My Fairy Tale

In their dreams people imagine life as a fairy tale - far off places, grand castles and beautiful love stories. However, for me it is upon waking up that I am swept away to some far off place, my home becomes a castle and my little girl becomes the princess of her choice. Recently she been pretending to be Ariel from "The Little Mermaid" and occassionally even Scuttle (her imitation of Scuttle is hilarious). This morning she was Cinderella. First thing this morning she asked me to help her put her Cinderella gown and slippers on. After assisting her I went into the kitchen to get breakfast ready. A few moments later she came into the kitchen pretending she was crying. When I asked her what was wrong she said, in her fake crying voice, "stepsisters ripped my dress." This was so cute to me. Her memory and imagination are absolutely adorable. I love these little glimpses into what she is thinking.

On the other hand, I have no idea what Jackson is thinking and I am not sure I ever I will. How can I expect any different, just look at his father. Yes, those are my shorts he is wearing and this not the first time he has worn my clothes. So you see, my son dressed as a princess is really not unusual - he's just a lot like his father. Well, what can I say, I married him. This may not be the fairy tale I envisioned but he's my "fairy" and I love him.

First Haircuts

For quite some time I have been telling Scott that Jackson needed a haircut. Because of Scott's hesitation I have been putting it off. Truth is his hair was getting pretty long and shabby, but I loved his curls in the back and I really didn't want them gone.

On Friday evening we finally decided, well I decided, that it was time for Jackson to get his first haircut. With a very worried Scott watching closely, my Mom cut Jackson's hair.

Then it was Ellie's turn.


Technically this wasn't Ellie's first haircut. About a year ago, I attempted to trim Ellie's bangs. This turned out disasterous. She ended up looking like Lloyd from the movie Dumb and Dumber. Let's Take a look back.

The haircuts look great! And Scott is doing fine now. However, after the haircuts he did proclaim that he missed Ellie's hair. I had no idea he was so attached.

Toddler Isle

Yesterday I spoke to my Grandma who is in Hawaii for two weeks (and yes she did take my Grandfather). At first I was little jealous, but then I stepped outside into my own outdoor paradise called Toddler Isle.

Toddler Isle has friendly locals willing to give you and island tour in the little tikes car - for the right price or a cookie.

The tourists enjoy climbing Turtle Mountain. After exploring Turtle Mountain it is on to splash lagoon.

Splash Lagoon is known for its many waterfalls and colorfull caverns. There is also a wide aray of sealife that make their home in the water.

On occassion there has been a mermaid spotted swimming in the waters at splash lagoon. This particular mermaid attended the The Little Mermaid Fine Arts Academy where she took a few singing lessons. Evidently, the school's staff was on vacation that day and her classes were taught by Scuttle.

Though there is no fresh pineapple to sample, the popcicle can be found by the box full. Popcicles are enjoyed not in hamocks, but toddler swings.

What would an exotic getaway be without beautiful girls doing the hula.

I'm sure Hawaii is beautiful, but my days on Toddler Isle are numbered so I plan to soak up every minute.

Potty Hardy

Once upon a time there was a little girl who was learning to go pee pee and poo poo in the potty. Her Mama and Dada were very proud of her. The little girl was doing very well using the potty, but sometimes it was hard to go poo poo. One day the little girl was getting upset because it was taking too long to go poo poo and she didn't want to sit on the potty anymore. That's when the girl's little brother decided that she could use a little cheering up. He decided that it was time to "potty hardy".

First he tried to cheer her up with some hugs and kisses.


When his efforts failed he decided that if you can't beat them join them. So he sat down on the little potty across from his sister. The girl and her brother sat on their pottys until she finally went poo poo. Then they played happily ever after. The End.

Jackson - 15 months

On July 23 Jackson was 15 months old. He doesn't have his 15 month appointment until Aug the 9th so I can't update you on weight and height, but post your guess and we'll make a game out of it.


To my little buddy,
Since you were born you have been "my little buddy". To this point you have been a Mama's boy but I can sense this changing. I have recently found myself calling you "my little man". This week you turned 15 months old and there is so much I don't want to forget. Like the way you wave your wrist at everyone you see, how you rock back in forth when you dance, how you burry your head when your sleepy or snuggle into the crease of my neck for comfort (even if only for a fleeting moment). You can sleep anywhere. A few of your funniest places to nap were the Pittsburg Children's Mueseum and very often you fall asleep while eating. You are growing and changing so fast. However some things never change. You still love Food and you still love to eat.

For your naps we take you into your room say night night, kiss you and lay you in your bed. Sometimes at bedtime you will let me rock you for a few minutes, but it is not very long before your little fat hand is pointing to your bed. That's my cue to get my last kiss of the night before I lay you down. Every night before I go to bed I sneak into your room to peek at you. You are either all sprawled out on your back, arms overhead or crawled up in a little ball face first into the bed. In the mornings you wake up so sweetly. Never crying and always happy, you play in your crib until we go into your room to get you. Every morning you greet us with a big smile, arms stretched out to reach for us and you are wildly jumping up and down.

You are a fish in the water, well more like a whale. You jump and kick and flop in the bath tub. You are fearless. You enjoy sliding down the slanted side in the garden tub. This scares me to death. You have recently discovered the garden hose. You love being sprayed in the face, but are not a fan when someone tries to take it from you. You LOVE being outside. When it's time to come inside or when your not allowed outside you put up one pretty good fight.

You are extremely strong willed. Our greatest challenege with you has been the fit throwing when you do not get your way or somethinmg is taken from you. You have a very sweet and loving personality and are very adventurous. You are very coordinated for your age. You are a heavy thing to hold. You have chubby cheeks that I could just bite. You have little fat legs. You really are not very fat you are just so solid.

You are a mans man. At church you will go up to just about any man and want to be held - of course this only lasts for a few seconds. You love dogs and the bigger the better. You like it when they lick you in the face and chase you. Your doggy noise sounds like "AT AT". In fact all of your animal noises sound the same dog, duck, horse, ect. You chase our cat Gilbert all over the house.

At this stage you are not a man of many words. I'm begining to wondr if it is because you always have your pacifier in your mouth. You can say Mama, Dada, thank you, please and more. Your yes sounds like Da (that's only because you have a little German in you). We rarely have to remind you to say thank you. You are always thanking us.

You still like your golf clubs and balls of any kind, but your favorite things are trucks. You love to play with toy cars and trucks and watch real ones. You love riding in big trucks and on tractors. Your favorite toy is the Sesame Street pop up. One of yur favorite things to do is stand in sissy's bed and play with her doll house furniture. It plays music which you dance to. You hold on to the edge of her bed and jump to music with all you might. Watching your little fat legs jump up and down is adorable. You love music. You love when we sing with Ellie and you can even do the motions. When she finishes a song you clap and say yeah.

You are Ellies biggest fan. She aggravates you a lot because she is faster and can beat you to things you are wanting. She also takes things from you - a lot. Recently you have started retaliating. You may be smaller but you are stronger.

One of my favorite memories with you is when you fell asleep at the beach. The beach has always been my favorite place on earth and holding you in my arms while you slept was a priceless experience. As I listened to the waves and smelled the salt air I looked at your olive skin, your little curls and your tiny little mouth. Staring at you face on my shoulder I prayed that you would always know how much I love you and more importantly how much God loves you.

Everyday is a great adventure and holds something new. I can't possibly write all of the wonderfull things that you do and I feel becaue of you, but these a few things I never want to forget.

It's Potty Time!

Today we compiled a list of Ellie's greatest accomplishments.
1. Sleeping through the night
2. Learning to walk
3. Saying her first word - "Mama"
4. Counting to 15
5. Sleeping in her big girl bed
6. Saying her ABC's
7. Spelling her name
And as of this this week we have the great priviledge of inducting "going to the potty" as Ellie's 8th greatest accomplishment. We have been accident free for 5 days. Proud little Ellie poses with her potty and big girl panties. Way to go Ellie!

Party Crasher

Yesterday was Devin's 19th Birthday!!! Last nigh Gail had invited us all over for a special birthday dinner. Little did we know that Jack had a little plan of his own. After Jackson had finished eating I asked him if he was ready to get down and play. He answered with a "yes." I then asked him to say please. He answered back with a scream. After about 15 minutes of screaming at the table I took his little eatingchair and moved it to the hallway. This scream persisted for an hour. When I would tell him to say please and he could get down he would squeal more loudly. So I did the only thing I could think of, I took apicture of the whole ordeal and decided I would blog about it. After an hour of intense fit throwing and one large headache he finaly signed the word please and was set free. We rejoined the party which by this point had moved outside.


Despite the little interruption the party continued and everyone (even jackson) had a great time!
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Teething

There was a little boy,
Who was happy and coy.
Until one day he began to cry.
His parents wondered why.
The boy was fussy night and day
And then they heard the Grandmother say,
"I think the the boy is teething."
It wasn't long before all were believing.
The boy's right molar came in Tuesday night.
And he stopped putting up a fight.

Our Vacation

The Moore family vacation began on Friday, July 29 at 5:00 AM - destination Pappy Steve and Grandma's house. After 13 hours of driving we arrived in Cranberry, PA. Here is a picture journal of our adventures.

DAY # 1 - Here we are at Cranberry Park with Pappy Steve, Zachary and Ethan.





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On our way to PA we were attacked by pirates, who stole the treasure that we were taking to Pappy Steve and Grandma. It was up to Zachary and Ethan to figure out the clues and follow the treasure map to find the missing treasure. In the park, Aunt Amber tried to tell the boys what had happened. Zachary wasn't buying it. He insisted it was a myth and he was not going to waste his time participating. Once the treasure hunt began Zachary was a believer.

After the treasure hunt we had a bon fire complete with smores.


DAY # 2 - We visited our uncles and ran some errands. Before we left we all had lunch on the back porch.



DAY # 3 - Most of the day was spent simply relaxing. However, in the evening we spotted a few monkies in the tree (one was not very happy).



DAY # 4 - We went to the Pittsburg Children's Museum with Aunt Christy and the boys. In the evening Pappy Steve and Grandma watched the kids so we could go to the Pittsburg Pirates Game. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the museum.








DAY # 5 - On the 4th of July it rained most of the day. It cleared up just in time to have a cook out and watch the fireworks.




On day six we left Pappy Steve and Grandma's house and headed to Buffalo, NY to visit the Minunni Family. We love and miss them so much.We had a wonderful time seeing the people and places where we use to live. Scott and I agreed that Buffalo didn't feel like home, but we really miss our friends and it was sad to leave. So, after being gone for 11 days we packed the car and headed home.