Firework New Year Sparkler Celebration

New Year, New American Girl

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After our trip to the American Girl store in New York, Miss O’s obsession with American Girl dolls grew rapidly. When she spotted an American Girl catalog in the mail, she poured over it, circling everything she wanted, which was basically the entire catalog. I have to admit, after leafing through it myself, their stuff is still really cute. I also discovered they have a launch event at their stores when they release a new Girl of the Year doll on New Year’s Day. We didn’t have anything planned that day, so I figured why not check it out? It would be a great way to gauge her interest and see what our local store had to offer in preparation for the birthday experience I hoped to give her.

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Pleasant Company American Girl dolls Kirsten Addy Samantha Molly

American Girl Dilemma

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One of the things I’ve been looking forward to most as a parent is the doll phase. When I was a kid waaaaay back in the 80s, the Pleasant Company was just getting started with the most exquisite dolls I’d ever seen. The catalog was maybe ten pages long at that time and I think there were only four dolls, all representing historical time periods, and I HAD to have one. Now that my daughter was entering her doll phase, I wondered if my daughter would love them as much as I did.

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Sad depressed depression bored

Disney Depression

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After we returned from our first family trip to Disney World, I understood why people love it so much they go back year after year. If you’re enjoying your trip as much as we did, you get this indescribable joy. We were positively giddy for days and everything was new, even though Hubs and I had been there so many times before. It wasn’t until I tried to scan my magic band at Trader Joe’s almost a week after returning home that I realized how much I embraced that magic. The return to regular life suddenly seemed so mundane. A few months later it was downright depressing. I really didn’t think it would hit me that hard, but I definitely had been hit with Disney Depression.

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Baby feet heart love parents newborn

Special Needs

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The moment I knew I was pregnant, I knew I would love our child no matter what. I would do anything to protect her and I would help her anyway I could. When my perfect baby girl was finally born and I held her in my arms, I was relieved that her birth was without incident. At her first check-up, she was pronounced “perfectly healthy” and I finally let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. We knew how lucky we were then and we still know it. Now we face something I wasn’t prepared for, navigating my own feelings about mental health, sensory issues and having a child who may have “special needs.”

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world globe hands holding travel

The Gift of Travel

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One of the greatest gifts my parents were able to give me is world travel. By the time I was ten, I had been to England, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, France, Denmark, and Switzerland. I visited Ireland at 16 and again at 18. Seeing other countries not only broadened my understanding of the world, it made me curious about other countries and their culture. It helped me see that my view is not the only view. Now I’m thrilled to have an opportunity to give that same experience to Miss O this summer when we travel to France and England.

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Walt Disney World Castle Princess character autographs Merida Snow White Anna Elsa Frozen Elena Ariel Mulan

Collecting Autographs: Magic Kingdom Day 2

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Our final park day of our first family trip to Disney World came all too quickly. Miss O had one more day to finish her mission to collect all the Disney Princess autographs. We had amazing success in Animal Kingdom, our first day at the Magic Kingdom, and Epcot. Even though Hollywood Studios wasn’t a hit, we still met a few friends there, too. When we started, I was hoping Miss O would get one or two, but wouldn’t push her if she didn’t want to. Now we were determined to meet our final Princesses and maybe find a few extra friends. After four long, fun-packed days, I hoped we’d all make it long enough to see it through.

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Walt Disney World Character Autograph Daisy Duck Rapunzel Cinderella Aurora Jasmine Belle

Collecting Autographs: Hollywood Studios

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Hollywood Studios presented an interesting challenge for our first family trip to Walt Disney World. It’s not a park that has ever held a lot to grab my attention, so I was a little concerned it wouldn’t do a whole lot for Miss O. She was still pretty entrenched in her love of Star Wars, but her past experiences with StormTroopers at our local zoo did not go well. With her definite lack of interest in costumed characters at the other parks, would there be any characters there to hold her interest?

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Walt Disney World Autographs Anna Snow White Elsa Frozen Elena Mulan Ariel Princess Character

Collecting Autographs: Epcot

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When I scheduled our character breakfast at Akershus in Epcot, I had no idea if Miss O would want to meet the Princesses or not, let alone have half our autograph banner filled by the time we got there!  While I was over the moon with our success so far, I still wasn’t pushing her into meeting characters as a priority of our trip. As it turned out, Miss O was on a mission to fill that banner and meet every Princess Disney had to offer.

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Walt Disney World Character Autographs Meet and Greet Princess Pocahontas Tiana Elena Ariel Mulan Elsa Tinker Bell

Collecting Autographs: Magic Kingdom Day 1

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With our first character greeting at Animal Kingdom a complete success, I hoped our scheduled meet and greets in the Magic Kingdom would go equally well. I knew Miss O loved Minnie and Mickey, but I wasn’t sure she was over her uneasiness around costumed characters. I had FastPasses for both days in the park at Fairytale Hall and a park plan that included as many characters as I thought she’d want to see. What I wasn’t sure of were the lines, the weather and our patience holding out.

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New Year's Resolution list

Resolving to Make Resolutions

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As I sit nursing my annual end of year cold, I realize I haven’t taken any time to sort out what my resolutions might be. Do people still do that? Do we still use the end of one year and the beginning of another to plan our own betterment or has it become too trite? Are we too dismissive of the concept of betterment or are we too lazy to commit to that concept in the first place.

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