Disney Vacation Getaway - Our last trip as a family of 4

The  weekend before Thanksgiving we headed down to Disney for one last hoorah before Sammy arrives. We love Disney at Christmas time and thought sooner than later would be best so we did it before Thanksgiving. The weather ended up being cold and perfect to kick off the Holiday season! 

Friday night we went to Disney Springs and had dinner with the Griffins then walked around and looked at all the shops and did the Christmas tree trail. They had 30 trees all decorated by movie. The girls loved that it snowed on you too while walking through the trees. 

 The next day we headed to Magic Kingdom. We did some rides early on while the weather was nice, watched the parade, and then headed back to the hotel to have dinner and change clothes before going back for the fireworks and lighting of the castle. Big Momma rented a motorized scooter for the weekend and it was the best decision of my life! It was glorious not having to walk 10 miles around a crowded park. I was dodging and weaving and poor Dave couldn't keep up haha. Blakely and I did some small rides on our own while Dave and Delainey hit up Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Sunday we woke up early and headed to Hollywood Studios since we could enter an hour early since we were staying on Disney property at the Dolphin. Of course everyone and their mother had the same idea and ran straight to the new Toy Story land for the slinky dog rollercoaster. So by the time we were there it was a 90 minute wait so we said forget that. Instead Dave and D did the rocking rollercoaster and she loved it! She officially can do any rollercoaster ever now! This had flips and corkscrews so she is ready for all the big rides! Blake and I just ran around in the scooter and enjoyed a peaceful morning of snacks and shows which is mostly what Hollywood Studios is. The frozen show was hilarious and our favorite of the day! We ended up calling it a day around 3 and headed back to the hotel to return the scooter and head home. 

We had a great weekend enjoying our last vacay together. Like all good things we paid for the fun the next day when Delainey and I came down with Strep throat but thankfully she only missed one day and it was Thanksgiving so we had a nice relaxing week while we waited for our antibiotics to kick in. We were back in business by Wednesday thankfully so we still did enjoy Thanksgiving. I will do a post about that though later. Next Disney trip we will have Sammy with us! :) We hope he loves Disney as much as the rest of us do! 

McLaughlin Christmas 2018 Pictures (maternity ones too)

Don't mind seeing the same pics on your Christmas cards whenever you get them. :) No need to wait and make it a surprise. LOL 

8 Month Bumpdate

How far along are you: 34 Weeks now! What a slacker. This post was supposed to be 2 weeks ago. I am going to give you the stats of what was happening at 32 weeks ago.

Size of baby: Butternut Squash. I had an ultrasound at 32 weeks and he was measuring at 4 lb 10 oz give or take. So he is probably closer to 5 lb now!

Cravings: I have been back into my coffee in the morning. I do about 2/3 decaf and 1/3 caffeine just to give me a little extra energy throughout the day. The weather has finally started to cool off so I love a good cup of hot coffee in the morning. We have been eating so much junk food lately. Things have just been busy so it is like 2-3 home cooked meals and the rest are out to eat. Big Mommas weight is evident of this. I really need to eat more veggies, but we just don't have time to cook at home. My goal is to eat atleast 4 days home these next few weeks.

Weight gained: 30 pounds according to the Dr at my 32 week appt. So with 8 more weeks we are looking at 40 total. I better not be over 40. Darn Holidays lol. I was 32 with Delainey and 35 with Blakely so 40 is par for the course.

Sleep: I'm sleeping good for a 5-6 hour stretch. Beyond that it is hit or miss. For example last night Blakley had to pee and woke me at 4. I couldn't go back to bed till 5:45. Then Dave was up at 6. Then the alarm went off at 6:45 to get the girls ready for school. So not super. Just getting me used to the lack of sleep though I am about to endure.

Baby Movement: He is a wild man and I feel him all day long! He was head down at my ultrasound but she said there is still plenty of room to do flips in there. At my next ultrasound at 36 weeks is when he needs to be ready and in position. I like knowing where he is located though now so I can tell what is happening when I feel movements. He gets hiccups all the time and they are so low in my pelvis, it is interesting.

How Mom is feeling: I'm feeling good. I move around slower, but emotionally feel great. Loving every second of being pregnant and enjoying all the perks of parking in the front and strangers talking to me about it. I could just eat up all the attention hahah, just being honest. I got to ride around on my scooter at Disney and skip lots of lines, people would get out of their seats for me. I truly love the benefits and am going to miss it so much! My feet get sore after being on them for a while, but otherwise fine. And TMI but I feel lots of pressure down in my pelvis, almost like it is cracking. Dave informed me it is just a ligament that attaches the 2 sides so I guess that is stretching. Fingers crossed but no stretch marks yet.

Miss Anything: Not really. We finally have cool weather so I have busted out my sweaters and boots which makes me so happy to just wear leggings with big sweaters.

Nursery Progress: The nursery is officially done! I organized all my lovely gifts from the shower, had Dave hang my last few things and we should be good to go. I bought some new fancy cameras to act as baby monitors so we are ready for him. Not that he will be in that room though for a couple months. I could still buy a few knick knacks, but it is done for the most part.

Best moment this month: Gosh I can't even remember what happened between 28 and 32 weeks haha. I think the best moment would have to be my shower. It was lovely and I did a whole post about it earlier this month. I also really enjoyed the Great Wolf Lodge Vacay, My birthday, Halloween fun, and we had our family Christmas pics done. I secretly had one taken of me by myself to act as my maternity photo. No need for an entire separate shoot. I will do a post with them. They turned out pretty good considering it was a crazy wind storm!

Looking forward to next month: Well since this month is almost half over I was looking forward to our Disney trip and Thanksgiving but we have already done those 2 things. But I am still looking forward to all the fun Christmas activities over the next few weeks. We are in the process of decorating the house, doing all my Xmas shopping, taking the girls to boat parades, the nutcracker, the Alhambra dinner theater to see Elf. Lots of fun coming up!

I am so sorry this has taken me forever and I really will try to get better at it. I need to just do it every Thursday night like I used to. Check back soon for our family pics post and a Disney recap. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Samuel's Baby Shower

2 Weeks ago, Samuel and I were celebrated at the most perfect baby shower ever. My sister and a few friends threw an Italian themed baby shower as we have "A little meatball on the way!" So cute right?!?! The shower was a Maggianos where Dave and I actually got married so we kept saying how we have come full circle almost 12 years later! The food was amazing, the company was great and of course the decorations were gorgeous and over the top. We were so blessed that so many people came from near and far to celebrate baby Sam. It has been quite the journey to get here and he is definitely loved so much already.  It was seriously the most perfect day ever! Here are some pictures of all the people who were able to make it. 

Here are some pictures of the decor: How cute are the flowers in tomato cans! And the meatball cake pops! I could die! I loved the pictures of my Bumpa too who Samuel is named after. 

So this picture is me crying opening a present. Gram took the girls to build a bear and made their little brother a stuffed teddy bear. They recorded their voices saying, Hi baby Samuel I am Delainey/Blakely, I love you! It was so sweet and just made me cry to think of how loved this little boy is already. This bear will be special keepsake for life.

It was just a wonderful day all around and we are so blessed and grateful to God for all the loved ones we have in our life. Who helped plan and throw this shower for us, who attended, who gave gifts to get us ready for him, and to those who couldn't come but have prayed and supported us over the past 2 years. We are so thankful for all of you and couldn't have done it without you! So thanks! We  love you! XOXO