A baby, a house, and going to see the mouse! 12/10

[MrsDrewsky]

Love the adrs, Tusker House is a great meal, we love it. I've often heard its a lot like Boma, sounds like a good compromise!

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Thanks Wendy. It's nice to read good reviews of Tusker House.

I love that you have a trip planning committee

The planning committee was my mom's idea. I think it's a good excuse for her to come over and play with Jonah.

I cannot wait to see the Crystal Palace/Pooh onsie picture, that is guaranteed to be adorable!

Thanks, I think so too.

Now you have me considering Tuskner house for AK, I have really been on the fence about it. We did Boma last year, I loved it, DH thought it was okay, but we both agreed it took way to much time getting there and back to really appreciate it.

I understand, we've done Boma twice in the past. Once with a rental car and once by bus, and the experience was much better when we were able to drive to AKL.

I have so much trouble planning ADRs because this is only our second trip, and I want to try everything, while keeping our favorites! This is what we have discussed so far. If you get a chance would you mind looking at them and letting me know what you think? I feel like I have to missing a must do!

I will be right over!

I am a little worried how DS will react to the characters. We didn't do any character meals last year, but he saw Duffy Bear walking through Epcot and really kind of freaked him out. I am hoping he is old enough not to be scared. It is good your little guy will be introduced to them young. Then when he chatters with his stuffed pooh or whoever you know he is really saying "come on, I know you can come to life, I have seen it before" Hooray Disney Magic

I understand, I am also worried how Jonah will react to the characters. I'll be interested to see what your little guy thinks of the characters during your upcoming trip.

you have such awesome plans. I try not to plan to much because of Js issues and now with Sami they seem to melt down in tandem. LOL

Thanks Chiara! I have the tendency to overplan in general, and Jonah has taught me ease up a little bit. I hope J and Sami are doing well.

By January 4th the Christmas decorations in the resorts might be gone, but you should be able to enjoy them in the parks, and most importantly, see the Castle Dreamlights and the Osborne Festival of Lights.

Turquoise is my favorite color so of course I think your stroller looks awesome.

I didn't even think about the Dreamlights, I was so focused on the Osborne Festival of Lights. That's good to know though. Thank you!

 

[dtr_angel]

Your ADRs all sound really good!

 

[emmysmommy]

You have some of my favorites for your ADRs... Kona, LTT, 'Ohana, 50s PT, and CP... actually, all of them!

Now wouldn't that be adorable if Jonah had a little colonial outfit!!

Completely agree with not risking Hoop Dee Doo until a few years from now.

Those Disney vacation planning meetings are always necessary to make sure everyone is happy and no surprises.

 

[LB1122]

Such fun fun ADR's..very excited to try Tusker House ourselves.

Love that you totally know the planning meeting was all about seeing the grand baby. love that about grandmas. My mom is trying hard to hide her disappointment that we will not be home for Christmas, but she is very excited for daily photos (multiple if she has her way!!)

 

[MrsDrewsky]

Your ADRs all sound really good!

Thanks!

You have some of my favorites for your ADRs... Kona, LTT, 'Ohana, 50s PT, and CP... actually, all of them!

Now wouldn't that be adorable if Jonah had a little colonial outfit!!

Completely agree with not risking Hoop Dee Doo until a few years from now.

Those Disney vacation planning meetings are always necessary to make sure everyone is happy and no surprises.

I'm glad to read we chose some of your favorites! I just read your review of the territory lounge and I think Drew would really love it.

Ha ha, if I thought Jonah would wear a powdered wig all day I think I would actually look into finding one. I did order him a little racoon hat for WL on etsy.

It's fun that everyone wants to be involved in the planning. Prior to Jonah I was left to plan everything myself. It's nice they're almost as excited about the trip as I am.

Such fun fun ADR's..very excited to try Tusker House ourselves.

Love that you totally know the planning meeting was all about seeing the grand baby. love that about grandmas. My mom is trying hard to hide her disappointment that we will not be home for Christmas, but she is very excited for daily photos (multiple if she has her way!!)

I'm sure you're daughter will love it.

Yes, "Mimi" always finds a reason to drop by or to have us come visit. If your mom is anything like mine she'll be constantly reminding you she needs her daily photo.

 

[MrsDrewsky]

Today was Dalmatian Day!

In honor of Jonahs first Dalmatian Day I dressed him up for the occasion.

My sleepy little dalmatian.
​

Today has been an emotional day to say the least. My mom was laid off today after 25 years with the same company. She is taking it amazingly well, she has a great attitude and thinks this is just Gods way of telling her she needs to do something else. She also informed me she was given a really nice severance package, and asked me how much the trip total was...

Umm... I dont think so lady.

I cant postpone the trip, we already paid for the DVC rental which is non-refundable. Originally Drew and I were planning on having her pay for her meals and ticket, but now we want to find a way to cover her portion. I have a seasonal job which I started again last weekend. I only work a few hours a week, which was going to be enough to pay for a majority of the trip. Thankfully, my boss is my moms good friend and offered to give me more hours once I told her what happened. My mom is eager to spend time with Jonah, and she told me I have free daycare until our trip.

Trip update:

I thought I would finally share our Day 1 plans.

Day 1 (Arrival Day)

We will depart at 7:00 am and change planes in Atlanta. If all goes accordingly we will arrive at MCO around 12:40 pm. Were flying AirTran for this first time through our Southwest points. Im kind of relieved we wont have to deal with the group boarding process.

We will take the MCOnorail to the main terminal and board the Magical Express!

Next check-in at Old Key West.

(Photo from laughingplace.com)

Hopefully we will get lucky and have a room assigned close to the hospitality house. Did you read that room assignment fairy godmother?

Of course once we are in the room I will have to pay proper homage to The Queen!

Drew never seems to understand that I watch this on purpose.

Once Jonah gives us the go-ahead, we will be off to the Magic Kingdom. I will finally get to set foot in New Fantasyland!

I really cant express how excited I am, especially for the Little Mermaid ride.

Later well have dinner at Crystal Palace.

(Photo from Tripadvisor)


Then, on our way back to the resort, hopefully Jonah will be up for meeting Mickey!

Our must do list for the afternoon/evening:
-See New Fantasyland
-Meet Mickey
-Dinner at Crystal Palace

I hope thats simple enough!
​

 

[Dream426]

Sorry to hear your mom got laid off. I also believe everything happens for a reason. Hope she finds something better. Yay for free daycare though. Love your son's outfit. So cute. You are almost double digits. So exciting.

 

[cogero]

so sorry about your moms job. So sweet of you to look to pay for everything. Take advantage of the free child care

 

[teekathepony]

Happy Dalmation Day!

I'm sorry to hear about your mom and her job, but very happy to hear she's keeping her chin up. Sounds like you guys have got a good way to work it out together.

 

[MeeskaMomma]

Hooray for Dalmatian day! So sorry to hear about your mom! Maybe she will find something truly fulfilling and in the mean time extra grandson time!

Your first day looks great! I wonder how Jonah will react to Mickey? I have a friend whose youngest was about Jonah's age when they went and he grabbed Mickey's nose and chewed on it. Mickey was a good sport and it made for the most adorable photo!

 

[dtr_angel]

Jonah looks adorable in his Dalmation outfit! I'm so sorry to hear about your mom's job but glad she is taking it well - I hope she can keep her spirits up. Extra Grandma time will definitely help! My mom was heart broken when I gave up my position and she lost 1-2 evenings a week with her grandson. I hope everything works out with finances for the trip, worrying about that stuff is no fun!

Your first day plans sound amazing. How old will Jonah be on the trip again? I can't remember. I love all the clip art/videos you included in this update, too cute.

 

[MrsDrewsky]

Sorry for the delayed replies. Jonah caught his first stomach virus this past week from our church nursery. Thankfully he's now doing much better!

Sorry to hear your mom got laid off. I also believe everything happens for a reason. Hope she finds something better. Yay for free daycare though. Love your son's outfit. So cute. You are almost double digits. So exciting.

Thank you. Having a positive attitude always helps.

so sorry about your moms job. So sweet of you to look to pay for everything. Take advantage of the free child care

Thanks Chiara. We'll see if she lets us pay for anything. It has been nice having the free child care, and I couldn't ask for a better babysitter.

Hooray for Dalmatian day! So sorry to hear about your mom! Maybe she will find something truly fulfilling and in the mean time extra grandson time!

Your first day looks great! I wonder how Jonah will react to Mickey? I have a friend whose youngest was about Jonah's age when they went and he grabbed Mickey's nose and chewed on it. Mickey was a good sport and it made for the most adorable photo!

Thank you. She has a really great attitude, for now she just wants to spend time with Jonah and has been helping us with our DIY projects.

I am really excited to see how Jonah will react to Mickey. He was pretty fascinated with redbird at the cardinals game, but we only got to see him from afar. I'm sure his preferences will continue to change during the next three months, but he loves anything that's red at this point. How cute that your friend's little one chewed on Mickey's nose! Part of me kind of wants to ask Mickey if I can clean his nose with a wipe before Jonah meets him. It will be cold and flu season during our trip.

Jonah looks adorable in his Dalmation outfit! I'm so sorry to hear about your mom's job but glad she is taking it well - I hope she can keep her spirits up. Extra Grandma time will definitely help! My mom was heart broken when I gave up my position and she lost 1-2 evenings a week with her grandson. I hope everything works out with finances for the trip, worrying about that stuff is no fun!

Your first day plans sound amazing. How old will Jonah be on the trip again? I can't remember. I love all the clip art/videos you included in this update, too cute.

Thank you! I hope she can as well. She was constantly traveling for work, so it's nice she actually gets to spend time with Jonah while he's this age. I'm sure it was difficult for your mom to give up time with Gavin, he seems like such a charmer from your TR.

I hope we're not trying to fit in too much our first day. Jonah will be about 38 weeks when we leave for WDW.

 

[MrsDrewsky]

Happy Dalmation Day!

I'm sorry to hear about your mom and her job, but very happy to hear she's keeping her chin up. Sounds like you guys have got a good way to work it out together.

Thanks Wendy!

I'm so thankful for her having a positive attitude.

 

[Disney9.9.10]

I'm so sorry about your mom. It really annoys me how frequently things like this are happening lately. She has a great attitude about it though, which will help her through it.

How cute is that little Dalmatian?! I love it!

Your day 1 plans look great. The new Fantasyland is amazing, you are going to love it!

 

[MrsDrewsky]

I'm so sorry about your mom. It really annoys me how frequently things like this are happening lately. She has a great attitude about it though, which will help her through it.

How cute is that little Dalmatian?! I love it!

Your day 1 plans look great. The new Fantasyland is amazing, you are going to love it!

I agree, I also find it annoying. It feels like the economy is constantly in a state of moving two steps forward then one step back.

Thanks. I think that was one of the first of many Disney Baby outfits I purchased.

I can't wait. I'm ready to finally just see it and walk through it. I would be okay with not being able to even ride anything.

 

[MrsDrewsky]

Trip update: I logged into the DIS this morning when a post about January 2014 discounts caught my eye. I clicked on the post and read a discount was available for Disney Visa cardholders for January. I couldn't find out the details on the discount or the specific dates, but I thought I would call and ask. I spoke to a CM and she said there weren't any codes available for WL standard view rooms, BUT if I wanted to upgrade to a woods view I would still save $400.

Yes Please!!!!

I am so excited. When we booked I knew we would likely get a discount, but I decided not to budget for one. So the $400 we saved will cover my moms park ticket! It was meant to be.

Weight loss goal:

Did anyone else Mousercise when they were younger? I loved doing the Goofy Groove on Saturday mornings.

If you have no idea what I am talking about and enjoy 80s throwbacks I suggest looking it up on YouTube.

Okay... here goes... I gained 70 lbs during my pregnancy.

Despite watching what I ate and being on a low sodium diet, I think the almost 4 months of bed rest and edema won in the end. Luckily giving birth to a 7 lb baby and being able to physically get out of bed again have helped me lose over half the weight gain. However, now I seem to have hit a plateau. It was nice losing weight during the past 5 months without really trying.

Now I would like to lose the rest of my baby weight. I have about 30 lbs to go, and I think I can lose it within 3 months. Jonah helped me lose a few pounds last week by giving me a lovely stomach virus he caught from the church nursery. I tried doing zumba again a couple of weeks ago, and it was a massive fail. My muscles seemed to have turned to mush during my bed rest, so I cant do anything too vigorous. I think walking and household chores are going to be my starting point for now.

Just to make things more interesting I asked Drew if I could book a photographer for January. I really want some nice pictures of the three of us and I think a Disney resort would be a fantastic setting for our first family pictures. I am hoping having a photo session booked will help motivate me to shed the weight.

Does anyone have any weight loss success stories to share? I would love some inspiration!

If you had to choose a WDW resort for family photos, which would you choose?
​

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Great update! Saving money is always awesome, and I'm sure you will love your upgraded view.

I don't have any inspiration for weight loss for you right now, but I'll probably be looking for some myself next year!

As for family portraits, we are actually thinking of doing this on our trip in December 2014 as well, and booking Randy Chapman (who did our wedding and was fantastic!) I have a soft spot for the Grand Floridian and always have, so that would probably be my number one pick, followed by the Polynesian. I've seen some great family shots at both of these resorts and I don't think you could lose with most Disney resorts anyway!

 

[Dream426]

YAY for saving $400. That is a nice chunk of change. I would pick the Grand Floridian for pictures but it is my absolute favorite.

 

[MrsDrewsky]

Great update! Saving money is always awesome, and I'm sure you will love your upgraded view.

I don't have any inspiration for weight loss for you right now, but I'll probably be looking for some myself next year!

As for family portraits, we are actually thinking of doing this on our trip in December 2014 as well, and booking Randy Chapman (who did our wedding and was fantastic!) I have a soft spot for the Grand Floridian and always have, so that would probably be my number one pick, followed by the Polynesian. I've seen some great family shots at both of these resorts and I don't think you could lose with most Disney resorts anyway!

Thanks! I think it will be nice to have a view that's not of the parking lot.

I think you should, especially since you and your husband had a Disney wedding. I have never actually been inside the Grand Floridian, I do always enjoy seeing parts of it while riding the resort monorail. The Poly is one of my favorite Disney resorts, and right now is my top choice.

YAY for saving $400. That is a nice chunk of change. I would pick the Grand Floridian for pictures but it is my absolute favorite.

Yes, I was pleased with the discount, especially since it's only for a three night reservation. I think with two votes for the Grand Floridian I am really going to have to consider it. It would be a great excuse to finally visit the resort.

 

[MeeskaMomma]

Hooray for saving money!

I gained 50 pounds with my pregnancy and 3 months after I gave birth I was up 10 pounds. I panicked! Isn't the scale supposed to move in the other direction? I joined weight watchers and started walking. It took about a year but I lost all the weight and then some! I think the walks did as much as weight watchers, although weight watchers got me through the plateaus. I think the key is to be consistent and patient. If you are doing it right you will only loose 2 pounds a week, which is slow and can be discouraging, but if you track your progress it helps stay motivate.

Oh and when the little one starts moving you will get plenty of exercise!!!

Good luck!