Num-Num Fairy Came

Mark reached a huge milestone on Saturday.  He was ready to give up his num-num! On Thursday, I asked him if he was ready to give up his num-nums to the "Num-Num Fairy" and fully expected a "no" like all the other times I've asked him.

In fact, he has great disdain for the Num-Num Fairy. When I first told him about the fairy and how she comes and takes the nums-nums in exchange for gifts, he told me that he would punch her in the face if she ever came to take his num-num.

So imagine my surprise when he said that he was ready for the num-num fairy to come on the "day after tomorrow" - which was Saturday.  He wanted her to bring him Skylander Trap Team characters and traps for his game.  Done!

So on Friday I ran all around town to find 4 Skylander characters and was only able to find one trap. Who knew they were so hard to find? I also sweetened the deal with pack of skittles.

That night, he placed his num-num on a pillow (I originally told him to put it under his pillow, but he insisted that the fairy would not be able to find it under the pillow). And I did a happy dance on the inside.

On Saturday morning, I replaced the num-num with a bag full of goodies and hoped and prayed that this will work. It didn't look good at first because the first thing he wanted when he woke up was his num-num, but when he saw the gift bag, he remembered about the fairy.  Then he got super excited and happy saying that his wish came true and that the num-num fairy came.

This was the last time with his num-num!

He woke up to find some just what he wanted from the fairy.

He was super excited and so was Mommy!

He couldn't wait to play with his new gifts.

We are on the fourth day of no num-nums.  So far, so good.  He's asked for it a couple of times, but I remind him that the fairy took it and he's been fine with it. I think we are done with the num-nums for good and I couldn't be happier!

A Day at the Zoo

We've been having a great 3-day weekend.  M and Michael are in Vegas for a soccer tournament so it's just been Mark, Matthew and me this weekend.  We miss them, but I have to admit that it's been nice with just the two kiddos. Less fighting and bickering for sure.

The highlight of the weekend was a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. I thought it would be too cold and almost decided against it, but I'm glad we went. It was still a little chilly, but it was awesome because there was hardly anybody else there. All the animals were out and we could take as much time with them as we want because there was no crowd. 

I love that Matthew loves to take pictures and read about the animals. He was giving little facts as we strolled to each exhibitions.  Mark was super excited to see the giraffes.  He loves giraffes. We got to see both baby elephants - though they've really gown since the last time we saw them.  They are not as cute as when they were babies.

Eating some breakfast with his happies before we head out to the zoo.

All the giraffes were out! Of course, Mark was not up for pictures.

It felt like we were the only ones at the zoo. The kids had room to run around - which is not typical at the Ft. Worth Zoo.

I loved this tiger exhibit. The tiger was not shy and was pacing back and forth right by the glass. Mark got nervous that the tiger was so close and wanted to leave. I asked him later that night if he was scared of the tiger and he said yes because he thought it might be able to get through the glass. Poor baby.

This was my first time to see the lions at the zoo.  Every time we've been, they were not in their exhibit. You can barely see it, but there was a male and a female lion behind us, chilling and staring at us.

I love these boys!

Matthew was such a good big brother.  He was encouraging Mark to touch this thing -Yuck! They told us it was a leg-less lizard. Not as bad as a snake, but still yuck.

Just us at the zoo!

They wanted to stand next to the animal they were closest in size to.

It was a perfect way to spent our day together! On our way home, Mark slept and Matthew remarked on how peaceful it was.  Yes, it was very peaceful and I'm so happy to spend time with these monkeys.

Shower for Makena Lee

Our family threw a baby shower for my sister on Saturday. I was in charge of it and of course it was very pink!  There was not a theme, but the colors were pink, gray and gold. This was my first opportunity to throw a girly party so I was super excited.  

We had so many people!  I was worried about not having enough food or drink, but it turned out to be the perfect amount. My parents have been in their house for almost 30 years and my sister grew up with about 6 girls living in the same court.  They call themselves the Court Girls.  Most of them were able to make it to her shower which is very special.

I love this sign so I used it as part of the decoration.  When the party is over, Sandi can hang it in Makena's room.

This was the craft/game table - we had the late night diaper advise, diaper raffle and a headband making station.

Hot coco shower favors.

 The mom-to-be.

Instead of a cake, we did a donut cake.

Guests enjoying some mimosas.

The happy parents-to-be. Loved my sissy's dress!

The "Court Girls." These girls have been friends with my sister since they were 3!

Opening gift!

Aren't these donut pants the cutest ever?!

I cannot wait to meet my first niece. She's is the first girl on both sides of the family so there is on question that she is going to be a spoiled little girl!

Christmas in California

We spent our Christmas in California with my family this year.  We stayed 2 weeks because I was also hosting my sister's baby shower right after the new year.  Here's our Christmas trip to California!

This guy was comfy on the plane.

This one slept most of the way there.

These boys love playing Monopoly.

I friend of ours invited us to to a private showing of the new Star Wars movies.  It was pretty awesome.

The boys played a little game while we waited for the other guests to arrive.

They had breakfast for us.

We also got a little snack pack to much on during the movies.

and of course, we had breakfast several times at the donut shop. Mark loves his apple fritter.  He calls it the apple donut.

We also went out to dinner. On this night we had sushi at Ninja Sushi, my parents' favorite.

This guy slept through most of dinner and then munched on edamame after he woke up.

We also went out for fro-yo.

Benjamin and his cute little hat.

We visited my brother a lot.  He lives 2 minutes from my mom.

Playing stamps with Ben-Ben.

on this Christmas morning, these boys were ready to open some presents!

Ban came over and joined in on the fun.

 Cousins!

We got my dad an iMac.  I think he likes it!

We had dinner at Maggiano's on this night.  It was a little crazy because it was super busy, but we enjoyed our dinner.

The boys were going a little crazy at the house so we went to Pump It Up to get some energy out.

Then my brother and I took all 4 boys to the Discovery Museum the next day. Mark and Ben had the best time. The boys liked it too, but I think it was geared more towards younger kiddos.

They are learning about bubbles here.

These two were making energy by turning the crank.

Mark loved being in the driver's seat of an ambulance.

Then it was off to the waterworks exhibit - his favorite.

 He was also a grocer.

Picking out some fresh veggies...

Then he became a firefighter.

Off to fight a fire!

At Michael's request, we went to the Sonoma Chicken Co-op for lunch.  This was the best picture I can get.

I was trying to get a good picture in the car. I was not very successful.

We had fun visiting in California, but it is nice to be back home!