And Then it Snowed...

I know, I know,I asked for it. On Friday night it started snowing and snowed all day Saturday. Mack (my nephew) came up from Portsmouth for the weekend. I'm not sure he was quite as impressed with all of the snow, but the rest of us were pretty excited. I take that back, Liam wasn't all that impressed either, but we did bundle him up like Ralphie in A Christmas Story. Poor thing, he couldn't move. We didn't want to actually sit him in the snow because it was pretty deep and very soft. It was the fluffiest snow I've ever seen. We weren't even able to build a snowman- it wouldn't pack at all!

Epcot.

On our final day in Orlando, we went to Epcot. Abbi Kate dressed up in her Ariel dress and wore her tiara. We spent most of the morning at 'The Seas'... an area of the park that has a Finding Nemo ride as well as several aquariums and a "Turtle Talk With Crush" interactive show. After lunch we began our trek across the world (also known as Epcot's World Showcase). We started in Mexico and ended in Canada. It was very low key and really a lot of fun. In Norway we stopped for a sandwich and rode a ride featuring Norway's history. Well, let it be known that Abbi Kate is no long a fan of Vikings. Just sayin'...







There was a Beatles cover band in the UK. Obviously Shawn was in heaven, and Abbi Kate had so much fun dancing. It was so cute!

Magic Kingdom 2.0

We decided to go back to the Magic Kingdom on Thursday. We were hoping to score Abbi Kate an appointment at the Bippity Boppity Boo Boutique to get her made over as her favorite Princess (Ariel). We'd called the appointment line a few days before and found out they were booked solid but we were hoping that someone had canceled and they could squeeze her in- no such luck. We still had a blast. Abbi Kate met Jasmine (she was hugging her and I was pretty sure she wasn't going to let go), Aladdin (whom she didn't care much about), Aurora/Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Belle, and Pluto. She was in heaven... She was the last one in line to get her picture made with Cinderella, Aurora, and Belle and they all decided to come over and get a picture with her, showering Abbi Kate with attention.

Abbi Kate did end up riding an actual roller coaster (of sorts anyway) in Toon Town, but she wasn't really a fan. Maybe Liam will want to ride all of the roller coasters with me someday? If his personality is any indication, I think the answer to that is a resounding, "YES!"

MGM/Hollywood Studios.

It's really hard for me to get used to the idea that MGM is now called "Hollywood Studios", most likely because I worked at MGM during my stint as a "Merchandise Hostess" in 1999. Yes, that means 11 years ago, I was actually living in Orlando and working at Disney World. It's hard to believe it's been that long ago.

So, on Wednesday we ventured to Hollywood Studios. We started off the morning at a Beauty and the Beast live show. The show is on Sunset Blvd, the street where I worked, so I was able to show Abbi Kate and Shawn the ridiculous outfit/costume I had to wear. After the show, I ventured off and rode the Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster by myself. The wait time was minimal at both rides (a perk to going during the off-season) and our next stop was the Pixar area of the park where we got a fastpass for the the Toy Story ride and Abbi Kate was able to meet Buzz and Woody and get her picture taken with them. I should add she is not scared of the characters in the least, she just walks right up and hugs them. And I'm not even sure she'd seen Toy Story enough to actually recognize them.

I think her favorite thing from this day was playing on the Honey I shrunk the Kids playground. There was a pretty big slide (considering her size) there that she did over and over and over again.

Animal Kingdom.

We spent our second day at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Our first stop was the Bug's Life 3D show, "It's Tough to be a Bug." I'd forgotten it was a little scary and just like she'd talked about the pirates all day the day before, she spent the rest of the day talking about Hopper being scary. After that we rode a dinosaur ride and Abbi Kate found Dori. This made her incredibly happy as Dori is quite possibly her favorite Disney character (behind Ariel, of course).




Abbi Kate loved seeing all of the animals. The park wasn't that crowded, but it closes earlier than the other parks so we just barely managed to sneak everything in. Just as we were leaving the safari ride, the evening parade started and we got a front row seat. Abbi Kate was thrilled. She may be scared of pirates and Hopper, but she loved all of the characters. She was able to get high fives from them as they walked/danced past her and she loved every second of it. It was so much fun. She was upset at Pluto, however. He managed to walk right past her and not give her a five. Luckily, we saw him again at the Magic Kingdom a few days later and he was able to redeem himself.



I thought this picture was so sweet. From this point on, Dori was a fixture in a majority of our pictures.

Magic Kingdom: Day One

We started out the week at the Magic Kingdom. We'd thought about starting with Epcot since Monday was a holiday, but decided Abbi Kate would enjoy the Magic Kingdom a bit more. That and Shawn and I were both excited to see how Abbi Kate would react to seeing the castle and all of the characters. We figured we could spend 2 days total here since it was the park with the most for her to actually take part in. After all, at less than 38" tall (bottom 5th percentile) there were very few rides outside of Fantasy Land she could ride.









Ever since we decided we were going to go to Disney World, we've been telling Abbi Kate all about it in an attempt to get her pumped up. She'd get excited every time we mentioned it and tell us that at Disney World she was going to get "wollipop's and stickehs." She actually got the lollipop pictured above after we rode the Peter Pan ride. The pirates terrified her. Needless to say, we quickly nixed our plans to ride Snow White's Scary Adventures.

The Night Before...

We left for Orlando last Sunday, and surprisingly, the drive wasn't too bad. After we checked in at the hotel, Abbi Kate and Liam played and stretched a bit after being in the car most of the day.

My mom came and stayed with us in Orlando, keeping Liam while Shawn, Abbi Kate, and I went to Disney World. I'm not sure at this point Abbi Kate quite realized what was to come.

6 months.

Liam had is 6 month check up on Wednesday. It was our first visit to a pediatrician here in Richmond. All was well. Baby Liam was 19.8 lbs and 27 3/4" long. I remember having Shawn go with me to all Abbi Kate's check ups for moral support. She hates the doctor and never wanted him doing even the simplest things like listening to her breathing. Liam, on the other hand, spent the whole time trying to get the stethoscope and tearing the paper he was sitting on so he could put it in his mouth. I believe the doctor's exact words to him were, "Liam, paper has no nutritional value."

She then went on to tell me that I needed to baby proof ASAP and spent the next solid 5 minutes explaining to me that since he was sitting up so well he would be an early walker and I should prepare myself because he just might try to kill himself. Unknowingly, of course.

This wasn't exactly news to me. I mean, I hadn't thought about the crawling or walking, but I knew that his toddler years were going to be a bit more challenging than Abbi Kate's. We could have left a pile of change next to her crib (don't worry, we never did) and she'd have never tried to eat it.

Can you believe that after his first two shots, the little stinker was smiling and laughing with the nurses? Seriously, He didn't cry after the first two and stopped crying within seconds of getting the second two. By the time I got him back in his car seat he was just babbling away, as happy as he could be.

I tried to commemorate his checkup later that day with a photo.. He was unimpressed.

Bad Parenting 101.

Let it be known that there is a Krispy Kreme less than a mile away from our house. It's open 24 hours, but that's negligible because we've never been there past 8pm. Here's where I rationalize it all and tell you that every time we drive by, their "Serving Hot Doughnuts Now" sign is lit up, and that really, we don't get doughnuts that often. We are weak, however, and give into temptation every now and then. (Have you ever had their hot doughnuts? They melt in your mouth, literally. Pure sugary decadence at its finest. So good.)

With that said, the following picture was taken after our latest trip to Krispy Kreme.

Teeth!

It's truly amazing how different Abbi Kate and Liam are in so many aspects. Take for instance their personalities... While Abbi Kate is generally mild mannered, content, and happy now, as a baby she was very high maintenance. She was happy, but I also made sure to entertain her every second of the day. These days, she likes to do the entertaining. And Liam, well, he just goes with the flow.

The reason I mention their differences is that Abbi Kate got her first two teeth at 14 months. I'd resigned myself to the fact that she'd surely get them before Kindergarten. After all, how many toothless Kindergarten kids do you know? Exactly. For the sake of nostalgia, let's see "Miss Thang" (our affectionate name for Abbi Kate) when I captured my first picture of her first two teeth:



A few days after we came back from Christmas in Tupelo, Liam's bottom two teeth broke through. That means his teeth came in just before his 6 month birthday. I have a theory that things are happening faster with him because I'm not anxiously awaiting the next milestone but living more in the moment, taking things as they come. I'm not sure you have much choice when you have two kiddos. But who knows? After all, it's just a theory.

Okay, enough rambling. It's picture time- watch out world, "Baby Liam" has teeth! (You may need to click on the picture for the full size image to see them in all their glory)

Let it Snow.

Okay, so we missed the major snowfall over the past month. In December we spent 2 weeks in Tupelo for Christmas and here in Richmond they received 7-8 inches of snow. It's still here in a way. When you pull into the parking lot at the strip mall a few blocks from us you can see giant piles of it.

A few nights ago, however, we got a "dusting" of snow. Abbi Kate was excited watching it fall. It actually fell all night and it was cold enough for it to stick, but in the end it was *maybe* an inch and as soon as the sun came up the next day it slowly melted away. Still, Abbi Kate was excited and we took her out for a photo op...



I know, I know... there's barely any snow on the ground. I'm hoping that next time it snows we're in town. I realize that eventually we'll get tired of the snow (or at least I recognize that it's a possibility), but for now it's exciting for all of us.

"Baby Liam" (as Abbi Kate calls him) stayed indoors during the excitement. He can't seem to knock his cold, so he hung out in the heat.