Disney World!!!

Last summer we began planning a trip to Disney World.  I had been there years before and it was as simple as reserving a hotel, buying park tickets and showing up at the gate.

Not anymore!!

After 6 months of planning, we had amazing dinners reserved, fast passes that put us at the front of the line for shows, rides and meet and greets with characters, our magic bands - which are really magical - and a Royal Princess Guest Room at a beautiful hotel on Disney property.   Yes, we went all out, but every moment was special - even the ones we spent shivering in the cold and dodging the rain!

I didn't want Jocelyn to get too crazy waiting for the trip to come so she didn't know anything about it until 3 weeks before.  We gave her a t-shirt, autograph book and pen, and a tour guide and let her figure it out.  Here's the face that came with the realization!  Her one and only request?  A princess gown - of course we had that covered too!

On February 3rd, we boarded our plane headed for sunshine and warmth (we thought) after barely getting unburied from the record breaking snowfall of the week before.

Upon our arrival we were greeted at the door of the hotel to find that we were the Royal Family of the day!  We were announced in the lobby, and got balloons and pictures, and then we got to see our fabulous hotel room!  Made for a princess!

Soon after, we were off to Epcot for our first day and our first Princess dinner.  Minnie ears required!

The second day was what dreams are made of.  This was our first of two days in Magic Kingdom.  Jocelyn had an appointment in Cinderella's Castle at the Bibbity Boppity Boutique for that princess dress, a dream makeover, and photo shoot.  When that was done, it was off to dinner with Cinderella and more princesses right inside the Castle!

 Throughout the trip, we met so many, many characters, from princesses, to Star Wars, to Disney characters.  Here are just a few of the MANY we visited and got autographs and photos with.

Our visits to Hollywood Studios were highlighted by Star Wars events - from meet and greets with Darth Vader and Chewbacca, movie memorabilia, and Jedi Training!

Darth Vader asked Daddy who was giving away secrets to the rebels.  We did what any good parents would do and blamed the kid!!  This photo with Pat and Darth is one of my favorites!

Chewbacca is a hugger.  I even got one!!

Jedi Training!

After all the excitement, we had one more thing to celebrate on our last day in the parks.  Jocelyn FINALLY LOST HER TOP FRONT TOOTH!!  We've been waiting for weeks for it to come out and while waiting in line for the Jungle Cruise she says "Mommy!  I lost my front tooth!!" and sure enough...  We found out that Tinkerbell handles the Tooth Fairy duties in Disney!

I could fill this post with photos.  Between us and the Disney photo package I literally have 100's of them!!  It was an awesome trip.  Our only complaint was the weather.  It was unusually cold for Florida - 50's most days - and we battled with rain more often than we would have liked.  But otherwise, it was a trip to remember.  I'm so glad we took our Princess to the most Magical Place on Earth!

My Baby is 8 Today!!

Time just seems to fly by.  I think it was just a moment ago that I looked at my Little One and she was just a baby.  Today she is somehow 8 years old.

I have the most amazing kid.  She is funny, and generous, and thoughtful, and analytical, and determined, and decisive, and special, and strong, and kind, and loving.

She's wonderful, and I'm so proud of the person she is becoming.

Today she had a party with 7 of her friends, some new from school and some that she has known for years.  It was fun to bring all these facets of her life together to celebrate her special day.

Here is where we started 8 years ago on her Birth Day.

And then she kept growing up...

Age 2

Age 1

Age 4

Age 3

Age 5

Age 6

Age 7

And today she had a blast at her 8th Birthday Party!

Pizza with Friends

The Dolphin pinata didn't stand a chance!

Making Dolphin Suncatchers

Blowing out the number 8!!

And leaving the blue behind

Great Friends!

Birthday Selfie!

Can't forget Dad!

Christmas Stunk - well... not all of it fortunately.

Yes, Christmas this year was definitely not what I was hoping for.  We had lots of great plans and fun activities planned and we missed out on most of it.

Friday night - exactly one week before Christmas Day - Jocelyn came down with the WORST stomach bug we have ever dealt with.  I mean WORST!!  It was 4 days before the vomiting stopped completely, and it was literally weeks before she fully recovered.

She missed cookie baking with friends, the last 3 days of fun activities at school before winter break, play dates - it was awful and so sad.  Pat and I were wrapping gifts at midnight the day before Christmas Eve.  Our cookies for Santa were generously given to us by a friend because I never got to do any baking.  And the reindeers peanut butter balls were made the day before Christmas Eve.

By Christmas Eve Jocelyn was feeling well enough to hook up Santa and the reindeer in our usual fashion, though she still wasn't up to eating anything, we made sure the reindeer had their night time snacks.

Christmas morning she enjoyed her gifts - thank you Santa for the Go-Go Puppy!  Legos are also very big this year!  (More on that in a minute!)

Christmas Day night we were packing for a trip to PA to visit Pat's family.  We really debated on whether we could make this trip, it had been such a rough week.  But we're so glad we did because it was really the highlight of our Christmas.  We had missed out on so much of the holidays, it was so nice to have family together baking cookies, and sharing meals and laughs.

Scott and Rachel were there from Indiana so we were all together for the first time in about a year and a half.  We were so thankful that the weather was good enough to travel and we were healthy enough, for the time being (little did we know), to make the trip.

There's a little story behind this picture.  Tiffany, Tina's daughter has a son and for Christmas he got a pop up tent.  There was no problem getting it to pop up, but getting it flat and small enough to put back in the bag, was a whole other story!  Scott, the PH.D. and Pat the engineer, took 1/2 hour to figure out how to do it.  We were all very supportive while we watched.  Tiffany said from now on she's shoving it behind the sofa.  I don't blame her!

So back to the Legos.  We mentioned to Grandma that Jocelyn is really into Legos right now and not surprising, Grandma had saved Pat and Scott's Legos all these years.  Out came a giant bin which included the parts to a castle that Pat took on the challenge of building.  Hours (and quite a few days) later...

So we got home from our trip, and literally, 36 hours later, Jocelyn woke up crying with a cold and sore throat.  New Year's Eve morning we were at the Dr's office getting a strep test, which turned out to be negative.  I would rather she has a cold than the stomach bug any day, but she was still miserable and the day before school started again we were debating on whether she was even going to make it back to school, but thankfully she did!

And now I am trying to recover from a sinus infection and bronchitis.  Never a dull moment.

So Happy New Year!  Here's to health, happiness, and peace in the world.  The world needs it so much right now.  2016 will bring much more excitement for us, so stay tuned!!

The Changing of the Rooms!

It's been a while since I've been around, but I have a really good excuse this time!  I've been very busy doing a little painting and wallpapering and moving of furniture and I'm so happy with how everything turned out.

When Jocelyn was first born, she was given the smallest kids bedroom which is a room just off the master that was perfect at the time for a baby.  She was close by and easy to get to, and she didn't take up much space!  As she has gotten older, the room has gotten so crowded and she has outgrown the space.

So it was time to rearrange.  Room A became room B.  Room B became room C and room C became room A.  You get the idea.

The first room needed to be repainted.  Here's what I started with.  And with a little help...












It became this.

And then the real fun began.  It was time to work on the room that would become Jocelyn's new room.  Here's what that one looked like to start.

We let Jocelyn decide what she wanted the room to look like.  Everything was her choice - paint colors, border, even the flowers.  First job was stripping the old border and painting the new mint green color.

And then the new flower border.  Very cute!!

And then the real challenge - hand painted flowers.

Someone was starting to get excited!!  Jocelyn's crib became a full sized bed and the mattresses were bigger than she imagined!

And finally it was time to move in!

Jocelyn finally got to sleep in her brand new big bed, in her newly decorated room just in time for Christmas!

Merry Christmas All!!

PS.  If you're wondering what has happened with the third room - nothing!  Two rooms was enough!