Peyton's 1st Disney Trip

I love Disney. Probably more so than is really appropriate for any 27 year old adult to love Disney. We used to go to Disney World all the time when I was a kid, we even had annual passes back before they cost a small fortune. Jared proposed to me at Disney, it's just my favorite place ever. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before I would be itching to take Peyton to Disney. In fact, the minute I found out that she was a girl, I was already planning out our future Disney trips in my head. "Who would be her favorite princess? What was she going to wear? I better start looking for monogrammed outfits now." There have been so many exciting "firsts" for Peyton this year, but I have to say that taking her to Disney was the most anticipated and exciting one of all, for me at least.  

Back before I actually had a kid, I always said that I wouldn't take my kid to Disney until they were old enough to "appreciate" it. Yeah right. I should have known that was a never going to happen. Then I had a kid, and if it were up to me we would have gone to Disney straight from the hospital. Ok, not really. But basically ever since Peyton arrived, I've been dying to take her even though I know she won't remember it or even appreciate it at this age. However, I will remember it and my family will remember it, and we will appreciate it forever. In light of some unexpected and tragic events in my family over the years, I've learned that we cannot take a single day or a single occasion for granted. I no longer wait around for the "perfect" time to do something or put off things that I want to experience for a "better" time. There is no "perfect" time for anything. We are not guaranteed a tomorrow and I want Peyton to have as many special experiences as possible with the people who love her. Going to Disney with my parents and grandparents were always such special memories for me as a kid (even the trips I don't remember but have photographs of), and I want Peyton to be able to look back fondly on those memories just the same. So maybe taking a 7 month old to Disney is insane, but I know that the 8 of us adults still had a blast escaping to the Happiest Place on Earth and sharing in these cherished moments with Peyton. She might forget, but we never will.

Peyton and her entourage: Uncle Chris and Aunt Melissa, Auntie Erika, Daddy and Mommy, Grandma DeeDee, Grammy and Papa Jim

We arrived on Saturday (January 31st) afternoon and got all settled into our hotel room. We stayed at a new Disney hotel that I had never been to before, Disney's Art of Animation Resort.

Peyton (and us too!) loved exploring the hotel! It has four different sections all themed after different animated Disney movies (Finding Nemo, Lion King, Cars and Little Mermaid). We stayed in the Finding Nemo area of the hotel, which is closest to the main lobby and has the biggest pool at the resort! I can't wait to come back and stay at this hotel again and actually utilize the pool and other amenities. This hotel is perfect for families with young children. It is so fun and colorful, fully immersed in the art of Disney animation. In fact, all of the "decor" in the Finding Nemo area is designed to scale as if you were the size of Nemo! It's like you are really inside the movie. I was truly amazed by how cool this place is, so I can only imagine what kids must think of it.

That evening, we ventured over to Disney's Boardwalk for dinner. 

  

Peyton loved our Finding Nemo room at the hotel! They spare no detail in decorating these rooms. There were even sharks in the shower! What I loved most about this hotel was the layout of these rooms. They feature family suites which include a private bedroom with bathroom, a living room with a couch that folds out into a bed, a second bathroom (which is amazing if you are traveling with a large family!), an eating area which features a table that folds up and transforms into another bed, and a kitchenette (which included the necessary fridge I needed to store breastmilk). This room can technically sleep 6 adults, but we only had 4 adults and Peyton in here and it was plenty of room. What a great idea! These rooms are perfect for big families, multiple families traveling together, or multi-generational families like ours.

Peyton wanted to sleep with Grandma DeeDee on her Nemo bed, but she had to go in her Pack-n-Play instead. I just love her adorable Disney Princess pajamas for the occasion!

Sunday morning (February 1st), we were up early and ready to take on the Magic Kingdom! Of course, Peyton had a special outfit for the occasion!

I'm so glad that Jared and I were able to have both of our families there for this special moment!

Our first trip to Disney as a family of three!

Disney + my baby girl = happiest mommy in the entire world

Waiting for the parade to start!

Disney is exhausting! I'm so proud of how well Peyton did. She was in the park with us for about 8 hours and she was awesome. She took one solid nap (which gave us times to go do some of the big kid rides) and she was in a great mood the rest of the time. She absolutely loved being at Magic Kingdom! I knew she would, it's genetic :)

On It's a Small World, her first ride ever! 

The last time we were here was two years ago when we were just beginning fertility treatments and we needed to get away from all the stress and sadness that came along with that process. I'm was so overjoyed to finally be back and getting to share my love for Disney with our greatest blessing ever!

Mommy is a slacker and forgot to bring my child a hat. You're going to Disney World, to be outside in the sun all day and you don't bring the 7 month old a hat. Mommy fail. So I got to buy this super tacky, touristy looking Mickey hat in the park for her to wear. Luckily, this child can basically make anything look adorable so I'd say she did a pretty good job of rocking it :)

Peyton really enjoyed the outside rides the most. She loved Dumbo!

We love Dumbo! Even if Peyton's lack of a smile indicates otherwise.  

Her favorite ride of the day, Cinderella's Carousel! 

She loved every minute of this carousel ride. I think she could have stayed on it all day. In fact, she even got a little upset when we had to leave the carousel.

We had so much fun just watching her enjoy this experience! That was my favorite part of this whole trip, watching Peyton's reaction to all of the wonderful things that I already love so much about Disney. She was truly in awe and it made me so happy to see her so excited. 

Don't worry Peyton, this is only the first of many, many times that mommy and Grandma DeeDee will probably be bringing you to Disney World!

Another day, another outfit...and matching monogrammed bib of course :) 

A family friend of ours owns an embroidery business and made all of these adorable onesies and bibs for Peyton. I found the design ideas that I liked and sent them to her, and I could not be more excited about how adorable everything turned out. They were truly perfect for Peyton's first trip!

On Monday (February 2nd), we stopped by Downtown Disney for some shopping and lunch before heading back home.

Aunt Laura even drove up to meet us for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe! Peyton loved being at the Rainforest. She was so entertained by all the animals and fish tanks around the restaurant.

Of course we had to stop by mommy's favorite store, World of Disney, for some shopping and to check out the princesses!

I promise that next trip mommy will brave the long lines and/or spend the Fastpasses on meeting the real live princesses in the park.

I collect Christmas ornaments from places we travel to, so of course I couldn't resist a special personalized one to commemorate Peyton's first visit.

Peyton had so much fun on her very first visit to Walt Disney World and she's already excited to go back again soon! Thank you to my wonderful family for making this such a special trip for Peyton, I will truly treasure these memories we shared together forever.

Tennessee Trip

Peyton went on her very first overnight, out of state road trip the weekend of August 8-10 to Tennessee! Back before Peyton was even born, I decided that going on this trip would be one of my first big mommy goals. A dear childhood family friend of ours was getting married and I desperately wanted to be there. I knew that Peyton would only be about two months old and that putting her in the car for 8+ hours was probably a terrible idea, but I wanted to try. The bride's father (a dear friend of my parents) passed away back in late April and I was very sad that I was not able to make it to the funeral. My doctor wouldn't let me travel so far away from home that late in my pregnancy. I knew this wedding weekend would be difficult for their family and for my family, so I wanted to make sure that we could be there to support everyone. Plus, I knew all of our family friends would want to meet Peyton!

I knew that I wanted to bring Peyton on the trip to see everyone, but I did not want to have to bring her to the actual wedding. Mommy and daddy needed a night off :) So I enlisted Jared's sister to come along as our babysitter. 

We decided to make the initial drive to Chattanooga in the middle of the night. We didn't want to have to keep stopping along the way for feedings and diaper changes, as this drive was going to be long enough even without having to stop constantly. Therefore, we opted to schedule our travel plans around Peyton's sleep schedule. Peyton does the majority of her uninterrupted sleeping between 10:30pm and 6am (I know, shocking for an almost 2 month old) so we wanted to do most of the driving at a time when she would be in a good long stretch of sleep. Jared and Erika are super insomniacs and really good at staying awake all night so they were totally game for attempting this midnight road trip. Staying awake late is not something I am good at. I am a morning person, not a night owl. 

On Thursday evening, we packed up the car (Sidenote: 3 nights out of town with a two month old basically requires a full sized U-haul) and got ourselves ready for the all night drive. We fed Peyton, bathed her, and did her whole night time routine. However, instead of putting her down for bed in her crib, we put her down in her car seat. By 10:00pm, we were all in the car and ready to hit the road. Peyton had just fallen asleep. Along the way, we stopped twice for bathroom/snack breaks for ourselves, but Peyton never woke up once. Jared drove the entire way and Erika helped him stay awake. I sat in the back with Peyton and slept on and off throughout the night. A couple of times, I woke up to Jared and Erika having a full blown 90's dance party in the front seats. It was hysterical, but hey, whatever it takes to stay awake. 

We arrived at our hotel in Downtown Chattanooga at precisely 5:00am, exactly 7 hours from door to door. When I brought Peyton into the hotel room and sat her down, she instantly woke up and greeted me with this adorable face :) She was ready for her morning feeding, right on schedule. I couldn't believe how smoothly that drive went. I was so nervous and terrified that we would be trapped in the car with a screaming baby, but she was amazing! 

Jared and Erika went right to bed while I unpacked Peyton's stuff, fed her and then put her back to bed so I could get a few more hours of sleep. She went right back to sleep for 4 more hours! 

Once we all got a decent amount of sleep, we decided to head out for a late lunch and a visit with some friends. 

Peyton had a lot of visitors all throughout the weekend. And a lot of outfits! Thank goodness I overpacked for her because everytime I put a cute outfit on her, she pooped on it. Here she is with Aunt Melissa, who came to the rescue many times with her Shout wipes which saved Peyton's outfits. 

Friday night, we took Peyton out to dinner with us while everyone else was at the Rehearsal Dinner and she was so well behaved. The restaurant we went to was super loud, but she just slept the entire time. After dinner, my mom stayed with her in our hotel suite so we could go out to the bar with our friends from the wedding. 

On Saturday morning, we headed "up the mountain" to where our family friends live on Signal Mountain. We spent the day visiting with everyone and Peyton got to meet a new friend! 

Peyton (almost 2 months) and Claire (almost 1 year) 

Saturday night was wedding time! Peyton stayed in our hotel suite with Auntie Erika for 8 hours. That's the longest that I have ever left her before! I didn't mind though because I knew she was in good hands and Erika sent us lots of cute photos throughout the night. I did miss her of course, but it was so nice to have a night out. 

I was super excited to get to spend a little time with my childhood best friend, Lindsay, even if it was only for one day. The last time I saw her, I was pregnant in her wedding!

Jared just loves when I make him pose for photos at weddings, especially when he hasn't had a chance to make it to the bar yet :) 

Our parents have been friends since middle/high school and we have been friends since birth! So great to be reunited with these beautiful ladies, who might as well be my sisters! 

Ah, a better Jared smile now...thanks to a few cocktails :) The view from the Chattanooga Country Club was gorgeous. Overlooking the Tennessee River, I loved this fabulous deck where we got to enjoy that refreshing mountain air.

All of the moms, who became friends in high school, and their daughters! Thankfully, the official wedding photographer captured this shot as well which will be so much better than my iPhone version here. 

We are so blessed to have had such an amazing group of friends to grow up with. These ladies have been more like aunts and sisters to me, rather than just friends.

We went back up the mountain to say goodbye to our family friends before heading back to Jacksonville on Sunday. Jennifer (Claire's mommy) and I have known each other since birth. Our dads and our moms have been best friends since high school. We are so excited for Claire and Peyton to start the 3rd generation of our family friend group!

I couldn't possibly leave Tennessee without introducing Peyton to the beautiful mountains. I insisted that we take the scenic route back down the mountain so that we could stop at an overlook to enjoy the view.

I can't wait to bring Peyton back to Chattanooga when she gets a little older to visit her friend again and really enjoy the mountains!

Throwback Thursday

Oh my goodness, a post about something other than being pregnant, a mommy, babies or Peyton? I know, shocking. I'm sorry y'all, for the obnoxious baby takeover on my blog. I want to promise that every single post I write from now on will not be about Peyton or mommy stuff, but let's be honest...most of them probably will be. However, in my defense, I literally can't think of anything to write about because my entire world now revolves around Peyton and nothing else. I promise I'll try to get creative and come up with something else interesting to write about. Here's a start...

Since this upcoming weekend is host to the 53rd Phi Mu National Convention, I decided that today's Throwback Thursday should be dedicated to my Convention experiences. Technically, I should be attending Convention this weekend serving as my Alumnae Chapter's voting delegate because I am our Chapter President, but it was just too soon to leave my little legacy's side so I had to send someone else in my place. I am super sad about missing out on my 3rd National Convention, but it's worth it because I think I may have found something that I actually love more than Phi Mu :)

Throwback Thursday: Phi Mu National Convention

My first Phi Mu National Convention - 2008 in Orlando, Florida. I was President of our Collegiate Chapter at FSU, Alpha Epsilon, and thus served as our chapter's voting delegate at Convention.

 2008 Carnation Banquet

All of the awards I had the honor of accepting on behalf of our amazing Collegiate Chapter!

My second Phi Mu National Convention - 2012 in San Antonio, Texas. I was President of our Alumnae Chapter here in Jacksonville, and thus served as our chapter's voting delegate at Convention. 

 2012 Carnation Banquet

Even though I attended Convention that year as an Alumnae Delegate, I still had to represent my amazing Collegiate Chapter. Fun fact: Between collegians and alumnae, Alpha Epsilon had more Convention attendees at that 2012 Convention than any other Phi Mu chapter!

And one more that's not a throwback picture...I know you didn't actually think that I would get through an entire post without including a photo of Peyton :)

Peyton wants to wish all of our Phi Mu sisters a fun time at National Convention this weekend!