Disney on Ice

I wanted to share the beginning of our birthday festivities before we get too busy with packing up our house!  For our family celebration we got tickets to see Disney on Ice in Baltimore the day before their birthday.

We started the morning by going to a birthday party for Natalie & Noelle's friend from daycare.  She had her party at a place near our house called Pump It Up.  It's two rooms full of inflatables that the kids get to climb, jump, and slide on.  My students have talked about it for years now and it was fun to see what all the fuss was about!

 

Noelle & Natalie waiting to get in the car!

We started in the first room and the girls were a little unsure of what to do so I got in the obstacle course with them.  They were just too small to climb up the ladders and such so I gave them a boost and they had a blast sliding down the little slides.  It was really nice that the parents could go on the inflatables with the kids.

After about 20 minutes in the first room, we moved to the second room for different inflatables.  By now the girls were getting tired and didn't really want to jump on anything.  They did like the air cannon and shooting the balls at each other!

 

After another 20 minutes the party moved into the party room for donuts and milk.  We had to leave then to make it to Baltimore on time so we got some donuts for the road.

We ended up timing it pretty well and got to our seats just as the show was starting.  The hosts of the show were Mickey and Minnie of course!  Both girls got VERY excited to see them and kept pointing and saying "It's Mickey, it's Minnie!"  After they introduced the show the skaters came out and did different Disney stories in a very shortened version.  These stories all had to do with the princesses and while the girls aren't quite into the Disney princesses yet, they got excited when Mickey & Minnie came out in between each story.

We were hoping the girls would sit in our laps for the show but that only lasted about 15 minutes.  So we got them some fries and that helped.  Noelle decided to stand in the aisle and enjoyed dancing and holding her fries.  Natalie joined her later in the show and they kept dancing, sitting down on the steps, standing up, etc.  Being antsy toddlers.  Thankfully everyone around us just smiled and were probably reliving the toddler days with their children.

 

Mommy and Noelle

 

Mommy & Natalie

 

Fries in hand

The girls made it almost to the end when Natalie dropped her fries everywhere.  She had a meltdown when I wouldn't let her eat the fries off of the floor.  At the same time Anna and Elsa came onto the rink to sing "Let It Go" which distracted them and right after that we grabbed the diaper bag and left before she could remember her dropped fries.  It worked out nicely because we were able to get out of the parking garage before the masses.

 

Elsa dancing to "Let it Go"

All in all they did really well for their first show!  I'm glad we had aisle seats and that we (luckily) timed it that we got right there at the start and left right before the end.  It was a fun way to celebrate their birthday just the four of us!

 

Just to give you an idea of how much Natalie loves her sister, Noelle pushed her into a chair so Noelle was sitting in time out.  Natalie didn't want her sister to sit in time out alone so she went over and sat with her.  She's such a sweetheart!

 

How I felt about them turning 2 the next day.

 

Last family picture with one year olds!

Happy 2nd Birthday Natalie!

Happy birthday my Natalie Danielle!  I can't believe you are TWO years old!  It seems just like yesterday that I was holding you in my arms, feeding you with a syringe, and now you eat with a fork and spoon.  You have grown so much this past year, from taking wobbly steps before your first birthday to running, jumping, and climbing on everything you can.

You are my cuddle-bug, you love to sit in someone's lap, give hugs and noses, and holding hands.  You have a heart of gold and your first priority is always your sister.  This relationship between you two is so unique and awesome.  When I get you out of the car first, you ask if Noelle is coming too.  If I take you downstairs first, you tell Noelle I'll "be back" for her.  If Noelle is crying you bring her a toy or her pacy to make her feel better.  If Noelle is in time out for pushing you, you go and sit with her until the time is up.  Your love for your sister is so incredibly sweet.

You are my rule-follower, my easy-going baby who will do whatever is asked of her.  You don't like to get messy but you love playing with baby dolls, toy phones, balls, and your Little People play sets.  You also LOVE to read and would sit and read for a long time if you could. 

Like your sister, we're in that picky food stage of life and while you will try a few more things than her, you also love your fruit, goldfish, and cheese.  You also love your monkey to bits and your blankie is one of your favorite things to hold and cuddle.  You still suck your thumb and I'm trying to figure out a way to explain to you that you have to stop soon.

You enjoy singing and dancing to every song that comes on and you love to use sign language.  You are a little quieter than your sister but you still gain new words every day and are starting to string words together into sentences.  You are working on your counting and can almost count to 11 every time!

Natalie, you are a toddler now but you will always be my baby, my sweet surprise that only God knew about until the timing was just right to surprise us (and everyone else!) with your presence.  Happy birthday little love!

 

 

Happy 2nd birthday Noelle!

Happy 2nd birthday Noelle Brianne!  It's hard to believe that you and your sister are TWO years old!  You are full of life and spunk and we couldn't love you more.  It amazes me how you take that 1 minute older thing to heart...you truly have the big sister personality!  You love telling Natalie and everyone else what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.  You are independent and stubborn.  You know exactly what you want and can throw a great temper tantrum if you don't get it!  You have a mind of your own, a beautiful smile, and are one smart cookie.  You also love to tease us by giving us a big grin and say "Nooooooo!" when we ask for kisses but we always manage to get one from you anyways.

You love to read and count to 11, you can sing and dance to many different songs including "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Let It Go," and you don't mind getting messy.  We've entered into the picky stage of eating and I'm pretty sure you'd survive on fruit, goldfish, and cheese if I let you! 

 

You are picking up more and more words every day and have even started to use sentences, such as "Mommy, I need a tissue" and "Put Mickey on TV."  You love your Minnie Mouse doll, your baby doll, pushing many things in the stroller, pretending to cook, and playing with Natalie.  You also love your pacificer, or "pacy" as you call it and I am definitely not looking forward to the day we decide to say good-bye to pacy :)

These days you run more than you walk, you "read" yourself books, and I'm pretty sure you never stop talking :D (and I have no idea where you get that from!)  It's amazing to sit back and watch the two of you form this amazing relationship that no one else quite understands.  You have your own language with Natalie and you know what buttons to push to annoy her but also how to make her feel better when she's sad.  While you are now officially a toddler, you will always be my baby, my sunshine.  Happy birthday little love!

 

Busy, Busy Time!

So the next few weeks are going to be BUSY in the Alvarez household.  We have the girls' birthday, Disney on Ice to celebrate their birthday, another little girl's birthday party to go to (that's all this weekend), packing, settlement, moving, Ben's 30th birthday, his sister's 21st birthday, doctor's appointments for the girls, dental appointments for 3 of us, a bridal shower that I'm helping with, a bachelorette party I'm planning, Dr. Seuss Day, conferences, and probably some other thing's I'm forgetting.  And that's just in the next four weeks!  So, I will be taking LOTS of pictures over the next few weeks but it's going to take me awhile to get everything on here because we'll be busy and who knows how long it will take us to get internet at our new house.  But I will put it all on here at some point since this is one of my many ways to preserve pictures and memories :)

 

Their faces when they're getting ready to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Noelle has the best excited face!

Happy Friday y'all.  I can't believe my little babies are TWO in two days.  It just doesn't seem possible since I remember so clearly how tiny and squishy they were.  And how tired we were.  And now they run, jump, climb, sometimes speak in full sentences, sign lots of words, and "read".  It's crazy how time flies.  So excuse me while I go cry in a corner about how my babies technically aren't classified as babies any more but are in fact full blown toddlers.  It's going to be a fun weekend celebrating them :D

Have a great one!