Goin, goin, back, back, to Cali, Cali

Last weekend we made a quick trip to California. Every year my school makes a turn around trip to Disneyland, and every year I say," no thanks, that doesn't sound fun for me." Waking up extremely early one morning, driving 7 hours on a bus to get there, spending ALL day at Disneyland, and then driving 7 hours home that same night doesn't sound too appealing. I did do this trip once before when I was in high school and I just remember that it took me an entire weekend to recover.

So this year when the talk about Disneyland started in March I just ignored it since I really wasn't planning on going. Then, my assistant principal mentioned something about Daryl, my old assistant, meeting us there. Daryl and I worked together the last 2 school years but then he moved back to LA because that's where he's from. Daryl and I still keep in contact and when he mentioned that it peaked my interest because I do love visiting Daryl. We went to LA to visit him last summer.

I asked Daryl if that sounded like something he would want to do. He checked with his work and was able to get the day off, so I guess that made my decision for me that I was going too. I told the teacher in charge that I would ride over on that bus, but that Jon-Paul and Adrian would be meeting us there and I was just going to stay so I wouldn't be riding the bus back. She said that was fine.

My best friend Monique asked if she could come to Disneyland with us when we took Adrian for the first time. (He was like 3 months old when she first asked) So, we also mentioned our plans to her and asked if she wanted to come too. She was beyond excited. So it ended up being Jon-Paul, Adrian, Monique, and Monique's husband Don that met us over in Disneyland.

The morning of the trip I had to get up at 2:30 am so that I was at school by 4am, yuck. We left RP at 4:45am. I got about 45 minutes of sleep on the bus, and by the time we got there around 11:30 I was a little worn out. Jon-Paul and the rest of them didn't leave our house until 5:30, but we happened to meet in the parking line at exactly the same time. I was told that Adrian got a little nap here and there on the trip over, so I was hoping he wouldn't be too cranky during the day. He wasn't at all. He actually did great and went on all the grown-up rides that he was tall enough to do. He went in an saw the Honey I Shrunk the Audience show, he went on Pirates of the Carribean, the Haunted Mansion, the race cars, and the Amazon boat ride.

We actually didn't go do any of the little kid activities, oops. We'll go back again I'm sure.

We did get to see Mickey but just in the parade.

Waiting in line for the Haunted Mansion.

For some reason those are really the only pictures we have of Disneyland. The rest of the pictures are from the rest of the weekend with Daryl. On Saturday he took us to the beach and he took his kayak. Jon-Paul loved it and they didn't even tip over once. The water was a little cold but we got used to it.

Of course the only thing Adrian wanted to do was dig in the sand and be buried, so that's what he did. He's not a big fan of the ocean. Especially since it was cold and the waves could have knocked him over.

Jon-Paul wanted to join in on the burying action too.

Daryl digging a big hole for Adrian to jump in to.

Adrian "helping" drag the kayak back to the truck.

Ride back to Daryl's place to clean up and get rid of all the sand.

The ride home on Sunday wasn't too bad. Adrian did start to whine about an hour away from home, and we found out later it was because he had some little stomach problem that kept him in the bathroom the next few days after we got home. TMI I know.

Our new truck!

About a year ago we had a Dodge Ram, and this was the time when gas was $4.00 a gallon. Jon-Paul was driving the limo, so it wasn't really necessary for us to have a second vehicle that was a big gas guzzler. So, Jon-Paul traded it in for a Saab that got incredible gas mileage. The only problem with the Saab was that it was extremely small and low to get into. Putting a child in and out of small car is not my idea of fun.

Two weeks ago Jon-Paul got the great news that his friend had gotten him a new job. Jon-Paul cannot be happier with his new job!! He has a normal Monday-Friday job with regular hours and a lot better pay. Heck, I'm excited for our new regular schedule.

So, we decided that we are now in a better situation and it was time to get a bigger vehicle. I'm a truck girl at heart, and I was so happy when Jon-Paul found this used Titan online. He drove it home on Friday night and we signed the paperwork on Saturday morning. I love it and it's extremely roomy. And it's pretty!!

Spring Training

Since we didn't really plan anything for my spring break, we've just been going day to day before deciding what to do. Yesterday Jon-Paul didn't have to work, so we decided to catch a spring training game at Peoria Sports complex. I've never been there or to a spring training game, so I killed 2 birds with one stone. On the way there Adrian saw my Mp3 player and loved listening to it. He wouldn't give it back.

We sat out in the lawn. It was bright and hot until about the 5th inning and then a nice breeze came through to cool us down. I had a heck of a time trying to get a good picture of them. This was the best one I got and Adrian's eyes are still closed.

He was actually happy eating his ice cream. I just don't think he wanted to take anymore pictures.

It was a day off that was well spent!

Happy Birthday to me (a week late)

Yep it's true, I'm now a quarter of a century old. It happened on Tuesday, but I got to celebrate for a few days. On Sunday we went over to Jon-Paul's parents' house to have dinner. After dinner Jon-Paul suggested we all go to Castles-N-Coasters to play goofy golf. It didn't take any convincing at all, and off we went. Adrian has never been goofy golfing, and he had a blast.

Here's daddy showing him how to hold the club.

Mommy helping him hit the ball.

Adrian and Grandma moving on to the next hole.

Doing it all by himself.

Say what?

Cheese!

Now we're up to the day of my actual birthday. Like I said, it was a Tuesday, so I went to work. My 4 hour class had been planning something and they were trying to be secretive about it. It wasn't working. They were speaking in Spanish, but they should know by now that I can understand most of what they were saying. I just kept on pretending that I didn't know what was going on to make them feel better.

One thing that was very surprising though was the delivery that showed up to my work from Jon-Paul. He did something so sweet, I couldn't believe it was from him. (Sorry babe!) He sent an arrangement of chocolate covered strawberries and a balloon. I ended up sharing them with my class because I knew I could never eat all of those strawberries by myself. Then, Jon-Paul brought me lunch too!

After my class got back from PE they threw me their little party. They each brought something in. There were tostadas, beans, avocados, tomatoes, mexican white cheese, chips, cake, and ice cream. It was so cute. They tried so hard to put it all together by themselves. There were some things they didn't think about, like a knife to cut the avocados up, but luckily I had one.

After school we did have a soccer game. I'm coaching the boy's soccer team right now, and up until the game on my birthday we had an undefeated record. We had 3 wins-0 losses-2 ties. The team we played on my birthday was Palo Verde. The last time we played them resulted in a tie. All I asked the boys for for my birthday was a win and not a tie. Well, I should have settled for a tie because we ended up losing for the first time this season. It put a little bit of a damper on the rest of the evening, but oh well.

When all the boys finally left I was able to go eat dinner with my parents, Jon-Paul, and Adrian. Overall, I had a wonderful birthday filled with a tremendous amount of thoughtfulness.

Introducing Ginger

Last October tragedy struck at my parents' house. Adrian was out in the backyard throwing the ball for Brandie, as he always did, when she just suddenly fell over while chasing after a ball. My parents rushed her to the vet because she was crying in pain and unable to move her back legs. I got a call just as I was leaving work from my dad and he was crying. For a second I thought something had happened to Adrian, so there was a moment my heart stopped. I couldn't really understand what he was saying, only that they were at the vet and I was supposed to meet them there.

When I arrived I found my mom sitting on the floor of one of the exam rooms crying and Brandie laying next to her on a blanket. It was determined that she ruptured a disk in her back and was paralyzed. She was sedated when I got there. There was a surgery that could be performed but there was absolutely no guarantees, and she wouldn't be allowed to play catch anymore. Brandie's life without catch wouldn't be fair to her, so my mom decided it would be best to put her out of her misery. This was the second dog I saw put to sleep in front of me. Not something I recommend.

One of the hardest things was having Adrian talk about the event. He would recall step by step what happened that day. It would mainly happen at night while he was going to sleep. It took about 2 weeks for the nightly recall of events to stop. Anytime he would see a picture of a sheltie he would say, "Brandie!" Here are a couple pictures of the two friends...

So, now we're up to last week. My mom knew she wanted a new dog, but she also knew that it would be best to hold off on the search until after we got back from Hawaii. She started looking in the paper and online the day we got back. She was just excited to find a new dog. She found a few leads in the paper the past few weeks, but nothing too promising.

I got a call on Thursday while I was at work that she thought had possibly found one. I was in a meeting all day and then I had soccer practice in the afternoon, so I was unable to go to look at them. So, my dad, mom, Jon-Paul, and Adrian drove out to look at the puppies. The lady had said that she had a 7 week old, but that she didn't have white around her collar, so my mom might not want her. The lady said that there were some 5 week old puppies that they could go look at and pick one out, but they wouldn't be ready to go home.

Well, the 7 week old was perfect and now residing at my parents' house. They decided to call her Ginger. She is so sweet. She follows my mom everywhere and sleeps through the night. It sounds like I'm talking about a baby, but a new puppy away from mom for the first time can be like a baby when it comes to sleeping at night.

Adrian loves her, but isn't used to puppy teeth and nails. She loves nipping at toes and he's not for that one bit. He's very protective of her especially keeping her out of the pool area. Right now she could fit through their pool gate, so Adrian makes sure to pick her up and move her away from the fence.

Introducing Ginger.....

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, life in the Klein household isn't so happy today because we are all sick. Jon-Paul and Adrian have been suffering with a cold/flu for about a week now. Adrian actually had to go in to see the doctor, and he has his first ear infection. It's so hard dealing with a sick 2 year old that throw tantrums even when he isn't sick. It seems as if Jon-Paul is finally on the mend. He took a few days off of work, and it's a good thing that he's feeling better this weekend. The NBA All-Star festivities are here in Phoenix this weekend and he is super busy. Just yesterday he left the house at 6am and got home around 10pm. Then he had to leave again this morning at 5:30am and I'm not expecting to see him again until 10pm.

So, no happy Valentine's Day for me this year!

On a side note....Adrian slept in his big boy bed last night from 8pm-8:30am. He did wake up twice, 2am and 6:30am, but he went right back to sleep when I layed in there with him. So, yay for sleep! And now he's been napping in his big boy bed for almost 2 hours so far.

The last 32 days

A few things have changed in the last 32 days. It seems as if we have entered the terrible two's in full force, and it was amazing how it happened pretty much right when he turned 2. The main thing that changed is his sleeping patterns. Adrian has been the best sleeper since he was 3 months old. He would sleep 12 hours straight at night and then had been taking one 3-4 hour nap during the day. I'm going to blame our vacation and the noisy trains that run along Grand Ave. for the sudden change.

While we were in Hawaii we tried to keep his sleep schedule as close to normal as possible, but once in a while he skipped his nap. This didn't seem to be a big deal because even 2 weeks after we got home he went right back to his normal sleep pattern. Then, one night I laid him down in his crib like I always do, but about 30 minutes later he woke up screaming. This wasn't a normal cry and then go back to sleep situation. It was an ear piercing scream that couldn't be ignored. I went in there and all he wanted me to do was pick him up, and he requested to sleep in our bed. Mind you, we NEVER co-slept with him when he was little. His first exposure to co-sleeping was in Hawaii for one night in a hotel that didn't have a crib. So, I indulged his request and let him sleep with us. This may have been a big mistake, but he wasn't going to calm down otherwise.

The next night we did our normal bedtime routine but when it was time for me to lay him down in his crib he clung to me tightly and started crying. So, once again he slept in our bed. This was right during the week that I had to go back to work from Christmas break. The main problem with him sleeping in our bed is that he tends to sleep right next to me and crowds me off the bed. I was not used to this type of broken sleep. Since I was the one that has to get up at 5am everyday we just let him continue to sleep with us. Jon-Paul is more than willing to help get him to sleep, but the problem is that Adrian only wants me to do anything related to sleep.

After asking around we determined that he might be ready to get out of his crib and sleep in a big boy bed. We ordered one right away and cleaned up our front room. We really hyped his new room up to him and got a lot of Disney Cars stuff to make it appealing to him. The first few nights he would go to sleep in there mostly willingly, but he would still wake up around 1 am and want me to go lay in there. I've always been a CIO mom but his screams at night couldn't be ignored and wasn't going to calm down on his own.

It seems that noises outside are scaring him too. That first night it happened I'm pretty sure it was a train. Now, every night as we crawl into his bed he has to ask me if cars are coming and if trucks are coming. He can definitely hear a lot of vehicle noise in that front room especially since the floor is all tile which makes it echo a lot.

So, this is where we are right now. He will fall asleep in his bed only if I lay with him until he falls asleep. Then, he wakes up around 1-1:30 am. Sometimes if I just go in and lay down he lays right back down and fall asleep. But, certain nights he won't just fall back asleep. One night this week we were up from 1:00-2:30 and we ended up just going to our bed since I had to be up at 5 am.

We're just going to have to work on getting him to stay in his bed. Although right now he is sick so we're just letting him sleep with us until he feels better. I have to say that waking up to his smiling face about 2 inches from mine is the sweetest thing.