Vessel's Voyage: 2010

At first I thought I was doing really well at this blogging thing but time is just going by way to fast for me to keep up. Maizelyn had her five month birthday on Halloween. After going to Florida we felt that Maizelyn was sleeping much better. She would sleep up to 12 hours through the night. It didn't last forever though because right after Thanksgiving she decided that she needed to wake up in the middle of the night. I don't think she's ever going to be very consistent about sleeping through the night. It's especially hard when she is sick and/or teething.

Right before she turned five months we started feeding her rice cereal. At first she was liking it but since then loves it. We have added a few other foods, such as carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, peaches, green beans and peas. She loves sweet potatoes and squash so when there isn't something that she is really fond of we hide it in the sweet potatoes or squash. We just recently added apples and she seems to love those. She has pretty good eating habits other than she just decided that she didn't want to take a bottle. It makes things very hard considering I work three days a week. When she is with my mom she usually fills her up with rice cereal and/or some fruit or vegetable. I'm hoping that she will take the sippy cup so that she won't be as cranky with my mom during the day as well as making it difficult at night.

Here is Maizelyn at 5 months on Halloween. 10/31/10

Here is Maizelyn at 6 months in front of the Christmas tree. 12/3/10

Maizelyn dressed up as a Broncos cheerleader for Halloween. Andy says that this is the only time she gets to dress as a cheerleader. We'll just have to see how that goes.

Maizelyn loves to jump and we found a great deal on a jumperoo. It gives mommy a whole new sense of freedom.

She likes to make this funny face. My mom said that I use to make this face when I was a baby, she called it the ugly face. We've also heard it called bull dog snuffers.

She can be such a happy baby and we think she is just so beautiful.

Every Thanksgiving we go to Colorado Springs to visit with Andy's family. This year we were very excited to have Uncle Ed meet Maizelyn for the first time. We had so much fun hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Vessel, Aunt Christy, Cousins Natalie and Teagan, Uncle Ed and Diana. The day after Thanksgiving we always to go the North Pole to see Santa. This was the first year that we got to take Maizelyn. She got to go on three rides. Andy and I each took our turn to go down the big candy cane slide with her. We also took her on the merry-go-round and the train. Seeing Santa was the highlight of the day. We had a great time with everyone and look forward to next year.

Hanging out with Aunt Christy on Thanksgiving.

Bundled up at the North Pole and waiting to see Santa.

Cousin Natalie was so excited to ride on the train with Maizelyn. I don't think Maizelyn knew what to think.

First time with Santa. At least this is the year that she's not afraid of him.

Mommy and Maizelyn trying to warm up.

The Vessel clan that went to the North Pole with Maizelyn for the first time.

Cousins!!!

Uncle Ed came to visit so we had to show him how much we love NY (even though we still have never been). Maybe one of these days we can go visit.

Daddy loves to give kisses on her neck and she loves to giggle.

Visiting Aunt Melanie at work.

We went to a Christmas play and Shirley just loved kissing Maizelyn's cheeks.

Exciting news is that Maizeyln's first tooth is coming in. It looks like the second is on it's way.

We couldn't have asked for a better trip! We had planned on going to Disney World before Maizelyn was ever born. We knew it would be fun to have our little one there as well as for us to enjoy the big kid rides. We couldn't have done it without the help of Grandma and Grandpa Gross. They were very helpful so that we all could enjoy the experience.

We were very nervous for her first flight on a plane, but it worked out great. She is such a great traveller. It's nice to hear from others that they never even knew she was there. She pretty much slept the whole time.

We spent our first day at the Magic Kingdom. As we entered the park we saw Snow White and had to take a picture with her. We then headed over to Space Mountain for our first ride. Maizelyn's first ride was Tomorrowland Transit Authority. We rode Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. When we went to shows Maizelyn felt it was a good time for her to nap. We went and saw The Hall of Presidents and Country Bear Jamboree.

The second day we went to Epcot and went straight to see Ellen's Energy Adventure. Again Maizelyn fell asleep. I then headed over to have Maizelyn meet Daisy Duck. She was so cute when she saw her. She was reaching for Daisy's beak and was all smiles. I then took her over to the Character Spot to get more pictures. She saw Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. She loved them all. She had a hold of Pluto's wiskers and wouldn't let go. She tried to eat Minnie Mouse's nose. She loved them all. We went on a ride called Soarin' which felt like we were really flying. We also went on Mission: SPACE which felt like you were taking off in the Shuttle to space. Definitely made me feel sick. Had to see the original 3D film Captain EO starring Michael Jackson. We took Maizelyn to Turtle Talk with Crush, and the Seas with Nemo & Friends. We didn't get much time to go through all the countries, but at least we got to enjoy some delicious pastries from France before watching the laser firework show.

On the third day we went to Hollywood Studios. As soon as we got there we went straight to the Tower of Terror. This was one of the reasons we went to Disney in the first place. When I was younger, we went to Disney and I ended up with a horrible migraine. I couldn't do anything, while my family enjoyed everything. Tower of Terror had just opened and I was really looking forward to riding it, but felt to terrible. I asked my dad if we could go back the next day but he said no. This trip was to make up for not going back a second day. Thanks dad for making it up to me. It was worth it to wait 15 years, because I loved that ride. It was probably my favorite. We also went on Toy Story Mania and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith.

We took Maizelyn to Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and Voyage of The Little Mermaid. She really seemed to enjoy the Little Mermaid which had a lot of colors. Later that night we watched Fantasmic. In the show Sorcerer Mickey vanquishes Disney villains in the awe-inspiring laser, water, music and fireworks extravaganza. Maizelyn seemed to enjoy watching it all.

The next day we went to the Animal Kingdom. The first ride we took was a trip on Kilimanjaro Safaris. We got to see all the wild animals with Maizelyn. We rode on Expedition Everest which is a roller coaster and Kali River Rapids. We took Maizelyn to "It's Tough to be a Bug!" At the end of the day we went and saw Finding Nemo-The Musical. That is a great show to see.

The fifth day we went back to the Magic Kingdom to get in some more rides and shows that we missed. We took Maizelyn on Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Mansion, "It's a Small World"and Peter Pan's Flight. I think her favorite was "It's a Small World" because there was just so much for her to look at. It's so much fun to watch her because of how alert she is with her surroundings. We also took her to see some more of the princesses. While standing in line waiting she ended up falling asleep. We had to wake her up by the time it was our turn to meet Cinderella, Belle and Sleeping Beauty. She finally was more awake when she saw Sleeping Beauty and gave her a great big smile.

The last day in Florida, we went back to Hollywood Studios for Brandon's birthday. Of course we had to ride Tower of Terror a couple more times. We also went and saw Lights! Motors! Action! and extreme stunt show. I was worried about Maizelyn's hearing but then I saw someone there with a 10 week old and figured it couldn't be that bad. What can I say...she's my first child and I worry a lot. We also took Maizelyn on the Great Movie Ride and after some convincing Toy Story Mania.

It was a great trip! We travelled to Florida with no problems and we ended up home with no problems. Well...other than the airlines losing our car seat. We ended up getting it two days later though. We look forward to our next adventure to Disney World when Maizelyn is much older and can appreciate it a little more.