Mike and Becky Get Married

We celebrated Mike and Becky's wedding this weekend in beautiful Temecula. Of course as luck would have it, our car's air conditioner breaks and it was the hottest weekend of the summer. We neglected to tell Katie and Mike H. this when we agreed to let them hitch a ride with us:)

Our first night of the wedding weekend, we went to the rehearsal and dinner. The Ponte is a beautiful winery that Mike and Becky chose to be the location of their wedding. We did the rehearsal thing and the kids ran amongst the grape vines and had a blast. We then headed to The Melting Pot for dinner. I was super excited about this dinning experience until I realized I had a 3 year old and a 16 month old right in front of multiple burners with hot bubbling cheese and sauces. Needless to say I cannot wait to go back with Paul, just us two. Katie had put together a tear-jerking slide show which was the best part of the dinner.

The next day Paul went golfing with the boys while I played at the hotel with Andrew and Allison. We met up with Adrienne and her kiddos for some pool side lunch and swimming, where Andrew almost drowned in the "hot pool" aka the spa. I turned around only to see the top of his hat, he was under water. It scared the you-know-what- out of me. After that horrible experience we went upstairs for naps. That evening we had a pool side party with all of the wedding guests staying at the hotel. We had a BBQ and cocktails and splashed in the spa, until Andrew and Allison had huge melt downs and we all went to bed.
Who do these kids belong to??

The wedding day was beautiful. Paul left early to go be the "best man" and me and the kiddos got ready at the hotel. Andrew was the cutest and most handsomest little 3 year old in the universe, and I am not over exaggerating in the least bit! He was so proud to wear his tux just like daddy. And of course Allison was so stinking cute with her two little pigtails.
The ceremony was beautifully performed by John. Becky was stunning and Mike was so handsome and nervous. My mom had to take Allison away during the beginning of the ceremony because she was going crazy and wanted to run around. Andrew walked down the aisle next to his big cousin Matt holding his pillow with the ring tied real tight to it. He was so casual and acted like it was no big deal to walk down the aisle in front of all these people. Once he got to the gazebo, he was supposed to come and sit down next to me, but instead he thought it would be a better idea to stay up in front with daddy. He was walking in between Paul's legs and acting quite bored, and that was about the time he decided to come sit with me. The ceremony was gorgeous and the environment was perfect.
After pictures were taken and after I was able to round up both kids, we joined the rest of the guests for the reception where we danced the night away. Andrew was dancing his little heart out and boogy-ing on down. Allison had one great move, bouncing up and down in one place, nonstop for hours. I managed to get a few slow dances in with my hubby and with my babies. As the night went on the kids got more and more deliriously hyper and tired. Allison was running everywhere and dodging Paul's dad and laughing hysterically. A fabulous time was had by all.

We drove home the next day in triple digit temperatures in our car with no AC and we all poured our water bottles over our head. Andrew thought it was hilarious, Allison not so much.

Happy 30th Birthday Daddy!

For Paul's 30th birthday we spent the weekend at Newport Dunes. Our little family and Paul's parents arrived to Newport after naps and checked in to our beach front cottage. We "moved in" and set up camp, literally. Grandma Duck and Papa Razi brought a seafood feast for Paul's birthday. They cooked crab, lobster, and clams. They also cooked steak for me :) We stuffed our faces full! That night after dinner we walked about 100 yards onto the sand and watched A Goofy Movie on the beach. They set up a huge movie screen and we sat on a picnic bench in our pajamas and watched the movie under the stars.

The next morning we cooked a big breakfast and then went to an art and craft workshop where the four of us make a candle from salt that we colored with chalk and poured into a glass and then put a candle on top with a hot glue gun. It turned out really cute and all four of us contributed which was really fun!

After we made the candle we went swimming in the pool and jacuzi. Andrew had a blast jumping in the pool. He must have jumped in about 40 times. Allison is now a jacuzi junkie! She did not want to go in the big pool once she discovered the "hot pool".

After swimming we went back to the cottage fed the kids lunch and then put them down for naps and began getting ready for the big party! We checked into the cottage next door where we would sleep that night with my parents. We organized, chopped, sliced, and decorated. Once the kids woke up everyone started to arrive. We had Buny, Doug, Mom and Dad Clark , Mike, Becky, Mitch, Jackie and Natalie, Susan and Paul Sheldon, Mike Ray and his girlfriend Michelle, Dalora, Kelly, Lindsay and Addison. We had so much fun! Paul went kayaking with Andrew, Kelly, Lindsay and Addison. We barbecued brats, had a tomato, cucumber and onion salad, Barbecued corn and had lots and lots of pina coladas and wine. Paul then took out another group to go kayaking he went with Mitch, Jackie, Natalie, Papa Razi and Andrew. We sang happy birthday and cooked smores on the campfire. Right in front of our cottage where the movie played the night before was a jazz band that looked as if it was playing just for our party.
I think it is safe to say that everyone had a fabulous time. We stayed up talking around the campfire until 1:30am. We told stories and laughed with my dad, Paul's parents, Buny and Doug, and Mike.

We woke up the next morning, had a yummy breakfast of home made muffins and fruit, packed up and drove the 30 minutes down PCH back home.

Happy 30th Birthday Paul Andrew Demboski.

Andrew starts preschool

Today was a big milestone in our lives. Andrew had his first day of preschool. We managed to get him into Bayshore Co-op Preschool right on the beach. We went yesterday to meet his teacher and check it out, and Andrew loved it and didn't want to leave!
This morning we all went down to Belmont Shores to drop off our little dude. We signed him in and gave hugs and kisses. The teacher Miss Cori asked him if he wanted to go ride bikes and he said "YEAH" they held hands and walked to the bike yard, and that was it! There were no tears or anything! Paul, Allison and I watched him from the parking lot for a little bit as he biked around and showed one of the volunteer moms his shoes that has Buzz Lightyear on them. The bell rang and he walked with all of the other little kids into the little school house for circle time. And me being the crazy mom that I am, walked back up to the school and peaked in the door and saw him sitting down looking up at the teacher as she did role call. It was so cute! I was so relieved that he was happy.

Three hours later Allison and I picked him up. I got there about 15 minutes early and sat in my car and watched as him and all of the other kids ran out of the school house and onto the playground, Andrew screaming with excitement the whole way to the slide. I watched him running around with the other little boys, growling and climbing up the slide. I was surprised to see the girls and boys playing separately. I finally got out of my car and walked up to the playground to pick up my little preschooler. He was so excited to see me and yelled "mommy!!" and ran up to me and gave me a quick hug and then ran back to his friends. He did not want to leave and kept playing. I managed to peel him away from the playground. He had a great first day, but he had 2 peepee accidents. Andrew hasn't had an accident in probably 9 months! The teacher said he was having so much fun that he probably just forgot. I also forgot to show him where the bathroom is, which I am sure would have helped.

I can't believe this day has come! I look at him sometimes and see that little baby from the NICU. His eyes are the same, his hair is the same, and his heart is the same. It is hard to imagine just 3 years ago we were afraid he was never going to have the ability to think, speak or feel... and now he is going to preschool! I am so proud of my little man. He amazes me everyday with how grown up he is. He quickly learns all of the words to so many songs, he communicates like an adult with a huge vocabulary, he genuinely cares for others and understands people's feelings and truly wants everyone to be happy. He is my little boy and I am so in love with him. I am happy that he is growing up so healthy and that he is starting on this journey of school with such a positive attitude. This is where the foundation of education starts, and I am so excited that he gets to start this new chapter of his life at Bayshore co-op where I get to be involved and he receives the best start to an education.

Happy 3rd Birthday Andrew

To celebrate Andrew's birthday this year, we decided to go to Disneyland instead of have a party. What started with a dinner at Goofy's kitchen, ended up a mini-vacation to the Disneyland hotel. We checked in to the Disneyland hotel and immediately I was impressed with just the lobby. There was a little couch and a mini entertainment system with a TV so the kids were able to watch Disney cartoons while we checked in. Once we made it to our room, I was even more impressed, not only did a pack-n-play come standard in every room, so did a refrigerator, little bottles of shampoo, conditioner and lotion with Mickey Mouse heads on the top, and a wood-carved headboard of the castle that lit up with fireworks and played "A dream is a wish your hear makes when your fast asleep". There was also a pullout couch with pillows in it that said the lyrics to the song. Our room overlooked the pool and we immediately met up with Grandma Duck and Papa Razzi (who booked a joining room to ours) and went swimming in the pool. The big pool had a water slide and a baby water slide that Andrew and Allison enjoyed. But we spent most of our time in the "Hot Pool" aka the jacuzzi. Andrew said that the "hot pool is hot like soup". We spent a couple of hours eating lunch at poolside and then made our way up to the room to nap the kiddos and then get ready for goofy's kitchen. My parents then joined up with us. Andrew and Allison were "sleeping" in our room while we all visited in Paul's folk's room, when all of a sudden we heard Andrew and Allison talking. I cracked open the door to our room only to find Andrew out of bed behind the curtain looking out to the pool with Allison in her pack-n-play pulling the curtain back and looking at Andrew. Andrew started to play peek-a-boo with Allison and they were both laughing in their little baby laughter, and I managed to get the whole thing on video.
We got the kids ready and dressed then sang Happy Birthday to Andrew and gave him a Rice krispies Treat Cake and then he opened his gifts. We all left to go to dinner at Goofy's kitchen. When we got there we were greated by Goofy and got to take a picture with Pluto. Our whole dinner experience was wonderful the food was great. They had everything from peanut butter and jelly pizza to new your steak. They had every kind of kid food you can imagine and all sorts of desserts. We had table visits from Minnie Mouse, Chip and Dale, Princess Jasmine and Aladdin, Pluto and Goofy. Andrew had no fear and took pictures, kissed, and gave hugs to all of the characters. They came to our table quite a few times and spent a great deal of time with us each time they made a visit. I was really impressed with how much one on one time we had with all of the characters. Allison on the other hand had a mini panic attack with each of the characters. Poor baby wasn't sure if she should eat the 12 cookies in front of her or if she should cry her brains out. She mainly combined the two options and cried with cookies falling out of her mouth. Gotta love that girl.
We went to Downtown Disney afterwards and shopped and listened to music. It didn't take long for all of us to become very exhausted and we headed back to the room after saying goodbye to my parents.
The next morning the kids woke up early and we scurried them on over to Papa Razzi and Grandma ducky's room and Paul and I enjoyed sleeping in for an extra 40 minutes or so. The fed the kids breakfast and then we headed into Disneyland park to continue celebrating Andrew's big 3! We did all of Andrew's requests which consisted of Small World and Tiki Room. We had lunch at Pizza Port, took the monorail back to the hotel, went home and crashed!
Note to self... a birthday party and a bouncy house is less work, but Disneyland is way more fun. I'll keep that in mind when Andrew turns 4 next year.
***pictures to come***