Disney Trip-Day 1 (September 19, 2008)

The view from our balcony

Dinner-'Ohana (Polynesian) 9:00pm

On Friday we flew out of Denver at 9:50AM (Mountain time) on a full flight to Orlando. It was kinda weird because last year our flight wasn't even half full. I didn't mind though because at least we all had a seat. The 3.5 hour flight seemed to last forever because we were all so excited to be visiting the mouse again this year. We touched down at MCO just before 3:30pm (Eastern time) and quickly proceeded down to Magical Express. Thank God that they picked up our bags and delivered them straight to the room for us. That was one less thing for us to have to deal with and I am ever so thankful for that service!

On the bus ride to the Polynesian Resort, we had to endure a hellish bus ride with the grossest family we had ever seen. For starters, I wish that the parents and 3 kids would take a bath. Seriously. They looked so dingy. Their hair was straggly and greasy. The 2 boys had hair down to their shoulders and it was not a good look for them. Clayton said that he would love to chop their mops off, lol. Their annoying girl keep running up and down the aisles. I would love to have stuck my foot out in the aisle but I refrained, lol. Anyway, I am not trying to pick on this family but they really didn't seem to give a flip about their appearance. I am not one for staying in fashion or wearing the newest trendy haircut but I do at least try to be clean. The parents also didn't care how annoying/loud their kids were and I have no tolerance for that.

One of the gross boys sat in front of my 2 kiddos and would not leave them alone. He was a horrible influence with the things he said and the way he behaved. Clayton and I thought that he was way too old to playing around with our kids. Why was he so interested? We ended up yelling at our kids several times because they were emulating his bad behavior and so he finally turned around in his seat. That's when we saw him do it. You know, the grossest thing that kids do. He picked a booger from his nose and proceeded to play with it. Ugh. He rolled it around a good long while and then turned back around to stick his hands near my kids. I about freaked. If he had touched them, I swear I would have caused a ruckus. He was old enough to know that picking your nose is a private affair and he should never have done it as we watched. Gross.

Our bus stopped at the Poly and much to our dismay, the gross family got off the bus with us. I couldn't help but think that they would end up in a room next to us but thank the Lord that they didn't. We only saw them once more while they we going to the pool but that was it.

Our room was 3216 in Aotearora. If you are standing in front of the Poly, this is the farthest room to the left on the top floor (third floor). The monorail was right in front of our balcony. That's a cool sight to see first thing in the morning. We loved watching them whizz by throughout our stay. The only bad thing about this longhouse was that we had a longer walk to the TTC to catch the Epcot monorail than last year. That really wasn't that big of a deal though so we managed.

Mom and Judy rented a car and met us at the Poly later that evening. We then took off for dinner in the Ceromonial House at 'Ohana. 'Ohana was just okay. I am not a big fan of the skewered meats and that is the definite highlight there. I am mad that they took off the yummy Maui potatoes that they had last year but at least the replacement was good (noodles). The salad and dumplings were yummy too. The best part was the dessert though. That was the whole reason we even went there this time. I HAD to have it, lol. It is bread pudding a la mode with a banana foster sauce. Oh my, that dessert is exquisite and it surely didn't disappoint. We had a great table in a secluded corner and we watched Hallowishes while eating. They even piped in the music for us to hear. We enjoyed ourselves but we won't be booking dinner there again. Instead, we will opt to do the character breakfast there from now on.

Disney Trip-Day 2 (September 20, 2008)

Today's destination: Magic Kingdom

Breakfast-'Ohana (Polynesian) 7:30am
Lunch-Cosmic Ray's (MK-counter service)
Dinner-Cinderella's Royal Table (MK) 4:25pm

Today we had a character breakfast at 'Ohana. We got to see Stitch, Lilo, Mickey and Pluto. The food was simply wonderful! Everything was served family style and the food was on the table rather quickly. I particularly loved the Lilikoi juice. It was super yummy. It's a combination of orange, passion fruit and guava juices (I think!).

We made it to rope drop for the MK at 9am. I had to make a stop at Town Hall because I had left my Halloween party tickets at home. Darn it, they were the only thing I forgot and yet they were the one thing that I absolutely needed. I didn't tell Clayton at first because I knew he would pick on me. The tickets were pretty pricey and the confirmation sheet that I had said that Disney wasn't responsible for lost or stolen tickets. I thought for sure that I would have to re-buy them but Disney took care of me by giving me another set of them. Thank the Lord! If I would have had to buy more, I don't think that Clayton would have ever let that down.

Anyhoo, we shoved off to Fantasyland. Clayton & the boys headed off to ride Goofy's Barnstormer and Dumbo while Judy & I went to ride It's A Small World and Snow White. I am glad we previewed Snow White without the kids because that one would for sure give Hayden nightmares. Mom met back up with us and we did a few more rides before lunch at Cosmic Ray's.

I can't really remember what all we did that day but I do remember that the crowds were horrible. They were much worse than last year. I expected there to be a lot of people since it was a Spectro night but it was ridiculous how many people were there.

Dinner was spent inside the castle. We got to meet Cinderella (who was amazingly cordial and believable enough to be the real thing). The boys were both charmed by her. After that, we headed up the winding staircase to the dining room and it was so pretty. I didn't even bother taking photos though because the windows were facing us and the light was way too bright to show up correctly on camera. I had read many bad reviews of this place so I knew that we were just going to be paying for the experience. Boy, was I in for a treat as the food was fabulous! I had a great BLT salad followed by yummy prime rib/potatoes au gratin/asparagus and then a wonderful dessert called chocolate cream cheese buckle. I highly recommend dinner here. It is a bit expensive but oh so worth it. :)

That night we went to the Spectro parade with Sage, Sandy and her parents. We had a great time catching up. It was a great end to a long day.

Disney Trip-Day 3 (September 21, 2008)

Today's Destination: Animal Kingdom

Breakfast-Tusker House (AK) 8:15am
Lunch-Rainforest Cafe (AK) 12:00pm
Dinner-Kona Cafe (Polynesian) 5:00pm

Today was one of hardest days of the trip. Animal Kingdom is always such a difficult one to see in the hot and extremely humid Florida weather. I don't know why but it always feels like that park is the hottest.

We started off the day by getting there before the park opened at 9am. Our character breakfast ressies gave us a chance to get inside the park before opening so we had a bit of an advantage afterward. The food here was really good and the character interaction was fabulous. They also had that wonderful juice like 'Ohana had so that made breakfast even better in my opinion.

We did a few rides in the blazing hot sun and then decided to get out early so that we could go sit inside the wonderfully air conditioned Rainforest Cafe. We weren't really hungry and I knew that would happen when I made the ressie. We just had some cold drinks and a few appetizers while cooling down before our DVC tour.

Clayton and I were really interested in buying into the Disney Vacation Club before we left home so we decided to take a tour and ask some questions. They picked us up from AK and transported us over to the Saratoga Springs DVC Resort so that we could get more info. Our guide Paul answered alot of questions that we had and showed us sample accomodations for DVC members. Wow, we were really impressed. You wouldn't believe how nice the 1 bedroom units are. We thought that the AK Kidani Village Villas were nice but the Bay Lake Tower rooms were exactly what we wanted. BLT is being built right outside of the Contemporary Resort (you know, the one that the monorail goes right through) and would be perfect for our needs. Unfortunately, we came to the conclusion that joining the DVC would be a burden to use in the future though because we would have to pay alot of money every year for maintenance fees regardless if we went on vacation or not. We're talking 50 years of around $1000 fees each and every year on top of the $17,000 we had to pay upfront. That puts close to $70,000 in Mickey Mouse's pocket if we signed the dotted line. Yes, this could be a value if we vacationed multiple times a year but we don't. We were sad to not do it but we know that we will be staying DVC in the future by renting a member's points from them. That allows us to stay where we want without the lifetime obligation of paying hefty fees. I guess we can have our cake and eat it too. :)

For dinner, we returned to our resort for Kona Cafe. It was so good last year and this year was great too. I really liked the fact that I could order sushi this time (they didn't have that option last year). Emerson slept straight through dinner as I held him. He was pretty much pooped out and I can't blame him. It was hard to hold him as I ate but I cherished it at the same time because I miss having a little baby boy. They grow up so fast.

Disney Trip-Day 4 (September 22, 2008)

Today's Destination: Epcot

Breakfast-Capt. Cook's (Polynesian-counter service)
Lunch-Sunshine Seasons (Epcot-Future World)
Dinner-Teppan Edo (Epcot-World Showcase) 5:00pm

We slept in this morning and arrived at Epcot later than I had planned. That was okay though because we still got to do alot of things without waiting forever thanks to using fast passes. We were hot and tired that afternoon so we stopped at Sunshine Seasons at The Land for a quick bite to eat and some air conditioning. That place was insane. The food was okay but the way that they made you stand in many different lines was annoying. Naturally we all wanted something from a different station so that meant lots of waiting at one and then back in line at another. By the time we got into yet another line to pay, everything was cold. We won't be doing that again.

After lunch, we headed over to Turtle Talk. Now I want to teach you all a valuable lesson about Turtle Talk. It is an awesome interactive show that has all the kiddos sit in the front of the room on the floor while all the parents sit in the multiple rows of benches behind them. As soon as the show is over, they simply open all the side exit doors and tell everyone to meet up. Let me tell you that is impossible. There are too many people exiting and in the way to actually see where your kid is. We found Hayden quickly but Emerson was gone. Hayden didn't even see where he went and he was sitting next to him. After scanning the remaining kids I knew Emerson was already out the doors. Unfortunately, the corridor as you leave is narrow and the people going through it move at a snail's pace. I had to push through everyone and get to the end quickly to find my boy. Unfortunately, he wasn't with the crowd either. I began to panic and yell for him. I ran to a cast member at the Nemo ride and told her that my child was missing. She asked me what he was wearing and I went blank. I simply couldn't remember. Thank God I dress my boys alike (and this is one of the reasons why) because I was able to point Hayden out to her and she then could describe his clothes. She got on a walkie and announced it to all the other cast members so that they could start searching. They had people at all the entrances to the building watching for him. It was awful and I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. Finally, Clayton located him after about 5 minutes. We had no idea where he went but we were so glad to be reunited. Considering that my child was only missing for 5 minutes and I felt sheer panic that whole traumatic time, I would like to choke Casey Anthony in Orlando (she's a mom in FL that has a missing little girl and apparently doesn't give a flying flip).

After our traumatizing search, we headed to Teppan Edo in Japan for dinner. It was raining at the time so we had to brave the weather in ponchos. It was worth the soggy trek as dinner was fabulous. I rarely ever eat everything on my plate but I did this time. I had filet done hibachi-style with udon noodles and veggies. Yummy! The kids had their dinners served in awesome monorail plates.

Disney Trip-Day 5 (September 23, 2008)

Today's Destination: Magic Kingdom

Breakfast-Kona Cafe (Polynesian) 8:10am
Lunch-Pinnochio Haus (MK-counter service)
Dinner-Whispering Canyon Cafe (Wilderness Lodge) 8:50pm

Breakfast at Kona was really good. The pancakes were huge and oh-so-yummy. They had the yummy juice like 'Ohana and press pots of Kona coffee. I highly recommend this breakfast if you want something new and are really hungry (the plates were humongous!). We will warn you though that the bottled water there was $6.50 each (we found that out after we had ordered a few, lol).

Today was a fabulous day at the MK. We rode 9 rides before lunch. The kids rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 3 times in a row without a wait. After that, we somehow convinced them to try Splash Mountain because there was no wait on it either. They did so good! Considering that Hayden was big enough to ride Space Mountain and complete the MK mountain trifecta, we got him to do it too. He did so well and ended up riding it again in the front seat. Wow, I cannot believe that he was so brave!

Lunch was great at the Pinnochio Haus. The lines were easy to deal with and the food was good. We will definitely return there for counter service in the future.

Judy, Mom and me went to the Garden View Tea Room at the Grand Floridian around 3:00pm. It was fabulous even though Judy was miffed that they didn't let her sniff the teas beforehand. Last year, they presented each table with a box of glass vials filled with all their fragrant teas. You could smell them to help pick out what you wanted to drink. At least everyone liked what they chose. My all-time favorite tea is anything with jasmine in it and my tea here did not disappoint. The finger sandwiches, scones and pastries were also pretty tasty.

After tea, we went to the awesome soap shop that is located in the Grand Floridian lobby. I bought lots of pretty soaps and bath bombs for Christmas gifts. The soaps smell wonderful and come with neat designs in them. For instance, I bought my intended mother a bar that has a stork carrying a baby in it and my cousins are getting bars with Mickey heads in them. Cool, huh?

Dinner this night was absolutely atrocious. I knew that Whispering Canyon was rowdy but good grief. It was so loud that you couldn't hear anything and the waiters were obnoxious. A lady at the table next to me got called out for texting someone on her phone. I then got called out for being on my phone too. They said that we were texting each other. Ugh. Hayden got a bottle of beer spilled on him by our waiter. Poor guy began to cry when we were talking about how others would think he smelled like a drunkard, lol. They did some crazy antics while we there and I would have been mortified to have been any of those poor people. They made one couple run around the restaurant (riding stick ponies, mind you) with the wife singing "You Are My Sunshine". Egad. You couldn't pay me enough to do that, lol. I love the Wilderness Lodge but I will never recommend this restaurant. The food was just okay and the loudness was enough to make me go nutso.

Disney Trip-Day 6 (September 24, 2008)

Today's Destination: Hollywood Studios

Breakfast-ABC Commissary (HS-counter service)
Lunch-Capt. Cook's (Polynesian)
Dinner-Sci-Fi Dine-In (HS) 5:15pm

We dilly-dallyed getting out of bed that morning because we were so tired. We got over to Hollywood Studios mid-morning and picked up some fast passes to Toy Story. I couldn't believe how long the lines were just to get the stupid passes. It was crazy. I went ahead and got us regular fast passes but then I also got some immediate ones using magic fast passes that we acquired during the DVC tour. That rocked! The ride was really cool and I think that the boys really enjoyed it.

After Toy Story, we headed over to the ABC Commissary to get a late breakfast. It was okay, not much to write home about though.

The boys headed over to Star Tours while I had to do a little shopping for a new shirt. I had spilled a lot of drink down the front of my shirt while snapping photos in front of the Cars characters. That will teach me to never hold a full drink mug in the same hand that I am holding my camera in, lol. I ended up getting a cute pink Minnie tee.

For lunch we headed back to our resort. There just wasn't enough stuff in HS to keep the kiddos amused and our dinner reservation was a long way away. Capt. Cook's really isn't the best for lunch or dinner foods but at least we didn't go hungry.

We took off for HS again a little while later to meet Sandy and her family. We rode Toy Story again and then did Star Tours while waiting for dinner time. Sci-Fi had tons of people waiting to get in but we only had maybe a 20 minute wait. The kids had a blast sitting in the cars while we ate. The huge movie screen showing crazy old flicks in front of them helped keep them calm. It was fun. This was the first time that we ever got to sit in the front row of cars so that was cool. Sci-Fi's food is just okay but the atmosphere is what we keep going back for.

Disney Trip-Day 7 (September 25, 2008)

Today's Destination: Epcot

Breakfast-snacks from Kona Coffee stand (Polynesian)
Lunch-Garden Grill (Epcot-Future World) 12:30pm
Dinner-Rose & Crown (Epcot-UK-World Showcase) 5:50pm

We were supposed to go to Chef Mickey's for breakfast today but I had to cancel when I realized that we got up 10 min. before we were supposed to be there. Oh well. Clayton ended up going and picking us up some pastries and croissants from the Kona coffee stand.

Since I cancelled our big breakfast, I went ahead and booked Garden Grill for lunch. We loved it last year and this year was just as good. They have characters during the meal and the food is really tasty. I definitely recommend this one. The only bad thing is that they are going to cease serving lunch there and dinner will no longer have the characters beginning in early January. That makes me so sad.

This day at Epcot was simply wonderful. It wasn't too hot and there was a breeze to keep the air circulating. We did lots of rides and didn't feel as though we had been steam rolled by the humidity.

Dinner was magnificent at the Rose & Crown. I cannot believe that I had never been there before. It was soooo good! Clayton got some wonderful fish and chips. His fish was not fishy at all and the fries were the good thick ones. I had a wonderful chicken dish with roasted garlic bread pudding and onion broth topped with onion marmalade. I know, mine sounds too oniony but it was really really good and the chicken was super juicy. The dessert was why I really wanted to go there but it wasn't all that. I got the famous sticky toffee pudding and ended up giving it to Emerson. Regardless of the dessert, this place gets a high approval rating from me.

I must mention this as it was one of my proud parenting moments. While we were eating dinner, an older lady was sitting across the way and she must have been paying attention to us. She came over to me and told me that I have wonderfully behaved little boys. I was thrilled to hear that from someone. It's nice to be validated sometimes. I told her that they wouldn't be there if they couldn't behave. It is my job to make sure that they do and I would never treat them to restaurants if they couldn't. ;)

Disney Trip-Day 8 (September 26, 2008)

Today's Destination: Magic Kingdom

Breakfast-Crystal Palace (MK) 10:15am
Lunch-Capt. Cook's (Polynesian)
Dinner-Liberty Tree Tavern (MK) 5:20pm

Today was the day that we had all been waiting for. We couldn't wait for the Halloween party that night.

We had a fun character breakfast at Crystal Palace in the MK. This place was very pretty and the food was good. The characters were a delight. We saw them all except Tigger. He kept skipping us and my kids wouldn't ever motion him over. Oh well, it was still fun.

After breakfast, we didn't feel like doing rides because we knew that we would have to wait in line for them. At the party there would be no waits so it just wasn't worth it during the daytime. We headed back to the Poly for lunch and I took a nap while the boys went to the pool.

We left the hotel around 4:45pm to make it to our dinner ressies at Liberty Tree Tavern. We made a point to go there for dinner sometime during our trip because this would be the last time that we could see the colonial characters. There are going to quit doing characters in January so that stinks. Also, this night was a special treat to see the characters because they wear costumes over their colonial garb on Halloween party nights. Dinner wasn't very good at all (I highly recommend their lunch menu though) but we still had fun because Sandy and Sage were with us. Poor Emerson slept through the whole meal once again so he missed out on seeing Minnie. He had been trying to find her the whole trip.

The parade was awesome and the Hallowishes fireworks were spectacular. I cannot say enough about how wonderful the Halloween party is. The tickets were steep but they are truly worth every dime. Hubby even agrees with me on this. We had an absolute blast and it was the best night of the whole trip. We walked onto every ride there. No waits! If we ever go again during the Fall season, we know that we will be doing this party again. It is soooo worth it. By the way, we have all the party music on CD and we play it all the time in the car. It is pretty catchy, lol.

Disney Trip-Day 9 (September 27, 2008)

This was our last day and we were so ready to return back to the wonderful climate of Colorado. I won't miss how we would start sweating the moment that we would walk outside, that's for sure. We started off with eating breakfast in the room and then we gathered all of our belongings for Magical Express to pick-up. We left everything with concierge and did some last minute shopping in the Boutiki shop on the bottom floor of the Polynesian. Lunchtime was spent at Captain Cook's just before our 2pm pick-up for the airport. After getting our tummies full, we boarded our bus and started the arduous journey home. Our flight left at 5:15pm (Eastern time) and we arrived in CO around 7:10pm (Mountain time). After gathering up our luggage we had to take another bus to pick up our car from the parking lot. It felt so good to finally be back home and riding in the car seemed like such a luxury, lol. My butt was tired of sitting in uncomfortable seats on the monorail, buses and planes. It was nice not having to rent a car in Orlando though.

So that was the end. We had a good time but we aren't planning on going back for a few years. Disney World is such a tiring trip. Our next vacation will be either spent in England with the Barnes family, on a beach somewhere or on a cruise. Whatever we do it will not be as fast-paced as this trip. We want lots of opportunities to just lounge around and relax.

Stay tuned for Disney Photo Pass Pics. I have to order them and then upload the CD once I get it. It will be a couple of weeks or so until I get it.

Disney Trip Report-Coming Soon!

The report is almost complete. I will post it either today or tomorrow. Sorry for the delay but it takes forever to write it all out. I have it arranged by day and all 9 posts will be posted at the same time. I still have to upload the pics from my camera so that will take me a little while to do. Keep on checking though, I should have it all up very soon. ;)

Email Woes

I have been having email problems for a couple of months now. I had no idea until just recently. My incoming emails come through fine (at least I think that I am receiving everyone's messages) but outgoing messages go nowhere apparently when I use my laptop. If I email someone from my Blackberry it goes through though. Weird, huh? I don't get how that is happening. I use the same email address either way. If anyone knows how to possibly fix this, please let me know. I hate not having my regular email!

Ready to go!!

We are only 2 days out from our return trip to Disney World and I am so excited! The kiddos are packed up and I will finish Clayton's bag/my bag today. I have a million things going on right now so I am a bit stressed out. I could be compared to a chicken running around with its head cut off. I am just ready to get the heck out of Dodge. It doesn't help that Clayton is having a bad work week and has had to work late some. Ugh. Just get me on a plane now!!

Check out these cute shirts that I picked up from Gymboree for the Halloween party that we will be attending on the 26th:

The boys are going to be so cute!

Clayton and I have been toying with the idea of joining the DVC (Disney Vacation Club). They just announced that they are going to start selling the new Bay Lake Tower units this Sunday. How perfect is that? Now we will be able to inquire about this location while we are there. Originally, we were only going to be able to talk about Animal Kingdom Villas with the DVC people because they had no info. on BLT yet. BLT is the only location that we are really interested in so that definitely works in our favor. We particularly want that location if we buy in because it is adjacent to the Contemporary Resort and we would be able to walk to the Magic Kingdom from it. All the other DVC sites are kinda far away from the MK and that doesn't appeal to us. We prefer to be on the monorail loop and this would allow us to have this luxury that we are used to getting while staying at the Polynesian (and that is the main reason we choose this resort).

Anyhoo, as of right now we don't see the money being completely worth it but we are going to still talk to the DVC people to make sure that we understand all the fees correctly. I sure hope we are wrong. Clayton has run tons of numbers to try and make the DVC seem worthwhile but it hasn't so far. As it stands, we are able to book the Poly every year at full rack-rate during peak season and it still is a better value. It would take 11 years of being a DVC member to actually start seeing any kind of value in it. The part that gets me is that after you pay the initial hefty fee to join, you still have to pay yearly maintenance fees that could be around the $1200 range (or higher). If we don't use our points, we would still have to pay that dang fee yearly until our membership ran out (year 2050). That is a lot of money and I have a hard time seeing that as a good deal. We are going to make sure that what we know is correct before totally poo-pooing the idea though. I really hope we are wrong because so many people have joined DVC lately but I have a feeling that Clayton has it figured out correctly and it wouldn't be a good deal. We shall see.

A little bit of our new landscaping in the backyard

Fred put in a winding trail from the front to the backyard for Clayton so that he could easily take the mower back there. The stuff he used looked powdery and fine when he initially put it all in. He then watered it and it made it work kinda like cement, only softer. I believe he called the stuff "breeze". We love it!

This is the berm located in our back right corner of the yard. We got 2 "clumps" of aspen trees and a tall grass for it. The grass looks rather drab right now but that is because it has been cold lately and all of the tall tails on it got broke during transport. That's okay though. It will look good next spring.

This is the small berm located near the center of the back fence. It divides the area that the kiddos' play in from the grass. We have an aspen clump here, 2 junipers and 2 tall grasses (the tops of the tall tails got broken off on these also).

I can't remember the name of these shrubs but they sure are pretty. We have 3 planted to the left side of the kiddos' play area. They attract lots of honeybees much to my delight. Honeybees are so fun to watch and they tend to be docile. Hopefully they won't mess with H & E. The plants are small but tend to grow rather large over time. I can't wait until they sprout out and upward next year.

This is purple sage and it grows really well in CO. We have 3 against our back fence. They are pretty small right now but they get to be huge after a couple of years.

I would have taken a pic of everything together but I had the wrong lens on my camera at the time. I apologize for the quality of these photos because it was so sunny outside that I couldn't see the LCD screen at all to tell if the pics were worth a darn. Oh well!

Mmmmmm...

Yesterday I got the urge to make the pumpkin apple muffins that I saw on Tanya B.'s blog, Sunday Baker. They have chunks of apple and lots of pumpkin pie spices. My kitchen smelled wonderful while they were baking. She describes them as tasting like Fall and I will agree with that. What could be more Fall-ish than apples, cinnamon and pumpkin? The streusal topping is superb. My family gave this recipe a thumbs up (well, Hayden had to pull out all the apple chunks before he would eat it, lol). If you want to give this recipe a whirl, visit Tanya's blog post: Pumpkin Apple Muffins

Baby Update

I went in on Monday for my 12 week OB appt. and the nuchal translucency screen. Baby looked great and so much larger than the scan a few weeks ago! The heartbeat was around 150. So far so good. We will know the results of the NT around Monday so please pray that everything goes well for my IPs and their little one.

BTW-I will post some pics of my backyard soon. Our awesome landscaper put in several plants/trees for us yesterday. He is making us a winding walking trail from the front to the backyard today so that Clayton can easily take the lawnmower back there from the garage.

All Alone...

and LOVING IT!! No offense to my family but it was so nice having a quiet home this weekend. I brought up all the Halloween/Fall decorations from the basement and started prepping my house for the upcoming ghoulish holiday. Yes, I know it's a tad bit early but we leave for Disney in 12 days and when we get back it will almost be October. I figured that it would be good to come home from Disney and the house already be decorated. Our last day at the World will be spent at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party so it will be great to come home to our Halloween inspired home after that.

I also brought up the Christmas wrap so that I can get all of our gifts wrapped up. Since the boys are gone, it is much easier to get this done because I don't have to worry about them seeing anything. ;) I also got my Christmas cards ready to go a few days ago. If I didn't stay on top of these things early I would surely go nutso in December.

Bad news/prayer request...
I got a phone call on Thursday about my Father. He unexpectedly got laid off from his job and now he is terribly upset. Please say a prayer for him that he will find another one soon. My Mom is a housewife so he is the breadwinner. I feel so bad because he actually liked his job and took pride in his work. Life can be so unfair sometimes. :(

Big E's 1st Day at Pre-K

Emerson has been totally psyched to go back to Pre-K. He got to go when he was 1 back in NC but no one here offers programs for kids younger than 3. Since his birthday is after the cut-off, he missed going to the 3's class last year even though he turned 3 shortly after the school year began. Ugh. Now he is almost 4 but is in the 3's class. Oh well, at least he'll have the advantage of being a little older than the other kiddos. He'll also be one of the first in his class to get his driver's license. :P

So sick of being sick

Well, I'll be danged (yes, I am from the South). I can't seem to get a break lately. I thought that Zofran was going to miraculously make my life better since it took away all of my nausea but then the side effects decided to take over this past week. Last Thursday was the worst day EVER and I am not even going to go into specifics as to why. Just trust me on this one. Anyhoo, since I had to stop taking the Zofran for a while I have had to deal with the yucky nausea again. Ugh. It is miserable. If my previous 3 pregnancies had of been like this I wouldn't be sitting here with a 4th. You can bet your booty on that one. I have always breezed through the first 2 trimesters and could eat whatever the heck I wanted. This time I have to force myself to eat even though I don't want anything. That sucks and totally takes the enjoyment of not worrying about my calorie intake away (I have the mentality that I am going to get fat anyway so who cares if I eat a box of Twinkies, lol).

I will say that the past few days have been a little bit better. The bouts of nausea have spaced further out and seem to begin in the early evening. Hopefully I will be able to get out of the nausea phase before our Disney World trip. We are leaving in 16 days and I am a little bit concerned about me not being able to eat while there. I will be so angry if I can't take full advantage of the dining plan. Ugh.