Snaps and Updates

Life has settled into a sweet time that I know will be short lived. The last few weeks of maternity leave - Ellie has settled into a routine. We can feel this magical summer starting to slip away from us - the sun is setting earlier and back to work and the hustle and bustle of the fall season is quickly approaching.

We are enjoying the ease of and relaxed nature of these days. Very few formal pictures just a lot of quick memory captures.

 Caidyn had her first dentist appointment and I could not have been prouder! She did so great and was so brave. The dentist could immediately see that she was a paci user and since Ellie hasn't taken to one we decided it was time to take Caidyn's away. The paci fairy came and traded her paci's for the "fishy toy" she had asked for!

I do have to share how specific Caidyn was. We looked up the synopsis of the paci fairy book and started explaining it to her and she seemed to get it so we saved ourselves the money and figured we didn't need to get the book. Well the night the fairy came she got very specific and we just had to roll with it! "What baby is getting my pacis?" Um... a needy baby. "Whats the babies name?" Um... Jessica? "What baby did my pacis come from?" Um... we don't know they just appeared. "Did the paci fairy come for Ellie?" No, We used your pacis for Ellie but she didn't like them. "Oh ok. Will the paci fairy take Ellie's pacis and she can get a toy, too?" Um... sure. Lets please go to bed now! Lesson learned - just spend the money and get the book. 

Mostly our days have been filled with cuddles and pool time - the perfect ending to our summer of sweetness!

PS: Why does it look like Caidyn is 9 in this picture? Such an independent girl! Also - all of the kiddos at her school right now have Star Wars backpacks! It strikes me as so funny for a preschool!

Things I want to Remember -August 2016

I decided to start a monthly post topic highlighting little things I want to remember. 

This month it is all the little flowers (and sometimes weeds...) Caidyn gives to me. She usually pulls them off of places she shouldn't, taking too long to do so, and hands them to me as I'm trying to grab 293848 other things. 

And I love it. It is the perfect reminder to slow down and take in the little things and appreciate the beauty that is all around us. 

Its so funny because she'll ask about the flowers hours later. I try to keep them places she can also see, but it is hard because they are literally so small! She is such a sweet girl and always thinking of others. I hope giving flowers is a trend she will continue - just learning to be more careful and cautious of where she is getting the flowers from. 

Ellie is 2 Months Old!

Two quick months! 

We put away her newborn clothes just after she turned one month old. It made me so sad to give so many away as the plan is that this is our last little baby. I saved way more than I probably should have but I just couldn't part with it yet. 

She fits into her three month clothes comfortably now, and 0-3 is getting tight (the onesie in this photo is a 0-3). 

So many more smiles! We settled into a really great pattern this month. I accepted the fact that she is a cat napper and it almost felt like as soon as her vision and alertness increased she went from being fussy often to seldom fussy. She just wanted something to do. She loves her play mat and her big sister. 

At her 2 month appointment she was 12 lbs 6 oz, and 23 1/2 inches tall! She grew exactly 2lbs and 2 inches! 

We love this little girl so much and are so glad she is a part of our family! She's got a big month next month with another Disney trip and starting school! 

Ellie's First Trip to Disney

When Ellie was 6 weeks old she made her first visit to Disney. We have annual passes and were going to be in Orlando for another reason so we decided why not. I will say - when going to Disney in August with an infant a "whatever happens" attitude is what you have to have. We literally only did our fast pass and reserved activities and that was pretty much it. When it wasn't crazy hot it was rainy. But, we had a wonderful time!

Our first evening there started out a little later than expected - as we were literally buckling Ellie into her car seat I got a call my mom had a seizure. Caidyn and I went to the hospital to check on her and Brian and Ellie waited for us.

I have to share - Caidyn was so adorable in the car on the way there. She knew we were supposed to be leaving for Disney so when we didn't go we explained that Grandma was in the hospital and we had to make sure she was ok. I got out of the car as Brian was dropping me off and Caidyn was crying and adamant she was able to come make sure Grandma was ok, too!

After we made sure my mom was alright (the seizure was a complication of a sinus infection she was having - something common in people already prone to seizures) we were on the road. A few hours later than planned, but we were able to move our fast passes for that evening around to still make all our rides.

The highlight of that evening was Caidyn riding Star Tours! She was finally tall enough and her dad was so excited to take her! The ride lets out into the Star Wars store where Caidyn picked out her very first light saber!

She chose a custom purple light saber and of course Daddy had to get some pictures of her with it!

We also did rider swap for the first time that evening with the Toy Story Mania ride. It is actually "handheld infant" allowable, but as we were in line we saw some of the cars and it seemed a little more jerky than we wanted to hold Ellie on. It worked out great for Caidyn as she got to ride twice and it was nice for us that we could both enjoy the ride fully with Caidyn, not have one of us have to just hold Ellie while the other enjoyed the ride. It was definitely a rougher ride though - Caidyn's 3D glasses had gone sideways by the end of the ride!

I was wearing the perfect shirt for all of the drama that day. And of course, when I tried to get a cute photo of my girls and I they cranked out and made the photo even more perfect!

The shirt was a custom design from my favorite instagram shop - Gray Anchor Apparel! We also got our first family of four photo in a Disney park! They made it into a cute little video! Brian and Caidyn's shirts are from another favorite shop - especially for Disney gear - GlitterEverAfter! 

We ended up in our hotel room around 9:30 that evening and ordered take out Chinese for dinner. It had been a crazy day and we just wanted to relax. Plus, we had a big day the next day! Lunch reservations at Be Our Guest!

We got to the Magic Kingdom parking lot about an hour before our reservation, which should have been plenty of time. But of course Ellie needed to eat right as we arrived so we paused for that. The boat was closed for maintenance so we had to wait in a long line for the monorail, and, to top it off, it started pouring as we arrived to the park entrance. At Disney if you don't make your reservation they charge you $10 per person so we were running for it! Brian took Caidyn in the stroller through no bag security and Ellie was in the carrier and we waited to have our bag checked and then hopped from covered area to covered area making our way to the Beast's Castle! Lunch was actually really wonderful and Ellie hardly had a drop of water on her (the rest of us were soaked!). 

We tried the Grey Stuff, and it was delicious!

The rest of the day was relatively cool after that rain shower! We met Mickey, Cinderella, and Rapunzel, rode the carousel and the Winnie the Pooh ride, and saw the new castle show about friendship! 

The next day we went to Animal Kingdom. This was much easier to get to, but was MUCH warmer! Our first stop was the Baby Center - which was amazing. Air conditioned, right by a Starbucks, and had Frozen playing for Caidyn! I fed Ellie and we cooled off before our first fast pass - Finding Nemo! We also had a fast pass to meet Mickey and Minnie (Caidyn loves to meet characters! She actually plays pretend being characters and asks if you want to come meet her and then poses for pictures - its adorable!) and ride the safari. After Nemo we had an ice cream snack and hung out in the dinosaur area for a little bit so Caidyn could play! We then met Mickey our characters and had some lunch. The skies looked threatening after lunch and after being caught in the rain the previous day we decided to skip our safari fast pass (since it takes about 35 minutes + to do the whole thing) and went to the car. It turned out to be a great call since right after we got buckled and in the car the sky opened up! 

We had a super fun first visit to Disney with Ellie! We are going back next month for Caidyn's birthday with our cousins which will also be fun! Plus it is a weekend that is supposed to be one of the least crowded of the year - always a plus with toddlers and babies!

Photographer Caidyn

Caidyn has been loving taking photos with my phone lately. Her snaps are getting clearer and clearer and she is getting much better at focusing on her subjects and including them in the picture. Ellie is definitely her muse as there are always lots of photos of her. It is fun to see the background of certain events - our runs, the backdrop of our monthly photos, a diaper change on the grass at the UCF fountain, the view from the driver's seat of the car cart at the grocery store. She's such an artist and it is fun to see her photography skills develop (bad film pun intended!)

Mom's Day Out! - Dave Matthews 2016

My mom, sisters, and I went to see the Dave Matthews Band and had an amazing time!

My friend Robyn posted that her and her mom were going. I knew our moms would enjoy themselves together as they are both Dave fans and enjoy a good drink in the sunshine! My sisters and mom have all gone to see Dave before in various groupings. They actually tried to get me to bring Caidyn a couple years ago since there is a family section, but I passed not wanting to have to keep track of a roaming toddler at a big concert.

But this year I decided it was time. We looked into getting some lawn seats, everyone had off of work, and we made an evening out of it! We did the drive up and back so I only had to pump twice (both in the car, once while we were driving -- well sitting in traffic trying to leave... #momlife).

Anyways it was a great time. We got there early, set up some shade, chairs, and drinks, enjoyed a pub sub and chatted away. People a few cars down had some music playing and we just had a blast. We had lawn seats and brought our Tommy Bahama chairs which were perfect! Low enough we didn't bother anyone, but kept our butts off the ground in case it was wet. We danced, we sang, and enjoyed each others company!