Vacation 2009

Ahhh, home again home again clickety clack. We had a wonderful vacation, despite the horrific heat! Seriously, it's not cool when you get in your rental car and it tells you its 104 degrees outside. Here's the run-down:
Sunday: had a 6 am flight, so we were up by 2 to be out of the house by 3. Now, I am a morning person, but not that early! I was a ball of nervous energy. I suddenly was overcome with all sort of irrational fears about flying with Sophie. We got through it though and she's a champion flier! Seriously, the most well behaved kid on the plane! Fast forward- we land in Orlando and neither of us are dressed for the oppressive heat. We hop in the rental (got a Kia Soul- so cute!) and head to Target! I needed shorts STAT! Can I even tell you they didn't have any shorts?! It's FLORIDA and there were NO SHORTS in Target! I ended up getting yoga shorts and calling it a day. We had to kill time, so we went to an early lunch at Logan's (my fav steakhouse in Kissimee!) and then drove around, checked on my Grandma's house, moseyed through Celebration, etc. Still having to waste more time- we went to Downtown Disney and did a little shopping and added "No Expiration" on our Park Hoppers. We couldn't check in early to the time share, we tried to though! Once we did check in though- HEAVEN! Our villa was amazing! We had a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, full kitchen, washer/dryer, patio overlooking the golf course piece of fabulousness! We didn't do much other than shower (because we were gross from travelling and sweating), unpack and go to bed!
Monday- We put on our swim suits and hit the pool! Sophie absolutely LOVED it! She was a little uncertain at first, but once she realized it felt good and splashing was fun..she was hooked! Later that afternoon we lunched at Breezes in the resort- they had a fab deal where you buy a frozen cocktail for $7.95 and you get to keep the cup. Then every frozen cocktail refill in that cup is $5! Awesome! That night we went to Hollywood Studios, mostly out of boredom. Took Sophie on 2 rides- she did really well! Then it started to rain, so we hightailed it outta there! It was already hot and humid, wasn't really looking to add being wet to that combo!
Tuesday- Pool day again! We really enjoyed just laying by the pool/in the pool. Met some nice people sitting around us, carried on a few little convos, etc. Went to Cracker Barrel for a late lunch, went for a walk with the babe around the resort, then found sanctuary inside! Ahh blissful air conditioning!
Wednesday- Kati, Brian and Alyssa arrived at 8:30 am! Brian hit the sack, but Kati and Aly came to the pool with us for a while. Around noon we went back to the villa and woke Brian up to come to the lazy river with us. We did the lazy river for a few hours then went back to the room, showered, changed and went for a late lunch at Logan's. Once we got back to the villa we had plans to get apps and drinks that night but Kati, Brian and Aly all conked out at about 5 pm for a "nap". We tried to wake them at 5:45 and 6 but they were out cold so we went out without them. We got back around 8 and Kati finally started stirring. She came out into the kitchen where I was washing dishes and was all "are we going out?" I laughed and said, "we did and we're back already!" She was all confused "what time is it?" etc. I just told her to go back to bed! We had a big day the next day!
Thursday- Happy 4 Years to me and Sal! We had a Character Breakfast at the Polynesian's Ohana restaurant! It was fabulous! We met Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and Pluto. Aly had them all sign her autograph book, we took pictures, etc. Soph loved Pluto! After that we went over to the Animal Kingdom. Kati, Brian and Sal all left their sunglasses on the Dinosaur ride.. Brian and Sal's were recovered, Kati's got jacked. Of course, cute girl sunglasses are not going to be returned to the Lost and Found. Kati, Brian and I went on Expedition Everest leaving Sal with the girls. He swears we were gone for over an hour (it was really about 20 minutes LOL). Then we watched the Nemo show. After that we called it a day there- we were dying and Kati and Brian wanted to check into their room. We reconvened at 5 pm at Epcot. It was the Food and Wine Festival! But honestly, it was so damn hot, all we had were frozen drinks. The thought of hot food was a turn-off. Not for my hubby though! He ate in Greece, France and ... somewhere else I can't remember. We had Sophie's pictured taken for one of the those 3D crystals.. $200 and 45 minutes later we finally got a pic. You have to sit completely still for 6 seconds to get a proper picture. Not an easy task!
Friday- Magic Kingdom day! We got to the park by 8:30 so we could see the opening ceremony! Aly loved it, she was so excited to see the characters arrive on the train. We did a bunch of rides, Soph conked out for It's A Small World, which was fine, it was air conditioned so I didn't mind holding her sweaty little body LOL At 12:30 we left to take a break- shower, etc since we all sweated through our clothes again. Met back at the park at 4:30 and discovered it was only opened until 7 pm. WTF?! So we inquired about getting tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. They were $60 each! For 3 more hours?! I don't think so! Needless to say, we didn't spring for them. If they were $20ish we were going to get them for the 4 of us and stay, but $240?! No way!
Saturday- Pool Day! Kati and Brian had to do their time-share tour crap, so we decided that we'd each do our own thing. We hung by the pool, then hit up the Super Target again- almost made the whole week on just one pack of diapers! I love Super Target... just sayin'.
Sunday- Time to go home... boo! We were extremely early to the airport since we had to check out at 10 am. Our flight was at 2:30. It wasn't too bad though, we got lunch in the airport and walked through the shops. Oh and Soph had a massive poopy diaper right before we boarded! Thank you for your good timing lil mama!

So all in all, we had a wonderful time. Was it hotter than hell? Yes most def! Did it ruin our good time? Certainly not!! Can't wait for next year!! Already planning...

Almost Disney World Time!

I so can't wait for Sunday. We're taking a long awaited and much deserved vacation! We are taking Sophie to Disney World! And a bonus? Kati, Brian and Alyssa are coming too! I checked the 10 day on weather.com and it looks like it's going to be hot... which I am not too thrilled about. I like warm, but 87-90 degrees is a bit much for my liking. So, we'll see how that goes.

Speaking of Florida.. I went tanning this week. I figured if it was going to be hot and sunny I needed some sort of base tan, especially since this body hadn't seen a bathing suit all summer (seriously, not once!). So I went Monday and Tuesday- no problem at all. Then I went last night and I am BURNED! Holy crap. I didn't stay in longer than the other days (8 minutes all 3 days); the only difference was I went in a stand up last night. Whoa nelly! So today, I will smell like a salad because I had to break out the vinegar to take away some of the sting. Owww!

In other news- Sophie is growing like a stink weed! She's 5 months and a half and as gorgeous as can be! She's got such a personality! She's very into "mommy" these days. Not that I truly mind, I love being with her, but sometimes things have to get done! Eh, I suppose it's just a phase.

Gotta run, have to get dressed and go to the Chiro (that's another story for another day...)

Stole this from Tracy

I've neglected this blog- it's hard working full-time, being a mommy full-time and writing regularly! Anyway, here's a Meme about naming your kiddos! I took it from Tracy's Blog "What's on Mommy's Mind".

1. Do you have any cultural or religious naming traditions?
Nope.
2. Did you or your partner come to the marriage with pre-selected names?
No. I had "favorites" from childhood/teen years, but when we first started dating, then got married, we weren't sure we were going to have kids.
3. Did you consider the sound of the first and middle and last names together? Did this make any sad eliminations?
Oh yes... this was absolutely necessary. Not much sounds good with Monardo. Personally, I think my own name sounds weird with it.
4. Did you have veto powers?
Of course. There will never be a Salvatore Anthony Monardo Jr.... too Staten Island for me.
5. Did the baby naming cause arguments?
No, Sal was pretty good about just agreeing with me :-)
6. Do you think it is easier to name boys or girls?
It's hard both ways for us, again because I think most names sound weird with our last name. We do have a boys name and another girls name picked out though if/when we have another. And the boys name is actually all family names- as long as you don't steal it, I'll share: Jack Thomas Bryce Monardo. I really hope I have a boy because I love the name.
7. Did you eliminate names because of people from your past or present who you don’t like or because a certain image comes to mind?
Yes, but at this very moment I'm drawing a blank on what it was... I just remember being very adament!
8. Did you / would you survey your children to get their thoughts on the name?
No we didn't. And honestly, my M-I-L hated Sophie's name. But tough cookies because mind was made up!
9. Did you tell people the name or possible names before the baby was born or were they “in the vault”?
Yes, but we weren't swayed.
10. Did you use baby name books?
Yes, but they weren't the deciding factors.

Drumroll Please…What did you name your kid(s)?

Sophia Jayne