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The original Disney fanatics in the family

Posted on May 17, 2009 6:54 pm by TheAngelForever

Growing up I went to Disney World almost every year. My parents were huge Disney fanatics and wanted all of us to have a special vacation each year. Of course, they claimed it was for my brother and me, but let’s be honest they wanted to have fun as well. Our recent trip was the first time JL and I took the boys to Disney World. It was only fitting that Nana and Papa go along with us. They went to celebrate special birthdays and to see their grandsons experience the Disney magic for the first time.

Before I get into posting about everything from our trip (still tons of photos to go through), I wanted to take a minute and thank my parents. Thank you for not only making me the huge Disney fan that I am, but thank you for experiencing the magic with us this past week. The boys and I were so glad to have you there during most of the day and each evening for our special dinners. It was so amazing seeing not only NHL and JSL’s faces, but also yours as you watched your grandchildren becoming little Disney fanatics of their own.

Categories:
Disney family fun jsl looking back milestone photos 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

First plane ride adventure

Posted on May 9, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

Daddy and I were just talking the other day about how you would both be having a big milestone together. Neither of you have been on an airplane yet. With our trip to Disney World both of you will be seeing/doing a lot of items for the first time. Not only will you be flying for the first time, but you will be seeing Mickey Mouse and all of Walt Disney World together. Watching your faces as you experiences these memories together will make this first real big family vacation even more special. Now I just hope that you have a wonderful time on our adventure and sleep well so we can put on a lot of miles at Disney World together.

Love,

Mommy

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Dear Kid Saturdays at Cutest Kid Ever

Categories:
Dear Kid Saturday Disney jsl milestone nhl photos sleep travel vacation

Measuring my daily steps

Posted on May 1, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

It is confession time here at Chez Angel. When in elementary, middle and high school I was the student that could not stand PE class. I hated running, jumping, and climbing. The weeks that we did gymnastics I would cringe. Just the thought of getting sweaty and having to change made me physically ill.

Through the years I have always made excuses about not having time to work out. Several years ago I was lucky and lost a lot of weight with Weight Watchers and never did anything above and beyond that. This time around sticking to points did not cut it. I was older and my metabolism had changed after my second pregnancy. As I have previously mentioned on my blog, I finally found a workout that I really like. Leslie Sansone makes a Walk at Home DVD series. Sure walking sounds easy, but Sansone makes you move and use all of the muscles in your body. Over the last few weeks, I have grown to love these daily workouts and actually get upset if I skip a day.

As I was walking, kicking and sweating away, I was curious about how many steps I was doing. Everyone would always talk about the magic 10,000 daily steps that are key to your health. Was I getting these without my workout or did these 2-5 miles with Leslie Sansone push me over the edge? I started to investigate pedometers. I wanted something that was not going to break easily and that I could toss in my pocket. Below is what I finally found and decided to splurge on:

My new Omron HJ-112 pocket pedometer finally arrived on Tuesday. I quickly calibrated it and put it on. After a few hours I had 1,508 steps. Then it was time to do a 3 mile workout with Leslie Sanson. In 45 minutes I was able to do 39 minutes of Aerobic moving and 4,083 steps! So in the few hours that I wore the pedometer I had almost 6,000 steps.

Wednesday I wore the pedometer the entire day. In the morning, while I finished up my laundry and the little guy slept, I put The Biggest Loser on my DVR and watched it while power walking. I walked for 51 minutes (Aerobic according to the pedometer) and did 6,195 steps. Later in the day, the boys went outside to play. I stayed inside for part of it and did 3 of the Fat Burning Miles with Leslie Sansone. That was another 38 minutes of Aerobic exercise and 4,144 additional steps. For the day I had 13,394 steps.

I am hooked and love this handy dandy little gizmo. It motivates me to do more and lets me keep track of what I have done during the day. I can not wait to see how many steps and miles I log while at Disney World.

So my question for this week:

Have you ever had a pedometer or thought about buying one? If you have used one, do you find that you walk more when you use it?

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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 #46

Categories:
Aloha Friday exercise me moments milestone photos

Chuck E Cheese memories

Posted on April 10, 2009 7:37 am by TheAngelForever

Growing up I can recall going to Chuck E Cheese. We did not go there a lot, but when we did it was a fabulous treat. I loved playing all of the different video games, going on rides, watching shows and earning prizes. Of course, my little brother did not like it at first. He was quite afraid of Chuck E Cheese and would hide under the table.

NHL does not like Chuck E Cheese. We think it has something to do with the costumed rodent. He does not like costumes, which will make Disney World interesting in a few weeks. Thanks to NHL we have not been to Chuck E Cheese in a while. Last Thursday my mother had the day off from work and I mentioned that I had a lot of tokens left from our last visit. She and I went to Chuck E Cheese with JSL.

This was really the first time he had been there since he would romp around and try things. At 23 months old he was a little overwhelmed with all of the items, but thanks to no crowds quickly got used to everything. Eventually he tried a few rides, loves the car driving game and played many games of Skee Ball with me. Here are some photos from our trip.

So my question to you this week, assuming you have been to Chuck E Cheese in the past and recently:

What do you think of the new look at Chuck E Cheese? Do you prefer the old style or the new? If you have never been, what is your favorite arcade game?

BTW – Don’t forget to enter my giveaways for the Exergen Temporal Scanner and Tie Buddies.

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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 #43