Blips of our Christmas Disney trip

I won't go into a full account of our Disney trip. But I will say it may be the best trip I have ever taken to Disney World.  McKenna's eyes were big and bright the entire trip. She loved the Christmas decorations, the lights, the people, the food, and mostly... the Characters!!

Kisses for Mickey

To boot, we sprung for the savanna view room at Animal Kingdom Lodge. I wasn't sure if she would care to see live animals at a distance, but let me tell you. We could have sat on our balcony all day.

We did the Very Merry Christmas Party for the first time ever. We were a bit concerned because it starts late and goes into the wee hours, but McKenna was a trooper for a long as we needed to be there.... just enough time to see characters dressed in holiday attire, eat cookies and drink cocoa to our hearts' content, watch the castle show and fireworks, and hop on a few rides.

There is no better time to visit Disney World than Christmastime. As much as there is to see and do at Disney, it is multiplied by 500000 at Christmas.

McKenna's first trip to Walt Disney World part 2

We wore her most of the time in the park and used our stroller as our wagon for STUFF. Here's Kevin and McKenna enjoying some Chubby Checker for the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival.

The stuff we brought with us to the park included her diaper bag (extra loaded down with the typical necessities), our camera bag, a cooler (of "drinks"), and our carriers. What made this trip particularly tough was that we still needed her carseat in addition to her stroller because she doesn't sit upright yet. That made us "those people" on the bus who had a seat occupied of just the carseat while others stood... I got a lot of stares for that one. Luckily by the time we go again we won't need the carseat.

Our only major snaffu was leaving Epcot on Saturday night around 8:30, when the bus stops are usually super crowded. She was sleeping so we weren't worried.... unfortunately she woke up half way through the bus ride and started wailing into Kevin's chest (she was in the Tula carrier).  So again, we were "those people" with the crying baby on the bus (no she does not take a paci!).  We were thinking she was hungry, but she was just tired or ready to stretch out because when we got back to the resort she was in a happy, playful mood.

I think wearing most of the trip her helped a lot because she slept most of the time, and she feels safe in new environments.  The one drawback... HEAT. But I'll take that any day over a fussy baby! Even Kevin got into the Babywearing.

The key with babies and Sun/Heat is Hydration, hydration, hydration. If you nurse, that means nursing often, which also means Momma needs to stay hydrated. And make sure to find places to take breaks in the A/C...so shop often ;-). And go back to your resort and get refreshed at least once (depending on how many parks you attempt to go to in a day). Though I think the mid-day "Nap Time" was more for Daddy, as I played with a happy baby the whole time.

Another important thing to know about is Disney's Baby Care Centers....  I was petrified for my first time changing in a "public bathroom" but didn't have to succumb to it. Each park has a Baby Care Center where you can change and feed and pretty much do whatever you need to do with your babies, kids, and toddlers. There's even a kitchen area and separate bathroom. Best part.... a nursing room. Ahhh, cold, dark, and quiet with rocking chairs. Sure, if you gotta nurse in the park you gotta nurse, but why turn down a break away from it all. Nothing better on an excruciatingly hot day without needing to bump into strangers in a packed store just to get some A/C. As a side note there are outlets in there so if your phone needs some charging take it in with you ;-) (not sure if that's what they're intended for, so don't blame me!) I'm not big into "nursing selfies" but this one is a must.... a peek inside the hidden room!

If you don't know where to find it, be sure to ask.  I passed the nursing room several times in both Magic Kingdom and Epcot!

We did get lots of comments about my wraps and several stares, most positive, but some negative. Someone even had the audacity to say in our earshot "I've never understood why anyone would bring a baby that age to Disney."  Well, you don't need to understand, and you most likely never will.  Disney means a lot to Kevin and I, and has play a integral part in every stage of our relationship.  This trip was just another part of that adventure, and one that we will remember forever BECAUSE McKenna is "this age." No one else really needs to understand. But I can tell you it is possible, and it can be enjoyable if you plan right! 

I think the hardest part about the WHOLE weekend was getting home.  Just as packing was no fun, unpacking was a mess, and the amount of laundry with a baby is just ridiculous!

A portion of packing

Getting a VERY TIRED baby to sleep the night we got home was no fun either. She wanted her bedtime several hours before it normally was so we were at odds trying to make it all work out. But eventually she got to sleep and slept a good 12 hours! McKenna sure knows how to end a weekend!

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend and we were so happy we had the chance to take her! Granted she won't remember this trip, but we will, and she will have the pictures for a lifetime!


If I think of anything else that I would find helpful to know about planning a trip to Disney I will definitely write another post OR if you have specific questions, feel free to ask!!

McKenna's first trip to Walt Disney World part 1

What an incredible experience!  I won't do a full-on trip report or play-by-play of our couple of days, but I will definitely share what it was like to take a 3 month old baby to The Happiest Place on Earth!

I think Kevin and I were honestly just blessed with a laid-back baby (knock on wood), and I honestly think that played a significant part in our experience, but this trip wasn't much different than others for us, minus the rides (and over-indulgence of alcohol). We enjoy Disney for the way it makes us feel, so doing things isn't always our top priority. And that's exactly what I would tell someone taking a baby for the first time... don't have any expectations or expect to be able to accomplish anything. Our one goal for this weekend was to get pictures... and lots of them. And that's exactly what we did.

She may not know who they are, but she LOVED staring at the characters! And they all loved her too! Each one spent so much time with her. Touching her feet, letting her grab their fingers, giving her *kisses*. These pictures are priceless to Kevin and I. And hopefully if McKenna likes Disney HALF as much as her Mommy and Daddy, they will be priceless to her too.  I'm so happy we will have these to share with her one day when she is older.

Three words: PLAN PLAN PLAN. The biggest hassle: I would have to easily say just STUFF.  Packing and planning for a trip with a baby is no small task. (I have a pretty thorough packing list I will blog about another day). And we saw that with our trip to Jacksonville a couple weeks back, but for a theme park is even different. Not just for the entire trip is packing a pretty big feat, but also staying in a hotel room and planning to spend several hours out in the sun.... away from all of your STUFF.

SUN! That was my greatest fear! How to keep our baby protected. McKenna's Ped was no help, a huge contradiction: "we don't recommend sunscreen before 6 months, but if she's in the sun we recommend sunscreen. And No, we don't recommend brands. They're all the same." Wow. What a crock of garbage. We're considering a new Ped after that phone call (which, by the way, was the nurse on the phone not the doctor). So I elected to rethink her wardrobe and bypass the sunscreen altogether. All of her litle dresses I had planned for her to wear I ended up sticking leggings and socks under them with a big brim hat with her headbands on her head. She barely got touched by sun the entire weekend except for the last day when we wanted to get a picture in front of the castle..... but we booked it out of the park immediately after.

Jacksonville Baby Shower

Last weekend we traveled to Jacksonville for our first Baby Shower hosted by Kevin's sisters and Mom.  It was intimate and incredibly special, just perfect for our Lil Princess. Of course, Cinderella themed.  Though I'm not sure if it's because our little one will love Cinderella or because I love Cinderella :-) (or because our whole family loves Disney!).

During the entire Registering process I began to get a bit disheartened, thinking there's no way we'll EVER be able to get all of the stuff that Baby P needs (forget about the "wants").  Well, this is obviously why people have showers. I never truly grasped the importance of buying stuff off someone's registry until now (more so for a baby shower than a wedding shower). My pregnancy has been extremely hormonal, but just the thought of people purchasing stuff just for Baby P has me very emotional. And seeing each item, every article of clothing, every baby sock, every diaper, makes me more grateful for our loved ones. And it definitely helps ease a bit (read: a lot) of the tension in this house being able to visualize it all coming together before she gets here. 

Kevin's sister was an incredible host and the decorations were so sweet and too perfect.

Trying my hand at guessing what exactly was in that diaper:

And I was so happy to be able to have Kevin join us to open the gifts because, quite franky, I'm not one for being the center of attention.  I get really nervous having people focus attention on me, so it was nice to be able to share it with Kevin.

That is literally a crate full of handmade headbands and headbows!!! Baby P definitely has a nice collection already... I was in headband heaven!

And The Cake. Oh The Cake. The Centerpiece in all its glory.  Let me tell you NONE of us wanted to cut into this thing.

But we did.  And it was delicious.
Here are a few more details from the event:

I am so grateful for my husband's family, who made me a part of their family from Day 1.
This event was fit only for a princess. Everyone's waiting for your Grand Entrance, Lil Princess!

Week 15: a Magical update

My week 15 is a bit different than previous week updates, but no less special. Actually, a bit more magical: Kevin and I were at our favorite place on earth during the time we usually do our chalkboard update. So, we had to improvise:

Kevin had an annual conference to attend during the week, but we were able to squeeze a couple of nights in at Disney World and dubbed it our mini- Babymoon and early 3rd anniversary celebration.  While I won't do a full on trip report of our stay, I will hit a few highlights.

This was our first time staying in one of the Royal Rooms at Port Orleans Riverside, which really caters to the princesses. Coincidentally, we had reserved our hotel room before finding out our Baby is in fact a princess herself. And, well, um. Let's just say I'm minor-ly obsessed.

Every last detail was inspired by Disney princesses. There's even a bit of magic in the headboards!

We didn't get to go on many rides, but we had our anniversary dinner at Coral Reef in the Living Seas. Since we had our 3rd Anniversary pins on they sat us next to the aquarium and our delicious dessert was even on the house.

This will likely be the most inexpensive signature dining experience we will ever have a Disney because I wasn't able to drink like a fish (no pun intended).

Our Lil Princess was just dying for sweets the whole trip. A Disney lollipop, Cookies n' Cream milkshake, Crème Brule, cheese Danish, pineapple Dole Whips were all on the menu over those couple of days.

Oh, and we went crazy Oooo-ing and Ahhh-ing over all of the little girl clothes (you'd be surprised at Disney's limited selection of newborn/infant items). We ended up getting a couple of clothes for the sake of actually being IN DISNEY WORLD, but being a sale-driven maniac, I know I can find plenty of Disney-inspired clothes at a much better price!

We are sad to accept the fact that that will be the last Disney trip we will have for quite some time (as both Kevin and I are Disney fanatics).  But the next time we go, it will be a whole new and exciting adventure to be able to share with our very own Princess.

Now that I am a couple of weeks into the second trimester I finally 100% feel like myself again (though, still a bit emotionally charged). Reflecting back on the first trimester, I cannot believe I survived.... it was very difficult on me, both emotionally and physically.  But now, every day that passes I feel closer and closer to our Lil' Princess, as we get closer to finally meeting the girl of our dreams.