Disney World Day 1: Magic Kingdom

I turned 30 this year! Josh and I had discussed taking a trip to celebrate the occasion. I started pricing different vacation ideas (Las Vegas, New York, Napa Valley) and everything was crazy expensive. Then I started looking at Disney World, the trip was originally going to be for Josh and I, but I couldn't dream of going to Disney without taking the kids. So on September 24th, we packed up and flew to the Happiest Place on Earth. We stayed at the Coronado Springs Resort, everything was absolutely wonderful. We arrived at about 10 Wednesday night and our magical vacation began.

 Everyone was excited to be heading to Magic Kingdom.

 One of our first Meet and Greets was with Ariel, Avery FAVORITE character. She was so excited to meet her. Alexa was not! She was terrified of all the characters.

 Our first Magic Kingdom day was kind of hectic. I had done touring plans and fast passes, but actually being there and walking around, plans changed. Our first stops were Dumbo, the Teacups and the Carousel.

 We had lunch at Be Our Guest, which is absolutely beautiful. We watched the Parade on Main St. and finished the night with Dinner and Kona Café and watching the fireworks on the beach of the Polynesian.

 The girls we total troupers, the double stroller is a must and both girls were able to ride and nap.

Day 1 made memories to last a lifetime.

August 2014

In order to catch up on the poorly neglected blog, I am just going to do monthly highlights of the last 5 months.

 

August was a busy month. We spent the first half of the month soaking in the last few weeks of summer. We went to the Children's museum in Hammond, we ate lots of snowballs, we swam at the pool and at the Russo's, and we visited with the neighbors, family and church friends.

August 15th we rechecked Alexa's weight, since she hadn't gained since her 9 month appointment. Little Miss had LOST more weight, She was at 18#10oz from 19#. Dr. Mula sent us over to Quest for a CBC, CMP and thyroid panel. Thank God everything was normal. We think she just thinned out when she started crawling and becoming more active. She also wasn't nursing as much and she didn't really like the cows milk at that time.



August 18th Avery Yvonne started Pre-K!

She is in Ms. Charlene and Ms. Brittany's class. This picture was taken after am early morning tantrum by both Avery and mommy about 1st day of school picture taking. But we got our shots, she was happy and she headed out the door! The rest of the month was spend getting back into a school routine. Avery goes Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday she has a gymnastics class at 9:15. And Alexa is just along for the ride!

Alexa's First Birthday Party!



 

We celebrated our little firecracker's first birthday with a 4th of July themed party.

I love Albertson's cakes!

We had all her favorite foods. Including blue berries and gold fish, we also barbecued for the grown ups.

The Harris family drove in the day of her party to celebrate and spend a vacation with us. We were so happy to have them there!

Our sweet family.

It was  a sweltering July day, so we had a water slide for the big kids and baby pools for the little ones.

Singing "Happy Birthday" to our sweet girl.

She was not happy about being put down.

 Until she realized there was cake!

 She definitely knew what to do with her smash cake!

Sissy got in on the action too!

She loved opening her presents.

It was such a sweet day. We only invited family, so it was a low key affair, but I think everyone had a good time. And we got to celebrate our littlest angel.

 

Alexa Claire is ONE!

Alexa Claire you are 1 year old!

 You weigh 19 pounds, which is the exact same as you weighed at your 9 month check up! We will be keeping a close eye on that!

You wear 9-12 month clothes and a size 3 diapers.

You are saying "Momma" "Dadda" and "More"

 You are starting to use the sign language we have been teaching you!

You can sign "more" and "please"

You wake mommy up bright and early at 6:30 in the morning,

but still take a morning nap and an afternoon nap.

You are still nursing 3-4 times a day.

We have tried to start you on cows milk but you have not been that interested.

You are standing now and cruising around the furniture.

You also love to climb! You definitely keep your mommy and daddy on our toes!

Your favorite foods are macaroni and cheese, blueberries and spaghetti.

You favorite person in the whole world is your sister, you laugh at her constantly and light up when she walks into the room.

 

We love watching your personality develop.

You have definite opinions and let us know what you want.

You are also a little teaser, you will act like you are going to kiss us and then turn your head.

You love to pull everything out of mommy's purse, over and over, everyday!

You are a water baby and we have enjoyed spending the summer in the pool.

We thank God everyday for adding you to our family. The love you and your sister share is so special. We love to watch you two together. We also love the times we get to love and cuddle you all by ourselves. You are the sweetest little thing and we love watching you grow!

 

Alexa Claire: 10 months old!

Alexa Claire you are 10 months old!!!!

Holy cow baby girl, this first year is flying by. We celebrated your first Easter this month.

You were not a fan of the Easter bunny. You started screaming shortly after we sat you on his lap.Easter morning you were excited to get your basket with bubbles, goldfish and "real life" play keys

Your sleep patterns this month are pretty good. You will sleep from about 8 pm-5:30am. Mommy will nurse you when you wake in the early morning and a lot of times you will fall back to sleep until around 7. You are still taking 2 naps a day. You LOVE bath time each night with sissy. Y'all are the sweetest things to each other. It makes my heart so happy.

This was at your check-up. No shots this time, yay!

Mommy took your pacifier away this month. We kept losing them, and you were never really attached to them. So we dropped them cold turkey. I feel like maybe it was a little too soon, because you will nurse on momma for comfort now instead of a pacifier. You are very resilient though and always so happy!

This was a big month for you verbally. You started saying "Momma" and "Dadda"

You can do the sign for "thank you" you are so polite :)

You are also blowing kisses. So sweet!

You are army crawling all over the place now! We love it when you crawl to the shower while we are bathing. You start sticking your hands under the curtain and next thing we know you are halfway in the shower with us.

 

It so exciting to watch you grow and interact more. You are definitely stronger willed than Avery and its interesting watching you try to get what you want. We love your sweet toothy smile and all the personality you exude. Thank you for blessing our family Alexa Claire!

Alexa Claire: 8 months old!

Alexa Claire you are 8 months old!

You celebrated your first Valentines day this month, it included lots of pink!

You cut 4 teeth this month! You have a mouthful! Thankfully you are a good teether like your sister. No fever or diarrhea, just new teeth popping in every few days.

We are finally getting into a napping routine at around 10 and 1:30. The lengths of your naps are kind of irregular.

 

We also celebrated Mardi Gras this month. You are such a trooper, you love being out and about wherever we bring you. You get bored when we are just hanging out at home. We love you so so much. I can see a little temper and stubborn streak coming out in you, but you definitely come by it honestly. I have a feeling you will be keeping us on our toes. We are so blessed to have you in our lives Alexa Claire!

Alexa Claire: 9 Months Old!

Alexa Claire, you are 9 months old! You are growing way too fast!

 We went for your 9 month check up and you weigh 19 pounds and 27.5 inches

You are wearing a size 3 diaper and mostly 12 month clothes, some 6-9 months too.

You have 7 teeth! You have also started crawling (it is mostly an army crawl, but you can get around!). You are also walking around in your walked and clapping!

You are definitely interacting more and it is so fun!

 We have finally figured out a routine! You usually wake up between 6:30-7am. Momma nurses you then we eat breakfast and play until about 9:30-10. You take a morning nap, then get up to for lunch and to play. You then take an afternoon nap around 1:30-2. You still get fussy around dinner time, but after you eat, you get a bath (which you love!) and then settle in for bed. You are only waking up once a night (praise the Lord) to nurse, then you go back to sleep.

Our girl loves to eat! You only take about 4 ounces of breast milk in your bottles, but you love some real food. The only baby food you will eat are the pouch kind because you can feed yourself. You are very independent. You pretty much eat whatever we are eating, just cooked soft and chopped up small. You love meat and fruit the bet.

 

We love watching you grow and mature and interact more. Your sister is the best at getting you to laugh, and you love her so much. It makes my heart so happy to see y'all playing together. I am so thankful God gave us you. You are a little firecracker and a ray of sunshine in our lives!