We had Melody's Easter pictures done prior to Easter, but I wanted to share them with you all today. We took her to my aunt's sessions and she had a live baby lamb (so precious!). Happy Easter!!
Crockpot Chicken Tacos
Most weeks we get together with my best friend and her husband. We take turns cooking dinner for each other. It is definitely easier when we use our crockpot! I love making and eating Mexican food, so I found a super easy recipe for chicken tacos in the crockpot. Check it out below!
Melody's Nine Month Formal Pictures
Melody turned nine months old on February 25th. I took our regular nine month pictures of her myself, but our photographer (my aunt) also took some formal pictures. Below are the shots she was able to get!
Melody's Baptism
Melody was baptized at our local church, Asbury United Methodist Church, on February 19, 2017. Since I was not baptized as a baby, we did not have a gown that she could wear from me, so we found a gorgeous one at a local baby clothing store. Both fortunate and unfortunate, we purchased this dress for 40% off (fortunate), but the store is now out of business and was selling everything at a discount due to this (unfortunate). Brad parents actually bought her dress as a gift to Melody.
Stroller Tag
On our recent trip to Disney World, we knew we would be using our stroller A LOT due to having an 8 (almost 9) month old! If you have ever been to Disney, you may have noticed the sea of strollers. You are required to park your strollers a lot. You cannot take your strollers in most lines at the park or inside of a lot of the buildings. And in that sea of strollers, they all can start to look alike. We decided to make a stroller tag that would at least give it some distinction.
Easter Baskets for Infants
Infants are tricky when it comes to Easter because they are much more limited on the toys they can play with and the food they can eat. Instead of buying a pre-made basket (although I found some cute ones at Target in their baby section), I decided to make one. I made both Melody and her best friend, Lydia, baskets. Check them out below:
Melody's Ten Month Pictures
Melody was ten months old on March 25. It is so hard to believe that! Time has truly flown by. I really can't believe my baby will be a toddler in less than two months! Cue the tears!
What to Wear to Disney in May
I love going to Disney World during the Flower and Garden Festival. It is absolutely gorgeous at Epcot. The first time I attended was during our honeymoon in 2013. I actually did not really know what it was, but when we arrived, it was stunning. We went back for our 2nd anniversary as well. They also used to have Star Wars Weekends, but they no longer do that anymore. We have found May to be great because it isn't very crowded, but the weather can be fairly warm. I have written two previous posts regarding what to wear to Disney World in January and in September. I find May to be very similar to September. It is actually a little bit cooler in May, but not by much. The highs are usually in the mid-to-upper 80's, and the lows are usually in the high 60's. Generally I recommend shorts/skirts, short sleeve shirts, or dresses. Below are some of the specific outfits both Brad and I have worn. I hope this helps if you are planning a trip around May!
Melody's Nine Month Schedule
How in the world do I have an almost TEN month old!? People always tell you time flies after you have kids, but I honestly don't think you fully understand how true this statement is until you have kids in your life. Sometimes we get to the end of a day, and I am wondering where the day truly went. It is so crazy how this happens. So with that, how about her nine month schedule? Well very, very little has changed. We have started increasing her solids with the hopes of decreasing her formula. We have also started feeding her more table food and 3rd foods from the baby food aisle. Other than that, very little changed from her eight month schedule.
Eggs Benedict
I absolutely love eggs benedict. Whenever we eat breakfast or brunch somewhere that offers it on their menu, I will order it. My favorite local restaurant that offers brunch on the weekends is called Grille 29. They serve a crabcake eggs benedict that is to die for. We also have a local bakery, Edgar's Bakery, that serves a similar version. I most recently had it while staying at the Opryland Hotel. While Brad was off work during the holidays, I really wanted to try making it myself. Unfortunately we never got around to it. So a few weekends ago, I decided I wanted to make it, so I bought all the ingredients and attempted it. I found the recipe on Food Network's website. I had never made poached eggs before, so this was definitely a new adventure. I also cut the recipe in half.
Pop Century Resort Review
In February 2017, we traveled to Disney World with Melody for her first trip. We decided to stay at a value resort because we are planning to return to Disney World later this year and stay at a nicer resort. This trip was meant to be a short trip so we didn't want to invest the same money in this one as our one later. This was Brad's first stay at a value resort. I have stayed value many times with my mom and parents. I have stayed at every All Star resort, but we most commonly stay at the All Star Sports Resort. With Brad, we have stayed at The Contemporary, Saratoga Springs, and Port Orleans Riverside. This was going to be a big change for Brad, but he was on board with it.
February 2017 Disney World Trip Report Part Five
This wraps up my trip reports for our February 2017 Disney World visit. It was Melody's first time at Disney World. You can read about all of our days here (one, two, three, four). We did not visit a park on this day. I had contemplated it since our flight wasn't until that afternoon, but seeing that we had Melody with us, I thought it would be too difficult. If it were just Brad and me, I think we could have easily visited a park on this day.
Sunshine Seasons
Our favorite part of Epcot is The Land. In Brad's words "The moment I walk into The Land, I really feel like I have arrived at Disney World!" I am not 100% sure why it feels that way for us, but it does. We do love Soarin', but we REALLY love Living with the Land. We also love the Garden Grill. And we love to just sit and relax in Sunshine Seasons. Of all the times we have just relaxed here, we have never actually had a meal here. Typically we eat all Table Service restaurants when we are at Epcot. They just have so many, it is hard not to. But on our recent trip to Disney World, we had both lunch and dinner here.
PizzeRizzo
On our recent trip to Disney World, we tried PizzeRizzo at Hollywood Studios. This wasn't pre-planned by any means (we originally planned to eat at Backlot Express). We did plan to eat somewhere at Hollywood Studios for lunch, and we preferred something quick-service to save money. While Brad was riding Star Tours around 12:30 p.m. or so, Melody and I waited in the Muppet Courtyard in some shade we found. I have no desire to ride Star Tours unless I am riding it WITH Brad, so we did not do a rider swap for this attraction. When Brad was finished and came to find me, it occurred to be to try PizzeRizzo since we were literally already right there! And pizza was the one thing we had not eaten this entire trip. Below is a quick review!
The Trolley Car Cafe
On our recent trip to Disney World, we visited The Trolley Car Cafe for a quick breakfast. We wanted something semi-filling, but we didn't have time to sit down anywhere. This was the first thing we saw as we were walking down Hollywood Boulevard. Check out my review below.
February 2017 Disney World Trip Report Part Four
Today is part four of my trip report from our February visit to Disney World. You can find Part One, Two, and Three in previous posts. Just a reminder, this was Melody's first visit to Disney World. This was our third park day, and we decided to go to Hollywood Studios that morning. Our plan was to go to Animal Kingdom that evening. The night before we did decide to skip Animal Kingdom because we wanted to go back to Epcot. We also didn't quite follow the plan down to each ride, but overall we stayed on track. Check it out below!
The Plaza Restaurant
On our trip to Disney World in February 2017, we decided to try The Plaza Restaurant. We rarely eat at table service restaurants at the Magic Kingdom. I have tried a few of them, but I haven't been super impressed. There is just so much to do there, I hate to spend a lot of time eating. But we did want to try somewhere new, so we picked here since it was so inexpensive.
Code Name Rebel - Adding Logos
Some of you may wonder how I add my logo to EVERY SINGLE PICTURE on my website. A few months ago, I would literally add it to each photo using Pixelmator. This is one of my main photo editing tools I use. This was taking me FOREVER. I complain to Brad a lot about things I want him to fix for me. One of those things was my logo. I wanted an automatic way to add the logo to my picture without having to do it one at a time.
February 2017 Disney World Trip Report Part Three
Today is part three of my trip report from our February visit to Disney World. You can find Part One and Two in previous posts. Just a reminder, this was Melody's first visit to Disney World. This was our second park day, and we decided to go to Magic Kingdom. You can read about what we planned in this blog post. We didn't quite follow the plan down to each ride, but overall we stayed on track. Check it out below!