End of a Long Day

Just some cute pictures of the end of a long day.  Joe and I looked just about the same, ourselves!

Tea Cups

I've always pretty much refused to ride the Tea Cups.  Today, I gave in.  Dumbo was a 40 minute wait, Autopia (which they no longer call Autopia...sad) was a 50 minute wait, and Ellie was too short for everything else...so, tea cups it was.  She LOVED picking out her pink cup to ride!  Once it started, though, she found it pretty scary.  It didn't help that there was a toddler one cup over having an absolute fit of terror.  Charlie totally loved the speed and spinning...what a trouper....a cat nap quickly ensued, though.

After the Tea Cups, Ellie rode the Snow White ride with Joe, while I took a sleeping Charlie to stake out a spot on Main Street for the 3 o'clock parade.  I guess the ride Joe took her on was so scary that she went through the whole thing with her hands covering her eyes!  She insisted that it was fun afterwards, though.  Oh, you should have felt how fast her heart was beating after the one downhill part in the dark on Pirates!

Joe and Ellie found us on Main Street, we waited there for about 15 minutes, and then Joe and I looked at each other and instantly decided that it was time to jet.  Everybody in Disney was ready to see that parade, so we took as our cue to exit on an empty ferry boat back to the parking lot.  We cut the day just a bit short, but the kids never knew the difference.  I even asked Ellie several times what she liked best about her day, and she kept insisting that "She had fun parade!!"  Hah!  Whatever floats your boat, kiddo.

Best Part of Our Day...Lunch!

Joe and I asked each other at the end of the day what our favorite part of the day was, and we both ended up agreeing on the fact that lunch was amazingly the most enjoyable moment we had as a family.  We'd just ridden "Pirates of the Caribbean," and Ellie was so proud of how "brave" she'd been (and kept telling us so over and over!), and we were starving.  We NEVER eat out, because we hate the fiasco that it is with two kids.  But, obviously, we had to do it at Disney.  The kids were both PERFECT throughout the entire meal.  Charlie had a bird poop on his bald head, while Ellie perfected her cup-drinking skills (Diet Coke, yum!), and I ate THE best pulled pork sandwich and Lay's potato chips of my life...hunger makes everything taste fantastic!  

It's a Small World

Our first stop after the Castle was the Merry-go-Round, since the line was the shortest.  But next was "It's a Small World," which has always been one of my family's favorites.  Both kids loved looking at all of the beautiful dolls.  Ellie kept talking about the pretty dresses.  Joe and I liked the cool air-conditioned boat ride!

"Cindalella's" Castle...Finally!

We finally made it down Main Street to "Cindalella's Castle," as Ellie calls it.  Phew!  She was in awe.  Within 10 minutes of our arrival, a stage show began on the castle steps....Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella all singing and dancing with their princes.  Heaven for my princess-obsessed little girl!  We're reading Disney princess stories from huge story book every night before bed now.  She was totally prepped for her big day.

Starting Off Like a Turdy Two-Year-Old

So, we took the kids to Disney World today, and it was FANTASTIC!!!  The morning, however, just did NOT start out that way.  I think I'd hyped it up for Ellie way too much the night before and that morning at home, so that she was just overly charged up for the day.  She absolutely could not handle the excitement and behaved like spoiled brat until we got through the turnstiles at the entrance (mind you, it's about a 40 minute process to get from car to turnstile at Disney World!).  I wanted to turn around and take her home so badly.  As soon as we turned the corner onto Main Street, though, she heard that music, saw all of the kids, and then spotted that giant castle of Cinderella's down at the end, she was a new girl.  

Funniest thing of all, though, was her fit right at the entrance to the parking lot where you pay to park.  I'd hyped up Cinderella's Castle for her so much so that it was all she could focus on.  The sign at the entrance to the lot had a picture of the castle on it; we, of course, pointed it out to her.  When we drove through and past it, though, she had an absolute tantrum.  Turns out that she thought that dumb sign was what all of the hubbub was about.  She thought that that simple sign was what we were going to see today.  Too cute!  Little did she know, she had a heck of a lot more in store for her!

Chef Charlie

Charlie was helping me cook a casserole yesterday.  Fun, fun foil!!

"Cozy Daddy" with "Popcorns"

Because Joe's been gone so much and the kids have gotten a bit attached to Momma, Joe's constantly coming up with ways to bond with his munchkins when he is home.  I came home from a grocery store run with Charlie the other afternoon to find Ellie and Joe like this...sitting on the living room floor, covered in a soft blankie, watching cartoons, and eating "popcorns."  She LOVED it!...and wanted NOTHING to do with me for quite some time.  Ah, she changes allegiances with such ease!

Tonight, all Joe had to do was touch that blankie, and she was all over him, saying: "Cozy Daddy," "Popcorns," "Say please!"  Hilarious.  Needless to say, she got her wish, and she consumed an entire bag of popcorn post-dinner.

A Recliner of Sorts

In our Orlando rental home, there's this horrible recliner chair that Joe just absolutely LOVES and lives in in his downtime here.  I think Ellie's catching onto his act, as this is how I found her watching Dora the other afternoon....reclining in Charlie's saucer.  And yes, she's watching TV naked (well, in only a diaper).  She'd spilled juice all over her clothes, and I was starving, so I left her "nudie cutie" for the time that I ate lunch until her nap time.  Don't you wish that you, too, could recline and watch your favorite show in just your undies sometimes??

Pack Mule Momma

I love it and hate it all at the same time.  With Joe gone so much during the day all of a sudden, now that he's started with early Spring Training, the kids are sadly seeing him a lot less these days.  Consequently, they are glomming onto me a lot more than usual. I LOVE being favorite; I mean, I am human, after all.  However, it can be rather inconvenient at times.  Ellie insists that I carry her along with Charlie all the time right now...Pack Mule Momma!  I try to say no mostly, because she is NOT a baby, but sometimes I just give in out of convenience...she walks too dang slow up the stairs and from the car into the gym!  Anyway, these days, I feel incomplete without my two appendages attached.

Wrestler Ellie!

Would this kid not fit in perfectly in the Jack Black movie, "Nacho Libre?!"  She totally looks like one of those nerdy WWF wrestlers!  I found her playing dress-up with my workout gear the other day.  She also proceeded to tell me that her outfit was "ridiculous."  Yes, "ridiculous."  I'd told her that things were getting ridiculous earlier that afternoon, when she'd refused to nap, and that little sponge spit the word right back out at me hours later.  Momma better watch her tongue!

Bin Girl

Ellie's new obsession is climbing into this big plastic bin, where we store all of her toys while we're away from home for Spring Training.  It's the Beverly Hillbillies' version of a "toy chest."  She just climbs in there all day every day right now, sitting on top of and playing with all of her toys.  I'm LOVING it, because it keeps all of the mess hidden and stored away!

More Lingerie

While we were home in Charlotte, we spent one afternoon at John and Annie's house to use their TV and internet, as ours were both turned off.  Anyway, while Joe and I were busy checking emails and watching football, Missy ran off into Auntie Noni's room, unzipped a storage bag under the bed, and pulled out one of Anna's lingerie teddies from her honeymoon days.  She had me dress her in it immediately.  I told Annie all about it, and in true Auntie Noni style, a UPS package arrived on our Orlando doorstep today with some lingerie enclosed!  Ellie's worn it every minute we've been home today!  She keeps telling us, "You look just like princess."  What will she be wearing when she's 14 in order to look pretty "like a princess?!"

Sitting Up!!

Charlie is sitting up!!!  Well, he topples over quite frequently, but he's totally getting the hang of it.  We've had him training lately.  I made the mistake of looking up Ellie's accomplishments at 6 months (Charlie's age now) in her baby book the other day and comparing Charlie's progress with hers.  Hmmmm, Mr. is on his own sloooooow schedule.  E was rolling over around four months old.  Charlie didn't have the hang of that until three days ago!  The kid is 6.5 months old!  Now, he's all over the place, though.  I saw, too, that Ellie was sitting up on her own at 6 months old and was even scooting around by 7 months...that's 2 weeks away for Charlie!!  So, we put him in training.  Joe had him practicing his sitting up every spare minute he had.  He had it down in no time.  Phew!=)  Would hate for our child to fall behind in any Baby Olympic event.

Ellie's First Taste of Disney

Ellie's been reading a book of all Disney Princess stories for the past few weeks compulsively, and we fed the obsession today by taking the kids over to Downtown Disney.  They have an ENTIRE store there devoted to Disney princess junk...she was in heaven!  Outside the doors to the place were a life-size Sleeping Beauty and a Cinderella.  We got her out of the stroller to touch and pose with Sleeping Beauty.  Woah!  Think we may have made a memory for life.  We heard about it the whole way home, that's for sure!  Now thinking of doing a breakfast with the princesses at Cinderella's castle next weekend when Joe has a couple of days off.  That just might put her over the edge!

Aaaaaah, Finally!!

Congrats, Joe!!  Now, maybe we can actually spend our off-seasons in our own home, instead of in Palo Alto in another rental=).

Ellie and her Bannan Cousies

Our last night at "home" in Pasadena was New Year's Eve night.  We were leaving the next morning on a 6:25am flight, so that meant a 3:45am wake-up call for momma and babies on New Year's morning...yuck.  Needless to say, we stayed home while the rest of the family went to another Bannan shin-dig at the Moores' house.  I was definitely sad to miss out on the last party of the season...and a bit mopey as I bathed and fed the kids.  But then I got a call from Jack Gilmore at about 7:30, asking me if he and some of the other younger cousins could come over and visit us...said it was boring over at the Moores' for the non-drinkers. Wahoo!  I had company coming...attitude change.  The kids arrived and immediately started playing and coloring with Ellie; she was in heaven.  There was NO way this kid was getting to bed early.  She stayed up with her cousins until 10 o'clock playing and eating Lucky Boy (i.e. stealing sips of everybody's milk shakes and licking ketchup off of the same fry over and over).  I think it was actually one of my favorite nights of the holidays...just a nice surprise of good family fun.

Hah! Even MORE dress-up!

At left you will find my daughter, the pirate, and my daughter, the lingerie-wearing hussie.  Oh Lord, what are her teenage years going to be like?!

Happy Charlie

Because Ellie is such a ham, Charlie seems to often get sort of forgotten in the picture department.  Is he not the cutest thing you've ever seen, though?!  His personality has arrived! ...it's like a light goes off in kids at around 6 months old...they just become such little people...and Charlie's no exception. He's still a total Momma's Boy/Cling-on, though, and I can NEVER put him down without a major protest.  He follows me with his eyes all around a room and then wails if I leave.  I complain about it but I totally love it.  I'm his favorite!...what could be better?  Only problem is that without ever being able to put him down, the little guy is a bit behind developmentally. I had to confess to his pediatrician at his 6 month check-up that he hadn't even rolled over yet!  Well, he finally did it yesterday!...phew!  Congrats, "Charwa!"

Cousins' Party

I LOVE my Bannan family!  We had a B.J.B. Cousins' Party on December 26th, our 2nd annual!, and it was a blast.  Each of us had to dress up as one of our relatives...our collective creative juices were surely flowing.  Dance Dance Revolution was the highlight of the evening...I was competitive, but I was no champion.  Champion status was for Tommy Gilmore, alone; "Twinkle Toes" was untouchable!

Fashion Maven

As most of you well know, Eleanor Borchard LOVES to dress up in her finest ALL the time.  She was in rare form throughout the holiday season.  At left are just two small examples.  Enjoy!

I've said this so many times to friends and relatives, but I have to say it again.  Does she not look like she would just fit in perfectly in a South Florida retirement community??  All she's missing is the over-tanned, wrinkled skin...oh, and maybe a small, ratty poodle sticking out of her purse??

Proof of the Craziness

If this isn't proof of our crazy holiday season, then I don't know what else qualifies as such!  This is Ellie on of our bazillion drives between Camarillo and Pasadena (b/w the grandparents' homes) fast asleep with her book still open to the page she was last "reading."  

It's Been Awhile...Because We've Been INSANELY BUSY!!

Well, a lot has happened to the Borchard family in the past three weeks.  We moved out of Stanford in mid-December.  Joe finished his final quarter of school, he just has a couple of tests to take online in the next month or so, and then he'll officially be a Stanford grad!!  I couldn't be more proud of him.  What an accomplishment!  I can't believe he survived 21 units of schoolwork, plus rehab for his elbow, training to be ready for Spring Training, and being a husband and a dad.  He's a special guy.  Leaving Stanford was definitely bittersweet for us...the apartment provided super tight, kind of icky quarters, but living on campus was such a treat.  Stanford is really just a little slice of heaven for us.  Joe's parents are saints, and came up to Palo Alto for one day to help us move our belongings down to Camarillo...in three cars!!!...two trucks and one SUV...talk about Beverly Hillbillies!  

Next, we invaded the Borchard house for about a week and a half and loved the downtime with them before the hustle and bustle of the holidays.  We cooked dinners at home and loved watching the kids play.  Then it was down to the Sones household for the remaining two weeks of Christmas and New Year's.  I LOVE being with my parents!!!  It's amazing how much I miss them and love sharing the kids with them.  Annie and John were in town and staying at the house, too.  Ellie LOVES her Auntie Noni.  We got to visit with all sorts of my girlfriends and their kids, too...Steph and Luke and Natalie and Ben and Will.  Ellie's still talking about all of them and asking whether or not I remember them and had fun with them.  

Joe left on 12/28 to drive cross-country back to Charlotte in 48 hours!!  The kids and I stayed in Pasadena until early morning of the 1st and flew back to meet Joe in Charlotte that afternoon.  It was the first time I'd flown with two kiddos, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it really was NO FUN AT ALL.  What an accomplishment to be done with that!  Next time will be no problem...way less stress...since I'll have done it once already before.  Ellie was such a good girl, sitting in her seat the entire time without too much protest...she was just so tired from our 3:30am wake-up call that she was super whiney...ugh, there's really nothing worse than a loud, whiney toddler on an airplane.  And Charlie's just plain too big for my lap!  We did it, though, and what a treat to see Joe at the end of it all...and our home!  Charlie'd never even been to the Charlotte house before.  We were there for a total of three days to unpack and repack for Spring Training.  We got to see our dear friends Tim and Denise and their toddler son, Sloan, two nights in a row, and that was a certain highlight.  We'll miss them terribly.  

We drove the 9 hours to Orlando in two cars on the morning of the 5th, and we're still unpacking clothes and getting settled into our little rental home here.  We love our location and our space.  Kids are adjusting amazingly to all of the changes....oh, except for Charlie's massive outbreak in hives!!...stress related, maybe??

Enjoy some of our favorite pics from Christmas, etc.  What great memories!  

P.S. We just bought a new car yesterday!  Our life is crazy...change after change after change!  It's a used silver Tahoe with a DVD system (!....mommy doesn't have to listen to Dora anymore!)...I'm in heaven!