Disney 2018 (Days 3 & 4)

Day 3: EPCOT

Ah Day 3. Some of us had the time of our lives, others of us were dying in the heat. But I will always have such a soft spot for this day. We spent our whole day at EPCOT. No breaks. No Naps (for the adults anyways). Just go go go. We started our morning by going on The Sea's with Nemo and Friends. I think by the end of our trip we rode this at least half a dozen times. It was so cool and a refreshing break, and as we all know, JP loves loves loves Nemo and Dory! After this we went and did Living with the Land, and then met Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy. He finally had warmed up to characters more, and this time Goofy was the big hit! After we met with Mickey (who he also loved) Goofy came right over and was playing with Josiah and "Goofing" around! As you can see, he loved this meet and greet spot!

We then went across the way to see Baymax and do his classic "Ba-la-la-la" fist bump (which even now months later Josiah still laughs when we do it or when he watches Big Hero 6). Once done there, we met a friend of mine who I had met online many many years ago! It was so nice to finally meet and spend the day with her!

About this time, the world showcase opened, and Mike and Mom made their way to Canada to get their first of 11 (yes you read that right) drinks. I got the violet lemonade with my friend and thus started the trip around the world! After going to Canada, we started going around the world showcase clockwise, so we then went to Mexico for a margarita, and then to the Norway pavilion. We made our way to Frozen Ever After (which I LOVED) then onto China!

Look at his excitement!

I have always loved the China pavilion. Mostly because of the Mulan meet and greet, but also because of some funny memories of the last time we (Mike) drank around the world and had to get a bottle of beer and it was nasty. Anyways. Back to my homegirl Mulan. Mike had gone to go to the bathroom, or go get a drink, or food, or something. Mom, JP my friend, and I had all stayed back and just were sitting on a bench outside. We were hot. We were exhausted (as you can see). This was a semi posed shot, but the exhaustion level was so there. We were just DONE and needed a few minutes. A photo pass photographer was walking by and we were like "hey can you snap a shot of us being so tired? We want to remember everything!" and she did. And I'm SO glad we got this shot. But I'm even more grateful for what came next. 

A few minutes later, the same photopass photographer came back outside, but this time, Mulan was with her! She said to Mulan "This is Prince Josiah. The one I was telling you about!". Mulan came over and sat on the ground (at JP's eye level) and chatted with us about how strong of a warrior he was and to keep an eye out for Mushu. We then got pictures taken with Mulan, and she went on her way to her regular Meet and Greet spot. It was definitely a "Pixie Dust" moment for us. She could have very well just walked right by and waved. But for her to stop and talk to us BY NAME was so amazing.

We then made our way to Germany for food and beer for the Drinking Around the World crew. At this point it was their 5th drink, it was hot, and we all needed a break. So we went over to Figment, and then I'm pretty sure this might have been when we went on Soarin. But I can't remember. This was our mid day break that we all desperately needed! But then we realized if we slowed down, we'd never keep going and there were still 6 more countries to visit (and drink at!)

We next went to the UK where mom got a wine that she couldn't finish, followed by France where we got the La Vie en Rose and holy cow was that gooooooooooooooood. (Don't be mistaken I got another Bacon Cheese Roll). We then went to Morocco where some young frat boys suggested a drink for Mike and Mom to get (It was horrible ps). Japan was next. I knew what they should get and thankfully they listened to me! They each got a different flavor of Sake. The Violet Sake? I have dreams about it holy cow it was amazing! Next was the American Pavilion. I felt like I needed to do something nice for Mike so JP and I went and got him a turkey leg (cue the awww's). This is also where I met up with another internet friend of mine who I met a few years ago! Her and her husband happened to be there the same week as us and were even staying in the same hotel! So it was nice to catch up with them! I also did some pin buying and trading in the American Pavilion, including giving one of my Ariel pins to a young girl starting pin trading for the first time. I hope that pin is something special to her!

Ah. My favorite part of the night. THE LAST DRINK. To celebrate, they decided to go sit at the bar and have a Martini. If I dream about the Bacon Cheese Rolls, Mike dreams of the Espresso Martini in Italy. I figured it wouldn't be too long no problem. Oh was I wrong. a good solid half an hour goes by and they are still inside. Mind you I have a cranky 1 year old who just wants to run and play, it's 830 at night so he's actually tired, and we're just sitting around. Oh, and the fireworks were going to start at 9 (which I wanted to be a little farther away from in case he got scared). They finally came out, we BOOKED it out of the world show case into Mouse Gears, and were safe from the fireworks.

Now, we  could have ended our night here, but Josiah had fallen asleep, and mom had said she wanted to try Test Track. So hey, let's do it! We did ride switcher for it so Mom and I would go, and then I would go with Mike while Mom watched the baby. The entire wait (about half an hour) she kept saying "I'm going to hate this I'm going to hate this!" I had to assure her she'd love it. And then we get on. And if you've ever been on test track, you know that the beginning is just a lot of jerking around "testing" your car, but that the end you rocket our of that gate going easily 55 mph. Well, the entire outdoor time she was screaming "I hate you I hate you!!!". We got off, and she had this look on her face. She wanted to go again! But let Mike and I go. So now Mema can say she's done one of the fastest rides at Walt Disney World!

Day 4: Four Parks One Day

I think of all our days in the parks, this one was my favorite. We had decided before our trip to do a challenge. We wanted to go to all 4 of the WDW parks in one day. I know. Absolutely crazy for most people, and even crazier for a group with a young toddler. But we decided we wanted to do it, and I'm SO glad we did! At each park we had to take a picture in front of the icon of the park, meet a character, ride a ride, and eat some food. That was what we did to make it "count"

Park 1: Animal Kingdom

The reason the planner of our group *Me* chose Animal Kingdom as our first park was for a few different reasons. First and foremost, they had Extra Magic Hours from 8-9 AM, so we'd be able to get in and out of the park before it got too crowded from the "normal" people (aka people not staying on property). But the other main reason was because the other 3 parks you can get to and from them by boat/walking/monorail, where as Animal Kingdom you HAVE to take a bus. So it was an easy first or last option, and we decided first!

We were there from 830 AM (got a later start than I wanted). Icon picture at the tree of life. Mike and I rode Expedition Everest while JP and Mom rode TriceraTop Spin for the millionth time. I ended up going on Expedition Everest 4 times in a row (the 5 minute wait time was the 2 minute walk from the front of the ride to the actual coaster loading zone). Mike only went on twice, but I guess that's because he's not as much of an adrenaline junky as I am. We ate Elephant Ears (I wish I had remembered the giant Mickey shaped cinnamon rolls for this park because that would have been a WAY better choice).And for our character we met Pocahontas. Now as you know, she's one of my top princesses (along with Mulan) and the way she interacted with us and JP was incredible. She sat right down on the ground with him and was reading the signature book to him as she signed it. It was awesome <3

Park 2: Hollywood Studios

I had actually made our fast passes for the day at Hollywood Studios, if only for the fact that I knew we'd get in and out of AK quickly and it was also our first time to HS on this trip! When we got there we headed right to Rockin Roller Coaster for our fast pass  We then all sat and relaxed and watched the Beauty and the Beast show while I was carefully thinking of where we should go for lunch. We also took advantage of this time to get some great photo ops with the Magic Shot with Chip from Beauty and the Beast, as well as some solo shots of Mom and Josiah!

We were at HS from 1030am-3pm. For our icon we took it in front of the Tower of Terror. There's some controversy as to what the icon is at HS anymore since the sorcerer's hat is no more. We chose ToT but you can also consider the Chinese Theater the icon too. Ride was Rockin Roller Coaster (well, Mike and I did it. This was a little too much for Mom). Food was Pizza from Pizzarizzo and I'm not going to lie, it was so really good pizza. If you follow along in our lives, you know Mike and I have been eating our way around all the pizza places at home, and this pizza wasn't as good as our top pizza at home, but it would probably rank 3rd, so I'll take it! Character meet and greet was with Star Wars characters! We met Chewbacca and Kylo Ren. Chewy didn't shun Mike this trip so that was good, and Josiah actually preferred Kylo like a weirdo.

 Park 3: EPCOT
We ended up taking a much needed break after HS to go back to the hotel, take a nap, and just relax before going out for the rest of the night. But once we were well rested, we made our way back to EPCOT. We had just spent the whole day at EPCOT the day before, as well as our first day we were there for an extended amount of time so we figured we should get in, do what we needed to, and leave.

We were at EPCOT from 6-730. We took our icon picture in front of spaceship earth, and then actually RODE spaceship earth as our ride since it was a short wait, a relaxing ride we could all do, and right at the front of the park! We then went to do our meet and greet with Joy and Sadness from Inside Out. Josiah and Sadness had some really cute bonding moments that I just couldn't get enough of! To eat, we had a classic Disney food, the Mickey bar! Ok, Everyone else had the Mickey bar. I had a little piece of the chocolate that fell off.




Park 4: Magic Kingdom
HOME. There's nothing like Magic Kingdom at night. I love it all times of the day and all times of the year, but when the sun goes down, the lights come on Main Street, and the castle glows, my heart just becomes a giant puddle of emotions.

We were in MK from 830-1150. There were extra night time magic hours so that made this part of our trip so special too. Took our picture in front of the castle (JP had changed into pajamas by this point). We rode the Magic carpets, Jungle cruise, Mike and I did Big Thunder Mountain (My favorite of the Mountains). Mom and Mike also did Small World while I walked around with a very very exhausted and sleeping Josiah. He ended up sleeping through our meet and greets with Tiana and Rapunzel, but they didn't mind. They just reminded us not to wake a little prince. And for a snack, we of course had to get some cookies from the Confectionery (which of course JP woke up for because hello, who sleeps through cookies and sweets??)

So there you have it! We managed to go on at least 1 ride, meet at least 1 character, eat food, and take our picture in front of every icon! It was a task I would do again with out a doubt, but maybe not till JP is a little older and can understand why we're so crazy!

None of Us Know What We're Doing

Parenting a strong willed toddler is hard. 

Scratch that.

Parenting is hard.

I have taught toddlers in the past. I had my own classroom of 10 3 year olds (and trust me they were some of the most strong willed independent head strong kids I've ever me). I've baby sat all ages (including the age JP is at now). But I've never felt as defeated as I do now. 

Don't get me wrong, I love my son more than anything. He is an amazing child who is turning into an incredible little human. 

But that's the problem.

Josiah loves to try and do everything on his own. The latest is pulling his shorts up after a diaper (and it's the sweetest thing to watch him do!). He loves to run, climb, explore, and just be all in 100% of the time in everything he does.

But that's the problem.

Because he's such an exploratory child, an independent child, an all in child, he has a hard time with transitions and doing something he might not necessarily want to do. I know a lot of it is his age and development, but it's so hard when you see other kids his age behaving, transitioning well, and behaving "the way they should".

Bed time and sleeping through the night has always been an issue for us. It still continues to be a struggle for us. And we're working on options to help not only him but us transition to better nights of sleep. But it's hard friends. It's hard to watch your son have some form of night terrors and screaming in his room. It's hard when all he wants is you for comfort but you're just exhausted and to be completely honest don't want to give him all 100% of you at 2 am. 

It's hard watching your son cry at drop off for the first time in a very long time. It's hard to see him reaching out to his Mama when you have to go to work. This morning he was extra clingy at 630 in the morning, and I just needed a break. We'd been up more times than normal at night and I just was done. I was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. So I had Mike take him. So he didn't get that special morning time we normally have cuddled in bed watching a movie or nursing. So of course my mind thinks of all of this as he's screaming from his teacher's arms and thinking "Why didn't I just give him those extra cuddles this morning?"

I sat in my car for a few minutes trying to get myself together this morning before driving to work. JP and his friends were on a buggy ride while I was still sitting there, and the look he gave me from his seat to the car broke me. It ripped me apart. He wasn't crying, but still had tears in his eyes and looked at me like "just come cuddle me a few minutes longer and tell me it's okay." And that's when I lost it. I cried all the way to work. I'm crying writing this. I felt like such a bad mom at that moment. I felt as though I'd failed my son as a mom. 

None of us know what we're doing. Anyone who says they've got this thing called life figured out is a liar. Because just when you think you've figured it out, life throws you a curve ball. You get busy. You have a strong willed kid. You lose your job. Someone dies. Things don't happen the way we see them on social media.

  None of us have it together. And that's okay! And I hope that by reading this and seeing that I'm struggling will help someone else realize they aren't alone. Each of us is going through something on any given day. Even when the social media posts are about how cute and adorable our kids are, we're going insane trying to get them to eat more than apple sauce and freeze pops. 

Keep on keeping on fellow parents. We've got this. We're raising such strong willed kids now to be the next strong willed passionate generation. 

xoxo

Amanda

Swagbucks How To!

Sitting at the car repair shop completely bored out of my mind, I figured it'd be the perfect time to start working on my blog post of how to save and make a TON of money using Swagbucks!!

As I've stated in a previous blog post, I have been actively "swagging" since March 2018. My current number on how much I've made is $1088.62. Over $1000 in about 5 months. Wowza! Here's some of my tips, trick, and some of the deals I've done to make this much money!

First and foremost, SIGN UP! Use the link here to earn an additional 300 SB if you earn 300 SB by the end of your first month (which if you continue reading, you'll learn it is very easy to do!)

The Basics

Here are the basics to Swagbuck. You earn Swagbucks (SB) by using the site for shopping, watching video's, doing searches, and completing surveys. 1 SB = $.01. You can cash out for as little as 300 SB ($3) for gift cards, paypal, you can even use it to make donations to charities! Here's a break down of each of the different ways to earn.

Shop

When you sign up for Swagbucks, you will be prompted to add the "Swagbutton" to your browser. DO IT. When you are shopping at your favorite websites, it will prompt you to get a percent back on your purchases (anywhere from 1%-10% depending on where you're shopping). You can also go directly to the shop page on Swagbucks for a whole list of places and how much their % back is!

Watch

This section isn't exactly the best way to make money, but you can watch video's through the watch section on Swagbucks to earn very minimal amounts back. There are places you can find video's that will run all day that you can leave running at home while you work or in the background to earn those extra few SB throughout the day. This is free money to make, even if it's only a few SB a day!

Answer

This is your survey section! Here you can take survey's for anywhere from 1sb to 300 sb per survey! I will warn you, to start these can be very frustrating. You're going to get disqualified from a LOT of surveys because they'll be looking for a particular demographic, or already have enough people that have taken it. But if you have free time to just sit down and do them, they can have a nice return! You don't have to spend any money for these, so this is free money when you complete them! 

Discover

If you're serious about using Swagbucks to make big money and not just pocket change, this is where you're going to spend most of your time! In discover, you will find offers for a variety of deals specific for Swagbucks. A lot of these offers are signing up for a service or buying a product. But this is where you're going to make your money. For example, in this section right now you'll find a deal to receive 4000 SB ($40) for signing up for Gilette razors subscription (Costs $7 out of pocket). So in the end you end up making $33 and you get a razor! With these offers, for them to truly be money makers, you need to make sure you cancel your subscriptions before being charged again. A lot of times Swagbuck will say you can't cancel within the 32 days while it pends, so with Gilette, I skipped a month, and then canceled my service. Some of these offers you may find you want to keep, and that's totally okay! It can not only be a good way to make money, but a good way to discover new products that you love!

With discovers, make sure that you keep track of when things will credit and when to cancel subscriptions!!!

I keep a spreadsheet of all the offers I do through discover (and all my shop credits) with the amount of SB I should be rewarded and when they should complete. Taking screen shots of confirmation emails and the discover offer on Swagbuck will come in handy if you don't receive credit for offers you've done!

Search

Using the search engine with Swagbucks isn't a guarantee SB maker, but sometimes when you search, you'll get a surprise bonus of anywhere from 2-20 SB (maybe more, but 20 is the most I've personally seen)

Play

The last section is the play section. There are a few free games you can play. But you can also sign up for worldwinners and earn a certain amount of SB per dollar spent on the website (currently it's 12 SB per dollar spent). Worldwinners isn't available in every state (in NH it is, but when I was in Maine I couldn't play) and it IS gambling. I have had days where I've won games (plus gotten the SB per 1$ spent) and made a few bucks, but it takes money gambled to win money gambled. They do have a deal going on sometimes when you deposit your first amount of money, they'll give you free money to play with, plus an additional SB bonus (I deposited $20, they gave me $10 bonus to play with, and I made 1650 SB). The best way to do this is to deposit money to get the free bonus money to play with, play with the free money, and then once you've played all the free money, cash out your money plus any money earned with the free money. After doing that initial deal, I honestly wouldn't bother with this section, but to each their own.

Daily Goals

So the last little bit I wanted to talk about was your Daily Goals. On the Swagbucks home page (easiest through a computer) you will see on the top bar your "Daily Goal". You actually have two. Your blue goal and your red goal. For completing your daily goal you get bonus SB (typically about 10% of your goal). For example, today my blue goal is 108 sb. If I earn 108 SB today, I'll get 11 SB bonus. My red goal is 210. If I reach that 210, I get 21 bonus sb. You only get one of these bonus, not both if you complete both. You can also get bonus sb for completing your goals for particular spans of time (25 sb for 7 days, 100 sb for 14 days, 200 sb for 21 days, and 300 for the whole months). All these bonus SB are delivered at the beginning of the next month. For this reason, I try to space out doing my discover offers rather than doing a bunch of them on one day. That way when they credit 32 days later, they are spaced out and help you make those winning streaks! 

An easy way to meet your daily goals is to do your to do list (located on the left hand side of the home page on desktop). In this section you have a list of 8 tasks. If you complete 6/8 you get a bonus few sb, and if you complete all 8, you get even more (usually a bonus 8-10 sb)

Ok, I think that's enough to overwhelm you with. If you have ANY questions, leave a comment or shoot me a message! I love talking swagbucks and helping people earn free money! I can't wait to here what you are saving for and how much you're earning!!!

How I've Made Nearly $500 in 2 Months Online

Before you get all "This is a Scam!" or "I don't believe you actually made $400 in 2 months" just sit with me for a few minutes. I was skeptical too.

I first learned about Swagbucks a few years ago. I can't even really remember how I came across it, but I thought "okay, take some survey's and maybe make a few bucks." I called it quits after a few weeks because I thought that's all Swagbucks was. But man was I wrong.

Swagbucks has allowed me to make nearly $500 since I started actively using it in March 2018. You heard that right, $500 dollars. I have still been taking those survey's to help meet my daily goal, but that's not where the money is. The money is in the Discover and Shop offers.

Now, I know what you're thinking. "Amanda, I don't have any extra money to shop and try to attempt to make my money back". Guys, NEITHER DID I. I earned cash back on purchases I was already going to be making online, I kept doing the survey's, and little by little it grew to $25 to cash out into a PayPal account, which I then used to "buy" these bigger items and make REAL MONEY.

I was paid to try Dollar Shave Club. I was paid to try Graze Box. I was paid to try shoes and clothing stores. And I want YOU to be able to do that too!

Signing up is really easy. All you have to do is click on this link to SwagBucks, create an account, and you'll be on your way to making money! And, if you earn 300 SB (Swagbucks) this month, you will earn an additional 300 SB.

My goal is to make enough money through Swagbucks to get us back to Disney next year. And looking at how much I've earned in the past 2 1/2 months, I think it is an achievable goal!

Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll be sharing exactly HOW I've earned so much money, so stay tuned!


Amanda

Disney 2018 (Day 1&2)

WOW!!! We just got back from JP's first trip to Walt Disney World, and my heart is just so full. A week off with my amazing husband, miracle son, and my awesome mom was just what we all needed. But add in the magic of Disney, and you get a dream come true trip.

Night 1: Our Flight to Orlando
Our flight was set to leave Manchester just before 6 pm. I was nervous about flying with Josiah for the first time, but we had somehow gotten into boarding group A, so at least I knew we'd all be sitting together.

Josiah was running around the terminal as we awaited our plane to arrive. When we started to board, we noticed that there really weren't that many people waiting at the gate. As we got onto the plane, the flight attendant told us "Just be prepared, it's a really full flight. There's a whole 18 of you flying to Orlando."

PHEW.

At least if Josiah freaks out this whole flight, we're only ruining 14 people's days and not 175.

So we got ourselves situated in Row 1 with the extra leg room, laughing about how we could all have our own row separated by a row and there'd still be unused rows, and up we went. Josiah half nursed, but was really just interested in what was going on. The rest of the flight? Well, he sat on the floor by our feet with toys, food, and for a brief period of time, Moana. He did wonderfully. A few little spats of cries, but it was more from us not letting him go running around the airplane. We landed in Orlando and headed to the Pop Century Resort. Mike and I ended up going to the food court and getting our refillable mugs for the week and a small dinner, then headed back to crash and get ready for our amazing week ahead...

Day 1: Magic Kingdom and EPCOT- Dapper Days!

The big day had finally arrived. Our first day at Disney. I was beyond excited. Mom was probably the most excited though, as she hadn't been to Magic Kingdom since 2010 for my 18th birthday, and had only been to Magic Kingdom one other time before that when she was a kid. We all got our dapper outfits on (except Mike because it was HOT out that Sunday), and headed out to Magic Kingdom. We arrived, dancing as we entered through those gates, and, well, I'll let mom's face tell the rest.

We were all a bit emotional heading down Main Street, USA, but moms tears of joy and pure excitement had us all tearing up a bit. Heck, I'm tearing up now too!

At the castle awaited our friends from home and their kids. We had our pictures taken with them, and then parted ways till later that morning. Mike and I headed over to our first ride, Space Mountain, while Mom and JP did their thing. On Space Mountain was when it finally hit that we were here. We had finally made it to Disney. 

We met up with mom, and headed to Josiah's first ride. This would set the tone for the entire trip, and so we picked the most classic Disney ride there is, Dumbo. And although his face might not show it here, he absolutely loved it, and it would soon become a favorite ride of his.  After Dumbo, we made our way to the New Fantasy Land and got some breakfast. I can't remember what sort of wrap/ sandwich Mike got, because all I can think of is the Gaston Cinnamon Roll. It was HUGE, delicious, and super inexpensive. Mom and I split it and man was it good.

From there, we went on Little Mermaid, the Carousel, Peter Pan's Flight, and then made our way back to the castle to see one of the stage shows with our friends.  I of course, made Mike and Mom stop and take pictures at the famous "Purple Wall" since I'm a super basic white girl at Disney.

Before leaving Magic Kingdom to head to EPCOT for the official Dapper Days event, we had one more stop to make. We had to see the main mouse himself. We had to meet Mickey. Josiah's face when he saw him was in complete awe. We let him get down and run to Mickey, which he did! But then Mickey said "Hi-ya Pal!" and Josiah stopped dead in his tracks, and came right back to us! He warmed up to Mickey eventually, and by the end we had a smiling, happy, excited boy who didn't want to leave! 

After an AMAZING experience with Mickey, we made our way to the Monorail to head to EPCOT for the Dapper Days festivities. There were a lot more people dressed up than I thought would be, and I was SO excited that we got to be apart of this event! 

When we got to the park, we went on The Sea's with Nemo and Friend's (another instant hit of a ride for Josiah), walked around the aquarium, and then went on Living with the Land. And of course, since we were in EPCOT, I wasn't missing the opportunity to go find the perfect photo pass location for our Dapper Days photos! And I wasn't disappointed!

 Josiah was napping during this time so he didn't get to be included in the pictures, but France was THE spot to be for Dapper Days photos!

After we had these pictures taken (some of my favorite from the week PS), we went into the France pavilion. We had to go to the bakery and get my Bacon Cheese Roll. I swear, I could eat them every day and never grow tired of them, they're SO good.!

As we continued walking through the world showcase, I noticed that there was a group of people congregating in a smaller alley way. Wouldn't you know, we finally had stumbled upon a Character Palooza (Aka when characters who aren't scheduled to be out doing Meet and Greets are). I had heard of these before but have never gotten to experience one, so this was a super exciting part of the trip for me! We got to meet Donald, Stitch, and Gideon (from Pinocchio). It was a super cool moment, and I hope on future trips we get to see this again!

We finished walking the world showcase on this super hot day, and decided it was time to head back to the hotel. We'd been out since 8 AM, and it was nearing 6 PM. We went back to the hotel where we went to the splashpad with JP. He fell in love with the water instantly! I think he would have been happy just spending our whole trip there rather than in the parks, but we obviously weren't going to let that happen!

Day 2: Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom

Animal Kingdom has always held such a special place in our Disney story. We were picked to be part of a parade on our honeymoon, it has my favorite roller coaster, and I'm pretty sure I bought my first pins at AK too, so to say I was excited to get back into Animal Kingdom would be an understatement. We started off our day going on Expedition Everest and going to Dino Land (which would quickly become Josiah's favorite part of AK).. He LOVED the TriceraTop Spin ride (aka dumbo but dinosaurs). I think he ended up going on this ride about a dozen times throughout our trip.

After going to the right side of the park, we made our way over to the Africa side and went on our first Safari. Watching my mom who has been to Africa on a safari, and watching my son who loves animals, was such a great experience. We got to see SO many animals, got to sit and relax for a few minutes, and then we were back on the go! We went back to Rafiki's Planet Watch for a while to get away from the crowds and break up our day a little bit.

After being in Africa for a while, we finally made our way into Pandora: The World of Avatar.

It. Was. Amazing.

Nothing could have prepared me for Pandora. It was extremely immersive, the landscaping, the sounds, the overall vibe. It just was like nothing else we've ever done. To be honest, I went in with low expectations, since EVERYONE was freaking out over how good it was. I kept thinking "ok it can't really be this good can it?" But it was. It so was. We had fast passes for the Navi River Ride this morning, and the anachronistic were like nothing we've ever seen. Josiah ended up  nursing the entire ride so I didn't get to completely focus on the ride, but it was so so so incredible. Maybe not worth the 2+ hour wait that it would be without a fast pass, but still incredible.

After that, we explored the land a little more. There is a very cool drum area where if you're lucky, some local Pandora Explorer's will come out and do a drum ceremony for you. Josiah was OBSESSED with these performers. I think he would have stayed all day and watched if we let him.


After a long, hot morning at Animal Kingdom, we made our way back to the hotel to change and take a quick nap before heading out to Magic Kingdom for one of the most special Disney moments we've ever had.

We got to MK and made our way straight back to the New Fantasy Land so that we could meet Gaston while wearing our Beauty and the Beast outfits. Gaston's Meet and Greet gets better every time we do it. His personality is as big as his muscles, and there's just no one else like him. I mean, look at him. He's just so dreamy.

After we had rushed all the way back to see Gaston, we booked it all the way back to the front of the park for what probably is my favorite Disney memory from this trip. We went all the way to the top of Main Street to the Harmony Barber Shop to get JP's hair cut! His hair wasn't overly long and really didn't NEED to be cut, but he had some little wispy hairs that bothered him around the ears, and what better place to get your hair cut than at Disney??

Well, Josiah did absolutely amazing. The woman handed him an R2-D2 toy to hold while she cut his hair and he sat there good as gold, while Mama held his body so he didn't go flying, and MeMa and Dada took video's and pictures. I didn't cry once, which is funny because I cried thinking about him getting his hair cut before. When all was said and done and he got his First Hair Cut ears, I just couldn't help but smile. Man he's so cute and now looks like a full grown toddler.



After his hair cut, I started making fast pass reservations so that we could start getting more done around the parks. We were able to do Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, People Mover, Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, Small World, Pirates, and even got to dance in a flash mob with the Country Bears! Lots of little magical moments thrown in, like doing the Hokey Pokey with cast members, watching Josiah's face during the drop on Pirates, and just being completely wrapped up in the Disney magic.

After a long day of play, rides, and so much fun, we made our way back to New Fantasy Land again for dinner at Be Our Guest. I am SO glad we were able to make this dream of Mom's come true. We loved our food on the last trip, and knew we had to make our way back again before it became a fixed menu starting Summer 2018. Every last bite was delicious, our waitress was one of the funniest, kindest, most amazing people we've ever met. She went above and beyond. She brought Mom and JP each a Mickey shaped "Grey Stuff" with a candle in it for their birthdays, as well as a card for each of them from Belle and the Beast! Mom full out cried, and then laughed, and then cried again. Josiah? Well, Josiah was asleep so he doesn't remember any of it, but it was a night to remember. The park closed at 10 so by the time we got out of the dinner, we had just enough time to take a few pictures with the Beast, a few shots behind the castle (my favorite view at night), and drag our super tired feet back to the hotel since we had 2 very long days coming ahead of us.

*Since the last time I tried to save this nothing saved, I'm going to post this unfinished and keep updating it, so be on the look out*

Questions in the First Year

It's incredible to think this time last year I had a new born baby who was 100% reliant on me (or Mike). If it wasn't for us, he would just lay there, and do nothing. But now, 365 days later, he can walk, take his socks off (of course), find the toys he wants to play with, read stories to himself, feed himself, and heck, he even has figured out how to get to his Mama Milk on his own if you catch my drift.

In the first year, I had a lot of questions answered, whether by trial and error, advice from friends, the internet, the doctor, random strangers at Target. You name it. I wanted to share some of the things I've learned, the questions I've had (and some answers), and just kind of see where this post goes, so hang in there!

Questions I Had

Is He Eating Enough?

I'm pretty sure every mama asks this questions a million times in the first year. When we were starting nursing and were having trouble, I asked this a LOT. He grew, and so I stopped asking for a while, but now that he's older and nursing less often and eating more solids, I come to ask myself "is he eating enough solids?" "Has he had enough milk today?" It's so hard to tell if he's "had enough" especially with breast feeding when you don't know if he's drank an oz, 5 oz, nothing. But you have to trust your body, and trust your instinct. If you don't think your baby had had enough (milk food or otherwise) offer a little more! JP is VERY good at now telling me that he's all done with dinner (aka throwing food everywhere and screaming at me!). You know your child best.

Is he doing everything that a ____ month/year old should do?

I was so worried in the beginning friends. Especially when he was under 6 months and wasn't rolling around and all his friends at school who were younger than him were, I was nervous. I thought "am I not doing enough to encourage him?" But then one day out of nowhere, he rolled. Same thing happened at 8 months with crawling. He showed so many signs of crawling and just hadn't yet. And then all of a sudden, he started. And by 10.5 months he was walking. Every child is different.

Let me repeat that.

EVERY. CHILD. IS. DIFFERENT.

JP is over a year and still doesn't sleep through the night, and I know MANY people who's children were sleeping through the night at 3 months old or even less. It doesn't mean there's anything right or wrong with either child. It just means that they sleep through the night and you don't. JP is a big boy and still nurses at night (maybe he's big because he nurses at night, but maybe he nurses at night because he's big and needs to eat more often). I have a friend who's child is 6 days younger than JP, has been sleeping through the night for a LONG time, but they just learned how to pull themselves up, while JP has been doing that for 6 months. Every child is different, and even though your app, your childs teacher, your doctor, whoever, says they should be doing something by a particular time, they may do them early, they may take a bit longer. Until a doctor brings up concerns, try not to worry!

Am I a bad Mom for ____?

First of all, I don't care what you fill in the blank there. YOU'RE NOT A BAD MOM. YOU'RE AMAZING!!! You have a tiny human to take care of and it gets stressful! Am I a bad mom for going to the bathroom and scrolling through Instagram for a few minutes while he plays with his Daddy? NO. Am I a bad mom for giving JP chocolate cheerios for a snack instead of organically grown, no HMO, gluten free, sugar free, non fat, crackers? NO. Am I a bad mom for going to work and sending him to daycare instead of staying home with him? NO. Am I a bad mom for letting him cosleep? NO. Am I a bad mom for letting him stay in his pajama's all day when he's sick? NO

You're not a bad mom. You're doing everything you can to make a tiny human happy. You're trying to keep yourself together, and your child, and your family, and it's stressful! But, you're not a bad mom! It's so easy to feel like it in the middle of things. It's easy to see other moms who are all done up with makeup on and their hair curled and a super awesome outfit on, and look at yourself and realize you haven't worn makeup in a month, you haven't showered in 3 days, and you're wearing a baggy tshirt because it's easier to nurse in. But we're all in this together mama's! We're all at different places, and we're all surviving!

What Next?

As I was writing this post, I had a lot of other ideas popping into my head. These questions I listed were the big life moment questions, but I have SO much more "advice from a new mom" that I want to share with others. I know that I can't be the only mom who is overwhelmed by it all. By all the emotions; all the STUFF. So be on the look out for a new mini series coming to the blog soon!

Xoxo

Amanda

Awkward Family Photo from Easter 

A Letter to my One Year Old

Josiah,
Today is your First Birthday!!! I have no idea where the past year has gone. People say not to blink because time will just fly by, and they weren't kidding. It feels like just yesterday you were born, all 7 lb 15 oz of you. And now here we are, a full 365 days, 24.6 pounds later. You are walking, have a few words and animal sounds, throw balls, clap your hands, and love everyone!

As I sit and watch you play with your toys and watch your imagination run wild, I can't wait to see the man you will become.

You will be passionate about people. You love to smile and wave to everyone, and everyone love you back. I hope you never stop making people smile and laugh, whether you know them or not.

You're a mama's boy when you get hurt or need a good cuddle, but you LOVE playing with your Dada! Pushing him around the living room, chasing us around the house, petting the kitties, and reading stories are some of your favorite things to do!

You have been going to youth group with Mommy and Daddy for as long as I can remember, and have gone to Sunday morning worship since you were 4 days old, and you loved it all since day 1. Our Crossway family has been such a blessing for all of us! You especially love the music, especially when Mama sings and plays, or when Glorious Day is sung!

Watching you go from this sweet, fragile, tiny baby, to the crazy, energetic, loving, playful boy you are now has been such a gift from God. Years may go by, you won't rely on Mama and Dada as much as you do now, and we'll forget about the sleepless nights, the blow outs, and the noisiest toys ever known to man all going off at the same time. But we'll never forget the miracle that you are. We'll never forget how good God is for giving us you.

The first year was amazing, and I can't wait to see what is to come in the next year!

Xoxo
Mama

355 Days

How is it than in 10 days I will have a one year old?? It seems like time has flown these past 355 days. I know this blog has taken a back burner, and that's ok because if it means I'm getting to snuggle my not so little baby, experience new things as a family of 3, or am changing him into his 3rd outfit of the day because food is way more fun to smear into our clothes than our face, than I think I get a pass on not blogging!

Life has been crazy these past 355 days. I have nursed Josiah every day for 355 days. The beginning was rough, and he was drinking pumped milk for a week or so, and was supplementing with formula maybe a bottle a day for the first few weeks, but we've nursed every single day for 355 days. I am still in awe that my body has literally kept a child growing and feeding him for a year. Breast feeding has truly been one of the best things I've gotten to experience in life. I don't think I'll be a mom who breast feeds her kids till they're 10, but he's not ready to give up nursing yet. He nurse to sleep at night and during the night for comfort, and because he's a big boy and is hungry! As much as I would love him to sleep through the night and for us ALL to get a good nights sleep, I know he isn't ready yet, and that's okay! (However he CAN go more than 3 hours at a time without eating at night, so maybe that'll change soon too)

Through these past 355 days I've learned a lot about the type of mom that I am, and the type of mom I want to be. I want to be present. I want Josiah to know, even at an early age, that I will ALWAYS be there for him. If he wants me to play blocks or read books, I will. If he want me to go for a walk to the park with him, I will. If he is in a play at school and wants me there, I'm there. Josiah, Mommy will ALWAYS make the effort.

I catch myself playing games on my phone, or scrolling through Facebook, or working on our trip to Disney, while Josiah is playing on the floor with his toys, or reading a book, or watching Mickey Mouse. And I really need to be more aware of that. When we wonder why children are 2 years old and "have" to have their own tablet to function and wonder why? It's because that's what we're showing is our own priority. If we sit with a phone in our hands, our children will want to follow in those foot steps. If we have a book in our hands, they will want to have a book with them too. What we're making our priority will form what our children' priorities are. 


Sorry for lots of babbling, and not really a clear thought. Lots going through my brain!

Here's a quick update on the almost birthday boy!

Josiah is amazing! As I said above, he is still nursing like a champ, especially at night when he doesn't like to sleep for more than 3 hours at a time. But we make it work, and I wouldn't trade it for anything (she says at 3 in the afternoon and not at 3 in the morning mind you). He eats solid foods as well. Just last night for dinner he had 3 silver dollar pancakes, 2 strawberries, and half a piece of bacon for dinner! And then nursed right afterwards too!

Josiah has some interesting words and noises. He doesn't like to show off for anyone, but he says "Mama" "Dada" "Kitty" "TeeTee" (for Tori), "No" "All done" and "ut oh". We also are working on animal noises and so he can meow, whoo like an owl, and make elephant noises. But he is a chatter box with his own noises that he doesn't stop doing unless he's eating.

He loves to play with his stacking cups, blocks, and of course, his big Mickey Mouse stuffed animal. His latest toy is his push popper that he doesn't push, rather he just carries it around the house! His favorite game to play is peek-a-boo, and "push dada around the living room floor" and "smack mama's bum while she's putting toys away".

OH DID I MENTION HE'S WALKING?
He learned around 11 months and just hasn't stopped. I'm pretty sure it's more classified as running now and not walking. He is always on the move!!!


That's enough for now. Maybe I'll have some idea's soon on things to blog about...like his first birthday and party, and our upcoming trip to DISNEY WORLD!!!

Xoxo
Amanda

After his Baby Dedication

Playing in the snow!

Fighting Fire

I've had a lot on my brain recently, and with being a new mom (PS how long can I use that excuse for?) I just haven't gotten to writing. I shared this idea with my sister and the gears in my head just finally started turning on it.


Many years ago, a friend of mine who is fighting ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig Disease) shared that we all are going through our own fires. For him, it was ALS. For others it might be cancer, depression, waiting for "Mr or Mrs Right". For me, it was infertility. But the point was, it didn't matter what our fire was, it was still fire. Sure, you look at cancer and see it as a forest fire, and might look at someone going through a divorce as only a kitchen stove top fire, but it's still fire none the less. And, to that point, the person going through a divorce feels as if their fire is as big as a forest fire.

The point being, we all have a fire. We all have or have had something that is so big we feel like it can't be overcome. There's been a moment, or there will be a moment where you are stuck in a fire.

And then you get out of it. 

The chemo treatment ends, you find love, you are cured, you get pregnant. You're through your fire! Yahoo!

But now what...

For me, I thought after all those years of hurting, the years of praying, the years of walking through my fire, I thought after all was said and done and I was pregnant/had a baby, it would be over. The smoke would clear, the fire would be put out, the firemen would drive away in their trucks and everything would be back to normal. I figured that pain would go away. And why shouldn't it? Your fire has been put out!

But it hasn't.

Even 10 months after having Josiah, my heart still hurts. I still feel at times that I'm walking through my fire, even though I'm out the other side. Why is that?? And then when I sat down and thought about it, it came to me. Just because my fire was put out, doesn't mean I didn't get burned.

Just because my fire was put out, doesn't mean I didn't get burned.

If you went through a physical fire, and were stuck in a building, chances are you would have burns, or trouble breathing from smoke inhalation. It could take a long time to recover from those things, and some people have lasting marks from burns on them forever. Although the scar may fade, and the breathing gets easier, they're still there. If you look closely enough, the scars are still there.

The woman in remission may be cancer free, but she still hurts and prays that it doesn't come back. She's burned from her fire,

The man who's divorce was finalized may be legally done, but he still hurts every time he drops his kids off and has to see his ex. He's burned from his fire.

The woman has her baby and is happier than ever, but she still feels that pit in her stomach for her friends who are still waiting, praying their miracles to come just as hers had. She's burned from her fire. 

Friends, I'm not perfect. Far far far from it. I have jealousy. I see people on facebook getting pregnant and I'm so happy for them, but then I wonder "How long did it take?" and my heart sinks thinking how long it took for my sweet boy to be with us, and how quick it took them. I'm overwhelmed with joy for them, but then I think of those who are still waiting and ask "why not them?"

My fire is out, but my wounds are not healed. 

This is all probably a little crazy, and I'm totally aware of that. I haven't gotten good sleep in a long time. But I just wanted to let you know, you're not alone. If you're struggling, you're not alone. If you're through your pain and trials, but still have that pit in your stomach, you're not alone. Reach out. 

I love you all!

Xo

Amanda

(PS Here's a picture of that sweet little dude)