Turning 4, Going to Disney

Just a few weeks ago, we celebrated Mia's birthday of turning 4.  It was a fun day with family at home & a swim in our community pool in the morning, followed by a small family party at our house that night.  Aunt Allison, cousin McKaber, Uncle Brian, Aunt Amanda and cousins Braden & Abby joined us. We had an impromptu Disney princess/female character theme (Tinkerbell, Belle, etc.) with strawberry cupcakes for all.  We have typically done a big party at our neighborhood park/community center in years past but this year we kept it a bit closer to home (literally).  Mia didn't believe she officially turned 4 until we sung her happy birthday and she had her cake.  Here she is at the moment of "officially turning 4":

a bit bashful now that everyone is singing to her

recap of Mia's 4th birthday

Keeping it low-key that day was the way to go, because a few days later we packed up several belongings, a cooler of food, our double stroller, and headed to Disney!  This was our first family Disney trip EVER (Greg & I haven't gone since college days) and Mia was more than thrilled about visiting the "happiest place on earth."  We took advantage of the FL Resident 3-day pass and stayed overnight at a nearby timeshare, which worked out super well.  All props for trip-planning to to Greg.  He really made sure we had a fun time and that all the essentials were taken care of.  

We spent Monday at Magic Kingdom, getting familiar with the park and seeing what our kids would enjoy the most.  Tuesday, we checked out Hollywood Studios and saw a couple of shows, including Disney Jr. Live on Stage, which was embarrassingly fun for all of us.  (If your child watches any popular Disney Jr. shows, then they will most likely highly enjoy that performance!)

This was actually taken our last day
at the park at the very end of our stay!  

Wednesday, we kicked it around our hotel at the pool and took monster naps to catch up on all the fun we were having, and on our last day, Thursday, we went back to Magic Kingdom.

Mia's favorite parts were the rides.  Gabe's favorite things about Disney were the curbs we let him jump on and off while Mia was on a ride, falling asleep in the stroller everyday, and meeting the Disney princesses (which, surprisingly, was NOT Mia's favorite part)!  

We brought all our own food to the park or bought it at Publix, and only got ice cream treats while we were there.  This was a major timesaver and advantage in our minds, because there was no waiting in line for food, no wasting of money on food no one really wants to eat, and no headaches from eating something our bodies didn't necessarily like.  Props to Disney on letting you bring your own food to the parks!  We'd highly recommend that.  

Walking into Magic Kingdom for the 1st time

Dumbo Ride

Gabe: Disney? NBD

Mickey's Philharmagic. Totally cool until the show started.
Then Gabe was terrified.

Waiting in line for It's A Small World

Killin' it on Barnstormer, Mia's favorite Roller Coaster

Waiting for Disney Jr. Live on Stage to begin

Mesmerized.  Mickey! Sofia! Doc! Jake!

Silly moments while we wait for Greg to finish a ride

Lounging around the pool

Finding ducks outside the hotels

In the words of my friend, Erin, "Owning Disney" despite the rain.
Ponchos didn't disappoint.

Gabe's feelings about the line for Peter Pan's Flight.

PeopleMover.  Also a good place to take a break.

Mia giving Greg a preview of age 15.

And age 16.

These princesses were SO nice.  So impressed with their hospitality skills.

Gabe had a thing for Aurora, Sleeping Beauty.

If you can't tell, even Greg & I are kinda jazzed.

We hands-down really enjoyed this trip.  Not coming from a long ancestral line of Disney-freaks, I set the bar kind of low for myself but was blown away by how much fun we all had!  Gabe is still in that meandering place where he doesn't really know what he is missing and gets tired enough that he'll fall asleep, so it worked out well with all that Mia wanted to accomplish.  

We are so thankful we got to go as a family, not only to semi-celebrate Mia's 4th birthday (!), but to also have a nice, quick getaway that provided good family times and even some relaxation. Hey, I might even call it a real "vacation," and that can be hard to do when traveling with little ones!  +1 for Disney. +1 for good family vacations.  

Growing Kids...

Last week both Mia & Gabe had their well-checkups.  Mia, for her 4 year, and Gabe, for his 18-month checkup.  Both kids were lookin' good and all checked out fine.  One of the questions they asked me about Gabe in terms of his developmental milestones were if he could say at least 15-20 words.  I sat there, a little perplexed, trying to remember if he could say 15-20 words.  I thought he could probably say at least 15, so that's what I answered.  I just couldn't think of all of them at the time.

This past weekend, we were eating breakfast Saturday morning rather leisurely and I got out a pen and paper and started writing down all the words I knew Gabe could say.  It started off with the easy ones, like, "daddy, momma, sis-sis," and before I knew it, it had morphed into a list of over 20 words!  As the weekend wore on, I kept hearing Gabe say other words, or I'd think of other words I knew he could say, and I continued to update the list.  As of this list, I have around 40 words that I know he can say:

1. daddy
2. momma
3. sis-sis
4. banana ('mana)
5. apple
6. Hosanna
7. no
8. mh-mmm
9. snack
10. milk
11. help (sounds like "up")
12. Maddie (mah-eee)
13. toodles
14. water
15. uh-oh
16. what
17. look
18. bird
19. that
20. dog
21. bible
22. phone
23. up
24. down
25. tickle-tickle
26. hi
27. ta-da
28. socks
29. shoes
30. thank you (day-doo)
31. please (peaz)
32. hot
33. eggs
34. bye-bye
35. sure (sho')
36. night-night
37. stuck
38. backpack
39. truck (duck)
40. hug
41. potty
42. Isaac
43. tacos
44. song

Of course, most of these words are most intelligible to his immediate family members, so it might take some interpretation or context to figure out exactly what he's saying, but it usually becomes clear.

Who knew we'd have two talkers?! :D

Man on the run

Gabe starts walking! from Megan Ciampa on Vimeo.

My little man is 1 year old!

3 days old, leaving the hospital

Last Saturday, our little man took the plunge and became a 1 year old!  We had a party with friends and family that very night and had a wonderful time.  Aside from the stress I put myself through leading up to the party, we thoroughly enjoyed welcoming Gabe into his second year as a "little man."

at home with Mommo

Maybe it's because this wasn't my first rodeo, and maybe some of it is because he's been a very chill baby, but I feel like I can say I enjoyed every day of his first year.  Sure, I was definitely tired, and still am some days, but his little smiles, snuggles and his general easy-going nature have made the transition as a family of 3 to 4 that much easier.  I think that is why I'm a little sad to see these baby days go by.  They were here, and now they're gone! We're already writing up year two now for Gabe.  Oh, he's going to be a little man :)

Day 2, with his little ducky from his big sister

The theme of his party literally was "LITTLE MAN," and we had mustache props for everyone and a fake transportable photo booth.  Thanks to Greg's great idea (never discount the creativity of your husband), we bought a package off Etsy, where all I had to do was print out the materials on cardstock and cut them out.  So, a little physical labor and a trip to the craft store was required, but it made for some really cute decorations that I actually didn't want to take down.  We invited lots of Gabe's little man friends from church and our in-town family, and served up chili, guacamole, tortilla chips, hot doggies, fruit & veggies for the kids, and Gabe was presented with his first cupcake.  RESULT: Cupcake, 1; Frosting, 0.  Good thing I didn't go overboard on the frosting (just a simple buttercream), but he loved the cupcake recipe from Nourished & Nurtured.

I'd say the party was a success! Our party favors for the little ones were the ever-popular fruit pouch squeezy snacks. Flava of the day was spinach, pear and mango.

Happy 1st Birthday, Gabe!

soooooo tired!

he's a snugglebug

You can see the rest of the pictures on my Facebook account, provided we are "friends"! ;)

We love you!

Daddy, Mommy & Mia