Waiting another day

I was full of plans to catch up on some back blogging last night...and some back paper filing and bill organizing, but that isn't quite as exciting.

My little sweat pea had gone from perfectly well to perfectly sick in a 6 hour period on Sunday. First came a cough, than a goopey gunky eye, then a fever, then congestion. She was miserable. On Monday, the doctor opted to treat the eye with an oral antibiotic, because of the addition of the fever. She made a quick, quick turn around, and this is the face I was able to spend yesterday with.



And this one (he was showing me that he can count backwards from 9).


And this one too (she was copying Micah and just being generally cute).


All was well. Our small group was coming over, and my kids were counting the minutes until their friends were going to get here "next year" (the differences between today, tomorrow, minute, day, month, year are still a little lost on them). Micah had been a bit of an emotional wreck all day, but I wasn't thinking too much of it. He woke up from nap complaining that his ear hurt, so much so that these were his words, "Mom, I don't really think that I can eat dinner because my ear hurts too bad." Shoot.

So our evening plans were scratched, and Curt took Micah to the pediatric walk in clinic. He came home with three prescriptions. So much for me being a good diagnostition and thinking that Micah was getting healthy. She felt he was headed down a pneumonia route and wanted to head it off at the pass. Thanks. I was thinking that she might have overreacted, until Micah walked in the door covered in puke since he coughed so hard on the ride home. Great.

So, yeah, when all the kids were finally in bed around 10:00, I didn't have much energy left for anything.

And, now, when my baby seems to have taken a turn for the worse, I'm still thankful for the happy face she had yesterday and wishing she still had it today.

Project 52 - Love!

I'm jumping in 6 weeks late to a Project 52 with My 3 Boybarians. This week's theme was "True Love." I took some photos of my favorite trio of Valentines on Tuesday that scream love to me.

I mean, what says "love" more than a little one being totally bored out of her mind by her siblings' kisses?!



I'm pretty sure the look that little one is giving her big sister in this photo is a five month old's definition of love.



Likewise, my older daughter's face is beaming with love for her little "doll" sister in this shot.



And, maybe this photo doesn't sum up their love for each other, but it is definitely a gigantic "Love" image for me. Love Love Love these three kiddos.

First trip to Disney in 2012

Bottom Line: We like Disney World. All of us. I have officially converted Curt to my side on this one. We sat down on a Sunday afternoon and discussed our options for where to buy family passes with some of our Christmas money. There were options that were more budget friendly than Disney, but none that we knew our kids (and us) would enjoy as much. And these were Curt's words. He has come so far! There are some perks to living in Florida, and our closeness to Disney, and the reduced prices that come with that, are some of them. So, after talking about it on Sunday, we went on Monday.

That night, Mackenna woke up coughing. Curt brought her into bed with us and then promptly went back to sleep while I laid awake as she repeatedly coughed in my ear. We moved to the lazyboy sometime around 3 am. I was worried this would cause us to cancel our plans (we hadn't told the kids yet). In the morning, I asked Mackenna how she felt, and she said "great," even before I asked the question, "Do you want to go to Disney World today?" Ha. What kind of question is that. Mackenna responded with her high pitched "yes." Micah responded with "after I watch my shows."

We reminded the kids on the way over to Disney of our new family mantra, "no crying at Disney World." They get it, and pretty much live by it. We can't wait for them to teach Jocelyn the motto too.

We left the house sometime after 8 and were in the gates by 10:30. It was probably our latest arrival at Disney World yet, but having multiple day passes helped us keep a rather low key attitude about the whole thing. Remember - even for mamas - no crying at Disney World.

We did all of our favorites, and some new things too. Dad and the older kids rode Buzz Lightyear, while Jocelyn snoozed in the stroller. We rode the racecars. We were able to do a baby swap for this one, so Micah and Dad waited in the line while Mackenna, and Jocelyn, and I hung out - and even met the White Rabbit. Then Mackenna and I were able to go back and ride later without waiting. That worked out nicely. Mackenna and Dad rode the teacups; Micah passed this time. We ate lunch and then attempted to all ride Small World. We learned that Jocelyn does NOT like the Ergo carrier at this point. She only wants to face out. And she does not want to sleep in our arms. So after screaming through line (only her, not me), we decided it was best to not subject everyone in our boat to her screaming during the ride too. She and I excused ourselves and she happily went to sleep in her stroller.











We took turns using our fast passes on Peter Pan and then decided it was snack time. Usually snack time comes during Micah and Mackenna's nap time in the stroller. Since those are things of the past, we all got to partake in snack time. They had their first Dole Whip experience. It was definitely a hit. Mackenna was happy to share with me instead of Dad since I'm still watching the amount of dairy I eat for Jocelyn's sake (but I'm thrilled to report that I'm eating much more dairy than I ever thought possible!)









We explored Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse for the first time, and then headed over to Tomorrow Land because Micah wanted to ride the airplanes. We stopped by the castle because we realized it was almost time for the parade. We got a good spot, and I took Jocelyn into the babycare center to feed her. I would have stayed and rocked her longer, but I realized that if I didn't leave, I was going to be trapped on the opposite side of the street during the parade.





How did they get so old?







He honestly was turning around to say "MICKEY!" to me in this photo. Precious.





Curt then took the kids on the airplane/rocket ride....that they insisted that they wanted to ride. Afterwards they decided that it was too fast and too high. Yay. That line is too long anyway. We all rode Buzz Lightyear together - Jocelyn's first ride. We then needed something else to do and someplace to sit for a minute, so we ended up at the Monster's Inc Laugh Floor. Funny story (at least to me). I decided to take advantage of a show and the sitting down to feed Jocelyn. I was covered, but it is still fairly obvious what I was doing. I realized after the show got started that they incorporated live video feed of audience members into the show. Oh well - surely we won't be on the screen. But one of us was - not me thankfully - but Mackenna was picked to be "Boo." It was so cute and shocking to see her up there. The show is really cute.

We ended our day with seeing a bit of the show at the castle, taking some pictures by the castle, visiting the princesses (Mackenna) and Mickey (Micah). We also had Jocelyn take a picture with the Minnie statue. We wanted to find something that we could count on being able to photographer her with each time we are there. If we go a few more times this year, it will be a cute way to document her growth. Next time, I'll have her looking at Minnie, don't worry.











Telling Cinderella that she is three. (Again, I was the least impressed with Cinderella. She doesn't live up to her much anticipated reputation.)



Since this was our first Disney trip in the "post nap" era for the twins, the level of tiredness at the end of the day was at an all time high. They seriously were asleep before we got on the monorail. This was cute and all, but then we were left at the tram station realizing that there was no way we could get two sleeping toddlers, a baby, our bags, and our collapsed stroller onto the tram. We had to walk to the car. Which wasn't that far...but at the end of the day, it feels far...because it actually kind of is. We ate at Chick-fil-A in Kissimmee, put jammies on everyone, and had them all in bed by about 8:45. Not bad. It really is crazy how much we were able to do at Disney and we weren't really even gone from our house for much more than 12 hours.



A few other random memories:
- We met Mary Poppins for the first time. Micah didn't want to hug her. Mackenna did. She was charming, as expected. Characters like that deserve way more money than the ones who get to hide behind costumes and not talk to children.
- I asked Mackenna who her favorite princesses were that day. She said all of them.
- Micah said his favorite thing that day was the Monster show. (For the record, he acted bored and asked for a snack the whole time we were there.)
- Mackenna said her favorite thing was the Rabbit in Wonderland.
- They both agreed that their other favorites were Peter Pan and Small World.
- Mackenna insisted that the next time we are there, she is going to ask Alice if the Chesire Cat is there that day. We'll see if she remembers.
- I can't believe I actually managed to go to Disney for a day and not ride Small World. Wow.

Valentine's Day 2012

A couple of things I overheard on this happiest of love days.

As Daddy's car pulled in the driveway after work, Micah: "Let's take a pause and go hug Daddy."

As I got back in the car after a quick trip into the grocery store (to get some fruit to take for dinner to a friend's house, a friend who fed us twice today!), Mackenna: "I love you Micah." Micah: "I love you Mackenna." Did I mention they were holding hands as they said this?



----

I thought it would be fun to interview the kids about their love interests today. Here are their interviews:

Micah:






What do you love? "I love you, mommy, and I love Mackenna, and Daddy, and Elliana, and Audrey, and....umm, uh...Ava and Faith, and Autumn, and Lily, and um, I love, our friend Audrey, and what else...

What shows do you love? "Busy World, that's the first one, and Busy Town, and that's the second one, and....I like, um, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, that's the fourth one,...what other shows are on? I like Einsteins, that's the fourth, that's another one). I like Phonics Farm, that's the fieth one. Those are all the shows I like.

What do you love about Daddy? "When he wants to play with me, and when he goes to work, and what else, I love when um, Daddy drives back to our house, and what else, and I love when um we um when he goes to get something for me."

What do you love about Mackenna? "I love that she rides her bicycle fast. I love that she plays with me sometimes. I love when she does her work. That's all."

What do you love about Jocelyn? "I love that she smiles at me when I smile at her. And I love that I took a picture with her and I hold her. And...I think that's all."



What about mommy? "I love that you pick me up sometimes. I love that I give hugs to you. I love that you kiss daddy. And, I think that's all."

How can you show people that you love them? "By being happy. By sharing."

Do you remember the verse we learned about love? Love is.... "kind." And what else? Love is......"patient."

Do you know that I love you? "Yeah."
How long will I love you? "I think for a long times. And you'll love Mackenna for a long times."

"Is that all? I want to go back outside."



------

Mackenna:



Who do you love? "What do you have special for me?"
No, this conversation is the special thing I wanted to do with you. Who do you love? "Elliana, I don't like anyone else."
What about Micah and daddy? "No."
Do you want to go back outside and play? "Mm hmm"

Well, that went well.
And to further endear herself to her mother, once we got back outside, she proceeded to tell me that I had a big belly. Thanks sweetie.


We tried again later.

Who do you love? "I love Lily and I love Elliana and I love Emma and I love the friend at the castle park, And I like...that's all."
What about your family? "mmmmm...I like baby Jocelyn."
What about Micah and Daddy? "I like Micah and Daddy and You and Maggie and Christa and Audra and Nana and Allison and Grandma and Grandma Snyder. That's all the friends I love."

What are some things you love? "I love everything in the world. parks. and Indiana. and houses. and that's all the things I like."

What do you love about Daddy? "I love work. I love when daddy plays and I like babies with Daddy. And I like kids that daddy draws for me. I love to play with him and I like to play with Micah with Daddy. And I like stickers to play with my notebook."

What do you love about Micah? "Micah does good things and play with me and show good surprises for me. And he shows pictures of me. And he shows good bows."

What do you love about Jocelyn? "I love her playing and saying "uh ga ga" and I love her to talk for me and I love her to snuggle with me on the couch. And I love her so much that I wholly love all my friends."



"And I love all the friends I like."

What do you love about mommy? "I like you to show me things and good surprises. And put bows in my hair. And I like you to play with me. And I like good pictures to show me."

How can you show people that you love them? "Show them how to play with me and how to play games."

"Audra is bigger than me but I'm still her best friend."

Do you remember the verse about Love? Love is..."kind. Love is peaceful too." What else? Love is.... p p p ..... patient. "Oh. Patient. And kind and peaceful."

Do you know that I love you? "uh-huh"
How long will I love you? "This long." (hands stretched out wide)
How much do I love you? "This long." (hands close together) "Or this long." (hands stretched out) "Like four pickles in a row."

"What is love about? Kindness, and peace for the shepherds."



------

A few more pictures of my three second favorite Valentine's: