Jan 2010-Terrible 2 in DW-29 HOURS LEFT!!!

[BriesMomma]

Well hello there, people! I'm going to use this as a way to get my Disney obsessing out and hopefully stop getting on my friend's and family's nerves - as much.

Allow me to introduce me and my "crew."

Me- 27 Jackie, Trip Planner, Mom, and Shopper! My family used to take atleast one trip to the World a year up until I was 15 and my parents split-up. After 8 years I couldn't take it anymore and drug my BF down for Spring Break in 2006 (CBR). And we've just recently gotten back from a quick trip October 2009 (ASMo).

DBF- 25, Brandon, Not "in love" with Disney per se, and Dad. This will be his third trip thanks to me. I hate describing him as my BF because he is much more than that to me. We've been together for 6 years and we have a beautiful baby girl. "So why aren't you fools married then!?!" I wish there was a simple answer to this, but there isn't. But when it does happen- and it will- it will more than likely be a Disney Wedding, so you guys will have that to look forward to!

DD- 21.5 months right now, Brielle. Future Disney Fanatic!! (I just hope I can afford it!) This trip is for her second birthday. She is a wild one! My mom said when she was 10 months it reminded her of how my brother and I were at 2- and she's only gotten wilder since then!

DSS- 6, Little Brandon. He's a funny little guy. He will probably be homesick for his X-Box, but I'm hoping he will get over that when we pass through that Magical Archway!! He lives with his mother, who is being less than cooperative about this trip- Heck, who am I kidding?? She is never cooperative when it comes to us!! But we're not going to let it bother us. Brandon has no clue what Disney World is- and I'm trying to decide whether to keep it that way or show him some stuff to get him excited.

Wanna see us?

[BriesMomma]

Here's Me, Brie, and Daddy at RC in DTD October '09:

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/55000007.jpg

Here's Brie being Grumpy:

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/55000009.jpg

Here we are waiting for Pirates- Brie's first-ever Disney ride:

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/55000091.jpg

Here's a not so good picture- over a year old at that- of Little Brandon and Brie:

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/1022081816a1.jpg

I'll have to get a better picture of him. He's such a sweetie.

[BriesMomma]

THE PLAN!! (so far)

January 9th-

Leave home as early as we possibly can.
Get to Valdosta, GA late as heck- 15 hours driving!

January 10th-

Get up aroung 8 and drive the remaining 3 hours to Port Orleans Riverside!
Hopefully they have our room ready, but if not- no worries. We're off to DHS!
3:35 PM Dinner @ Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic Package. We've never seen F! and are totally psyched about this. I'm also hoping we'll be able to squeeze my Step Son onto TSM to feed his video game addiction.

January 11th-

Nothing concrete. I'm thinking AK or Epcot. Maybe back to DHS?? We're saving MK for Brie's B-day which is:

January 12th- Brielle's Second Birthday!!! "YAAAAAY"

Magic Kingdom at rope drop. Atleast Brie and I will be there at Rope Drop. Daddy believes in sleeping in on vacation- even in DW. Crazy, I know! We will tour our little hearts out and hit all of the major rides for her. Then back to the hotel for a good birthday nap and time to get all spiffy for Dinner at Cali Grill at 7:15. Wishes is at 8 that night so I'm hoping we can catch that from the beautiful view I've heard so much about. I've been looking at cakes and trying to figure out what I'm going to do. It drives me nuts that it's too far out to make any concrete cake plans!! But I like things over-the-top so I'm hoping I am able to get something a little better than Sara Lee.

January 13th-

Mommy and Brie have breakfast with the Princesses in Norway! So excited about this! I just got Brie a Snow White dress off the Disney site for 50% off to wear to this. We did CRT for dinner on our last trip. It was a terrrrrrrrible experience. That's the closest I've come to Princess Dining, so I'm hoping this leaves a better taste in my mouth. No plans yet where we are going to go. On my last trips I have planned which park we would go to each day and we never end up following those plans. I think I'll just go with the flow. We have 7 full days so there will be no rushing.

January 14th-

I originally had ressies for Mickey's Backyard BBQ for dinner this day but after reading some bad reviews and seeing that this could possibly take 6.5 hours to take in- I switched to Chef Mickey's dinner. You gotta do it, right? Plus I think Lil B will like the interaction and Brie absolutely loved Tusker House on our last trip. I figure this will be a MK day, but like I said who knows?

January 15th-

No plans. I'm sure even I will sleep in at this point.

January 16th-

Last full day. :sad2:3 PM ressies at T-Rex. I figure the SS will LOVE this. If he hasn't fallen in love with Disney by that point I'm hoping this will change that!! Plus I joined that Rainforest Cafe club so I get a free appetizer or 20% off! Cool! I figure we will shop DTD after that and I wanna do the hot air balloon thingy!!!

January 17th-

We have an 8 hour drive to Chattanooga, TN so we will more than likely not do any parks- but we will take our time to leave.

January 18th-

Drive the rest of the way home. No rush again.

[BriesMomma]

Some Details

I am trying to get us matching shirts for Brie's birthday- but haven't been able to come up with anything. I originally thought on the front would be something like "What in the World is Mickey gonna do?" Back: Brielle is turning terrible 2!! But nobody else likes it. My mother said it was innappropriate. :confused3 So I need to think about that one.

For our first day I think we'll all wear shirts that say "I'm with the new kid." And then have Little Brandon's shirt say "The new kid." With some sort of Disney graphic. I'm saving up a bit of money before I go to the shirt place.

Then I found these Incredibles T-shirts that just have the I logo on the front. I'm going to take them and have names put on the back.

I'm all about dressing the kids in cute clothes and have found some great deals on Disneyoutlet.com lately. Atleast I like to tell myself they're good deals. LOL.

Christmas this year is all about the Disney trip. Clothes for the trip, a Nintendo DS for Little B for the car ride, Disney movies for the portable DVD... etc.

Oh I almost forgot the cutest things I've gotten us to go!! It gets chilly in January so I knew we would all need hooded sweatshirts. Well I found ones that even Big Brandon agreed to wear!!
Little Brandon got Goofy! Lucky little guy! That's all I could find in his size. Goofy is my favorite Character so I'm a little jelly:
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/HOODIE.jpg

I got Donald. These things were running out quick and even after one day I was unable to get the size I wanted and I was stuck with Donald! And he's Big Brandon's favorite!! Oh well, I do love it anyway and I have some super secret stretching techniques I'll be using on it in the next few months.
He just looks so mean!

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/hoodie2.jpg

And then my other lucky boy, got the Mickey one.

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/hoodie3.jpg

Unfortunately, I didn't find the same brand of Hoodie for Brie- but I did get her a cute Minnie Mouse one from Walmart. I can't find a pic but it's pink and when you pull the hood up it has Minnie's eyes and ears that stick up. It's pretty cool- and only 10 bucks!

So those are my plans for some of the cutesy stuff. Hopefully it all comes together.

Oh, by the way 10 weeks from right now I'll be enjoying Fantasmic! with the man I love, my wonderful beautiful crazy daughter, and my favorite little dude!!

[BriesMomma]

I'm gonna post some more pics from my last trip, because I never did a real TR. Hope ya don't mind. Plus I wanna show off my cutie-booty some more!

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/55000086.jpg

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/55000028.jpg

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/55000038.jpg

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/55000016.jpg

I love that castle pic for some reason! I think it's because there's nobody in it! I took it during a parade but I unfortunately missed when Mr. Incredible himself came and shook my Brie-Brie's hand. Dang it!

[BriesMomma]

Cake ideas:

I got all of these pictures from the cake threads here so I know it can be done. I just will have to work out if I have to pick it up from somewhere myself or if the Contemporary does it themselves.

This is for Brie's Birthday Dinner at Cali Grill.

I love this Figment cake. If they could make this one I'd be one happy mommy.

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/cake2.jpg

I also love this cake. I think this one and Figment are a tie for me. I do want this in different- more girly- colors though.

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/cake3.jpg

I also like this one:

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/cake5.jpg

So there ya have it. I'm hoping when I finally do get to order my cakes I can email these pictures to them so they know what I'm talking about. I've heard them described as Mad Hatter Cakes. We'll see. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Anyway, all this cake talk has made me hungry!!!

[gillep]

I love your PTR the kids are sooo cute, my DH and I will be at POR at the same time you will be and we can't wait. I hope all your planning continues to go well keep us updated (I understand that it is necessary to retain any sanity:rotfl:) Can't wait to see pictures of Brie with the princesses.

[BriesMomma]

I love your PTR the kids are sooo cute, my DH and I will be at POR at the same time you will be and we can't wait. I hope all your planning continues to go well keep us updated (I understand that it is necessary to retain any sanity:rotfl:) Can't wait to see pictures of Brie with the princesses.

Thank you for being a witness to my insanity!! It's cool you'll be there when we are. Maybe you'll see us. I'll be the one chasing the 2 year old!

[BriesMomma]

Just had to share:

I put my Christmas Decorations up today. I know it's early. LOL. Brandon thinks I'm crazy- But Brie was into decorating the tree.

My mother says that I want X-mas to hurry up and come so it will be almost time for me to go to Disney! And you know what- I THINK SHE'S RIGHT!! We'll see if it works ;)

In shopping news...

I went to Dollar Tree this morning, where every single thing is a dollar flat- not like most of the dollar stores. If I haven't told you- I love shopping! But saving for a Disney trip and shopping don't really go... so I figured I could go and get my shopping fix and still not spend too much money. My goal was to spend 10 bucks. And then I saw the toy section... They had so much Disney stuff!!! A Cars chalkboard, Princess colored pencils, coloring books, Princess and Mickey's Clubhouse figurines, stickers... Just a ton of cute like stocking stuffers- or for those of you that do the Tink gifts. Then I walked by the frozen food section and noticed they had Mickey head oven pizzas! How cool!! Well needless to say I spent more than 10 bucks. But I also got most of my stocking toys done! See now if Christmas would just come I'd be good to go!!

I also received the Snow White dress I ordered from Disney Store this week. It's so cute! Daddy wants it to be from him. So cute. :cloud9:

[BriesMomma]

YaY! Exciting Update: I found Brie a Birthday Dress!

So check out the dress and hat that I got for my Brie to wear to her B-Day dinner at Cali Grill:

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/birthdaydress.jpg

It will of course say Brie and have a 2!

And then I found these 2 things for her to wear during the day on her Birthday:

This is the shirt.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/birthdayshirt.jpg

And the skirt:
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/birthdayskirt.jpg

She may actually wear the skirt & shirt to her "home" birthday party. I'm so excited! I'm absolutely in love with the dress- its exactly what I was looking for! Last year I got her a beautiful dress for her b-day but it was not nearly as exciting as this dress is- and cost me twice as much!

I'm a happy mommy!! :lovestruc

[BriesMomma]

After having such a productive Brie dress shopping day, I felt bad for Little Brandon. So I went and ordered him some stuff off the disney store site and found him a handmade shirt with his name on it. "Don't want to leave him out"- that's the excuse I used! ;)

So after spending too much money- AGAIN, I'm scrapping the matching shirts idea. I know, I know... it would have been good old fashioned cheesy fun. But I guess we do need to eat while we're there!

I'm still going to get the Incredibles shirts, though. So not all is lost.

[BriesMomma]

Yay! Six and a half weeks out. I must admit the last few weeks have flown by and I couldn't be more happy about it.

I haven't been doing much updating as I'm trying to get the house together- I'm hosting my very first Thanksgiving dinner. (And we're expecting more than 15 people!!) So, needless to say I've been busy finding recipes and coupons. My mother and stepfather decided to head out of town without us and so Brandon called all of his family and volunteered ME to do the cooking! I haooen to love cooking and entertaining so my complaining is only half serious.

I will post pictures of my very first Turkey if I remember to take the time to take one!

Things have been going very smoothly. We've decided that we will keep Little Brandon in the dark as to what DW is all about. He can discover the magic on his own. I was going to show him the planning DVD's or video from our last trip- but really there are no words to describe the place... and so he will just have to see for himself!

Brie has recently fallen in love with Pooh and so I'm trying to find out where in the World we can have a character breakfast with the guy that won't cost me an arm and a leg. If we are forced to go to 1900 PF than I will more than likely cancel with the Princesses in Norway. :( The princesses were more for the Queen anyway. (Me.)

I just wish it was stinkin' January already!

[Charlefours]

Hello!

I stumbled upon your PTR tonight. Your DD is adorable!! :) DH and I are taking our DD down for her 4th birthday--it will be her first trip!! We are so excited.

Have you found the DISigns board? You can find some really cute :goodvibes shirt designs you can print and iron onto shirts yourself. Just a thought if you had not.

Crystal Palace is the Pooh character dining experience but it will be closed for rehab when you are there I believe. Liberty Tree Tavern is going to host character meals during CP's rehab but I am not sure if it will feature Pooh or not.

We are driving too! From Michigan to southern Indiana to pick up my dad and then onto Valdosta, GA our first "real" driving day. We will be staying at POR too. So many similarities. I hope you are considering writing a TR too. I would love to hear about your trip. :dance3:

[BriesMomma]

Charlefours- YAAY you're with us!

Thanks for the compliment about the DD. I think we'll keep her! Or as she would say "TAAAANK EWWW!"

We're actually 3 miles from the Michigan line here... (It is somewhat convenient considering Indiana doesn't sell beer on Sundays, but MI does!!)

I guess Valdosta is a popular place to stop. We figured we'd get up early and only have a few hours to drive before we hit the parks!! It will just make for a long first day of driving.

Oh yes, I will be making a TR. I figure it will help me with vacation letdown. But planning our November 2010 trip will help too!

[BriesMomma]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

And Lord knows I have sooo much to be thankful for. My Brie is the best blessing I could have ever asked for- and I really mean that. Oh and I'm certainly thankful for my Disney Vacations!!

I told you guys I'd take a picture of my first bird and here he/she is:

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/11260915031.jpg

Sorry its a poopy cell phone picture. Wish I could show ya my whole spread because I'm quite proud of it- but my mother has borrowed the connecting cord for the camera. It was yummmmmy!

Happy Thanksgiving Dissers!!

[BriesMomma]

The Good, The Bad, and The "Baby Momma"

Let me start with the good news:

I ordered Brie's cake! I ordered an 8" custom cake in the Mad Hatter style with fondant. (I had that memorized as someone on the boards advised me exactly how to say it. LOL) I told her I had pictures of the cake I wanted and that I would be happy to email them. She told me she was sitting next to a cake right then that was the Mad Hatter style with handmade roses on the top- does that sound like something I'd like? Yeah, sounds cool to me!! So we'll hopefully have a cool cake in pastel colors. This cake is for Brie's B-day dinner at California Grill. I got us ADR's for 45 minutes before wishes- so hopefully we will be there right during Wishes!! I need to find out how to score a window seat!

The cake is costing me $100. I'm not rolling in the dough here, folks, and that amount is not lost on me. On a side note, I went to a local bakery yesterday to order my Step-dad a cake for his 62nd birthday- its a quarter sheet cake, with custom artwork and writing for $26.50. Their cake is also to die for! So I'm hoping my Disney cake will be worth it- visually stunning and tasty.

So- for the bad:

Brandon called his son's mother yesterday to tell her that we were getting ready to send a letter to Little Brandon's school to let them know about the upcoming trip. At which point crazy lady starts screaming and tells Brandon that she's not going to let Brandon go with us to DW. :eek:

Huh? What do you mean that you aren't going to let your six year old son go to DISNEY WORLD with his father and little sister?? What do you mean? I'm not comprehending what you are saying? Me no speaka psycho.

So it looks like we might have to go to court to get this straightened out. We have been having other problems with her lately- no shows on Halloween and Turkey Day. It actually began when we first told her that we were going to be bringing him with us in January. Our problem is finances: Its enough with Christmas and Disney coming up- and now we have to hire a lawyer just so he can take his son to DW? I just started crying when he called me. I wanted to call that so bad and just say do you realize how much effort we have put in to making sure this will be a special magical memory for your son?? Do you realize that he could possibly remember this trip for the rest of his life? That it might bring him out of his shell more- or make him more confident, like he is a part of something bigger?? Maybe I have delusions of Disney grandeur, but I still feel like Disney is mine, that I'm part of a special club- that can dream and pretend and still be a kid if I want to. I don't know. And I really don't know how I could ever explain that to someone so hateful that she would put herself before her son and try to ruin a great life experience for him.

I wish I could explain how peeeeeeeeeeved I am. I don't even know where to begin- who to call- what to say. All I know is that he's GOT TO GO. On our trip in October I literally was thinking how much Little Brandon would love this and that. Especially Test Track. He is gonna freakin' love Test Track! So we'll do whatever we have to do. Cross your fingers! :goodvibes

[BriesMomma]

Well no new updates on the Little Brandon situation- we're just going to see if she comes around by the middle of December. But...

Brie's Birthday dress is here! I was pulling out of my driveway earlier this evening when I saw a box on my porch. Is it?? Could it be?!

It sure was. And it's everything I wanted and then some. I cried! The zebra print skirt also came but blahh- not what I was expecting. Oh well!

I'm glad the birthday dress came, I needed a good pick-up. I will post some pictures when I can. YaaaaaY! She's gonna love it! :cool1:

[BriesMomma]

So here I am, 34 days out from what I was dreaming would be the most magical trip to Disney I could have ever imagined... and I've been crying all day.

Little Brandon will more than likely not being going. We won't be able to get into court in time, and we really can't afford the legal expense it would take even if we could get in.

So now Big Brandon tells me he doesn't want to go. He doesn't want to save anymore money for this... we just went... I'm not a kid, why would I go to DW 3 months after I just went... A BUNCH OF BS LINES THAT HE IS FEEDING ME!!!

I don't know what's up with him. I don't know if he's serious. Of course I got P'd when he said it- "Fine, I don't need you." And in reality, I could just as easily go with just Brie and I and prolly have a great time- but I don't want to! I want to spend this time as a family. This is basically all I have been living for for months. I know it might sound sad- but IT REALLY IS A HUGE DEAL FOR ME. So for him to come to me and basically say I don't care about how bad you want this or how excited you are- it really hurts me.

I don't know if I should still even be excited- should I stop planning?? I feel like our trip is falling apart right before my very eyes. :sad2: And it's a horrible empty feeling there where excitement and tingles used to be...

[BriesMomma]

...5 Minutes after I posted that he walks in and says:

"She might let Brandon go!"

Ahhh, that Magical Pixie Dust!!! (Or the power of prayer.) :goodvibes

Thanks for listening to me earlier, though. :worship:

[BriesMomma]

Well... Wonder Upon Wonders. A few weeks ago I realized that the gas light on my car was staying on even when my car obviously had gas in it and that the hand was "floating." So I take my car in for an oil change today and ask the guy to "just change the fuse or whatever so my gas hand works again."

He calls me and says:
"Uhh, those gauges are electrical now and down in the fuel pump. To fix it's going to be $669.00"

HUUUH?! :scared1: Um no thanks. So the first thing that pops into my head of course is the trip. How are we going to know when to fill up, or how much gas mileage..etc. What a pain!!

Irk! It's bad news week over here, eh? But in Little Brandon news- things are still looking up! Brandon has talked to his :mad: and she is warming up. Atleast she's not saying he "can't" go anymore. I'm going to send her some pixie dust (you have no idea how hard that is for me) and hope she catches the holiday spirit or something :laughing:

One month from today we hit the road!! Things are back on track to be the most magical trip ever!!:car:

[BriesMomma]

Wooow. I haven't been a very good pre-tripper. My apologies. Guess I'll have to add that to the to do list for next trip... #1 Be more attentive to the pre-trip report. :rolleyes1

So... we're in the teens now. My countdown chain is on it's last loopty-loo. I'm at the stage now where I can't believe it's really this close!! I feel like I've been sidetracked by this whole "Christmas" thing. What's the big deal?? It just means I'll be 2 weeks out? ;) But I do feel like I'm forgetting something. I keep staring at my Disney notebook like "hhmmm???" I know once Christmas passes and I can start packing I'll feel better. I'm a see-er. I need to see everything right in front of me.

There's a rumor going around that everyone in my family is giving me Disney Gift Cards. My mother is leading me to believe my brother got me a rather large one. I think I'll probably cry no matter how much anyone got me. That really means so much to me- and even if they don't know how cool of a gift that is. It could be a souvenir, a meal, or even turn out to be one of those cheesy ride photos. (I personally hate these things. I get them and never look at them again. Brandon wants to get EVERY SINGLE ONE!! It drives me nuts. He's like that about the glowy carts too. He can't resist, he can't just walk on by... ) My people don't understand my obsession to Disney, nobody gets violent about it or anything- but I can tell they could give 2 Pooh's about what I'm talking about half the time. But I have an awesome family who puts up with me and for that I am very thankful.

Little Brandon's mom has talked to his school and everything is a go! So glad she has come around. I'm trying to make this as stress free as possible for her. After finishing my Christmas shopping this past weekend, I can officially say that she will not have to pack one single thing for Brandon before we go on the trip- and I'm hoping to do some laundry just before we head home so she won't be bombarded with 10 days worth of clothes. Plus I like to come home and just be able to put our clothes away too. (I might ask her for a few extra pairs of undies though...) :yay:

I also went to Sam's this weekend and got some snacks for the road. A big box of little Slim Jim's, Starburst, a big box of little bag of chips... you get the picture. I'm really nervous about taking this road trip- I want the kids to be as happy as possible.

Well, off to bed. I've been up cleaning all day. 16 hours!! Family's coming to town... and I want the videotapes of Christmas morning to like like they took place in a non-HazMat zone.

[BriesMomma]

Well everyone, we've survived Christmas! Yes, we are officially 2 weeks out!! It's so close! And I can finally start packing now that Santa dropped off the clothes!

We do have bumps in the road- however, I'm not going to share them until we figure out exactly how we will smooth out said bumps...

I wanted to share some pictures from Xmas morning. I didn't realize until afterwards how Disney-themed all of my gifts were... LOL. It's like when Brie and I match- I swear I don't do it on purpose!!

After Santa, before Hurricane Brielle:

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/xmas09002.jpg

Brie is not a morning person... I'm slowly waking her up earlier each day to get her ready to go... anyway she walks out and we have the Parade on so she's staring at the TV- not the giant toys that have magically appeared in her living room! I thought she would atleast notice I moved the Xmas Tree across the living room! Geeeeezz... :confused3 So she's rubbing her eyes, and finally sees the stuff. It was awesome. Truly.

I got this castle on our trip in October. It was $75- and I can't for the life of me remember how much shipping was?? I think they had a shipping "deal" going on though... ANyway- it would have been worth 150 to me. This thing is cool!! Here's a pic if you've ever thought of buying one- do it!

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/xmas09003.jpg

Brie's not even 2 yet so I didn't put out about 20 of the pieces... they're tiny. (The Genie's lamp, the Enchanted Rose...) It lights up, has light up flower pots- IT EVEN HAS MINNIE AND MICKEY BUSHES!! I love it more than she does- she likes her Pooh Super Sleuth Changing tree better, but she likes the castle and all of the Prince and Princesses. My mom also got her a Mickey Mouse that sings and tells jokes. He's cute. I think we'll bring him along...

Oh and you know I had to show-off my cutie booty:

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss343/disneykidathrt/xmas09032.jpg

Well, I hope everyone had a great Christmas and best Wishes for 2010!!! I hope we all get to go to DW as often as we like! Maybe I'll make that a resolution...

[BriesMomma]

:banana::cool1::cool1:SINGLE DIGITS!!!:cool1::cool1::banana:

Gosh, we're so close I can almost taste my Mickey Head!! Or can I smell the popcorn on Main Street? popcorn::

Either way, I'm happy. It's supposed to get down to 9 degrees tonight and the Sunshine State is definately calling my name. The weather forecast for our trip is not very sunny though. Some forecasts have lows in the 30's on several days of our trip- but highs in the 60's. Anything is better than the white wall we're getting here!!

I took Brie to see Sesame Street Live today. She loved it! Elmo is awesome. We are fer sure going to check out the FOTLK this trip. Brie really gets in to stage shows and I've heard its an amazing production.

So in shopping news: I have nothing else to buy :sad2:. I know, I know I should be happy that my checklists are complete- but now I have no excuses to go Targetting. The kids are packed completely. They have all new clothes to wear on the trip- lucky kids! Thanx to Black Friday deals on Old Navy.com I too have a few new things. So besides jeans and underwear- I'm all packed too.

I do get to go grocery shopping still- but that's not nearly as exciting. I don't know if I have mentioned in my PTR- but we are planning on taking a Microwave and making breakfast and late night snacks in the room. I've gotten a few "dirty looks" for saying we're bringing our microwave- but hey if you want to buy my kids 3 mediocre kids meals a day at 7.50 each then have at it. Last trip Brie would not touch most of the individual meals that we got her- except for QS at China, which was delish. She ended up eating nothing but chips and candy- which I am not happy with. So I'm bringing the microwave. I don't want to offend anybody or seem like a hillbilly- but I think this is what will work for us, this time. Next trip I plan on getting the dining plan.

So hopefully this next week FLIES by. We leave a week from tomorrow- that is so fun to say!

Happy New Year Dissers!! :yay:

[BriesMomma]

We Leave in a Week!

Craziness! I'm so excited. So I went to do the online check-in tonight. I was going back and forth on whether or not I should do this because I like to "go over" everything with a person. I didn't want to be able to ask for an upgrade- which I never really do anyway. So- I took the plunge and checked in. LOL. I'm glad I did because I noticed that we are only booked for base tickets. :scared1: We are a hip-hoppity park hopping family and there's no way we could manage with mere base tickets... So I called and changed that ASAP! It was 120.76 to upgrade to hoppers for the adult tickets. We are adding Little Brandon's tickets when we get there.

I also made us ressies for a lunch at LTT so that my little cutie pie can see her Pooh Bear. She loves her some Pooh, and so I called and double checked that he was being moved over to there during the CP refurb. Sure enough HE'S THERE! I think she'd rather see him than the princesses. There will be future trips for that. Now I just hope she doesn't look silly being dressed up as Snow White for no reason... :confused3 We'll see.

So those are my big developments. LOL. When I called for the hoppers the CM I got was awesome. Totally what Disney Customer Service is all about! And she said "I went ahead and put a request in for a room with a good view for you." !!! YAY!!!

I had Brandon decide if he thought the Alligator Bayou or the mansion rooms seemed more our speed. He picked the mansion rooms so I need to check out the resort map and figure out which building to request. I want to send a fun fax down a few days prior with a building request.

One week from now and my vacation will have begun and I will be sleeping in a Days Inn 3 hours from Disney!! Pinch me!

[BriesMomma]

I started packing our daypacks today!! You know I mean business when I break out the Ziplocs! I am sort of a Ziploc freak. Each of our electronic devices gets a Ziploc. There's a snack Ziploc in each bag. A first-aid Ziploc. Poncho, extra socks, sanitizer Ziploc. Diaps and Wipes Ziploc... you get the picture. I use the big gallon ones and go crazy. I also carry a few plastic grocery bags- incase things get really wet!

And in even awesomer news...

My wonderful handsome genius of an older brother has decided to give his most beloved (and only) niece a $200 Gift Certificate to The Most Magical Place on Earth for her birthday. Can you imagine a better gift? Awesomeness.

And to think a few weeks ago he said "You know there are other places to go than Disney World, right?"

Why would I wanna go anywhere else?!?! :confused3 He has no idea how great his gift is. Or how much it means!! This trip is going to be so Magical!!!

5 Days!!!! :woohoo:

[BriesMomma]

Now we're really rollin'!!

My step-dad says today that he "found" a Christmas Gift that Imust of missed. And what do you think it was?? That's right a $50 Disney Gift Card! "How in the heck did I miss that?"

So add it up: $250 in gift cards. How cool am I? :cool1:

I swear I touched every article of clothing in this house today. Lots of packing done. I am not worried that all of the tuff will fit in the car, I am now worried that we wont fit once I get it in!! My car goes for a tune-up in the morning actually!! :banana:

[BriesMomma]

I am now at the stage of "it's not really happening." Yes, folks: I'm in denial. Could I possibly really be leaving in 3 days for Disney World? As hard as it is for me to believe- this is no fairy tale! I'm going to Disney!!

So I'm a super weirdo about Brie getting sick. I am not AS freakish about it when we aren't leaving for Disney in a matter of days, but at this point I'm scared to let her leave the house. She had an ear infection in September, a double ear infection the week before our last trip to Disney, and then another the week after we got home! It was so bad that the pediatrician said that if she had anymore this season that we should look into putting tubes in her ears. So I have been uber-sensitive about germs. (I was hesitant to take her to my mother-in-laws for xmas because there were about 20 kids. :rolleyes1)
So she coughed yesterday and started a bit of a runny nose this morning and so you can imagine my panic. Well thankfully I took her to the doctor today and he said I have nothing to worry about. He gave me some Dimetapp samples to give her and gave me an incase of emergency antibiotic prescription for the trip. That makes me feel so much better. Having a sick kid is no fun!! And this trip is all for her so I want her to enjoy every moment!

On another positive note, my mother's best friend and I always exchange Xmas gifts. I consider her an aunt, we've been buddies for 15 years! Well, her present got to me today and it was a $60 Disney Gift Card!! I know you're like "enough with the gift cards already!!!" but my mom said that I may have a few more surprises in store before we leave!!! So far I have $310! That's amazing! What was I saving all of my own money for? Geeezzz...

So there ya have it. 3 days out. All packed up. Getting ready to go get travel groceries now! :banana:

[BriesMomma]

I'm down to hours!!! With the cruddy weather we're having- and the thought that maximizing the amount of time we drive while the kids are sleeping- we have decided to leave at around 2:30 AM tomorrow night (technically Saturday morning) This way when the sleepyheads in the back do open their eyes we'll have half of that days driving under our belts.

Tonight I am so busy! Thankfully I have the best boss in the world (just so happens to be my mom too :love: ) and I have tomorrow off. Then wonder upon wonders Brandon's sister called tonight and offered to have Brie stay the night with her daughter (who Brie absolutely adores). So... I am using tonight to finish packing. Maybe load the car? (Its freezing and snowing btw) And clean my house. It's so weird- when I go out of town I like my house to be spotless. I wish I felt that way when I was actually HERE!! But incase something happens and someone has to come by I don't want them to be snooping behind my fridge like "I KNEW SHE DIDNT DUST!! AHHA!" So I'm deep cleaning. SO tomorrow:

9 AM Pick-up Brie from her Aunt's house
Go get my paycheck- Take out my Disney money!!

12PM Birthday/ Good-bye lunch with Grammy. My mom and I are extremely close and I see her every single day. She literally lives 3 miles from me. Anyway she called me last night and said she decided that we (brandon and I) can still go, but Brie has to stay. Awww :hug: Poor Grammy is gonna miss us. Ten days is a long time. I might even start to miss her. :lmao: So she's going to take us to lunch to say good-bye and celebrate Brie's birthday. I'm going to go get some cupcakes from her fave bakery to surprise her. (The funny thing is I'm sure we'll see her again before we go!)

Afternoon:
I still need to get a few things: Jelly, chips, Brandon wants a new pair of sweats to drive in (such a diva), Beer, and diapers. So I'm gonna do what any good American would do: I'm gonna go to Walmart. I'm sure I'll find other stuff I never knew I needed while I'm there too. Always happens.

Take my other baby, Remy, to the vet for boarding. :sad1:

5 PM- Pick-up Little Brandon!! He has no idea what he's in for!! I mean he knows we're going to "Disney World" but he doesn't know what the heck "Disney World" is. While it is a HUGE (pronounce YUUUGE) mystery to me how any six year old wouldn't know what Disney World is :confused3 (When I said that to my brother he said "We knew our way around at 6." Well, not even that. The parades are on TV. The Disney Channel. Commercials. "You just won the Super Bowl... what are ya gonna do now?" But whatevs.) Him and Daddy are going to get their haircut. I'm going to be baking Mickey head shaped Sugar Cookies ( I bought the cookie cutter on our trip in October. Knew it's come in handy!). Then when they get back we're going to decorate them and eat them on the way down!

Goof around and get the kids to bed. I'm going to go to sleep EARLY and Brandon's going to stay up with the kids and after so he's ready to sleep at 2:30 when we will hopefully leave!! It's going to fly by. It used to be that I wanted time to go faster and now I wish I had just a weeeeee bit longer!!

I'm so excited! :rotfl:

[BriesMomma]

Okay now I'm down to 25 hours and 11 minutes- yes it is 1 am. I just tried to load the car- what I could and I dont know how I'm going to fit my big honking Graco stroller?? So now I'm left with the question: buy a new stroller that is not as good that folds up better- or wait and buy a decent one down there. Does anyone know where we could stop and get one for around $50??

[BriesMomma]

So after my midnight car packing adventure... I picked up an umbrella stroller from WallyWorld for 15 big ones. It folds up really well. my problem is that I rely on the stroller as much as brie does. The storage and the cupholders are invaluable to me. But the big honkin Graco just wont fit with my millions of other things. :confused3 Plus it was a pain on trams and monorails. It took up enough space to fit another person and I felt rude using it. (See I'm trying to look at the bright side.

I'm exhausted. I was up until 3 trying to get the car loaded. I'm going to go try and get some sllep now because I can't imagine hitting the road in 9 hours!!! But the good news is that my lack of energy has stifled my usual "I'm going to Disney World" wall-bouncing. Yes, I am a geek and I get geeked.

Gonna go hit the sack. Will try and update before we leave. But if not everyone have a great week and wish us lots of luck and piie dust!!!