him up from the airport, Dom handed him a sign that he had made saying “My Big Brother is #1!” It’s crazy to me that Eric is going to be 21 this year. How did that happen? He was five about 10 seconds ago. But no, he’s a grown man now. And Dom became instantly obsessed with him. He wouldn’t leave his side and told everyone that would listen “Eric is my Brother!” We had an awesome time together and I really hope he comes back out again soon. I loved having him with us and Dom truly fell in love with his big brother. Most of all, Rob was so happy to have both his boys together.

Reason number 2 that this was a special weekend is because we took Dom to Knotts Berry Farm for the first time ever. It was so fun to experience it with him and have Eric along for the ride too. We completely loved all the rides, especially the fast ones. Rob got us season passes (how good to us is he?) so we figured a couple of hours for the first time would be good. We arrived about 3pm and stayed until 6:30pm. Eric and I even got to jump onto “Montezuma’s Revenge” for a quick ride. Oh. My. Gosh. I forgot how terrifying that thing really is. I was screaming the whole time and Eric was so freaked out he was doing that uncontrollable laugh one does when something isn’t funny, but you’re about to shit your pants because your so freaked out. It was awesome. As soon as the ride ended, we wanted to go again!

The final reason that the weekend was so special is……I got a new car! Ahhhh! It’s a 2007 Ford Edge SEL Plus and it’s gorgeous! The color is a carbon metallic dark grey which looks pretty much black, but even better. The inside is cream leather and I can hardly believe it’s mine. Rob is planning on giving his Civic to Eric and was going to get a truck or something similar for himself. Then he mentioned to me about upgrading my car, since it’s the one we use for family outings, and he’d take my jeep. I really liked that idea because I love my Jeep and was sad thinking about it being gone.

We looked online at some different cars, and this particular Ford Edge stood out. Mommy liked. But because the dealership was located about two hours away, we just couldn’t get it to work out. On Friday night, Rob told me that he’ll just go back to his original plan of getting himself a truck since he’s in a time crunch. I was fine with that, because as I said before, I really love my jeep.

On Saturday morning, Rob asked me if I could pick up Eric from the airport and keep him occupied for about 3 hours until he got back. Huh? What? I asked why wasn’t he coming too and he said he had something important to do, something about helping Josh. At first I was kind of irritated but then I realized that if he is giving up precious time with Eric, then it must be important.

The afternoon went by and eventually Rob got home about 12:45pm to grab Eric. He had booked at 1:00pm tee time for them so it was literally a “hi babe, bye babe” type of thing. Off they went and the afternoon continued on. At 5:30pm, Rob text me that they were on their way to pick up Dom and I to go to dinner. They got home about 6:15pm and even thought it was later than anticipated, we figured that we’d still go out, even if it was going to mess up Dom’s bedtime. Eric was here and that doesn’t happen very often.

We all started walking towards the garage and just as I was about to, Rob said to me “don’t forget your keys” and hands me a new set of keys. A set I have never seen before. Definitely not my Jeep keys. I looked outside, and there was my beautiful Ford Edge, sitting in our driveway. AHHHhH!!! He had Josh drive him to the dealership this morning so he could get it for me. How amazing is that? Rob isn’t big on surprised, but man oh man, he really hit it out of the park this time. I love my car so much, and the bonus is that he now drives the Jeep, so it stayed in the family. Dom loves our new ride and calls it “the party car!”

It was a weekend full of family time, surprises and new adventures and it was pretty much perfect in every way.

Tamale Time

I love traditions. They are what brings family and friends together and makes an ordinary experience extraordinary. Lanie and I set out on a mission a while back to start some new traditions of our own. Ones that we would continue through of life and always remember how fun it was. One of the first was Tamale Making. This is tradition that actually started with Lanie’s family. She would make tamales every year with her grandparents and she passed it onto us. The first time we did it was when Dom was only about 6 months old. We were living on Pomona in the jungle house, and Lanie showed us all the tricks of the trade to making them from scratch, including the masa. This year we did it at Lanie’s house, which was pretty special since that used to be her Grandparents home. The very place that she learned from the masters. Isn’t that what traditions are exactly about? Passing it on to younger generations?

It’s a two day celebration. Saturday is when we make the actual Tamales. We all help assemble them, all wearing aprons and trying to see who can impress Lanie the most. Sunday is when we call come back and share a meal together. Everyone brings something and eat the tamales that we worked so hard on the day before. This year was the tastiest ever. Everything came out so delicious that I ate way too much and was ready to pop.

I love that we have these types of things in place. It gives us a reason to come together and celebrate just because we choose to. I hope to continue them for many years to come, and who knows, maybe one day Dom will be rolling out the masa and making his very own tamales!

Valetines Day

Yesterday was Dom’s first Valentine’s day party. I bought him cards to hand out to his friends. I wrote his name on them and he colored them with crayons. He was so excited to have a party and hand them out.

I’m not a huge valentine’s day person. I have no issues with the holiday, and I like it to be acknowledged in some way (a card) but I don’t have any huge expectations for the day. It doesn’t need to ultra-romantic evening with rose petals and being fawned over. Because it fell on a Tuesday, I figured we’d go to the gym ( like we do every Tuesday night) and I’d make us dinner when we got home.

But Rob surprised me. When we came home from the gym, I was instructed to stay out of the kitchen until he said so. I gave Dom a bath and got him ready for bed. We read a story together and then I tucked him in. We had our usual little chat about our day and I said good night.

As I walked towards the living room, Rob announced that dinner was ready. I walked in and was surprised to find a delicious dinner of steak (kobe rib eye) and lobster on the table, along with a bottle of red wine. How sweet of him to go to all that trouble. I had actually been craving steak as it’s been about 6 months since I have had it. Everything tasted delicious and I felt very loved.

We’re not really wine drinkers, especially red, but it was actually pretty good. The best part of the evening was getting that alone time to sit at the table and have adult conversation while we ate. We had a good heart to heart, which I really enjoyed. We don’t get to do that much and I find that without it, I start feeling a bit distant from Rob. It’s nice to come together and reconnect like that.

As if all that wasn’t great enough, he also got me a beautiful card and a gift certificate to “Total Body Care.” So sweet and thoughtful of him. Because it was unexpected and not the norm for him, it really made it even more special!

Heart to Heart

When I dropped Dom off at school this morning, I gave him a big hug and kiss as usual. This is how our conversation went:

Dom: Mama, I love your heart
(Did he just say that? Wow. I’m melting.)

Me: I love your heart too baby boy

Dom: I don’t have a heart Mama

Me: Of course you do baby

Dom: No, I don’t have a heart

Me: Well, where did it go?

Dom: In my mouth Mama, I ate it.

He cracks me up!

Sandwich Victory

Today is a day of celebration in the McCool household. After two attempts and failures of getting Dominic to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (in the cool shape of a dinosaur) he finally did it!

I opened up his lunch box, expecting to see two PB&J dino’s, one with it’s head bitten off....

But there was no food, no crumbs, no nothing. His little Tupperware was empty. I swear, I felt so happy, like I had found a cure for cancer or something.

“Dom! Did you eat both your sandwiches?!!!”
“Yea Mama, peanut butter and jelly is my best favorite!”

And that is what you call progress people!

Ear is the problem

It’s been a long time since Dom has had an ear infection. He used to get them all the time, so much that the doctor had talked to us about the possibility of tubes in his ears. Poor cub I had heard that once a child hits two years old, they kind of grow out of them and that seemed to be the case for Dom.

Rob was in Phoenix this weekend, so of course that was a perfect time for Dom to get an ear infection. Saturday morning started out fine. He and I went to the gym as we usually do and then ran a couple of errands. He was in good spirits the whole time. I do remember him saying that his ear hurt as we were cruising the isles of Target, but he dropped it right after that so I thought he was ok.

Once we got home and it was nap time, I laid him down in his bed and he fell asleep pretty fast. 15 mins later he woke up crying. I checked him on the video monitor and he was lying in his bed, holding his left ear. Uh oh. I went in to console him and see if I couldn’t get him back to sleep, but it just wasn’t going to happen. I wanted to wait a little bit to make sure it wasn’t a once of thing before I took him to the afterhours doctor. As the hours went by, he was more upset. We were at Shirleys baby shower when he started getting a fever and was so irritable that he wouldn’t let me put him down, even for a second.

We hightailed it out of there so I could get him to the doctor and get him the meds I knew he needed. The whole way there he was crying, one hand holding his ear with his other arm outstretched to me. Kill me now. That is the worst feeling. The second worse feeling is realizing you’re gas light just went on. Damit! So I had to pull in to get gas, while Dom is crying harder and harder. I managed to quickly pump $12.00 worth and get back on the road. Thankfully there was no wait at the doctor and within an hour, he had his first dose of meds.

It sucks so hard to see your kid hurting and not be able to do anything about it. One of the many times I wished that I could have the stupid ear infection instead of him. But it’s all part of life I suppose. Thankfully he is feeling much better.

Goal!

Dom is so excited to be playing soccer at school. They have a company that comes to the school on Fridays at about 9:30am and teaches the kids that are enrolled the basic principles of the game. Oh ok, they just kick the ball around for 45 mins. But Dom LOVES it. Every Friday when I pick him up from school he tells me “Mama! I kicked the ball in the goal!” I don’t know if he is really doing that week after week, but I love his enthusiasm.

Getting Kids Organzied

From Left to Right: Parents.com, Martha Stewart, iheartorganizing.blogspot.com, modpodgerocksblog.com, coryconnordesigns.com, Martha Stewart, Ohdeedoh.com, Martha Stewart, icouldmakethat.org, Real Simple, iheartorganizing.blogspot.com, Martha Stewart, The Container Store (white elfa kids' workstation), iheartorganizing.blogspot.com, Real Simple, & Centsationalgirl.com
■Mon.-Fri. Closet Organizer – Have a week’s worth of school clothes picked out and ready to go. As a kid who always had her clothes laid out the night before, I LOVE this idea!

■Mailing Tubes for Art Storage – Label, roll, and store the endless art projects that are no longer on display in mailing tubes.

■Closet Bins Labeled with Pictures – Great idea for younger children who can’t read; separate various items with images instead of words.

■Closet Hooks Labeled with Sizes – Perfect for the closets of nurseries, growing kids, or shared siblings

■Wagon as Bookshelf –An adorably clever way to display and organize your kids’ books!

■The Fridge Chore Chart – an oldie but a goodie

■Nursery Organization Bins ‘Burp, Bathe, Bundle’ – Great way to keep your rags, towels, and blankets separated.

■Photo Paperweight – Add a little joy to your work with photo paperweights of your kids!

■Playful Jars for arts & crafts storage

■3-Ring Binders for school papers, report cards by grade, etc. – With so many brilliant ideas out there, it’s still hard to beat a 3-ring binder for school organization.

■Create a Household Binder to keep track of finances, babysitters, schedules, EVERYTHING. Don’t miss the step-by-step instructions and other genius suggestions at iheartorganizing.blogspot.com!

■Wall Book Shelf to keep books on display and out of the way

■Kids Workspace – If you have the space, provide your kids with their own organized workspace for crafts, schoolwork, and activities. Modify for their ages and likes, but remember to leave room for growth.

■Lego Organization – Legos are incredible toys for learning, but I have discovered that they are organization’s worst nightmare! Keep them under control with labeled bins by color. Include designated bins for the boards and the character pieces.

■Mudroom Central – Love the shoe organization, clear calendar, and wall storage!

■Planters as Wall Storage for Toys

Mustaching Around

I almost can't stand how cute this photo is. the wink, the mustache, the little hands. My baby boy...always making people laugh:)

Snuggle Bug

Sometimes you just want to climb onto the couch, snuggle up with your Daddy and a good blanket and watch "Toy Story 3" for the hundredth time:)

Packed Lunch

Dom absolutely loves preschool. He’s adjusted beautifully and is even doing great with this potty training. It’s such a relief to know he’s happy there. When we pull up he says “Yay preschool!” He has a “best favorite” named Justin and one kid who is not his best favorite called Ryan.

He takes his lunch to school every day and eats at the table outside with all his friends. I’ve tried getting some things other than chicken nuggets or turkey dogs in there, but it usually doesn’t go so well. He has eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at both Nonnie and Ms. Carol’s house, no problems, no questions asked. But when I made it for him, he made sure to let me know he wasn’t a fan. “Mommy, I no like sandwiches. “ Really? How could he not fall in love with the cuteness of the little PB&J dino’s I made with such love? He had taken a couple of bites, so I have to give him credit for that. Maybe I’ll wait a while and try it again, see how that goes. In the meantime, we are on a rotation of mac n cheese, chicken nuggets and turkey dogs with sides of grapes, cucumber, tomato, string cheese, raisens, pickles (Dom’s request,) carrots etc. And every day he opens up his Spiderman lunchbox and shows me how he ate it all.

He’s a lot more hyper when he comes home now. All fired up, chatting away about his day. I still can’t believe he’s in school now, but as usual, time is flying by. We still have him in his crib, and I’m scared to DEATH at moving him over to a big boy bed. He can pretty cheeky come bed time and most nights I am holding him down while I try to strap a diaper to his butt. I can only imagine what would happen, given the freedom of being able to step out of bed. I know it’s the next logical step, but maybe just a few more months of the crib?

Toy Story on Ice

Look how happy Dominic is in this photo. Look at him beaming. I love that little smile. I love that he loves his family that much. Oh wait, it may have something to do with the fact that we were at "Disney on Ice, Toy Story 3" and he was so excited, he could hardly contain himself.


Rob got us tickets to go and in true Rob style, we were sitting practically on the ice. He's so good to us! All the characters were there and Dom was in total awe. I've noticed that he likes to sit quietly for the most part, but don't take that as he's not enjoying himself. No, he's loving every second. But he's taking it all in. Very quietly looking at all the different characters, the lights, the stage, the crowd, the guys walking around selling popcorn and glow sticks. As soon as a song finishes, he clapped his little hands and then settled down, eyes peeled for the next number.

On the way home, all Dom could talk about was how he wants to see it again and how he wants to go to Dinseyland to see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto and Daisy. Huh? I had no idea he knew all their names! He then informed us that Buzz, Woody and the rest of the Toy Story gang lived there also, so he had to go see them.

Is it wrong that we have never taken him to Disneyland? Here's why. #1, it costs a fortune. Unless you have a house to take a second loan out, it can wipe you out financially. #2, How long would he last? So we pay an arm and leg to get inside, only to have Dom last 2 hours before he's over it or needing a nap. #3, would he get it? Would he understand the magnatude and magic of the experiance? I think he might be ready for it. Not an all day experiance, but at least half day. He should be tall enough to get on the rides and I know he'll love that. Plus, he's free until he's three, so we might as well get in there now before we need to sell a kidney to buy him his ticket.