"INNYLAND"

So, it's been a while since I've updated. Things are going great! We started October off with a fun little trip to the happiest place on earth! DISNEYLAND!!! The trip was crazy and exhausting but we had so much fun! 

First off we had a great time driving down to California  - mila had a potty accident, eliza got car sick and projectile vomited everywhere! (But hey, these are the things memories are made of!) and the girls actually did great entertaining themselves in the car! here is eliza goofing off up front while dad cleans up her mess in the back seat! 

We got to California late in the afternoon and met up with our friends the berrys at the beach, this was Eliza's first beach experience, she loved watching the waves crash, and she loved playing in the sand, her and mila both got knocked over by a big wave, but they kept coming back for more!

The next morning we woke up and headed over to Disneyland! We rented a house that was just a couple blocks down the street it was nice to be just a short walk away!

 

One of Mila's favorite parts of the trip was getting to go inside "Jack's house" Her favorite movie is Nightmare before Christmas, she asks to watch it at least once a day! During the Halloween season at Disneyland they decorate the Haunted Mansion with the Nightmare before Christmas theme.  She totally loved it!

Here is our group waiting for the parade to start 

We had so much fun hanging out and riding all of the rides with the Berrys, Mila and Hazel are cute little friends. 

And that was the end of our first day!

We decided to change things up a bit so day 2 we did California Adventure

For lunch me and Melissa took Mila and Hazel to "Ariel's Grotto" and had lunch with the princesses, (while the boys took the babies to get corn dogs) it was great, I loved seeing Mila's reaction to each princess as they came around to our table!

California Adventure was so fun the girls loved The Little Mermaid ride which we took them on 3 times because they kept saying, "again?"  We also saw the Aladdin show which was awesome and really kept their attention. 

At the end of our second (last) day I took Mila on a ride in "Cars" land the one where the tow truck pulls "Mater" and we were so excited that Mila met the 32" height requirement, and the line was short, so we ran right on!  I had never been on it before, and when we sat down I put Mila next to me. The ride goes straight then makes a quick turn that kind of whips you around, and when we took the first turn it caused me to lean/fall onto Mila and she must have had her arm out just right on the seat next to her because she screamed so loud I knew she had gotten hurt!

We finished the ride and it took a few minutes to calm her down, we decided we would kind of take it easy and watch her for the rest of the night. we gave her some Tylenol and it seemed to help, she didn't act like it was bugging her too bad,  she was still running around and playing like normal. It would only seem to hurt when she tried to put pressure on it.

We drove home on Sunday (without any mis-haps, thank goodness!) we stopped for lunch in St. George and both the girls played really hard at the playground, I thought no way her arm is broken.  The next morning though I noticed it was still bothering her if she tried to put any weight on it so we decided to take her in to have the dr take a look at it. 

When we got to the dr's office he looked at it, and tried applying some pressure to it, didn't seem to bother her, and while he was talking to me she was running around climbing on stuff. He said, "I don't know? I'm having a hard time believing she's hurt." But I'm going to send you to get X-rays just to be safe. 

I'm glad he did because turns out she had a "buckle" aka compression fracture just above her wrist that went through both the radial and ulnar bones.  I'm glad that In a way I was kind of prepared for this day: her first break! (And it was my fault) I wanted to cry :( but then I remembered something one of our friends from the OI group we met with when Mila was first diagnosed taught me, she said you have to remember that no one causes the fractures, it is the brittle bones that cause the fractures.  This made me feel a little bit better.  I feel so blessed that she can live such a normal life and she hasn't been held back at all up to this point. I am so proud of my little Mila she might be fragile but man she is a tough little girl! 

She was so worn out from our busy weekend trip and all day at the doctors office and getting X-rays she passed out and slept through the whole cast application process, I wasn't sure how she was going to react when she woke up to find her arm in a cast.

She actually seemed to really like it, I explained it was to help her broken bones heal, and it should make it feel better.  She seemed to understand and started pointing to it and saying "broke bones" and  "feel better" when people ask how she broke it she says "Innyland" (that's how she pronounces "disneyland") she will have to keep it on for 4 weeks (it was put on Oct 5 and she will have it taken off Nov 3) 

Overall it was a great trip (adventure) and even with our little mis-haps we would all do it again! (In fact if you ask Mila what she wants to do today there's about a 75% chance she will say "Innyland" the other 25% would be "zoo" her two favorite places on earth!) Couldn't have asked for a better weekend getaway! Or a better opportunity to Count our blessings!

ELIZA'S ONE YEAR!

So, I know this blog update is late! (I think I am in denial that my baby Eliza has actually turned one!) She is such a big girl, she is just growing up so so fast! We had a few parties for her to celebrate her GOLDEN BIRTHDAY! She is so much more attentive these days, she is a sponge absorbing everything!  She is great at imitating everything she sees us do.  She has started to say a few more words, (especially food related words such as "banana", "m&m's, and, "snack") she likes to tell everyone to "come here" by motioning with her little hand, and she loves to give kisses/blow kisses. She is still very active and somewhat fearless despite taking a few hard falls.  She loves loves loves to play dress ups all the time!

She also likes to "help" mom in the kitchen by unloading all of the drawers and spreading the things she finds all over the house! We have to keep a close watch on the garbage because she loves to throw things away.  We haven't seen our phone charger for a few weeks and are thinking she may be the culprit, (but innocent until proven guilty)  She is so sweet, one of her favorite things to do is to find Mila's stuffed owl and pick it up and take it to her! She loves coming into nursery with grandma, me, and Mila and fits right in with the 2-3 year olds.  She and Mila are starting to be better friends and are both becoming more strong willed! I have had to intervene in their little sibling dominance battles more often lately and it is definitely not always Mila starting it, or putting up the biggest fight! Watch out world, here comes ELIZA JANE the ONE YEAR OLD!!!

FIRST PONYTAILS!

Mila is also doing great! She started potty training about a month ago, and has done awesome! She still gets a little bit nervous about public restrooms, but overall she loves the independence that comes with being able to get herself to the potty.  (and the extra treats/prizes help too!) She is talking like crazy, her new nickname is "miss bossy pants" she likes to tell everyone else what to do especially Eliza.  But, I have to admit she is actually becoming more helpful.  I love to see even more of her personality come out as her ability to communicate improves.

We just finished her "big girl bed" and "big girl bedroom" at my parents house and she is loving having her own space. (And we are loving having our bed back!) haha! Both her and Eliza still love to sing and dance all the time.  I love them both so much, and love just watching them grow little by little every day! I was at work yesterday and pulled a binkie out of my purse (we call them "nee-nee's" at our house) anyways, I thought to myself, wow I know I am really going to miss this stage of life in a couple of years!

So as for us, we have had a pretty good few months here in Utah, everything is going great! We have decided to stay at my parents for a while longer in order to save some $.  We found out that JEFF passed the BAR! WOO-HOO!  I Can't describe how great that feels! He gets sworn in next month! I am so so proud of him.

 I am still working at TOSH (The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital) 1 day a week and that is going good so far.  Overall I would say we are on track and heading in the right direction! I am loving life with These crazy people I call family!