Turning 4, Going to Disney

Just a few weeks ago, we celebrated Mia's birthday of turning 4.  It was a fun day with family at home & a swim in our community pool in the morning, followed by a small family party at our house that night.  Aunt Allison, cousin McKaber, Uncle Brian, Aunt Amanda and cousins Braden & Abby joined us. We had an impromptu Disney princess/female character theme (Tinkerbell, Belle, etc.) with strawberry cupcakes for all.  We have typically done a big party at our neighborhood park/community center in years past but this year we kept it a bit closer to home (literally).  Mia didn't believe she officially turned 4 until we sung her happy birthday and she had her cake.  Here she is at the moment of "officially turning 4":

a bit bashful now that everyone is singing to her

recap of Mia's 4th birthday

Keeping it low-key that day was the way to go, because a few days later we packed up several belongings, a cooler of food, our double stroller, and headed to Disney!  This was our first family Disney trip EVER (Greg & I haven't gone since college days) and Mia was more than thrilled about visiting the "happiest place on earth."  We took advantage of the FL Resident 3-day pass and stayed overnight at a nearby timeshare, which worked out super well.  All props for trip-planning to to Greg.  He really made sure we had a fun time and that all the essentials were taken care of.  

We spent Monday at Magic Kingdom, getting familiar with the park and seeing what our kids would enjoy the most.  Tuesday, we checked out Hollywood Studios and saw a couple of shows, including Disney Jr. Live on Stage, which was embarrassingly fun for all of us.  (If your child watches any popular Disney Jr. shows, then they will most likely highly enjoy that performance!)

This was actually taken our last day
at the park at the very end of our stay!  

Wednesday, we kicked it around our hotel at the pool and took monster naps to catch up on all the fun we were having, and on our last day, Thursday, we went back to Magic Kingdom.

Mia's favorite parts were the rides.  Gabe's favorite things about Disney were the curbs we let him jump on and off while Mia was on a ride, falling asleep in the stroller everyday, and meeting the Disney princesses (which, surprisingly, was NOT Mia's favorite part)!  

We brought all our own food to the park or bought it at Publix, and only got ice cream treats while we were there.  This was a major timesaver and advantage in our minds, because there was no waiting in line for food, no wasting of money on food no one really wants to eat, and no headaches from eating something our bodies didn't necessarily like.  Props to Disney on letting you bring your own food to the parks!  We'd highly recommend that.  

Walking into Magic Kingdom for the 1st time

Dumbo Ride

Gabe: Disney? NBD

Mickey's Philharmagic. Totally cool until the show started.
Then Gabe was terrified.

Waiting in line for It's A Small World

Killin' it on Barnstormer, Mia's favorite Roller Coaster

Waiting for Disney Jr. Live on Stage to begin

Mesmerized.  Mickey! Sofia! Doc! Jake!

Silly moments while we wait for Greg to finish a ride

Lounging around the pool

Finding ducks outside the hotels

In the words of my friend, Erin, "Owning Disney" despite the rain.
Ponchos didn't disappoint.

Gabe's feelings about the line for Peter Pan's Flight.

PeopleMover.  Also a good place to take a break.

Mia giving Greg a preview of age 15.

And age 16.

These princesses were SO nice.  So impressed with their hospitality skills.

Gabe had a thing for Aurora, Sleeping Beauty.

If you can't tell, even Greg & I are kinda jazzed.

We hands-down really enjoyed this trip.  Not coming from a long ancestral line of Disney-freaks, I set the bar kind of low for myself but was blown away by how much fun we all had!  Gabe is still in that meandering place where he doesn't really know what he is missing and gets tired enough that he'll fall asleep, so it worked out well with all that Mia wanted to accomplish.  

We are so thankful we got to go as a family, not only to semi-celebrate Mia's 4th birthday (!), but to also have a nice, quick getaway that provided good family times and even some relaxation. Hey, I might even call it a real "vacation," and that can be hard to do when traveling with little ones!  +1 for Disney. +1 for good family vacations.  

Life...as a family of 4.

Every time I have a moment to sit down and think about blogging, my mind essentially turns to mush. I had so much to organize and keep track of before Gabe was born and life seemed really interesting (to me, at least) with all that I had going on, and now life has simplified down to the bare necessities: are we all fed? Do we have clean clothes? Is the dishwasher unloaded, or running? Have I bathed recently?  Perhaps I make it all sound like we're in a crazy mad dash all the time, which we're not, but I've had far less time to just sit down and twiddle my thumbs.  For which I do not complain. I know in time, God willing, that personal free time will return. And I'll take what I can get, when I can get it.

3 weeks in with Mr. Gabe and life's been pretty good to us so far.  None of the rough starts that afflicted us with Mia have been present with Gabe, bless them hearts.  Gabe's only concern so far was slightly elevated bilirubin levels (threatening us with jaundice) right after he was born, which kept us all in the hospital about 2 extra days.  The mixed blessing in that was that I received extra lactation help, which has made a world of difference this time around when it comes to breastfeeding.  I struggled so much with that in the beginning with Mia, which led to my decision to exclusively pump for her.  I've not even touched a pump in over a week with Gabe, which has felt really nice.  There are times when I wish I could just hand him over to Greg and he give him a bottle so I could get a little more sleep in the middle of the night, but in some cases it's not worth the effort to go through all of that.  We're still working through the first few weeks of nursing, but all in all, we're very much off to a better start, for which I'm super thankful.

sleep: it's mostly what he do

Because that is going as it is, and we're not using bottles, in some ways I feel like I'm dealing with a newborn for the first time.  I often wonder--is he fully content and fed? Does he need me? Is he sleeping right now because he's full, or is he just taking a little break? With Mia, we gave her a bottle with approximate amounts based on what she seemed to need to consume, and that was that. There was very little question as to if she was full/hungry; anytime she cried hard we gave her a bottle and up she went gaining weight! And generally speaking, she'd go back to sleep with a little prompting.

Sleepwise, it is what it is.  Some nights are certainly better than others. He could sleep soundly all day quite easily, and tends to right now, feeding every 2-4 hrs, but at night, he is still figuring out how to consistently sleep longer stretches.  Let's just say I'm thankful it's a holiday weekend because with Greg home, I'm allowed to go back to sleep for another hour or two after Gabe wakes up for a morning feed, while he hangs with Mia.  During the week I do not have that luxury.

And speaking of luxuries, my mom was in town for the first week and a half that Gabe was home, and that made such a world of difference. I don't know how people survive without their families, communities, villages or tribes (whatever you want to call it).  I cannot fathom having a child without having the help of someone you inherently trust to assist you with the nitty gritty.  (This includes Greg as well, and those friends of mine who have *blessedly* seen me in unusually compromising positions! *points to certain hospital visitors*)

Mommo & Gabe

For essentially the first week and a half, Mia was taken care of, fed, bathed, napped, and entertained by either Greg or my mom. I was instructed not to lift her the first 2.5 weeks, which I was not expecting to hear!  It was emotionally hard to not be able to deal with Mia at certain times especially when she wanted mommy, but I was so thankful to have others around to attend to the situation and keep things rolling, keeping my stress levels low.

My parents were in town part of this week for Thanksgiving, so my mom went home and essentially turned around 5 days later, meaning I only had to be totally on my own for 3 weekdays.  It was not as rough an intro to life with 2 kids as I'd been fearing.  However, next week when everybody is gone, including Greg's parents, I might feel otherwise.  It'll be 5 straight days on my own!  That, my friends, seems a little bit scarier!

The most challenging parts of the day are usually at feeding times, when Mia all of a sudden wants mommy to hold her; naptime, if I'm not sure if Gabe is totally out and asleep and I'm trying to get Mia down; and right after naptime, when Mia tends to wake up as I'm feeding Gabe.  I think it's probably hard for her to often see mommy consumed by another baby, but right now, so much of my time is spent sitting in a chair "eating" Gabe (that's what Mia says instead of "feeding."  "Mommy, you eating Gabe?"  "Yes, I'm 'feeding' him.")

loving on her baby brother

Mia loves Gabe though, wants to hold him, burp him, give him his pacifier, and talk and play with him. She received a new Signing Time DVD this past week (about going to the potty! *thinking positive thoughts here*) and it showed some signs she already knew and she started putting Gabe's hands to his mouth to sign "eat".  It was so cute and I love that she already wants to get him involved in everything.  If she puts up a fight about anything, it's just about the attention she is not receiving 100% of from mommy and daddy anymore.


Before Gabe was born, I had a lot of concerns. I was nervous about his health, my health, his delivery, the postpartum period, dealing with all the changes that occur after one gives birth, and how I'd feel by Thanksgiving. I'm happy to say that many of my concerns were relieved as soon as he was born and things started moving on "normally." I'm happy to be normal in this case, for once, and not at any extremes.  I still have much ground to break when it comes to mothering two children, and getting into a groove with Gabriel and Mia, so I shant count my chickens before they've hatched, but I'm so grateful to God and to my tribe for seeing us through the first three weeks.  Yesterday we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with both sides of the family including both sets of grandparents and nothing but good times accompanied our gatherings.  With Mia, I was very much of a Nervous Nelly for those first few weeks.  I figure that's probably a common first-time mom feeling and there's nothing I can do to change the past, but it makes me realize now how nice it is to just let things be and live in the moment, and not worry about every detail of the next 3 hours.  Just breathing is nice.

And now that Gabe is stirring, that's my cue.  Here a few pictures of Gabe meeting his other family members over the past week!

Gabe & Papa Jack

Gabe with Nana & Granddad

Sneaking in a picture of Mia with Uncle Jackson

Uncle Jackson & Gabe

Gabe happily asleep with Mommo & Papa Jack

Redeeming the time...

I'm 37 weeks as of yesterday and October is almost over! I just knew September & October would fly by but I couldn't have expected it to pass this quickly.

Normally I'm not one of those DIY people who prides themselves on all that they accomplish, although in actuality I wish I was a bit more that way.  However, call it nesting or call it just getting down to business, Greg & I have been busy getting things ready in our home for baby #2, even if it still sort of resembles a train wreck around here.  (The problem is getting things out & then putting them away, it seems. A good lesson for all of us in this family!!)  Lately we've been very DIY-y around here, much thanks to...

My brother & sister-in-law who graciously took Mia off our hands on Saturday and to the zoo. She had SO much fun and the pictures they took with her were incredibly precious. Greg & I were so appreciative of the time they spent with her and how they made her feel special. She is so blessed to have local aunts & uncles who take an interest in her. Here's some of the fun they had!

Ranger Mia

Her new giraffe - she requested Allison take her picture & show her!

Looks like she had a pretty stinkin' good time.  Allison said she sang the whole way home -- not in the least surprised!


While they were busy exploring the zoo, Greg & I had a quick Starbucks date, ran by Home Depot, and then hurried home to work on hanging curtains in 2 rooms, setting up the crib bedding (again) and framing some new artwork that had just arrived.
The curtains that we put up in the bambino's room were from Ikea and as such, were "no-sew" hemming, meaning I had to iron on adhesive at the hem where I wanted it to fall, and then cut it off. Having never done such a thing before I was very nervous I'd mess it up, so I probably spent about 50% longer on that project than was really required, but they turned out pretty well!

New curtains with tie-backs

Arbor artwork from art.com, frames from Ikea

New Anthropologie knobs on dresser/changing table

artwork as it is hung

Greg meanwhile hung up a double curtain rod in our room so we could hang some gauzy, airy, almost sheer and off-white curtains that will be the base of another set of curtains (to eventually be selected and purchased).  We have sliding glass doors off of our master bedroom, and with it come those pretty much unattractive vertical blinds, and the gauzy curtains soften up the look of the room quite a bit, while adding a touch of privacy.  Sorry, no pictures of that yet!

Since then, most of my time has been spent trying to enjoy these last days with Mia before everything changes again.
Last Friday, after my 36 week dr's appointment, we spent the morning with Miss Ashley & Amelia, Mia's little buddy. We completed a fall art project that included finger painting paper, stenciling out leaves, and creating a fall wreath.  Mia had a blast painting and running around with Amelia, and as always I loved spending time with Ashley. She is such a warm hostess and makes amazing cider!

Other than that, we've spent much more time outside as the weather has been beautiful...a slight breeze and sun, and Mia & I have taken our fair share of excursions outside of the house.
One morning to Wiregrass, another morning to the library, a stop at Walgreens (oh so fun), and yesterday, we redeemed a Groupon at a local German restaurant! Not your typical lunchtime destination for a mom & a 2 year old, but it was quite an experience and totally worth repeating.  I'm trying to make these days memorable ... not only for myself but also for Mia.  I hope she doesn't get cabin fever after the baby is born but there will only be so much that can be done initially. And since I'm all sentimental I've been snapping as many pictures as possible!

Train ride at Wiregrass - Ticket: $3

Sharing a lemonade from pretzel stand: $1.69

Lunch at Mr. Dunderbak's with Mommy: $10 (for Groupon) + $4 for tip

they have excellent homemade "pommel frites"

hopefully the only picture of Mia at a bar you'll ever see! ;)

 Enjoying a snack & my chai frap at Starbucks: $5.97

Running through the   "fields" of our front yard and picking "flowers": priceless

Greg would probably like everyone to know that on the day this picture was taken,
the yard was later mowed.
We do not live in the wilderness :D

I'm thankful we've come this far and have all the mixed emotions that come with being so close to the end.  I have my 37 week appointment tomorrow where all the normal stuff will be done plus another biophysical profile and a growth scan.  The bambino's looked pretty good thus far, and despite my fundal measurements not vastly increasing at this point, the amniotic fluid levels look good, which mean his growth is less likely in jeopardy.

If there was ever anything to complain about (and I shouldn't, because it could ALWAYS be ten times worse), it's that I've switched to Heparin now instead of Lovenox, which means I have to give myself injections twice daily now.  And since the syringes don't hold the full vial of Heparin, it means I actually have to give myself 2 injections, twice daily.  Yep, that's right, you did the math correctly: 4 injections. Aren't I lucky? I'll be put back on Lovenox for 6 weeks after the baby is born, so in a way, I'd actually prefer to deliver earlier than later if it means only one shot a day.  We'll see what happens though.  Everything else is pretty stinkin' good.

Enjoying this time while it lasts!