The Many Adventures of...A Family With a New Baby! Jan - Dec 2016! New 11/7!

[Grumpy's Wife]

You truly have a beautiful family. Congratulations again.

 

[cindianne320]

Congratulations! Thank you for sharing pics of your beautiful family! You look great after being in labor! Glad you all got to spend Easter together! <3

 

[Dugette]

Congratulations again! Love seeing all the pics, sorry I took so long to post...she's almost one week old now!

By the way, Maya grew up overnight when Emma was born!

I was actually going to say that Maya looks so BIG compared to Emma. I still think of her as the little thing she was when I took her on Living with the Land and to Turtle Talk - small and portable. Glad to hear she's getting so talkative; I'm sure that's fun. And it gives you two big kids instead of two little kids (kind of).

As far as how things are going - really great. I seriously have never felt happier. I am loving being home,

That's great to hear - soak up this time!

Maya is SO much more fun and happy not having to wake up super early

I can totally relate, Maya.

 

[mousehappync]

I love all these pictures--CONGRATULATIONS!!! Maya and Emma is hilarious-- hope she continues to adjust/ignore well. I bet Aria will be so helpful to you. Enjoy your leave with your three gorgeous little ladies!

 

[Imagineer5]

What beautiful photos of your girls. You look good too even in your hospital gown. You all look so happy! I love Maya's expression in the second photo - she doesn't look too impressed. I'm sure they'll have loads of fun together in the future.

Aw thank you!! Yes in a year or two they'll be best buddies! So far she's doing great with her though

WHOA! Especially to that being your shortest! With Ricky I was in LABOR in the hospital for 26 hours lol! I learned after that and didn't go to the hospital with Chris until I really, really needed to.


Adorable!


Love that 2nd picture, it's priceless! You sound so content; once again, very happy for you all. Enjoy your time at home And Emma is beautiful!

I meant, Emma was only about 25 hours old when we got to leave the hospital!! Haha. I had contractions on and off from wednesday night- friday night then they finally got to the point they were regular and we went in about 3AM Saturday morning.

Your daughters are adorable! Congrats again!

Thank you <3

Congrats. Your girls are so cute.

Thanks!!

Congratulations! Right on time!

Haha yes thank you!

Emma is such a beautiful baby! I also love all the pictures of the girls, so cute! Love the dresses too, and I hope you and your family had a happy Easter!

Thanks so much! Hope yours did too!

What a adorable family. You absolutely don't look like you've been in labor. You're radiant in these pictures.



I love it. I think she wants to say: mom, that's not the right doll. I think the easter bunny made a mistake.


Too cute.

Aw you're so sweet thanks!! I was SO tired, that next night was rough with a 12 hour old lol and no sleep for 3 nights straight.

LOL your comment made me laugh, yes, Maya was totally unimpressed by what we brought home.

Congratulations again! You all look so beautiful and happy in all of the photos (even if Maya isn't quite sure what to think yet!). I'm glad you were able to come home and spend a nice Easter with your family.

Thanks!! Yes it was sooooo nice to come home to that gorgeous weather. It worked out perfectly since the IL's had taken the girls to the nursing home to see FIL's parents so while they were out the easter bunny came. Aria didn't even question it, she was excited he knew we were coming home from the hospital that day lol!

That's crazy! I was in the hospital for longer than that before I even gave birth (induced with other fun stuff), and then stayed as long as they would let me since we were struggling with feeding and then his sugar dropped.



Great family picture!



OHMYGOODNESS, she is ADORABLE!!!



This picture is just too funny!!!

Glad things are going well for the most part.

Yes it was so fast!! Aria was my longest labor, and hospital stay. This time we just sort of knew what we needed to get done and make sure to stay on top of the doctors who had to check off the boxes and we were out of there! Thank you

She's absolutely beautiful (as are your other two!) -- congratulations!

Aw thank you!! <3

The pics are so precious!

THanks!!

great pictures - I definitely loved that Facebook post with the "Facebook ready vs reality" pictures of Maya and Emma.

Wow 25 hours only in the hospital!

Hahaha yes that photo still makes me laugh. SHe's doing much better with her though!

You truly have a beautiful family. Congratulations again.

Aw thank you so much

Congratulations! Thank you for sharing pics of your beautiful family! You look great after being in labor! Glad you all got to spend Easter together! <3

Thanks!! Yes me too, hope you had a great easter!

Congratulations again! Love seeing all the pics, sorry I took so long to post...she's almost one week old now!


I was actually going to say that Maya looks so BIG compared to Emma. I still think of her as the little thing she was when I took her on Living with the Land and to Turtle Talk - small and portable. Glad to hear she's getting so talkative; I'm sure that's fun. And it gives you two big kids instead of two little kids (kind of).


That's great to hear - soak up this time!


I can totally relate, Maya.

Hahah that's okay <3 I hope your mom is doing well BTW i am sorry i haven't checked in regarding her well being.

I know, Maya is huge now, like a little kid. And man every day she is saying new words! Aria had her word explosion just after her 2nd birthday but Maya is seriously all over it! The double time diapers isn't much fun haha, but we finally set up a little basket of diapers (in two sizes), wipes, etc in the living room so I don't have to go upstairs. IDK why it took me so long to do it, but it's a life saver!

I love all these pictures--CONGRATULATIONS!!! Maya and Emma is hilarious-- hope she continues to adjust/ignore well. I bet Aria will be so helpful to you. Enjoy your leave with your three gorgeous little ladies!

Thank you!! She is doing well! I still wouldn't leave her alone in the same room as Emma lol but she has been a little better about Emma's pacifier (minus trying to squish it into her mouth...). Aria has been amazing!

I love seeing your reno pics. BTW your accomodations, your mom lives on a lake or something?!?!?! Doesn't look too shabby

 

[Imagineer5]

A quick pic of all 3 again since I have closets full of matching outfits hahah

****************************

On to our last day at Disneyland...today we had to check out of the Grand Californian, spend the morning in DL, and then drive south to San Diego. I had no particular time commitment to get to San Diego, but was hoping to avoid the afternoon commute traffic.

Disneyland had a 9AM opening this day, but DCA was open at 8AM, and of course we were there early enough to be one of the first few in line (thank you still being on eastern time!).

I hadn't intended on extra DCA time, but figured we could spend 45 minutes or so in that park before heading over to DL.

Both girls were having fun just hanging out outside the gates

Around 7:45 they let us inside, but held us at a rope waiting for 8am. We were attempting to do RSR and my mom didn't care to ride, so Aria and I were planning to run ahead.

Once the rope dropped, we fast walked (lol) to RSR...only to find out it was down! BOO!! We waited in the line about 4 minutes before deciding to just skip it. I didn't know where my mom was so we headed next door.

This was cute, about as cute as Luigi's tire ride haha but cute nonetheless. Maya would have enjoyed it.

We came out to see Mater coming up the street - I just took a quick pic

My mom was still MIA so we hopped in the Mater's Junkyard Jamboree Line

This ride cracks me up, and today was no exception! So much fun!

Finally my mom reappeared ( I don't remember what she was doing, probably talking on the phone and not getting my texts).

We took a quick pic by the sign

I had one more must-do before leaving DCA for good (this trip anyway!) - Monster's Inc! I Just LOVE this ride, and great that it is fun for all of us.

Coming up next - we head across to Disneyland. Only to find crazy crowds lol!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

I love the minnie dresses both girls are wearing, so cute! Oh that Monsters Inc ride looks like a lot of fun. It's one of my favorite movies, I wish WDW would bring that ride, or maybe even something new...
I always find it so cool how you can travel back and forth to both parks so quickly. Looking forward to hearing about DL park!

 

[schmass]

Glad to see you had a few minutes to update - I hope things are still going well at home!

Too bad RSR was down. I wish Cars Land was coming to FL. I can't even imagine how excited Rory would be to see Mater coming down the street!

 

[Dugette]

Hahah that's okay <3 I hope your mom is doing well BTW i am sorry i haven't checked in regarding her well being.

Thanks! She's okay, but there have been a lot of ups and downs. We have a "care conference" again next week to talk about next steps with her care/rehab team. She MIGHT be able to go home with enough assistance (she is eligible for 4 hours of PCA/day + some other services), but I'm not sure if she's ready for that. Assisted living might be another option. And there is still the possibility of surgery, which could improve her condition dramatically. She's mentally pretty good (though a bit off), but has to use a walker to get around and is still prone to falls (and has had several in this transitional care period). But I'm ready to move forward with something...I've been going to her apartment twice a week to care for her cat for nearly 3 months now, not to mention keeping posted on her condition daily. It's exhausting. (on top of working, mom-ing, etc.)

Aria had her word explosion just after her 2nd birthday but Maya is seriously all over it!

I wonder if she's trying to keep up with big sis? Maybe Emma will start even sooner.

we finally set up a little basket of diapers (in two sizes), wipes, etc in the living room so I don't have to go upstairs. IDK why it took me so long to do it, but it's a life saver!

Haha, it took you 3 kids to do that? With Izzy, we kept the pack 'n' play downstairs, since it had a changing attachment, which was handy.

A quick pic of all 3 again since I have closets full of matching outfits hahah

Adorable picture!

As far as the TR: nice morning in DCA, though a bummer that RSR was down. Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your day.

 

[verleniahall]

Congrats on your new addition - am enjoying your TR!

 

[ariane37]

Hope all is going well at home with baby Emma!

We came out to see Mater coming up the street - I just took a quick pic

My boys used to love meeting him and Lightning McQueen at HS, even though they obviously didn't talk lol. Too bad that's one of the meets that got cut I wonder if they'll bring them back for a limited time when Cars 3 opens?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

bummer about RSR being down but at least you got in a few other fun rides as a bonus

 

[amazingact21]

RSR being down during extra magic hours seems to be a pretty common occurrence. I swear, at least once on every report of DL I have read, that has happened to a DISer. Oh well, not much you could do about it.
Monsters Inc. looks like such a fun attraction! That's my Number 1 Must Do should/when I make it out to that park.

 

[mousehappync]

Glad everything is going so smoothly! I set up a changing area in a basket, too--SO much easier! your matching outfits are just too cute-- it's like getting to play dolls with people! Glad you are enjoying the house pics-- it's really neat, but we have hit a major delay because of rain and I'm frustrated. Living with my mom is driving me crazy. I wish her house was on the lake-- that's about 1.5 hours away and belongs to Adam's mom/aunts-- it's the house they grew up. We escape there whenever possible.

Bummer about RSR, but looks like a quick fun hour, anyway. We never made it onto the Junkyard Jamboree, but we did ride the "dancing cars"-- fun/funny little ride. And I agree that Monster's Inc is SO cute. We all loved that one!

Eager to read more about your last day!

 

[Imagineer5]

I love the minnie dresses both girls are wearing, so cute! Oh that Monsters Inc ride looks like a lot of fun. It's one of my favorite movies, I wish WDW would bring that ride, or maybe even something new...
I always find it so cool how you can travel back and forth to both parks so quickly. Looking forward to hearing about DL park!

Yes! The ride is awesome and even better, there was never a line for it! haha.

Just like Disneyland Paris, that is such a huge plus to these smaller Disney trips is how close they are. The gates are just across a walking area, so easy to hop back and forth.

Glad to see you had a few minutes to update - I hope things are still going well at home!

Too bad RSR was down. I wish Cars Land was coming to FL. I can't even imagine how excited Rory would be to see Mater coming down the street!

I know! I'm excited for the new pixar stuff at DHS but still...they really did an amazing job on Cars land. Things are going great!!

Thanks! She's okay, but there have been a lot of ups and downs. We have a "care conference" again next week to talk about next steps with her care/rehab team. She MIGHT be able to go home with enough assistance (she is eligible for 4 hours of PCA/day + some other services), but I'm not sure if she's ready for that. Assisted living might be another option. And there is still the possibility of surgery, which could improve her condition dramatically. She's mentally pretty good (though a bit off), but has to use a walker to get around and is still prone to falls (and has had several in this transitional care period). But I'm ready to move forward with something...I've been going to her apartment twice a week to care for her cat for nearly 3 months now, not to mention keeping posted on her condition daily. It's exhausting. (on top of working, mom-ing, etc.)


I wonder if she's trying to keep up with big sis? Maybe Emma will start even sooner.


Haha, it took you 3 kids to do that? With Izzy, we kept the pack 'n' play downstairs, since it had a changing attachment, which was handy.


Adorable picture!

As far as the TR: nice morning in DCA, though a bummer that RSR was down. Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your day.

ANy updates with your mom? Has she been able to go home? That sounds like a lot for her and for you to keep on top of things!

Well, with Aria we had the pnp with the little changing table. With Maya, I never set it up because 1) she refused to nap in it and 2) we were running out of living room space with all of the toys plus baby paraphernalia so we just kept the diaper area upstairs. It's also kind of small to use for Maya now.

Congrats on your new addition - am enjoying your TR!

Aw thank you!!

Hope all is going well at home with baby Emma!


My boys used to love meeting him and Lightning McQueen at HS, even though they obviously didn't talk lol. Too bad that's one of the meets that got cut I wonder if they'll bring them back for a limited time when Cars 3 opens?

Thanks it is!!

I forgot they were at DHS for a bit! That'd be cool to bring them back for a bit.

bummer about RSR being down but at least you got in a few other fun rides as a bonus

Yes we still had a pretty successful 40 minutes or so lol!

RSR being down during extra magic hours seems to be a pretty common occurrence. I swear, at least once on every report of DL I have read, that has happened to a DISer. Oh well, not much you could do about it.
Monsters Inc. looks like such a fun attraction! That's my Number 1 Must Do should/when I make it out to that park.

Yes it happened to me on my last trip in 2014 lol. BUt it's unfortunate since it's the reason many go so early!

Glad everything is going so smoothly! I set up a changing area in a basket, too--SO much easier! your matching outfits are just too cute-- it's like getting to play dolls with people! Glad you are enjoying the house pics-- it's really neat, but we have hit a major delay because of rain and I'm frustrated. Living with my mom is driving me crazy. I wish her house was on the lake-- that's about 1.5 hours away and belongs to Adam's mom/aunts-- it's the house they grew up. We escape there whenever possible.

Bummer about RSR, but looks like a quick fun hour, anyway. We never made it onto the Junkyard Jamboree, but we did ride the "dancing cars"-- fun/funny little ride. And I agree that Monster's Inc is SO cute. We all loved that one!

Eager to read more about your last day!

LOL on the playing dolls! It's so true though.Thankfully aria is a willing participant

Oh....I thought that the lake house was your moms and i didn't feel so bad for you having to live there for a bit! hahaha!

Next time if there is one - the boys even at their age would prob love the junkyard jamboree! IDK why it just makes me laugh so hard!

 

[Imagineer5]

Okay so we ran across the promenade and were through the ticket turnstiles by 8:50. It wasn't too busy so I was thinking we were going to have a pretty easy morning. Butttt then we saw the crowds up by the castle...whoops!

Oh well, I didn't have TOO Much on my must-do list since we had done almost everything already. A couple FL rides and we had a fun brunch to get to! I did however take a moment to admire the beautiful scenery while we waited.

Once they dropped the rope, I beelined it for Peter Pan, only to find that the hordes of people we were passing was again the line for PP, through the castle! Ugh. SO we parked the stroller and headed to the left instead, to Pinocchio. This was one of Aria's favorite at DLP, so I was glad to ride it again here.

Afterwards Maya was nodding off, so I sent my mom & Aria off to Mr. Toad's while she fell asleep in the stroller. When they came out, we happened to be in the right place and right time for none other than Peter Pan himself!

We walked with him to his meeting spot and then Aria chatted with him for a bit.

After a minute or two though, Peter Pan spotted Captain Hook in the crowd!

Aria is genuinely terrified of the villains, and Peter Pan could tell that so he kept her safe the whole time

How awesome was that??? Aria still talks about when Peter Pan saved her from Captain Hook.

Afterwards we got a photo with the stationary Dumbo lol

Maya was still passed out

My mom took Aria on the Casey Jr train which had a reallyyyy slow moving line, so I waited in the shade for a bit.

Then we switched and I took her on the carousel.

Then I made a last minute decision to try and get on Indiana Jones once again but told my mom that I wont' wait if there are any breakdowns whatsoever. They didn't do much while I was gone but had fun I guess. I also prepped a bottle for Maya before I left.

Oh, I lied, my mom took them in the Aladdin, Genie and Jasmine meet!

She said the line was like 30 minutes long, but that Aria really wanted to do it lol! Sad I missed it but the timing was great because my single rider line took about that long.

Then it was time for brunch!! We were headed to Minnie's dine at the Plaza (?) could totally be blanking on the name. It's a buffet with a ton of random characters. I had never done it as it was closed during our last visit and before then I didn't do too many character meals. My mom attempted to bail on lunch but I asked her to please stay because I had packed away the carrier and I wasn't sure how I was going to handle a buffet with Maya & Aria by myself (which I learned to do in December but still...). ANyway she came with.

A chef came over for the allergy options and offered to make plates for my mom and for Maya, and then I went up to get food for Aria & me. This restaurant is not like WDW buffets- there's no real server. You pay up front (no gratuity) and then get your drinks, food, silverware, etc. Not my favorite set up with little kids but oh well.

The characters were also allllll over the board and so random! But we had a ball. Rafiki came over first.

Maya was NOT yet at her stranger danger phase and instead checked out all the characters ( and really warmed up to some...!!!)

Aria chose bacon, a mickey waffle, jello and watermelon for her breakfast.

I was excited to see bananas foster french toast, along with an okay form of potatoes (these were pretty dull, no cheese or anything), and a chocolate croissant.

I did go up for seconds on that french toast. :-D

Pinocchio stopped by and Aria told him all about meeting him in Paris.

Dale was next so I took Maya out of her high chair to meet him (he's a favorite!!)

Then Chip came and Maya tried sharing her lunch with him

 

[Imagineer5]

And Pooh!

Seriously this 8-9 month age is SO perfect with the fuzzy characters!!

(And 4, of course, Aria loves them too!)

Aria had no clue who this was! whoops

And an old favorite is still top of my list!

Eeyore tried to leave but went behind me, and my mom caught Maya trying to get to him!

Finally Minnie made her appearance and we had to get some good pics with her!

This photo is one of my favorites from the whole trip:

And that was a wrap for lunch!!

Up next a little more Disneyland before we head south to San Diego! (Sorry for the character overload!)

 

[verleniahall]

so precious

 

[TheMaxRebo]

wow, big crowds, and of course all heading to PP. Oh well, Pinnochio is a good alternative

Aria still talks about when Peter Pan saved her from Captain Hook.

... that sounds like such a wonderful meet! Great that Peter was able to sense Aria was a bit afraid of hook

Ah, breakfast at the Plaza - I remember it well! It is funny how a little thing like having to get your own drinks complicates things! So glad your mom did come though as we found it to be almost character overload (at least on top of dealing with multiple kids, getting food AND drinks for you and the kids, etc.) Very good character interactions though!

Aria had no clue who this was! whoops

It's funny how at other parts Max is such a popular character ... at the Disneyland Paris 25th event he was one of the main, featured characters ... and you never really see him at WDW

 

[Tygerlilly]

I seriously need to know where you get the girls clothes. And maybe a picture of their closet. Lol. Because those are some serious girl mom goals. I'm dying to get Piper and Hailey matching outfits and your girls are always the absolute cutest.