Disney World September 2019

When we realized harvest was going to start super late this year Andrew came home with the bright idea to head back to Disney World for the opening of Star Wars Galaxys Edge at Hollywood Studios. Since this was super last minute (literally booked about 5 days before we left) and with a major opening event, I was pretty nervous about the crowds. I started looking up dining and fast passes and was surprised to find that there was a ton of great things available! As our departure date got closer Hurricane Dorian started gaining strength in the Caribbean with a projected path straight towards Disney World. It was expected to make landfall and and slam Orlando the day we were supposed to head home. We knew we would never make it out of Orlando that day so we pushed our plans back 2 days and decided to ride out the hurricane at Disney!

This trip was really special for me because I’ve always wanted to see Disney at Halloween, but since we’re row crop farmers it’s nearly impossible for us to get that far out of town during our busiest time of the year! All the heavy rain during spring really pushed our planting season back which in turn pushed harvest way back and gave us a fall break!

For this trip we once again stayed at Disney’s Contemporary resort in a main tower theme park view room, our favorite!

Once Magical Express dropped us off at the Contemporary we took our stuff to our room then hit the monorail for dinner at Epcot. Dinner at Via Napoli is one of our favorites! The kids love the pizza, I love the pasta, and Andrew loves the white sangria. Actually, we both love the white sangria! It’s worth a pitcher for sure!

Our first day was actually opening day of Galaxy’s Edge so we decided to completely avoid it and good choice, the crowds at HS were crazy!

At this point Hurricane Dorian has turned into a huge major hurricane and was destroying the Bahamas 😦 so many people started canceling their Disney trips for the week. This turned out to be great for us with nonexistent crowds the rest of the week!

Day 2 we got up early and were at Hollywood Studios by 7am. Rhett got to meet Buzz Lightyear for the first time and that was the highlight of his trip! There was also zero people at Slinky Dog Dash and we rode multiple times with no line and no fastpasses!

A couple days before we left 3yo girl twin Lorelei jumped off the water slide bounce house we have at home and broke her tibia! She got a cool purple waterproof cast and on our way we went! I was really dreading how difficult this would make our trip since we have 4 little kids and she couldn’t walk. I headed to guest services at Epcot on our first day and got a wheelchair pass for her stroller. This allowed us to take her stroller through the regular lines so we didn’t have to carry her the whole time. It was so nice! We just cruised the stroller through the regular line or FASTPASS line and when we got to the end we would pick her up and put her into the ride and the stroller would be waiting for us when we got off!

We don’t really do tv or electronics in our home and our 2yo Magnolia is really shy so on our last trip we were blown away by how much she loved Vampirina which is a totally random character for her! Because of this we had to go back to Disney Junior breakfast at Hollywood & Vine!

We are not Star Wars fans, actually, we’ve never even seen the Star Wars movies, but while in Rome…so we decided to try to brave the crowds and check out the new Land. I’m so glad we did! Galaxy’s Edge is amazing! The attention to detail, the cast members, everything was awesome! Our kids aren’t tall enough to ride Smuggler’s Run and with no fastpasses we decided to skip it, maybe next time! Rhett was really amazed by the Storm Troopers walking around and he saw Chewbacca for the first time and is now obsessed! Of course we had to check out the drink bottles which by the way you cannot take in your carryon or checked luggage per TSA!

We headed back to Epcot for the afternoon to grab some food at Food & Wine festival. The Korma Chicken in India is soooo good! Also, a favorite is the Mimosa Royale and chocolate baclava in Morocco!

We love Turtle Talk with Crush over in the Seas pavilion and of course they asked us tons of questions because we were sitting in the front row!

For dinner we had reservations at Coral Reef which was excellent! The kids really loved the views of the aquarium and our food was great!

The next morning we headed to Animal Kingdom for our usual breakfast at Tusker House. Andrew’s favorite attraction at AK is the Festival of the Lion King show which we had awesome floor seats for this time!

The twins also got their faces painted which turned out so cute! It’s right outside the entrance to Kilimanjaro Safari

For what was supposed to be our last day we grabbed a quick breakfast at Be Our Guest then enjoyed a crowdless day at Magic Kingdom! There was literally no one there, we were even able to have dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table last minute walk up!

At some point during the day we found out our flight for the next day had been cancelled and the airport was planning on being closed for 2 days. Soooo we got stuck at Disney for 2 more days! Terrible, I know! We got our flights rearranged for later in the week and the staff at the Contemporary was super helpful getting our room extended and with a special discounted hurricane rate!

With basically no one at Disney and 2 completely unplanned days we had breakfast in our resort at Chef Mickey’s and then we headed back to Hollywood Studios to get a better feel of Galaxy’s Edge! And Rhett ended up getting his resistance pilot flight suite!

We had lunch at Mama Melrose and have to say that will be our last time. We had eaten there before a few years ago and had a really bad food & service experience but decided to give it another chance. Bad idea. Once again the service was pretty bad and so was the food. Definitely marking it off our list.

That night we had a wonderfully magical dinner at Le Cellier in Epcot! Our server, David, was fabulous and so was our food! The kids really loved their magic water too!

The next morning we had breakfast at Tusker House which ended up being AMAZING! We have eaten at TH so many times in the past but for the first time ever we got to take a group picture with all the characters! Typically this isn’t allowed because it would take up too much time and the restaurant is usually packed, but because of Hurricane Dorian there was literally no one there but us!

We breezed through everything at AK since there were no lines then hopped over to MK for the rest of the afternoon

This is a dinner shot of Crystal Palace character meal which shows just how empty the parks were!

Once again we decided to give Be Our Guest dinner another chance and this time I’m actually glad we did! Our service was still slow, but much better! As always, the food was great! It’s still the only place to meet the Beast who Rhett loves and his reaction alone is worth it!

Our spur of the moment crazy hurricane induced Disney trip turned out to be one of the best trips we’ve ever had! We typically don’t park hop or at least only do a full day at a park and dinner at Epcot which is close to our resorts, but on this trip we did multiple parks every day because crowds were so low and it was so much fun!

If you need help planning a Disney trip please email me at kayla@teacuptravelco.com My services are free and I would love to help plan your magical vacation!

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Belle’s 1st Birthday at Disney World

Our youngest daughter, Belle, was born a little over a year ago on August 1, 2018. Having 4 kids has taught me a lot of things and one of those things being that big birthday parties for babies and toddlers is overrated. Instead we decided to take Belle to the happiest place on earth for her very first birthday!

For this trip we stayed at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in the main tower with a theme park view. These rooms are so amazing! The view of Magic Kingdom is perfect! A lot of nights our kids are just too tired to stay until the fireworks so it’s no big deal for us to head back to the Contemporary and watch the fireworks from our room! Last minute we decided to add an extra night to our trip. Not wanting to spend the extra $700 on another room we decided to switch to a garden wing room at the co temporary instead which is only about $400. When we checked in Disney surprised us with some extra pixie dust though and told us we could stay in our theme park view room for our entire stay!

Fun fact before I start posting photos, Rhett fell about 4 days before we left for this trip and has a horrendous black eye in all these pictures! Memories made I guess!

We started out our first afternoon at Epcot. All the kiddos LOVE Frozen so the Frozen ride is an absolute must. We had dinner inside the pyramid at the Mexico Pavilion at San Angel Inn. The atmosphere is great, the view of the inside pyramid is very pretty, and the food is good. Nothing over the top special but definitely good!

Our first full day started out with breakfast at Chef Mickey’s before hopping on the bus to Animal Kingdom. We really love Chef Mickey’s and our little Belle has the best time with the classic Disney characters

When we got to AK our son Rhett’s Magic Band wasn’t working to get him into the park so we had to head over to guest services to get that sorted out before we could even enter the park. The cast member at guest services was so wonderful, he fixed Rhett’s magic band and gave us 5 extra fastpasses for our time. This ended up being so awesome because my husband, Andrew, and I got to use 2 of them to ride Flight of Passage for the first time. FOP is the Avatar ride that opened in Pandora a few years ago. It’s extremely popular, very hard to get fastpasses for, and always has a very long standby line. None of our kids meet the height requirement for it so we have never been able to do it. It just isn’t practical for us because we don’t want to waste a FASTPASS on something we can’t all ride and it would take too long to wait with the kids for the standby line. We bought thought FOP was amazing! It definitely lived up to the hype for me and I cannot wait for our kids to be tall enough for it!

We typically fly Southwest Airlines on our Disney trips but we had a lot of American Airline points to use up so we decided to fly with them this time. About 2 days before our trip I realized that American doesn’t allow you to gate check double strollers. We absolutely love our City Mini strollers and I definitely didn’t want them going through regular baggage so this was a huge gut punch to us. I decided to rent 2 city mini doubles from Kingdom Strollers and that was a wonderful experience! When Magical Express dropped us off at the Contemporary our strollers were waiting at Bell Services for us. At the end of our trip I simply dropped them back off at Bell Services for Kingdom Strollers to pick back up. It was such an easy process and I will now recommend it to anyone who doesn’t want to travel with their own stroller!

Tusker House in AK is one of our favorite character breakfast spots but we decided to try it for dinner on this trip. The character interaction was just as wonderful as it always is and the food was very good too but I still think we like it best for breakfast!

During our last Disney trip in February the twins weren’t quite tall enough to ride Slinky Dog Dash but they begged and begged to. This trip we were determined to let them ride it all their little hearts desired so we decided to do Early Morning Magic at Toy Story Land in Hollywood Studios. This is an extra cost special ticketed event. At 7am you are allowed to enter HS and head to toy story land where you can ride all the rides and meet all the characters all you want until the park opens at 9am. We were able to ride Slinky Dog multiple times (and could have much more but the little girls can’t ride yet), alien swirling saucers, toy story mania, and meet Jessie! They also serve free breakfast at Backlot Express which we had a few bites of before we got started because we already had reservations at Hollywood & Vine for 9am. Early Morning Magic was definitely worth the price for us and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

We’ve done Minnie’s Seasonal Dine at Hollywood & Vine many times but this was our first time to do the Disney Junior breakfast there. We couldn’t miss it once they changed the characters earlier in the year to Disney junior characters that our kids love! Now for breakfast they have Vampirina, Fancy Nancy, Doc McStuffins, and Roadster Racer Goofy! Food is typically buffet breakfast food which is good.

Since we started the day so early we decided to leave the park early and have dinner at Boma in Animal Kingdom Lodge. This was our first time to visit AKL. We enjoyed watching the animals in the Savanna and the property is beautiful. Our dinner at Boma was wonderful. The bread service was just as good as everyone raves about!

Happy 1st Birthday Belle! The next day of our trip was our little Belle’s first birthday so of course we spent it at Magic Kingdom! We started the day with an 8am pre park opening breakfast at Be Our Guest so we could get this adorable crowd free castle pic!

Belle spent her big day riding riding rides, eating, napping, and living her best life lol!

No princess birthday is complete without dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table. I had also called ahead several months prior to reserve her a birthday cake for the occasion. It was a simple chocolate Mickey ears cake that read happy birthday and it was actually really really good!

The next morning we headed to Epcot for breakfast at Akershus. We have dined at Akershus before for lunch and didn’t care much for it, but the actual Belle princess is there so we felt like it was a must. I’m happy to report that breakfast there is actually very good and Belle was so adorable meeting Belle!

My oldest daughter, Lorelei is really really in love with Elsa, so a stop in to meet her is always a necessity!

Friendly Disney hack! Amazon stroller covers! These babies are only $11 on amazon and they are so perfect! It rains all the time in Florida during the summer. You can pretty much bet on at least one shower a day at Disney during the summer months so be prepared with stroller covers!

We spent the last few days of our trip at Magic Kingdom because for our kids ages, that is definitely the place to be! On this trip the kids are 3,3,2,1! The twins got to ride Seven Dwarves Mine Train for the first time and it was a huge hit!

If you need help planning a Disney trip please email me at kayla@teacuptravelco.com My services are free and I would love to help plan your magical vacation!

Beach Vacay July 2019

Our quick trip to the beach this summer turned into an eventful and super fun 8 day vacation after Hurricane Michael came into the gulf and threw off our plans a little!

We started out in Gulf Shores, AL which is one of our favorite beach spots. The water isn’t as pristine as further east down the coast but we really love the town of Gulf Shores and all the family friendly establishments there.

No trip to Gulf Shores is complete without a visit to LuLu’s at the Wharf. LuLu’s is owned by Jimmy Buffett’s sister and is an awesome family restaurant. They have live music, bars, gift shop, arcade, and all kinds of outdoor stuff for the kids to play on. Pictured below is my 3yo twins on the toddler ropes course but there’s also a bigger one for the big kids! During summer you can expect the wait for a table at LuLu’s to be at least an hour, but don’t fret, there’s so much to do while you wait that you won’t even get to do everything before your table is ready! LuLu’s is famous for their fried green tomatoes and wow sauce! We are Southerners so fried green tomatoes were already a staple in our summer meal plans but if you’ve never had them they’re definitely worth a try!

We have a ton of IHG hotel points so for this trip we stayed at the Holiday Inn Orange Beach. It’s a nice clean Holiday Inn right on the beach. It has a really great breakfast buffet and plenty of seating space. The staff there is super friendly. The pool area is rather small but there is a pool bar.

We had to hit DeSoto’s and Bahama Bob’s while in Gulf Shores, they’re regular eateries for us, but we were a little disappointed by both on this trip. DeSoto’s is classic seafood and has been around forever. The food and service is usually excellent but this particular day it was nothing to write home about. Bahama Bob’s was even worse off. It used to sit right on the beach but apparently the empty beach lot is not owned by BB’s and is now in the process of an house being built on it which completely blocks the view. Our food was also pretty bad and this is the first time we’ve ever had a bad experience there.

A few days in Hurricane Michael came barreling into the Gulf and threatened us with torrential downpours for the remainder of our stay. At this point we decided to head East to Panama City Beach to avoid all the rain. On our way out of town we stopped at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL. We love this museum and it’s great for kids of all ages! There’s even a cute little toddler play area and flight simulators for the big kids and adults.

Once in PCB we stayed at another IHG location, Holiday Inn Resort. There are actually 2 Holiday Inn Resorts in PCB and both are right on the beach, but they are very different! The one we like to stay at is a lot bigger, has multiple restaurants, and a huge splash pad for the littles. There’s also a large pool, pool bar, pool restaurant, and pizzeria. Every night there’s a huge projector screen that plays a movie out by the pool and there’s often live music. It’s super convenient to spend your days at the pool/beach and walk up the sidewalk to the outdoor grill for a quick lunch. Also kids eat free! Seriously free! There’s an awesome breakfast buffet and all kids meals are free!

Down at Pier Park the big Sky Wheel Ferris wheel was finally finished so we decided to check out the views from the top of it and it did not disappoint! I’m not scared of heights but I am pretty terrified of Ferris wheels but this did not bother me. They’re completely enclosed little capsules so it feels safer than your typical wobbly Ferris wheel

Worth noting about the Holiday Inn resort is that is does have great parking. There’s a large parking lot across the street and it’s accessible via an underground tunnel so you don’t have to actually cross traffic. It’s a super short walk through the tunnel but they also have a little golf cart shuttle that runs back and forth constantly if you can’t/don’t want to walk.

One of our favorite restaurants in PCB is Schooners. It’s an open air restaurant right on the beach with salty air and sea breezes. Be careful about dinner time there with small kids though because once the band starts playing it’s really loud. We usually have to ask to be seated as far away from the band as possible.

Runaway Island is another top notch joint on our list. It’s also really great for a date night. The food and drinks are superb and if you’re seated upstairs it feels a lot fancier than the downstairs crowd. But don’t worry, even the upstairs is kid friendly and with the entire wall of windows every seat has amazing ocean views!

When it was time for us to head home we decided to go a little out of our way and head to Georgia to pick peaches! I did a lot of searching and was surprised to find that most places don’t allow you to pick your own peaches off the trees anymore. I stumbled across Southern Belle Farms in McDonough, GA which is right outside Atlanta so that’s where we headed. SBF was exactly what we were looking for! We headed out into the orchard with our baskets and picked ourselves full of fresh ripe peaches. The kids absolutely loved it! When we were done picking peaches we headed to the other side of the farm to see the animals in the petting zoo. It was a really nice stop on our way home and worth the visit if you’re in the area or passing through!

Disney World February 2019

February is one of our favorite times of the year to go to Disney World. The weather is PERFECT! It’s not during the rainy season so showers are minimal to nonexistent. Typically it’s the perfect temperature too. We’ve been to Disney in February for the last 3 years in a row and the temperatures average in the 70s. It’s definitely cooler at night/early morning but nothing a light sweater or jacket for an hour or two won’t fix. We have also had some days in the low 90s so I suggest wearing layers you can shed! For my son I like to put him in pants and a T-shirt and bring a light jacket. For my girls a short sleeve dress with a sweater over it and leggings under so they can shed the leggings and sweaters as needed. February used to be a super low crowd time for Disney but there is no such thing as low crowd times anymore. The Princess marathon, Presidents’ Day long weekend, and Mardis Gras now bring high crowds to February but don’t let crowds ruin your trip!

We kicked off this trip with dinner at Be Our Guest and honestly I don’t recommend it. This was the second time we have had dinner there and it was just as bad as the first. Don’t get me wrong, the food was wonderful! The timing and service it what has absolutely sucked both times we’ve been. Be prepared to spend 2 hours at this meal. If you’re on the dining plan it’s really not worth 2 credits and if you’re not on the dining plan I don’t think it’s worth the $55/adult price. My son really loves the beast though and it’s the only place you can meet him at WDW so we continue on

My lamb was wonderful, no complaints there!

Adult dessert with “the grey stuff” in the center

Super cute kids dessert plate. They can decorate their “chip” and it’s all edible.

Random fun fact, all the parks have a baby care center and they are wonderful! They have bathrooms, changing tables, nursing rooms, rooms for kids to run around in and get some wiggles out in a safe contained environment, TVs, and items for purchase that you may need (diapers, wipes, baby food, diaper rash cream, etc). The baby care center at Animal Kingdom pictured below is my favorite, it’s so nice and usually pretty quite.

We always have our usual breakfast at Tusker House because as I’ve mentioned before it’s our favorite character meal. It’s also one of the cheapest character meals so definitely worth taking advantage of!

We stayed at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort again on this trip and no trip to the Poly is complete without a meal at Ohana. We chose breakfast because, characters, duh. Breakfast characters include Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, and Pluto. Ohana dinner is also wonderful but no characters. It’s worth noting that if you have a window seat at dinner and are there during Magic Kingdom fireworks you will have a great view!

We actually got to check out Storybook dining at Artist Point at Disney’s Wildness Lodge on this trip which was right after it opened. I have zero complaints with this dining experience! Our food was wonderful and so was the character interaction. Characters include Snow White, 2 of the Seven Dwarves, and the Evil Queen. The Queen was my favorite!

This was our second time to do the Spirit of Aloha dinner show (luau) at Poly and definitely our last. The food is good but the show is terribly boring. It’s nothing more than a few people talking to each other and some songs. Definitely not worth the price or 2 dining credits.

The strawberry bars are one of our family’s favorite snack items! Also, if you’re in the market for a double stroller I HIGHLY recommend the City Mini double by Baby Jogger! We have 4 under 4 so we have 2 of these and we love them so much. They’re smaller than a standard doorway so I never have trouble fitting in places. They’re so easy to steer and maneuver I can easily push them both at the same time. The best part though is that they fold almost completely flat with one quick pull of a strap, you can do it one handed!

While we’re talking about snacks, my kids love the Mickey rice Kristen treats and I love the chocolate covered strawberries! You can find them all over WDW decorated so cute! Especially during the holidays!

This trip we got to experience dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table for the first time and it was so special! Prince Charming was actually there to greet us with Cinderella which my son loved! Our food was amazing! All the girls got magic wands and the boys got swords. Pictured below is the clock strikes twelve chocolate mousse dessert and the kids decorate your own cupcake dessert. This is one meal that I think is definitely worth the price and 2 dining credits!

A WDW breakfast staple for us is definitely Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary resort! It’s such a classic Disney character meal location and so much fun! Definitely plan it for your Magic Kingdom day because it’s a 5 minute walk from the Contemporary to MK!

If you need help planning your next Disney trip please email me at kayla@teacuptravelco.com My services are free and I’d love to make your vacation magical!

Disney World Christmas 2018

Disney World is the most magical place on earth and when you put yourself there during Christmas that magic triples in size!

For this trip we stayed at Disney’s Polynesian Village resort. It’s one of our favorites for many reasons. Poly is on the monorail loop so it’s very easy to hop on and take quick ride to magic kingdom. The best part is you don’t have to fold your strollers up on the monorail. Leave the kids in the strollers and push them into a car. That’s awesome for sleeping babies on the way home! Poly is also right next to the Transportation & Ticket center which is where you get on the monorail to Epcot. You literally walk across the sidewalk to get to TTC and hop on the monorail to Epcot! Poly offers bus service to Hollywood Studios & Animal Kingdom. You do have to fold strollers up to get on the buses but Poly is a deluxe resort is does have better bus operations though.

Let’s talk Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party for a minute! We were super excited to try the Christmas party this year! The party started at 6pm and as soon as the other guests were cleared out of the park we rode a few rides with little to no wait at all! We had a major downside though, the nighttime parade didn’t start until 9pm and all 4 of our kids were out cold in their strollers before it ever started. They didn’t get to see the parade and definitely didn’t make it for the 11pm fireworks show. For that reason it was a total flop for us. If your kids can’t hang late, it’s probably not worth the money!

We of course had a breakfast at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom, it’s one of our absolute favorite character meals! There’s typical breakfast foods on the buffet like scrambled eggs, bacon, Mickey waffles, and pastries, but there’s also traditional African and Asian inspired items. We LOVE the curry chicken! This was also our youngest child’s first time to meet the big Mouse! Characters at TH include Mickey, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy.

At select times of the year Hollywood & Vine will have Minnie’s Seasonal Dine with characters at dinner (all year is Disney Junior characters at breakfast). At Christmas you can meet Minnie and her pals in their Christmas attire. H&V is a standard American style buffet.

The Frozen Sing Along show at Hollywood Studios is something I want to mention because I feel like it doesn’t get enough love! It’s so funny and it’s designed for the entire family to enjoy. Also if you’re there during the summer months it’s a nice indoor theatre where you can sit down in the air conditioning for 30 minutes!

We love to get Disney’s Memory Maker on all our trips because it allows you unlimited downloads of all ride photos and every time a Disney photographer takes your picture. We had so many good pictures from this trip but here’s a couple of my faves.

If you need help planning your next Disney trip please email me at kayla@teacuptravelco.com My services are free and I’d love to make your vacation magical!

Easy Summer Dinner Shrimp & Asparagus

Ingredients:

–Shrimp (peeled and tails removed)

-Asparagus (ends trimmed)

-Olive oil

-Salt

-Pepper

-Paprika

-Chili Powder

-3 Tablespoons butter

-1 Lemon

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 400

-Line large cookie sheet with foil and acreage asparagus in a single layer across sheet.

-Drizzle asparagus with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and coat evenly.

-Bake for 6 minutes

-Move asparagus to one side of sheet and place shrimp on the other side

-Drizzle shrimp with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder.

-Cube 1Tbs butter and space evenly over asparagus. Cube 2Tbs butter and space evenly over shrimp.

-Slice lemon and place slices evenly over entire sheet.

-Bake for 6 minutes

The Most Ridiculous Things We Say To New Moms

So you’re pregnant for the first time, just had your first baby,  it could even be your tenth kid and someone out there is going to say one of these things to you. They just can’t help it. These ridiculous things roll off people’s tongues like vomit. Sure, they might mean well…sometimes…but if they ever stopped to think about what they were actually saying they would realize it’s just ridiculous. Even women who know better will still offer up some useless help or advice. If I left something off that you think would fit this list, leave it in the comments!

 

1.) “Breast is best!”….DUH…You have to be living under a rock to not have heard this catchy little phrase. We all know that breastmilk is the best food for your baby. Not every woman breastfeeds. Some women can’t for medical reasons, their baby won’t latch, baby has health problems, etc. Some women pump and feed their baby expressed breastmilk. Some women choose formula. You know what, all of these ways create a fed healthy baby and fed is best!

2.) “Sleep when the baby sleeps!”….HAHA….Do you like to eat? Shower? Maybe you like clean clothes or a remotely livable house? Well then you will not be sleeping when the baby sleeps. When the baby sleeps you will be doing all the things mentioned above that you can cram in to that short time period.

3.) “A c-section should be your last resort” As a twin mom this one really irks me because when 2 babies are involved all the planets must be aligned for a natural vaginal delivery to be possible. A lot of women deliver twins vaginally, but there are also a lot of women who attempt a vaginal twin delivery only to have to have an emergency c-section. Or in my mind, even worse, deliver the first twin vaginally and then have to have an emergency c-section for the second twin. Talk about getting screwed both ways. Regardless of your opinion, never tell a woman how she should or should not bring life into this world. It’s none of your business.

4.) “Let me know if you need anything!” You know what I need? Food and a clean house. But I’m not going to ask you for anything. I’m going to smile and politely say “okay, thanks!” What’s even worse is those people that come to your house to “help” but all they do is hold the baby while you do your laundry, dishes, or clean the house. I think I read somewhere that in China after a woman gives birth she does nothing but stay in bed with the baby for like 40 days while everyone in her village takes care of her husband, other children, and house. How amazing! You know why they do this? Because pregnancy & giving birth are hard! It doesn’t matter if you had a completely normal uneventful pregnancy and delivery, it is still tough on your body. You need time to recuperate and your body needs to heal.

5.) “Enjoy this time, it goes by fast!” It does, it really really does. Time is a thief. The days are long and the years are short. I’ve got 4 kids and I fully grasp this concept, but I don’t need Karen next door telling my exhausted sleep-deprived barely functioning new mom self that I can’t express my exhaustion because I should be enjoying these moments. I am Karen, but I’m still tired.

 

 

 

What To Pack In Your C-Section Hospital Bag

Disclaimer: This post talks about girly things like what happens after you deliver a baby. If you can’t handle that then click away now.

 

 

I’ve had 3 cesarean sections now, so I feel pretty confident in my knowledge of what I definitely was glad I had and what I could definitely do without. I’m a pretty simple person though and what you “need” is really personal soooo…take my list with a grain of salt. I had the twins via emergency c-section at 33 weeks. I had literally nothing with me to prepare for their delivery. I didn’t have my hospital bag or theirs. My next 2 sections were scheduled so I was fully prepared for them.

Obviously you need things like toiletry items so I’m not listing those.

Things I DID NOT Need:

-Underwear. Let me tell you about these wonderful hospital panties. They are this soft stretchy material and they are wonderful! After I had the twins I only took a few home with me, but I learned my lesson there and the next 2 times I took home every single pair I could get my hands on. I didn’t need my own underwear because the hospital ones are way better! Now, I’ve heard some hospitals don’t have these soft ones, so you might want to find out from someone who recently had a baby where you will be.

-Pads. Use the hospital pads while you’re there and take as many as you can home with you! I bled like a normal period for about 3-5 days then it was very light spotting for another week.  After leaving the hospital I bought Target brand ultra thin pads. They worked just fine and I didn’t feel like I was wearing a diaper. **Just a side note, I ended up having post-partum hemorrhaging 10 days post op from baby #4. My bleeding had slowed to almost nothing and then all of a sudden started gushing again with big clots. I called my OB right away and they got me in and got me Cytotec which slowed the bleeding way down but I did end up having period-like bleeding for a solid month.

-Belly Band. I was going to buy an abdominal binder such as the Belly Bandit or something of the sort, but I didn’t have a chance to since I had the twins so early. I’m glad I didn’t, because I didn’t need it! Before I was even off the OR table my doctor put an abdominal binder on me and I just continued to use it. This was true for babies 3 & 4 also. I usually wear the abdominal binder at home for about 2 weeks. It helps your abdominal muscles go back to their proper place and also the support on your sore belly sure feels good.

-Breast Pump. There’s no need in dragging your personal breast pump to the hospital. The hospital will have one that you can use while you are there and all the supplies that go with it!

Things I Needed:

-Flip flops. They’re easy to kick on and off getting in and out of bed, no need to bend down, and keep you from walking barefoot on the hospital floor.

-Nursing Bra & breast pads. With all of my babies my milk has come in by the next day so the leaking…ohh the leaking.

-Robe and clothes. I ordered a really cute floral print robe online and was so glad I had it. I changed into a nursing tank top and had the robe to cover up with when visitors or hospital staff were in the room. It also looked super cute in pictures because I looked a little more put together. Yoga pants are my friend at all times in my life and that’s no exception after giving birth!

-Nipple cream. Breastfeeding or pumping, your nipples will hurt. I hate it when they say “breastfeeding shouldn’t hurt” because it does at first. Your nipples will adjust to it, but yes, it hurts the first week or longer. Your nipples will be sore, they may crack and bleed also. I like just plain lanolin.

-Boppy Pillow. This is one of my favorite newborn products. The boppy is really great for breastfeeding in those first few weeks when you’re really trying to get the hang of things. It’s also a safe and easy place to prop baby up on while you stare at her and soak in the sweetness.

-Stool Softener. Most likely the hospital will be giving you one, but if they aren’t you need to take some Colace, woman! Seriously! Whether you deliver via c-section or vaginally, pooping is hard afterwards!

 

Pork Tacos with Kiwi Lime Salsa

Ingredients:
-1lb ground pork
-2 tomatoes
-1 red onion
-1 poblano pepper
-2 kiwis
-cilantro
-2 limes
-1 packet of taco or fajita seasoning
-Oil (I always use olive oil)
-flour tortillas

Directions:
-Halve, peel, and thinly slice onion
-Mince a few slices of onion until you have 2 Tablespoons, put in a medium bowl and set aside
-Core, seed, and finely chop poblano pepper
-Core, seed, and dice tomatoes
-Peel and dice kiwis
-Roughly chop cilantro
-Cut limes into wedges
-Add tomatoes, kiwi, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime juice to bowl with minced onions and mix together. Add a dash of salt and pepper to season. This is your kiwi salsa!
-Heat a large drizzle of oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion slices and poblano pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes
-Add ground pork and taco/fajita seasoning packet to skillet and cook thoroughly. Drain grease.
-Use tortillas to make your tacos with meat filling, kiwi salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese, and a squeeze of lime. 

Rotel Rice Casserole

Ingredients:
-1lb ground beef
-2 cans cream of mushroom soup
-2 cans Rotel
-1.5cups uncooked rice
-2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese

Directions:
-In a large skillet cook ground beef and drain grease
-Add soup, rotel, rice, and 1.5cups of cheese to skillet and mix well
-Pour mixture into 9×13 casserole dish and top with the remaining cheese
-Bake at 350 for 25 minutes

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