Disney Update

Well, I have yet to get around to updating everyone on how our trip to Disney World went and traveling with a two-year-old. I have to say it was PERFECT!! The weather was beautiful and we could not have asked for a better forecast. The first few days were chilly (in the 60's) but it was very comfortable for walking around all of the wonderful parks (ask Ben how much he loved that part of the trip..ha..ha) So we made it to Magic Kingdom (my favorite), Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios within the first 3 days of our trip. It was exhausting and Ben had enough with the crowds by day 2 but it was all still alot of fun. We had lunch with the Winnie the Pooh characters on the first day at Magic Kingdom. Tayah thought that was great and was not afraid of them at all (although she didn't really like Piglet too much) but Pooh got a big hug and Eeyore got a kiss from her. We saw a show at the steps of the castle with all of the Princesses, Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Captain Hook, Peter Pan, and the witch from Sleeping Beauty, which was so cool, and Tayah LOVED it!! We went on some rides which Tayah also really enjoyed because there was always so much for her to watch and look at. The second day we did Animal Kingdom and had brunch there with Mickey and Minnie. It was fun to get up close to the famous Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Tayah also really liked that. We took an African safari ride at Animal Kingdom as well, which Tayah of course loved to see all of the wild animals. The last few days of our trip it was warm (in the 80's) so we spent those days by the pool sipping cocktails. There was a little pool that was just over a foot deep for Tayah to play in, so we all could pull up our chairs by the pool and let Tayah swim. Tayah is like a fish and had no problem spending all day in the pool. She would take a break to have lunch by the pool and then was off in the water again. She even asked if she could go swimming after we got home in Minnesota. I guess she didn't want to be back in the Minnesota cold again either (none of us did). And the very exciting part of our trip was that Jason and Katie got engaged!! It was very cool and fun to have shared that with them. Overall the trip was a blast and it was not difficult at all to travel with a two-year-old. We can't wait to go back again with her. Oh...and you will have to check out the slideshow of pictures in the post below. Enjoy!!

Disney Slideshow

My Best Friends Wedding

Saturday I was given the honor to stand up for my best friend Alicia (a close friend since we were 12 years old) as matron of honor in her wedding. The wedding was beautiful!! I gave my speech without stumbling over my words, and the whole day turned out just PERFECT. She was such a beautiful bride. However, a few days before the wedding I discovered that I had the dreaded Shingles. This could not have come at a worse time with the wedding a few days away and a week away from our big vacation. A couple weeks ago I had been complaining about a pain on my left ribs and thought that I had bruised some ribs while playing around with Tayah. Several days later I then broke out in a painful rash in the same spot. It still took me a couple days later to even discover what it was before I made it to the doctor. I was put on some meds. which sorta helped but I mostly just had to wait for everything to take its course. Everyone kept telling me it is from stress but I really didn't even feel like I was that stressed out (not that watching 9 kids under the age of 4 everyday isn't stressful); so who knows what the cause of it all was?
Anyhow, so, the show must go on and with a couple glasses of wine and plenty of tylenol I made it through the wedding and still had plenty of energy to dance the night away. I have to say though, with the wedding behind me, this week I am completely exhausted. I've had something going on every night the last 6 nights so last night was my first night with no plans and was able to finally rest and go to bed early (I think I was asleep before 8:30). Man, did that ever feel good!! I have plans on doing the exact same thing every night with hopes of being 100% by the time we are set off to Disney. I think this vacation just may be the perfect medicine.

Counting Down....4 DAYS UNTIL DISNEY!!

Well, This Sunday we (Myself, Ben, Tayah, Jason, and Katie) are leaving for Florida. We are staying in Disney and have plans to hit the Parks and enjoy a little warmth and sun. I am so excited and I can hardly stand the wait. This will be Tayah's first real big trip where she gets to ride in an airplane and all. We have been trying to prepare her and talk about it as much as possible but I am not sure how much she truly grasps on what is going to happen. We have been watching the Disney movies and getting to know all the characters. We even had a vacation planning DVD for Disney sent to us and we have been watching that. I've been asking Tayah if she wants to ride in a big airplane and go to see Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. She asks, "Belle and Snow White too." "Yes, Belle and Snow White too", I tell her. Today we were talking about leaving and she got her shoes on and was ready to go. I think even she is getting a little bit excited. I just can't wait to experience everything through her eyes to see what she does when she does see Sleeping Beauty (Tayah's favorite princess) and Cinderella's castle for the first time. It may even bring tears to my eyes. The weather in Orlando has been in the 70's and even into the low 80's so that should be about PERFECT!! We are supposed to be getting 5-7 inches of snow here in the Twin Cities so anything would be better than here and we may get out of town just in time. I will be sure to update the blog when we get back with wonderful pictures and how it all went. 4 days until DISNEY...YAY!!!

Pee Pee in the Potty

Well, we officially started potty training last week. We have slowly been working our way to this step since a little bit before Tayah turned two. We've had the potty chair sitting in the bathroom and every once in a while Tayah would surprise me and think it was fun to go potty on the potty chair. She would do really good about going for about a day but then would slowly lose interest with the whole idea. We actually probably hadn't even touched the potty chair for about the last month or so up until last week when Tayah came up to me and said, "pee pee in potty". Since she initiated the idea I litteratlly jumped at the opportunity to sit her on it. Ever since then she has been showing interest and has been willing to go for me when I ask. The first couple of days I may have pushed her patience just a little bit because I was having her go every 20-30 minutes so she would get the idea of what it felt like when she actually has to go. By the end of the day she was just tired of me having her go so often and she would be ready to give up. Ben picked up Disney Princess pullups which are working pretty good, at least in these beginning stages it is less of a mess and it is nice to have the convenience of just being able to pull them up and down. We may attempt real underwear soon though because she is doing so well and is staying dry for most of the day. We started using a prize jar as a reward system which she gets a prize when she tells me she has to go potty. This way she doesn't get frustrated with me having her go so often and so she decides when she has to go and tells me. She is really starting to get it and I couldn't be more thrilled. Our next mission for project potty is figuring out how to get her to go potty in public (and not just in her little potty at home) and to go "poo poo in potty". What could possibly be more fun?

Tayah picking her prize from the jar.



Tayah going potty on her "little potty".

Tayah and her ABC's and 123's

Just thought I would share a little video of Tayah so you could see her in action. Tayah was in a mood to perform yesterday and show off all her skills so I started taking some video of her and this is what I got. The other little girl in the video is a daycare friend of hers, Ella. So, here is Tayah, 27 months old.

Big Girl Haircut

Yep, Tayah got a big girl haircut this week. Getting a haircut is nothing really new to Tayah, afterall I've been cutting her hair since she was 4 months old. I've never taken her into the salon to get it cut because I was always too afraid of the fit she would have in front of everyone. So, Sunday we were just bumming around town and I told Ben that I think we should take Tayah in to get her haircut because it needed a good trim and was looking kinda scraggly. So we stopped on our way home and got right in. I should mention that we first bribed her by telling her she would get a sucker when she was done if she was a good girl. So, the stylist set a booster on the chair and Tayah climbed right up all by herself then the stylist put the cape on and Tayah could have cared less about the whole thing. No crying, no screaming, no throwing any sort of fit what so ever. She sat so nice on the chair all by herself and let the lady cut her hair. The stylist would tell her to look down so she could get the back and she would. She did such a good job!! I guess it turns out that I was worried for nothing.