Anyone who has been to Disney world is usualy disapointed by the fact that you can not go into the castle.

For years it has just been used for storage and a break room for the charcters.

New pictures have been released on the progress of the suite.

Disney Imagineer Stephen Silvestri and his team have been researching 17th-century royal French life and trying to create mosaics and other artwork, accoutrements and furnishings, often by hand, to fit in.

The suite, he said, will come with a “traditional” big, flat-screen, high-definition TV. But people won’t notice it unless they look for it, just like the complimentary shampoos and lotions in the bathroom, bottled in what will look like old, French glassware.

“You want the fantasy,” Silvestri said. “All those things are there, but they’re not immediately recognizable to your eye.”

Among other details:

Before dinner, the winning family will be escorted to the suite, regaled with the Cinderella story, and shown around the rooms. Disney will arrange transportation for them and their luggage from wherever they were.

They’ll be taken to Cinderella’s Royal Table Restaurant for dinner, where the actress in Cinderella character will meet with them.

After dinner, they’ll go back upstairs to freshen up, then be escorted to the “Wishes” show or other evening Disney entertainment.

In the morning, Cinderella will give them a wake-up call and check on them.

The 650-square-foot suite has a bedchamber, a bathroom and a parlor. The parlor has two sets of three windows: one overlooks Fantasyland; the other, Liberty Square.

Silvestri promised the rooms will be comfortable and luxurious, but not embarrassingly so. Designs call for an elevator inspired by Cinderella’s carriage, a foyer with inlaid stone floors, wooden walls, a big stone (though faux) chateau-style fireplace, two big, soft beds and other pieces of faux period artwork and furniture. The princess’ glass slippers will be on display.

The grotto-style bathroom will be dominated by three large, handmade mosaics of 17th-century landscapes, designed by Disney artists Katie Roser and Mary Hartwig to match the five 15-foot-tall mosaics that Dorothea Redmond created in 1971 for the castle breezeway.

SOURCE:ORLANDOSENTINEL

I would say that this wife’s level of commitment to her husband is very high. Colleen Pavelka didn’t want to risk going into labor during Sunday’s game featuring New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears.

Due to give birth today, Pavelka was told by her doctor Friday he could induce labor early. She opted for the Friday delivery.

“I thought, how could (Mark) miss this one opportunity that he might never have again in his life?” said Pavelka, 28, from the southwestern Chicago suburb of Homer Glen.

At 10:45 p.m. Friday, Mark Patrick Pavelka was born at Palos Community Hospital after close to six hours of labor.

While her husband watched the Bears play the Saints at Soldier Field yesterday, Colleen watched in the hospital with the baby wrapped in a Bears blanket – a Christmas gift from his grandmother.

The Bears made it all worthwhile, winning 39-14.

SOURCE:SIGNONSANDIEGO

When shopping for your new bundle you will become overloaded with “stuff”. Don’t be bowled over by convenience products. There are a lot of things on the market that play to our lazy inner being. Here are 7 products that I think are utterly useless for your baby. Some have been used for years, but it doesn’t mean they are right…

7. Baby Powder - I am not sure what it’s purpose is, but I do know that baby powder is just not good for your new baby. It is an extra step that is just no needed and the fine particles can get in the babies eyes and lungs.

6. Temperature Bath Ducky - This duck has a panel on the bottom that tells you if the water is too hot. We have 2 of these silly things. You do not need a duck to tell you the water is hot. If you put your hand in and it feels too warm than it probably is. The water needs to just be lukewarm.

5. Pacifier thermometers may seem convenient, they’re unreliable and shouldn’t be used in infants younger than 3 months. They also require the child to keep the pacifier in the mouth for several minutes without moving, which is a nearly impossible task for most babies and toddlers.

4. Sleeper Gown - We bought one of these thinking that it keep the baby warm at night. He likes to kick the blankets off and we were worried he was getting cold last winter. He hated it and was cold when we got him in the morning.

3. Tummy Tub - This tub is awkward and weird to me. A lot of websites posted it when it first came out singing it’s praises. I have bathed my baby in a bucket at the hospital. He wasn’t comfortable nor was I and it was hard to get him clean. Bath time at our house is the best part of the day. My son wants to swim and play not be stuck sitting in a bucket.

2. Wipes Warmer - I don’t know where to start with this thing. I had cold wipes on my bum so did most parents growing up. Are our children so pampered that their wipes need to be warmed before cleaning their stinky bums? There have been recalls on certain models of wipes warmers. I also have heard that they just end up drying out your wipes and browning the edges. Useless!!

1. Diaper Genie - I have never been fond of the diaper genie because of it’s effects on the environment. I know I am not alone on this because of all of the negative articles I have read about it as well. Parents find the refills a pain to install and expensive to replace. Most of the time they just give up and throw them to the curb. So much unnecessary waste.