oh, mickey, you're so fine!

i cannot believe it is finally here! i first made this vacation reservation in august 2007! so, i've been planning and paying for quite awhile now (sixteen months)! and it's here! we leave tomorrow afternoon! the kids are bouncing off the walls. ian wants to leave N.O.W. addie wants to totally skip school tomorrow (not going to happen). but, if all goes well, we will wake up in "the world" on tuesday! woo hoo!

i am a bit of a disney nut. i'll admit it. my nephew said today that i must really like it. i told him that like was an understatement. something about disney makes me feel nine again! and seeing it through my kids' eyes is just even better. the last time we went, ian had just turned two and addie was almost five. so, they are now two years older and it will be fun to see how their experiences are different. will addie still be afraid of any hint of a villain? will ian pass the height restrictions on more rides (because he IS tall enough, but i hear that the height checkers can be picky)? how many times will i tear up? it really is my happy place.

anyway, in honor of our trip, i'm sharing some two-years-old pictures! the one of ian with lighting mcqueen--that's about as close to pure joy as you'll get. he STILL loves his cars! and addie, she was a ham for the camera even then! this time, she has her own camera, so i will be sharing some of what she captures once we come back! she seems to have already developed a knack for close-ups. i have NO idea where she picked that up! ;)

i hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving! thank you to my clients for the wonderful holiday season! it has been a crazy busy one, but i'm so grateful for every single client, so many of whom have become dear friends!

happy birthday, boo

i cannot believe it's been four years already. i tried to convince ian to just skip his birthday this year, and to stay three for longer. but he wouldn't agree. and i guess i can't stop him from growing up. he is truly now passed the baby and toddler stage and is a little boy. sob.

he is my love. and he totally has me wrapped around his finger, even when he's being ornery. and goodness knows he can be ornery. :) but he's such a sweet love, that it's hard to get upset with him, even when he is not behaving. i really am a softie. but it's true what they say about how boys love their mommies. and mommies love their boys.

what can i tell you about him? well, he loves cars, especially pixar Cars. it's a love that he hasn't grown out of for years. he is fantastic at playing the cars game on our playstation. he can beat me! he loves dinosaurs, of any variety. he loves pirates, especially the veggie tales pirates who don't do anything. he loves balls and sports. he loves to talk. and talk. and talk (almost as much as his sister). he loves mcdonalds, and would eat there for every meal if we'd let him.

he is exuberant. he loves to have fun and laugh and wrestle with daddy. he loves to go to school twice a week. he loves to sing the "goodbye, cuddly cubs" song (from school). he loves when it's time to pick up addie from school, even if they fight about half of the time. his favorite song to sing is "the pirates who don't do anything." and we sing it every night before he goes to bed. he loves the song "jingle bells." and he loves to play. and he hates, absolutely HATES to have his picture taken.

my beautiful

everything i've written in this post, i've erased. it just doesn't sound right. so, i'm just going to leave it as follows:

you know how when you look at something or someone every single day, you sometimes get so used to the beauty that you take it completely for granted?