Disney World Vacation 2012

We had such a fun vacation! We left the last week of October and were there for our 6 year wedding anniversary and for Halloween. This is such a great time to go and the crowd levels are super low. We stayed in a Cars suite at the Art of Animation, which was fantastic! Our room over looked "Radiator Springs" and Jackson was in Heaven. He kept calling our room "home" and said he wanted to live there forever.  He had his own (Murphy) bed that he just loved. We also got the Disney dining plan, and we had some wonderful meals during our vacation. We spent 1 day at Downtown Disney, 1 day at Epcot, and 2 days at the Magic Kingdom. The weather was perfect and most importantly, we were all healthy!! Justin had either food poisoning or a stomach bug 5 days before we left, so it really is miracle that nobody else got sick! Here is our trip broken down by day:

Day 1-Travel Day to Orlando. As we got on the interstate, Justin played "Holiday Road" and we sang it to Jackson and Rhett to kick off our Griswold's trip to Wally World :) Rhett was fussy at times, but overall both boys did well. We took our time getting there and got settled in to the hotel. We had dinner at the restaurant on the resort. Jackson was wired and jumping around everywhere. Rhett had meltdown city when it was time to go to sleep for the night and cried himself to sleep in my arms. I thought maybe it was a combination of the long car ride, new place, etc. But a few days later his first teeth-the two bottom ones-popped through! Thankfully he was fine the rest of the trip and quite a happy little guy!

Day 2-This was our 6 year wedding anniversary! We ate breakfast at the resort and then set out to look around headed to Downtown Disney. It was still a little windy from Hurricane Sandy, but otherwise a really nice day. We rode a few kiddie rides with Jackson and had to drag him off crying every time. We tried explaining that we were going to have 3 whole days of nothing but rides at the park. This is when I knew he was going to really enjoy the rides at Disney. We let Jackson pick out a toy at the toy shop and then had a nice lunch. Rhett did great and was happy the whole day. We headed back to the hotel for nap time. After naps, we got up and went shopping for some Florida Gator clothes at nearby stores. Justin found a great deal on Gator flags for the car and a new Florida sticker for our car. Jackson got a really cute jersey and I got a new shirt. Then we headed to the Contemporary resort for our reservations at Chef Mickey's. It was a character dinner, so Rhett and Jackson got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald. Then we rode the monorail and went back to our hotel for the evening.

Day 3-We did breakfast at the resort and then headed to Epcot. We got there soon after opening and went straight to the Seas with Nemo and Friends ride, which Jackson enjoyed. We didn't wait for a single ride the whole day. We also rode Journey into the Imagination 3 times, The Grand Fiesta Tour (boat ride in Mexico), Turtle talk, Innoventions, and Jackson's favorite was Spaceship Earth. He rode it 3 or 4 times. Rhett rode with us on Nemo and Friends, The Grand Fiesta Tour, and Spaceship Earth. When we first rode Spaceship Earth (with Rhett), of course the ride stopped halfway through for a few minutes. We were pretty much in the dark in the caveman section and Rhett started fussing. I was in the seat with Jackson and Justin was in the seat with Rhett. Rhett was getting more and more upset and I knew he was probably getting hungry, so I had Justin hand him over and I nursed him as the ride finished up. haha. He finished eating about 30 seconds before we got off of the ride and nobody had a clue. Me and Justin had a good laugh over that-this is by far the most interesting place that I have nursed Rhett!! They also had a mothers lounge that I used at the park for nurse Rhett, which was really nice. We had lunch and headed back to the resort for naps. We had debated about whether to go back for naps for wing it and let them nap in the stroller, but since they are both still so young, we opted to go back. I enjoyed my naps SO much and so did Justin and the boys. After we woke up, we headed back to Epcot and did a few more rides before our dinner reservations at The Coral Reef. This was my favorite meal of the whole trip-it was fantastic, although both boys were a challenge to keep happy because it was kind of a long meal.

Day 4-We woke up early and set out for the Polynesian Resort to have a character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch at Ohana. The food was served family style and it was so good! They had a parade for the kiddos as well which was fun. We ate and rode the monorail into the Magic Kingdom and got there right after it had opened. There was no wait for any of the rides we wanted, so we were able to walk right on. I went and got some fast passes for some of the more popular rides later in the day. We took turns riding with Jackson or staying behind with Rhett for most of the rides. We did: Buzz Light year, Tomorrowland Speedway, Dumbo, Goofys Barnstormer roller coaster, Tea Cups, Small World (with Rhett), Winnie the Pooh, and Aladdin's magic carpet rides (with Rhett). We were worried that the kiddie coaster might be too much for Jackson, but he LOVED it. He rode it 11 TIMES in a row with Justin. They let him stay on over and over because there was no line. He rode most of these rides multiple times. Jackson was beside himself because he was having so much fun. Rhett seemed to enjoy it too. We watched a show with all of the characters in front of the castle and Rhett really liked the songs. I took advantage of the baby center with him where they have a nursing room that holds 4 mommies. Every time I went it was busy, which was great...except Rhett wanted to socialize with everyone in the room. He would stand up and "talk" to all of the other babies and mommies. It was so funny. They couldn't believe how social he was. I had to basically face a corner so that he couldn't see anyone just to get him to eat! What a ham! Also, we had a Mickey Ears hat that we got a Toys R US before our trip for him and everyone kept stopping us asking us where we go it. Disney would make a lot of money if they sold those in the park! We ate lunch at Casey's corner and for dessert, Jackson got his first taste of cotton candy, which he loved.! Then we went to the resort for nap time and came back to the Magic Kingdom for a character dinner at the Crystal Palace with Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger. The characters were great, but the food was just ok. Then we rode the rides some more and headed back to our "home" :)

Day 5-Halloween!! I dressed both boys up in matching Halloween pumpkin shirts and they were just adorable! We had breakfast at our resort and got to the Magic Kingdom before it opened. It was really fun to see the whole production of the park opening and the show beforehand. We rode all of the same rides with no wait, except this time I got to ride the Goofy coaster 8 times in a row! We did a few new rides on this day: Peter Pan, Carousel, Mickey's Philharmagic, and the Jungle Cruise in addition to riding all of the ones from the day before multiple times. We had lunch at the Main Street bakery and had some delicious Halloween cupcakes for dessert. Then we headed back for a nap and then back to the Magic Kingdom afterwards for more rides. I was getting sad as the sun was setting and the day was coming to a close because we were having so much fun together. We had dinner at the Liberty Tree Restaurant in the park and it was my 2nd favorite meal-so good!! Both boys did great and then we rode a few more rides and got Jackson picked out his Mickey ears, candy apple and rainbow lollipop. His favorite was the lollipop! On the way out of the park, we picked up both boys some Disney t-shirts and then headed back to the resort.

Day 6-Jackson woke up crying because he didn't want to go home and wanted to stay at the resort forever! So sad! We got packed up and said our goodbyes to all of the cars at the resort. Then we went to the gift shop to pick out our souvenir magnet and a few toys for the boys. We hit Bob Evans on the way home (Justin's favorite) and then made our way back home. We had so much fun and it was definitely a successful trip! We were all pretty bummed to leave. The nice thing is that we came home on a Thursday so we had the weekend to recoup. I know Rhett is too young to remember our trip, but I hope Jackson remembers what a fun time we had together as a family. Here are some photos of our awesome trip!!

Day 1:

Day 2:



Day 3:

Day 4:

 Day 5-Happy Halloween!

 Saying Goodbye..

I think my heart might just explode

It's just the result of Jackson naming things that he sees around the room, but Rhett LOVES when he does this. Go ahead and watch it-I dare you not to smile!!

I will be back soon with Rhett's 7 month update, blog about our Disney World Trip, and some family and Jackson updates!

Rhett-6 months old!

Here are his official stats from last weeks 6 month well visit:

Weight-18 lbs 6 oz-65th percentile
Height-29 inches-99th percentile
Head Circumference-17 in-31st percentile

He had a good appt and is doing great at hitting his milestones. He was happy for most of the appt, but got fussy (and hungry) toward the end. Of course, he had his 6 month shots and was not happy about it. He cried for about a minute and then was fine. Until of course, he woke up from his afternoon nap crying out in pain. This has happened every time he has gotten his shots. This time he ran a fever of about 101 for a good 36 hours and was pretty miserable and fussy. Ugh, I wish he didn't have such a reaction, but I know it could be worse. Thankfully it didn't last too long and he is back to his happy self! He did get a flu shot a few weeks ago and took that like a champ with no fever/fussiness, so that was nice!

At 6 months old, Rhett is

-Sleeping much better now that he is in his own crib. The first week that we put him in his crib, he slept for the whole night for the first time and did amazing the rest of the week. It was SO nice but let me just say that I extremely uncomfortable when I woke up and hadn't nursed him through the night. That first week was great, but then he got shots and then another very mild cold, so he has begun waking a good bit through the night again. It is pretty inconsistent. Sometimes he is up 1-2 times, and some times every hour (Argh!). The worst part (aside from getting no good sleep) is that he fusses/cries when he wakes up and it has woken Jackson up as well. It will get better, though!

-an eating machine! He is eating solids for breakfast and dinner now. I usually do fruit in the morning and veggies at night. He has loved everything he has tried except for peas, which he gagged on. I can't believe the wonderful variety of organic choices there are now compared to when Jackson was a baby. Tonight I gave Rhett a combo of spinach, pears, and mangoes and he gobbled it all up! He is still exclusively on breast milk and a champ at nursing. He has started biting me, though, which is no fun. Thankfully he still doesn't have teeth, so it's not too damaging.

-wearing 12 month clothes, although the jammies are starting to get to short/tight. I think he will be in 18 month clothes by Christmas. He wears mostly hand-me-downs from Jackson, be we do make sure to get him some special clothes of his own too.

-getting on all fours and trying to crawl. He is getting close to crawling, but not there yet. He is great at scooting backward and spinning himself around on his belly.

-a strong and WILLFUL little baby! He loves to grab everything in front of him, put it in his mouth and will not let it go. He especially loves my hair, Jackson's cup, my face (yes, my face!), his toys, his toes, etc. He has got a strong little grip. When he is done with something, he throws it down and fusses.

-He continues to be a talker and he has definitely got something to say. Right now it comes out as Aaaaahs, Goos and Ohhhs, so I can't wait to see what his first word will be.

-He loves "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", "If you're Happy and you Know It", and "Pat-A-Cake". The other day he was fussing because he was in his high chair and I was making lunch for everyone. Since it was just me and him in the house, I sang him the whole song "Bobby McGee" (Janis Joplin version, of course) and he went crazy kicking his legs and smiling the whole tie. haha Either he really liked my singing or he was laughing at me (most likely laughing!)

-He is still crazy about Enya music. I don't get it, but he loves it!

-He loves his big brother so much and thinks everything Jackson does is funny. He watches Jackson like a hawk all of the time and laughs at him when he is being silly, which Jackson loves. When Jackson gets upset and cries, it upsets Rhett too, which is so sweet.

-I finally realized that he was born with a "stork bite" on the back of his head right above his neck. His hair covers it. We always noticed it, but I thought it was just a rash and his cradle cap was SO bad, that it was hard to tell if it was just inflamed or a stork bite. Now that his head cradle cap has resolved and he is getting a lot of light brown hair, it is easier to see and it is definitely a stork bite. Once his hair fully grows in, I doubt we will be able to see it anymore.

-No doubt about it, his eyes are turning green. Right now they are a gorgeous blue/green color. I don't know if they will turn all the way green or stay blue/green. His smile continues to light up the room. He looks almost exactly like I did as a baby right now. Jackson's eyes have a hint of green in them, but they are still mostly a beautiful blue color. Both of my boys are so handsome!

-Rhett is so much fun and such a joy in our lives! I am trying to be sure to soak in these precious moments with our baby boy and I am loving this age with him. Happy 1/2 year birthday sweet boy!

I LOVE this picture!

 Feed Me!

 Check out my baby jeans!

 Love it! Yes, that is a Mohawk made out of sweat that Jackson is sporting-He loved it!

I'm looking pretty rough after nap time, but just keeping it real :)

 

Our precious babies!

 First time in a swing-he loved it! (James Island County Park)

Rhett-5 months old

Better late than never!

What a fun age this is-Rhett is learning new things every day and it is so much fun to watch him discovering things. At 5 months:

-Rhett is 17.7 lbs! He is out of his infant carrier and into a new big boy car seat. We got him the same model that we have for Jackson, but it is the newer model and much nicer and more padded. So, of course once we saw how cozy and comfy Rhett was in the new car seat, we had to go buy Jackson the same one. Money, money, money! Rhett is sleeping so much better in the car now and for longer stretches.

-He got his first cold at about a week ago at 5 1/2 months old. Jackson brought a nasty cold home and I tried my hardest to keep them apart, but sure enough Rhett started sneezing and his nose started running. Jackson's turned into a nasty upper respiratory infection which has thankfully resolved, but Rhett's went away just as fast as it came, thank God. It was just a couple of days of discomfort, so not bad at all. Every time that Jackson has been sick, I have tried to expose myself to the virus so that I can make antibodies to pass on to Rhett through nursing. I don't know if that made a difference in the severity of his cold or not, but hopefully it is helping. I just didn't want Rhett to get an ear infection or a cough, which he didn't get either. :)

-Rhett had his first solid food the day he turned 5 months old! He had organic rice cereal and has since had oatmeal, bananas, pears, and sweet potatoes. His favorite has been pears. Like Jackson was, he was sort indifferent to solids at first, but he is slowly coming around.

-He is grabbing at everything! He loves water bottles, faces, my hair (ouch), and his toys. He is becoming more curious and interested in things. He loves his big brother and seems to be amused by pretty much everything Jackson does. Jackson gets tickled when Rhett grabs on to him but sometimes Rhett will scratch or grab Jackson's face and we have to remind Jackson that Rhett is learning how to use his hands. Jackson is extremely patient and gentle (for the most part) with Rhett.

-He had his first hotel stay at a great B&B called The B.eaufort Inn and Spa in Beaufort, SC. We were there for work and stayed for a night in the Innkeepers cottage, which had 2 bedrooms, but we all ended up in the same bed that night. Needless to say, I did not get a lot of sleep that night, but it was a fun time. We had a delicious dinner at 11th St. Dockside in Port Royal and then went for ice cream and took Jackson to the playground on the river. It was a fun trip, but it is definitely more work to travel and stay overnight with 2 babies. Jackson's first hotel stay was in Savannah, so it was neat that Rhett's was Beaufort.

Main House where breakfast is served:

 Innkeepers Cottage:

-His favorite music is Celtic music and Enya. I know that sounds funny, but Rhett is crazy about the Enya channel on Pandora. Justin has been telling me that he uses it when I am not home and Rhett gets fussy because it calms him down and he loves it. The past couple of weeks, every time that we put the Enya channel on Pandora, Rhett gets SO excited and starts kicking his feet, moving his hands around, and "talking" to our TV. It is so funny how much he loves that music. There are several Celtic songs that come on and he just goes crazy. We cant figure out what he loves so much about it, but it is really cute!

-He is still sleeping in the pack and play our room! This was certainly not the plan. We were going to move him at 5 months like we did with Jackson, but once he got a cold, I wanted to keep him in with us until he got over it. After that our baby monitor crapped out so the manufacturer sent us a new one, which we just got today. Hopefully we will transition him to the crib soon, but he is still waking every 3 hours or so to eat. Then from about 5:30 AM until 7 or so, he is up every 15-30 minutes fussing and I have to bounce him and rock him to get him back to sleep.

-Me and Justin realized that Rhett never has really used his swing, which is so funny b/c with Jackson we used the swing all the time. Jackson would nap for 3 hours at a time and we would go through numerous packs of batteries. Now that we have a newer swing that plugs in, Rhett doesn't like to stay in it too long. Go figure!

-Rhett continues to love bath time and has found his *ahem* "toolkit" (as the ultrasound tech put it). He reaches for it constantly during diaper changes (which makes changing a poopy diaper very interesting) and during bath time, he holds on to it for dear life. haha

-At 5 months, Rhett continues to be a happy go lucky baby and he has such a great demeanor and an huge smile. A few strangers have come up and commented on how great his little smile is and how happy he seems. He is still a feisty thing when he is mad, but what a sweet and precious baby he is!

Here are some photos from 5 months: