Family Travel (old)

Our Stay at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort with a Baby

We decided to take our daughter to Disney World for her first birthday! We wanted to stay on site so we could take advantage of Disney’s transportation and save money on renting a car. I also wanted Baby L’s first Disney trip to be full of Disney Magic so we chose to stay on site. We originally were going to wait to take Baby L to Disney World but we received this amazing special offer code to stay at All Star Movies Resort for only $73 a night! We couldn’t pass it up! So here it is…our stay at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort (with a one year old!)

This was our first time staying at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort as a family and we enjoyed our stay very much! If you are considering staying at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort with your family I hope this review will be of help to you!

Here’s our review of Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort:

Perks of Staying at a Disney Resort:

Disney’s Magical Express– Disney’s Magical Express is an awesome perk that you get when you stay at a Disney Resort on site where they transport you for FREE to and from Orlando International Airport from your resort. Disney’s Magical Express comes with another amazing luggage service where they pick up your checked bag for you and deliver it straight to your room! No waiting at baggage claim- just jump on the Disney bus waiting for you and head straight to your magical vacation!

Merchandise to Resort Service– When you stay at a Disney Resort you have the option to send the merchandise you purchase in the parks straight to your resort so you don’t have to carry bags with you all day. We utilized this service everywhere we went! This was awesome for us because we weren’t afraid to purchase souvenirs. We knew we didn’t have to carry bags with us for the rest of the day!

60-day Booking Fast Pass Plus– Fast Passes are absolutely amazing! In short, it is reservation of a timed slot for each ride that allows you to get on a ride at that time without waiting in line. You simply book the ride or attraction you want to get on, chose a time, and arrive at the ride at that time (all can be done on the My Disney Experience website/app). Each guest is allowed to book 3 fast passes at a time per day. Regular guests are able to book their Fast Passes 30 days in advance of their arrival. Disney Resort guests get to book their Fast Passes 60 days in advance of their arrival! Trying to ride a new ride or trying to avoid a 2 hour wait for a popular attraction?? This is the way to go! You can even Fast Pass shows, parades, and firework shows!

Magic Bands– Magic Bands are these awesome devices that you wear on your wrist (they even clips that you can hang on a keychain) that links to your “My Disney Experience” account and resort stay. Magic Bands are the key to your room, the holder of your Fast Passes, and you can charge food and merchandise for the duration of your stay. It basically holds all of the information you have chosen for your vacation on your “My Disney Experience”. You simply tap the band and voila- magic! You receive personalized Magic Bands for FREE whenever you stay at a Disney resort. You get to pick a color too!

Extra Magic Hours– Extra Magic Hours are just for Disney resort guests. It’s a perk where resort guests get to visit a particular theme park one hour more than regular park guests. The hour is outside of the scheduled theme park operating hours so that’s why it’s “extra”. There is Morning Extra Magic Hours where you can arrive at the park one hour before scheduled opening or Evening Extra Magic Hours where you can stay in the park for 1-2 hours past closing time.

Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort- Value Resort:

Disney resorts are categorized by Value, Moderate, or Deluxe. Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort is a Value Resort, so the prices are cheaper than Moderate and Deluxe Resorts and the rooms are smaller as well. No matter what resort you stay in, you get all the same perks mentioned above. I appreciate the Value resorts because not only are the prices great but the resorts tend to be more themed than Moderate and Deluxe resorts. But you obviously can’t expect the same amenities from a Value resort that you would get at a Deluxe resort. Value resorts are also “motel style” meaning when you walk outside your door you are outside. The Value resorts also have standard room options and preferred room options. The standard rooms are rooms anywhere in the resort and the preferred rooms are guaranteed to be closer to the lobby and food court. The lobby is where the food, gift shop, front desk, and buses are. The resorts can be quite large and can be a long walk to your room from the lobby so some people pay a little extra for a preferred room. I absolutely love extravagant theming at resorts so it works out great for me that these just so happen to be the resorts with the low prices!

Price:

Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort is a Value resort, so the average cost per night is about $100-125. We were able to get an amazing deal for $73 a night! This included the preferred room too, which is where you are guaranteed a room next to the main lobby, Cinema Hall, and your room isn’t too far from transportation and food. For the price, the resort was great. You can notice that the resort is older than most and, in some areas, a little outdated. The room was in no doubt clean and the towels and linens were not of poor quality. I must admit it was a little more outdated than the other Value resorts I’ve stayed at. Some furniture was chipped at the edges and the bathroom door was jammed sometimes (maintenance was able to fix this for us in under 5 minutes). In my opinion, a Disney Value resort is a million times better than a regular old motel you would get for a hundred bucks a night anywhere else. They were undergoing renovations so I think all of the rooms are going to completely updated and renovated in the next year so that’s a great plus!

Size of Room:

The size of the room in Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort was standard for a double bed hotel room. (The room size is 260 square feet.) The vanity area with the mirror and sink is outside of the bathroom that has the toilet and shower/tub. There is a curtain that divides the vanity/sink area form the rest of the room so you can get dressed or have some privacy. We didn’t have a problem at all fitting out family of 3 (2 adults and a baby).

Amenities in Room:

Flat screen TV

Mini-refrigerator

Safe with a key

Exposed closet

Hair dryer

Alarm radio clock

Big 3 drawer dresser

Night stand with a drawer and compartment underneath for storage

Table with 2 chairs

Towels and linens

2 lights above both full beds

Phone with speed dial resort departments

Crib and Sleeping Arrangements:

Disney offers a complimentary crib but the “crib” is a pack and play, not a standard crib. This did not bother us because when my daughter was a couple months old we were able to train her to sleep in both a pack and play and crib so that when we slept over at my mom’s house Baby L could sleep in a pack and play. That being said, we have a crib mattress in our pack and play so it feels comfortable like a crib. The Disney pack and play did not offer any mattress. The bottom of the pack and play has a padded board that they offer to be used for your baby to sleep on. This was a little disappointing to me because I didn’t want my tired baby who has been out in the parks all day to be sleeping on a board for the 5 nights that we were there.

They informed me that most moderate and deluxe resorts have travel cribs that are actual rolling cribs but Value resorts do not. I did not have resources to rent or drive to buy a crib so we had to figure out a way for Baby L to be comfortable. We ended up wrapping the bottom padded board with extra, soft blankets and folded them tight underneath so none of the blankets would move. With the extra blankets wrapped tight at the bottom of the crib, it was much softer and seemed more like a mattress.

At home, Baby L has her own room and sleeps best when she is by herself. She often wakes up if she hears me or my husband. She also loves her schedule and is like clockwork when it is time to go to sleep. Because the hotel room is just one room I was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to sleep because she would hear my husband and I. Especially because she goes to bed at 8 pm and my husband and I would still be up trying to enjoy our vacation nights. So, what we did was we put her pack and play where the vanity was and closed the curtain to make it seem like she had her own area and was alone. The vanity area had a perfect sized space that the pack and play fit perfectly. Then we turned the lights off and put her sound machine on like we do in her room at home. She slept fine all through the night for all the nights! During the day we would move the pack and play to the window and let her look outside at the characters so we could have the space in the vanity area to get ready.

Theme:

Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort has 4 themes or “sections” of the resort: Fantasia, Toy Story, 101 Dalmatians, Mighty Ducks, and Herbie. The main pool is in the Fantasia section right when you walk out of the lobby/food area. The main pool is Sorcerer Mickey on his red-curtained stage and water fountains out of his hands. (It reminds me a lot of the Fantasia show in Hollywood Studios.) The 3 preferred room sections are Toy Story, Fantasia, and 101 Dalmatians. We requested to be in the Toy Story section but that area was under renovations so the rooms were closed to guests. The cast members at the front desk were wonderful in accommodating us even though we didn’t get our preferred section and they put us in the main Fantasia section with a great pool view on the first floor.

I love the theming of this resort because there is larger than life characters! I love taking pictures with the figures and statues because it feels like you’re right in the movie. My favorite section was Toy Story! There is a huge Woody and Buzz Lightyear and in the middle of the section, there are huge walls that makes you feel like you are a toy in Andy’s room. There are also statues of Rex, Bo Peep, and RC Racer. It was so much fun to take pictures!

Transportation to Parks:

A great perk of staying at a Disney resort is the free transportation to and from all of the Disney Parks! The buses come right after each other and you are in the parks within 15 minutes! At Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort, the bus was located right outside the lobby, Cinema Hall. We didn’t run into any issues with the buses at all. One morning the Magic Kingdom bus line was wrapped around all of the other bus lines and I thought it was going to take an hour for us to finally get on a bus. But the buses came back to back and we were on a bus within 20 minutes. The buses can get packed because you want to fit as many people on the bus so there isn’t any wasted space. People are usually really friendly and respectful when it comes to space on the bus. We had our travel stroller that folded really tiny so my husband slung it on his shoulder and I sat with Baby L on my lap. Disney buses do not allow car seats and all strollers must be folded to be able to get on the bus.

Food:

The food court at Disney’s All-Star Movies is called World Premier Food Court. It is located inside of the main Cinema Hall lobby. It’s a cafeteria style food court and there are 3 different counters with different food options and menus. I really enjoyed this style of food because my husband and I were able to eat something different each time. The cashiers are located in the middle of the 3 food counters so you can go to each different section if you want and pay at the end. There is also a delicious dessert section where they offer ice cream, sundaes, milkshakes, and have 2 cases of dessert including cupcakes, cheesecake, layered cakes, specialty items. You can also find a Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar right at the resort. (These are one of my FAVORITE Disney snacks!) You can also purchase a refillable mug that costs $17.99 and you can use it for the duration of your stay for unlimited refills. There is a refill station in the food court that has any Coke product, iced tea, coffee, tea, water, and milk. You can refill your mug with any beverage. If you buy beverages separately it can cost you around $4 a cup.

Staff:

The staff at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort was great. Every cast member we encountered was polite, kind, friendly, and respectful. They always offered us a smile and since we were wearing buttons that said we were celebrating our daughters first birthday we got loads of free stickers and little gifts all the time! It was awesome and my daughter LOVED the attention!

Gift Shop:

The gift shop at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort had everything you can think of. Not only did it have super cool merchandise but it also had a section that resembled a convenience store where you can buy a gallon of milk or water or beverage and had bags of potato chips, boxes of cookies, and snacks (even Entenmann’s products). It also had a section of things that you can buy in case you forgot to pack something. It had all the necessities you can think of from aloe, Band-Aids, tweezers, diapers, wipes, hand sanitizer and so much more. I noticed that it even had things that you couldn’t find in the parks! If you bought something in the park and had it sent to your resort this is where you came to pick up your package as well.

All-Star Resorts Proximity to each other:

My parents came with us to celebrate Baby L’s first birthday and they stayed at Disney’s All-Star Music Resort. There are 3 All-Star resorts: All Star Sports, All Star Music, and All-Star Movies. The resorts are right next to each other and only a parking lot away from each other. We were able to walk to see my parents in their resort and they were able to meet us at ours. It was great! So if you ever have family and you want to stay at different resorts but close enough to be next to each other the All-Star resorts are a great option.

Soooooo as you can see my family very much enjoyed staying at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort! Not only was the price unbeatable but our stay was so much fun! Baby L loved it and I don’t regret for a second taking her to Disney for her first birthday. She may not remember it, but she’ll have pictures to look back at for the rest of her life.

We do travel to Disney quite a lot, even though we live in New York we always find great flight deals. So far, we’ve at Art of Animation, Pop Century, Port Orleans, and now All-Star Movies Resort. I look forward to coming back to Disney World and staying at another resort!

Have any questions or want to share your experience at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort? Feel free to drop me a comment!!

Packing your little one to Disney?? Check out my posts “What to Pack for a One Year Old for a Disney Vacation” and “Tips to Taking Your One Year Old to Disney“! Find out my tips and tricks to taking our toddler to Disney and making our vacation fun an stress-free!

Want to Remember this post? Save “Our Stay at Disney’s All-Star Movies resort With a Baby” to your favorite Pinterest Board!

Why First Time Moms Need A Role Model

Mom Life

As a first time mom, there are A LOT of things you experience that you never experienced before. Sometimes we feel like we are in this journey of motherhood alone when in reality all we have to do is look around and see the countless number of women who have been through the same thing!

If you are a first time mom and are trying to figure out exactly what to do or how to adjust to motherhood, I strongly suggest looking to a seasoned, experienced mother (who you trust!) to help you, guide you, assure you, and offer you mom life wisdom!

As a first time mom, I didn’t want to walk through motherhood alone and when I didn’t know what to do my mother was the one who came beside me to help me along the way. And even though I love my husband to death there are things he can’t fully understand because well, he’s never physically been through having a child and being a mother.

My mother became my role model- an experienced mom that I looked to for guidance, reassurance, and wisdom. Not only did having a role model help me through the hard times of motherhood but having a role model also reassured me what I wasn’t alone. I think all first time moms should have someone who they can look up to during this new season in their life!

I needed a role model (who was my mom) as a first time mom because she understood what I was going through, was able to guide me and comfort me with her wisdom and was able to personally relate to this new season in my life.

I had the privilege of having my mom help me and support me. I know not every first time mom has their mother around to help them or has the support of their mother but I would still encourage all new moms to find someone they can trust to help guide them through this momentous new season of their lives. Find a seasoned mother who you trust, maybe an aunt or a grandparent or a sister or in-law. Don’t feel like you have to walk through motherhood alone!

Why First Time Moms Need a Role Model

Seasoned mothers are a great role model to first time moms. I know this because my mom played such an important role when I became a mother. She was there for me in a way that I felt was indescribable. As an experienced mom, she was about to help me in ways that I didn’t even know I needed help. And here is why…

Her experience guides me

Having an experienced mom as a role model will help you because she is knowledgeable. My mom has obviously experienced what I am going through. Maybe not in the same exact way, but she still had experience from having 3 children that I didn’t have. She was able to use her experience to guide me and show me that the journey of motherhood I am on will not always feel overwhelming. There are things that I went through as a first time mom that she had more experience in.

For example, when my daughter started waking up in the middle of the night again after sleeping through the night it was my mom who first told me about the different cycles and sleep regressions that babies go through. If I didn’t trust her enough to come to her with what I was worried about then she would have never been able to tell me that what my baby girl was doing is completely normal. I would have just let my worry snowball into a full blown panic. My mother’s experience was able to guide me.

Her wisdom comforts me

Not only do experienced mothers have more knowledge about certain things than we do as first time moms but they also have wisdom from their experiences. I can’t tell you enough how much my mother’s experience ultimately comforted me. Like I mentioned before when I would worry about something that my daughter was doing she would tell me that it’s nothing to be worried about. If she wasn’t there to let me know that things are going to be ok then I would be unnecessarily worried about something that is completely normal! Ultimately, her wisdom comforted me because it fizzled out my potential worrying.

She can relate to me like no one else can

When you have another mother as a role model there are things that you can share with her that no one else would understand because chances are she’s “been there and done that”- so she can relate to what you feel and what you are going through. As much as I love my husband he can’t relate to things that my body experiences because he’s never been through it. Having my mom as a role model and someone I can confide in, she relates to me like no one else can. Not only does she know what I’m going through but she also knows me well enough to give me advice and wisdom that she knows I would understand.

She helps me and understands me on a whole new level

Having an experienced mother as a role model who understands you and knows you will help you so much! For example, having my mother beside me allowed me to feel safe that I knew I wasn’t alone. There were times that all she had to do was look at me and she knew how I was feeling. I didn’t have to overly divulge my feelings- there were times that she knew what I was feeling because she understood me beyond words. This was a whole new level of understanding. There were even times that my husband didn’t know what was wrong with me but because I had a seasoned mother guiding me through this new life of motherhood she immediately knew what I was going through. You have no idea how valuable being understood can be as a first time mom.

She helps me see what true love and sacrifice is

As a first time mom, there is a whole new understanding of what love and sacrifice are. After holding your new little baby, you feel a connection that you never felt before- a love that is never ending and indescribable. After feeling this love with my baby, I was able to immediately understand the love that my family has for me and the scarifies that was made for me. Just as much as I love my new little baby girl and would sacrifice my life for her, I know that is how my mom feels about me. Because my mom was my role model I had a newfound understanding of how she really feels about me and how much she loves me. I know that one day in the distant future when my little girl has a baby I want to be there for her just as much as my mom was for me because I know I would do anything for her.

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Our Day at Magic Kingdom with a One Year Old

Family Life, Family Travel

Magic Kingdom has to be my favorite place in the world! I was so excited to take my daughter to Disney World for her first birthday and I knew I wanted our first park day to be at Magic Kingdom. Here’s an overview of our day at Magic Kingdom with our one year old little princess.

Taking your baby to Disney World isn’t “easy” but with the proper mindset and some planning ahead, it can definitely be stress-free and FUN!

I have to admit, I was nervous about how she would be with the crowds, heat, and being out all day. Disney World can be exhausting- I mean, it’s just a realistic fact. But I tried to plan enough to have “plan” for our day but not over plan that we wouldn’t be able to be flexible with our time. We were able to enjoy our day at Magic Kingdom with these awesome tips- you can read my post here about “Tips for Taking Your One Year Old to Disney”!

Still trying to figure out what you need to pack for your baby to go to Disney World? I got you! I’m all about taking the stress out of your vacation and making it as stress-free as possible. So I created an ultimate Disney Infant Packing Checklist. With this packing list, I was able to pack everything Baby L needed and didn’t need to spend money buying things that I forgot to pack. This list was a lifesaver- and a sanity saver! Be sure to download my super awesome Disney Infant Packing Checklist!

I went hunting the internet and Pinterest for what a day in Magic Kingdom or any Disney park really looked like with an infant. I just wanted to know what people did, how they managed to get naps into the day, and how their baby responded to the people and heat. I found some helpful blog posts but none that were detailed. So, I decided to make this post for those who are in need of what I was looking for!

My daughter is on a pretty strict schedule- not because I force her to be, but because she naturally got into a rhythm with a schedule for when she eats and naps. I was a little worried that she would be fussy because she was off of her schedule for the week we were on vacation. But I was able to keep her somewhat on her schedule enough for her to be a happy baby! If you’re curious about what our day looked like with our birthday girl then this post is for you. I hope it can give you some sort of rough example of what you can do with your little one. (I include all of my roadblocks too so you can learn from my mistakes!)

Our Day at Magic Kingdom:

7:45 am

Baby L Woke:

Our sweet baby woke up at 7:45 am and I fed her the morning bottle and got her dressed for the day. We didn’t have to waste too much time getting ready for the day because I packed all of her stuff in the diaper bag the night before to save time in our morning.

8:15 am

Breakfast at Resort:

We love Disney resort breakfast and at our resort, All-Star Movies, they had Mickey waffles! Baby L had some waffles, scrambled eggs, and breakfast potatoes. She was nice and full to start our busy day. My parents were with us on this trip but they were staying at All-Star Music, which was just a walk away from us. So they met us for breakfast here.

8:50 am

Bus (Disney Transportation):

We got on the Magic Kingdom bus at the resort and we were off to begin our day at Magic Kingdom!

9:20 am

Arrive at Magic Kingdom:

Magic Kingdom opened at 9 am so we arrived 20 minutes past. The crowds were not bad at all and we went through the security line fairly quickly. They check the entire diaper bag and all of its pockets.

Pro Tip: Open all the zippers and take out the top contents of your diaper bag so they can see what is inside of the bag quickly. You will zoom through security by being prepared!

10:00 am

Rides:

When we arrived, we took our time strolling down Main Street and taking pictures in front of the castle. We had family matching t-shirts so I wanted to make sure to get a ton of pictures! Then we headed over to Dumbo for Baby L’s first ride! There was hardly anyone in the parks so we were able to get on in 10 minutes and then we went on The Little Mermaid Under the Sea Voyage. All of the rides were 10-20 minute wait time so we took advantage and went on as many rides as we could. I had to figure out how the stroller parking worked but everyone was really friendly in pointing the direction of the stroller parking for each ride.

10:30-11:30 am

Nap in Stroller:

Baby L was getting a little fussy and I knew it was almost time for her nap. After we rode The Little Mermaid I reclined her stroller and put the sun visor as far down as I could and just walked in and out of stores while she fell asleep. She was sleeping within 10 minutes and it was a victory! She slept for a full hour while we browsed through stores and did some souvenir shopping.

Pro Tip: If you are staying at a Disney Onsite resort you can purchase merchandise and then have it sent back to your room! No more carrying around bags!

11:30 am

Be Our Guest Restaurant:

We found last minute reservations to Be Our Guest for lunch- SCORE! The cast members were so nice and saw that it was Baby L’s first birthday so they gave her an autographed card signed by Princess Belle and the Beast and a little birthday cupcake! Baby L ate macaroni and cheese and potato/leek soup.

12:30 pm

Rides:

We had Fast Passes for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Ride, Peter Pan’s Flight, and Winnie the Pooh. We ride swapped for the Mine Train Ride with my husband, me, and my parents but Baby L was able to do everything else with us. She loved the Winnie the Pooh ride and laughed the whole ride of Peter Pan.

2:30 pm

Ate at Sleepy Hollow:

Our vacation was at the start of Florida’s wet season so there was a good 30 minutes of heavy rain. Thankfully, we were already near Liberty Square to eat at Sleepy Hollow and got a table under the canopy so we didn’t get wet. I absolutely LOVE the sweet and spicy chicken and waffle sandwich! My husband also ate a funnel cake with strawberries. Baby L was pretty wiped out so we reclined her stroller again and started rocking her and she went straight to sleep. She got a good little nap in while we ate.

3:00 pm

More Rides and Snacks:

After the rain let up, the sun came out shining. We used all of our 3 Fast Passes so I was able to get another Fast Pass and we went on Pirates of the Caribbean. Then we had our traditional Dole Whip and watched the camel in Adventure land “spit” water on the playing children.

4:00 pm

Play Time in Circus:

It was super hot outside and very humid so we decided to take Baby L to the circus playground and let her play in the sprinklers. Right next to the playground is the Big Top Circus Store that has an awesome bakery inside so we sat and outside and had a caramel nut apple and Mickey cake pop.

5:00 pm

Strolled Around Stores:

Magic Kingdom has A LOT of little shops and stores to go in! We just strolled around and took pictures, made sure we visited each land and tried to browse in as many stores as we could. Baby L was so good! She would point at characters, laugh with others babies and loved being center of attention. We took this time to go back into stores where we saw things we wanted to buy and also picked up snacks from the Main Street Confectionary that we wanted to take back home with us.

We gave Baby L her bottle and fed her some yogurt and string cheese while we stopped to eat some goodies so we could keep on track with her normal schedule (because she normally eats at 5:30). I made the mistake of not completely sitting down to feed her because she was really cranky after this. I knew that she normally really enjoys a full dinner at this time and we just really weren’t in a place where we could sit down again and feed her a hot meal. She usually does well with a bottle and yogurt or a sweet potato pouch but she really did not want that this time. I think she was just tired from being out all day and felt uncomfortably hot and all of those factors led us to make the decision to head back to the resort.

6:30 pm

Left the Park:

We REALLY wanted to stay to watch the Fireworks and Happily Ever After show but Baby L was getting cranky and I didn’t want to push her to be out for too long. Especially because we had an early morning the next day and we were planning to park hop as well. I learned from her last feeding that she needed to be able to eat a full meal that she is used to for all 3 meals even if she doesn’t seem like she wants to eat.

7:00 pm

At Resort:

We arrived back at the resort about 30 minutes after we left the park. The All-Star Movies bus came fairly quickly and we were able to get seats. Baby L was worn out by this point and just wanted to rest. We got back to the resort and I got her some fresh fruit so she could eat while we prepare for the next day and get all cleaned up. She ran right to her pack and play and started to play with her toys and read her books. I think she just wanted to be able to get out of the stroller and have some downtime to play with toys.

8:00 pm

Bedtime:

We gave Baby L a nice bath, fed her the last milk bottle, turned off the lights, put her sound machine on and she went straight to sleep!

8:30 pm

Prep for next day:

Baby L was fast asleep and we were able to turn a little lamp on to be able to pack for the next day to go to Epcot and Animal Kingdom. We got our clothes out, packed fresh items in the diaper bag, restocked on diapers and wipes, prepped her next bottles and we were down for the night. It was awfully early for us to go to sleep, especially because we were on vacation but I was so exhausted and my husband was tired that we just watched some tv and fell right to sleep. We got a great night’s rest for the next long day.

So that was our day at Magic Kingdom! We had a blast, got to do everything we set out to do, was able to accomplish more than we thought and had no huge meltdowns. I was able to keep Baby L on her schedule (for the most part) and she was a happy camper. Going to Magic Kingdom with a baby was MUCH different than when I and my husband used to go alone. But we were able to take our little girl to Disney and that’s all that mattered to us. Now we have the pictures to always look back on. I don’t regret one second of it!

Don’t forget to download your copy of my Disney Infant Packing Checklist! You won’t want to arrive to your vacation and realize that you forgot to pack important items so be sure to get the checklist below! Instead of stressing about making sure you have the right items, just download the packing checklist and you’ll be good to go!

Get Your Free Disney Infant Packing Checklist Now!

I hope I was able to help you prepare for your trip to Disney World! Have a greaaatttttt vacation!!

Want to remember this post? Save “Our Day at Magic Kingdom with a One Year Old” to your favorite Pinterest board!

Baby Schedule Collection (Free Printables!)

Mom Life

The Baby Schedule Collection is my favorite bundle of baby printables! The collection includes 3 different schedule printables that will help you track your baby’s schedule, your baby’s feeding, and your baby’s naps.

If you are wondering why tracking your baby’s schedule is important or even why to have a schedule for your baby, then take a look at my post “Why A Schedule For My Baby is So Important”.

When I first had my daughter and she was only a couple of days old I was advised to start tracking her naps, feedings, and her overall daily schedule. I did so on a simple note on my phone but it became a hassle every time I had to add something. So I created a tracking sheet for myself to help me improve my system of tracking. After using the tracking sheet for a couple of months I decided to improve it and it has helped me exponentially!

I want to share my tracking sheets and schedules with you today! Don’t forget to get the Baby Schedule Collection! You can download the whole collection of schedules right here!

The Baby Schedule Collection

Each sheet in the collection is electronically fillable (all you have to do is open it as a pdf on your desktop) and can be printed. Let’s go over what each schedule does and how you can use it!

Printable #1: The Baby Journal

The Baby Journal is my absolute favorite printable tracking sheet! It has fields to track your baby’s feedings (how often and how much they eat at a time), naps (how long they sleep eat nap and how often), diaper changes (when each diaper was changed and what it contained), and activity.

How to Use the Baby Journal

Tracking Baby’s Feedings: The feeding section of the Baby Journal is used so you can see how often your baby eats and how much they are eating. If you are just feeding them breastmilk then you can track how long they were nursing. If you are formula feeding then you can track how many ounces they had and how much time was in between each feeding. If you are mixing then this is the perfect resource to help you track when your baby is consuming which foods/liquids. Be sure to check out my post on “How to Start a Full Feeding Schedule With Your Baby” to see how you can use this tracking sheet to start your baby’s schedule.

Tracking Baby’s Naps: It’s also important to track when your baby falls asleep and for how long they are sleeping. The “Naps” section allows you to easily plug in your information. Be sure to check out my post on “How to Start a Nap Schedule With Your Baby” to see how you can use this tracking sheet to start your baby’s schedule.

Tracking Baby’s Diapers: The “Diaper” section of the Baby Journal allows you to write what time you changed your baby’s diaper, was the diaper just wet or did your baby have a bowel movement (labeled BM on the Baby Journal) and has a notes section so you can write any notes pertaining to that diaper change. This comes in handy when you want to track how your baby’s poop looked- sometimes the doctor will ask you this question and if you’re tracking it on the Baby Journal, you’d be able to answer super easy because you were logging the information!

Tracking Baby’s Activities: In the “Activity” section of the Baby Journal, you can write when your baby had their activity time, how long it lasted, and what the activity was. For example, when my daughter was only a couple weeks old after every nap I would start tummy time with her for 10 minutes. So after logging what time she woke up from her nap, then I would write when I started tummy time and how long it lasted. All on one sheet!

I can’t tell you how convenient it is to have all of these sections on ONE SHEET! No need to flip back and forth to and from multiple sheets to track all the different sections of your baby’s day.

Pro Tip: Since you will be using the Baby Journal every day, I suggest only printing out one copy and inserting it into an 8.5x11inch picture frame. You can then use the glass of the picture frame as a Dry Erase Board. Simply write in each section with a fine tip dry erase marker! Saves money on paper and ink and saves space! (After each day is over, I simply take a picture of the completed Baby Journal and keep an album on my phone of all of the photos of the Baby journal from each day.)

Important: The information you write in your baby’s daily journal will ultimately reveal to you your baby’s daily schedule. After a month or so of tracking your baby’s daily activities, you will begin to see a pattern- this will be your baby’s daily schedule that you will input in the next printable- Create Your Own Schedule.

Printable #2: Create Your Own Schedule

I love the Create Your Own Schedule printable in the Baby Schedule Collection because it gives me the flexibility to input what my baby does and when without much restrictions. The Create Your Own Schedule only has 3 sections- Time, Activity, and Notes.

I use this printable for many things! I leave it with my baby when my family babysits for me and they are able to write what my baby did and when. But the main reason I use this printable is as a template for my Baby’s overall daily schedule.

To use this printable as your baby’s overall daily schedule, I simply look at the Baby Journals over the past couple of weeks and find a pattern of feedings, naps, and activity times. Then I write in the Create Your Own Schedule printable the pattern that I see from the Baby journal. This now becomes a template of what my baby’s overall schedule looks like!

If I leave Baby L with her grandparents for the day or someone babysits for me, I always make sure to leave them my completed Schedule using this printable so they have something to follow of what my daughter does at what time. Really comes in handy!

Obviously, this schedule will change as your baby grows so that’s why it’s important to keep track what your baby does in the Baby Journal on a daily basis so you can accurately see what your baby’s overall schedule looks like.

To read more about what my baby’s daily schedule is read my post on “What My Baby’s Daily Schedule Looks Like” here!

Printable #3: Weekly Tracker

While everything in your baby’s schedule is important, I think that the feedings section is the hardest to keep track of and plan. The Weekly Tracker Printable in the Baby Schedule Collection will help you not only track your baby’s daily food/milk intake on a weekly basis, but the “Solids” Section can help you plan what solids your baby will be eating. And then once your baby finished eating, you can accurately document how much your baby actually ate of that food. This especially comes in handy when your baby is starting solid food.

How to Use the Weekly Baby Feeding Tracker:

The Weekly Baby Feeding Tracker a horizontal sheet is split into 2 parts: the top half is to track liquids (breastmilk, formula, or milk) and the bottom half is to track solids. You can easily track how much your baby is drinking in a day by writing which liquid your baby drank that day and how many ounces they consumed. If your baby drank more than one kind of liquid, such as breastmilk with formula supplement or formula with a mixture of whole milk (if your baby is over one) then this is the best place to track it!

If the boxes are too small to fit all of the words, simple use initials such as BM- 5 minutes, FF 3 ounces. That would mean that my baby breastfed for 5 minutes and then formula fed 3 ounces.

The bottom half of the sheet is for solids. While the top is used for tracking how many ounces of liquid your baby drank, the bottom can be used to plan which foods your baby will eat as well as then track how much of it they ate. It can be used as a PLANNER and a TRACKER!

Printing & Using the Baby Schedule Collection

Like I mentioned before, you can print each sheet for each day, print one sheet for each and laminate it as a dry erase sheet, or print each sheet and insert it in an 8.5x11inch frame and use the picture frame glass as a dry erase board! If you are printing each sheet I recommend organizing the sheets in a binder by month. I do that as well!

GET YOUR FREE BABY SCHEDULE COLLECTION NOW!

There you have it! Be sure to download my Baby Schedule Collection today! See how to download your schedules below! Remember, I use all of these sheets myself and they have helped me sooo much!

7 Ways Communication Will Help Improve Your SAHM Life (& Marriage!)

Marriage Life

Inside: Easily find out how communication will improve your stay at home mom life and add some extra spice to your marriage!

Have you ever felt like there was this wall between you and your husband?

Communication is HARD.

Especially as a mama who is sleep-deprived, scurrying after littles one all day only after being caffeinated by luke-warm coffee.

Communication can be taxing and stressful, especially after a long hard day where you just want a few minutes of quiet alone time.

But there are a lot of benefits (for both you and your husband!) when you’re honest with your husband about your day and how you feel.

Here are 7 ways communication can improve your stay at home mom life ( & better your marriage!)

Stress relief
Openness with your husband
Allows husband to better understand you (and everything you do)
Increases appreciation
Opens the road of honesty
Brings you and your husband closer

Yes, there are times that you don’t want to talk or feel like you don’t need to talk.

There are times you feel that being honest with your husband will make things worse.

But from my own experience so far as being a new stay at home mom, every time I communicate with my husband and am honest with him about the way I am feeling it betters me, him, and ultimately our relationship.

What Is There To Communicate?

You may be wondering, what is there even to be honest about?

Being honest doesn’t mean you have some profound secret to share that you’ve been hiding.

Being honest with your husband as a stay at home mom is just being open, truthful, and sincere about how you’re feeling.

Maybe it’s sharing what you went through that day or what you’ve been going through. Maybe it’s sharing about something that has been bothering you. Or maybe it’s just to say that you need a hug.

You don’t have to overthink it or feel like what you have to say is dumb!

7 reasons marriage communication will improve your stay at home mom life

1- It relieves stress:

Communication will improve your stay at home mom life by helping relieve some of that stress that sometimes makes you feel like an elephant is sitting on your chest.

Sometimes we have all of this stress from the day that keeps accumulating and we have nowhere to unload it on. And we definitely don’t want to unload it on our children!

So most of the time we just stay quiet and keep it all inside. If we never let it out it can just keep building and building until we eventually blow up. And to be honest, when we blow up it’s usually over the tiniest thing that did not deserve a huge blowout. It’s the little things that can really set us over the top.

Being honest with your husband can eliminate the blowout of your stress building. What you DON’T want to do is unleash all of the stress you feel on your husband. What you DO want to do is explain to him how you feel.

When you TALK about how you feel instead of REACTING to how you feel things tend to go better and your husband will better receive and understand what you are saying

Before your husband gets home, be sure to let him know that you had a rough day and that you’re looking forward to seeing him and talking to him later.

This way, he’s not blind-sighted by how stressed you are and you give him a little heads up that not only do you need to talk to him but also that he can help.

I know that when my husband feels like he is needed and can be a benefit to me things go over much better than when I’m just unloading on him and talking down to him.

Marriage and parenting take 2 people working together side by side and when one person limps, you give them your shoulder.

When you share with your husband how you feel- you definitely feel better! It can be a major stress reliever!

2- He understands the extent of your day:

The next way communication will improve your stay at home mom life is by helping him feel connected to what you are doing during the day.

I know a lot of moms who just compartmentalize their day away from their husband’s day and they don’t tell their husbands about their day because they feel like it’s not important.

I heard one mom say “Why does my husband want to hear about my day if I’ve just been home all day? It’s not like I went to work and have a bunch of stories.”

While I completely understand where she is coming from, I don’t totally agree. I think your day as a stay at home mom is just as important as anyone else’s day and this should not be the reason you feel like you can’t share things with your husband.

Yes, your husband going off to work to provide for his family may seem “more important”. But you and your husband’s days are NOT more or less important than each other’s. Your days are a different kind of important- but equally important.

I say all of this because one of the reasons being honest with your husband as a stay at home mom is so important is that it helps him understand what you do during the day and what your day entails.

Before I started being honest with my husband about these things he just thought that my day was simple- feed our daughter and put her down for naps. But that is sooo not the case.

As mothers, we do SO much! You can’t image how much more gracious, kind, and loving he was to me after I began to tell him about my day every day.

Being honest with your husband about what you do during the day will also keep him in the loop about how your baby is growing, what fun things you did that day, what new things your baby accomplished that day, what your baby is doing differently- and so much more!

Sharing these things with your husband will benefit you and your marriage is so much more than just one way!

3- He feels like you appreciate him enough to share your day:

It may seem crazy but husbands actually love to listen.

They might not like to listen to you when they are being nagged- but they love to listen because it makes them feel like you appreciate him enough to share your day with him.

Another way communication will improve your stay at home mom life is by helping your husband feel appreciated- which in turn helps keep your marriage alive!

After all, marriage is about being selfless enough to comfort your spouse even when you feel like you need comfort.

It’s about putting someone else’s needs first, and then when your spouse is doing the same for you is when you find an awesome balance of love.

When you share with your husband what you did that day, how you felt, and what happened it makes him feel like you appreciate him enough to take time out of your busy day to talk to him. It may sound silly but I’ve experienced this first hand!

When I could have been cleaning, doing laundry, or even just quietly resting and taking a minute for myself I chose to sit and talk to my husband. Sometimes this feels like an annoying thing to do- I’m going to be honest.

Sometimes I feel like talking is too hard because staying quiet is easier. But going out of your way to share things with your husband is worth it. Especially when not only will he feel good about being able to be your strong shoulder, but also allow you to get some things off of your chest.

4- It opens up the 2-way road of communication

Being honest with your husband is so important because it opens the 2-way road of communication. When you are honest with your husband, more than likely your husband will be honest with you. When you share with him the details of his day, he’ll also feel like sharing the details of his day with you.

This is a little marriage trick of mine- whenever I feel like there’s something my husband needs to tell me but isn’t, I’ll start to talk about my day and put the focus on me and then ask him about how his day was. 9 out of 10 times is when he’ll share with me what’s on his mind.

A lot of times husbands need to be comforted before they can be vulnerable. And then after they’re vulnerable they are completely fine (like a weight is lifted off of them). I’m almost the exact opposite- I can be vulnerable first but expect to be comforted afterward.

Opening up the roads of communication may not seem like your job all the time. Sometimes you just want to be the one who stays quiet until your husband asks you how your day was. But I’ve learned from experience that if you start to share your day with him daily, on the one day that you don’t do it he’ll be the one asking you how your day was.

Being honest with your husband and opening the roads of communication will set a communication standard in your marriage. It will become a habit, instead of a rarity. Then when something comes up that your husband needs to talk to you about, he feels safe enough to share with you what’s on his heart.

5- It draws you closer

Man, does communication draw you closer!

I can’t stress enough how communication is so important for a marriage.

Not just because it’s needed but because it draws you and your spouse together like nothing else can. Being honest with your husband is so important because there are times that you feel SO far apart from each other because of the different daily lives you lead.

At times I feel like my husband has no idea what it takes to be a stay at home mom and I feels like he’s so far from understanding me. There are other days that my husband feels like I don’t understand how much he does because of the different role I have in our family. Communication solves this problem!

A lot of the time we feel like we have to fix the product of the issue, instead of fixing the root of the issue. But whenever something comes between my husband and I the first thing I know we need to do is talk it out. There are times that I feel like talking will make the situation worse (especially when I’m furious with him!).

But in reality, I know that instead of creating more space in between us, what we really need is to talk so we can be close again.

And by being honest with your husband every day and cultivating the communication in your relationship you are setting some great cornerstones for your marriage. That when the hurricane of problems blow, your marriage will be built on a strong foundation and not crumble.

6- Can prevent fears

Being honest with your husband can have the power to prevent fears that you have from growing.

My husband is usually the voice of reason in me. I might not want to admit that all the time but there are definitely times that he has a way of calming me down and allowing me to see past my fears.

After all, that is why you marry someone- because they can understand you in a way that you may not even understand yourself.

There are a countless number of things that I can think about and instantly have fears.

What if my daughter is developmentally delayed because she isn’t reaching her next milestone yet?
What if we don’t have enough money for household items because I chose to do my nails?
What if something happens and I need to go back to work, who will watch my daughter?
Will my daughter have an allergic reaction to the food I just gave her?

These questions can go on for days! And for some moms it might seem ridiculous that I even think like this- but the reality is that most moms have fears that resemble these. It’s just the nature of what we do!

But when I think of these things, no matter how small they are, I always try to bring them up to my husband. He hears my fears and brings me comfort. He may not always make them go away- but knowing that he’s just there listening to what I’m feeling is sometimes all it takes for me to feel better.

Instead of having those fears snowball into gigantic boulders, talking about them and having him bring clarity to my insanity reduces the number of times those little thoughts actually turn to real-life fears.

7- Establishes trust and reassures reliance on each other

It may seem redundant but being honest with your husband establishes trust and reassures your reliance on each other.

When you are communicating on a regular basis, sharing your day with other and being honest about how you feel and what you’re experiencing you are building on that cornerstone of communication blocks of trust and reassurance in each other. Having trust in your marriage is priceless.

When you trust each other, little can come between you two. When you trust that both of you have each other’s best interest in mind, your marriage will exponentially grow.

Having this firm trust will also help you be a better parent because you will trust each other and their actions. You will trust your spouse’s reasons for doing something because you know he wants what is best for you and your children.

Having trust is the main tool in an effective marriage!

If you haven’t noticed already, communicating is a BIG deal. Communication isn’t always easy. Being honest with your husband will take hard work and daily effort.

Communication is beneficial to both you AND your husband- specifically being honest with each other about how you feel and what you’re going through.

Remember, being honest with your husband as a stay at home mom is so important because it will help you relieve stress, open up the road of communication, and allow your husband to understand you better.

Marriage Revival Challenge

There’s nothing better than a marriage challenge to strengthen your relationship and help you better communicate! I absolutely love marriage challenges and I actually created my own marriage challenge that has helped my marriage, along with a lot of other marriages! Not only did I create a really great marriage challenge and challenge program, but I also wanted to offer it for free! The challenge I created is called the Marriage Revival Challenge, focusing on adding life to your marriage. I created this Marriage Challenge not to give you all of the “answers” but to give you the tools you need to enhance and improve your marriage.

No matter what stage of marriage you are in- whether you have been married for 6 months, 5 years, or 15 years, the Marriage Revival Challenge can help rebuild your marriage or simply enhance it!

Join the Free Marriage Revival Challenge Now!

So, there you have it- 7 really awesome reasons being honest with your husband is so important, not just for you and him but for the future and growth of your family!

Have any other communication tips or reasons being honest with your husband as a stay at home mom is so important?? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Want to remember this post? Save “7 Reasons Being Honest with Your Husband: Stay at Home Mom Edition” to your favorite Pinterest Board!

Are you and your husband new parents?? Check out my post “7 Ways to Keep Your Marriage Alive as New Parents”!