Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go . . .

So, Zachary has this little Thomas the Tank Engine computer that he got for his birthday last year. Just recently has he been able to manipulate it enough to play any of the games. Anyway, last night he was walking around with his little computer and he said, "this is my work." I thought it was the cutest thing in the world that he was imitating his daddy.

Then tonight, he was typing on his little computer when Justin asked him to do something. He jumped up and said, "just a minute, I'm working on an event."

Not sure if that is cute or a little bit sad. But that's my sweet, smart boy!

That's A Wrap!

Justin's wrap party for The Princess & The Frog has come & gone. It was a lot of fun, a lot of stress and a lot of work! But it was successful in the end!

Amie, miraculously, was able to be home for the night . . . so she stayed with the kids while we partied the night away. Our camera had a slight mishap on the way out the door . . . so this is our only picture of the evening.

Disney did the Pasadena Civic Center & Auditorium up in style like usual. They had a red carpet set up out front with a live feed of the interviews projected on the screen inside. The speeches ran on & on & on like usual . . . but this time, the longer they ran the less of the movie I got to see. I was able to sit with Justin through the speeches & through the first 30 minutes of the movie (which was great)! Then I had to head over to get my staff situated for the party.

Working with my staff ended up taking most of the night, which I wasn't expecting. I staffed extra people on the party thinking they would be able to handle covering each other for breaks & such. But in reality Justin & I spent the majority of the evening wrangling fortune tellers & magicians. I was able to sneak back to the theater just in time to watch Justin's name roll through the credits and that is always cool. I am so proud of him!

The party was fantastic! Disney did the ballroom up like all of the different areas of New Orleans depicted in the movie. There was a section dedicated to Dr. Facilier's Voo Doo Lounge, Mama Odie's Tree House, the French Quarter, the Bayou, etc. And all of the decorations in each area were straight out of the movie. At one point we were standing in line for food & I was looking at some balloons up in a tree. My first thought was, "that's unfortunate that they got tangled & popped . . . this is such a nice event." Then I realized that it was straight out of a scene (that I did actually see) where the frogs are flying on some helium balloons that get stuck in a tree & pop.

The food was really cool too. Disney is the only company I know that can follow a theme through down to the last detail. There was a soup station set up with gumbo & lobster bisque. The main buffet served jerk chicken & blackened catfish . . . and the dessert station had mini beignets, bread pudding & creole cheesecake.

To start the evening there was a big jazz band with singers & dancers . . . then a DJ took over to play the rest of the night. There will be a new Princess & the Frog parade at Disneyland that was brought in to perform on the stage . . . and the decor all around was fabulous! The only thing missing (that is always missing) is sufficient seating for guests.

Overall, we had an amazing time! This was a major coup for Walker Event Entertainment . . . and a big night for Justin! We didn't get home till 2am or into bed until 3am . . . so Kenzie waking us up at 5am was not so pleasant. But I guess that is the price you pay for a fun night out!

Open Sesame!

Today was my turn to sleep in . . . which means Justin is suppose to keep the kids until I get up. But this morning, Kenzie made a quick break and ran through the office to wake me up. She knocked on my bedroom door (cause she can't quite reach the doorknob yet) saying "abre, abre." She learned that from her Dora book . . . it means "open" in Spanish.

36 hours & counting

Tomorrow night is the wrap party for Disney's The Princess & The Frog. This is Justin's big celebration of his movie being released AND Walker Event Entertainment has booked all of the fortune tellers & strolling magicians on the event so it is a work night for me! In reality, just about everything that needs to be done for the event is done . . . so I am just going to worry about it from now until then. I've had big events before . . . but none I've cared about quite so much.

Justin is disappointed that I'm missing out on being at the event solely as his guest. I'm not going to be able to watch the entire movie with him because I will have to get my staff situated for the event portion before the credits roll. So that is making it a bit tough. Booking Disney is a big coup for me . . . but it's a bummer that it is interfering with his big night.

Just cross your fingers that it goes well. As long as everyone is happy then we can mostly just relax and enjoy the evening (since I won't personally be doing any magic or reading fortunes)!

Chatty Kenzie

So, with 2 kids and a business I am much worse about constant blogging than I was a year or two ago. But life continues to chug on around us (even though I am not ready for it).

Kenzie has been a slow starter in the speaking world compared to her older brother, but in the last week or two we have hit "full speed ahead" with language development. She has solidly graduated from simple words (mama, dada, hi kitty) to trying to say absolutely everything. She is harder to understand than her brother was . . . we're getting much more of the baby talk mumbling this time around. But she is progressing rapidly . . . so I think she will still be a great talker well before the average baby.

In addition to words, she has started using phrases on a regular basis. And she can combine thoughts in different & appropriate scenarios. So she says things like "one more bite please" (which really means more of any food she wants, not just another bite) and "where did Zachary / Faith / Hope / Daddy go?"

In addition to words & phrases (and my favorite part of all) Kenzie has started singing. She sings songs in their entirety. She can sing the wheels on the bus from start to finish . . . with all of the verses. And she sings the alphabet song - minus the middle. She sings "A B C D E F G," then she hums for a bit, then she sings "now I know my A B Cs, next time won't you sing with me." If you push the button on her LeapFrog Alphabet pal, she can sing even more of it along with her little buddy. She doesn't sing along yet with "if you're happy & you know it" but it is my favorite song to watch her sign along with . . . so darn cute!!!

She says everyone's name but her own. At the pumpkin patch, out of the blue & clear as a bell, she said "Hi Cheyanne". And she says Luca, Zach, Hope, Faith, etc. . . . but if you ask her to say Kenzie she just stares at you.

Mostly she just babbles constantly these days. Zachary was a clear speaker early on . . . but he did not have the constant rambling that she has. She talks nonstop. That, amazingly would not drive me as crazy as the constant, "I want mama. Mama. Mama. I want mama. I want mama. I want mama." We are still fully ensconced in the strong (and that's putting it mildly) mommy phase and I am more than ready for it to pass.

2 (mostly) well babies

We took the kids in for their 18 month & 3 year well baby visits today. I'm so behind in life that by the time I called to make an appointment, Kaiser was booked all the way until November 2nd. And so we went anyway even though we probably should have postponed. The kids are just coming off of colds . . . and now appear to be getting new colds. On top of being sick, the last 48 hours have been a craze of Halloween madness & a whirlwind visit from Grandma Jody & Grumpa Larry.

Anyway, besides all of that, both kids passed with flying colors. Kenzie weighed in at 31.75 inches and 23 pounds even. That put her in the 50th percentile across the board. Zachary weighed in at 38 inches and 32 pounds, 5 ounces. That put him in the 50th percentile for weight and 60th percentile for height.

Both kids got pokes today. Zach got a flumist up his nose and a flu shot. Kenzie had to have 2 flu shots plus her last HIB vaccine. Both kids did fairly well with their pokes. Zachary got really upset to start - even before the flumist. But once he calmed down he was able to do the flumist without a problem and didn't even cry when he got his shot. Kenzie on the other hand just about broke my heart. She did something that Zach never did. She cried with the first shot and then for 2 & 3 she got really upset and starting saying, "oh no, oh no, no, no, stop." When the nurse when to give her #2 she started crying and saying ouch before the needle was even close.

I remember having fairly traumatic shot experiences as a child and so this breaks my heart. I know as a mom it is important she get them. But to this day I have resentment against my parents for having to get penicillin shots rather than oral medicine cause my parents couldn't have 6 kids on oral antibiotics (it was easier to just poke us all once). But I remember it bitterly to this day . . . and it looks like Kenzie is going to be the same. It doesn't seem to bother Zach quite as much. Not sure how I am going to handle that . . . but we made it through today . . . and for now, one day at a time.

Stinky Baby

Kenzie made a stinky in the potty for the 1st time today! We aren't pushing her to finish potty training (at least until after my big Disney event this weekend) . . . but she will most likely be potty trained before her big brother!

Sleeping Beauty

We finally went in to put Z down for bed tonight around 10pm (late night for our Halloween party boy). When we peeked in on Kenzie, this is what we found. Not sure what we're going to do with her!