Fall Family Mini Sessions!

#alittleloveinmyfeed

This has been quite the week.  I've run myself into the ground with stress from our furnace breaking(I'm literally voiceless).  We've spent each day at different family members homes showering, which has been an adventure with 2 kiddos.   Luckily I've had this great session to edit to distract me from being so sick.  I've gotten to know Cheri of Charmingly Cute Jewelry over the last couple years.  Her and her family are gorgeous on the inside and out.  I told her I want the secret to having such great kids, but I think it's because her and her husband are so sweet together.  They are definitely an awesome family to be around.  Thanks again sweet Holden Family!

Their having a baby! And a few maternity musthaves.

Some of our very best friends are having a baby!  So what do we do when someone is having a baby?  Wander up to the mountains and take some gorgeous pictures of the parents-to-be.  I'm so excited to meet this baby in a few short months and I can't wait to watch you two be amazing parents.  It's the most incredible thing you can do in your life. 

I'm so excited for them and their new addition and it got me thinking about where I was exactly a year ago.  My pregnancy with Cohen lined up pretty close with their baby.  Anywho, I just wanted to throw out a few must-haves for mama.  I'm sure I've talked about this before on one of our blogs, but so many people I know are prego right now.

1. Invest in comfortable clothing!  My first pregnancy with Ava I fought buying maternity clothes for so long and then when I bought my first pair of maternity jeans I was in Heaven.  Treat yourself to at least a couple pairs because lets face it, you will be wearing them post pregnancy as well.  Zulily has some great options for a great price here.  If you register at Target, they give you a coupon for maternity items in your goody bag.  So make sure you start your registry early in your pregnancy. 

2. Belly Support.  Get yourself some sort of belly back support especially if you are on your feet for long periods of time.  This is the one I bought from Babies'R'Us.  Also grab some good insoles for your shoes.

3. Prenatal Massage.  I did a post on my favorite spot here featuring inSPArations float spa in Layton, Utah.  They also have a flotation pod that makes you weightless which is incredible when you feel densely pregnant. 

4.  Get yourself a great pillow.  Sleeping is a struggle so get a body pillow to rest that belly on.  

5. Bra Extenders.... yep.  I don't think we need much explanation here.

That is just a few of my musthaves.  Checkout Zulily, Target, Gordmans, and H&M for great pricing on maternity wear.  You won't regret it!

Now for this lovely lady.

 

Adventures with the {L}s

I know the cutest families. Seriously. I'm lucky to have the best neighbors around. Thanks cute {L} Family for such a fun evening. Highlight: all of you in the canoe and the kids with the 

terrified faces.  

What a magical time is when fall happens.  

Enjoy!

Disneyland Tips for Parents

If you know my husband and myself, you know there are two vacations we are good at: Las Vegas and Disneyland.  The usual response when people find out we are going to either of these places are "AGAIN?"  If you find something you love, like we have- then you don't mess with it.  The last few days since I have been back have been filled with questions from friends and family looking for tips.  I decided to give you a few general tips, but if you are looking for more info on hotels and what not, I recommend checking out www.getawaytoday.com.  Since we booked with Getaway, each day we received a magic morning which means you get into the park an hour before they opened.  They are great to work with so check them out!

Hotel Info

I'm going to talk strictly Disney Resort.  Last Trip we did stay at the Embassy Suites about 20 minutes from the park and rode the shuttle.  It was about half of what the cost of the Pier was.  Know that there are so many options for hotels in the area to fit every budget.  

Tim's mom recently discovered the benefits to staying at the Paradise Pier Disneyland Resort Hotel.  This was by far my favorite Disney trip I've been on. 

The cute entrance to our hotel.  Ava was a lover of this statue!

• It's the least expensive Disneyland Resort Hotel you can stay in and it sleeps 5 comfortably.  
• You have a private entrance to California Adventure Park through the Grand California Hotel located across the street from Paradise Pier.  This is helpful since you can bypass using the front gates and it lets you in at Grizzly River Rapids.  
• It's minutes from the Downtown Disney Monorail and this is another quick way into the park to avoid the front gates.  The monorail drops you off inside the park in Tomorrowland. 
• You also have access to the other DL Resort Hotel pools.  Sadly, I never made it to the pool.
• Lastly, I loved the quick walk back for nap time.  

 The view from our room. 

Park Tips

• Take a cooler- drinks run $3+ each in the park.  Taking a cooler in your stroller means cold drinks whenever you need them.  We stopped at Food For Less around the corner from Disneyland and picked up capri suns and bottles of water.  We were so glad to have them since the temp was in the 90's each day.  Just remember NO GLASS bottles!  They won't let you into the park with them.

• Take snacks to nibble on during the day.  Tim and I tend to share any food we get since Disney portions are rather large.  We had chips and crackers for us and Ava to eat while we were running ride to ride. 

• If you want to eat at a fancy restaurant in the park, make reservations first thing in the morning.  They fill up quick.  Our personal fave was Cafe Orleans where we ate a Monte Cristo.  Let me just tell you one thing: Share! Disney portions can be enough for 2 people at most places.  I was so excited about the sandwich, I forgot to get a picture.  This picture is courtesy of www.themacandcheesechronicles.com

We also ate at Mickey's PCH Grill in our hotel Paradise Pier.  This is one of a few places that offers "Character Meals" where different Disney Characters go table to table and guarantee a meet and greet with photos and autographs for patrons.  This can be a little spendy, I believe it was around $40 for adults.  Again, the food was really tasty and drinks were included.

Another great character option is Ariel's Grotto in California Adventure.  This place is darling and it's the best way to see a few princesses all at once.  Ariel greets everyone for a personal photo session and then 4 other princesses came table to table to meet the kids (and some very excited adults).  Depending on the meal, this can run $30-$60 per adult. 

Now that we have food out of the other way.  Here are a couple other tips.

•  The best time to enjoy Fantasyland- (that area in Disneyland with Dumbo, Teacups, and the Peterpan ride) wait until the evening parade starts.  I noticed most wait times aside from the parade were as long as an hour.  About a half hour before the parade, most rides went down to 15 minutes and some you could just walk on.  So my friends, wait for the parade if you want to ride multiple rides in Fantasyland quickly.  Don't forget that your littles can also ride other things around the park like Pirates of the Caribbean, Buzz Lightyear, Winnie the Pooh, and Haunted Mansion.  Fantasyland isn't your only option.  

The parade was a hit with our girl!

• When Disneyland seemed to get more crowded, we made our way back to California Adventure.  Bugs Life Land is another great option for the littles.  I love Carsland, but Ava wasn't tall enough for any of the rides.  If you want to ride the "Cars Ride" you have a couple options.  You can grab a fast pass for it as soon as the park opens since these do go quick.  You can grab a stroller pass if you take your stroller to the gate and have one rider wait in line.  Lastly, you can do single rider and this seemed to be the most effective way to ride it quickly.  

Ava loved the "Heimlich Ride"

Character lines always seemed silly to me until I had my girl.  They ended up being the best part of our day.  She was so excited to see the cute characters in person.  We lucked out each time we saw a character pop up and didn't wait in a line longer than 15 minutes.   Have you camera ready!

• If there is a certain character you are looking for and want to know the exact time they will be available, you can stop by Town Hall in the Main Disneyland Entrance and they can find out for you.  Last trip I wanted to get photos with Alice for Ava and they were helpful so I didn't have to wait around for hours. 

XoXo,

Jamie

If you have any questions or great Disney tips- email us at jamesonhealy@gmail.com.

5 Years and Counting.

Today is my 5th Anniversary with my sweet Tim.  We now have 2 kids and have recently been sealed in the Ogden, Utah Temple for all of our eternity.  I'm so glad I can continue sharing my story with each of you.

Photo Credit: Veronica Reeve

The following is a story I wrote 1 year ago for the blog I co-author with my bestie Sheena. My personal posts will be here, but continue checking out mine and Sheena's Adventures over at www.individualrivalry.com

Photo by Veronica Reeve

I'm Jamie and I'm married.  We achieved 4 years of blissful marriage yesterday.  Yep, another anniversary happened.  I'm as surprised sometimes as you are.  I never thought I deserved to be as happy as I am at this moment.  

5 years ago, it was more like "I'm Jamie and I'm divorced."

When I was 18, I met the man I thought I would spend my life with.  We dated a couple years and then got married.  I was 20.  That marriage didn't work out how I thought it would.  I don't know how many people get married thinking "someday I will divorce this person."  I didn't.  I thought I could weather the storms that marriage threw at me.  I couldn't.  He couldn't.  The love diminished, along with the trust and the respect. 

When my ex-husband and I started to separate, there were only a few people my age going through the same thing.  I remember the whispers from friends, family, and even strangers.  That's right, people I never met were somehow involved in my business.  So many people told me to stick it out or just deal with the problems.  I think that can be great advice.  I also think that sometimes (in my case) divorce was the answer.  

Did you know so and so is getting a divorce?

I think that celeb gossip carries over into our real life.  Facebook is our modern newspaper.  It will tell you the weather, obituaries, marriages, pregnancies, parties, disputes, political info, and even who is getting divorced.  I think about how hurt I felt every time I found out what someone would say about me.  Bummed.  I wasn't sure where I fit in.  I dated and dated and dated.  Some great guys and some not-so-great guys.    

A practice husband. 

I love referring to my first marriage with the term "practice."  I made my mistakes and learned from them.  I took a negative about being divorced and made it a positive.

A while into my dating, I found Tim.  Or should I say found again.  Tim and I dated for a minute in high school and he had just returned from a mission the year before we started dating.

 

When we started dating, I couldn't figure out what was wrong with him.  He was spiritual, sweet, and so loving.  Why wasn't he married?  I think he was waiting for me.  He just didn't know it!  Our first date went something like this "Let me tell you every skeleton in my closet before your friends do."  I never thought he would call me for a second date.  I mean, would you want to take on all the baggage?  I'm sure it wasn't easy for him, but he never let on.  He loved me and I adored him just the same.  

I never realized how unhappy I was until I was happy.  

Once every couple of weeks I would try and break up with Tim.  Finally after a few times of this, he told me "I know you aren't used to being treated well in other relationships, but I'm not those guys.  I love you so stop trying to end a good thing."  Finally I listened.  I'm so thankful everyday for that conversation.

Just because you think you don't deserve something, doesn't mean that's how it is. 

I determine what my life will be.  As difficult as some of my decisions were, they led me to the life I have right now.  I wouldn't change any part of my past.  Bold words since I made a few, cough cough, bad decisions.  

I'm so thankful I got a "do-over."

I think so many people experience getting a divorce later in life.  I'm glad to have experienced mine young.  Getting a redo was where I lucked out.  Most second marriages are less likely to last than the first.  I knew that going into my second and I think it makes me work harder to keep it going. 

If you're unhappy, maybe reevaluate.  Know what your getting into before you say "I do" or "I want a divorce."  Both things shouldn't be taken lightly.  The grass isn't always greener and sometimes it feels like a dog has peed all over the grass you are currently barefoot on.  You might just need a little fertilizer to make your own grass green again.  You only get this life once.  

I'm so grateful for that first date with Tim and the many dates since then.  Marriage is hard, but with the right partner the weight is somehow lighter.  We still argue and promptly makeup.  We let go of the dumb little things and cherish great moments together.  He makes me laugh and I still make him a little crazy. 

I love you honey and I'm so thankful you chose me.

Happy Anniversary.

Photo by Veronica Reeve

Photo by Veronica Reeve

Photo by Veronica Reeve

Photo by Veronica Reeve

Photo by Veronica Reeve

Photo by Jamison Elizabeth Photography