Smiling, Having Fun...

Paprika and Daddy on the It's a Small World Ride at Disneyland on Tuesday:



We've been going to Disneyland a lot- at least once, usually twice per week. Paprika really loves it, and we go on the days when the park is empty. Mr. Mustard went with us last Friday and this Tuesday- and he got to experience first-hand how much Paprika REALLY loves to wear her rides out.

On one particular ride (The Monster's, Inc. ride), we are on a first-name basis with the people who run the ride because we've ridden it so many times. After our 6th time, they stopped making us wait in line like everyone else! I think the people operating the ride felt a little sorry for Mr. Mustard and me. :-)


We've also been going to the Children's Museum. We just got back from our trip today, and we had a great time. Paprika insisted on wearing her Snow White Dress, so I obliged. You can see it's tattered, but she doesn't mind at all.

Paprika at the Children's Museum today:







Paprika insisted on soaking herself in every bit of water she could find. She came home drenched, and then got upset when I wanted to take off her extremely wet dress. She had a lot of fun, though!

Here is a quick picture of Paprika in her Christmas dress. She wore it to Lauren and Don's party a few weeks ago, and we took a picture of her in it as we headed out the door. I need to take another picture- one where she's not running away from me!

Paprika in her Christmas dress:

Almost Christmas!

We have been keeping ourselves busy, running back and forth between Disneyland and Santa Barbara, and a bunch of other places. Mr. Mustard had Thursday through Sunday off this week, which was just wonderful. We have been aching to spend some time together, and so we really cherished these past four days.

On Thursday, our trio went to Disneyland and California Adventure. We rode ALOT of rides, as usual, and watched the parade together as a family. Mr. Mustard showcased his fatherly patience by riding the Monsters, Inc. ride with Paprika nine times in a row. We all had it memorized by our last trip.

This weekend, we went up to Santa Barbara to attend a very fancy holiday party in Montecito. Mr. Mustard's mom watched Paprika for us, and Mr. Mustard and I enjoyed a wonderful date night together. The theme of the party was "A Christmas Carol" and all of the food and decor was English 19th Century. There was a fantastic dance band, an open bar, and even giant amounts of real snow for sledding and snowball fights. This may not seem amazing to some of you, but snow in Southern California doesn't just happen naturally. It was the best party I've been to in a long time.

Tick tock on Christmas- it's almost here. I am so sad that I won't be visiting my family in Indiana this year. It's the first year I haven't gone home for Christmas. I am already missing everyone so much. I've gone to my grandma and grandpa's house every Christmas for the past 30 years (except for a few Christmases I spent with my dad in Boston as a young child), so missing Christmas this year is so sad to me. But, we'll be creating some traditions here. I'm cooking this year (yikes!) and Paprika will be opening her presents under our tree on Christmas morning.

I hope to create some beautiful Christmas memories for her. I really hope her childhood is full of magic and wonder. Already we've been telling her about Santa and how we're going to bake cookies for him the night before Christmas, and leave out treats for the reindeer. She is more excited about that than anything else, I think!

Balloon Release

Tomorrow, December 7th, is Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome Awareness Day. Our girls are always, always on our minds- but even more so right now.

Today we did a balloon release for Vivian and Annemarie at our park. We bought three balloons- two to release for Vivian and Annemarie, and one for Paprika to keep. We released the balloons separately. Mr. Mustard let Vivian's go and I released Annemarie's balloon. I thought the balloons would drift off their separate ways, but they stayed together and floated up, up, up into the sky until I could no longer see them. We watched them until they were tiny pink dots and then they were so small they slipped out of sight.

I know the girls can feel our love for them and that they know how much we miss them.

D-Land and Other Escapades

Paprika and I have been buzzing all over Southern California this past week. We spent two days this past week at Disneyland. It's completely decked out for Christmas. They do a big parade at the end of the day with fireworks- Paprika loves that. They just re-opened It's a Small World, and Paprika REALLY loves that ride. She sings the song over and over and over again.

It's a Small World, at night:



We also did a whole day at the park this week- we even brought a picnic lunch to share. One day we went up to see Devon and Riley and spent the day with them. And another day we spent at The Children's Museum.

Self portrait on It's a Small World, taken at night:



Paprika is so much fun to be around. She now talks like an adult with a full vocabulary. I guess she's been doing this for awhile, but I forget to mention it until, like today at the park, someone asks me, "HOW old is she, and HOW long has she been talking like that?"

She learns things so incredibly quickly and sometimes I don't even know where she gets her info. While waiting in line for the It's a Small World ride, she started pointing out all the shapes- the usual: circle, rectangle, square, star, etc..,and then she started saying, "semi-circle, pentagon, octagon." She surprises me a lot with things like that.

She also has quite a sense of humor. When we were getting in the car the other day, she looked at me and deadpan said, "Mommy, I want to drive the car. You sit back here (in the backseat)." And then she started laughing. She is such a hoot.

Thanksgiving

We were up in Santa Barbara for four days over Thanksgiving weekend: Thursday through Sunday. Did a lot of relaxing, a lot of eating, and a lot of just hanging out.

On Saturday, we took a nice hike with Paprika (although she sat down on the trail a mile in and refused to walk anymore). She only wanted MOMMY to carry her out of the forest, so my arms got quite a workout carrying my 35 pound bundle of love back to the car.



We saw two movies: Bond and Twilight. Both fun- and it was so nice to get out just as a couple. We don't get too many date nights here in LA.



We went to the beach at sunset one day, which was lovely. We wrote Vivian and Annemarie's names in the sand, along with the names of a few other special babies. I got this idea from my friend, Carly, who lives in Australia near Burns Beach. She wrote Vivian and Annemarie's names in the sand in September and so this time, I wrote her son's name in the sand. Then, when I got home and checked my email, I found a message from her saying that she had been thinking about me and wrote my girls' names in the sand that same day. Can you believe that? We were both writing in the sand at the same time, half a world away.



Here are the pictures she sent me. Can you imagine a more perfect, beautiful sunset? It takes my breath away.