Friday, January 15, 2010

I NEED YOUR ADVICE

HELP!

I need your advice on all things Disney... DISNEYLAND to be specific!

I'm an East Coast girl... I've got East Coast connections and plenty of folks who could offer me tons of advice about DisneyWORLD. But DisneyLAND in California is different story!

So to all my California gals... Ashley, Keri, Francesca... and to ANYONE else who has been to the West Coast Mouse House...

I NEED YOUR ADVICE!

We are planning to go for Reagan's birthday in April, and I've been looking at packages online as well as I have spoken with a travel agent. I think I know what we are doing, but I would welcome any information that you may have about the best hotels (I'm really considering the Anabella), the best restaurants, which kid activities are a must do, which should be avoided... I'm pretty sure we are going to buy a package that include "park hopper" passes to the Disneyland Park, the California Adventure Park, and Sea World.

I'll take whatever you can give me because we would like to book as soon as possible!

THANK YOU!!!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

My Future Elite Gymnast

Reagan has been taking gymnastics since she was 15 months old. We enrolled her at The Little Gym the summer of 2007, and it was one of the best parenting decisions that we have made thus far. She learned so much from them, and not just gymnastics... this was her first socialized activity! However, after 7 semesters, her coaches and I agreed that she was ready for something more. I can honestly say that if it weren't for The Little Gym...
that there is no way that Reagan would already be ready for this BIG gym... The Langley Gymnastics Foundation.The pictures only show about 1/3 of the actual facility...

We started classes at LGF this past September, and Reagan was instantly in love with the new facility. I have to say, even after competing for over 8 years in gymnastics myself, this is one of the nicest gyms that I have ever stepped into!

Towards the end of November, I received a phone call from one of the coaches from LGF. She was requesting that we move Reagan out of the recreational program and that we enter her into the pre-competitive program. The pre-comp program is a 2 hour class - one day a week - and focuses on all of the fundamental skills that a gymnast will need to advance into a competitive program.

We talked to Reagan about it, and she said that she wanted to give it a try. So, today was her first day in the new program. I wasn't there myself (have I mentioned lately on this blog how much I hate working and missing out on Reagan's activities... UGH!) but my sister Anna was phoning and texting me throughout the class with play by plays.

Here is the really big news...

At the end of the class, the coach came to find Reagan while she was putting on her warm clothes over her leotard. She congratulated Reagan on a great first day, and she informed my sister that Reagan was the best listener of all of the kids in the class (hello... are you sure you are talking about my child?!) and that Reagan is far more advanced with her gymnastics that what she should be for her age. Now, my first thought was that the coach was just trying to butter us up and that she probably says this to everyone. I mean, of course we think Reagan is advanced, but we are a little prejudiced! But Anna said that this conversation took place in the dressing room in front of all of the other parents. The coach has already suggested that Reagan will need to be moved to the next level sooner than we originally expected. As it is right now, she is already one of the youngest in her current class, and she would be by far the youngest to ever be placed at the next level up for this coach.

When Anna phoned to tell me all of this, I was a little speechless. I mean, WOW! Of course it didn't take long before I was making her tell me the whole story again. And then again!

I possibly have a future gymnastics super star sleeping upstairs right now.

Can you tell that my chest is a little puffed out tonight and that my head might be just a bit swollen with pride?!

Monday, January 11, 2010

All Caught Up

I did it! I'm all caught up! It took the entire week that I was sick and home from work, but I am finally up to date on all of my favorite blogs. Now if I can just stay that way...

To keep you all caught up and up to date on what's going on around here...

I am back at work at the hotel this week for what will be my first full week at work since Dec. 19th. I took the entire week of Christmas off to spend time with my parents while they were in town, and then I started getting sick the week after Christmas. There were no events happening at the hotel for me to coordinate, so I stayed home that week as well to try to get over my cold. Looking back, I probably should have worked that week when I was only a little bit under the weather, because the following week (last week) I was REALLY too sick to go to work. I had a horrible cough and cold, and then the whole house came down with a very nasty stomach flu. Wait, that's not true... my husband somehow managed to escape that loveliness. I don't know how he does it, but he NEVER gets sick.

Something tells me it is going to be hard to get back into the swing of things at work after that long of a hiatus. Of course, I'm back in the swing of things after a 2 month blog reading hiatus, so maybe it can be done! It would be easier if my heart was in it, but it's not. Even with being sick, I have enjoyed being at home with Reagan. I didn't even realize just how much I miss her and how much I am missing by being at work 8 hours a day. I know that it is temporary... once we get pregnant and once a new baby arrives, I will go back to being a stay-at-home mom with a home-based wedding planning business and I won't miss a single second. But right now, we're not pregnant yet and I'm feeling a little depressed. Reagan begging me each night when I put her to bed to not go to work the next day doesn't help matters any either. She was one happy little girl every night for the past few weeks when she would ask, "Mommy, do you have to go to work tomorrow?" and I would reply with a very happy, "No babe. Mommy is staying home with you tomorrow." I guess I need to keep reminding myself and her that this is not forever!

Let's see, what else has been going on? Umm... how about I have gained back all the weight that I worked so hard to lose earlier this year. Yep, sitting at a desk all day at a job that feeds me breakfast and lunch has not been the best idea for my waistline. We purchased a treadmill on Boxing Day, and we got a Wii for Christmas... between the two I am determined to get back into shape! I was not impressed when the WiiFit Plus lady informed me that my Fit Age is actually 4 years older than I really am. Of course, my husband and my sister received far worse reports than I did, so I was at least pleased about that! I'm going to update the weight loss tracker on my sidebar to reflect my actual current stats instead of the glorious stats from this past summer. Now if I could just hurry up and get pregnant then the weight loss tracker can go out the window! However I do hope to not gain 80 some odd pounds like I did when I was pregnant with Reagan!

Speaking of the Wii... we love that thing! We have found the perfect game for Reagan... the Build-A-Bear Workshop. She has almost completed every level already. Ryan and Anna are constantly trying to see who is the best at SuperMario, and we have all enjoyed playing Band Hero. I came home from work today to find Anna sweating it out on the WiiFit board, and then I convinced her to try Jillian Michael's Wii Fitness Ultimatum 2010 as well. I think we have plans this weekend for a Mario Kart tournament as well as rocking out with Band Hero again. Our neighbors all think we are crazy and have even phoned to laugh at us as they watch us singing and jumping around through the living room window!

Other than that, it's pretty much a normal routine around here. But don't you worry, I'll keep you posted with any exciting news! And I promise to try to stay in better touch with all my blogging peeps now that I back in the loop.