Thursday 10/9: I brought cupcakes to Madelyn’s school for the afternoon snack time and sang Happy Birthday to her with all of her little school friends. She was very excited about the upcoming week. So much so that she wanted her hair just right and decided to hide under a table earlier in the day with a pair of scissors and cut herself “more bangs”. The school Director warned me before I brought the cupcakes in but it isn’t so bad. I think we’ll just let those extra bangs grow out. Ugh, I thought we didn’t have to worry about her cutting her hair anymore, jinx!
Sunday 10/12: We had a fun family dinner with cake for Madelyn at grandpa and grandma’s house. Thanks for the wonderful dinner grandma! It was really nice to enjoy the company of Auntie Em, Uncle Michael, Aunt Heidi, Austin, and Jack along with the Brentwood Nielsens. Madelyn really liked the Sponge Bob ice cream cake that she specifically requested a few months ago.
Monday 10/13: Happy 4th Birthday Madelyn! I figured we had to do something on Madelyn’s birthday so we headed off to Chuck E. Cheese’s for a little bit before Madelyn’s “Well Baby” Dr’s appointment. Friends and family joined us again and I wish we could have stayed longer. Thank you everyone for making it so much fun. Madelyn is happy and healthy and doing well in weight and height and is in the upper 60th percentile for both. Turns out it was time for all her pre-Kindergarden shots but we obviously put all 6 of those off for next week; after Disneyland and definitely NOT on her birthday.
Tuesday 10/14: We slept thru the alarm but hurried and got everything packed and ready to go in time to make it to my echocardiogram in Livermore. Everything looks good so there should be no problems with a normal on-schedule delivery of our little no-name baby boy. Madelyn was VERY good for the trip down to Disneyland. Thank goodness for portable DVD players. After we checked in to our hotel, we had a fun time walking around Downtown Disney and eating at the Rainforest Café. And yes, we sang Happy Birthday to Madelyn again that night.
Wednesday 10/15: Our first day at Disneyland was funny. We thought there might be a little bit of a problem with what Madelyn was imagining and what Disneyland actually was when, on the way down, she said that she was going to put Tinker Bell in a jar so that she could see her. We tried to explain around that one but she wasn’t having it. Her first ride was the Matterhorn with James while I was waiting in the Finding Nemo line. She just thought it was ok but thought the “monster”/abominable snow man was cool. Madelyn was pretty moody the 1st few hours because she didn’t see her favorite characters running around everywhere like in the movies but she got over it and we all absolutely LOVED the princess lunch and thought it was totally worth it. Upon walking to our table we met with Ariel. When I told Madelyn Sleeping Beauty was coming out, she got so excited she jumped up, spun around, and landed about 5 feet from her chair still frantic that she might miss the princess. So funny! Aurora, Snow White, Mulan, and Cinderella all came and talked individually with Madelyn and we saw Belle later on. The food was very yummy, a big plus, and they made a big deal over her birthday. Madelyn didn’t say much to the princesses but we could tell she was very excited. The parade that night was totally awesome but not as neat as watching Madelyn watch everything. She was so much fun to see experiencing everything.
Thursday 10/16: Our last and longest day was tiring and fun. We did our favorites, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted House. Madelyn loved both and we rode Pirates 3x in a row at the end of the night. The Haunted House was all re-done to be in theme with The Nightmare Before Christmas and Madelyn had to get a little Zero stuffed animal (Jack Skellington’s ghost dog) because she liked it so much. I made a reservation at the Pirates restaurant, Blue Bayou, and that was neat but we’ll definitely skip it in the future. We’ll do the princess lunch again for sure though. The fireworks were the best I’ve ever seen and totally worth the crowd. Fun, fun.
Friday 10/17: After a 7 hour ride home, I dropped James off for work (he had to leave in 10 min.) and headed strait for grandma and grandpa’s house for their Halloween party. Even after a long day in the car it was wonderful. Yummy punch, homemade chili, pumpkin pies, decorated sugar cookies, treats for the kids, sang some Halloween songs, and sat around the fire and roasted some marshmallows. Emily and I even ended up freaking each other out with our scary talk around the fire. I don’t know what was up with “the shadow” that jumped on everyone though. He only shook pool water all over me, I’m special I guess. ☺
Well, there’s the end of our very special and especially exhausting week of Madelyn’s big 4th birthday.
