Disney Cruise Recap - Day 1

Warning: These next few posts about the cruise are going to be a picture overload! Sorry in advance! :) 

Friday morning our adventure began as we got the girls dressed in their matching cruise shirts and bows. I ordered them both off of Etsy and they turned out so cute! (The bow was a little large for Blakely LOL) I am such a sucker for dressing my girls alike or as I like to call it Twining! We finished packing the car and headed towards Port Canaveral around 10 am. 

We arrived to the port at 12:30 and the entire embarkation process was such a breeze! We dropped off the luggage, Dave went to park the car, went through a brief security check and had our passports scanned and on we went!!

 The first thing we did was head to one of the restaurants for lunch. We purposely didn't eat on the way down so we could enjoy some yummy free food! The buffet was stocked with stone crab legs, shrimp cocktail, a prime rib carving station, and of course Delainey's favorite a dessert bar.

 After lunch, we walked around the boat to get our bearings and see where everything was. This is a view of the atrium from the 5th floor.

 Also on the 5th floor was the kids area. We checked out the nursery first, because we had reservations for them to keep Blakely for a few hours on Sunday night so we could get some alone time. The only down side of the nursery (for kids 0-2) is you have to pay an hourly rate for babysitting. It's not included with the price of the cruise :( Everything was decorated like "It's a small world" in the nursery and looked good so we continued on with the tour.

 Then we went to the Oceaneer Lab & Club. This is for age 3-12 year olds and it was AMAZING! There were so many separate rooms to play in and things to do. I think the most exciting part about it was the futuristic hand washers that squirted out soap and water and you just stay still while it circulated around you. They had a pixie hollow area, star wars area, Andy's room (from Toy Story), Video game room, and a huge craft room that I can think of off the top of my head. Delainey loved this area and was never ready to leave when we picked her up. Best part. They are open from 8 am to 1 am most nights! Not that she ever stayed past 10, but still a nice option!

 After our tour, we headed down to our room to change clothes and put on our swimsuits for some swimming & slides! I loved that they had a huge movie screen playing movies while laying out at the pool. The Aquaduck was also a really fun slide that is clear and goes off the side of the ship so you have a great view from up there.

 After a few hours of swimming, we headed back to the room to shower up & change clothes and head back up to the deck for the Sail away party. Delainey of course needed to wear her "fancy gown" for the party. All the expected characters were there for the send off!

 After the party we went to watch one of the shows (It was so good and kept BOTH the girls attention the entire time), watched the Christmas tree lighting in the atrium (the boat was already decorated for Christmas - that starts on Nov. 1), and then headed to Dinner in Animators Palette.

If you have never been on a Disney Cruise, each night you eat in a different restaurant (there are 3). The first night we were assigned Animator's Palette. It is the most modern/fun atmosphere of the 3. The pictures on the wall are actually TV's and Crush from the movie Finding Nemo swims around from TV to TV and talks with the guests. They servers also do a little skit with the guests and Blakely had a good time participating in that. For dinner I had the Lobster pasta purses for an appetizer, an orange & beet salad, filet mignon for my entree, and a white chocolate & milk chocolate cheesecake. All of the food was really good. Delainey was not pictured in any of the dinner pics because she was too busy playing in the kids area. We got her a hot dog, pizza & fries from one of the 24 hour places after the show and sent her to play instead of sitting through a long dinner. They also made some pureed food for Blakely each night which was an added nice touch of them going above and beyond. 

After dinner we were beat from the full day we just had, so we scooped D from the kids area and headed off to bed.

Delainey's 3 1/2 year update

Height: about 42 inches
Weight: about 35 pounds
Head Circumference:  Who knows, but I would say it's an average size. Fits well in hats lol!
Movement: Swimming is like walking to you now and it was such a glorious summer not having to worry about you at the pool. I would look up every few minutes just to see where you were and on you continued with your fun. We are working on some new things at Gym like jumping from 2 feet to 1 foot back to 2 and also your balance on the beam walking sideways and backwards. You are also learning how to do a split and a backbend! You can climb and jump off of anything, you run really fast compared to the other kids at soccer, and overall you seem pretty on track with the kids your age. Maybe a little ahead ;)
Eating Habits/New Foods: Your meals consists of: Breakfast: pancakes & sausage,  yogurt with granola, or cereal. Nothing new the same 3 foods over and over.  Lunch: you love to do picnics/finger foods for lunch, especially while at school. You like smoothies, mini pepperonis, salami, cheese quesadillas, turkey/cheese roll ups, fruit, goldfish, pretzels, cheese & crackers, pickles, tomatoes and cucumbers, hummus, nutella on bananas, peanut butter & fluff, or any leftovers from dinner if we are at home.  Dinner: You are supposed to eat whatever mom and dad are eating, but that doesn't always work out so mom changes somethings for you. Ex. instead of a whole salad, I do it deconstructed with tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado and you dip it in ranch. You are obsessed with meat (especially steak). You like butter noodles, broccoli, corn, tacos, pizza, hotdogs...pretty much all the junk foods :)    Your favorite drink is lemonade, but we have to save it till after you eat some food or you will chug the drink and not eat your food because you are full. Milk doesn't happen too often.
Sleeping Patterns: You are a sleeper through the night from 8 pm to 7:30 am on average. The time change messed you up, but you are starting to sleep in again now that I bought a blackout curtain for your room. No regular naps, but you occasionally will go in your room and take one during quiet time if you have had a real busy day. Or if you didn't sleep well, because you had a bad dream.  You are obsessed with gowns and will only sleep in them. No pants, no onesie zip ups, it's a real treat! I think it's time to buy some more, but I don't want you to freeze in the winter.

Sounds/Words: We are focusing on letters of the alphabet and recognizing what they are. Phonics are so hard, but you are starting to get the hang of it. You can count to 20. You are starting to do memory verses at church which is so cute! You are a pro at all colors, shapes, and you are starting to count things by using your finger to touch each item. Reading here we come!!
New discoveries/accomplishments:
-You completed your first summer of Ballet and loved it
-You went lobstering again, but got sea sick this year
-You started at your new preschool and are loving it
-You went to Islands of Adventures and Universal for the 1st time
-You did your first summer camp at Mandarin Presbyterian
-You traveled up to Cashiers for a summer trip and flew on a plane
-You did lots of boat days this summer
-You are a dynamite swimmer and can swim freely at the pool now
-You also played your first season of soccer
New Friends I've made: You have met tons of new friends at school. Callie is your best friend and you also hang out with Kinsley a lot. You have become such a social butterfly these days! You give all your friends hugs when you see them at school. You love going to church and M2M as well. You also met your new baby cousin Ivy Jean Griffin!
Places you went/Adventures: You went to lobstering in the keys, to Rock the Universe at Universal and Islands of Adventure, we bought season passes for Disney and have been to Magic Kingdom and Epcot so far, you traveled to Cashiers for a summer getaway, started at a new preschool, you were a flower girl in Tracie's wedding, you went to your first jaguar game, and you toured the chocolate factory in St. Augustine.
Things you love:  Dress up, playing with your princess barbies and clip dolls, playing with your train, watching Disney movies, reading books, playing outside with our neighbors, going to the park or playing at chick-fil-a and making friends wherever you go, going to school, and swimming which you do several days a week.
Clothes: You are in 4T or 5T sleepers and you do 4T clothes for the most part. You are obsessed with dresses and it is all you want to wear these days. You hate any tight clothes like jeans or shorts that aren't stretchy. These are your current sizes: Gymboree-4T, Target- 4T, Old Navy/Gap- 5T. Size 10 shoe

We are going on a Disney Cruise!!

The surprise trip was revealed today to Delainey and she gave us a lackluster performance to say the least! LOL Honestly it was my fault! I told her Mickey & Minnie dropped off a gift she could open after she got her phone call telling her where we were going. As soon as she got of the phone with them, she ran over and said I can open my present now! So much for a great reaction and us making it onto Ellen with the cutest little song and dance about going on a cruise! I know she is going to be so excited when she actually sees the cruise and gets to walk on it though.

I even went as far as to make her her own ticket and print out a picture of the cruise since she can't read yet. Still nothing but "oh yea a Disney cruise." haha Better luck next time! :) 

 She was definitely more excited about her new bathing suit and princess rolling luggage :) 

Tomorrow we are headed out around 10 to get down there by 12:30. From all the blogs and insider tips I've read, between 12 and 2 is the best time to embark. After the rush when it opens and before there are millions of people trying to get on before its too late. Plus Big Momma wants to take full advantage of all her free meals! :) I am one of those fattys who asks for 2-3 entrees for each meal because they all look so delicious! Why not right?! I can't wait to see how much weight I gain lol. After we get on and eat lunch, we are headed to the pool to enjoy some sun! I will post a few pictures to Instagram while we are still in port. Unfortunately, once we have left port, I won't have cell service so there will be no picture updates until Monday.  I'm just excited Dave's phone won't work for 3 days...woohoo!

I can't wait to enjoy every second of this cruise and make some lifelong memories with my little family! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Update: I have had a few requests for the cruise line ticket. I found it on pinterest so I am not sure who to give credit to. But here is a jpg of the image. Save the image to your computer then go to picmonkey.com and you can edit the photo and add text on the blank lines. Enjoy!!

New Blog Look

Well, I finally did it! After almost 3 1/2 years of writing this blog, I finally became official and gave the ole blog a facelift. I am still trying to get some things organized and make links to things to find posts easier, but so far I think it looks pretty good. I would love any suggestions or recommendations you guys have to make it more user friendly.

I think my favorite new part about it is the navigation bar at the top that takes you to more pages. I am constantly looking up Delainey's Monthly Updates to compare her and Blakely and it is so much easier now to click a link and all of the updates are there!

Maybe one day, I will have more followers and people can come read my blog for infertility support or just to see what our wild and crazy life entails.

Anyways, this past weekend David & I finally got away for a late Birthday dinner with just the 2 of us at the Melting Pot. It has been our anniversary/birthday spot since we started dating in Tallahassee and I love it, so why try anywhere else. It was so nice to catch up and talk without 2 kids screaming in the background. I really have to be better about making date nights happen monthly because I live for them!

 Saturday, I did some serious meal prep for Miss Blakely Boo. She has tried most foods individually now, so I though it was time to bust out the baby cookbook and make some fun things! Plus it is so much cheaper!! We made: Blueberry Pear Yogurt, Apple Pear Strawberry, Chicken Apple Sweet potato, Chicken Sweet potato Pea Pasta, and Banana Avocado. I was given the Beaba Steamer/blender for a gift when Delainey was born which makes things so easy. Also new to me this time, I was gifted the Infantino squeeze pouches and filling station which was awesome! Much easier to have pouches filled when we are on the go!

Saturday afternoon, we had the family over for a cookout and to watch the FSU vs. Clemson game. Of course the girls were exhausted by 7 pm from running around like maniacs, but it was a good time!

 This week we are BUSY packing for our "surprise trip" that we are leaving for on Friday. I knew there was no way I was going to wait to pack everything till Thursday when we are planning on surprising Delainey with where we are going. So instead, I told her we are going on a surprise trip and she has spent majority of the days asking where it is and taking guesses. I keep telling her "nope it is better than that!" LOL She is going to be so excited!! I will post the video Thursday night of Mickey & Minnie telling her where we are going! I mean how cute are these girls!

I also tried to be mom of the year yesterday by making these little turkey snack bags since it was our week to bring in snacks for school. They turned out pretty good, but took way longer than I anticipated to stuff them. I think it will just be a box of goldfish next time we are assigned snack. :)

 I hope you guys have a great week and are enjoying the new blog look!!

Blakely's 7 Month Update

Height: about 28 inches
Weight: about 16 lbs
Head Circumference: about 17 inches
Vision: I think your vision is 100% developed by now. Or at least it seems like it is. You are especially attached to Mama these days and anytime I walk past you, you are turning your head to try to follow where I am going.
Movement: You are rolling everywhere and starting to push up on your arms a little bit. Not close to crawling yet though. I am A-ok with that, because once you are mobile its a whole new ball game. Sitting up is a normal occurrence and you rarely fall. We still need to work on putting your arms out to catch yourself when you fall because you just topple over! Still grabbing at EVERYTHING you can get your hands on and your pincher grip is getting a little better.
Eating Habits/New Foods: Still eating 3 ounces every 3 hours, but thank the lord you are sleeping through the night so you get your last feeding around 9 pm and don't eat again till 7ish. We are doing more food this month, but it also makes you constipated so we are doing some miralax water or prune juice to wash it down. Your tongue reflex is getting better and you are enjoying more foods. Still don't like rice cereal or oatmeal. Only the good foods....green beans, prunes, pears, sweet potatoes. You are getting about 1 meal a day whether it be lunch or dinner. Mom is just lazy this time around and for the love could you please get some teeth so we can actually chew things! :)
Sleeping Patterns: We are back in business! With the Disney cruise approaching next week, I knew it would be a nightmare if you were waking up during the night since we will all be sharing a room. So we started last Thursday sleep training again. By Friday night you were good to go and you are sleeping from 8-9 pm to 7-8 am. You still take a morning nap around 10-11 and an afternoon nap about 2-3. Sometimes you will take an extra late nap too around 5:30 just depending on how long your naps were earlier in the day.
Sounds/Words: Still saying Mama all the time. When I walk by you, when someone else is holding you, when you want milk....it's constantly Mama! No other words yet, but lots of yells and screams. We can thank your big sister for that. Things are getting very loud around here when they have their scream offs!
New discoveries/accomplishments:
-You sit up all the time now.
-You can reach your arms up to reach for Mama when you want to be picked up.
-You are eating and swallowing new foods better
-You can sit in the bathtub now and don't need the bath chair
-You can drink out of a sippy cup with only an occasional choke
-You had your 1st sleepover with Gammoe and slept through the night.
-You sleep through the night without feedings.
-You went to Disney World for the 1st time and loved all the rides!
-You celebrated your 1st ever Halloween and dressed up as Cinderella's mouse named Gus Gus!
Places you went/Adventures: You did all sorts of fun fall activities this month. You went on a field trip with your sister to Tommy's pumpkin patch and to her school fall festival. You went on a girls trip to Disney world with just Mom & Delainey. We did Magic Kingdom and Epcot and you were a gem. You loved watching all the rides. You went to the zoo, celebrated Moms birthday, and had your 1st halloween and dressed as a mouse.
Clothes: You are mostly in 6-9 month clothes. Most leggings and jeans are 12 months. We are in 9 month sleepers now. Still a size 3 diaper. I am so ready for fall and some cute sweaters, vests and boots for you!!
Sister updates: Delainey and you have been great together. Sometimes she steals your toys and you fight right back by yelling when she does. I love it! She loves picking you up and making you laugh. You are definitely obsessed with her and enjoy just watching everything she does. Not always the best example, but its fun to watch you imitate what she does.
Weekly Pictures:

D's last soccer game & Family Pumpkin patch day

The day of Halloween started off with Delainey's last soccer game for the season. She really did great over the past 2 months and loved playing. She proved she has some serious determination and was so exhausted from running up and down the field that she was crying, but she would not quit! I think we have a bright future ahead. We may take a season off and do gym for the winter and then go from there. Here are some pictures of her getting her 1st ever trophy!

After soccer the family headed to the pumpkin patch for a few pictures. They definitely aren't my favorite (at least of me), but we had to have some since it was Blakely's first fall!

Halloween 2015

Blakely celebrated her 1st ever Halloween and Delainey was right there to help her enjoy all the festivities. Delainey wanted to be the cinderella from the real life movie so we decided to dress up Blakely to be her mouse Gus Gus. Nothing too fancy just something cute and easy!

We headed over to Aunt Kelli & Uncle Babes house around 5:30, met Collins & Sadie there, ate some pizza, and were off trick or treating by 6:30. 

Most of the people sit out on their driveway now and pass out candy. It's nice because it takes away the concern of some creep opening the door and grabbing your kid or scaring them, but it's not as fun because they only got to knock on 2 doors and say trick or treat.

Delainey actually ran into her friend Callie from school so they ran around and played for a little while. Meanwhile Blakely just hung out in the stroller and watched all that was going on. It was a fun night!

To add on to the whole dressing up Halloween theme, I have a few other pics to share from the day before Halloween. D went to Uncle Babe's work to go trick or treating and got SO much candy and had a blast with them. Uncle Babe even took her to chick-fil-a for lunch! What a gem! :)

Then later that afternoon she had her halloween party at My Gym where she dressed up as Jasmine. 

Mom & Dad even dressed up this year for a halloween party Friday night. Easiest/Best costume ever!! LOL  And of course a precious pic of Blakely Boo!