May, 2009 | The Angel Forever

Monthly Archives May 2009

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End of vacation blues

Posted on May 15, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

By the time you are reading this, we will be spending our last day at Walt Disney World. I will likely be twitching a lot from internet withdrawal, but family time with Mickey Mouse is well worth it. Of course, Saturday will be the plane ride home and by the night I will be mostly unpacked and ready to do tons of laundry on Sunday.

So my question to you is quite simple this week:

How do you ease end of vacation blues?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is our first family vacation since we have had the kids, so it is going to be hard to remember how to deal with this after the fact.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #48

Categories:
Aloha Friday Disney family travel vacation

My little guy is 2 today

Posted on May 14, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

It is very hard to believe that my little boy, my boo-boo chicken monkey, is now two years old. The reality is that JSL is not a baby anymore. The sad part is that he is also starting to look and act like a full fledged toddler. Just a year ago I wrote a post about JSL turning 1. I spent hours sifting through photos to show the amazing changes that he had gone through in his first year. This year, the changes were not only physical. Over the last year JSL, has learned to walk, run, climb, jump, talk, sing, count to 10 (video here by JL), sing part of his ABC’s, appreciate story time, and explore the world around him.

Two years ago, I became the mother of two little boys.

JSL entered the world and made NHL a big brother. Our lives changed instantly in an amazing way. It is actually quite hard to imagine my world without my sweet little guy. JSL has kept us on our toes, worried us more than one can imagine (3 febrile seizures over the last 15 months) and made us smile and laugh frequently.

Here is a look back from a few days after his 1st birthday. (May 2008)

How could anyone ever get angry with this face? (June 2008)

New fun adventures in the sun. (July 2008)

Learned new tricks daily. (August 2008)

Ready to walk and go, go, go! (September 2008)

Refusing to keep shoes on, even in the cold – thank goodness he learned his lesson later on. (October 2008)

It was hard letting him grow up. Eventually I gave in and let JSL have his first hair cut. (November 2008)

Finally realizing the fun of Chanukah. (December 2008)

A snuggle bug that loved spending time with his cousin S and Uncle I. (January 2009)

Going to his first Sesame Street Live show. (February 2009)

Getting away for a weekend to visit cousins and did not want to swim. (March 2009)

Celebrating Passover with family. (April 2009)

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Dear JSL,

You have changed so much over the last year. It has been so much fun watching you grow, play, and learn. I love seeing you interact with your big brother and show your stuff. No matter how big you get, you will always be my baby boy.

I hope that you have a magical birthday at Disney World and remember that I love you with all of my heart.

Mama

Categories:
birthday Disney jsl looking back milestone photos

Pretending to be big brother

Posted on May 13, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Categories:
jsl Wordless Wednesday

Fun with Birthday Express

Posted on May 12, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Since we have had the boys, we spend months before their birthdays trying to figure out several items. In addition to who we invite, when to have the party, there is another big decision. We need to figure out what theme to use for the party each year. In the past, NHL has had: Bear in the Big Blue House (1st), Finding Nemo (2nd), Madagasgar (3rd), Curious George (4th), Dinosaurs (5th).

For JSL’s first birthday we did the Sesame Street 1st birthday partyware. We had a hard time finding places that carried it. After the fact, several of my friends suggested ordering from Birthday Express. Recently I had the opportunity to purchase some items from Birthday Express. JL and I decided to buy something for JSL’s upcoming second birthday.

When you go to the Birthday Express website you can browse by male/female party supples, party theme, or view all. JL and I wanted to see all of the options for boys, so we selected that. There were 85 options to look at. We immediately fell in love with two. We loved the exclusive Mod Monkey 2nd Birthday as well as the Sesame Street Sunny Days.

We eventually selected the Sesame Street Sunny Days theme. JSL is really attached to Cookie Monster and friends these days. He often asks to see "Street" and wants to read his "Street" books all the time. Next, we had to make the decision on what to order. Immediately, my eyes fell onto the personalized banners that was made out a heavy duty vinyl (like shades for the windows) and was 61"x18". The cost was only $14.99 and we could put a custom message on it for no additional charge.I fell in love with one that had most of the Sesame Street Characters on it. In addition to that, we purchased a centerpiece, some party blowers and hats. Since we will be at Disney for his actual birthday, these will not be used for a few more weeks when we have some family over for a little gathering (photos to follow later).

The website was extremely user friendly and easy to follow. This is not always the case with personalized item ordering. Four days after my order was placed, everything except the personalized banner arrived.

Two days later, the banner arrived on my doorstep in a hard tube that helped it to stay safe during shipping. As you will see it is very thick and comes with a label on the outside to preview what you will unroll.

When we unrolled the banner it is as wide as our couch. The quality is absolutely amazing. My little guy is going to love this on his birthday and beyond when we hang it up in his room.

Thanks to the great selection, quick shipping, and easy ordering we will definitely be ordering from Birthday Express again. In fact, in the next few weeks we will probaby ask NHL what he would like to have for his 6th birthday theme this summer.

Categories:
birthday jsl looking back photos Product review Web business

Story time at Chez Angel – Monkey Monkey Monkey

Posted on May 11, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

My almost two year old is really starting to enjoy story time . I love this because he will not only sit and "read" his own board books, but he likes to listen to bigger books that I read to him. JSL is fascinated with all things monkey. He will demand that we put the Wiggles monkey song on and he makes monkey sounds galore.

Recently, we read the new book Monkey Monkey Monkey by Cathy MacLennan.

I must admit, when I selected this book I definitely judged a book by it’s cover. I knew that JSL liked monkies and the cover was absolutely adorable. The minute I pulled the book out, JSL came flying to me. He was making monkey noises and plopped onto my lap. My kindergarten kid heard the noise and also came to listen to the story.

When you start the story, you immediately meet Monkey. Monkey is playing and doing what monkies do. Monkey has a problem, though. Monkey can not find something he wants. Monkey is missing his "monkey-monkey-monkey nuts!"

While reading the story, you follow Monkey as he looks for his monkey-monkey-monkey nuts. With each page you turn, Monkey finds various rainforest friends including spotted leopards, crocs, frogs, insects, birds. Monkey also travels to different places in the rainforest like to fruit trees and even the top of the leafy canopy. Monkey gets more and more hungry and does not find his monkey-monkey-monkey nuts . . . until somebody saves the day!

Both of the boys thoroughly enjoyed the book. NHL really appreciated the rhyme and repetition within the story. He quickly joined in and was able to help me read the book. Even JSL was making his monkey sounds each time we turned the page and saw the beautiful colorfilled illustrations of Monkey’s rainforest world. I know that we will be looking for more of Cathy MacLennan’s books in the future because of how the amazing illustrations put you into the world with the characters.

JSL also likes to take Monkey Monkey Monkey and "read" it alone. Here he is enjoying some reading time on his own.