Disney World

We spent the first week of December in Florida. I had a work training that I needed to go to and since it was over Charlotte's birthday we decided to make a week out of it. I flew to Florida on Monday morning and Matt and Charlotte came and met me there on Tuesday night. We stayed at the Gaylord Palms which was amazing!! Thursday, Friday and Saturday we went to Disney World. We went to a different park each day. Thursday was MGM, Friday we went to Animal Kingdom and spent Saturday at Magic Kingdom. When I was at work Matt and Charlotte spent a lot of time at the huge water park at the hotel. Charlotte was in Heaven with the water sing set!!

Charlotte was still a little small for Disney World but she had a good time for the most part. It was a lot different than our last trip there. Having a kid really changes things. We went to lots of the movies and kid rides, but it was so fun to see Charlotte get excited. She was a little scared of some of the characters. As long as they kept their distance and didn't try to touch her she was good. 

We came home on Sunday. Up to that point everything had gone really smooth the whole vacation.  Our flight was super early and I puked on the way to the airport. Luckily the taxi was still in the hotel parking lot when I  did it. Nothing like running out of a taxi to puke...I was months past any morning sickness so it was a little surprising. When we got to the airport it was nuts. They had to rush us through the check in line and security took forever. We made it to the plane with about five minutes to spare. Some nice guy gave up his seat so Matt and I could sit together. Charlotte was a little monster on the way home. After two blow outs she threw a full bag of Cheerios up the aisle and kept trying to steal the guys pillow in front of us (and was successful twice) Matt finally got her to sleep and then I dumped my cup of OJ on my lap. Needless to say we were so happy when we landed. Despite the crazy trip home we had a great time!

Exploring the hotel. It was fun to see at Christmas time. 

Charlotte HATED these guys! Glad we got one picture where she wasn't crying. 

Dinner on her birthday. Glad the company was good because the food was terrible! I thought with how nice the hotel was the restaurants would be good. Nope, not the case :)

 Meeting Mike and Sully. It was perfect since they were the theme of her birthday party.

 Playing in "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground.

 Christmas at Disney World was a sight to see. They even had fake snow falling. You can't really see it in these pictures.

 Her first ride.

 So worn out by the end of the day.

 This was on the boat ride to get to Magic Kindom. She pooped out before we even made it to the park.

 "It's a Small World" was her favorite ride.

 Trotting along with dad.

 She was excited for Winnie the Poo. Then cried the whole time. It scared her so bad.

 After four times around the park on the train (and Charlotte and I napping) Matt got bored.

 The Teacups.

 Her first french fry. I felt like a bad mom.

 Captain Charlotte. She did better on Pirates of the Caribbean than on Winne the Poo.

Going...

Going...

 ...and gone!

 And she didn't wake up until the next morning.

First Birthday!

I seriously can't believe my little baby is one. The last few months have flown by. I want her to stay little, but there is nothing better than watching her learn and grow. It seems like after 11 months she just went crazy with what she can do. I should have made this list of things that happened over the month on her birthday and not a month later...I can't remember everything.

Learned her first two words in sign language (more and please).
Still loves to read books and turn the pages.
Loves to play in the tub, pool, etc. Anything with water.
Knows how to walk but can still craw a lot faster (that changed about a week after her birthday now she is running all over the place and won't ever crawl).
Loves to eat and will eat healthy food luckily. She is trying so hard to use a fork and spoon but still needs a little help sometimes.
Loves to play with other kids. Glad we have so many cousins and friends close by.
Loves to cuddle before bed and naps.
She has mastered giving loves (hugs) and kisses...but mostly will only give Matt and her baby (my stomach) kisses.
Has eight teeth (and likes to bite).
Says mama, dada, and more.
Love her milk and water, she can down more water than I can.
Obsessed with her silky blanket.
Puts the phone (or anything resembling a phone) to her ear to "talk"
LOVES to hide and play peek-a-boo
Loves to "wrestle" with her dad and be tickled
Started throwing tantrums (YIKES!!!)
Likes the remote, the fridge, emptying cupboards and drawers, watching about two minute of Dinosaur Train, and animals (as long as they aren't real).
He first Thanksgiving was fun...except she didn't really want to eat that day.

She would NOT cooperate for these pictures so they didn't turn out great. We tried twice and just couldn't get her to hold still. Oh well, something to remember about her at one!

We had her birthday party on December 1st. I was so stressed about what to do. I am SHOCKED by how far some people go for a one year old's birthday party. We kept it really simple but I wanted to do something fun. I am so completely creatively challenged so it was hard to even come up with an idea. Since she was a couple months old I have called her my little monster. So we decided to have a "good" monsters party. 

We made a Sully cake from Monster's Inc. Matt and I have never even attempted to make a cake so I let his steady dentist hands do most of the work. For a first time attempt from a couple of amateurs I think it turned out ok.

And a few Mike cake pops to add to the fun!

Lesson number one from birthday party planning...don't buy a HAPPY BIRTHDAY banner from the dollar store or it may say HPPY BIRTHDAY. Matt noticed it and thought I made it and didn't know how to spell happy :)

I was so proud these simple crafts only took me a half a day to figure out. Not really they were easy that is the only reason I could do them.

Thank you Pinterest. I loved these veggie/fruit tray ideas.

She loved when we sang to her. I thought she would go to town on the cake given how much she loves to eat, but she really didn't eat very much. I don't think she knew quite what to think.

We kept it simple and just had family at that party. I was going to do a little friend party, but is just felt silly at this age. I wish I would have taken a picture of everyone that came but I didn't so I'll at least write it down so she can remember someday.

Mom and Dad
Grandma and Grandpa Jorgensen
Grandma and Grandpa Jacobsen
Great Grandma and Grandpa Miller
Great Grandma Jacobsen
Aunt Christ
Aunt Amy (with Dalaney, Sam, Hailey, and Eli)
Aunt Kylie and Uncle Chad (with Mya)
Aunt Jen and Uncle Rick
Aunt Mandy
Melanie and Brett (with Ezra, Audrey, and Owen)

On her actual birthday we were in Florida so we took her out to dinner at the hotel and spent the week at Disney World. I took a million pictures, but here are a couple.

The food was actually terrible. Glad we were in a "boat" on the middle of a "lake" to help compensate.