oh hey, I'm ONE [20 months]

This past month has really been something different.  First of all, my parents have decided to do a switcheroo on me, and now mom is home with me during the day, and dad is home at night.  At first this change really had me pretty mixed up, but now I'm not complaining.  It seems like mom is around, all the time, and I'm not having to share her with any other big kids, so I'm not going to complain about the shift in my routine.  Lately I've been keeping up with my chatterbox status, and I'm getting really good at mimicking words I hear around me.  For example, just today I said "exactly" right after my grammie did, and she seemed pretty pleased by this.  My newest favorite phrase would be "oh".  First, I start off by rambling a question to myself, and then I answer myself, and then finish my conversation with myself with a good "oh".  Right now it seems that all my parents are making out is the "oh" part, so clearly I need to keep working on my sentences.

Mom thought she was getting off easy with a kid who just let her dress her in whatever.  Well, she was wrong.  I don't know what they expected?  Take a kid to Disneyland five times in less than two years and she is going to develop a liking to all things Disney, so why is mom confused when I will only wear my Minnie and Frozen apparel?  Once, I wouldn't even go swimming because mom tried to sneak a "non-Minnie" suit on me, so I just became a backyard explorer instead, in my diaper.  I've also learned to accessorize this past month.  I kept wanting to wear my mom's necklaces, and she even let me wear one out to lunch, but decided that I should have my own [that didn't have sharp pointy edges and such], so now I am the proud owner of two necklaces of my very own. 

In other news, I'm still tiny, wearing anything from 6 months to a 2T, so clearly clothing sizes are a little strange.  I'm still working the size 3 diapers, and please oh please, I hope I weigh 20 pounds.  When I went to the doctor a few weeks back I was still holding strong in the 19 pound range, so who knows?  Maybe I'll make great gains from now until my two year checkup [probably not, but it's okay].  I still love giving kisses, but sometimes I'm stingy with them.  I love holding on to the edges of my mom's dresses, and twirling around her.  I love Dinosaur Train, Sesame Street, and So You Think You Can Dance.  I really love dancing with mom and dad when we watch our dancing shows, and even take their hands to pull them off the sofa to come and dance with me.  I love going for walks in my stroller in the mornings, and asking for "wa" from my parents at night.  These walks consist of holding hands while we go find something fun in the nursery, or having mom tell me every item that is in the fridge as I point.  I love going "side" because let's face it, the outdoors are just so much better than inside.  It looks like I'll be layering up for the winter months because there is no more confining me! 

All photos were taken a few weeks ago while visiting San Diego
[clearly before my Minnie obsession really set in]

Wright's Beach [part I]

When my best friend and I met over 11 years ago, we had no idea that we had so much more in common than our love of food.  Turns out, we also had very fond childhood memories of Bodega Bay.  I love that she and her husband still live close to this quaint little ocean town, and when the stars align, we all get to visit.  My family used to camp in the largest motor home we could park in the beach front spaces of Wright's Beach.  And even though I haven't camped here since I was a young teen, I love taking a quick day trip to the beach and enjoy the sand.  Getting to bring Everly here is one of my favorites and I know it will be a place she remembers fondly too.

We got to the beach in the early afternoon and it was pretty typical Bodega Bay, cool, breezy, and overcast.  That didn't stop us one bit.

Yes, at one point we literally put two sweaters on Everly.

We still were barefoot, and loved burying feet, finding foot steps, 

and pretty much smitten with baby toes.

Yes, we take much better candid shots of Everly

than planned family photos.

Did I mention my daughter's favorite phrase right now is "NO"?!?

And yes, sometimes you do have four adults and two cameras

to one child, I promise I'm working on a well rounded only child.

And because I also got a new memory card while on vacation,

I took WAY too many photos, so I had to break up the trip into two posts

Spoiler alert - the sun came out!

why we decided to head to disneyland [for another year]

Last year we bought season passes to Disneyland for the very first time, and found out I was pregnant two weeks later.  We took full advantage of our passes, even though I took up a little more space on the rides each time we visited.  When we visited the park in January and took Everly for the first time, we said we would take a year off and buy passes again next year.  Well, last week we were in southern California for vacation, and each day we were down there I was dying not going to Disneyland.  Finally, I woke up one morning and decided we were getting our passes, that very day.  The last two months have pretty much sucked financially.  Between crazy vet bills, crappy car situations, and so on, I was ready to spend money on something fun.  Not to mention, we only have our family friends down near Disneyland for one more year before they move, so the Disney stars were aligned so to say, and we bought our passes.  It was a little happy graduation to me present!

The first day we went, we rocked it hard for nine hours.  And Everly loved it.  We decided to start on the Pirates of the Caribbean to see how she was going to do on rides now that she's older.  Well, the drops in the dark didn't slow her down.  However, no matter what ride we went on, she had a very serious face.  So much stimulation, and very serious about Disneyland, clearly.

^^^visiting where we got engaged just over six years ago^^^

^^^first ride pirates was a success, jumping around too much to get a clear photo - and no stroller for us in Disneyland [we don't own one], naps in the Ergo do the job when on the go, and you can still ride "kid friendly rides"^^^

^^^serious ride face^^^

^^^I would say this parade that we just happened to walk by was one of my favorite Everly moments, ever!  She was having the time of her life, and catching the attention of everyone on the floats.  Seeing your little one having that much fun, especially so young, was worth everything^^^

^^^our "real" attempt at watching a parade on the second day wasn't as successful, which sounds about right.  Everly still checked everything out, but I think was still tired from the day before.  Even though she just woke up from a very long nap in the Ergo, she was rubbing her little face the whole time.  We took her home right after^^^

Had such an amazing time with my little family.  Hope that this year we get to take our extended families with us to visit the park with Everly, because, really, it is just too much fun!

local lovin' [travel edition]

it has been quite a while since I've done a local lovin' post

but our recent vacation find in san diego cannot go unmentioned

we booked our room at the Lafayette Hotel the morning of our stay

for a whopping $59, and the reviews were good

but our experience was excellent

it is no surprise that the husband and I are lovers of all things from the past

and The Lafayette Hotel in the North Park neighborhood of San Diego

is really a great example of why

the hotel has recently been undergoing some major renovations

and I loved when staying there how they displayed the hotel's history for guests to see

in fact back in the day it was frequented by the likes of Bob Hope

not bad for us nerds for all things old and glamourous

the neighborhood was pretty simple

near major San Diego attractions like the Zoo & Balboa Park

but the "main drag" just had a great feel the husband & I couldn't get enough of

if only they made signs like these nowadays

and I would be an even happier camper

So if you are ever in the area, I would highly suggest this place.  

for couples I would ask for a room by the pool

(we just got insanely lucky!)

and families, they have larger rooms & bungalows that would be a great fit for more than two

other local lovin's here

travel local lovin's here

the details:

Lafayette Hotel & Suites San Diego
2223 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104

Visit their website here!

from south to north

time to head back up north

and I must admit, I'm pretty ready for it

not quite ready to go back to school

or the fact that I have class next weekend

but all in all, normal life doesn't sound too bad

and then there were three [day two]

yesterday the husband and I put our ridiculous disneyland skills to use

when bringing along one of the mr.'s lifelong friends

who happens to live less than thirty minutes from disneyland

and had not been for over fifteen years!  

turns out - we are pretty fun people to visit mickey with

and just a few more instagram photos to add to the vacation collection

that I will be turning oh so fast into a blurb book

if you haven't used blurb before, I suggest it

not only have I created wedding albums through this program

I've also done one of their instagram books that just couldn't be any easier

one more night of fun to come

today I'm taking it easy, catching up around the blog world

 trying to get rid of the cold my ever so giving husband let me have

and not grading ANY of the papers that I brought with me this week

165 poetry anthologies can always wait, right?!?

disneyland, instagram-ed [day one]

are you obsessed with this little app too?

well, if so, I would love to follow along

you can find me @lyndsaylew

today vintage...tomorrow Disneyland

and I'm so happy about all of that 

I could almost fly away on one of these bikes

today we visited the Long Beach Antique mall, again

no treasures we couldn't live without

but it made for a pretty nice afternoon

after that we've been resting up

and will soon be carb-ing up with close friends

because tomorrow, we get our magic on

be prepared for too many instagram photos for sure

southern california, pretty in to you right now

so you know how sometimes you just have trips, and they don't go exactly as planned

and they might not live up to your expectations

well, that hasn't been this trip at all

luckin' into awesomness has been the theme so far

and I'm not going to let that stop anytime soon.

currently blogging from my new favorite place

poolside

and yes, I'm pretty into it
photo strips taken with IncrediBooth
I picked it up for free, but it is still only $.99 (not bad)

wedding day part one - it's all in the details

Here are just a few of my favorites from my aunt's breathtaking wedding.

Yes, I did have a love affair with the lighting.  Next post will be filled with family photos so be warned!