Disney World 2013

Last Disney trip, I may or may not have been pregnant with Merritt.  I ended up catching strep throat which triggered a psoriasis flare-up.  We had fun, but I didn't feel well needless to say!

THIS trip was going to make up for it!  We took my parents and one of my nieces, Kennedy, with us since she was on her Spring Break... and gave Mati Claire someone to play with.  It was a shorter trip since we had Merritt with us, so we cut Epcot.  

Mitt's first plane ride!  She played the entire trip there and slept the entire way back.

And this was only the beginning! Like Father Like Son!

Friday - we arrived in Orlando and went to eat at Chef Mickey's.  We stayed at the Contemporary Bay Lake Tower so the restaurant is there in the hotel.  We needed convenience when traveling with a group of 8 and 2 double strollers! 

At Chef Mickey's

Saturday - Magic Kingdom!  The train ride is always a hit with Mattox.  He was a happy camper and stayed in the stroller most of the time.  He didn't scream this time when he saw a celebrity, but still kept his distance (excluding Buzz and Woody).  We checked out the new Fantasyland part of MK which was good.  Mati Claire made sure she told Ariel that she had a mermaid birthday party last year.  It was so sweet to see them get nervous and shy around a "celebrity"!

The kids got to be part of the "Enchanted Tales with Belle" (from Beauty and the Beast) where they get to act out parts in a play.  Mati Claire was the horse, Phillipe, and Kennedy was Mrs. Potts.   It was really cute!  Even Mitt got to take her picture with Belle at the end!  Be.Still.My.Heart. So precious.

We had dinner at the new "Be Our Guest" Restaurant aka the Beast's Castle.  I would not recommend "the west wing" room for kids under 10.  Mati Claire was ok with it but kept asking why it was thundering and lightening the entire time (loudly I might add).  And just like in the movie, it was dark and gloomy in the west wing.  She wanted to eat in the ballroom where it was snowing.  But I loved it all.  Neat place.  

"Try the grey stuff.... it's delicious!"  

Sunday - Animal Kingdom!  We knew the rain was coming, so we were prepared with our ponchos and umbrellas.  We had breakfast at the Tusker House Donald's Safari - which is our ALL-time favorite restaurant there.  The food is the best and has the best variety.  The rain held off for most of the day.  But then we knew it was getting close, so decided to call it a day - and head back to the hotel via bus. We made it to the parking lot when the bottom fell out.  Obviously we thought we would make it all the way back so we didn't have our raingear on.  The bus driver showed no mercy and parked as far away as he could.  Matt had Merritt in the BabyBjorn and he took off running.  My dad carried Mattox.  Mom and I had both girls and 1 of the double strollers. I've seen rainstorms - but never been physically IN a storm like this!  It was very frightening and the kids were screaming/crying! Needless to say we were S.O.A.K.E.D.  We could not see to walk.  We almost couldn't breathe.  We couldn't put one foot in front of the other.  I couldn't hold on to anything.  Mati Claire slipped out my hand.  It blew my 50+ lb double stroller around like it was nothing.  The wind and rain were coming from every angle.  Definitely something we won't forget. 

We found out later it was a tornado watch.  And 86 mph winds!  I can't say much for the employees of the Contemporary.  They offered towels  at the door but I never saw one.  They told us we couldn't stand at the employee entrance that was closer to the bus stop...we had to keep moving.   

Traumatized.   I fear MC's reaction to the next rainstorm.

Hail Storm.  then Rain Storm.  Lord, please make it stop...

We spent the rest of the day in our hotel doing laundry, recuperating, and drying out.  I still give the hotel an B grade despite their employee issues during the storm.  They need better signs designating elevators for the monorail and they need to push their time for their outdoor musical to 9 instead of 10:15 PM!  We couldn't sleep a few nights due to the loud music outside.  But still happy with everything overall.

"Yeah, I'm going on safari!"  (Her first time in the BabyBjorn carrier)

this was after the storm.  he stayed in the bed trying to warm up for at least 30 minutes. and never moved from this position.  

trying to recover from the storm = ROOM.SERVICE!  Look at mom - she looks a little worn out after that!  But I didn't tell Kennedy that I ordered her this:

a "Rainbow Grilled Cheese Sandwich" .  Very cool.  She was just a little excited, can you tell?

Monday - Hollywood Studios!  Mattox perked up when I told him we were going to see the Toy Story characters.  Lawd have mercy that boy loves Toy Story.  By this day, my camera had gained 10 pounds and I think we were all tired.  So we kept it short.  

A boy and his horse!

The only character he ever touched.

Monday night - Matt and I went to the Orlando Magic vs. Miami Heat game.  See previous post, but here are a few pics.

Look! Matt has his eyes open in this pic!  

Lebron James, Ray Allen, Chris Bosch, Shane Battier

We had a great time but it's good to be home! 

We Did What?

WHY would I take my 8 month old with us to Disney World, you ask?

There's a really good reason (I think).  I'll cut straight to the point:  When I was pregnant with her and we found out about her omphalocele....I was on rock bottom.  I've mentioned before that I read the book "I Will Carry You"  by Angie Smith (awesome book btw), and finally somebody "got" what I was going through!  Although we had different circumstances, we had many of the same.  When something that horrible happens, your first instinct is to RUN.AWAY.  All you want to do is escape the reality.  You think its a bad dream.  For some people, abortion might be their way of getting away from a certain situation.  For others, Disney World is a popular first thought .... after all its the happiest place on earth, right?  I remember begging Matt to take me to Disney or the beach or anywhere but here!  In Angie Smith's case, she got there and realized she couldn't escape her reality - it went with her.  You can't run away from it.  In my case, I honestly couldn't go anywhere when I was pregnant because I had doctor's appointments every 2-3 days.   So I made a promise to myself that when all was said and done.... we would go to Disney World again soon (we just went about 18 months ago).

It was a mini celebration for all of us.  We felt like a normal family again.  And Merritt did GREAT!  I was really worried when her eardrum ruptured that she would not travel well, but Dr. Russell assured me that it would be fine.  She slept through most of it.  And danced through the rest.  (dancing is her new "thing" lately and I must say its hilarious).

#2)  Mine and Matt's "thing" is basketball.  NBA usually.  Sometimes football or baseball games will work for us, but its usually basketball.  

Back-story:  Matt and I had only been dating about a month when I decided to surprise him with a fun date to Memphis.  He had been doing rotations all over the U.S. major cities and had been going to games trying to see Michael Jordan... with no luck.  (yes I realize we are old now).  MJ's team, the Wizards, were playing the Memphis Grizzlies so I thought that would be one more chance to see him play.  If you're not a basketball fan, that was about the time he was retiring for good.  Of course, he was not expected to play - but we were excited anyway.  We got there, I surprised Matt with the tickets - and I had never seen him so happy!  Got to the game - and Michael Jordan ended up playing almost the entire game!! He did end up retiring after that season for good.  Long story short - we somehow kept going back to Memphis to watch a certain player (usually on the visiting team) every year.  We started getting tired of Memphis, and began branching out.   San Antonio, New Orleans, Atlanta, Dallas for an NBA All-Star game...


....and now Orlando! We pick a player that we want to see.  Some of our must see's are the famous ones:  Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Jordan obviously, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Tim Duncan, Blake Griffin, (I've always been a DUKE fan so my picks tend to be towards those alums) Shane Battier, Grant Hill;  and many others that you probably wouldn't know.  This time we wanted to see LEBRON!  Lebron James.  I really didn't want to go to Miami - and their tickets are harder to get since they won the title last year.  They just happen to be playing Orlando while I was planning the trip!!! 

And FYI ... Matt and I got engaged soon after that date.  ;)



I'll post the Disney pics tomorrow - too tired to upload on the computer tonight.   

Oh Hail, No.

haha.  a little humor in the midst of a really weird day.

My father-in-law moved his pharmacy into a new building this past weekend and today was the Grand Opening!  I desperately needed to get Mitt more Tylenol so decided I would go check it out and see how they were doing on the first day.  It wasn't even raining when I got there, but we thought the roof was going to come off ... it was SO loud.  H.A.I.L.  The biggest hail I've ever seen!  Naturally our cars  have severe damage or perhaps no windshield at all anymore...ugh.  It goes nice with my huge dent from hitting a deer a few weeks ago.  My house has some good roof damage.  At the rate our new addition is going up... it might get fixed in about 2 years.

I found myself wishing I had been home during the hail storm so maybe my car would not have been hit..................oh wait............it wouldn't have mattered - I don't have a garage at the moment.  I think our entire house was built faster than this addition.  Matt's car has massive hail damage and also a busted windshield.  All day I keep seeing glass repairmen secretly yelling "YES!"  in my mind.  

I saw mostly marble all the way up to tennis ball size... and few had baseball sized hail.  Unbelievable.

Mississippi weather: Have mercy.  We are thankful tonight for safety... cars and the roof can be fixed.  

Parkway Pharmacy's delivery car. :(

Swiped this pic off FB.  

The entrance to my neighborhood.

My driveway.

My back porch.

Another Big First

This is actually a first for ME as well........ but when Merritt does something - she does it Alllll  the Way.... a r.u.p.t.u.r.e.d. e.a.r.d.r.u.m.  And the other was close.  And I didn't even know it until "stuff" was oozing out of her ear down her neck.  Gross.  No fever.  She's always fussy - but nothing out of the ordinary.  She hasn't wanted to eat much - but I blamed that on the 2 new pearls on her gums.

Is Spring Break over yet?

Lets please resume our normally scheduled program.

I feel like the rabbit today:

Scar Cream

Yep.  I'm blogging about a scar cream.  wow.  how my days have changed.  :/

Sorry, these pics were both taken with my iPhone, in my bedroom - with the poorest lighting ever = not great quality.  But the first pic was taken 2 months ago in early January and the second was taken today. 

My father-in-law is also a pharmacist and he went to a convention (was that the one in Vegas??? only he would go to Vegas and actually attend the conferences - ha!) and he came back talking about a specific lecture he heard on a new prescription scar cream.  Oh the conversations we have at our dinner table between medical family members!  ;)  And he, being the totally awesome compounding pharmacist that he is + my doctor of a hubby who wrote the rx, made Merritt this scar cream.  I was a little hesitant to use it in the beginning because the scar is literally ON her liver (that bulge you see is her herniated liver) plus her age plus I assumed it would be greasy and leave stains on her clothes.  Nope.  None of the above.  Its awesome.  And I know my FIL and hubby would never give her something that could cause a potential problem.  No worries there.  

It has definitely decreased the redness and made it smoother overall.  I'm hoping the surgeon will not have to open her back up and he is hoping he can do it laparoscopic (where they will just insert tubes through smaller holes sort of like the way they remove gallbladders now or normal hernias!).

We're still using it, just wanted to share the progress in 2 months.  Its a compounded cream, with several ingredients.... don't think it has an actual name yet.  or maybe it does and i'm failing as a pharmacist here.  

Ok. I won't blog about creams about anymore. Although I'm thinking about using it on my C-section scar now.  Don't think there's enough cream in the world to cover up my barcode down there. 

Hopping to catch up

Now that his party is over, I am finally catching up from the last month.  Seriously - I've done whatever to get by for weeks, so Spring Break is here - its Spring cleaning time! or in my case, just cleaning up.   I have spent the past 3 days doing laundry, dishes, cleaning, ironing, packing up, reorganizing, obviously catching up on blogging, and planning some things for the weeks to come!  

Couldn't resist reposting these - they are so darn cute!  Happy Easter (early) from Merritt.  She has finally reached my favorite stage:  the 6 month age (even though she's 8 months old).  She's a little "chubby" (for her), still stationary, laughs at absolutely everything, has the 2 cutest front bottom teeth, the hair does its own thing, and well just down right adorable overall. 

I thought the drive down to Byram was worth it, don't you think? ;)  Not sure the bunny would agree after almost losing his ears to an 8 month old.   But he was a trooper for the sake of a cute pic.  

8 months and Cardio update

Punky is 8 months old! She weighs exactly 13 lbs. (which I think is starting to feel a little heavy - ha! maybe I should up the Jillian workouts).  I call her Punky sometimes... because she's just got that Punky Brewster attitude to me.  Or something about her just reminds me of the word spunky.  She's got spunk.   She's got attitude.  She's got drama.  Ain't nobody gonna ignore her!  ;)  (i don't use double negatives for those of you who don't know me...just a little southern talk there.)  She's a fighter, not a lover!  (I kid - sort of)

Her belly looks the same overall.  We have been using a scar cream for the past month and it has dramatically decreased the redness and definitely made it smoother.  We have an appt later this week with our surgeon (who moved to Baptist - so we are TOTALLY done with UMC now and I couldn't be happier about that!) - but we already know he is tentatively planning to do her next surgery for her "secondary hernia" after she's 1. We would like for her to be walking because her ab muscles will be in better shape for recovery.  And she's more likely to "bounce back" if walking is normal for her.  

It's been 4 months since we saw the cardiologist last.  Dr. Braden at Baptist is awesome!  To sum up:  she originally had 3 holes in her heart (1 being the bigger problem aka VSD).  At the last appt, we thought the 2 smaller ones had closed.  One of them is not actually closed, but they can only see it when she cries.  So it's not technically closed, but extremely small.  The VSD is smaller again, but still there.  He said "it can't get any smaller without closing."  So we will recheck in 4 months again, and if its still the same he will let us go an entire year before rechecking it.   So overall, it was pretty much the same as last time, and we're ok with that!  It was all good.   And to think if we had stuck with the other cardiologist - she would have had major open heart surgery by now!! And obviously she did not need that ---> she's doing fine!  She is not on any medication and hasn't turned blue (that I know of) in months.  She does breathe faster than a normal baby and I'm hoping that will slow down when the holes close.  We'll see...

The 8 month update: 

• Weighs 13 lbs
• Wears size 1 diaper (although I think we're moving up in the near future)
• Wears 3-6 mo/some 6 month size clothes
• Sleeps a maximum of 4 hours at a time (day or night).
• Got her first two bottom teeth in the last week!  oh they are precious. 
• BUT...has started biting mommy while breastfeeding.  momma don't play like that. :/
• Still not sitting up on her own, but can balance a little if holding onto something or if something is around her waist.  Usually takes a nose-dive after a few seconds. 
• The H.A.I.R is coming in....nuff said for now.  

Monkey'in around

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MATTOX!! YOU ARE 3 TODAY! I LOVE YOU my little monkey man!

When I asked him what kind of birthday party he wanted - he didn't care.  But he was/is obsessed with monkeys.  And all he ever said was "monkey cake! monkey cake!"....but then about 3 weeks ago, he said he wanted a Batman party = too late to change plans.  I knew I didn't want jungle safari monkeys, or mod monkeys, or sock monkey - I wanted plain monkeys.  It ended up being more "Barrel of Monkey" type theme.   But he loved it and was very happy with it.  I have a gut feeling that we will be doing the superhero theme next year though. 

Yall know I love cuteness.  Matt thinks I can't refrain from doing any parties next year - but my goal is to take a break from parties next year since all 3 are getting parties this year.

I experiment when doing birthday parties...not all of it is from Pinterest.  What did I learn this time?

• DUCK TAPE IS NOT REALLY THAT STICKY!  Who knew that Duck tape doesn't stick to tissue paper? For real.... 
• I also learned how to make banana pudding!!  How is it possible that I've never made this before? yummo.
• Command strips are awesome.  They can hang/hold anything (even beyond their weight limit)

I did not post any pics of the jumper - mainly because the kids were always moving so fast, none of them turned out great.  But they jumped and jumped and jumped some more.  "Monkeys jumpin on a bed!"

ooh ooh ee ee - he's 3!!!

(Matt going against my insanity and choosing to wear non-party colors). 

"Monkey munch", banana chips, banana candy sticks

(was a little disappointed the bakery put PINK cheeks on a boy cake)

My fave of the party.  Banana pudding with the cutest wooden spoons ever!

Thank you, Amy - for making these for me!! You are awesome!  love it! yummy in my tummy!

Barrel of lemonade and a barrel of chocolate milk.  Why does the lemonade look green? 

Madness I say!

His best pal, Matthew!

Party favors: Barrel of monkeys and bags of banana Runts

My first wreath!

It does not get any sweeter than this! She LOVED the monkey pops! She is precious!!!

Macy Kate, where did you go? ;)  Mattox may have found a new friend-girl...oh sweet Emory wore her monkey dress!

...Partied out...still holding her balloon

3 little monkeys

His present from Gigi and Poppy

AND A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!  whew. i'm tired.