Disney Day 2 - morning

Disney Day Two - Morning

  

Good Morning Halle Kate! Anyone think she is a little fired up?

We stayed at Disney's All Star Movies Resort and had one very small room and tiny bathroom. We've never all slept together and the girls have never slept with anyone in their bed so we knew sleep was going to be a gamble. I highly suggest renting a crib if you have a child used to a crib/toddler bed. This allowed both HK and M to have their normal size beds and we all slept well. Except we did learn that HK, no matter how tired she is, HAS to talk to herself (or anyone who will listen) for at least 20 minutes before she can fall asleep. I think we all were asleep before she ever quit talking.

 

Another tip? Mickey Mouse and Tinkerbell visited our room each day and brought the girls little gifts. This significantly reduced the amount of whining we heard from the girls wanting to buy things because they had each already gotten something that day. If Tinkerbell or Mickey could talk they would say that the Disney Store and Dollar Tree were great places to find fun Disney stuff much cheaper than Disney World prices.

They got stuffed animals and wands the first morning. Those worked great because they still had a "security blanket" that wasn't dog or robot. Those guys were carried all over that park!

 

Our first ride on the monorail headed to the Magic Kingdom.

 

 

 

Every morning to open the park a train come in with music, dancers and many of the characters. It really was magical! So worth making sure you're at the park before it opens.

First ride? Dumb!

We rode Dumbo many times over the two days in the Magic Kingdom. I have heard the girls both tell people that this was their favorite ride.

 

 

 

Disney World Day 1

We just got back from a fabulous trip to Disney World. I am not sure how to show the pictures from our trip because there are a ton! We were there for 5 days so I think I’ll do a post per day for each day of the trip. Sorry for the suspense but you’ll have to keep checking back….I have lots of laundry, fall festivals, school conferences, birthday celebrations and pumpkin patches to deal with over the next few days!

When we got into town (after a very long “when will be there” 8+ hour drive) we headed to Downtown Disney. Everything was decorated for fall/Halloween and the girls had a great time looking around. Just being out of the car was a very exciting thing for all of us!

Halle Kate loves all things Peter Pan, especially Captain Hook and Tick Toc Crock. She was thrilled to start our stay with a giant croc!

There were people blowing bubbles all over the parks. Such a great, easy and free way to entertain the girls!

They were excited to have their picture made with the guys from Winnie the Pooh.

Kaci, one of my best friends from high school lives in Orlando and came by to see us. We hadn’t seen each other since she was up here not long after Halle Kate was born. We didn’t have long together but it was great to get together!

The problem with taking pictures is that there was always a line of people behind us waiting for their turn and it was easy to fell rushed…and the girls wanted to play much more than they wanted to look at a camera!

We had originally talked about going to Disney with friends in January 2013…and then we found out we were pregnant so that plan went out the window. We almost didn’t go at all but after Jared’s dad had the heart attack and things were all chaotic Jared called from work and asked that I please book a trip so that he had something fun to look forward to. Planning Disney about 6 weeks out is not easy – there were several things that were already booked and lots of dates we were not able to find a room. I am not a good traveler and I would never had planned this trip under different circumstances but I am so glad that Jared wouldn’t let it go because we had a fantastic time and created lots of fabulous memories.

We know that a lot of our family members wanted to come with us - at least all the grandparents and several TX aunties – and in the end we decided that this was something we wanted to do alone. When other people are with the girls the girls want those people and not us. And that is normally great. But for this trip Jared and I didn’t want to miss a thing and we knew that if a grandparent, etc was with us then the girls would choose to do things with them….and selfishly we wanted to experience every moment of this trip ourselves. We rode every ride together, heard every laugh, watched every nervous moment when they met their favorite princess/superhero, took every bathroom break, watched every smile, etc….and it was awesome. So thank you to those who we know really, really wanted to be there. We appreciate your understanding and we promise to go back and you can come!

Baby Update 6 months

* I snapped this late last night, don't know why having my tongue out helped me take a picture in the mirror :)

Poor third child, it's finally time for a baby update! Except when I am barfing, winded, too big to fit in clothes, getting kicked from the inside, have to pee every 10 minutes, have skin like a middle schooler, can't sleep on my belly, etc I don't even have time to remember that I am pregnant! ha! Actually, while this pregnancy is flying by it does seem like it is going slower than in the past. Maybe it is a cumulative effect of all of them but I feel like I have been pregnant for forever...and we're not much over 1/2 way!

Right now I'm 6 months and all of sudden my belly (and butt!) is huge. I am so thankful to be pregnant in winter again. I cannot imagine doing this when it is super hot outside. Here are some highlights so far...

*I was just as sick this pregnancy as the last times. It started a little earlier - by 6 weeks at the beach I was starting to turn green - and by 20 weeks I finally thought I would live again. The girls spent a lot of time watching TV this summer, ate a lot of junk that they normally wouldn't get and have had a hard time following rules/instruction again because there were lots of things they got away with while I was in the bathroom/on the couch.

*Food cravings so far - spicy stuff the first 6 weeks, Subway, Chewy Sweet Tarts, Sprite while I was sick, and I haven't had many since then. Jared could probably remember other weird things I ate. I was too ill to care!

*Baby girl is a kicking machine inside my belly. Matney felt her the other day and looked at me very strange for the rest of the day.

*I hit the ground running as soon as I felt better. I made pages of "to do before Thanksgiving" lists. Seriously, lots color coded pages (have I ever mentioned how much I love Sharpies? Because I do. A lot.). Jared's favorite is his personal page! I want to be able to relax and enjoy the holidays because as soon as they are over we'll have just enough time to clean up and have a baby. The girls are so much fun at this age that I want to be able to focus on them for the next months.We had lots of fun things planned for summer that did not happen so fall and winter are going to be super exciting around here! That said - mom came up last week and the Heald Family Sweat Shop was open again. More pics to come but I'd already picked out everything for the girls' room and the nursery so there was lots of sewing and staple gunning going on. Looks like a bomb exploded around here right now but in a few weeks this place will look like a new house upstairs.

I can't think of much else. While we're loving these last months as a family of 4 I'm anxious to have this baby and adjust to life as a family of 5!

Psst, Santa! It's Catalog time!

Look what came in the mail! An American Girl catalog. I don't even have a clue how we got on the American Girl list. We walk through the store at the mall but have never bought anything. I'd hoped to avoid American Girl forever for a few more years. The girls have spent a lot of time looking at the dolls and they know exactly what they want. They are in a gymnastics class this fall - more info on that later - and there is a new gymnastics doll named McKenna that Matney is in love with. And HK wants a Bitty Baby in footie pajamas. See their clothes in the picture above? It's pretty typical. The minute we are home from anywhere Matney is in a tutu or dress and HK's in jammies. A baby doll with footie jammies (blue ones "like a boy")  has been on HK's Christmas list for months. I am really not sure what Matney wants...except a very expensive doll that I hope Santa wants to bring because I don't think she'll talk her Daddy into buying it! There are lots of knock off American Girls now so I'm thinking a knock off doll in a gymnastics outfit and M will never know the difference, right?!?!?!?

Hard Workers

While we were home this germy girls last weekend we (ok, they) tackled some yard work. Halle Kate had her ball cap on and was more than excited to be digging in the yard with her Daddy. For 95% of her life she has been a mama's girl but recently? She is becoming  her Daddy's little buddy all the way.

And Matney? She needed a chair, sunglasses and lemonade to supervise the work. Oh, and a location change. The picture above had her too much in the sun so I had to move Her Highness to the shade.

Much better! And I should add that my chair, water and sunglassed self was right next to her the entire time!

Halle Kate was so excited to be dirty. That doesn't happen much on the days that Mama is in charge!

HK was serious about her work...actually, she was looking for "more squirmy wormies".

The weather was so pretty (and the task took SOOOO much longer than expected now that Jared had a "helper") that we were up and at 'em early the next morning. This time even Matney got in on the digging.

The girls created a dirt/rock monster. See the leaf hair and rock face? Cute idea!

Matney quickly lost interest.

And HK took advantage of M's distraction and destroyed the Dirt Monster....and had to run away FAST when Matney saw what she'd done. Doesn't she look sad to have upset her sister?

In the end, Matney was very proud of her dirtiness.

The weather was beautiful all weekend, the work got finished and we all had a great time laughing together in the yard.

Dentist - round two

Time for a check up at the dentist again! Last time they both were fine but this time Matney flipped out when they tried to lean her back so Halle Kate decided that there must be something to be scared of and she flipped out too. I finally convinced Matney to get in the chair and HK was willing to get on the chair but she sat up the whole time. Silly girls. Glad to say that we have no cavities!

Need 5?

If you've ever in charge of the girls and need a 5 minute break here is my tip! Toss them in the rocking chair with a popsicle, blanket and TV show and you're all set. A popsicle is a great bribe treat in this house!

Pumpkin Time

It's pumpkin time again! The girls and Daddy went to work designing their pumpkin masterpieces. Jared always hands them a marker and let's them draw what they want. Brave man!

HK's pumpkin on top, she just wanted to draw on and did not want it carved. Matney's is below, she wanted him carved with silly teeth.

Time to clean the pumpkin brains out. HK was a big helper. And Matney?

Matney apparently can hold this face for several minutes, which she did the entire time those "brains" were being scooped. I wonder what she'd been eating to have a purple tongue.

I think Jared was looking for an excuse to bring out his drill!

These are the last pictures I took and they look the same every year. By the time the pumpkins are gutted the girls have lost interest. Jared stayed focused until M's was finished but all that drawing, scooping and dace making made the girls need a break!