orlando part II

going to mickey's very merry christmas party is probably one of my favorite traditions and that's counting the fact that the last three times we've gone i have been either, pregnant, with an 11 month old, and this time pregnant again with an almost 2 yr old. i guess this means i really like that place. come on.

^^ i could eat them. but i wont. but i could.^^

a couple things i've learned over the past couple years about venturing into theme park land both pregnant and with a toddler.

do:

• stick to the routine.  even though you're on "vaca time", your child has no clue what that means
• if every bit of the scheduled routine crumbles, don't kill your husband (no joke there. you'll want to)
• dish out a couple bucks of that "one" souvenir. which in our case was a $10 blinking balloon. it popped the very next day but was worth every penny while it lasted
• if you typically let your little one play with your phone, try limit that as much as possible two day before. {when A would get cranky and we'd hand her one of our phones to play with, it didn't work it's usual magic}
• soak it all in

don't:

• think you're the only person in the park spending special time and creating memories with your family. everyone else is there for the exact same reason. i tried my absolute best to be as positive and nice as possible to any and all people that didn't know how to conduct themselves with proper manners at the park.
• go hungry. theme park food is crazy expensive and typically crazy gross.
• stress out
• rent the park stroller, take your own. those things are like, 40 bucks!

most if this is common sense but it still took me three years to learn and it also gets different every time. another thing that really stuck out to me was me was just how much i love husband. the way he cared for A, making sure she was having a good time, being proactive about taking her on the rides she could go on, and literally checking on her every two minutes to make sure she wasn't cold. it made my heart melt!

see you next year, mickey's very merry christmas party! -with two kids in tow... jesus help me.

coming your way: an obscene amount of pictures from orlando

oh, how i wish the times we spent in orlando lasted longer. i hope your holiday weekend involved lots of christmas tree decorating, jingle bell listening, and not getting trampled on by over the top shoppers. the weather was in the 60's and 70's and perfect. i managed to get a few snapshots of our first night out {where i decided to wear new, never worn or broken in wedges and eat the brick paved road} as well as some from our afternoon lunch. this was probably one of the most fun/most frustrating trips with A. seeing the enjoyment on her face while running around new spaces was adorable but the fact that she hated being in her stroller cause she wanted to "alk" everywhere, made me want to rip my hair out. 

 i tried teaching husband a tip for taking pictures and avoiding the not-so-sexy-double-chin and in his mind that meant, play statue. in turn resulting in the masterpiece pictured above. 

can you say glamor shot?

 ^^dear, tres leches, i will eat you again. that's a promise.^^

^^hey, look who's waking up!^^

up next:

mickey's very merry christmas party post and tips i've learned for taking a toddler to a theme park!

a late thanksgiving post

let's talk about my love for the holiday season. I LOVE IT!!! once i wake up thanksgiving morning, it's all jolly christmas music, a loud mix of brazilians and italians "conversing", and scarves and sweaters galore. we met up with our family where we had dinner and they've been with us since. we're in orlando now and excited to be making out way to mickey's very merry christmas party tomorrow night :) i could go on forever writing about what i'm thankful for but who would want to sit through that?! i couldn't be happier to have an ever enlarging uterus with baby Lucca growing and A, no other little could make my heart fill with more joy. thankful for my best friend and his love for me and most of all, my God. without Him, His mercy, and His grace. i am nothing.

november 15.

four years ago i married my best friend. i was for him and he was for me. it's crazy looking back and seeing that i was all of nineteen years old and yet, i had known with every fiber in my body. THIS WAS HIM! i've learned and grown so much since marring this guy. and these last four years have been the best yet! i'm excited for many more years of fun, happiness, and the new reality of two littles running around the house. eek!

*** 

for our anniversary, husband surprised me by taking me to one of our favorite restaurants. {halfway through the night i started feeling really sick :( the next day, after going to the doctor i realized i had a GI bug that ended up causing some ugly contractions}

 

here's to many more, stud. it's all you, guy.

can you feel that wind chill?

i love living in swfl, i promise, i do. but if i could choose to live anywhere else in the world, it would definitely be the northeast. preferably new york- oh how i LOVE new york.

the crisp, chill air we've been experiencing lately has reminded me of how baldy i want to go back.

i was able to visit my family in connecticut twice last year. once in october just me and A when this freak snow storm happened and we lost power for 5 days!

i took this picture after it had only been snowing for 15 minutes

..and again with husband in december. that time we visited family in ct again, as well as making a trip to new york and rhode island. 

and yea, i get it. i live in florida, not new york and although florida is trying, and hey! it's a decent attempt, it will never give me the same winter-y satisfaction as i would obviously get up north.

i hope we can work it out to go again at the end of the year, but for now, i just wallow in that uncertainty. like a big hormonal baby.