Our Disney World Trip

We just got back from a whirlwind trip to Disney World. We left Saturday morning (the 20th) and got back really late Tuesday night (the 23rd). Some friends of ours got married at the Disney Yacht Club on Sunday and we spent Monday at the Magic Kingdom. Then we left Tuesday. Like I said, it was a whirlwind trip. We had a fantastic time, though!!

The wedding was really fun. Matt got to see lots of his friends from law school, which was great. Our wedding experience was not without complications, though. We didn't quite make it to the ceremony. We were already running late that morning. It's practically impossible trying to make it to things on time with two small children. We would have made it there with time to spare, but as we went to leave the hotel we realized we couldn't find the key to the rental car. Christopher had been playing with it and had lost it. We tore apart the hotel room looking for it. We eventually found it buried in the suitcase. Who would have thought?! So, now we no longer had any time to spare...we were hoping to make it there just as the ceremony started. That brings us to mishap number two of the morning...we got lost on the way to the Yacht Club. Matt had called the Yacht Club to get directions and the directions the woman gave him were HORRIBLE. By the time we found the place, the ceremony was ending. We got to go to the reception, though, and had a great time. I even put on a dress for the wedding, something that hadn't happened in about a year. When I put my dress on, Christopher said, "Mommy, are you a princess?" I said YES of course. :)

Here are some pictures from our trip....

This is Christopher on the airplane. He was so excited to go on the plane. He was 18 months old the last time he flew, so he doesn't remember it. He loved looking out the window!

We stayed at a hotel in Orlando that was outside the Disney resort, but only a quick drive away. The hotel had what they called 'Kid Suites'....part of the room was partitioned off and there were bunk beds, a toddler bed, and a TV in there. Christopher loved it! We of course had to take down the ladder to the top bunk shortly after arriving. Christopher kept going up there and jumping around. Crazy kid!

Matt took this picture of the kids and I when we first got to the Magic Kingdom. Christopher was not into having his picture taken, though, and wouldn't look at the camera. He thought the castle was pretty cool!

Here he is checking out the castle again!

It was really hot the day we went...it was in the low 90's and unbelievably humid! It's apparently not normally that hot this time of year. It was also really crowded that day. There were really long waits for most of the rides (like 45-60 minutes on many of them). This time of year isn't supposed to be busy, so I can't imagine what it must be like during Disney's busy time of year. Matt still got to take Christopher on some of the rides, though, just not as many as we had hoped. Geneva and Stephen (the bride and groom) met us for lunch that day too, so it was great to spend more time with them. They took a couple of pictures of all of us with their camera. They are planning to e-mail them to us, so I'll post them when I get them.

Christopher loved riding these go-carts. Matt controlled the gas/brake and Christopher got to steer (sort of--Matt helped with that too!). He had a blast!

Christopher was checking out Dumbo in these pictures.

This is how Jessica spent most of the day--hanging out in her stroller. She is too little for the rides. She and I spent lots of time at the Baby Care Centers--air conditioned areas with changing tables, a quiet room with rocking chairs where you can nurse, a room to bottle feed, highchairs, a bathroom, and water if you need it. It was great! Jessica was nursing a lot more frequently that day since it was so hot outside, so we went to the Baby Care Centers A LOT.

This is a picture of Christopher just hanging out, checking out his surroundings.

The absolute highlight of Christopher's trip was when he got to meet Mickey Mouse. He thought it was fantastic!!!

Overall, it was a great trip. We managed to use almost every mode of transportation too--we traveled by plane, train, car, and ferry boat. We also learned a lot about what to do (or not do!) on our next trip to Disney.

Jessica is almost 3 months old!

Our little Jessica is almost 3 months old! She will be 3 months old next week. She is doing great and getting bigger. She is such a good baby. Christopher loves her and calls her HIS baby. The other day Matt was holding Jessica and Christopher wanted to go upstairs to take a bath. So, Christopher said, "Daddy, give my baby to Mommy and take me upstairs." It was so cute.

Here are a few pictures from the past week or so.....

Here is Jessica in her swing. She loves this swing!

She is a very smiley baby. She smiles at Christopher a lot.

As you can see, she has lost a lot of the hair she had when she was born. She still has a bunch sticking up on top, though. :) She already has some new hair growing in and it looks kind of red. We'll have to wait and see if she ends up with hair like mine. :)

Christopher is almost 3 years old!

It's so hard to believe that Christopher will be 3 years old at the end of this month (on Oct 30th). Sometimes it seems like just yesterday that we were brining him home from the hospital. He is definitely a little boy now and no longer a baby. Here are a few pictures from the past few days.

Here Christopher is trying to run away from me because he didn't want his picture taken.

Christopher decided that his Tigger puppet wanted to swing in Jessica's swing. He put Tigger in the swing, turned it on, turned on the mobile with lights, and turned on the music.

Here Christopher is eating a yogurt smoothie (his favorite) and watching Scooby Doo (his other favorite)

Christopher decided he would let me take his picture. He wanted to be sure that Scooby Doo was in the picture too.

Here is a cute picture of Matt and Christopher. Christopher is wearing his new coat, which he loves. He usually won't take it off when he gets to daycare.

The funny thing about nicknames

The funny thing about nicknames is that you never really know which ones will stick. Matt and I (and some of our family members) have managed to come up with some pretty random nicknames for the kids in the past couple of years--some stuck, some didn't. Those of you who have spent time with us know about two of Christopher's nicknames-- CMP and The Dude. We have been referring to him by those names since he was born. I never would have thought I would have a child that I referred to as The Dude or that I would start calling my baby daughter Bubba. That's the way it works with nicknames, though. You just never know.

Just for kicks, I thought I would share some of the other nicknames we have for the kids. We use these nicknames on a pretty regular basis, although there are some we use more than others. I'm not even sure where some of these names came from or how we came up with them. It's random, I know. Welcome to our life.

CHRISTOPHER
AKA: CMP, The Dude, Doodle, Doodlebug, Noodles, Bing, Bing-Bong, Baby, Bud, Munchkin Man, and Little Man

JESSICA
AKA: Butter Bean, The Bean, Beaner Baby, Bubba Bear, Bubba, Baby, Baby Girl, Little Girl, Munchkin Woman, Number 2, Sweet Pea, and Chubs

It's creeky outside

I went for a run this morning. It was pretty early (6:45am) and it was still dark outside. I got back from my run and Matt asked me how it was. I told him it was fun, but that it was a little creepy running around the neighborhood because it was so dark out. Christopher then said, "It's creeky outside, Mommy? It's creeky outside because of the dark?" That's not a typo--he said 'creeky' instead of 'creepy'. Later Christopher insisted that I open the blinds so he could look outside and see the creeky. "I want to seeeee the creeky, Mommy. I want to see it!" Too funny. That kid cracks us up! :)