Why did I yell?

Yesterday was a Monday going well.  The boys and I had a quiet morning playing and accomplishing chores.  We even tried hot chocolate (they hated it!) and tried to watch Elf (they hated it!) and eventually ventured out to our backyard where they discovered dirt and played in it as long as they could before they had to come in for baths.  They got so, so dirty.  They were the epitome of little boys.  And then there were naps and finally it was time to cook dinner and that's when things went south...

J (who is 2 and 4 months) wanted attention I couldn't give him the moment he wanted it and had been feeling a little defiant since he woke up any way (testing me here, pushing his brother there, coloring chairs... 2-year-old stuff).  So, unbeknownst to me he climbed onto the table and threw all the apples out of a fruit bowl I love and recently bought myself (I had even waited until it was on clearance) and then dropped it on the floor either accidentally or on purpose.  I heard the shatter and ran the 10 feet from the kitchen sink to where he was to see what happened.

You know when you know your kid has done something wrong and has no remorse or awareness?  And you know that moment where you have to decide how to punish and your reaction?  And do you know or remember when you had your first child and it was all testing what works and learning how patient you could be?  Well, I had that moment.  I weighed out that J seems unaffected by spanking and even time outs most of the time and I decided to just unleash my inner frustration and yell because it seemed logic and I knew if I yelled he'd at least hear me (so logical, right?).  So I yelled because I was mad and hurt and mad and I yelled a lot and loudly about WHY did he do that and Mommy LOVED that and how he HURT my feelings and with every word he shrunk lower and lower.  I was only a few seconds into the yelling when his face dropped, he buried his head and he started sobbing.  And consequently so did I.  I felt horrible and was laced with regret and remorse and WHY did I do that? I loved him more than that stupid bowl and I just hurt him.

And so I held him and he cried and I told him I was sorry for yelling and that I loved him and I asked him why he broke the bowl and he didn't answer because he still is too young to understand these things probably and finally I asked him to help me make the salad because I knew that would make him happy.

I texted my Mom and talked to Josh about it that night.  They both agreed I was right to discipline and while maybe I overreacted, he needed to know Mommy is a human too and you can't hurt people because you're mad.  And they're right, but I'm right too in that I did it all wrong.

So now here I am.  I have a 2-year-old boy who's in the thick of wanting his way and learning defiance and developing his own will and I have to figure out how to navigate through these waters without losing my head.

I went to breakfast with my Dad today and we talked about parenting.  We talked about how the toddler years are hard but how it gets harder because new challenges come up.  Sure, you get through the diaper stage and the not knowing how to puke in the toilet phase and the bed wetting, but you move into new challenges and that's just how it is.  Parenting is hard and it takes 18 years and sometimes it takes until the 17th or 18th year to feel like you've even done anything right.  Raising a human is hard.

So I shared this today because maybe raising a human was hard for you too today or it will be tomorrow or next week.  And maybe you'll yell.  And maybe you'll make your toddler cry and feel guilty and feel like you shouldn't feel guilty and this will encourage you because you're not alone.  And someone else doesn't have it figured it out either, but hey, we're all in this together and going through it right now.  This is a season.

Messy Motherhood: Encouragement

I'm happy to take a break from writing about food or parties and essentially the things I've been doing to REALLY talk about the thing I live to do: Motherhood.

Did you read Kara's 31 days of Messy Motherhood (she actually stuck it out all 31 days in October unlike me!)?  If not, you should.  It won't take long, but you'll be encouraged.  I know I sure was (go here to read) and sometimes her words and encouragement hit the nail on the head for me.  I think the most encouraging thing in the world is finding out you are not alone in ____.  One day, that was reading that I was not alone in going days without a shower.  Another day, that was reading that what I was doing was important because it's so easy for it to feel unimportant.  Another day, it was a reminder everyone's house looks as terrible as mine.  See?  Encouragement.

So, at the end of her 31 days, I was excited to hear Kara was doing a link up each month to continue the encouragement.  I wanted to be a part of the series because like her, I feel so deeply for Moms in this season of life (or any season, really, this is just the season I know) at home each day with babies and toddlers and diaper changes and counting practice and beautiful monotony that is the shaping of little minds and hearts.

That being said, here's my answers to the questions Kara posted this month on encouragement.

1. What is the best way you've been encouraged as a Mom?

Having friends who are real with me and also in the trenches.  This season is hard and it was made harder when I spent most of last year having two under two.  I have plenty of friends I can chat with, but there are a few who I can really dive deep with in real life or on social media and those friendships are invaluable.  CS Lewis (who our first born is named for!) said that friendship is defined as, "What? You too?" and I totally agree.  The women who have blessed me so much are the ones who are open and honest about their dirty houses, their frustrations, their struggles with feeling lonely or isolated or anxious or angry or whatever!  Those friends who are real with me allow me to open up and express my slew of emotions and then when those emotions are uncovered, I'm a better Mom and wife.  If there were no conversations with loved ones who also KNOW what I'm going through on a certain day, it's likely I'd end that day feeling like an even worse Mom and wife for losing my temper and being disconnected.  I'm thankful for you, my friends, who do life in a real way side by side with these boys of mine and me and help keep me sane.  Thank you!

2. How can you encourage a Mom who's been through the ringer? (bed rest, sick kids, tough home life, etc)

Honestly?  I don't know.  I wish I did because I have people I wish I could be better at encouraging who are in these situations.  I never know what to do, if I'm doing enough or if I'm trying to do too much and am being overly involved and an unwelcome presence.  That being said, my go to way to help a Mom friend in need are...

- Make a meal or two (one to eat tonight, one to freeze for later).
- Send snail mail.  Who doesn't love pretty mail and it's amazing how a little card can lift someone's spirits!
- Offer to babysit their kids even if it's just for an hour so they can take a nap, meet their husband for lunch, or go to the grocery store alone.
- Get a small gift card for the Mom to treat herself.  Maybe you'd love to go for coffee but she's occupied with whatever.  Why not send her a $5 Starbucks gift card so she can pick up a cup when she's out and about and think of you.
- Prayers.  It seems the least effective outreach on paper, but it matters and I have had plenty of days where a text from a good friend saying she's praying for me has been such a blessing and I've known if not for her prayers, I wouldn't have made it through the day.  Recently I weaned my baby and I got a text from my Aunt saying she was praying for me and I responded to tell her how hard E was having it even in that moment.  She immediately responded that she was now praying for him and as soon as I read her text, he fell asleep for the first time all day.  Prayer is powerful and moments like that where you see it work you feel so very blessed that someone would take the time to pray for you.

3. Encouragement starts at home. How do you and your husband encourage one another?

My husband is great about reminding me that I'm a good Mom, wife, cook, etc.  Those words of affirmation are important to me and help keep me going.  He's also good about not complaining too much if the house is in disarray for several days when he knows we've had a tough week.  I personally like to have it clean because I feel better when it's clean and I feel like he deserves that after a hard day, but when I let myself down it's always good to know I haven't let him down.  Likewise, I try to thank my husband for working so hard so I can stay home and live my dream job.  It's all about perspective even on those rough days!  I talk to him about how good of a Dad he is and thank him for being such a wonderful husband.  We make time to spend together each night which is refreshing and fun and causing us to reconnect (we also frequently exchange shoulder rubs or back scratching - yay!).  And more recently, we've taken up not only praying for each other, but letting each other know we're praying for each other especially if we know the other has a particularly rough day ahead.  It means the world to get a text about how proud he is of me and how he's praying for me especially because I know he's SO busy at work and I appreciate him taking time out just to think of me and tell me these things on his mind and heart.

.......

And one more thing... Something I try to do (and don't always succeed at) is to not judge other Moms.  We all make different decisions about how we raise our kids and these decisions are usually always wrestled through and prayed over and they're what we believe are right for our families.  Some Moms cosleep.  Some Moms have their babies cry it out.  Some Moms let their kids do this or that or eat this or that and a slew of other things.  I get so sad and frustrated when I see the "Mommy Wars" because there is no way to tear another Mother down faster than offer your unsolicited opinion of something she has obviously thought out.  We're all different and it's because we were all raised differently.  Likewise, we are all raising our kids differently to see them become individual themselves as adults.  The best encouragement advice I can give is try, try, try not to judge and instead to love.  Feel free to talk about what you do but don't feel like talking about your differences means you need to comment on what your Mom friend is doing differently.  ;)

Oatmeal Cookies

I'm in the thick of it today with a wisdom tooth gone wild, TMJ developing, and sudden cold-turkey weaning of my 13 month old so I can have surgery to get that sucker out.  Additionally, that same 13 month old broke my favorite mug and glass bowl today.  I cried a lot of tears because both held deep sentiment and let's be honest, I was just waiting for something to cause me to break down.

Today, I'm glad I spent my Sunday afternoon baking cookies.  These are Josh's favorite and I literally hadn't made them in 2 years.  I had to consult my old, now private blog for the recipe and guess what?  I didn't even put how much oatmeal to put in.  I've come a long way in blogging even though I've had to start over.  HA.  Anyway, these are saving my life today.  E loves them so between letting him munch away at a tasty cookie and letting him watch all the Yo Gabba Gabba he wants as a distraction, I'm able to not hold him for the five seconds I need to go to the bathroom.  Motherhood is the best, but not every day is sunshine and rainbows.  ...But y'all know that, right?

Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (melted)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 T vanilla
- 1 t baking soda
- 1 t salt
- 2 T cinnamon
- 1 T honey
- 5 cups oatmeal

First, preheat your oven to 375. (I put that in bold because I can never find it on blogs even though it's right in front of my face - lol.)  Melt your one cup butter (2 sticks) while you mix together your two sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla to the mix and then the melted butter and mix that all up.

Next, in a separate dish, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and whisk together.  Slowly pour these into your mixer (or add while you're hand mixing) to the wet already mixed ingredients.  I let my mixer go 5 minutes, but it probably doesn't matter.

Add in your honey - the secret ingredient - and give it a quick stir and then dump in 5 cups of oatmeal and let your mixer (or your hand) give it a few more whisks.

Using a spoon, put about a 1" ball of dough onto your greased cookie sheet and let bake 11-14 minutes.  I also flatten my balls a bit because I like a bit thinner cookie and they cook easier that way.

This recipe should yield about 32 cookies and each cookie is 4 Weight Watcher points.  Not too shabby since a chocolate chip cookie is 5 points, right?  And you can feel KIND OF healthy eating it (or giving it to your 13 month old) since there's oatmeal.  ;)

NOW, below I've added a picture with all the ingredients and instructions.  I'm doing this because one of the easiest ways for me to try new recipes is to be able to save an image of them to my phone!  This is especially handy when grocery shopping if I don't have time to make a list but really wanted to try something.  If you're reading this on your phone, you could just do a screen capture of this image and have all you need!  OR if you're on a computer and want to print but DON'T want to print my rambling at the top, just print this image and you have all you need!  If you do this and it's helpful, please tell me and I'll do this for all my recipes!  I'm all about simplifying your life.

Enjoy!

Mickey Mouse Birthday Party

So today, nearly one month later, I'm sharing photos from little E's first birthday party! Our plan was to do a Winnie the Pooh "Hundred Acre Wood" theme outside because both of my boys LOVE the newest Winnie the Pooh movie right now and it was E's favorite ride at Disney World.  Sadly, we knew a week before the party that Oklahoma was going to have terrible weather that weekend and we couldn't be outside like we had hoped.  SO we made a quick adjustment and went with what we knew and what the kiddos also love - Mickey Mouse!

The decorations for this party were under $25 and were a mix of store-bought and DIY.  I think it turned out pretty cute!  One thing that really shocked me when I looked through blogs of Mickey parties I had pinned was how much money went into their DIY party.  For me, part of the value in DIY-ing is saving money.  So, hopefully, if you found this blog and this post, this will help you throw a cute Mickey party without breaking the bank or breaking your back for that matter!  So without further ado...

We started by pulling what we had.  Fortunately, we have 9,032 Mickey Mouses.  Joking.  We actually have 11.  Ha!  So we found all those guys and his pals and utilized them in the decor.  Big impact, no money spent. (Also, that blur is me! If you're throwing your first first birthday party or any child's birthday party, you too will probably be a blur.)

The cupcake toppers were free too!  I had craft sticks, construction paper, and a  stack of stickers we'd received free in the mail from Disney Movie Club offers.  I simply cut two circles, glued them together on the stick, and put a Mickey sticker on front.  Easy!

The second cupcake stand was made using wrapping paper I bought at Hobby Lobby.  It was half off so only $2.  (You could also do SO much more with this paper if you were having a Minnie party.  I had a lot left and saved it for presents at Christmas.) My Mom wrapped the box for me and it became great storage for the party decor in post.  The Mickey on the box was a left over from the "E's Clubhouse banner which I explain below."

Love what you have! (And these little toys are WELL loved! I highly recommend them for your little ones or as gifts for little ones 1+!)

So up there is what our ledge looked like.  My sweet husband took all the pics and forgot to get pics of the Mickey ears he and I stayed up 'til 1am making for the kiddos that came!  Bummer!  The kids were 1-3 and didn't LOVE their ears, but we also sent them home with balloons and the ears made great weights.  HA!  The ears may be loved later though... J found his set lately and wore them a few hours.  I used this tutorial found here but did not use the template she suggested... instead, I just free handed and I think they turned out ok!  ONE TIP - DON'T use hot glue if you don't have fabric glue on hand unless you're starting at 10pm and refuse to go to Wal Mart.  HA.  But seriously, I spent forever picking it off and they still weren't "clean." All in all, the headbands were a great treat though!  We made 6 and each were about $.40.

My sweet Mom made these oreos we saw on Pinterest.  We followed this tutorial and they came out pretty good!  We used $1 oreos from Wal Mart (off brand) and they broke easily.  Regular oreos may hold up better, but I don't know!

Ok, a couple things from this pic...

First you have the banner over that window into my kitchen.  It's hard to see and I hate that there's no good pics of it (below are 2 I managed to take with Instsgram)!  It ended up really cute.  Basically I took a Mickey shaped cookie cutter and traced it on black construction paper.  Then, I cut the shape and painted the bottom with red poster paint.  Next, I added white 3D stickers to spell out "E's (full name) Clubhouse) and taped ribbon behind them to hang.  The project cost me about $2 between the ribbon and stickers (I bought on sale) but I loved it so much and now it's hanging in his room!

the making process

The banner & oh look, the ears are up there too!

Also, on the window I made that banner with construction paper too!  It was SO simple!  I cut a triangle template, cut several triangles and then a few small circles to glue to the black triangles.  I used construction paper I had and what was left of that ribbon.  I hung these on the windows in the dining and living room and they got so many compliments!  E doesn't have curtains in his room, so now those are adding a little pizzaz in there too!

Both these projects were cheap, simple, and neat!  I literally did them while watching TV with my husband that week (I think the VP debates, actually!).

I LOVE that store bought banner up there!  I think it was $7 and you can put in any age you want.  It's definitely one to save in case we have more Mickey parties in days to come!  I also love those squiggly thing changing from the ceiling.  I think they were $3.  We have HUGE  ceilings that are 24' so adding lots of banners and such is a good way to fill up space and make the area look more festive.

There's a little better pic of that banner on the window...

The Mickey on the wrapped shoe box was left over from the "E's Clubhouse" banner and just taped on.  :)

And here's a pic of the little birthday boy himself while we sang "Happy birthday."  He was a little scared of all those voices coming at him and cried.  Poor fella!  OTHERWISE, he had a pretty good time and the rest of his family sure did too!  :)

Oh, and in case you wondered we served fruit, pulled pork sandwiches (which I made in the crock pot to save money), chips, the oreo Mickeys, cupcakes, tea, and juice boxes for the kids!

I loved this party.  It was heartfelt, handmade, fun, and CHEAP.  :)

Crock Pot Chicken Stroganoff

Lately, my little one, E, has made it impossible to cook dinner.  At 12 months, he's hit that age where he straddles toddlerhood and babyhood and wants to be independent until he really needs you to pick him up especially if you're doing something because he's a toddler and is curious! Whew!  It was the worst when it was time to make dinner so I resolved to browse through Pinterest and find a lot of crock pot dishes to try because ladies and gents, when you have a toddler (or even if you don't) and especially if you have more than one busy toddler, the crock pot is your bestest best friend.  Anyway, in my hunting, I've had a lot of hit and miss recipes we've tried, but two have risen to the top and been added to our "go to" dinners.  I've tweaked both recipes but because I found them through Pinterest I've given the original blogger credit because without them, I would not have had created such delicious, CONVENIENT dinners.

So today, chicken stroganoff originally from Chef-in-Training found here.

Below, is my version... (which is 9 Weight Watcher points for 3/4 cup)

Ingredients:
- 1 lb chicken breast
- 1 packet dry onion soup (2oz)
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 8 oz light sour cream
- coriander seasoning (optional)

This is SO simple, friends.  Just take your raw chicken breast and toss it into your crock pot.  Then, mix the two soups together in a bowl and cover the chicken with them.  Next, sprinkle on a pinch of coriander, set your crock pot to low and walk away for 3.5-4.5 hours.

Thirty minutes before you plan to enjoy your dinner (or whenever you're down to 1 hour before dinner and your children are momentarily distracted), add the 8 oz of sour cream to the crock pot (I also went ahead and shredded my chicken. Shredding it removed the process of cutting it all up at dinner for me!).  It's best not to add creams or milks to your crock pot in the beginning of cooking because the food will break down too much and you'll lose a lot of that rich, creamy flavor and you could also scald the dairy product.

And that's it! 30 minutes or so later switch your crock pot to warm or serve up your chicken stroganoff over some yolk free egg noodles with a side of green beans (my recipe here is good!) if your kids will continue to be distracted long enough for you to cook a side.  But just so you know, this is so good you don't HAVE to have egg noodles.  I opted out when I wanted seconds to save myself the extra Weight Watcher points.  ;)

Enjoy!

25 Days of Advent with your Toddler

This morning on Twitter I was chatting with my lovely friends Caroline & Kristina (my public Twitter is here) about Christmas things!  Yay, Christmas!  I'm so excited because as J is aging things are just getting more and more fun... Easter egg hunts, Disney World, his birthday, Halloween... so naturally with Christmas being the biggest and grandest of all the holidays, I'm so excited to bring it to life in our house and I want it to be special.  Do you read Kelle's blog "Enjoying the Small Things?"  I love it and I love her and I love that she's so incredibly passionate about creating such a fun, happy childhood for her kids and how the holidays are a showcase for just how much magic she can create.  That's what I want to do here.  And each year will just get better and better as my kids get a little older and can appreciate the magic all the more.

That being said, I've already been thinking up ideas for this year and one night when E was taking FOREVER to fall asleep, I thought up an Advent plan.  I'd seen things around Pinterest and here and there with ideas, but none of what I saw would work for our family with a 1 & 2 year old.  I needed simplicity and I needed to still do things that mattered and things that were more than candy once a day (because Lord knows they'd dig into tomorrow's candy and I would eat the next day's...).  SO I made a list.  The dates aren't set and I haven't decided what kind of craft to do to hold these little ideas for each day, BUT all that will come.  I have a few weeks, right?  So without further ado, here's our list!  I hope this can help you with your little ones.  And also please note that I've taken into account we can't get out every day and some days things need to be very simple for everyone's sake.  And also, please note I think this list is best for 2+ or even 18-20 months+.  I know my then 13 month old will get into some things, but my 2 year old should be great at involving himself in all the things.

1.   Buy things together for a little boy we'll send a box to through "Operation Christmas Child."

2.   Decorate our box for our little boy with coloring and stickers.

3.   Drop off our box for our little boy.

4.   Make something for Grandmas for Christmas.

5.   Make something for Grandpas for Christmas.

6.   Make something for Aunts for Christmas.

7.   Make something for Uncles for Christmas.

8.   Make something for Daddy for Christmas.

9.   Take Daddy lunch at work.

10. Make cookies & take them to our local fire station.

11. Put money in the Salvation Army bucket.

12. Find old toys to donate & drop them off at Goodwill.

13. Draw pictures and make a card for a deployed solider (through this program).

14. Make/mail art to Great-Grandparents in California.

15. Make Christmas ornaments for our tree.

16. Go see Christmas lights with Daddy.

17. Drink hot cocoa (first time!) and watch a Christmas movie (I recommend "Mickey's Christmas Carol").

18. Decorate sugar cookies at Grandma's house.

19. Make rice krispie treats.

20. Visit Great Grandparents who live further away.

21. Go to lunch with local Great Grandparents.

22. Feed the ducks at the park.

23. Have a dance party to Christmas music.

24. Take a letter (drawing) for Santa to Macy's (they donate $1 for each letter!).

25. Read the Christmas story together as a family.

So there you have it! Twenty-five toddler activities!  Some are simple, some are more complex.  Some will take 30 seconds.  My goal is to schedule these activities so mail, our soldier's card, and our box for a child are all done right away and after that we'll alternate days at home crafting with days going out to visit Grandparents (we don't see our Great Grandparents on Christmas, so visiting them around Christmas will be a fun thing to do and we can take them an ornament as their gift!) and doing other things.  It's a pretty balanced list because if you have kids like mine, days out are fun, but usually you need a day in following to recover!  And also, my kids are 1 and 2.  This list was made with my 2 year old (2 and 4 months come December) mostly in mind, but I know my 1 year old will take part in some things a little bit.  That being said, I think it's best to say this list should work great for 2+!

Yay, Christmas!!! :)

Menu Planning Strategy

Hey, blogging buddies! I know it's been awhile and I know I completely have fallen off the 31 days bandwagon and I know I need to post about E's birthday party.  I've just been a bad blogger lately and hope to get back on the wagon very soon.  Today my sons are taking a great simultaneous nap and since that's really the only blogging time I have, I thought I'd swing in and share what I've spent nap time working on... menu planning!  Exciting, right?

My husband gets paid twice a month.  Around each pay check (2-3 days out) I start thinking about our new "batch" of money.  I always tweak our budgets with updates on monthly bills (since electric, gas, etc are always changing), note our cash flow, assess what we need (hair cuts? more diaper? new clothes?), how much we can save, etc.  Then, I schedule all my bills and feel good about life for the next couple of weeks until I start the cycle again.  And when that chore is done and I hang up my "CFO" of the family hat, I get to planning our grocery list because that one category in our budget gets the most money aside from bills but it can go quickly if I'm not careful and that requires organization!  Not to mention my husband loves knowing what dinner will be and when he can see our menu for the next few weeks on our calendar he is one happy dude.

the 2 year old likes the draw in my planner with me. he's so helpful.  ;)

So here's what I do.  It's SO basic, but if it can help you I'd be happy to help!  :)

First I think about what I cooked the last week that my kids really gobbled up and that I'm not sick of eating and want to cook again.  Lately that's been chili, pot roast, and chicken enchiladas.  Then of course you have everyone's favorites which is chicken quesidillas and breakfast for dinner.  The men in this family get so excited about these two meals and they're easy enough to make and shop for!  THEN, I open the laptop and click into Pinterest.  I resist the urge to repine every awesome thing my friends pinned and hit my "recipes" board.  I scan through for things I've pinned that have stayed on my mind.  This time after a particularly awful week of cooking dinners (even "under 30 minute dinners") because my newly-1-year-old was not happy at dinnertime to let me just cook, I clicked on everything crock pot.  I selected 6 new recipes for us to try.

New recipes have always been challenging when it comes to organization because they require you to save the recipe and possibly get new ingredients you may not have.  Lately I thought of a good system to organize my thoughts on new recipes.  Basically, I e-mail myself/my husband.  I took the 6 recipes and copied the title with a link to the original recipe and then copied the ingredients list under it.  Today there was not enough time in naps to scan through each thing while my kids were sleeping to see what I had or didn't have and figure out how to clump things together on my list in an organized way but now I have that e-mail on my phone and when there's time here and there I can sit down with my phone or a printed copy and write up my list.  Then, I'll also have that list I can stick on my fridge for the next few weeks so I can be aware of what I'll be using in the coming days if I decide to change anything up (which I do... we don't always stick to each day's dinner plan... sometimes we move meals around).

Another benefit of having the email in my phone with the links is that when it's time to make dinner I don't have to scroll through that pin board to find what I need, I can just click the link in my phone and have the recipe right there.  It's how I'm saving trees.  ;)

Yay, technology!

SO, now I have 14 meals listed for 15 days.  This is perfect because I know we'll get dinner at least 1-2 times and we'll eat lunch out on the weekend about 2 times so I'll have a little left over if I need to make a lunch or if I can't hit the grocery store next pay day.

So there you have it! Menu planning!  I also tend to write on my menu things I want to eat with the kids for lunch those weeks... Earth's Best chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, hot dogs, sandwiches... and I also write down if Josh has suggested we make something fun or unique like apple pie or apple cider or if I am hankering for pumpkin bread.  Then I know I'll need to get those things too when it comes to making my list.

And for the record, I do menu plan two weeks but I can't ever buy groceries for just two weeks.  I do one BIG trip where I get all my meat, grains, juice, etc and freeze the excess meat (buying in bulk saves me money!), but I have to go back at least once a week for more milk & produce because we go through these things too fast and they don't keep as long.  I know some people freeze produce but I literally have no room in my freezer so I can't be that person.  ;)

P.S. I posted on my good friend April's blog today about friendship!  It's basically a follow up to this post from August and you can read it here! :)

E's first birthday sneak-peak!

Sorry for all the lack of posting this week, my friends! I plan to catch up on commenting you all back very soon and also to plan some more Disney posts although clearly I'm falling very short of 31 days of posting!  So along with those posts I'm excited to do some normal life posts as well as posts about my little man's first birthday party.  In the mean time here's a preview of all the fun had tonight.  Hope you all have a lovely weekend!!!

31 days of Disney World - Let's Talk Money Pt 2 - Actual Prices

So today let's talk actual costs.

FIRST I want to note that children under 3 are FREE! Whee! Josh and I are pinching pennies and trying to figure out a way to take one more trip this May before J turns 3 in August because once you start having to pay for your kid's park tickets, things get more pricey.  If you are thinking of going and your youngest is 2 or under, GO! Take advantage of that child being free while you can!  That's just my advice.  ;)

Resorts and tickets through Disney's Packages
So below I have some prices.  I looked up these prices at www.waltdisneyworld.com and used their current promotion which is up to 30% off for the Holidays depending where you stay and the dates you choose to stay (so the percent fluctuates 15-30% truthfully).  I am pretending to be a family of 4 with 2 kids older than 3 so the price factors in paying for two kids.  The dates I selected were December 1-7th (which would be a GREAT time to go and you may even catch the filming for the Christmas day parade, but don't quote me on that...). I chose "magic your base way" base park tickets which does not include park hopping or water parks.  And finally, I was NOT able to choose "magic your way" Disney dining plan which I mentioned yesterday because it is not included as an option for booking under this promotion.  I'll have a whole separate post later on my thoughts on the Disney dining plan by the way.  So without further ado, here's an idea of how much you'll pay for your vacation.

If you stay at a value (I selected Disney's All Star Movies Resort) your total for 6 nights, 7 days will be $1917.74 and that includes hotel, transportation* and park tickets!

If you stay at a moderate (I chose Disney's Caribbean Beach) your total for 6 nights, 7 days will be $2,269.30  and that includes hotel, transportation* and park tickets!

If you stay at a deluxe (I chose Disney's Wilderness Lodge) your total for 6 nights, 7 days will be $3289.34  and that includes hotel, transportation* and park tickets!

*I want to remind you now that Disney has a GREAT bus system that will pick you up at the airport and take you back to the airport and the buses will take you to and from parks.  It's called "magical express."  Every resort has it's own bus system and usually you don't have to wait more than 20 minutes for a bus.  This is a great value over renting a car, but if you drive or do rent a car, you save all those "20 minutes" of waiting and they add up.

A lot of that price is your park tickets.  Park tickets start at $89 for people 10+ and $83 a day for people 3-9.  Disney discounts the tickets for every extra day you buy, but still, those really add up!  Since we go every year, we buy annual passes (discounted because we're Disney Vacation Club members) and use them twice in their use year.  That means if we buy them on January 25th and can't afford to go again until the following January, we'll book that vacation the week before the 25th to save money.

Food Costs
So what about food?  It ranges, obviously, especially at restaurants but mostly things are consistent...

Snacks which can be anything from a soft pretzel to a funnel cake range from $3-$6.
Quick service adult meals average about $9-$10 a plate and soft drinks are about $2.
Quick service kid's meals (which include a drink and dessert) are about $6-$8.
Restaurants range from $15-$35 for an adult plate and around $2-$3 for a soft drink.
Restaurant kid meals range from $8-$10 and come with a drink and dessert.
Buffets/character dining range from $15-$35 depending on the time of day you eat and if characters are present for adults and although I don't know kid's prices, I can tell you that kids under 3 eat free at buffets which is GREAT if you're taking toddlers because you can load those plates with fruits and good things.

Our family stuck to eating quick services every day except our day we ate at Hollywood & Vine in Hollywood Studios to change things up and meet some characters.  Our average meal cost was about $32 and that was for 2 adult meals, 2 large drinks, and one kid's meal which we split between our kids in addition to sharing some of our food with them.  Including snacks and the occasional breakfast, we spent about $100 a day for food and that was for the "cheap" food.  Had we eaten at a table service restaurant each day as well, we would have been likely to spend up to $125-$130 a day in food.

Tomorrow I'll talk about how we save for our trip to Disney World as well as saves money on our overall cost.  As always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Worry & Perspective

The littlest one's birthday is in just 6 days.  His party is only in 4 days.  There's a lot of energy and focus being put on him and celebrating this mark of his completing the first year of his life.  While I have plenty of overwhelming feelings about my baby turning one - the key of which being, "HOW?!" - I have a lot of feelings that have erupted in me regarding my oldest and it's those feelings I need to vocalize first.

One year ago, I was a mess of emotion.  I was overwhelmed and so very excited to be ushering in a new son, but I was horrified at how it would effect J.  I was so very afraid he'd change.  I thought when he met his brother and had to deal with the divided attention from me (and others) without being old enough to comprehend it, he'd just really... well, I'm not sure what exactly I thought would happen, I just knew it'd be awful and it'd be all my fault.  And I just knew it'd translate into hatred of me and of his brother and sadness and a change in his overall happy, spirited, adventurous personality.  There were so many nights I spent worrying over him.  That worry combined with the normal worry a pregnant woman has for the baby inside of her lead me to having an anxiety attack one night in the second trimester.  It was an attack complete with hyperventilating and an inability to regain control of my emotions that landed me in the ER with my husband.  That was a low.

Looking back I understand a lot of those extreme feelings were hormones.  Some natural, some not, but mostly the hormones were the route of the worry and the fear.  But honestly they were not 100% of the cause.  I'm that way naturally.  I worry.  I fear.  I think of the worst thing and dwell on it mentally while outwardly portraying myself as the most positive person ever (this is not a lie, per say, it's more my attempt at tricking myself into being a very optimistic person! lol).  It's a major flaw of mine.  And while I've had life experiences that justify certain types of worry, and while I'm a "clued in" enough person to know it's good to be a little worried because it keeps you cautious and ever-present in the happenings in and around your child's life, I know deep down worry to an extreme extent is not right.  And it's not healthy.

So while I sit here a year later, literally typing this post with J on my back, arms wrapped around my neck and nose smashed into my ear so I can hear him breathing while down below us E is playing with a balloon... I have perspective.  We've survived a year as a family of four.  I lived a year as a Mom to two little boys.  I braved hurdles like actually going to sleep, taking a shower while being the only adult in the house, taking both of my children out with other adults, taking my children out by myself, figuring out how to spend one-on-one time with each boy at some point during the day while still taking time for myself... I don't have it all figured it out perfectly, but I've figured it out in a way that works and guess what?  We're all happy.

We're all giving and getting attention and working together and loving each other and there are fights.  Yes.  There is jealousy.  Yes.  There were very hard moments in the beginning were J did look at E like, "You're ruining my life!" and were I sat sobbing in a hospital room overwhelmed with the baby crying for me besides me while I could hear my toddler screaming, "Mom! Mommy!" over the phone as my husband explained to me J was walking around the house looking for me... But now MOST days they get along.  Now, MOST days I find them playing together at some point.  And although there's constant correcting (..."Don't ride E like a horse!"  "Don't talk to E like a dog!"  "Don't take his toy!" "E, don't pull his hair!"  "E, you spilled his milk!") there's a bond.  There's a precious brother bond I dreamed of and hoped for and it's in it's very early stages of development, but it exists and in it I'm reminded that I didn't ruin J's life and that as a result of a brother 14 months younger than him he did not change.  He's still happy.  He's still brave.  He's still adventurous.  And now he's more things... he's mature and kind and he shares well and he cares about people - especially little people.  He is good and he's made better for having his little brother.

I know there will be moments J might feel like E ruins his life.  Especially when they're teenagers and life gets so dramatic, but I know something now I wasn't sure of a year ago.  By having a brother only 14 months younger than him, we've enhanced J's life.  My dream is that it's always enhanced in that he has a forever best friend (maybe he and E can even been the next "Property Brothers" or like Owen and Luke Wilson...) he stays close to throughout adulthood, but if that doesn't happen, I realize that at least he has someone to teach him more about character and being a better more loving person.

I should really worry less.  The things I obsess and freak out over tend to work out in ways that are so far beyond my comprehension of the thing in the moment, and often, they work out to be really, really great things that didn't need so much worry and overanalyzing in the first place.

I tweeted this yesterday. Follow me here if you're on Twitter!

I'm linking up with Heather and the Extraordinary Ordinary for "Just Write" for the first time today.  I love using this blog for tips, pretty things, and recipes, but it's nice to open up and share my heart with you all too.

*31 days will resume tomorrow where I'll talk about actual costs of a Disney World trip.

My toddlers ate this pot roast!

Good evening, friends! I'm swinging by to share my pot roast recipe with you because it was especially delicious tonight so my confidence is up and my toddlers both ate it so my confidence is really up!  I hope you like it!!!  And sorry for no actual pot roast picture.  I inhaled it too quickly to take something you might want to see a picture of!

A note, I like to cook my roasts 10+ hours.  Tonight it cooked closer to 11 hours.

Ingredients
1lb beef pot roast (I literally buy the bag from the butcher that says, "Pot roast" on it)
3 cups beef brother
1 cup water
1/4 cup chopped white onion
2 bay leaves
3 cloves of garlic smashed
1/2tsp pepper
1-2tsp salt
1tsp garlic powder
1 T EVOO
optional Ingredients
Brussel sprouts
Carrots
Red potatoes

Fill your crock pot with 3 cups brother, 1 cup water, onion (I like to chop dice mine up so it's edible with the veggies in post), bay leaves, and crushed garlic.  Then, place your roast in the crock pot (mine are usually frozen). Sprinkle in your pepper (I only start with about 1/2 t because I don't want it to be too spicy for the tots), your salt (I start with about 1 tsp) and about 1/2 tsp-1tsp garlic powder.  After about 6 hours (or when there's 4 hours to go) chop your veggies and dump them into the crock pot.  Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil atop the veggies and then add another 1/2tsp of garlic, a few shakes of pepper, and about 1/2-1tsp of salt depending on how salty you like your food (you can always add, but you can never take away!).  Let cook 4-5 more hours until the veggies can be pierced through like butter with a fork.

Serve up and enjoy with some delicious crescent rolls (but wait to serve the crescent rolls until after your toddlers have eaten a sufficient amount of meat/veggies because when they eye those suckers, it's done and they will finish strong by eating only crescent rolls.  Enjoy and as always, please let me know if you try this and like it.

And just an extra honest note, I think the brussel sprouts really helped enhance the flavor of this roast!  All the bitter cooked out and I think the roast picked up some of the brussel's really good flavor!  I'll definitely make them a permanent fixture in the pot from now on!

31 days of Disney World: Let's Talk Money Pt. 1 - Disney's Promotions

Today's Disney World conversation is a little more tedious but isn't "How much will this cost me?" the question that's really on everyone's mind?  I'm dividing this conversation into parts for fear I'll just get SO wordy with all the details and again, let's be honest, how intimidating can an overly-wordy blog post be?  In the end I'll talk about Disney Vacation Club which is what we are a part of and it has saved us LOADS of money.  This conversation will be directed more towards people who go often and are looking to save money over years and years of trips.  And without further ado, let's discuss!

Disney's Promotions
Another word... all my insight is coming from experience and my only experience is booking through Disney and staying on Disney property.  In my seven trips, I've only ever left property twice to go to Target, Taco Bell and Whole Foods so I have no knowledge of Universal, Sea World, Legoland or any other Florida destination.  I know you can book rooms fairly cheap in the Orlando area, but we've always preferred Disney's property over Orlando because we love the atmosphere and how we feel like we're isolated from the "real" world.  Anyway...

Disney is great at running promotions.  Aside from our honeymoon trip in 2008, we've always booked our Disney trips using their promotions.  There three we've utilized are:

1. Free dining plan when you book at least x nights, x days.
2. Free gift card (amount depending on what level of resort you stay in) when you book x nights, x days.
3. x% off your hotel room the length of your stay (% based on what level of resort you stay in).

So first, let me talk about levels.  There's value resorts, moderate resorts, and deluxe resorts.  

Value - Includes Pop Century, All Star Music, All Star Sports, All Star Movies and the new Art of Animation (which is more costly per night than the others, but the rooms are suites for larger families).  These resorts are the largest and hold 10s of thousands of people.  

Moderate - Includes Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs (I've stayed their twice), Port Orleans Riverside, Port Orleans French Quarter (stayed there once).  These resorts smaller and all have rooms you enter from the outside (like you would an apartment).  They're themed and all have great pools.

Deluxe - Includes Animal Kingdom Lodge, Beach Club, Boardwalk, Wilderness Lodge, Grand Floridian, Polynesian, and the Contemporary. All of these are within walking/boating/or monorail distance to parks (except Animal Kingdom Lodge which is an under 5 minute bus ride/drive).  They're also the fanciest with the best restaurants and pools.

When Disney runs a % off package, they typically will do 15% off a value room stay, 25% off of a moderate stay and 35% off of a deluxe stay.  In my opinion, this is Disney's least inciting promotion.

When Disney runs a gift card promotion (which they haven't in awhile) it's typically $100 for a value, $250 for a moderate and $500 for a deluxe.  We did this promotion once while staying at Coronado Springs and used the gift card to pay for our food the week we were at WDW so the promotion was almost like free dining for us and we loved it.  This is Disney's second best promotion in my opinion.

Which brings me to the dining plan promotion... This promotion is to get Disney's dining plan for free as part of your vacation.  The dining plan includes 1 snack per day, 1 quick service (think burgers/fries, chicken nuggets/fries, pizza... like "fast food" - but tastier!), and 1 table service (MOST of Disney's AMAZING restaurants count and the food is awesome).  Dining plan is almost $50 a day per person ($15 a day for 9 and under) and you get it for every person your whole stay for free as part of your package.  This deal is by far Disney's best promo in my opinion because the food there is SO good and eating and enjoying food is such a big part of the experience and not having to worry about paying for your meal (except tip at the table service) is just a great feeling.  My husband and I selected $35 steaks for dinner we would have never been able to afford otherwise.  You also get a drink (non-alcoholic) with table & quick service and a dessert.  The desserts at the table services are AMAZING and like I said, since eating is such a fun experience it's nice not to worry about it while you're there.

So there you have it... my thoughts on Disney's promotions!  Check their website for them and watch for commercials because they'll advertise!  They run SOME type of promotion almost every season so please, please, please when booking try to find something.  You don't have to pay full price for everything if you find a great promotion.

31 days of Disney World: Meeting Characters

Disney characters are all over the place, but unlike in the commercials, they typically don't just come running up to you (although Russell from UP did come give J a high five on the way to his station!).  You have to stand in a line to meet them and today I want to talk about wether or not that's something that's worth your time.

If your kids LOVE the characters and are older and are way into the autographs (think 4-8 or so) it is definitely worth your time.  The characters are engaging, life-like and seeing them will blow your little ones minds!  Sometimes those things are more important to kids than riding a ride and we've seen that in every trip.  If ever are kids are that fixated on autograph collecting I know we'll make it a priority.  You can do your best to avoid lines... ask cast members near character stations when they'll be back and get there 5 minutes early to jump in line before everyone else notices them and gets in line too.  You can also go to "meet and greets."  There's one in every park with various characters. Magic Kingdom is Mickey/Minnie & the Princesses, Epcot is Mickey and the gang, Animal Kingdom is Winnie the Pooh & Mickey and the gang, and Hollywood Studios is Sorcerer Mickey, the Incredibles and right now Winnie the Pooh but that character usually changes to correspond with the most recent Disney movie release.  There's also scenes set up like the one above where you meet certain characters and there's character dining at select restaurants in every park.  I LOVE character dining because the characters can spend a lot of time with your table and get a lot of pictures.

If your kids do NOT love the characters and are scared of them, be selective.  J loved meeting them at 5 months, but was terrified at 17 months and again this last trip at 25 months (see above).  We still opted to wait 10 minutes in line to meet Mickey because E loved the characters (at 10 months) and we wanted  a pic with them and 'ole Mick.  Otherwise, we only met characters if we did not have to stand in line or if the line was limited to one or two families before us.  Since it was always unpleasant, we just didn't want to do it a lot and E wasn't old enough to really care about missing out so when we could we did, but we never went out of our way to make it happen.  J did however LOVE seeing characters from a distance.  My boys love Buzz so one day in Magic Kingdom we saw him from about 100 feet away.  J waved and yelled, "Hi Buzz!!!" but when we asked if he wanted to meet him he would say, "No picture."  Lol.  He said that about every character by the end.  So funny!

Meeting Character Photo Tip
There will be a Disney Photo Pass cameraman stationed at each character who will snap your family photo but then you'll have to pay a ton for it.  There will also be a cast member there for the character.  If you give them your camera (set everything to auto and turn the flash on!), they'll snap a bunch of pics and they'll be yours.

ALSO tomorrow we'll start talking the financials of a WDW vacation! :)

Shabby Apple

Friends, I'm SO excited and honored to share with you that I was invited to become a Shabby Apple affiliate through this blog! I've honestly sought out to make blogging a way to make money, but like every other blogger I think it would be wonderful to one day make enough off this little blog to fund Christmas presents or live the blogging dream and attend a blog conference.  Anyway, I have no intention of being pushy and talking about this much more (unless there are more discount or giveaway opportunities), but I just wanted to let you know as part of the deal my readers can take 10% off their total order with Shabby Apple by clicking the image below or the image on my side bar.  I love Shabby Apple's products but am always looking to save money and to me discounts are great!

Anyway, that's all!  Hope you all scroll down to catch my fall decor below and have a WONDERFUL weekend!  Next week I'll be back with the 31 days talking about Disney World and the financial part of things!

Fall Decorating

Good morning, friends & happy Friday!!! 

I'm enjoying the "31 days" series very much, but I want to make sure within the mix I'm posting other things I enjoy as well!  So today in lieu of a lengthy WDW post, I'm posting pics of my fall decorations!  

I think the 31 days is open to interpretation is great and for these 31 days of October I will be posting frequently about WDW, but I don't know if in the end I'll have 31 posts just about that -- especially because I don't like to post on the weekends typically.  ANWAY...

This is my fall mantle!

Josh & I have been married 4 years now and homeowners for 3.5 years, but this is the first time I've EVER decorated for fall!  I actually didn't even have a single "fall" thing except a few things I'd bought 90% off at Hobby Lobby that I didn't really love anymore.  We're pretty strict in our budgeting (because we have to save for Disney World trips, lol) and I knew I couldn't just walk up to Josh and tell him I intended to spend x amount of money to decorate.  Because he wouldn't care and he'd then want to spend x amount of money on video games or something.  So, instead I devoted my allowance (we each get $40 a month) to getting little bits and pieces and told myself to love what I had first (all part of this "live simply" endeavor!) and then pick up a few things.  And you know what?  I spent less than $1 for my mantle/wreath/and mirror banner (excluding the candle which was $5 at Target).

The wreath above was simple enough to make but time consuming.  Wrapping those things takes forever!!! I had actually started wrapping the wreath to make it 4th of July themed but didn't finish in time.  I ended up running out of twine just over half way through the process and didn't want to buy more because I knew stopping mid-project meant I might not have time to ever pick it up again.  I had already planned on using scrap fabric from J's baby quilt to make rosettes, but I opted to glue on some other fabric and I think it looks pretty good and intentional (and so did everyone I asked on Twitter and Instagram - thanks, friends!).  The rosettes are so easy to make, they just take time.  You basically cut a strip of fabric, twist, hot glue, twist, hot glue, twist, hot glue... And that's it!  The whole wreath took me about 2 hours and about an hour of wrapping in July.

I had baby clothes pins lying around so I bought this cute chevron scrapbook paper half off at Hobby Lobby to cut and hang.  I liked the way it turned out so simple and shabby chic.

This was super simple and was actually done when J woke up from his nap so we had a lesson in triangles.  ;)  I just cut them and taped them to yarn and hung it up on the mirror.

I found this "T" at a thrift store for $.25 and was SO thrilled because buying letters is expensive!  I wrapped it in yarn one night while my husband got caught up on Revenge season 1 and then wrapped it with the yellow/orange yarn to make it pop more against our brick.  I used felt to make the rosettes and voila! 

Last weekend we went to Target as a family and they had so many great things clearanced!  I had been eyeing all the pieces in this beautiful collection all summer and have always loved this!  It was $15 originally and the first time I saw it clearanced it was still $10.  Saturday I picked it up for $4.50 and it happily is sitting on my table holding some apples.  Our table is small so it's the perfect size.  I also picked up this frame for under $4.  I'm always picking up frames on clearance, in thrift stores or at garage sales.  I love pictures everywhere, but hate paying high prices.  I have a plan for the frame, but haven't had time to work on it because I have a little man's 1st birthday party to work on these days!

So do you decorate for fall?  I love having more time to do things like this now that my boys are getting a little older and napping a little better and allowing me to do more chores in the waking hours so I can take more "me" time at naps and night.  

Homemade (quicky & easy!) Fish Sticks

*Linking this recipe to Kelly's Korner today because fish sticks make for great kid game watching finger-food! Boomer Sooner, baby!  ;)

Hi, friends! I'm swinging by this afternoon to share a quick and easy recipe I thought up last night.  This is for kids (or was at least intended to be for kids but after trying a bite, Josh proclaimed he'd eat them too), so I didn't figure out Weight Watcher point values.  They CAN'T be much though.

Anyway, last night I was making fish tacos which my toddlers hate so I wanted an option for them to go along with their rice that wasn't more chicken, so I thought I'd give homemade fish sticks a whirl with a few things I had on hand and they turned out great!

Ingredients
1 piece of tilapia (I only needed 1 which was about 4oz for my 2 guys because they're so young)
Extra virgin olive oil
Panko (about a tablespoon)
Italian bread crumbs (about 1/4 cup or so)

Since we're Oklahomans and our only fresh fish is catfish (not really, but basically), I first thawed my frozen tilapia.  Then, I cut it into small strips (about 1/2" wide/deep and 2" long).  I then rolled those strips in a little EVOO and then rolled them in a bowl where I had my Italian breadcrumbs and then put them on a sprayed baking sheet and sprinkled them with a little Panko for extra crunch.  You could probably mix the Panko and the breadcrumbs, but I remembered the Panko about half way through and didn't want to change it up.  Cook at 400 degrees for 25 minutes (or 20 but I'm a freak about things being well done in exchange for the bottom being a little burnt) and enjoy!

Personally, I thought they were a little dry and might have added a pinch of salt but Josh liked them and the kids did too and they don't need anymore salt anyway!  If you make these, please let me know!  I'd love to hear what you think!  :)

31 Days of Disney World: Taking Babies

I'm excited to share this post with you today not only because I love this Disney World discussion, but also because I'm comfortable posting pictures of my toddlers as babies here because they don't look much like this any more and now you can see sweet little faces.  :)

The next two pictures are E at WDW at 3 months and the last picture is J at Disney World at 5 months. Both of these trips were taken in January (2011 & 2012).

Just like taking toddlers to Disney World requires adjusted expectations, so does taking a baby.  In many ways taking your little one is easier than taking a toddler.  When we took J at 5 months old we didn't come back for naps.  He napped very well in his stroller and we'd find a quiet place for him to rest and just sit there parked while we enjoyed snacks or while the other went off to ride a ride.  Even at 5 months J loved looking around at all the people and enjoyed bright colors and the ride, "It's a Small World."  The only really difficult part of taking J was that he had started baby food and was a formula fed baby.  We hadn't yet discovered the beauty of bringing a backpack and our bag was so heavy with food, spoons, diapers, bottles with water, and his formula (it was a special kind we couldn't buy convenient packs of - bummer).

With E being 3 months old, there was a lot less to pack (except now we had two to carry around diapers for).  He also nursed so there was no bottles or formula.  Taking a 5 month old isn't all that hard, but taking a 3 month old is very easy.  They mostly sleep and nurse and look around and take it all in when they're awake.  At home E nursed every 3 hours before we went, but at WDW he upped his  need for milk and started nursing every 1.5-2 hours.  This made me feel a little like a cow many days, but it was good for him and the time we spent at the nursing stations in the dark and quiet was an excellent break from stimulus.

Fun fact? Both of my babies cut their first teeth at Disney World!  I wised up after our trip with J and brought Tylenol on our next trip.  I never expected E would cut his first tooth at 3 months, but he did and I was so thankful to have that with us!

So here are my tips for Disney World with bitty babies...

1. Overpack diapers and food.  If you're like us and rely on Disney transportation, you don't really have a way to leave WDW property without paying steeply for it and of course Disney charges way, way too much for diapers and food and formula there (but they DO carry these things).  I always pack a full suitcase of just baby things which is always nice coming back because it's an empty suitcase to stuff with all your souvenirs! ;)
2. Bring Tylenol/Advil/Benadryl... Most Mom's have a "first aid" kit of sorts as their kids get older, but it's a good idea to take these things even with babies.  You never know if they'll suddenly get sick, have an allergy, or cut teeth and it's so nice to have these things on hand!
3. Each park has a baby center and they're amazing.  FIND THE BABY CENTERS first!  There's NEVER a line there for changing diapers and the tables have fresh paper and staff changing the paper between babies/tots.  The centers also have high chairs and microwaves for easily feeding your baby and best of all they have nursing rooms!  I LOVE these rooms.  They're dimly lit, free of stimulus and full of cozy rocking chairs.  I've used them the last 3 trips to nurse E and the first trip even to just rock J to sleep for awhile.  The nursing stations also have good set ups for toddlers.  They either have a room with a TV playing Disney Junior, tables with crayons and paper and books or a room full of toddler toys.  Our last trip we popped in just to quickly change diapers at the Epcot baby center and on the way out my boys spotted a room full of toddler toys and J ran in.  We ended up spending 30 minutes there playing and it was good because sometimes babies/toddlers just need some time to crawl around and play just like they would at home.
4. Baby wear.  If you're not into it, I understand, but if you can do it!  It makes life SO much easier!  J was pretty good about being in a stroller, but E was much littler and craved that closeness.  He was heavy to always hold so I was very, very thankful to have my Moby wrap.  I literally wore him almost all day every day we were at parks and he did so great!  He'd fall asleep there and he felt safe.  J spent sometime in our baby backpack we had, but we hadn't used that a lot outside of WDW prior to vacation so he wasn't as comfortable with it.  If you can, break in baby wearing before your trip and you'll be happy to have it there!  Sure, the babies get heavy and your hips are sore like you're pregnant, but despite eating TONS that trip E was 3 months, I didn't gain a pound!  I contribute that to lots of walking and the extra 13lbs I was carrying around!  ;)
5. You don't always have to park your stroller.  A lot of places at WDW (not gift shops) want you to park your stroller outside.  An example of this is The Seas at Epcot.  I asked a cast member if I could bring E in in the stroller because he was sleeping in it.  They didn't mind at all so I brought him in and met Josh and J who were getting off of the Finding Nemo ride and we all enjoyed the aquarium without E having to wake up.  If a baby is awake, they're less likely to let you in, but if your little one is sleeping it never hurts to ask.  :)
6. Disney has pack and plays available for you complimentary in the resorts.  We never used them because our babies co-slept when they were that young, but if you need it, it's there!  You can also rent cribs from Kingdom Strollers but I've never done that.
7. Be aware that EVERYONE will swoon over your baby.  Lots of people talk to you because you have a little one.  Especially cast members.  It's sweet and the little ones (especially J at 5 months) like the attention.  This is another reason baby wearing can be nice though... it keeps people from touching since the baby is so close to you.

Hopefully these tips help!  If you have any other questions about Disney with babies, don't hesitate to ask me!  :)