35 weeks. 1 to go? 6 to go?!?!?!?!?

35 weeks. Back in October it felt like I would never get here, but here I am. Huge and ready to go. I have no idea what to expect this time around. I actually think the first time was better because I had no expectations, now I am warpped from Aurora. If I am as early with Jake as I was with her that is 1.5 weeks from now. But the reality is I could be late. I could have 6 weeks left of pregnancy!!!!! I am really hoping that Jake comes early. I am ready to meet him and so ready to have my body back, but I am trying to be patient. It's no fun being patient though.

At my ultrasound on Wednesday they estimated that Jake currently weighs 5lb 5 oz. Since Aurora was 5lb 8oz when she was born that number scared me a little. They said that is totally normal and he is right on track, but it sounds big!

I'm really not motivated to write much now. Life has been crazy but it's always crazy. The biggest updates are that Nick comes home from travel tomorrow! Yay! He has seriously been gone most of this year. I think he was home all of January and then Feb. hit and it has just been ridiculous. Of the last 14 weeks he has been gone for 9 of them. And that includes a lot of weekend days. And the time that he was home he had his appendix out. I don't really remember what it means to be a normal family. And my definition of what normal is is going to change very soon...

Aurora is successfully potty trained and big girl bed trained :) Both went amazingly well. I was scared for both - we started at the same time (4/16) and both transitions were easy. She only got out of her big girl bed twice before learning that she needed to stay in there. And I would say potty training took a week? She really had it down after 2-3 days, but a week to be done with accidents. We started with the big girl underwear during the day and pull-ups at nap and night time, but we ditched the pull-ups very quickly when I discovered she was only peeing in them because she could. Big girl underwear went on and she kept them clean. Yay! I am very proud of her and how well she handled the changes :)

My friend Karina took pregnancy pictures for me this past weekend. She was amazing! I love the background and lighting and poses and everything she did with them. I love that it really was a family photo shoot. My tummy is front and center, but it's more about the 4 of us and I love that. Aurora was a terrible listener and it was a challenge, but she still got a ton of amazing shots. Here are a few of my favorites.

 

 

29 Weeks. And so behind on updates...

I can't believe a month has flown by since my last post. I can't believe that I'm 29 weeks pregnant already. But I will say ever since I reached the third trimester things seem to be slowing down, but I'm sure that will change soon as the end of April and all of May look to be pretty busy.

So the biggest news is that we have decided on a name. I am sure that most of you know that, but we have decided to name our little boy Jacob Nicholas. I know that I had said that was one name we weren't going to use, but I got my way! Nick wasn't originally sold on it, but I got him! We had a list of names and were crossing out ones we weren't going to use for sure and I came to Jacob and asked if I needed to cross it off and Nick said no, so I told him that I was going to get that name! And once it made the top 5 list I just started calling baby Jake. Nick never corrected me and finally one day he called him Jake so I asked if I could make it official and he said yes! Yay! The middle name was easy :)

It is really nice to have a name picked out, especially for Aurora because for the longest time she was calling him Isaac since that is her cousin's name. Speaking of which, the little cutie pie was 2.5 weeks early and born March 13. I am super excited to be an aunt to the cutest little guy!!!!

 

 

Cheryl also had her sweet little girl Briella a week early on March 6. I don't have a great picture of Briella, but here is the happy little family.

 

It was an extremely busy week between 2 babies being born and then in the middle of it all, Nick had emergency surgery to remove his appendix. It amazingly only took him a week to recover and is feeling great now, but the initial pain and time in the ER was pretty rough.

 

In pregnancy updates there is a lot to talk about. I haven't taken a picture recently and I know I have been really bad about posting bump pics, but part of the problem is that I haven't wanted to. I look the same as I did with Aurora. FAT. I'm roly poly all over and pretty unhappy about it. Nick says I'm complaining a lot this pregnancy and that I didn't do that as much with Aurora. But with Aurora I kept thinking I was going to feel beautiful and glowing and all that crap. The reality is that I'm not. I'm just going to feel fat the whole time and my illusions of feeling otherwise are gone since I've already done this once. Oh well, 11 weeks to go. 8.5 if Jake takes after his big sis :)

 

Jake is a serious mover. I don't think he ever holds still. It is so funny. It is the one thing about pregnancy that I love. It is so cute and I just wonder what he's doing it there :)

 

My back is killing me. I remember it hurting with Aurora, but not like this. But with Aurora I sat at a desk all day. Now I'm chasing and carrying a toddler around. It's getting to the point where I almost have to lay down during her nap time otherwise I won't be able to walk the rest of the day. I just hope it doesn't get worse. It doesn't help that Nick has been travelling a ton. He's been gone for 5 of the last 8 weeks and he isn't done... I told him he's going on the no fly list middle of May. I'm not taking any chances this time. Flagstaff is one thing, DC is another - I don't think he'd make it in time.

 

I had an ultrasound at 28 weeks. Jake had some fluid on his kidneys at 21 weeks and they wanted to check that and they wanted to look at the cyst on my ovary. Good news is Jake looks perfect! No more fluid and everything else looks healthy! Bad news is the cyst on my ovary continues to grow. It so far has not affected the pregnancy and it is not expected to, but it is something that we are going to continue to watch. It will have to be surgically removed at some point. My doctor said that I could schedule a C-section now and they could take care of everything at once, but she didn't see any reason why I couldn't have a normal delivery. So that is still the plan and then sometime a few weeks after delivery I will have surgery to remove the cyst. Or whatever it is. It has been called different things and there doesn't seem to be agreement on what it is (between 3 different doctors), the only thing they do seem to agree on is that it is benign. I am scheduled to see an oncologist in May, but I am assured that this is just a formality and there is no reason to think that it's cancerous. The main concern at this point is that the cyst could twist and I could lose the ovary. I said I didn't care - we only want 2 kids :) but they said that it would be very painful (yuck) and that I want that ovary for hormonal/health reasons as I age. I am supposed to "take it easy" (HA!) and not do any twisting or heavy lifting. Yeah, I have a 2 year old. I am trying to be aware of it and not be stupid, but there's only so much I can do. I am just trying to stay positive. It's not the worst thing and it sounds like it is something that can be taken care of and most importantly it shouldn't (and hasn't so far) affect Jake.

 

I also failed my one hour glucose test. I did with Aurora too. So I am scheduled for the 3 hour on Monday (which came back normal when I did it with Aurora.) I'm not worried since my levels were only slightly elevated and honestly at this point - there are worse things than having to sit and read a book for 3 hours. Aurora will have fun at Grandma Lin's :) 

 

Aurora is growing and changing so much every day. She says the most hilarious things and is such a little princess. She demands to sleep in a skirt. She will wear her jammies, but needs a skirt too and the first thing she says to me every morning is "Wear pretty dress." For a while she only wanted to wear her Snow White and Rapunzel dresses, but she has since decided that other ones are princess enough too. She is very into shoes, jewelry, having her nails painted, and temporary tattoos.

 

 

 

We are starting potty training next week. I am not really looking forward to it, but we finally have a week where we don't have plans every day, so we are going to be stuck in the house, conquering the potty. I am doing this out of necessity - Aurora will not keep her diaper on (especially at nap time!) and I am sick of the messes that result. I had been waiting until I felt like she could make it through nap/night time, but I can't take it anymore. So I am hoping we can do big girl underwear during the day, pull-ups for sleep and hopefully we won't have to do pull-ups for long. I am dreading it, but I think I will be so relieved once it is over.

 

We have also ordered a big girl bed for Aurora which should be interesting. Some days she is great about sleeping, other days she plays in her crib for an hour before I decide she isn't going to nap... So I have no idea what this is going to mean for her sleep schedule, but we need to get it figured out before Jake comes and time is running out.

 

Wish me luck! The next couple of weeks are going to be challenging as we try to tackle these milestones!

 

 

Birthday. Girl. Boy. BOY!

Like my title? It's a summary of life the past month and I have to say I am excited because so much has happened recently and this post is going to cover it all. So for the next week or so I will be caught up :)

Here's a rundown of what's been going on:

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Aurora is 2 years old! I can’t believe it. I know it’s been coming and we’ve been celebrating all month, but I still can’t believe what a big girl she is. For her first birthday my Mom and I took her to the Tucson Botanical Gardens to see the Butterfly Exhibit and we figured why not make it a tradition as long as we could. So we did that in the morning. Aurora had fun walking around – she was super in to the magnifying glasses at the Butterfly Exhibit. She was funny because she couldn’t make up her mind. First it was more butterflies and then once we were in there she wanted to leave and then once she left she wanted more butterflies. Fun stuff. We went to BJs for lunch and she got her own pazookie. Which I ate most of. But she liked blowing out the candle. We met Nick at Chuck E Cheese for dinner. She loves that place so much! She loves riding the little Merry Go Round and Chuck E car where she gets her picture taken. And pizza is one food that she will actually eat. I think she had a fun birthday.

 

 

Saturday, February 9, 2013

I had the privilege to throw Cheryl’s baby shower. Pink and gray owl themed. Fun stuff. I think the pictures do it most justice. It was fun to meet some of Cheryl’s friends and see others I hadn’t seen in a while. Baby Briella is due 3/13 - next week already! I can't wait to meet her.

 

 

Saturday, February 16, 2013

I had the privilege to throw Megan’s baby shower. (Yes, 2 baby showers within a week. I don't know what I was thinking, but really it's their fault for both having March due dates.) I will say that I could not have done it without my Mom and Grandma. I am so incredibly blessed to have two such amazing and caring women in my life. They helped make food even came over one day to watch Aurora so I could get some decorating done. They are awesome and I don't think I could thank them enough. 

 

Again it was fun to hang out and spend some time with family. I have to say I am so excited to be an Aunt! I can’t wait to meet my little nephew!!!!!!! I feel like I know his personality already just because I know Sean and Megan, but we will see. He could be totally different than I expect.

 

Baby Isaac is due 3/29 and I did a robot theme for the shower. I am so excited with the way the robot cake pops turned out. They took forever, but I think they were totally worth it. I was really lucky too that Brittany had just thrown Jared's 1 yr. party in October and she gave me all her leftover "hardware." :) She supplied me with all the paper goods and the cute metal little robots in the pics are ones she made - way to creative. And she let me borrow her Robot Party cartridge. I have awesome friends :)

 

 

 

 

 

Then in Baby news. If you haven't heard: We are having a boy!!!!! We did a little cake for fun. Mint chocolate chip if it was a boy, strawberry ice cream if it was a girl. The cake was frosted with white and was very neutral so we had no idea what we were having until we cut it. It was a fun way to find out.

 

 

Baby is a MOVER! This kid does not hold still. Nick has already felt this baby move more than he ever felt Aurora. The first time he felt him was when we were at Disney World (around 18 weeks). I have been feeling baby move since 13 weeks. But I think I felt this one earlier since I knew what to expect.

We have not picked a name yet. We probably have out top 5. The problem is we really don’t agree on boy names at all. Nick wants to name the baby Scott. I want to name him Jacob. Neither one of us is going to get our way, so I can tell you what 2 names it won’t be. Aurora has an opinion too. When we ask her what we should name the baby she says Thomas. And when we ask her if she likes other names she says no. She likes Thomas. (Thank you Thomas the Train…) Although - Sean and Megan will be happy to know that Aurora has said we should name him Isaac a couple of times. But that’s it. Isaac and Thomas.

As far as nursery colors I have a couple ideas in mind, but nothing settled on. I know that I want some form of gray in there and I know that I want some chevron pattern. That’s about it. I love pinterest right now - there are a ton of amazing ideas on there. So addicted.

Those are the updates. I’m happy to be caught up for now and life to have calmed down to an extent. For the next week or so. Until we start welcoming the new babies :) (Come on Briella and Isaac!)

Disney World 2.2

So I bet you all thought that I was done with Disney documenting. Not so! Just way behind. Life has been absolutely nuts since November and now I am getting a breather so there is going to be a lot of updating in the next couple of days. Hopefully.

 

So the conclusion of the Disney World saga:

 

Friday, January 25, 2013

We started the day at the Magic Kingdom in Fantasyland. We did the new Little Mermaid ride which may be Aurora’s favorite. We got breakfast at one of the new little places that was “Beauty and the Beast” themed. They had frozen apple cider with marshmellow cream that they called “LaFou’s Brew” and it was super weird. It was interesting though to try something new.

After breakfast we went on the Little Mermaid again and then got to meet Ariel. Aurora was actually a little puzzled by her I think because she had fins. Then we saw the Princesses again - Princesses Rapunzel, Aurora and Cinderella. Cinderella is definitely her favorite. Aurora liked comparing shoes with her. 

 

 

We then went over to Adventureland and did the Tiki Room and Pirates of the Caribbean which Aurora actually liked the second time. She kept saying she wanted to do it again so we figured we would try. And it was successful. We did the Flying Carpets ride which I seriously don’t think Nick and I would have ever done on our own, but Aurora really likes the spinning rides. I think she always wants to go on those because she can see them. Everything else we have to get in some line for or go in some building but those she can actually see.

And then miracle of miracles the Peter Pan ride had a reasonable line so we we actually went on it. Usually the wait is 60min or more. I will never understand why.

After Aurora took a terrible nap we went to Epcot. Nick went on the Sun of All Thrills while Aurora and I went on the Nemo ride 3 times. We saw the shark statues afterwards and she seemed to not mind them – she actually thought they were kind of funny. I keep telling her they are friendly sharks and she seems to be slowly warming up to them. I had a Mama Bear moment when a little kid came up out of nowhere and shoved Aurora. Really?!?!?!?! And then he tried to do it again but I grabbed her before he could. The parents didn’t do anything about it. Seriously people – parent your children. Pushing is not OK. Ugh, my blood still boils thinking about it. I just can’t believe what some parents let their kids get away with. I almost cried because Aurora didn’t react immediately, but her lower lip stuck out and then after a few minutes she started to cry. I know it didn’t hurt her, but it hurt her feeling and that makes me so sad. She is very sensitive. 

Aurora had a blast playing in the phone booths in “England.” So in to them – who knew that would be such entertainment?  We had teriyaki chicken in “Japan” for dinner and then saw Mickey, Pluto, and Minnie. Aurora starting showing Minnie all her parts – nose, mouth, shoes, knees. Minnie was very sweet and very patient. Then we got super yummy ice cream and watched a water show.  

Saturday, January 26, 2013 

Ugh, now it is a month later and I’m trying to remember the rest of our trip. I’ve got to say I got such great documenting done while Aurora was napping.

We started our day at the Magic Kingdom. Aurora got her second official haircut (once again done at the Harmony Barber shop on Main Street). It was really quick and it’s amazing how well she sits for other people. She got some Pixie Dust too and looked like a real princess so we went to see the Princesses and Mickey since we were right there anyway. Then we spent a little time in Tomorrowland and did the People Mover (Aurora was so not a fan) and the Buzz Lightyear ride. Nick got to go on Space Mountain. I didn’t. Oh well. We also got to watch the little parade they do – a dance party thing. Aurora loved it and loved watching the characters. They even let the kids go out and dance with the characters so of course Aurora got as close to Donald as she could. They weren’t in the giving hugs mode though so I think she was a little disappointed.

 

After Aurora’s nap we went to Hollywood Studios. They don’t have a ton for little kids to do there, but they did have a really cool little playground. It was “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” themed and had giant bugs and spider webs and stuff. It was like you were an ant outside or something. Aurora had a lot of fun climbing and going on the slides. Then we saw the Ariel show twice in a row. Aurora got her Disney tattoo – she chose Duck Tales this time. And fortunately the park closed at a reasonable time so Aurora got to bed at a decent hour. Hooray!

 

Sunday, January 27, 2013

We started the day at Animal Kingdom. We got to see lots of animals. Aurora was just really into pushing Mickey in her stroller. She is getting very independent and I am constantly hearing “Rora do it.” We went on the Safari ride, which we did not brave with her last time and she did pretty well. It was a tad long for her, but she had fun seeing the animals. And of course we went to see characters. And we saw the Bug’s Life show. Which, I’m sorry, I love Disney, but that show is terrible. Terrible.

 

We did the Magic Kingdom after Aurora’s nap. Our last hurrah – our final park visit. We spent most of our time in Fantasyland going on rides and seeing characters. We got to see Daisy, Minnie, Goofy and Donald which was very exciting. We went on the Dumbo ride, Ariel ride, Merry go Round, It’s a Small World and a bunch of others. Of course we had to do the Tiki Room too. And Winnie the Pooh. I don’t know if Aurora could tell that this was her last day, but she definitely was acting like it. She would get hysterical about how she wanted to stay on a ride the second she got off. She just wanted more of everything and was so sad each time something was over. We ended the night once again running through the park as the firework show went on, covering Aurora’s ears as she buried her head. She really did not like the loud noises. But the second they were over she wanted more. Again. 

Monday, January 28, 2013

Time to say good-bye. It is always sad to leave Disney. I’m thankful for the time we had and I feel like it was the perfect amount – we got to do everything we wanted to. But it is still sad to leave. We spent a little bit of the morning walking around the Caribbean Beach Resort and having breakfast. It is beautiful! I will say that we could have easily spent more time just at the resort, but oh, well. After that we went to Downtown Disney for the rest of the day until our flight left.

Downtown Disney is always fun. We played at the Lego store for over an hour – Aurora discovered Duplo and they had little play stations for the kids so we literally stood there for an hour while she built things. We have since pulled out the legos at home and I’ve got to say – not the same. I get maybe 15 minutes of entertainment out of them here… Unfortunate. But she had fun. We went in a lot of different stores. We went in to a sock store and Aurora got a bag, put socks in it, took it up to the register and tried to pay by trading Nick’s sunglasses. Adorable. We had lunch at the Dinosaur restaurant. I don’t remember exactly what it was called but it’s the Dino version of Rainforest Café. It was really cool and fun to look at. They originally seated us in a room right next to some moving dinosaurs, but Aurora was afraid of them so they moved us to the colorful room with fishies. Much better. The best part was that they had a Build A Dino Workshop (just like Build a Bear). So cute!

 

 

Our flight home was fairly miserable. It left after Aurora’s bedtime and she was exhausted. She fought sleep the entire first flight and only gave in to sleep halfway into the second. She screamed most of the car ride home and then passed out once she got to her crib. I think it was like 2AM or something terrible. You would have thought she would have slept until noon the next day but she got up at 9. At least it gave us some sleep in time.

And that's the end of our Disney Story for now :)

Just for Fun...

Less than 24 hours to cast your vote! We had our ultrasound today and I am proud to say that Nick and I did not cheat! We dropped our envelope off at Cold Stone and they are making our cake. We find out tomorrow if we are having a boy or girl!

Now, I did all the old wives tales with Aurora and I wanted to do it again for this one. They were wrong with Aurora, but I thought it's still fun :) Enjoy!

1) Are you carrying high (girl) or low (boy)? I'm going with high since I'm carrying the same as I did with Aurora... GIRL

2) Hold a gold ring from a string over your tummy to see which way it swings (back and forth for a boy, circular motion for a girl): Don't have the patience for this...

3) If the hair on your legs grows faster its a boy, slower girl: It's the same I think...

4) Salty cravings = boy, sweet = girl: BOY

5) Pee bright colored = boy, light colored = girl: BOY. But I know all this is based on is how much water I drink and I know I'm not getting enough...

6) Pee mixed with Draino (bluish yellow, brownish, brown, black or blue = boy) (greenish brown, green, or doesn't change at all = girl): so not going to try this - sorry to disappoint everyone

7) Fetal heart rate above 140 = girl: Last check was 168, GIRL

8) Nick's weight gain (if any = girl): BOY

9) Round face for me = girl: GIRL

10) Larger left boob = girl, larger right boob = boy: BOY

11) Acne=girl: BOY

12) In a study, mom's guessed right 71% of the time. What do I think? I really have no idea... But if I had to guess I would say GIRL

13) Moody = girl: GIRL

14) Can't tell I'm pregnant from behind = boy: GIRL

15) Chinese calendar method: I didn't check this time...

16) Age at conception = 28, month of conception = 9. If they are both even or odd, its a girl: One even, the other odd = BOY

17) Ask the mom-to-be to pick a number. Match the number with the corresponding letter of the alphabet (A=1, B=2 etc). Then ask her to choose a name beginning with that letter. If she chooses a boys name, it will be a boy. If she chooses a girls name, it will be a girl: I don't think this one can work anymore since I know that's what it's asking for...

18)What side does the mom-to-be lay on while she's resting? If she lies on her left, it's a boy; on her right, it's a girl: GIRL

19) If young boys (pre-school age) show interest in you while you're pregnant, it will be a girl. If they ignore you, expect a boy: GIRL

20) Ask the mom-to-be to show you her hands. If she shows them palms up, it's a girl; palms down, a boy: GIRL

21) If you dream of girls, you will have a boy. If you dream of boys, you will have a girl: I've dreamt both...

22) Pick up a key - if you pick it up by the thinner end you are having a girl by the round part a boy: Unfortunately I read the whole thing before I could do that, so now I feel biased...

23) If the mom-to-be was the more aggressive partner when the baby was conceived, it will be a boy. If the father was the more aggressive, the baby will be a girl: Haha! I thought that was funny.

So the tally is:
BOY: 6
GIRL: 9

For whatever it's worth :)

Disney World 2.1

Yes, I know. We were just here. But Aurora had soooooooooooo much fun the last time. And we figured this was going to be our last trip before baby comes (and for a while after baby comes), so we went for it. This is a very long post. The next few probably will be, but I am capturing every detail of our trip. And I have the time to since we have to go back to the hotel for Aurora to nap...

 

Tuesday – Oh my gosh the last thing I wanted to do was get on a plane with Aurora. She was in such a bad mood! I don’t know why but she was fussy and clingy all morning and I couldn’t get anything done. Nick was home, but she would not let me put her down. It took me 15 minutes to address a card because she was being such a basket case. I don’t know what the deal was, but we finally made it to the airport and the drama seemed to stop. We were very fortunate – our original flight was cancelled, but they were able to get us on the next set of flights (to Dallas and then Orlando) and we made it to the resort only a few hours later than expected. Yay for Nick’s Priority Access. I always make fun of him, but it actually really helped this time.

Aurora was reasonably well behaved on the flights. She kept saying that she wanted to go home and she didn’t nap at her usual time and I think she was just tried and did not want to be in one place. Surprise surprise. She fell asleep on the second flight and sort of napped. It was really her bedtime at that point, but she woke up for the last 10 min of the flight and for the bus ride to the resort, so I’m calling it a nap.

Wednesday – Seeing as how Aurora went to bed after midnight we had to wake her up this morning. I was amazed how deep she was sleeping – she was really tired. And you could tell, but there was so much excitement that she handled it really well. We went to the Magic Kingdom Park first – have to start there of course. We saw Mickey first thing and Aurora was so excited! Last time we were here she spent the week collecting hugs. This time she wants to sit in everyone’s lap. She made herself right at home with Mickey J Then one of the cast members there saw she was dressed like Snow White, her name was Aurora, and it was her birthday (oh yes – I am going to use this birthday to every advantage. It may not be until next week, but she doesn’t know the difference. Her birthday can be a month long) And he short cut us in line to see the princesses. So instead of waiting 25 min we waited 5. Yay! We saw Cinderella (Aurora and her compared shoes), Princess Aurora, and Rapunzel (they danced together). And she sat in each one’s lap.

Then we got to see Scrooge McDuck which was awesome because Aurora has been so in to Duck Tales lately. And then we finally got breakfast (at 10:30 when we had planned to get it first thing). The characters were so distracting! Everywhere we saw one we had to go say HI. 

Then we saw the cute little performance that they do in front of the castle and Aurora loved it because we got to see everyone – Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. And I can tell my preggo hormones are out of wack because the stupid thing made me cry. The princesses all came out and were dancing with the princes and it was so sweet and then Mickey told Minnie that she was a princess to him and I couldn’t help it. I have issues right now.

We went in the Tiki Room and discovered that Aurora loves the birds singing but no longer loves the Tiki Men. They are kind of scary now. Then we went on the Jungle Cruise (she loved it), Pirates of the Caribbean (she hated it – she buried her face and would not let go of me. I will say though – high quality snuggling), and then It’s a Small World (she loved it). She said as we were beginning It’s a Small World, “remember that.” Which was funny because we kept asking her if she remembered things and she hadn’t really responded, but this she said out of the blue. So maybe that ride left an impression on her the first time.  

 

Aurora just wants more of everything. After each character it’s “More Mickey,” or “More Princess,” after the Jungle Cruise it was “More animals,” after the Tiki Room it was “More Tiki Room.” She just wants more of everything. She’s like the seagulls from Finding Nemo – they say “Mine, Mine, Mine,” but Aurora says “More, More, More.”

We went back to the resort in the middle of the day so Aurora could nap. It’s not ideal, but if she doesn’t get her nap then she really doesn’t have fun. And we figure this trip is all about her having fun. And getting hilarious video of her and the characters. And I will say that it’s giving me a chance to keep up on journaling for the trip and post pictures. Because you all know how on top of things I usually am.

 

We actually had to wake her up after 2.5 hours. We didn’t want her on a super weird schedule, so we had to. Who knows how long she would have slept. I know she was tired. Then we went to Epcot. Nick loves Epcot. I think it is a very pretty, romantic park and if you are wanting dinner it’s probably the best place to go, but for a 2 year old it’s not that exciting. We went on the Nemo ride 3 times. 4 times? I lost count. It was enough after 1. It’s cute, it’s just… Yeah. You only need to do it once. But Aurora loved it because she LOVES Nemo. We had dinner in “Mexico.” I know, I know, we basically live in Mexico, why not do something different, but it was easy. And Nick went on the Mission to Mars ride and said he almost barfed. He even took a Dramamine, but apparently it’s intense. I went on it when we were here years ago and I don’t remember it being that intense, but I’ve never had motion sickness problems. We are hoping Aurora (and baby) take after me in that regard. While Nick was on the ride Aurora and I played in a little kid area and I had the scariest experience of my life. Aurora climbed up into the crawl area and went all the way around by herself. It’s like at McDonalds in the tubes and nets. And I couldn’t get to her (unless I crawled up there myself). It was very scary for me. I know, and I think she’s the drama queen. But she really enjoyed crawling around and then afterwards she spun in circles singing “Frosty the Snowman” and saying that she was “so happy.” Awesome. 

Thursday – Yay! Aurora got her 11 hours of sleep last night and we had a well-rested happy girl on our hands. She had a great time yesterday, but today she was beyond happy. She was all smiles and very affectionate. Awesome! We went to Animal Kingdom and it seemed like there was a lot more to do this time than last. We had really only planned on half a day there, but we are definitely going to go back.

We got to see lots of characters which is always a highlight: Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Donald, Goofy (FINALLY! That’s all she’s been talking about for the last month), Pluto, and Chip and Dale. We went on a spinning triceratops ride – she’s so my daughter. Spinning rides are the best.

 

We saw the Live Nemo show which she loved. It’s just like the movie, but Live and with music. Funny thing though – whenever we watch the movie at home we get to the sea turtles part and she gets bored and says she’s done. And it comes after different time intervals because I don’t always start the movie in the same spot and a lot of times she wants me to skip the sharks. So it’s not a time thing. And today when we got to the sea turtles she was done too. Apparently they are boring. I think that’s my favorite part but for whatever reason Aurora never wants to watch it. And she kept saying “skip it” when the sharks came on during the play – it really was just like we were watching the movie at home. And I think the whole theater heard her yell “Daddy!” when Nemo did. It was hilarious.

After Aurora’s nap we went back to the Magic Kingdom. It is definitely the park with the most to do with little kids. We saw Mickey again and did a few rides and how horrible is it that I can’t even remember which ones? Things are starting to blur together.

 

The Dumbo ride was a lot of fun. The best part is the line – they have a little play area that you can wait in so it’s actually fun. It is absolutely adorable and circus themed. Aurora could only play in a small part of it because most of it was for big kids, but she had a lot of fun. We were allowed to play as long as we wanted and I know we played longer than we needed to – the line was really short.

We went over to the new Fantasyland. They are still working on it, but the Beauty and the Beast Section and Little Mermaid section are open and super cute. We went on Ariel’s ride and Aurora loved it. She is very in to Princess Ariel. I think the ride is a duplicate of the one they put in at California Adventure not too long ago. Took them long enough! They have some Fairy Tale adventure thing that we haven’t done yet and a Be Our Guest Restaurant that I really want to go to but the line is always crazy.

 

We saw the Electrical Parade, which Aurora and I loved. The only thing I don’t love about it is how crazy it is trying to get a spot and how pushy people are. It never fails – someone always elbows their way in front of us. At least Aurora got a good view for the most part. We actually ended up staying for the beginning of the fireworks but Aurora hated it so we left. We were all the way back in Fantasyland when they started going off and they were too loud so Aurora buried her head and wimpered the whole time. We basically ran all the way through the park to get out of there. And we made it to the front gate as the fireworks were ending – so we beat the rush at least. Afterwards Aurora kept saying, “More fireworks.” Weirdo.

Candyland

Aurora’s 2^nd birthday party. January 19, 2013.

 

I know that I say this every time, but I cannot believe how fast time flies. I know that everyone tells you it will. And I knew it would. But I still don’t feel that I was prepared for my little baby to be 2. But she is (almost). Actual birthday January 30, but we did the party a little earlier this year because it is going to be a very eventful year. Usually things slow down after Christmas, but not anymore now that Aurora has a birthday in January and this year I am throwing 2 baby showers in February, becoming an Aunt in March, and making Aurora a big sister in June. It’s going to be crazy. LOTS to look forward to.

I had a really hard time deciding on the theme for Aurora’s party this year. I got off easy last year getting to choose what I wanted, but this year was tough because I wanted to do something she would be excited about. First thought was Dora (dora dora splor as Aurora calls her). But I cringed at the thought of buying all the decorations and couldn’t see where I could be real creative with it. (However, after doing this party I may reconsider a completely store bought party next year. Being creative takes time!) Next thought was Disney. I could handle that… Then Christmas came and Aurora fell in love with Frosty. Yes! Winter Wonderland! But Nick vetoed the idea. I don’t know why I let him – I think it would have been adorable. But then while we were talking about it we were playing Candyland and Aurora kept demanding lollipops. She LOVES lollipops. And I looked at the board and saw all the pretty colors and I was sold!

I think the party was a success. The kids seemed to have fun – they decorated gingerbread houses (and ate more of the candy that they put on…) And they ran around like crazy. The boys were really into the Candyland pathway that we put out and kept driving cars on it. Not the girls – just the boys. Kind of funny. They played outside with the bubbles and thank goodness none of them fell into the pond. They were trying so hard! And I thought for sure one of them would barf from all the candy/sweets, but none did. At least not at our house. Sorry to any of the parents if that was your fate...

 

So I was really happy with the way it turned out. Most importantly Aurora had a good time and she got her lollipop!