Disney: Days 2 & 3

Tuesday was one long day!! We started out the day at Hollywood Studios. The rides were limited since we know Maddyn doesn't have the tolerence for the 3D glasses. We did Toy Story which was ok and then Playhouse Disney which she LOVED. Pooh, Mickey and Tigger- she was in heaven :)

Our mishap for the day happened when Maddyn decided to unbuckle her stroller straps and get out while we were still moving and she fell and skinned her knee. She got a Mickey band-aid from 1st aid, but that's all we've been hearing about for 2 days now. Boo Boo on my knee, mommy. I have a Mickey band-aid. Other than that, MGM was lots of fun.

We came back in the afternoon, napped and headed to Mickey's very Merry Christmas Party. It was SO much fun!! We first saw the parade. It was great b/c it was better than the electric lights parade, and all Christmas themed. Maddyn was in awe. We had front-row curb seats and sat with friends. She was all smiles! After the parade, we went back and rode some rides. Most of the audience left after the first parade or went to line up for the 2nd parade, so the rides were EMPTY. We walked right on to everything. Maddyn took a great nap and had a second wind so it was perfect! We also got to meet Minnie. We were a little weary b/c Maddyn doesn't really care for characters. She was scared of Minnie at first. I got out the camera and got a photo, but then as we were walking away, she gave Minnie a High 5!! I was so bummed I missed it, but she was all smiles!!! We might have had a breakthrough :) We caught the fireworks and then left. A very late night- with Maddyn asleep in the stroller the way back to the car.

Today we slept in b/c of our late night last night. Then because it was so warm out (high 80s) we swam in the pool this morning. It was sooo nice. Maddyn is such a fish, she loves that water!!! We napped and then headed back into Magic Kingdom. Today we did a few of the 'lesser known rides' that we usually don't do. Dave got a chance to do Space Mountain, and it was just a very relaxed and low key evening.

Tomorrow the plan is to hit Animal Kingdom in the morning. We were going to skip that one, but doing MK tomorrow and Friday (and pretty much every day this week) gets a little old, so we wanted to mix it up. So the morning AK, swim in the afternoon and then we have a fun dinner tomorrow at Hoop De Doo Revue. It's an interactive dinner that will be lots of fun. We might (if we have time) hit the MGM Lights festival, we'll just see.

That's it for now!! I'll check in tomorrow or Friday :)

Disney Day 1 & 2

We got into Disney yesterday. It was a great flight and we got 1st class upgrades so that was nice (all those trips paid off). We got down here though, to find it much cooler than we expected!! We arrived at the house we are renting and were pleasantly surprised. It is BEAUTIFUL!! Just perfect. Very modern in decoration, huge spaces, gourmet kitchen, big bathrooms, 2 masters, 2 kids rooms, private screened in pool with jacuzzi and they also had a free baby package so we have a high chair, pnp, baby monitors, etc. Each room has a flat panel tv and there is a game room with fooseball, pool, huge flat screen, etc. We are only 3 miles from Disney, so it's about a 15 min drive from the house to parking. Not bad at all!!

Yesterday we went to Magic Kingdom. It was a big mistake. It was a Sunday which meant weekend crowds and it was Mickey's very merry Christmas Party (MVMCP). We didn't stay long, but had a good time just remembering the rides we loved. We did Small World, the Carousel a few times and Winnie the Pooh. It was so pretty seeing the Magic Kingdom all decorated for Christmas!!

Today we went back to MK. We were soooo happy. The crowds were gone and it was the Disney we remembered. For starters, it was 20 degrees warmer and sunny today. Yay! We hit all of the rides, more than a few times. Maddyn still has love for those "horsies" so we did the Carousel about 4 times, but Pooh about 3 times too. There were no lines, so we were lucky. She did the roller coaster in Goofy's land and some other fun rides like Tea Cups, Jungle Cruise, Snow White, Philharmagic, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.

Near the end of the day, we decided to hop over to Epcot. There are only 2 rides that she's age appropriate for, and we did those: Nemo and then Crush. She loves them both! Then we ate dinner in Mexico and called it a day. Epcot is also beautifully decorated for Christmas. The tree is huge and beautiful and there are all kinds of pretty lights everywhere.

Today, I forgot my camera. I was so bummed. You all know my love for taking photos and so it was a tough pill to swallow. But it is what it is, and I'll make up for it the rest of the trip :)

Tomorrow we plan to hit Hollywood Studios in the morning, swim here and nap in the afternoon and then tomorrow night, we head to the MVMCP ourselves!! Looking forward to it, should be lots of fun :) I will bring the camera, for sure!!!

Here's a picture I took of Cinderella's castle last night in the meantime:

Loooooong Overdue

So, it was brought to my attn that the blog is way overdue for updates!! So here you go :)

November was a crazy month, but full of fun. We were able to meet up with lots of friends and family and have some great times. We got a visit from Emily, Luke and Henry at the end of October - and that reminds me I still have to upload those photos!! It was lots of fun to just hang out and catch up with my ole bestie!! Megan's turn is coming next ;) I also was able to go to NYC with a bunch of my girlfiends one weekend to visit a friend who moved to Manhattan. We had so much fun and Maddyn and Dave had a great daddy/maddy weekend :)

Maddyn was busy hitting birthday parties and bounce houses and having lots of fun. I think she's been deemed the bounce house queen by her friends, lol. We also had a fun trip to the circus. Loads of fun, but all we heard for days was: Circus?? I wanna go to the circus... She was very disappointed when it was daycare instead.

We were able to see lots of family over Thanksgiving, and that was a nice break. Dave got a new job at a place in West Chicago that is only about 20 min from home. It was a promotion and he started on Monday. Things are going great so far, and I can tell already that he misses his "retirement"- but that he'll enjoy working here.

Maddyn's 2nd birthday is coming up on December 18th. It's hard to believe she's going to be 2 already!! Instead of throwing a big bash this year, we are taking her back to Disney World for a week. We leave on Sunday (We're going the week before her bday to beat the crowds) and are gone for a week. I'll try to blog daily again and load up some photos. We're really excited- warm weather in December will be nice.

I have been playing with my camera more and invested in a backdrop set and lighting. I'm still playing, but had some fun with Maddyn last weekend. All of the photos are up on the Shutterfly site, but here are some teasers.

Hope all is well with everyone!!

Dancing & Singing

I updated the Shutterfly sight with lots of new photos. But what I wanted to share here are some new videos. Some priceless Maddyn moments... definitely some good laughs!! Enjoy!!



This one is my favorite- the combo of the dancing with the singing is pretty darn good :)

She loves to Shake it!

And more shakin' it:

And the last of the "shakin' it":

Back to "Tonight's gonna be a good night". Backstory here: Maddyn loves to do "seat jumps" at gymnastics class. They do them on the big trampolines. She also loves to do them on the hard floor- Ouch! But it doesn't phase her! Silly girl!

Finally caught up

I'm finally caught up on photos!! All of Sept is now posted on Shutterfly. Maddyn's hair is finally long enough for pig tails, so I was able to get some photos of her sporting her new 'do :)

Maddyn has been obsessed with babies and dolls lately. Since her birthday is around Christmas, we didn't let her open all of her presents last year b/c it would have been gift overload. We let her open one more of her gifts tonight, her 1st Cabbage Patch Kid. She was in love at first sight: "Babyyyyyyyyy!"

I grabbed some photos- the full set is on Shutterfly!

21 Months Old

Time flies, it's hard to believe Maddyn is almost 2! We've had lots of little get-togethers with friends and family lately, so it's kept us busy. I know I'm behind on photos too- sorry! Going to try to get some Labor day ones up here shortly.

I have gotten a couple of cute videos, I'll post them below!!!

Uncle Kevin got Maddyn some of her first "fireworks". So Dave and Maddyn went outside to set off sparklers and 'snappers'. I got some video of Maddyn and Dave trying to make the snappers pop :)








Maddyn has been sick the last few days. Went to the dr, and they told us it's just a cough/cold/fever combo. But on Saturday it still wasn't gone so we took her back to find that want to put her on the nebulizer again (we could have bought 2 of them by now with as many times as we've had to have the thing) and steriods to strengthen her lungs. We go back again next week to see if she's doing better. So yesterday, I waAs trying to keep her spirits up with the Doodlebops (if you don't know who they are - be very.very.happy.). She was singing along- and I got some of it. You can hear how hoarse she is, but it's funny.

Busy August...onto September

August was a crazy month! With birthdays, picnics, etc. it all flew by. I finally uploaded all of our August photos onto the Shutterfly site. Work decided to let us know that we had to use all of our vacation this year- and they only gave us 6 months to use it all. (We usually have a carry-over policy). So, its been forcing me to take some days off. I've been fortunate to get some family time in!!! Lots of gtgs with friends and fun family time at museums, zoos and pools.

September started out with Dave's birthday on the 1st. I had to be in California last week for work, so I wasn't home. I tried to get Maddyn to say Happy Birthday Daddy for him. He got some video- you can see how well it turned out, lol!!! She tried :)