Why am I so excited about this? / New Years Recipe

I don't know why I got so excited about this, but I did. I have to confess that I always thought I would have all boys because that is what I wanted, but little girls are so much fun! Her clothes are so cute, the girly toys and everything about her is amazing. The Lord definitely knew what he was doing and we are so blessed with our little one!

One thing I had been looking forward to since day one, is doing my little girl's hair. It was a struggle, but one day before school I was able to get her hair in pig tails. I had forgotten about how excited I got until I was looking through my pictures for my previous blog.

Trust me, this was not easy.. she said several times.."mommy, hurts". I wish you could hear how she says hurts (she doesn't say her "r" good).. it is cute. We both survived and with the help of a lot of hair spray we got pig tails. {Don't worry, I won't turn into one of those Toddlers and Tiaras moms.}

Here was the result...






Now, how cute is that? I hope you have a wonderful New Year! If you need a recipe for your party tonight, here is my favorite dip...

Bacon and Blue Cheese Dip

Ingredients
7 slices bacon
1 Tablespoon Bacon grease
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup half-and-half
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Directions
-Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Remove bacon from skillet, drain on paper towels and crumble.
-Place garlic in hot bacon grease. Cook and stir until soft, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place cream cheese and half-and-half in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until blended. Stir in bacon, 1 Tablespoon of bacon grease, garlic, blue cheese and chives. Transfer mixture to a medium baking dish.
-Bake covered in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until lightly browned.
-Serve with warm crusty bread.

It is so good, even for those who are not huge Blue Cheese fans.

Be careful and have a Happy New Year!

Miss Me??

I actually have a few faithful friends who have asked me to start blogging again. We are a couple days away from the New Year and I promise to not go three months again without updating this blog on my exciting life:).

Wow.. how time has flown. I went out of town and the Holidays happened. I have not written about so much that has happened and I am disappointed with myself and will try to get caught up. This blog is mainly for me.. and my terrible memory. I want to remember this amazing time in my life with my babies and my best friend.

A recap of the past few months.. and pictures to follow...

September is a blurrrr...

Half of October was spent in Florida on the beach... celebrating my Grandma's (mom's mom) 80th birthday and having a fun "girl's weekend" with my friends from college otherwise known as "feminazis". My husband was so sweet to let me go home for so long!

November was busy for me and my little store (http://www.chicgiving.com/) getting ready for the holidays, doing shows etc. We also went to Missouri to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with Justin's family (I am such a dummy and forgot my camera). Then my aunt and dad came up to NC to spend Thanksgiving with us.

December.. wow it went by in a blink. I can't believe that Christmas is here and gone. Kate loved it. She opened up all her gifts (very slowly).

Now here comes January 2010... we are expecting Child #2 - a little boy in March and we are SO EXCITED and SCARED!! Seriously, I don't know how I am going to handle 2 kids, but I know I'll figure it out.

Here are some pictures of my precious little one.. over the past three months...

Kate and Silas at our party for the FSU / Miami Game. He is the cutest little boy and truly a miracle. He has been through several surgeries and is the happiest baby I have been around!

Kate swinging at Beckham's birthday party. She loves to swing.

Kate with my mom and grandma at the beach.

We spent Halloween at my uncle's house. Kate dressed up as Tinkerbell. That look was the look on her face the entire night.. I could not get one smile out of her...I guess she was taking it all in.

My cousins Katie and Chris took Kate around the neighborhood. My uncle's neighborhood was definitely the place to be. They had over 500 kids for Halloween. I had never seen anything like it.

Kate made a costume change into a Buccaneer Cheerleader. October in Florida = HOT! Here she is with her Papa (my dad).

Kate with her Princess Pumpkin.

Kate picking out our Christmas Tree.

This is a little recap for now... more to come later. Thanks for being a part of our little life.

What's the second step to being an efficient wife?

This is the final day of the efficient wife theme on my blog.. I got one encouraging comment from the last post.. so I thought.. OK.. I'll keep it coming. Obviously I am not an expert.. and need a lot of work in this area. But... I thought I would share that I am currently updating my IPhone while writing this blog.. so, multi-tasking = efficient.

Man, I have ADD - That is not the second step.

The second step is getting on a SCHEDULE and STICKING TO IT! Especially when it comes to housework. Meal planning is definitely easier than this, trust me. If you saw my house right now, you would immediately tell me to STOP BLOGGING and CLEAN. Well, I am doing laundry while blogging - so, again I get stars for multi-tasking.

The expert in the area of making and keeping a schedule (specifically housework) is Fly Lady. If you haven't been to her site.. GO, READ, LEARN...DO. She recommends to start with baby steps (which I love). Two things I try to definitely do are... clean the sink / run the dish washer every night and unload it in the morning. Secondly, put one load of laundry in each morning. I think those are two things that can pile up.. and most women HATE doing. I also love how she breaks up the house into sections.. her plan would even work well for women who work, not only SAHMs.

Here are her 11 Commandments.. we all need to go by!

1. Keep your sink clean and shiny.
2. Get dressed every morning, even if you don’t feel like it. Don’t forget your lace-up shoes.
3. Do your morning and before bedtime routine everyday.
4. Don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked by the computer.
5. Pick up after yourself. If you get it out, put it away.
6. Don’t try to do two projects at once. ONE JOB AT A TIME.
7. Don’t pull out more than you can put back in one hour.
8. Do something for yourself everyday, maybe every morning and night.
9. Work as fast as you can to get the job done. This will give you more time to play later.
10. Smile even when you don’t feel like it. It is contagious. Make your mind up to be happy and you will be.
11. Don’t forget to laugh everyday. Pamper yourself, you deserve it.

I do so much better when I put myself on a schedule and stick to it... so I thought that would help us all. When your home is in order.. life is so much less stressful!

BONUS - FREEBIE FRIDAY - over on our giveaways site, we are giving away a Beaba Babycook - Babyfood Maker. It is valued at $150 - enter at http://www.chicgiveaways.com/.

Have a great weekend!!

What's the first step to being an efficient wife?

Yes, I love themes.. and due to the recent google search that landed some poor soul to my little blog.. this week's theme is on being an efficient wife. This is the theme for two reasons.. first of all, it gives me something to write about and second of all, I need some efficiency in my life! Especially since I am pregnant with our second child.. YES!! YEAH!! Can you believe it? We are so excited!! After reading my friend's blog post about all her kids and the craziness --I don't know if I can handle it, but it is too late for that!!

My sister-in-law and niece came to visit this past weekend. We had so much fun with them. My niece and Kate's age difference is the just about the same as Kate and our new little baby (due March 28th). Justin and I were talking about it... and man are we going to have our hands full!! (BTW.. no, I didn't take any pictures of when they were here.. yes, I am mad at myself).

Anyway.. back to my efficient wife theme / step one - MEAL PLANNING. I was thinking about this and something I wanted to get back to was meal planning. One of my best friends growing up (and to this day) had/has the most efficient mom I have ever met or known. Her family was like a second family to me, so I did get to learn a little from her and her mom. Oh, and yes I still call her and ask her for advice.

This mom was very much into meal planning. In fact, she would plan meals for the month. As a bonus, she only went grocery shopping once a month. Did you hear that? ONCE A MONTH. I did this when Justin and I were first married, but I got out of the habit. I am determined to get back into it. I have decided to try to meal plan for two weeks, instead of the whole month and go shopping twice a month. I'll let you know how it goes.

To help you out, I thought I would post the meals I have planned for the next two weeks along with links to the recipes (if they have a recipe). Also, as a tip.. always get your family involved in this and ask them what they would like to have on their menu. Justin always tells me some meals I forget about. I would also suggest compiling a list of your family's favorite recipes so you have something to choose from each week. Try one new recipe each week. We can get so boring and repetitious in what we make.

This week I was reading another blog who made The Pioneer Woman's Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich and I decided to make it.. let me tell you.. it was AMAZING!! I am definitely adding this one to our list of favorites!!

Here are the meals I have planned for the next two weeks. I write them on our family calendar, so everyone can see it. It helps tremendously with grocery shopping!! I hope this helps you!

9/16 - Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich with homemade Blue Cheese potato chips

9/17 - Meatloaf with mashed potatoes

9/18 - Leftovers

9/19 - B-Day Party

9/20 - Enchiladas with rice and corn (use recipe on store bought enchilada sauce can)

9/21 - Salmon with broccoli

9/22 - Grilled Chicken and sauteed veggies

9/23 - Pasta (Aglio e Olio)

9/24 - Tacos with rice and corn

9/25 - Chili - Turkey/Black Bean

9/26 - Steak with Gorgonzola & baked potatoes

9/27 - Eat Out

9/28 - Smithfield's Pre-Seasoned Pork Tenderloin (grilled)

9/29 - Spaghetti (Justin makes this - I'll have to get his recipe to post)

9/30 - Leftovers

10/1 - Grilled Lemon Pepper Chicken with corn

Need an introduction for an efficient wife?

I was just checking my google analytics and found that someone searched for an "introduction to an efficient wife" and reached my blog from that search. Although I long to be an efficient wife and I wish had a great story for your introduction to an efficient wife.. sorry mister.. you won't find that here.

What you will find... pathetic titles posed as questions... lots of stories and pictures about my little girl, Kate (sorry, I can't help it) recipes and other random things like this post.

Maybe that does make me an efficient wife... I can cram all that stuff into this little blog. My new goal along with being an excellent wife (Prov. 31), I am adding an efficient wife. Now that I think about it.. the Proverbs 31 wife was efficient... I have a lot to work on!

How did Kate do at her first day of preschool (MMO)?

I was so nervous today, I woke up at about 5:30am (which would normally be unheard of from me). I am seriously not a morning person, but I wish I was. I could stay up all night, but no matter what time I go to bed, I do not like getting up in the morning. Today was Kate's first day at preschool. Well, they call it preschool, but I am only sending her one day a week for three hours (three days seemed a little to much for a 16 month old) so it is really more like a mother's morning out for me.

Anyway, I wanted to make sure I had all the paperwork, her little backpack, snacks and supplies ready to go. She is there now, and I am still anxious. This was her before she left this morning...

Ok mom and dad.. I'm ready to go...

Justin dropped her off. The preschool is at a church about 2 minutes from where he works. I also didn't trust myself. I didn't want to be that babbling idiot crying when I dropped her off. I did cry when he pulled out of the driveway with her. At least I was able to experience that by myself.

So the big question... how did she do? I was nervous because she cries almost everytime I take her to the nursery at our church on Sunday mornings. Justin assured me that she had no problem today. She walked right into that class and starting playing with toys. When her daddy proceeded to tell her "bye, bye", he was expecting some crying... running to him... clinging on him, etc. I think he was a little disappointed when she responded with a look up at him, a wave and a nonchalant "bye, bye" out of her mouth.

She is seriously growing up.. and is going to be just fine at her MMO. I just hope she isn't disappointed tomorrow, when she is stuck with me all day again. I am heading to pick her up now and I am hoping she is excited to see me!

Kate is 16 months already? Recipe & Freebie Friday

I have been completely neglecting my blog lately, which probably disappoints me more than you. I have a terrible memory, so I am hoping this is a way to somewhat help me remember what went on in my early days of motherhood. It has only been 16 months since Kate came into our lives and it seriously seems like a blur. Can you believe it? She turned 16 months yesterday. I will have to say, this is a fun stage! She is so interactive, intuitive and eager to learn. Oh, yes, she is also eager to show her strong will and trys to stand up to her mommy.. which I have already started to work on breaking. (ok, that part is not so fun.) The rest is though. She is learning new words all the time and it amazes me what she can understand. She will actually take our trash to the trash can and throw it away. Justin and I both think that is awesome! (it doesn't take much for us)

Her biggest obsession is shoes. It is really funny/weird. She wakes up pointing to her shoes and saying, "shoes". She is constantly bringing us our shoes and wanting us to put them on. She even had a melt down the other day when I didn't put the shoes she wanted on her feet. (btw.. the shoes I picked out won).

She also loves to dance, play with her doll house and swing on her swing set.

A lady gave her a "dum dum" lolly pop the other day and she loved it. She smiled and giggled the whole time she ate it. I have never seen anything bring her such joy.

To make things even better.. she is just about the cutest thing ever! I don't think I have put these on my blog before, so here are some of my favorite pictures we had taken for her 1 year pics.

She loves to blow kisses.

Kate with her cousins Sara Beth and Luke.

Aren't those pictures amazing? My sister-in-law set up a photo shoot with her photographer and he is amazing!

I know that Labor Day is coming up and if are like me you will be attending one or two parties. We are going to friends of ours for lunch/cookout and that night we are having friends over for the FSU/Miami game. (GO NOLES!!)

I made this a couple weeks ago for some ladies I had over and it was delicious!! I love trifles. They are so easy and pretty. I have made quite a few and this one is by far my favorite. Perfect for entertaining. Here is the recipe. I of course found it on All Recipes, but I didn't have all the ingredients, so I did some substitutes and it was amazing! Here is a link to the original (Strawberry Tiramisu Trifle). Below is the trifle with my changes.

Strawberry Trifle

INGREDIENTS
2 quarts fresh strawberries
1 Jar Marshmallow Cream
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons strong brewed coffee, room temperature
1 Container Cool Whip, thawed 2 Packages Pepperage Farms Milano Cookies 6 (1 ounce) squares Semi-Sweet chocolate, grated (I chopped up chocolate chips)

DIRECTIONS
Set aside three strawberries for garnish; slice the remaining strawberries. In a bowl, mix Marshmallow Cream and Cream Cheese together until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.
Dip cookies in coffee (if you don't like coffee dip in milk). Line the bottom of a 3-qt. trifle or glass serving bowl with half of the cookies. Top with half of the sliced berries, grated chocolate and cream cheese mixture; repeat layers. Cut reserved berries in half; place on trifle. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

I know you are going to think this post is never-ending, but I wanted to let you know about our awesome giveaway this week over at our giveaways page. We are giving away an amazing pearl necklace from Nebo Beads a NY based jewelry designer. Check it out and enter at: Chic Giveaways.

Have an awesome weekend!!

Why does life get so hectic?

For the past few weeks, our life has been crazy. My husband and I have had something going on every night for the past two weeks. Last Monday we took our first trip to the emergency room with Kate. She fell at church and we didn't see her fall. She started throwing up a couple hours later and the doctor was concerned that she hit her head. He wanted us to take her in to get a catscan. We spent four hours in the ER and they didn't want to give her a catscan and sent us home. Thank goodness it just ended up being a stomach virus that was going around. She is fine, but that was only the beginning to our crazy couple of weeks.

Our church hosted a Beth Moore simulcast and I was on the team. We had a "dream team" of women working together. I have never been apart of a group who worked together so well. We did run into a few bumps in the road, but the Lord was so faithful and everything turned out wonderfully! Here is that awesome team of women.

Beth talked from Psalm 37 - "Coming Home to Heart of Your Desires". (I feel a little weird calling her Beth.. I am talking as if I know her personally, which I don't.. but I didn't want to say Beth Moore or Mrs. Moore, so I settled for "Beth".) Anyway, I had heard that passage preached several times, but she did bring a freshness to it for me. For those of you who missed it... the message will be available on her website in the next few weeks at Living Proof.

After a hectic week last week and knowing that life wasn't slowing down with Justin's schedule, I decided to re-focus and read through Romans and read the book, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist by John Piper. I wanted to share an excerpt that he wrote.. I love how God works. This totally goes along with what Beth was talking about this weekend (the desires of our hearts) He wrote a poem to his wife on their 25th wedding anniversary on what it is to be a Christian Hedonist. The poem is really long, so I won't post it all (click here to read it in its entirety), but I loved this excerpt...

Call this whatever name you may, It is the truth.
Shall God display His great all-satisfying grace
In joyless souls? And shall he trace
The outlines of his majesty
In hearts that neither taste nor see
Enough in him to comprehend
That here their quest is at an end?
No, God has made another way
To put his glory on display.

His goodness shines with brightest rays
When we delight in all his ways.
His glory overflows its rim
When we are satisfied in him.
His radiance will fill the earth
When people revel in his worth.
The beauty of God's holy fire
Burns brightest in the heart's desire.

Don't you just love that? Oh, how I want to "Delight my ways in the Lord".. and "He will give me the desires of my heart." (Psalm 37:4) I have a long way to go.. I want my desires to match up with God's desires.

I have no idea why life gets so hectic at times, but remember to stop and think about your purpose on this earth and why God put you here.. one more time...

His goodness shines with brightest rays
When we delight in all his ways.
His glory overflows its rim
When we are satisfied in him.
His radiance will fill the earth
When people revel in his worth.
The beauty of God's holy fire
Burns brightest in the heart's desire.

Did you go "poo-poo"?

Kate is at the age where she is picking up everything. It seems like she learns a couple new words each week. It really blows my mind. I am going to warn you that I am mainly writing this post for me to remember this incredible moment we had this week. I do not want to brag at how brillant my 15th month old is... but she came up to me the other day and said, "mama, poo-poo". I was shocked and asked her, "Kate, did you go poo-poo?" She had in fact gone and needed her diaper changed. I was so excited.. (yes, I know it is sad when you get excited that your daughter said "poo-poo".) I am ready to get the Babywise book on potty training (although I realize it is probably a little early).

Oh.. and the point of this story... be careful what you say to your kids.. I realized that I ask her everytime she needs her diaper changed if she went poo-poo.. and she picked up on it. I am glad I never asked her if she crapped her pants.. I could just imagine her saying to her Sunday School teacher..." ______, crapped."

This is for me.. but I wanted to post the words she is saying and the signs she is using at 15 months. I am going to try to post them in the order she learned them (I am sure I have left some out.. I have a terrible memory).

Words:

Dada
Mama
Toby (which she now pronounces toboo - I have no idea why)
Papa
Pappap
Poo (as in Winnie the Poo)
Bye Bye
Night Night
Help
Shoes
Poo-poo

Signs:

Milk
More
Waves Bye
All Done
Dog
Eat
Please
Help

Can I get a roo, roo, roo? Randomness & Freebie Friday

Ok, so the title is weak- sorry... I had to do little throw back to Arsenio Hall. Although the title may appear to be a throw back to Scooby Doo.. it was Arsenio I was aiming at. I watched VH1's 100 greatest songs of the 80's the other day and wow did that bring back some memories. It also made me want to increase my 80's playlist on my IPod. I forgot about some great songs. I didn't agree with their #1 - Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer". I know it was a big hit, but does anything get better than "Walk this Way" by Run-D.M.C.? Seriously, I still love that song.

I haven't really posted anything new because of my lack of things to write about (as you saw from my introduction). I was telling Justin last night, that I needed something to write about and he proceeded to tell me all kinds of things I could write about.. most of them being the exciting daily chores I do.. which is of course BORING!! I wish I could tell you about our fabulous shopping trip to Nordstrom during the tax free weekend, but that of course was in my dreams.. and instead my tax free shopping included a trip to Khol's with my mom, which was semi-fabulous. Oh, and I wish I could write about our relaxing vacation to the Atlantis, but that is again.. only in my dreams.

Here is a breakdown of our week.. and what we have been up to (for those of you who care).

My mom came in town last weekend and we did what we normally do.. SHOP!! I get my love of shopping from her. I also love to shop with her because I actually get to buy things.. well, technically she buys them for me and Kate. We also went to see Julie and Julia. It was so cute! I highly recommend it, especially if you love to cook and blog (i.e.-Lea).

My mom mainly came in town to see Kate.. who is growing up by the second. I seriously want to make it stop, but not really.. she is getting to be so much fun and a handful!! My mom seriously spoiled her. Here they are together...

Last but not least, as if I could throw one more random thing in this post.. our new permanent Giveaway's site is up (Chic Giveaways)and so cute. Sweet Cheeky Designs did the design and did a wonderful job. She is awesome at blog design!! Check it out. Every Friday, I'll post what we are giving away over at http://www.chicgiveaways.com/. This week we are giving away a set of Monogrammed Car Mats valued at $75. You have until Sunday to enter and a new giveaway will be posted each Monday. We have some awesome things coming!!

Happy Friday!! Have a wonderful weekend!

Love Candles? - Freebie Friday

Visit our new sister site and giveaways site at http://www.chicgiveaways.com/. This week we are giving away a Seda France Candle and Wickman Candle pack including a wick trimmer and wick dipper. Valued at over $50. Entries accepted until Sunday at 11:59pm. Be looking for our permanent site. It will hopefully be up and running next week. Check back weekly for great giveaways! Remember to share with your friends.. extra entries are given when you spread the love!

What can a 1 year old do at the Magic Kingdom? Disney part 2

I am sure alot of you are thinking.. how much can a 1 year old little girl do at Disney's Magic Kingdom? The answer.. ALOT. This was my first experience taking a little one to the park. I myself was wondering, what can she really do? I asked my friends Mike and Tina (who are seriously Disney experts). They told me that there is tons for her to do. They gave us a schedule and breakdown of where we should go.. what Fast Passes to get.. and how to efficiently see the park. Justin and I were all into their little plan... and it worked PERFECTLY. We didn't wait in line for longer than 15 minutes. The park was somewhat crowded.. so I have to really give them props.. and Justin for running all around collecting the Fast Passes.

I don't have the best memory, but I am going to give you a recap of their plan.. how we executed it and some pictures to show the proof. Wow, this sounds like a real CIA mission. I will have to tell you.. Justin was taking notes when Tina and Mike were telling us what to do.. and I was getting a little stressed thinking.. can we really pull this off... Oh yes, we did.

We did fail to complete their first suggestion.. get to the opening gates in time for their opening celebration. I didn't even know the opening celebration existed until I read this blog. I asked Tina about the opening celebration and she said that she highly recommended it. Tina and Mike have only been to the opening celebration once (they are not morning people). Tina told me that she cried the time she saw it. If something could be so exciting as to bring my friend to tears.. I didn't want to miss it.. but we did. I blame it on Justin's latte.. and he blames it on me taking too long to get ready.. either way.. we missed it by 10 minutes... maybe next time.

Here we are on Main Street.. we just walked into the park..

Kate and my dad. This whole trip was his idea. He has been wanting to take her since she was born..

That one little mishap (missing opening celebration), did not keep us from fulfilling our mission to see the Magic Kingdom in a very efficient manor. We had a one year old for goodness sake.. and were not about to wait in lines for hours.

The first thing on our schedule - Go to Dumbo, have me wait in the line while Justin gets Fast Passes to Peter Pan. We only waited about 10 minutes. Here we are at Dumbo..

Kate decided to sit down and wait. This was probably five minutes into the wait... I knew this was going to be a long day...

Yeah!! Finally on the ride..

Please excuse the pictures of me.. I don't think I took one good picture all day! One reason I write this blog is for Kate.. so I wanted to include a couple pictures of me..
After Dumbo, we were told to head to It's a Small World..they said there is never a line.. there wasn't. We walked right on. It was so nice and cool in there. We were tempted to ride that ride all day. Justin and Kate in It's a Small World...

My dad took Kate on the Tea Cups..

Then we rode on the carousel.. We were getting everything in.. killing time until our Fast Passes to Peter Pan were good. After the Carousel.. Justin went to get Fast Passes for Winnie the Pooh.

Here is Kate and Justin getting on the Peter Pan ride. We walked right on... I LOVE the Fast Pass!After Peter Pan we decided to take a break, get something to drink and rest for a minute until our Fast Pass for Winnie the Pooh was good. Here is Justin and Kate on the Winnie the Pooh Ride.

We walked outside after our ride to see the real Winnie the Pooh. Kate's first character experience. We had no idea how she would react. She did ok with the first picture.

She is checking them out.. still not sure...

Oh.. here comes the hug...

After we left Winnie the Pooh, we headed to Toon Town. Minnie's house was Kate's favorite. I loved to watch her and her curiosity. Here she is in front of Minnie's house.

On Minnie's sewing table.. she is going to be like her great-grandma.

Minnie's fridge.. Kate is checking out what she has.

This was Kate's favorite place in the house.. the green room. It was not easy getting her out of this little space.

After Toon Town.. it was lunch time. We seriously got a lot done in the first few hours. Justin went to the Jungle Cruise and got a Fast Pass for us while we were finishing up eating.

After lunch we went to Pirates of the Caribbean. This was the longest line we waited in. I think we waited about 15-20 min. I had not been on it since they added Johnny Depp's character. We enjoyed it. It was amazing how much the mechanical character looked like Johnny Depp.

Next stop.. the Jungle Cruise. Of course, we had Fast Passes, so there was no wait...

After the Jungle Cruise, we went to the Tiki room to hear the Tiki birds. I used to love the Tiki room, but they redid it... and it was not so enjoyable for me anymore. Kate did manage to fall asleep. She was so tired and our poor little girl did not get her morning nap in.

We heard that the Baby Center in the Magic Kingdom was really nice. After the Tiki room, Justin took Kate to the baby center while my dad and I stopped by the Dole ice cream stand. This was definitely a highlight. They have this pineapple and vanilla ice cream and floats. I had a pineapple float.. it was amazing! A definite must- if you ever go. We got one for Justin and met him at the Baby Center. I was amazed at how clean and nice it was. Of course, Kate woke up as soon as Justin got to the Baby center, but we did take a little rest there.

As we got later in the day my picture taking seriously dropped off... Here is Justin and Kate outside of the Baby center. This is one of my favorite pictures.

Next we headed to the Country Bear Jamboree. I think by this point.. anything in air conditioning sounded good to us. That was not as good I remember it either. Dear Disney people - PLEASE UPDATE the Country Bear Jamboree. Kate was the most difficult at the Jamboree. All she wanted to do was run up and down the isle.. probably a main reason I didn't enjoy it.. Oh, and we were all getting tired.

After the Jamboree, we got a great spot for the Parade. Kate sat in her stroller for the entire parade. I did not think it would keep her attention, but it did.

We were all so tired.. it was about 3:30.. and time for a nap. We headed back to the hotel to lay down. We slept until dinner.

We went to dinner at a The Wave.. it is in the Contemporary Hotel. The restaurant had a cool atmosphere and was so relaxing and quiet.

Then.. back to the Magic Kingdom for fireworks and to see Mickey...

No, I did not take those photos.. but they do a great job of describing the firework show. I was afraid that they would scare Kate, but she did fine. It was a great show!

I really wanted Kate to take a picture with Mickey Mouse. The wait earlier in the day was 45 minutes.. and I didn't want to wait that long. We decided to go after the fireworks, thinking that all the people with kids would have gone home.. we were wrong! We waited about 30 minutes to take this picture... poor Kate.. I hope she likes me when she grows up.. I am sure I am going to drive her crazy!

After we left picture taking.. we walked outside to a monsoon. It was POURING!! At that point, I about lost it.. Justin ran to the nearest gift shop and bought an umbrella and poncho. As soon as he got back to us.. it started drizzling. Justin is sure that Disney turned on some faucet.. to increase poncho and umbrella sales... He was not happy, but now we have a cute Mickey umbrella and poncho.

Just for an FYI.. I highly recommend Tina and Mike's Disney plan. It worked out great for us. I couldn't believe how much Kate could do. It is truly a wonderful place.

What makes Disney so magical? The people, the atmosphere and most of all... this mouse. I can't wait to go back!