Weekend of distractions

As the end of last week drew to a close and it was becoming more and more apparent that little one was not yet on her way, Matt and I began to discuss plans for how to stay busy (and maybe even have some fun) while we waited.

He brainstormed a bunch of ideas and emailed them to me at work and come Friday afternoon, we began tackling the list.

First up was a trip to the Como Zoo and nature conservatory. I had never been there before, but it was a lot of fun. They also had a really cute little carnival area for kids so we know we will be back someday soon with little one. It was also an awesome opportunity to practice using my camera and I got some really great pictures in the conservatory. Here are three of my favorites. (Full disclosure, I did a bit of post editing experimentation with Photoshop.)

Then after the zoo, we went out and volunteered with the Eagan Yellow Ribbon and bagged groceries at Cub. At first I wasn't sure that I could stand for that long, but it ended up being really fun. Matt and I enjoyed doing a volunteer project together and it really did help put things in perspective. One sure way of stopping feeling sorry for yourself is to do something to focus on others.

After we got home from Cub, we had a fantastic late dinner of turkey burgers, coleslaw, potato salad and baked beans. Overall, an awesome night!

Saturday we once again woke up with no signs of baby's arrival so we had a relaxing morning at home before heading out to the Mall of America to have lunch and do some shopping. We had a great lunch at this new restaurant at the mall, I can never remember the right name and keep calling it "Cowboy Jacks." Anyway, the pulled pork sandwich that I had was amazing and Matt really enjoyed his meat lovers flat bread. After lunch, we ventured out to look for new jeans for Matt but it turned into a bit of a disaster, truthfully. Let's just say that my husband is not a fan of shopping!

Jeanless, we headed home and ended up wrapping up the afternoon with a great visit to the local park to try out Matt's new bean bag game that my dad made him for Christmas. I found out that I really stink at that game but we had a lot of fun just hanging out together. We even spent a few minutes playing on the park equipment and thinking about what it will be like bringing our daughter there. We ended Saturday with a great gourmet spinach and strawberry salad dinner paired with the always sophisticated Mac & Cheese. We also stocked up on 4 new Redbox movies to keep us busy over the next 24 hours.

Sunday morning once again greeted us without a baby, so we headed off to church. The worship and sermon was really good and another welcome distraction from our own waiting. We then tried the jean mission part II at Kohl's and had much more success. Afterwards we ran over to Target to return some baby items and ended up getting some fun "splurge" items for lunch including soda and lunchables. Fun to give in to cravings at this stage of the game!

We spent some time around the house watching movies in the afternoon as well as hanging the baby monitor and some picture frames in little bugs room. Then we walked over to our favorite local Mexican restaurant, El Azteca, and enjoyed a great late dinner. We had a great conversation on the way to the restaurant and at dinner, reliving our first dating and early marriage moments. Also, about how different our life is now and how it's about to completely change. Very fun and one of those nights where you get to fall more and more in love with your spouse.

Today is "D" day and little one seems to be quite content where she is at, so once again we are preparing for another busy day. On the agenda today is baking come pumpkin bread, assembling the Pack n Play, giving the cat a haircut, then going for a walk around Lake Nokomis.

Looking back, I know that I will remember this uninterrupted time with just Matt and I very fondly and be grateful that we had it. In a way this was sort of a "staycation" for us and we connected with each other in ways that we typically only do when we are off on a trip together. It was such a sweet time to just hunker down just the two of us (we really ignored phones, Facebook, etc) and just hang out together.

I also feel really blessed to be married to my best friend and to have him here for love, support and to keep me busy during this challenging waiting time.

I've also learned a lot about taking things one task at a time, one moment at a time and one day at a time. I know that going back to work post D-day will be really hard for both Matt and I tomorrow, but I'm going to try and just focus on the here an now. And I know that if we once again wake up tomorrow morning without our little one, then God will give us the strength we need to keep going.

2 years in the making

After two (sometimes long) years, we are delighted to announce that Matt is an official member of the Lakeville Fire Department! He completed his probationary period earlier in April but recently had his swearing in ceremony on May 20, 2013.

I could not be more proud of him and it was so great to have the honor of pinning on his badge during the ceremony. He has worked so incredibly hard for this and genuinely loves being a fire fighter. 

Often people are confused by the "paid on call" nature of many fire departments across the country, but basically it means that they are paid per training and per call, versus a part-time salary. To be honest, monetarily it doesn't add up to much, they make a small stipend per call and per training session. However, if you ask any of the dedicated men and women who answer this important calling, none of them would say that they do it for the money.

Like many service members (police, fire, military), they are honored to serve our community. I've known from almost the moment that I met him, that Matt has a servant's heart. He loves helping others and being a part of the fire department has given him the chance to do that. I know he takes great pride in being a part of the department and we are so happy that he's been given that opportunity.

Shortly after we got married, Matt began exploring other career options and decided that he'd like to work towards becoming a fire fighter. Both full-time and part-time departments are very competitive so we knew it could take several years for this to become a reality. He first completed an EMT program through the Red Cross and began volunteering at events as well as at United Hospital. Then we began to watch for openings at departments in our local community and quickly realized that we lived out of range for Apple Valley and Rosemount, but were just at the right distance for Lakeville. So when that posting went up and Matt was accepted to the recruitment class we were thrilled. 

Throughout his 2 years as a "rookie," he completed both Fire Fighter I and Fire Fighter II state certifications as well as a bunch of other specialized training. I think his favorite part so far has been the camaraderie with the guys, but he's also loved talking to kids at community events, doing live burns and learning how to drive the truck.

I love that we get to be a part of our local community in this way and really value the great friendships that we've made with some of Matt's fire fighter buddies and their wives. Growing up with a police officer Dad, I always loved the camaraderie that comes with being a part of public service like this and I'm so happy that Matt and I get to have that for our own family.

Closing with a few photos from the day. Baby and I are very proud of you Mattie!

Getting sworn in at the City Council meeting

At the station afterwards

39 week "bump" pic at the station

All of the former "rookies"

Matt and some of the Station 2 guys (missing Higgins)

The hard-earned badge!

Little things that I'm looking forward to

So as I sit here and continue to wait (as patiently as possible!) for our little princess to decide when she will grace us with her presence, I have begun to think of all of these little moments that I'm really looking forward to as a parent. It's still so amazing to think that this little wiggly one will soon be in my arms and the life long journey of being a Mom (and Mattie being a Dad) will have begun.

We have so many wonderful moments on the horizon and I'm looking forward to experiencing as many as possible. I do know that it will be incredibly hard at times, but I hope that I can look back at this list and smile when those tough times come.

In no particular order, here's my 5:45 a.m. ramblings on what I'm looking forward to with our daughter. I know that I could go on and on...

- First moment holding her and studying all of her perfect little features. Taking in every little elbow, knee and foot and how I remember all to well what those felt like poking me from the inside for all of those months.
- First eye to eye connection and getting to see that this is "her"
- First time she cries and I am able to comfort her
- Watching her and her daddy together
- First wonderful smile
- As she grows older, seeing her begin to reach for me
- Watching as she learns new things and begins to become her own little person
- And older still, watching her in her first dance recital (or soccer game, piano concert or whatever she is into)
- Seeing her face light up on Christmas morning
- Holding her and making the "owie" all better when she falls down and scrapes her knee
- Taking in all that we tell her about how much Jesus loves her and the day when she understands just what that means
- Watching her share and be kind to others
- Taking her to Disney and watching her excitement over the "princesses"
- Being proud of her accomplishments no matter how big or how small
- Loving her unconditionally and learning patience and selflessness over and over and over again : )
- Helping her get ready for dances and dates
- Hopefully someday becoming her best friend, just like me and my Mom...

The Waiting Game...

This week has been kind of difficult. As I type this, I'm currently 38 weeks and 4 days pregnant, so about 10 days to go before the due date. And ever since I hit the 37 week milestone when I could deliver at my birth center, I've been waiting and wondering when little one will arrive.

The funny thing is, I never thought that this waiting period would be so hard. I always figured that I'd stay busy and just know that she will come when she wants to come and be completely fine with that. I really didn't anticipate the frustrated agony of simply not knowing "when."

As many of you know, I'm a planner and also a bit of a control freak. I like to have a plan for everything, and then try and keep things according to plan. However, if it doesn't go exactly the way I had planned I'm normally okay, because I often have a plan B, C and D. I drive my husband nuts when we talk about things for the future because we go down one scenario, then if that doesn't work we have a back-up scenario, etc. He always gets frustrated and is like, "you can't possibly know what's going to happen so why are we talking about this!" But for me, it's soothing to try and think of all of the possibilities and do everything I can to prepare for any circumstance.

Which is why I had the baby's room done months ago, everything organized and put away within 24 hour of my last baby shower and have been bugging my sweet husband to install the car seat every day (he did do it last weekend!). I just want to make sure that we are ready at a moment's notice. My bag has been at least partially packed since the beginning of April and while I will probably always still have a to-do list and "just one more thing" that I want to get done, the only thing I really need now is our baby!

I've also had the privilege of walking this first-time Mom journey with several friends, and have seen babies come early, right on time and after their due date. So I know that you just never know! It still doesn't stop me though from thinking about when it's going to happen almost every second of every day though...

I know that God is trying to teach me a very important lesson through all of this though and that is one of patience and waiting on his time. HE knows when little one will arrive. HE knows if she's going to be healthy or not. HE already loves her more than I do, so what the heck am I worrying so much for? Logically, it all makes tons of sense. But then another minute goes by and I'm back to thinking about it! Sigh. 

Right now, this is my battle and one that I am constantly praying my way through. I've had good moments and bad moments this week but I think the most important thing is who I keep turning to for sanity and support and that's God. It's definitely the greatest test of patience that I've ever had and there's not one darn thing I can do about it!

So whether I'm still waiting on this little one tomorrow, or a week from now or 20 days from now (I can technically go until June 11 and still deliver at the birth center), I will continue to attempt to do so with a grateful heart. Grateful for this perfect little girl who is on the way. Grateful for a wonderful husband who faithfully puts up with my craziness. Grateful for the loving friends and family who have gathered around us and helped up prepare for this precious gift. And overall, grateful that even in my struggles, I can turn to the Lord and He will provide the comfort that I need to make it through who know how many days ahead. Not just during this waiting period, but all the days to follow as well.

Closing with some verses on waiting:

Psalm 130:5-6
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Galatians 6:9
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight

Psalm 40:1
I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry

Psalm 62:5-8
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God;he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

Hebrews 6:15
And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Psalm 27:14
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

Last Date Night Before Baby

Last Saturday night as sort of an early Mother's Day celebration as well as a last "date night" before baby arrives, Matt took me out to a fantastic restaurant in St. Paul called Forepaugh's.

I absolutely love going out to eat and nice places and Matt is so cute about researching and finding the perfect ones to try. Whenever we go on vacation it's always his job to pick the nice place out to eat. And he does an excellent job!

He had actually been to Forepaugh's once before for a wedding and thought it was a really neat looking place (it's an old Victorian style house build in 1870, I believe). They also pride themselves on making everything from scratch and using fresh, locally grown, organic food. It is a bit spendy, but absolutely worth every penny.

The food is FANTASTIC! It was honestly the best meal that I have ever had, and I've been to some pretty highly rated restaurants around the country, including several very swanky places in New York. I'm telling you though, those places have nothing on Forepaugh's!

To be perfectly honest, when I first looked at the menu I was a bit skeptical. Nothing particularly stood out to me. However, our waitress was very sweet and made some great recommendations so I was like "what the heck, I will try it!" We ended up getting the Malaysian Chicken Samosas for a starter and they were amazing. You could tell from the very first bite that every flavor was intentional. From the sweet mango dipping sauce to the light sea salt that covered the outside. Mmmmmmmmm

Moving on to salads, I got the waldorf salad and Matt had a blue cheese wedge salad. My waldorf was delicious with the perfect combination of apples, some sort of hard cheese, grapes, walnuts and bits of cilantro in a very light creamy sauce. I have never had anything like it! Matt said his was really good too although I didn't pay much attention since I was too busy enjoying mine. : )

Then came bread, which normally is just a "filler," but they had the most wonderful tomato basil bread. I could have eaten two more baskets worth.

When our entrees arrived, I was already really excited since everything up until that point had been delectable. I had ordered the walleye, in a light coconut curry sauce. It was really good and perfectly cooked with just the right amount of crispiness. But the real gem of the evening was Matt's ravioli. He ordered the "Giant Dauphinois Potato Ravioli Duet" which is described on the website as: Three-cheese dauphinois potato-stuffed ravioli with charred shallots, house-made mascarpone cheese, in a parmesan tea, garnished with seasonal vegetables, crispy shallots and fried garlic. When he ordered it the waitress said "great choice, it gets better with every bite" and it truly did! It was an odd, yet delicious combination of flavors that had my mouth watering for hours afterwards. I had to keep begging Matt for more "small" bites and of course being very pregnant and a bit crazy, he willingly obliged. It seriously took every ounce of strength that I had to not order a second entree! I totally could have eaten it too...mmmmmmm....

And we thought it couldn't get any better than that, until we ordered the the Deconstructed Banana Cream Pie for dessert. It was unbelievable as well (do you catch a theme going on here?). There was this amazing chocolately hazelnut granola and bananas that had been lightly carmelized and a homeade vanilla whip cream. I raved about it to the waitress so much afterwards that she sent me home with a small to go container with extra (which I promptly devoured upon stepping foot in the door).

Unbelievable is the only word I can use to describe how awesome this dinner was. It was funny, half way through the meal conversation between Matt and I totally stopped and we just kept commenting on how amazing it was. We did that for an hour or so after the meal as well and my mouth literally could not stop watering every time I thought of it. It was the closest thing to a food high I think I've ever had! I even told at Matt that I wanted to go find the chef and tell him that the meal changed my life. Like I said, food high!

Now I know what some of you may be thinking, "of course she thought it was amazing, she's 9 1/2 months pregnant!" Well that's what I thought too, but the fact that Matt had the exact same reaction, proves that this really was something amazing. We can't wait to go back and will be thinking up some other special occasion soon. Perhaps the first "date night" after baby... : )

Bump pic before dinner, 37 weeks and 6 days

Matt and I at Forepaugh's

My First Mother's Day

Today was my very first Mother's Day! Matt has done an absolutely amazing job making it a very special weekend for me and I've felt incredibly loved and blessed. To be completely honest though, I was feeling like a bit of a fraud this morning because I was reading so many tributes to Moms as well as what the bible says Moms should be and feeling a bit inadequate and overwhelmed.

After all, I have yet to really experience Motherhood. Sure, I get the idea that there is an actual human life inside me, getting ready to come out, but there's a huge difference between knowing this and experiencing it first hand. So while I am feeling very flattered to be honored as a mom-to-be, in many many ways, I've yet to earn my stripes in the Mom club. I know this will be remedied soon though!

And I also get that the pregnancy period is a great way to transition into the role of a Mother. It's the first time you really start understanding what it is to sacrifice for someone else. Your body is taken over by this other life and you are constantly trying to make the best decision possible to ensure that your little one develops into a healthy baby. It's also the time you realize that no one is perfect, Mother's included. Have I eaten all of the vegetables that I should? Or kept as active as I should? Not so much, but you do the best you can.

This Mother's Day has also gotten me thinking a lot about all of the things that make a wonderful Mom as well as what God says a Mom should be. I spent some time this morning reading Proverbs 31 and was honestly pretty terrified by it all. Not only does it talk about what a Mom should be, but what wife should be. I know I'm not living up to that now as a wife, and what am I going to do when I'm a Mom? Will I be able to be as unselfish as I need to be? Will I be a good example of a Godly woman for my daughter? Will I help lead her to Christ?

A wife of noble character who can find?
    She is worth far more than rubies.
¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her
    and lacks nothing of value.
¹² She brings him good, not harm,
    all the days of her life.
¹³ She selects wool and flax
    and works with eager hands.
¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
    bringing her food from afar.
¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night;
    she provides food for her family
    and portions for her female servants.
¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;
    out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously;
    her arms are strong for her tasks.
¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable,
    and her lamp does not go out at night.
¹⁹ In her hand she holds the distaff
    and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
²⁰ She opens her arms to the poor
    and extends her hands to the needy.
²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
    for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
²² She makes coverings for her bed;
    she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
²³ Her husband is respected at the city gate,
    where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them,
    and supplies the merchants with sashes.
²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity;
    she can laugh at the days to come.
²⁶ She speaks with wisdom,
    and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ “Many women do noble things,
    but you surpass them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
³¹ Honor her for all that her hands have done,
    and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

It's truly a beautiful picture but one that I'm sure many of us fall far short of. That was how I was feeling when my wonderful husband came to get me out of our room this morning to show me the surprise that he had prepared.

He then proceeded to lead me around the house where I found little notes and a rose in each location (kitchen, living room, bathroom, baby's rooms, etc.) and he wrote out why he loved me and appreciated me for the things that I do related to each of these areas. It was the most thoughtful and wonderful gift ever and I was very overwhelmed by emotion. I cried a few times and joked with him that my pregnancy hormones couldn't handle him being so sweet! Definitely a memory that I will cherish forever.

Note and flower

When I was all done with the scavenger hunt, I had the most beautiful bouquet of
roses and the sweetest collection of notes.

It was so wonderful to feel so loved and appreciated, even when I was struggling with being convicted by the words of Proverbs 31. I sincerely hope that all Moms and Moms-to-be felt just as loved on this special day.

To top it off, my sweetheart then made me some chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast before we headed out to church. 

Delicious! What a treat : )

At church, I was still struggling with feelings of fear and inadequacy when our campus pastor asked all of the Moms and Moms-to-be to stand up and be recognized. But somehow throughout the worship and the message, God began to press upon my hear that it's not about being perfect. It's not about being the Proverbs 31 woman right here, right now. And it's not about worrying how you will be a shining light to your family and example to your kids. 

It's about trusting Him, and giving my whole life, whole heart and whole mind to him on a daily basis. My one and only job as a wife and as a Mother is to lose myself in Christ and what he wills for me every. single. day. If I do that, then the rest will come. My strength, selflessness, ability to be a "good" Mom, will all come from him. Oh how freeing it was to be reminded of that this morning! 

We can't do all this on our own and we were never meant to. My prayer for all of you Moms and ladies out there is that you will all rest in this truth today and turn to the One who's desire is to make you into the wonderful wife and Mother that He wants you to be. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Babymoon at Disney

Even though this trip happened back in January, I thought that it still deserved a shout out on the blog.

For those of you who have never heard of a babymoon, it's special trip that a couple takes as sort of a last hurrah before baby comes. Most women go between 20 and 25 weeks, when they are in the middle of the second trimester high and before they are restricted to traveling.

Since before we got married, Matt and I have been talking about taking a trip to Disney, sans kiddos. We both had great memories of going there as a kid and thought it would be a lot of fun to experience it together as adults. Plus, the planner in me thought it might be a good idea to scope it out and re-familiarize ourselves before we go as a family so we can be even more prepared. : )

When I was asked to go out and attend a sales meeting for work in Orlando in early January, the perfect opportunity presented itself to tack on our "babymoon" and hit up some of the Disney park. We did our research and decided to take advantage of some of Disney's off season promotions as well as splurge a bit, and stay at one of the luxurious on-site hotels. We chose the Animal Kingdom Lodge because of Matt's love of the outdoors and the draw of waking up to giraffes outside of our window every morning. We also decided to do 5 days in just the Disney parks and forgo a visit to Universal Studios since there wasn't going to be a ton of rides that I could go on while pregnant. And honestly, I thought I'd cry if I went to Harry Potter World and couldn't actually go on the ride : (

We also opted for the Disney dining plan as part of our package and it was one of the best decisions that we made. We knew that I was going to be restricted by the rides, but if there was one thing that I could do, it was eat! And eat we did! The dining plan gives you one sit down and one quick service meal per day as well as one snack. It ended up being a ton of food and I wish I would have added up how much we would have spent on all of that if we were paying out of pocket, but I know the plan paid for itself at least twice over. Plus, there are so many fun restaurants at Disney that skipping them would be a shame.

Overall, this was one of our best vacations ever but it got off to kind of a rocky start. Matt flew in the last night of my work conference so we could take off right away the next day. When he got there, we drove over to CityWalk, near Universal Studios for dinner and ended up eating at Margaritaville. The fact that I was still stressed from the work event, coupled with the loud music and tons of margaritas that I wasn't able to drink, made me a bit crabby. Things got better the next day though, when we drove to Cape Canaveral to go and see the Kennedy Space Center. Something Matt was really looking forward to.

The weather was kind of cold and windy so our time at the beach didn't pan out exactly as we had hoped. We decided to partake in a pre-dinner work out at our hotel when suddenly the hotel manager came in and told us that we needed to leave do a to an issue with the "fire alarm." The fire alarm issue turned out to be an actual fire, which caused us to stand outside shivering for the next several hours. We were without our car keys and wallets so we couldn't even go anywhere and come back. Finally, after about 4 hours, they moved us to another hotel. But, we did have a great dinner that night and go the hotel room free so that was a bonus.

The next day was fantastic and Matt loved the Kennedy Space Center. I have to admit, it was pretty cool. Highlights were the 1950s style launch room as well as the 3D movie of the nebulas. Already Matt is itching to go back.

Matt in his element

Cool NASA building that you see on TV during launches

Bus/van that they used to take astronauts to the space shuttle for launch

I'm sure Matt knows more about this than I do, but I think it's one of the lunar module from an Apollo mission

Then after our fantastic (and redeeming) day at the Kennedy Space Center we headed back to Orlando to check into the Animal Kingdom Lodge and begin the next leg of our journey. This is when things really got hairy! The GPS on my phone could not find the hotel and kept trying to take us to some back Disney lot where no tourists should ever go. We drove in circles for almost 2 hours, missed our dinner reservation and almost called it quits and went to the airport. Seriously, stress city! The kicker too was that none of the helpful Disney signs mentioned anything about the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Just the theme park. So frustrating.

Eventually the helpful dining reservation lady helped us get to the resort and after going to the wrong lodge within the resort (of course!) we made it to our room. Fast forward another hour and two trips back to the front desk (about a mile away) because our keys didn't work, we were settled into our room. So happy we didn't have little ones along for that experience. I'm not sure we would have made it.

Anyway, that was (thankfully!) the last of the drama and we spent the next 5 days blissfully exploring the parks. We really had a great time and there was a ton of fun stuff for us to do and lots of great food to eat. Matt did go on almost all of the thrill rides and dutifully described them in detail to me. We also took advantage of the great Fast Pass system so really didn't wait long at all, even though the parks were pretty packed due to the Martin Luther King holiday weekend.

Here's a list of our top 10 favorite Disney memories:

10) First dinner at our resort after all of the drama getting there. A meal never tasted so good!

9) Giraffes sleeping outside of our room every night. We hardly ever saw them during the day, but if you got up to go to the bathroom at night and looked out the window, you'd see them sleeping there, without fail.

8) Space Mountain. Matt's favorite ride. He went on it three times in a row and even met another single rider "friend" who's wife was waiting with their kids.

7) Epcot. We loved so many things about this park, including the new Soarin hang gliding ride, Matt loved the dino ride and we both loved the planet earth ride. I also had fun with Matt and took him on a drinks of the world tour making him try tequila in Mexico, sake in Japan, a margarita in Morocco and some icky liquorice in the UK.

6) Eating at awesome restaurants, including the Sci Fi theater at MGM and the Aquarium at Epcot.

5) Toy story ride at MGM, it's a 3D arcade style ride that both Matt and I absolutely loved.

4) Mickey's Philharmagic show in Fantasyland, 3D show that goes through some of the best music and moments from all of our favorite Disney movies. Made me tear up a few times since it really captured the "magic" of the whole place.

3) Lunch at Beauty and the Beast castle. It's a brand-new restaurant in Fantasyland and impossible to get into for dinner. But we rearranged some of our meals and was able to eat lunch there in the West
Wing room. The food was really good and the atmosphere was so cool. Complete with a rose that dropped a petal and a lighting flash that revealed a torn picture of the prince/beast.

2) Castle light show at Magic Kingdom. One of the best things about the whole trip. We got to see this show twice and it was just so magical. The way they use lights to transform the castle into different scenes from movies is breath-taking and you can just feel the magic in the air. We even go back and listen to that light show song on You Tube just to relive it.

1) There were so many wonderful memories, but our favorite was dreaming out bringing our own little princess there one day. We saw hundreds of cute little girls in princess dresses and tiaras, including one little girl who was just mesmerized by the parade. I caught myself tearing up several times just dreaming about the future and having our little one there with us.

Overall, it was a spectacular trip but in some ways, I think it reminded us that Disney is just a place. When you're a kid, I swear you think it's heaven on earth, but going there as an adult you begin to realize that it's a business, run by imperfect humans. Every moment of every day is not magical, but that's real life, this side of heaven. It is however filled with a child-like hope and wonder that does everyone's heart good to experience. No matter what age you are. It was wonderful spending time together as a couple and remember that feeling.

Closing with a few, well okay, a ton of pictures:

Hotel room at Animal Kingdom Lodge

Not the bes pic, but the inside of the Animal Kingdom Lodge was amazing!

At our lunch at the Beauty and the Beast castle

Entrance to the Beauty and the Beast castle

Liquorice drink at the "pub" in the UK

Margarita from Morocco

Morocco

Japan

Having fun with Mattie trying drinks from around the world

Not looking forward to his tequila sampler. Hehe

Really full after the big lunch in China

There's a smile!

Trying to recreate a similar picture that I have of me at age four on a bench like this at Epcot with a pink parasol

Me having fun at the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House

Mattie really having fun at the tree house

It all started with a mouse

This one is cute because Mattie was really worried about me going on the safari ride at Animal Kingdom. It was technically restricted for preggo people but I did my research and felt safe. Afterwards, he agreed that it was fine too but was nervous to start!

In front of the "mountains" of Nepal

Really cool scenery and props at the Everest ride in Animal Kingdom

Matt getting yelled at for having his hand on the dude's head

Monsters Inc. dude being creepy to me

This photo is funny because Matt did a terrible job packing and ended up wearing the same gray long sleeve shirt over his t-shirts almost every day. In the comments you can see he's described as wearing it!

It's a small world

Beauty and the Beast castle

Us outside the Beauty and the Beast restaurant

Really cool decor inside the restaurant

Picture that flashed to the prince for just a second when the lightning strikes

Enchanted rose

Matt's getting a bit sick of me taking photos

The Minnie and Mickey that we bought for our niece and nephew

MGM

Outside Andy's toy chest ride at MGM

Us at the Toy Story ride

Kissing at the sci fi drive-in restaurant

Last night, in front of the castle with our  Mickey shirts on

I believe this is outside of Paris at Epcot

So magical!