Introducing Sadie Brooke

Sadie Brooke was born on January 31st at 10:06pm.  She weighed 8lbs 10oz.  A strapping baby girl.

Sadie was actually due on January 28th and the doctor didn't want me going too far past the due date so they decided to have me come in on January 31st.  We had to be at the hospital early in the morning.  Once we got checked in and the doctor showed up they gave me half a pill that is supposed to release hormones that you have when in labor.  Sometimes it gets things started.  So they did that and we waited.  I had been having contractions and mild cramps since the day before so I think labor was kind of starting on its own anyways.  After the pill I had to lay still in bed for two hours, which was kind of uncomfortable.  Sean and I got the chance to watch TV shows we hadn't seen in forever.  And the hospital even had HGTV so we watched lots of home improvement stuff too.  After the pill had a chance to work, they checked on us again and apparently there was progress, but not a lot.  At that point the doctor said I could wait and see what happened, let nature take its course, or start the pitocin.  I chose to wait it out and see what happened.  She said she'd come back late afternoon early evening.

 When the doctor came back, a little after 7pm, the baby had moved down far enough that they could finally break my water.  I wanted them to do that initially but they couldn't because the baby was too high.  She liked to sit at the highest station of -2, apparently and they couldn't break the water until she was at 0 or lower.  Since she was, they broke my water at 7:40pm.  All was well for around 20 minutes and then things started happening very fast, just like they did with Kaelyn.  I started feeling very crampy and sick and would walk around for a while, but confined myself to the bed after a very short amount of time.  I just felt so sick and crampy that I could hardly move and it was hard to talk.  It all seemed very familiar since it was just what happened with Kaelyn.  After an hour or so I started violently shaking between contractions.  If that happened with KAelyn, I don't remember it!  Sean called for the nurse/doctor and they came in and said it looked like I was in transition.  I was hot, but it was like I was freezing because I couldn't stop shaking.

By then I was dialated to 9 and the doctor and nurse decided to stick around.  They kept asking me stuff.  Do you feel sick?  Do you want this or that?  I basically ignored them.  Nodded on occasion.  I did manage to tell Sean to schedule an appointment for a vasectomy for the next day because I didn't want to do this again.  Haha.  It's not that it hurt, I wouldn't describe it that way.  It was just the most intense discomfort, I guess I would say.

The doctor said there was just a little ways to go before I could push and she could move the rest of the cervix out of the way if I wanted, but most people told her no because it hurt.  I told her to go ahead because I wanted that baby OUT.  She was right.  It hurt.  That was the worst part of the ordeal this time.  I actually thought I had had the baby when she did that. :)

 But then they let me push and they kept telling me to do this or that with my knees but they weren't in my position.  What they wanted me to do just wasn't possible.  My legs were doing what they wanted! :)  After a few pushes they wanted me to start pushing even when I wasn't having a contraction.  And the oxygen mask came out again like last time and it annoyed me like last time.  As they were telling me to push through all times and not just contractions they were saying that they didn't know what baby was doing so I had to push.  I didn't really know what that meant and didn't really care at that point because I was in a daze.  Strange, but true. 

Then Sadie was born and apparently she had the cord wrapped around her neck twice.  I saw her and she was completely purple.  Her mouth was open and her head lax and she just looked completely still.  They didn't lay her on my chest like they said they would and instead went across the room and picked up an arm and dropped it...completely limp.  Very scary looking back on it now, but at the time I felt completely calm.  They had to breath for her for a while and give her oxygen puffs to get her lungs going.  The doctor said later it was like she passed out from having the cord around her neck but that she came around quickly and all was well.

She eventually cries a bit and pinked up some and was fine after that.  Seeing her purple has turned out to be a real blessing.  EVery time she wakes me and I'm SO tired I can barely thing, I think about that.  She could have not made it.  So I feel blessed and VERY grateful that she did.

Sadie looks very much like Kaelyn did when she was a newborn.  I am anxious to see what she looks like as she gets older.  We came home on Saturday late afternoon after Sadie was born Thursday late in the evening.  Sadie is a MUCH calmer baby than KAelyn was and though she cries, she never SCREAMS like Kaelyn always did.  She sleeps better as well, though not GREAT.  The best part of her sleeping is you can actually set her down places when she's asleep.  KAelyn would always wake up immedaitely when she wasn't being held.  Even at stop lights in the car she'd jar awake!  Sadie is generally easier to keep happy.

Kaelyn is SUCH a good big sister too.  She has been very sweet about and to Sadie.  She always wants to see and hold her and tells me when to feed her and change her etc.  She kisses her and wants to hold her hand and says how cute she is and that she loves her. I'm relieved.  You never know how a kid will react to not being the center of it all ALL of the time etc.

Our family is complete now that Miss Sadie is here.  She's asleep in the swing now and Kaelyn is out playing in the snow so I'm able to get this written.

Christmas 2012

 Christmas has come and gone yet again this year.  Can't believe it!  Our last Christmas as a family of three.  December 15th weekend we went to Sean's family's house to have Christmas there.  All of Sean's brothers were there and we saw the whole big family for a few hours as well.  Kaelyn got a big horse that she likes to have things ride as well as a couple of Elmo books and a Minnie dress up doll and set and car.  She had the most fun with a little village they had set up that had a small horse that moved around and people and lights.  She watched and watched that thing.

 The next weekend, the 22nd, we went to my family's house for Christmas there.  My grandpa was there so we celebrated his 97th birthday, which was back in October.  My sister and her kids and my parents were there as well.  It snowed just before we got there so the kids did a lot of sledding.  It was Kaelyn's first time going down real hills so she had a blast.  She got snow pants and boots and a new coat and it was a good thing!  She was most impressed, however, with the squinkies she received.  Have you heard of these things?  They are tiny little rubber figures that come in little plastic balls.  You would have thought you'd given her pure gold she just played and played with those ignoring everything else she got!  It was really nuts.

We got to be home again for Christmas this year, which was only the second time ever.  We went to church Christmas eve and Kaelyn was really good.  She wore pjs and really jammed out in the aisle to the Gloooria in exclesis deo song.  It was pretty cute.  When she got up the next morning we opened presents immediately.  Sean and I actually did ours the night before so we could just enjoy watching her do hers.  She got a doll house complete with dolls and furniture.  She played with it ALL day.  Since then, she has played with the house occasionally, but the dolls quite a bit.  We have a couple of little cars that the dolls fit in and they travel all over the house, especially around the dining room table.  They climb a "tree" we have in the corner, which actually is a decorative thing with candles and get into all sorts of trouble.  I'd say we did well by her for gifts.  She also got a light brite, some Mickey DVDs and a few other little things.  And yes, the squinkies still get out and play quite a bit as well.  I have been keeping a close eye on them so they don't get lost.

There's still snow on the ground so over the break Kaelyn and Sean went sledding quite a few times in our backyard.  It was nice having him home for so many days in a row.  He's back to work now and we're on out own again!  New Year's Eve was especially nice this year.  We didn't have any plans so around 7pm we had our own little party.  We got out some noisemakers...a train whistle, recorder and harmonica, ripped up some streamers for confetti, and counted down!  We had quite a little celebration and it was SO much fun we then did it another dozen or so times.  Until Kaelyn went to bed. :)  She got up the next morning wanting to do it all over again so we did.  We also had to give kisses every time, which was nice.  She had a blast.  I wonder how long we'll play "New Year Party!"  I managed to stay up till 11 thank to netflix instant play.  And, of course, Kaelyn up the next morning for the first time all break well before 7.  What do you do.

That was a quick version of our Christmas.  Time is short these days as we await baby#2.  She (still looks like it's a girl!) is due Jan 28th.  At my last doctor's appointment shortly after Christmas all was well and she was in the right place etc.  As long as she waits until after Jan 21st, I'll be happy.  My mom is in Florida until then and I really want her here to be with Kaelyn to keep things as normal as possible for her during such a huge life changing event.  The pregnancy has been lovely.  haha.  Heartburn is extraordinary.  I don't understand it at all.  I can eat something as bland as a simple grilled chicken breast and baked potato and suffer the rest of the day.  It doesn't seem to matter what I eat (though some things are worse than others) but IF I eat, I burn.  Tums are my best friends.  I would not have survived otherwise.  That's my biggest complaint other than feeling huge.  :)  I have a leg/nerve issue on occasion, but it was much worse before Thanksgiving.  Baby must have moved somehow to take pressure off of that.  Still hard to get up and walk sometimes, but it doesn't hurt quite as badly as it did for a while there.  I'm anxious to have my body back to myself, but I suppose since I plan to nurse, I have another good year before that can happen.  What do you do!  It seems like a long time, but in the grand scheme of life, it's a very short time.  And so worth it when looking back on how well Kaelyn did with everything.  I just hope I can handle two of these creatures!!

Kaelyn will go back to preschool next week.  In the meantime, we're trying to stay warm (though the pregnancy has also thrown me out of whack and I'm often hot, keeping the inside temp to 65 and freezing everyone else out!) and have fun around town.  We will not be traveling again anywhere farther than the cities right around us until after the baby arrives.  And probably not for some time after that, even.

Merry Christmas (late!) and Happy New Year (also late).  Our next adventure...Sean's birthday.  Then baby. :)

Books and Baby News

 I feverishly wrote a book back in 2005 and though I sent it to a sleuth of agents, I couldn't find any help.  I let it sit for many years, but for some reason, I up and decided to self-publish it recently.  The book, titled "Someone Always Loved You" is about a guy who, on his first day as an ambulance driver, hits a pedestrian.  He then sits by her side, keeping vigil while she is in a coma.  Their pasts interweave together as we see a story of love over time unfold.  Honestly, when I wrote it, I only had the prologue in mind.  After that, the characters and their situations took over and the book kind of created itself from there.  I never knew where it was going from day to day.  I wrote it in about a month.  I just couldn't stop until I got it out.

Anyways, I found lulu.com, a website that allows you to self-publish books for free.  It's print on demand so whenever anyone orders the book, it gets printed and shipped.  It only took about a week and a half for my first copies to arrive to me so I was pleased with that.  I also started looking for book reviewers to take a look at it and I will paste the first review link below.

http://bookmavenpicks.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/someone-always-loved-you-by-brooke-golliher/
I was sorry to have made her cry, but any book that brings about emotion must not be all bad.

I really did the self-publishing thing so I would have copies for myself, family, and friends.  If anyone else reads it, that's wonderful.  It's something that I just recently started reading again myself.  I had forgotten much of what I wrote.  It HAS been 7 years, after all.  What surprises me the most is how much of my own story is in the book.  There are a lot of flashbacks from the woman in the coma and some of those experiences are exact replicas of things that happened to me.  Others are mere fiction,  If you ever read it, see if you can tell the difference. :)

The book is available on lulu.com at the following link:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/brooke-golliher/someone-always-loved-you/paperback/product-20447265.html

I'm glad to have finally done something with it, though I wish I had had time to read through it before I published it as I have run across several mistakes.  Perhaps someday I can go back and fix those things.  For now, what do you do!

In other publishing news, a book I had a large part in has come out from the company chainbooks.com.  "Small Town America" is about a woman on the run who ends up hiding in the small town of Plattsmouth, Nebraska.  I wrote chapter one and, at the time, had no idea why the woman was running.  There are 23 authors involved from all over the country and some from other parts of the world and they got to decide the woman's fate after the first chapter.  My husband actually took the cover photo and the overall look of the book is fantastic.

I have taken this book around to a few stores locally and even brought it to a church fundraiser.  Everyone is very interested since its premise is located here and it's an overall fun book to enjoy.  I continue to sell them out of my car. :)  In fact, I think I'm about ready to order some more copies soon.

Here is the link for Small Town America on chainbooks and amazon:

 https://shoppingcart.chainbooks.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=85&osCsid=da4def1ec7606e36b822f720f114fe58

http://www.amazon.com/Small-Town-America-Gregory-Humphrey/dp/1619900025/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350137200&sr=8-1&keywords=small+town+america+chainbooks

GOD IN THE KITCHEN

As for my own recent writing, I finished the novel I was writing titled "God in the Kitchen."  My parents took my daughter for a couple of days while my husband is in Atlanta and I was able to go back through the book and edit.  It's about a radio personality whose father dies and he is just all around down on his luck.  A man who goes by the name of Evan who has "spiritual authority" starts appearing to him in his kitchen to help him along the way.  

I signed up to attend a Christian writing conference in November near Kansas City and I hope to get some interest in the book there.  We shall see.  I signed it up for a "first pages" portion of the conference where a panel reads the first page and then critiques it and states whether, based on that first page, they would read more or stop there.  Might help give some insight.  I also signed up for time with an agent, who is supposed to come prepared having read the entire first chapter.  He or she will then offer advice from there.  

So hopefully that will be an entertaining conference and worth the time and effort to go.  My husband is taking a Friday off to watch Kaelyn so hopefully they have fun as well.

 Speaking of Kaelyn, we have been having a blast at Vala's pumpkin patch this year.  We go once a week and are dreading the end of October when it will be closed again for the year.  She enjoys sending the ducks back and forth, playing in the corn, jumping on the pumpkin jump, riding the peddle tractor (which I have to peddle, very tiring!), the tractor train ride, the big chair, what she calls the "scary thing" which is a face that pops out of a window and says boo hahaha, and many other aspects.  Last time we were there, we ran across Mickey and she had to touch his ears and give him lots of fives.  Really, they are fours because Mickey only has four fingers. :)

I thought the zoo was tiring, but Vala's definitely takes the cake.  Not only is it hilly, but it's a farm so there aren't really any paved roads.  Pushing the stroller up and down and around is exhausting so maybe I'll be glad for the end of October after all. :)  Next year will be a whole new adventure since we'll have another kid along with us.  But for now, we enjoy as much time there as we can and buy a bag of kettle corn every time we go.  Yum!

Kaelyn has become a Husker fan this year.  Well, she now sees the big N places and says, Go Big Red.  So if that means she's a fan, so be it.  We looked for a Husker shirt for her and this was the ONLY one we could find in her size.  I think it's hilarious and she likes footballs so she enjoys wearing it too.  The first time she put it on she HAD to go play football RIGHT away.  It was funny.

She has grown into LOVING preschool.  Most mornings, when I get her up I say, hey, you know what we're going to do today?  She's like preschool!  But she's only right on Tuesdays and Thursdays. :)  On the other days she has to hang with me at the zoo or somewhere else, the poor thing.

Anyways, at preschool, she mostly talks about the snacks she has.  That is always the highlight.  She also enjoys playing hopscotch outside and going down the silver slide.  She used to like the green and yellow slide, but lately the silver one is the favorite.  She also talks about counting the days of the week, looking outside to see what the weather is like, playing train, doing puzzles, reading books, and her latest favorite, the pumpkin game.  She gets to choose what type of eyes, nose and mouth a pumpkin has on a wall computer smart board and then the pumpkin (and she) dance.  I have a video of it from Grandparents day.  It's quite cute and a big highlight for her right now. I hope they have a turkey that does something similar for after Halloween time!

I had a doctor's appointment a couple of months back and they did a quick peak ultrasound.  It looks like we're having another girl!  I'm thrilled.  The doctor didn't seem as sure as the last time around with Kaelyn.  Last time, the lady said she had been doing ultrasounds for 20 some years and she had never been wrong.  This doctor said it's ALWAYS a guess, but at that point in my pregnancy, she was guessing girl.  She said either it's a girl, or a boy hiding his stuff because she saw no evidence of boy parts.  I have another bigger, longer ultrasound coming up the first of November, so hopefully that will confirm things.  We have started a list of girl names, but it's a struggle.  I like more unusual names and Sean is more normal. :)  Just like our everyday life.  haha  But we'll come up with something by that time or just pick from the names we have left on the list that we both semi-like. 

The pregnancy seems to be going well.  I have a lot of heartburn, which is SO much fun at night when I want to sleep, but I remember having that last time too.  I also struggle with restless legs, also at night when I want to sleep.  It feels as if I have not gotten up and moved ALL day and my legs just HAVE to move RIGHT now.  Which does not allow me to sleep very easily!  With a 3 1/2 year old around, I certainly do not sit around all day.  My legs get plenty of motion, thank you very much!  It's a weird thing, that's for sure.  Otherwise, the baby enjoys doing flips and pushing on my bladder.  An onery one already. :)

When I'm not playing with Kaelyn, I'm trying to get as much writing in as possible.  I know once her little sister is born, all of that will get pushed to the wayside for who knows how long.  I enjoy it so much I hate to see it go, but with any luck, I will get back to it again someday.  They WILL both have to go to school eventually, you know!  Which is a sad thought in and of itself!

In the meantime, we wait, I write, we play, and the days tick by!

Changes Changes

 Well, let's start at the beginning and say that we brought a souvenir and a little magic back from Disney World in the form of baby 2!  Baby is due Jan 28th or so and we do not yet know boy or girl.  When we ask Kaelyn whether she wants a baby brother or baby sister she answers differently every time.  She also sometimes talks to my belly, pats it, and says "hi baby!" which is very sweet.  She probably has no idea what it all really means for her life, but at least she's in the know!  We have even asked her for name ideas.  She said a boy should be kitty cat and a girl tummy once.  Another time a boy should be brother and a girl draw.  So we'll keep working on that... :)

 In the meantime, she probably first has to get used to the fact that my lap is getting smaller every day.  But so far, there's still room for her.  She will have to learn to sit beside me soon enough.  :)  She has recently started calling me Mommy more often instead of Mama.  I don't really know why or how that changed.  IT started out just being during nap times.  She would call Mommy when she wanted to get up.  But now it's more all of the time.

She's also in her big girl bed now!  That change happened shortly after we found out about the baby.  She was getting kind of big for the crib anyways and we wanted to make the adjustment sooner rather than later.  We painted the other bedroom we have and put stars and a moon on the wall and she LOVED that.  We put up a big bed and she slept like 12 hours the first night.  Course, we had just come back from a camping trip and that always wears her out.  The funny thing is that the bed overlaps the window a tiny bit and she actually sleeps more up on the bookcase-like headboard than on the actual bed.  EVery time I go in to get her she is laying up there, looking out the window.  It doesn't look very comfortable to me, but she has been sleeping well in it!  She doesn't get out of bed at all by herself.  She always waits for me to come get her and we snuggle for a bit before venturing back out into the world again.  It's a sweet time of the day that I thoroughly enjoy.  Think she'll let me do that when she's a teen too?! :)

This summer we took Kaelyn to Bible School at our church and she had a great time.  I was really glad we went because she had fun playing games and doing crafts and eating snacks and so on.  I then told her that she would get to go to  preschool this fall and do all of the same things.  The only difference was that mama couldn't stay.  I don't think she fully understood that part of it...until today.

Today was Kaelyn's first day of preschool.  I think I was more nervous than she was.  I hadn't slept much in two nights.  She seemed excited but I knew she didn't fully understand the fact that I wasn't staying there with her.  She talked about playing games and having snacks etc, but she would always say "Mommy watch you?" I would tell her no, preschool was just for kids and teachers, but I don't think she ever fully comprehended that.

Her preschool starts at 8am, which is really early for us to get going, but she's been getting up pretty early the last few weeks so I knew it was possible.  We got out the door with no problem.  Though I started crying in the car ride to the preschool. :)  When we got to the classroom she played for a while and I found a train set I knew she'd like so we got that out.  I thought it might make her feel more comfortable since she loves trains so much.  When I finally had to go I told her I was going and she said "snuggle mommy?"  Oh come on!  Heartbreaking!  So I snuggled her a little longer and then simply had to walk out.  Sean stayed a few more minutes to calm her and then he left too.  He said she had a pouty look on her face but wasn't crying when he left.

The next two hours were quite long and I cried for much of it.  When I went to pick her up she had that same pouty look on her face and came running to me and clung to me like glue.  She told me they had fruit snacks and juice and played outside, though, so it wasn't all bad!  And the teacher said she did really well and stuck really close to the teacher.  She was impressed she knew her letters and numbers and they played train and Kaelyn asked to make supper for her and all sorts of things.  I was glad that Kaelyn vocalized things and talked to her.  She doesn't often talk around people she doesn't know so I wasn't sure she would.  Sounds like she survived okay.  The teacher said when the music teacher came into the room, Kaelyn had a setback and was very shy and near crying again but she recovered quickly and all was well again.  So it's good to hear she wasn't tortured with crying the whole time at least.  We'll see how Thursday goes!

I know I will enjoy the extra time that I will get for the next few months when she is in preschool and before the baby is born.  It won't last, but it's something.  Still, it was REALLY hard being away from her today. It's weird, there are times when all I want is to get away.  But today, I WAS away and all I wanted was to be running around the house playing beach ball and trains with her.  These days, it's what I do best!!  My little girl is growing up.  Can I keep her little longer somehow???

Anniversary Trip to Disney World

 Sean and I have been married for 10 years as of May 4th and several months ago we started talking about taking a trip somewhere to celebrate.  I was pretty determined that we were going to Disney World and I guess I won Sean over to the idea because that's what we did!  I had several reasons for wanting to go on that particular trip.  First, neither he nor I had been there in 20-25 years.  Second, it was probably our last chance to go to Disney World ALONE without Kaelyn noticing.  Third, if we were able to go alone, we would be able to do what WE wanted to do when there and not worry about you know who!

So we very briefly planned the trip.  By that I mean I got on the Disney website, booked a hotel, flights, and meal plan.  That was the extent of our planning.  We had dates and the essentials and that was about it.  As the time drew near, friends and family that had been recently and frequently gave us tips and that was helpful.  OVerall, we just looked forward to exploring and seeing what we could.

 Leaving Kaelyn behind wasn't easy, even though I knew she'd have fun with my parents.  When I put her down for her nap the day we were leaving, she didn't want to let go of my hand.  She said, "Mama hold your hand sleep?" which mean she wanted me to hold her hand while she slept.  She NEVER does that.  It was heart wrenching to tear myself away.  I almost just held her hand and skipped the flight entirely. :)  But I knew she'd be fine and she was.

We spent the rest of that afternoon/evening flying and traveling and finally got to our hotel and settled in at like 1am.  WAY late for me.  Let me tell you, though, Disney has quite a slick system.  A bus to take you from the airport to your hotel, buses to take you to all the parks and so on.  Our room key was also our park ticket and our meal ticket and our credit card for if we wanted to buy anything.  All very convenient.

Anyways, we spent the first day at Magic Kingdom.  We rode Space Mountain first.  We totally should have bought the picture because my face was hidden by my hat but Sean's showed and it was one of shock and surprise.  Very funny.  Neither of us liked it, though.  It was total darkness!  I normally like roller coasters but I didn't like being in the dark.

Then we went to Monster's Inc the comedy show, which was very funny.  They made Sean get up and dance and they said I was hiding a third eye under my hat.  We also rode IT's a small world, the Pirates of the Carribean and all of the other favorites and classics.  We were surprised not to even have to think about fast passes because we pretty much walked on to all of the rides.  We enjoyed the shows and parades and  saw everything we could.

That night, we didn't get a good place for the lighted night parade so we planned to come back later in the week.  At least we could see the fireworks.

 The second day we went to Hollywood Studios, which we both thought would have even MORE for us to do.  We first rode the new Toy Story ride, which was SO much fun.  It was like a big video game you got to play.  The line was short so we just rode it but when we were done, we got Fast Passes to go back later.  We then went on the backstage tour, which we both remembered parts of from when we were there decades ago.  There were a lot of shows at Hollywood studios and we spent a lot of time in 30 minute sessions here and there.  Toy Story ended up being our favorite ride of the trip.  We went to Fantasmic, the night show there that evening.  It was okay but not as good as I was hoping.  Especially after we waited SO long to see it.

The third day we went to Animal Kingdom, which neither of us had ever visited since it opened way after we had last been there.  We didn't think it would have as much for us to see but we were wrong.  The park is HUGE.  We heard all of the other three parks would fit inside it and have 30 acres to spare.  HUGE!  So it was a lot of walking.  We really enjoyed the Finding Nemo Show and the Lion King show was cute too.  We both liked the Bugs 3-D show a lot and the safari ride was worth it (especially with a fast pass and no wait!)  We were able to see what we wanted to see and leave by 4 so we could get back to Magic Kingdom so catch the lighted parade from a better angle.  When we got to Magic Kingdom, we went to Mickey's Magic 3-D show that my niece recommended and it was cute.  Then we had supper and claimed our spot by the train for the light show.  We sat there for 2 hours, but it was worth it.  We had a perfect view and even got to see the fireworks again.

The last day we went to Epcot, which was largely what we remembered as kids.  Not nearly as fun as the other parks! :)  The entrance area was cool and had several space rides that were fun.  The one in the big globe was my favorite because it took a picture of us at the beginning and then put us in a little show at the end.  IT was funny because Sean had his mouth open in surprise and half of my face was completely missing because of my hat.  It looked very interesting. :)  We got to see the Michael Jackson Captain EO 3-D show, which we both slightly remembered seeing when we were younger.  We walked all the way around the World Showcase, which didn't impress us much.  I guess we're not into shopping and culture. :)  The Finding Nemo Ride was cute, though.  IT took longer to walk around all the rails then to go on the ride, even though there was no one in line.

We did miss out on Soarin, which is supposed to be the best ride there.  We should have gone straight there and gotten a fast pass but we didn't and when we got there, the fast passes had times of 8-9pm for return and the actual line was 90 minutes long so we didn't bother.  Maybe next time.  We watched the fireworks there that night, our actual anniversary.

The worst part of the trip was the exhaustion!  I guess we're not used to being up and going like that ALL day everyday!  I thought Kaelyn was tiring!  I felt WAY older than my 31 years on the trip.  About halfway through day 1 I started having back issues and spent the rest of the trip in mild to severe pain because of it.  Even though it was 90 for most of the days, I had a heating pad on it at all times and was popping asprin like candy just in the hopes of being able to walk.  It wasn't pretty and now, a full day after we're back, I'm still hurting.  We also found that we got up later everyday.  The first day it was like 8:30.  The second day 9.  By the last day, we didn't even make it to the park till 11!

It was a great trip, though and I can't wait to take Kaelyn back when she's a bit older, easier to manage, and would enjoy it all.  She'll have a ball and be just as tired as we were.  Hopefully. :)

As for Kaelyn, she did really well while we were gone.  I think she had a blast with Nana and Gramps and didn't really notice we weren't there until we came back.  When we drove into the driveway, I jumped out of the car before Sean could pull it into the garage because she was swimming out front and she came running over and threw herself at me and gave me a big hug.  I was so glad.  I thought she might ignore me and just keep playing. :)  She does that.  But she didn't.  She sat in my lap the rest of the afternoon, wrapping and unwrapping her Mickey stuffed animal.  She looks so much bigger!  Is that possible?  That I'd forgotten in just a few days?!  I guess so!  We're back into the swing of things today, though.  I think the break was good for us because I'm finding her games really amusing again.  Though I was glad for her nap today so I could try to catch up on some things.  Which I should probably go do now! :)

Now Sean and I know what all is at Disney so that when we take Kaelyn back, we'll know what she might like and what to avoid.  IT'll be a fun trip when it arrives.  I'm glad we went alone this time.  We saw enough kids melting down to be VERY glad it wasn't us!  And it was nice to get away just the two of us.  That hardly ever happens these days.  Now we'll have to start talking about our next big anniversary trip... hmm....

Kaelyn is 3!!!

 Kaelyn turned three at 12:01am on April 24th, 2012.  When she woke up in the morning, she was already officially three!  To celebrate, I had asked her several days before what she wanted to do.  She told me to go the zoo.  Off we went!  Actually, it was a bit of an ordeal because my glasses broke that morning and because I could not see, I couldn't fix them.  We had to stop by walmart for a little help on the way, but eventually, we made it and I was able to see the animals as well!  We were a little late, but we still got to do most of her favorite things.

 Her all time favorite thing right now is to feed the ducks and fish.  We took a TON of bread we had been saving up so she got to do that for a good long time.  We also saw the baby giraffe and this little gorilla, which was born the same year she was.  So they're kind of cousins or something.  :)  After the zoo, we met daddy at the nearby McDonald's, which has a play center inside.  We ate and she played until she was done.  Then we went home to draw a hundred more chalk bodies on the driveway before her nap.

 She must have known it was an exciting day because she didn't nap all THAT long.  It was warm outside so we went out to our little plastic pool on the porch and did some serious swimming.  For two hours!!  She had a great time doing that.  Once daddy got home, we made supper and she had her brownie for dessert and we opened presents.  We gave her a little talking Thomas train, a Furr Real duck, an angry birds shirt (which she wore the very next day proudly!) and then Sean gave her a styrofoam plane.

 The plane was similar to one my nephew had gotten at Christmas and Kaelyn really liked it.  The difference was that hers broke on the very first use.  And it only got worse from there.  The plane, within about 5 minutes of throwing it around in the back yard, was in about a dozen pieces.  I think Sean was more upset than KAelyn.  She didn't really care and happily threw the pieces down the slide for the rest of the evening.

My parents had called earlier to sing and she cordially listened. When we finally came inside, Sean's parents called and Kaelyn wouldn't really talk much.  She had already asked to go to bed.  We finally wore her out!  Then when my sister called even later and sang, Kaelyn said "all done" when their song was over.  She was tired of that song! :)

When I put her to bed, I sang it to her again anyways and when I was leaving the room she said, "birthday again?!"  I think that means she had a good day.  I told her we'd do it all again next year!

Kaelyn's Second 3rd Birthday party

 Kaelyn's second 3rd birthday party took place just two days before her birthday.  We planned to have the party at her favorite park and we hoped and prayed there would be nice weather.  Otherwise, we were going to move the party to our house.  The weather was a bit cold and very windy, but it didn't rain so the party went on at the park as planned.  We had Sean's parents and brothers and their families as well as our friends from church, Katie, Kyle and their kids and my friend Andrea and her kids.  Renae, Kaelyn's neighbor friend from down the street and her mom came as well.

 Kaelyn loves Thomas Train right now so we had Thomas napkins, but Mickey was in the decorations as well.  She likes the variety and the Mickey toothpick decorations made the chocolate cupcakes easy to decorate!  The only problem with the park party was the bathroom was locked.  Luckily, there were no emergencies and everyone made it just fine.

Kaelyn got lots of nice things like a Thomas game, a big play doh set, a Thomas book, some Minnie clothes, a singing fish card and plenty of other goodies.  She seemed to like the card the best but she has played with it all since that time.

Kaelyn had to skip her nap for this party...something I normally NEVER let happen.  The party was 1-3 so it was RIGHT over naptime, but she did really well.  She played and ran and jumped and slid and opened presents and ate cupcakes and had a great time.  She never slowed down.  After the party, we went to Texas Roadhouse with Sean's family to eat.  We were home by 6 to simmer down a bit.  Kaelyn was VERY overtired by bedtime, but she had done a great job all day long.  She had fun.  Her second 3rd birthday party was a raging success.

We also had a fun day the day before when we attended her friend Logan's 4th birthday party at Amazing Pizza MAchine.  We rode a little train and carousel and even tried out the go-karts.  What a weekend!