jennifer patel

He was One. Everyone says it, but I can't believe a year has gone by. This past year has been about experiencing everything that I never allowed myself to dream when we were struggling to bring life into the world. It is so overwhelmingly powerful that I still pinch myself to make sure it's real. Happy Birthday, baby boy. We can't even remember the time before you were ours.* *Except that one time when you were yelling at a restaurant on a Sunday night, and I watched a young couple walk out together...probably to go home and watch Sunday night HBO on the couch with their pets...because they definitely got their work out in that morning...and then lazed around their Sunday funday planning their next vacation...and maybe reading...and I was staring so long at this beautiful couple, I dribbled food out of my mouth onto my clothes...but it doesn't matter because they were already dirty with spit and slobber...and baby food...and let's...

Growing up, our family took road trips for vacations. We drove to various state parks and camped, making excursions to places nearby. It was great, but as a result, I had never been to the happiest place on Earth, until this year! V was at a conference in Orlando this past April, so we decided to fly out and meet him toward the end and take a family trip to Disney World. We decided to do this and start making arrangements approximately 10 days before the trip. As I casually went on Pinterest to find a good list of things to bring to the park, I learned that people start planning their Disney trips months (like, a year) in advance. Apparently, you can book your fast pass rides and park restaurant reservations 60 days prior to your trip. And you can hire a Disney planner to book said rides and restaurants and take care of everything else for you. People have published  books with the secret ins and outs of the parks. I began to sweat and waver on our decision, thinking we wo...