F3 (Family…Film…Friday)

I admit F3 is a pretty lame name, so we are going to have to work on that! As promised I am finally working on our trip report! We’ve been back for about a month, and I’m already itching to return. Before we even left Matt informed me that he didn’t want to be those people who go to Disney every year. Well…after seeing his girls (that includes me…ha!) enjoy themselves so much…we have contacted the travel agent, and she is currently working on offers for us for September 2011!!! Crazy? Maybe… Exciting? YES!

My friend Jen and her family are going in June of 2011. They have been watching one Disney movie each week leading up to their trip! I had read about other families doing this on DIS so I thought we should give it a try! There are so many movies that I haven’t really sat down and watched since I was little!

I must admit…I tend to make fun of people who say they’re having family time by watching a movie…but…it is fun all the same. We decided to start off the fun with Toy Story 3 because it came out this week! Sami had already watched it when she went to Texas, but it was new to the rest of us. Skylar does not have ANY interest in TV whatsoever, but she did end up snuggling with Sami…

I also want to try to base our meals around the movie. Tonight we had pizza in honor of “Pizza Planet”. Sami had a coupon for a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut from Book It, so it was the perfect night to use it!

Sami with her Jessie doll…and her cute little pizza…

Skylar wanted to sit by Sami SO bad that she figured out how to climb onto the couch! She got right in her lap and cuddled up…now THAT is family time…

Then she laid across her lap, and Sami rubbed her back. So sweet…

Time to start planning next week’s F3! Can anyone think of a better name??? Ha!

Disney World 2010- Day One

We woke up SUPER early on Friday Sept 24th to head to the airport. Up until this point Sami didn’t know we were going! It was so fun surprising her! We woke her up at about 2:45 am (I told you it was early!!) and she was SO sleepy and out of it! She saw the Minnie Mouse shirt with matching headband I had laid out for her, and she said “Are we going to Disney World??” I couldn’t lie…and I wanted her to be excited…so I said “Yes!” Her reaction was a little anticlimactic. She was too tired to be super jump up and down excited, but her smile said it all!

Mitchell (Matt’s brother) met us at our house, and drove us to the bus stop in Highland. I was such a super planner for the trip we already had our passes in hand, so we just had to wait for its arrival.

Once we were on the bus we gave Sami her birthday present from us. A Nintendo DSi. It is really fun, and I thought it could keep her entertained on the plane. Up until recently she called her V-Smile a DS, but a few kids at church bring theirs on Wednesday nights so she quickly learned she didn’t have the real deal. She was super excited when she opened it up!

We were flying on Air Tran which only flies out of Midway. This was FINE by me. I had already printed our boarding passes, and paid for our luggage (I told you…super planner…) so all we had to do at the first counter was check our bags. The girls’ bag only weighed 11 pounds!

After we got through security(which was a breeze…Sami held her own and took care of her own shoes, etc.!) we ate breakfast at the food court, and Sami ordered an egg sandwich on a crescent! For those of you who know her eating habits-this shocked me, and made me realize she really is growing up! The she shocked me once more. I had bought Dramamine for her to take because she had a little trouble on the plane this summer on the way to Texas. I gave her 2 choices: I could crush it up or she could swallow it. She decided to swallow it! I was shocked!

Before we knew it it was time to board! We were sitting all together (you have to pre pick your seats on Air Tran for $6 each…but it was worth it to not be spread all apart!) with me by the window. Skylar settled in for a nap as soon as we began taxing! I made Sami activity books, and paper dolls to play with…but she slept too! Ha! By 11:00 Florida time we had arrived!

We took the Magical Express to our hotel Disney's All Star Movies. Disney is so magical you don’t have to get your bags when you get to MCO! You just go straight to the bus, and they deliver it to your room!I had checked in online already, so I just had to get our welcome packet. They gave the girls “First Visit” buttons! Sami got a “It’s My Birthday” button as well. We were staying in the Toy Story section…right across from our room we stayed in on our honeymoon. We had a great view of Buzz and Woody! We were surprised our room was ready for us, so we went up there to let Skylar take a nap. I packed our swimming stuff in one of carry-on bags, so Matt and Sami went to check out the pool while Sky and I laid down. Soon there was a knock on the door-our luggage! It woke Skylar up, but thankfully she had been sleeping for awhile. We were feeling rested and ready to hit the parks!

When I think Disney World- I think Magic Kingdom. I had to get Sami there to see that castle! Ha! Sami wanted to ride “the teacups” aka Mad Tea Party, so we headed to Fantasyland.

Matt and Sami enjoying her first tea cup ride.

Then we went to Toontown and explored Minnie’s House.

Sami really wanted to go meet some princesses, so that was next on the list!

Sami kept seeing kids with their faces painted, so I caved and we found where this fun was going on. That’s the magic of Disney… She decided to get a Tinkerbell face…

Since she had her face all full of Pixie Dust we decided to head over to see Tinkerbell and her pals…

It was about this time that we realized we were rather hungry. So we went to Frontierland to eat at Paco’s Bill’s. It is a fun hamburger quick service restaurant with a huge condiment bar for making your burger super yummy! Thanks Jenni for the suggestion!

We let Sami look at the map while we were eating, and she decided she wanted to go ride Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. I didn’t realize there wasn’t a height requirement for this ride somehow, so Matt and Sami rode it alone. When they got off I convinced them to go on the “people mover” so we could get a good view of the whole area…really I just wanted to ride it because it is one of my favorites! Ha!

We hung out in Tomorrowland riding everything until it started to get dark. We were going to skip Main Street Electrical parade, but as we were walking out Sami decided she wanted to stay. I normally would never choose to watch a parade on Main Street…it is WAY too crowded, but since we hadn’t planned on staying we got stuck with where ever we could find an open spot. Sami found a pretty good one..

Then it was back to the resort to SLEEP…tomorrow is a bright new tomorrow…and we want to be refreshed!

Skylar at 16 Months

Repeat picture from Halloween post, but it was when she turned 16 months…

Up until recently we were still viewing Skylar as a baby. However, all of a sudden she is developing more and more of a personality and truly embracing toddlerhood.

She is still very laid back. She goes with the flow, and is usually very happy.

She loves to eat dry cereal. In fact she would eat it all day long if we would let her! She continues to drink soy milk, and is completely milk and dairy free. The original plan was to introduce milk again at 18 months, however the pediatrician has advised we wait until age 2. We are also following her advice and holding out on introducing peanuts…she said to wait until age 3…but we will see. She has started using toddler spoons and forks, and insists on doing it herself! (See…embracing toddlerhood!) She loves bananas, peaches, bread, and Gerber fruit bars. She usually eats a toddler type meal for dinner as nearly everything I make has milk in it SOMEWHERE along the line… For now she doesn’t seem to mind she is eating something else.

She has discovered the playroom, and LOVES the kitchen set. I am thinking of pulling it into the kitchen so she has more access to it (we don’t let her in the playroom very often because it is mainly Sami’s things…which have small pieces…)

She still sucks her thumb when she is tired. She recently had a cold and had a hard time breathing through her nose. Poor thing had a really hard time figuring out how to soothe herself with her thumb while trying to breathe through her mouth. Ever since she could get her hands to her head she has also pulled her hair when she was sleepy. We hadn’t noticed this behavior in awhile, but it showed up again this month. She was pulling her hair so much she made a bald spot on the right side of her head. I was concerned at first, but she is a happy child and she is just doing it to soothe herself to sleep. Of course it isn’t very cosmetically appealing, but she’s beautiful even with some missing hair.

Sami is always playing on the stairs-putting on shows, etc. Skylar has been capable of climbing the stairs for awhile now, but has always waited for us to go up with her. Today she decided she should be apart of the show as well.

I love this age because simple things make her so happy. She LOVES when you ask her to get your shoes. She loves “helping” in the kitchen with her own little bowl. She loves wiping the coffee table with a cloth… so precious.

Matt has been working on more sign language with her…she isn’t always consistent with it, but we almost always figure out what she is trying to communicate. Sami was much more verbal at this age, so I had already given up on signing. Perhaps we should get the signing dvd all my friends rave about…

Skylar’s list of spoken words-

-Daddy

-Mommy

-Sissy/Sami

-Dog

-Duck

-Doo (Rooster…you know…Cock a Doodle DOO)

-Nana

-Go

-Hi

-Bye bye

-Bed

-Mmm hmm (yes)

-eyes

-nose

-eat

-juice

-milk

There are probably more…but that is all I can think of!

Dancing….

Dancing is still at the top of Sami’s list of favorite things to do…

She is currently in 3 dance classes at IBT in Demotte: Pre-Primary Ballet, Tap 1, and Jazz/Hip Hop 1. Ballet seems to be what she takes to the easiest, but perhaps that is because she has been in that class the longest.

She auditioned for Indiana Ballet Theatre’s production of The Nutcracker (where she fell in love with the ballet last year… Nutcracker 2009) in September and was cast as a mouse. She has rehearsal every week in Merrillville, and is eating up every minute!

This past week the families were invited to sit in on classes and observe their dancers. It was a lot of fun to see what they’ve been working on…

Tap…

Jazz…

Ballet…

Dancing with Miss McKenzie the teacher for ballet and tap…

Not the best pictures…I was trying to get shots in the mirror so I could actually see her…that is what the line is. ;)

We are looking forward to seeing her (and all of her dance friends) perform next month in The Nutcracker, and to watching her grow as a dancer.

Sami turns 6…

Sami’s 6th birthday was spent at Disney World…I promise…those posts will come sooner or later…

When we got back we had a small family party with Matt’s side of the family.

Two bags of Reese’s from Great Grandma (and Grandpa) Kristoff…I wish I could tell you she took her time with them, but they were gone fairly quickly! :D

She also got some really neat stuff for her and Addy (who is her American Girl Bitty Baby) to wear and use for dance classes.

She received a Nintendo DSi from us for her birthday with a few games. She loves the voice recorder! She is ALWAYS singing (gee…who did she get that from??) and now she can record herself and play it back…mix it…lots of fun stuff!

Happy Birthday to our little princess!

Trick or Treat…Smell Our Feet!

I thought I had the costumes for the girls all picked out when Sami through me for a loop this year…she wanted to come up with her own costume! We’ve typically gone into the Disney Store, and she has chosen something. I thought she would want to wear her Ariel costume from Disney World (yes…Disney posts coming soon…ha!) but she decided she wanted to be a baby. At least I didn’t have to buy anything else! ;) So here is our baby…she wore pajamas, had a lovie (aka pacifier) clipped on her, she carried a baby bottle as well as purple burple (aka her blanket) and a stuffed animal. Pretty simple. Most people knew what she was…although a few people asked why she was ready for bed…

Skylar was Minnie Mouse this year. She loved both Minnie and Mickey on our trip, so it only seemed right. She wasn’t too fond of the headband ears, but I got a few pictures of her with it on.

My mom came here for the afternoon to trick or treat with us. It’s always nice to have her with. Skylar wasn’t too interested in approaching strangers and getting treats from them. She must have known she couldn’t eat anything they were dishing out anyways! ;) She mostly just relaxed in the wagon while we filled her bucket for her.

Sami refused to wear shoes over her pajamas, so it didn’t surprise me when she was done after an hour of trick or treating. Here she is with Nana eager to head to the next house…

Skylar did take her bucket to the immediate neighbor’s house…

Then she enjoyed a yummy sucker…

Happy Halloween everyone!

Sami Looses a Tooth!

Sami lost her first tooth this afternoon! It is the bottom (right) front tooth. It has been ready to come out for awhile now, but in true Sami fashion there had to be some drama along the way. (I wouldn’t have it any other way though…ha!)

I think part of her issue was the unknown. She was really nervous it would hurt when it came out. We tried to show her how to wiggle it back and forth…we tried to grab it and pull…but in the end we decided it was best for her to just leave it alone, and let it come out in it’s own time.

This afternoon both girls were sitting on my lap and I noticed Skylar had two new teeth that had popped up recently. So we decided to look in Sami’s mouth as well. I was slightly horrified to discover her adult tooth was behind the tooth already! Yikes! It looked so big and scary! As if it was saying “Yo baby tooth…make room!” So I grabbed a tissue “just to see” what would happen. POOF no more baby tooth!

Sami mentioned Steak and Shake twice today, and since our town did trick or treat yesterday we decided to take her to dinner to celebrate this big milestone! She really wanted a chocolate shake and cheese fries.

What a big girl….