Todd and Meredith

Todd and Meredith
A blog about the love and joy that came to us through adoption!

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

A picture is worth a thousand words...

I could type all day and night and it won't sum up how much I loved spending time with Payton and the whole family at Disney World. We went for two days: Magic Kingdom and Epcot! We also got to celebrate Payton's birthday with Chef Mickey (a character breakfast!) We enjoyed our time greatly there and loved seeing Disney through Payton's eyes! Things were so exciting and new, it was priceless!!

I am not going to type alot about the trip but include plenty of pictures for you to see the trip to Disney through my camera's view! :)

 Payton loved Downtown Disney and all the stuffed animals!

 Shopping with Uncle David!
 On the boat to Magic Kingdom
 Our little Princess Cinderella 
 The family at Magic Kingdom!
 Todd and Payton ready for some fun rides and shows!

Winnie the Pooh was one of Payton's favorites, Small World was her absolute favorite!
Time for a nap in Disney!
We had a great time as a family!

Payton got to eat her first Mickey ears and she LOVED it!

Look at that face! Love this kid!
Waiting for the Hall of Presidents: Payton did not make it through the whole show ;)

And that was day one at Magic Kingdom! 

Saturday, October 12, 2013

First birthday!

Our trip continued with our goal of being in Savannah, Georgia! We decided to take a route through Virginia and West Virginia to avoid some of the high traffic locations, no offenses DC. Wow am I glad we decided to do that! During the drive we got to enjoy the BEAUTIFUL Appalachian Mountains and I was just taken back by the pure beauty we got to drive through. It was fun because as the same time we were driving through the Appalachian Mountains, Todd and I were enjoying a book on CD, A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. I would highly recommend finding some books on CD or on your Itunes to listen to on a long month road trip. Todd and I were able to laugh and enjoy the books together and it seemed to pass the time of long travel days better than the radio.

We arrived in Savannah, Georgia in time to celebrate little Miss Payton! She had her first birthday in Savannah, Georgia and loved opening the gifts. When we planned this trip we knew we were going to be traveling on her birthday but that we wanted to be somewhere special for her big day. We were fine not having a party because we had just had the adoption and baptism party. I asked if we could be in Savannah, knowing we wouldn't make it to Disney- just too far, because after college my friends and I went to Florida and on our way home we had broken down and an amazing couple had helped us out and given us a quick tour of Savannah. 
Savannah was all I remembered it to be, breathtaking moss on the trees, old city town with hip new things, I still love Savannah but the thing we were not counting on was the HEAT AND HUMIDITY! It was soooo hot and so humid that we didn't get out of the car/rv for much more than we needed because of fear of melting. The dogs hid in shade and didn't move and all around it was just way way too hot! But we had a fun birthday just the same!
Todd and I had blown up Disney Princess Balloons the night before and hung up a Happy Birthday sign that had Elmo, Big Bird and Cookie Monster on it so that when Payton woke up that is what she would see. Well Payton did not disappoint, she woke up and immediately was "Ohhh, what's that?" in her excited sweet voice. It was sooo fun!

We then had breakfast and opened gifts. She got gifts like a puzzle, a stack-able toy and books. She loved opening the gifts and of course saying, "Oh, what's that?" The phrase "What's that" was most likely used over a million times on the trip by Payton. She is totally into the learning what new things are by asking this question. We then went for a drive, yes in A/C, through Savannah and we talked about getting out. I was ready to tackle the heat and humidity but my family- not so much so we drove around and I enjoyed taking pictures and then mom was like "oh on house hunters, the tv show, this lady was buying a house on this island right outside Savannah and she just loved the island, we should go check it out." So we did! We headed out to Tybee Island and you want to know what, it was pretty but it didn't stand out as anything special and now we were hungry. We decided to enjoy Payton's birthday lunch at Uncle Bubba's. We didn't know anything about it (until mom and I were reading the People magazine later that week) and it looked nice and turns out it was very good. We had a nice lunch and enjoyed celebrating our daughter's first birthday! 
Overall Savannah was memorable again because it was Payton's birthday and we had a nice time but the heat and humid were terrible and we were happy to keep moving... next stop, Disney and Family!!!
 Happy Birthday Payton! Opening her gifts!
 Wanting to try out her new toy!
 She was as excited about the tissue paper at this point as anything else. 
 On our trip, we learned Payton loves straws so Meme and Poppy got her a cup in Hershey with a straw.
 Daddy and Payton looking at her new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse book!
 Downtown Savannah
 Going to Tybee Island
 Birthday Lunch
 We are so blessed to have Payton be our daughter and HAPPY to celebrate her!
 Birthday ice cream!
 Mickey Mouse clubhouse and Hot dog dance song were on this Iphone, she was hooked!
 Almost walking on her own! 
 We had a nice day as a family! 

 More of Savannah's Trees
A good end to a First Birthday! 


Wednesday, October 9, 2013

First stop was the Amish Country!

We have returned from our wonderful five week RV trip with my parents and WE LOVED IT! It was an adventure for sure and so many stories but I would do it again in a heartbeat! Payton is an amazing baby and would just play with her toys, listen to her CDs, read books or yell at the dogs whenever she was awake and we were traveling longs days. We had some awesome stops and I wanted to blog about a few of the stories (they will come in stages!), sorry I don't have pictures for all the stories... maybe with some of the stories you will be glad we had no pictures.
Payton in the car playing with bracelets as we drive around!


 Luke, one of the dogs, saying hi to Payton through the back window


Payton looking at daddy to see when we are getting out of the car!

We did our family tradition and went to Pennsylvania and did all the tourist things like Kitchen Kettle, Kings Furniture, Hershey's Chocolate World, Lapp Valley Farm, Good n Plenty (Payton loved the mashed potatoes) and all the joys/farms of the Amish Country. I have ALWAYS loved being there and the relaxing time together as a family. This time was super special because it was Payton's first trip to my favorite place! Payton loved the farms and animals and now loves to tell us that cows "MOOOO!" It is awesome to see and hear her learning and growing! We also got to visit with lots of friends, my friends from college-Fawn and her beautiful girl- Afton and Mary and her parents!! We also got to go to an auction and see our friends Josh and Annemarie. Overall PA was one of my favorite stops from the five week vacation, which if you know me at all should not be surprised!
 Enjoying a meal at Good n Plenty! 
 Kitchen Kettle as a Family of 3!!!!
 Payton loves ice cream and Lapp Valley Farm has some of the BEST ice cream ever... we have a smart kid!
 We loved our time as a family!!
 Meme and Payton checking out the cows!
 Enjoying her first taste of chocolate at Hershey's Chocolate World!
 Mary Miller, a great college friend, and Payton spending some good times together!
Potatoes are soooo good at Good n Plenty!