Day 3 - Epcot

We woke up late and headed to Epcot.  We got there around 11.  We were able to walk right in without taking the tram into the park.  While the double stroller is fantastic inside the park...it is a PAIN to get into the tram.  I am not sure how I am going to do it when Matt isn't with me.

We went directly into the park and got fast passes for Soarin, Nemo and Turtle Talk.  We went directly into Turtle talk though and didn't have to use our fast pass.  The kids really like the "dude" talk from Crush.  After crush we grabbed lunch at the same place that we ate last time.  It was a counter service place that serves mexican (inside mexico).  It has decent tacos but the nachos were better.  The kids took in vanilla milk and then we got some yummy cinnamon circle things that you dip in caramel.

Matt...then did what not ever father would...he got in line to see Elsa and Anna.  He got into line around 1:00.  The kids and I went ahead and rode some rides in Norway and Mexico and then walked around some more before we finally got to see her around 2:50.  LeLe and Gibson were in "awe" of both of them.  They had worn their olaf shirts so they thought it was so cool that the princesses liked them.  Gibson just wanted to talk to them about his shirt.  :)

The store had one size medium anna dress that I didn't purchase.  While I was waiting to ask matt, some lady picked it up and purchased it.  So..there it went.  LeLe probably wouldn't have played with it $70 dollars worth anyway. 

We left seeing the princess and rode Nemo, Living the land and Soarin.  Gibson was scared to put his legs down during Soarin.  We then decided it was time for dinner.  Matt visited Germany and he had his heart set on eating there.  Now it was about 7:00.  I called disney dining because it wasn't showing availability online.   They had an opening for 8:15.  We went ahead and did some coloring activities.  We parked our stroller for the 9:00 illuminations show.   There was a Disney Party next to us and we met some little old man that gave the kids some glow in the dark ice cubes.  We finally got seated in the restaurant right at 8:00.  they did a sing a dance number and the food was actually pretty good...was it $120 worth?  i am not sure..  I did talk to the chef and they didn't charge us for Gibson since he couldn't eat anything but the meat.  At 8:55, we ran outside to grab our place.  Some chinese folks were in our spot and had moved the stroller...but we moved it right back on top of them.  I am not sure if they understood us or not.  All the foreigners were getting tickled at LeLe and Gibson carrying on during the show. They LOVED the fireworks.

We went back to the condo and crashed.

Bringing in Gibson's vanilla milk made a big difference today.  In the past, I was giving him coke...cause there wasn't anything else. 

Day 2: Magic Kingdom

The kids woke up around 9:00 Orlando time and were ready to hit the parks.  Matt and I...didn't get up so quickly.  I got up and fed them bagels, we took showers and then around 11:00  we headed to Magic Kingdom.  The parking lot was busier than it was last night.  We ended up parking in the Peter Pan section 60.  We decided load the big stroller that I rented from Kingdom Strollers (which was  GREAT plan) onto the tram.  It was a tight fit but we made it.  We had to take the ferry to the park.  The ferry ride didn't' take much longer than the monorail but there were some rude people.  I have been amazed at the people that just stop in the middle of the park just check their phone, look at a map or just eat their popcorn.

Once we had our bags checked and got our tickets verified, we headed into the park.  Marie from Aristocats was in the front.  Of course, it was time for her break.  We ran to see Jasmine and the prince from Aladdin and then headed back to see Marie at 1:10.  The kids were very excited to see her.  Matt and I figured out that one of us could hold our spot in line while the others got signatures from the characters.  Since Pluto and Marie were together, our strategy worked well.  After seeing Marie, Pluto, Jasmine, we ran into Mary Poppins.  After getting all those signatures, we had worked up an appetite.  We ran over to Cosmic grill cafe to grab lunch.  It should have been a sign that it wasn't a good idea to sit outside when we saw 100000 sea gulls flying around.  The inside was PACKED...so we saw an open table outside.  We took it...  We didn't even get seated when Matt got crapped on by bird #1.  He about lost it but luckily held it together.  We ate...and while eating...Matt got bombed again.  While it seems funny now...at the time...we were on pins and needles waiting on him blow! Let's just say the cafe was truly cosmic.

We left there and jumped in line for Buzz Lightyear ride.  Matt grabbed fast passes while we waited in line.  He caught back up with us.  Gibson and LeLe really liked the buzz ride.  After riding, we grabbed a quick picture with Buzz (again first in line) and zoomed across the park for the Pirates of Caribbean ride.  It was an okay ride.  Gibson and LeLe weren't in love with the dark sections.

After finishing that ride, we headed to the Robinson's tree house...the kids got loose and went up the wrong way...luckily, they came back.  I about had a nervous fit.  We watched the dance party in the middle of the street and got a little wet from the rain.  It quit raining though soon after the parade.

We then worked our way to change our fast pass tickets from the princesses to mickey.  We made our way to Ariel's Under the Sea ride.  This one was awesome!  We will do this one again before we leave.  It was a mix between small world and buzz lightyear.  The kids loved it....and asked to do it again immediately.

After Ariel, we stood in line for about 20 minutes for Dumbo.  We noticed that Donald, Minnie, Daisy and Goofy were about a 20 minutes wait...so we split up and both stood in line.  I stayed with Minnie and Daisy.  After their pic, we ran into see Donald and Goofy where Matt had us the next spot in line.

We then went to Barn...something roller coaster.  I thought gibson was going to be scared...but instead was holding up his arms in the air...this is another MUST DO!!

We grabbed the train and headed back to Main Street.  We wasted about 30 min before the electric parade started and then we did pics with Mickey.  I was very surprised that Mickey talked!!  Another MUST DO.  Mickey told the kids a joke...they were so excited that they didn't even get it...but here it is.  "Daisy went into the beauty parlor to get lipstick. When the cashier asked how she was going to pay...she said Just put it on my bill."

We then hopped on the monorail and headed back to the condo for leftovers.  I am pretty sure that I am full with junk food!!

Disney - Day 1- animal kingdom and magic kingdom

This morning we woke up and headed to Animal kingdom.  The kids were do very excited.  We got to the park right at 10:00 and were able to quickly ride the safari ride where we saw a ton if animals. After the safari ride, we headed to the train where it took us to a petting zoo.  We saw the monkey from lion king and chip and dale.  We bought autograph books and the kids let them sign.  Gibson started jumping each time a character was talking or signing his book for him.  After the petting zoo we rode the train back and grabbed some lunch at the rainforest cafe. We were running on some extra whining so food and some entertainment was a good thing.  After filling up, we headed to Dino land where we rode the dinosaur ride (which LeLe ended up crying) and a spinning Dino ride (I don't know the name).  We then tried to do the everts ride but there was a long wait and Gibson wasn't tall enough for us to ride.  We then headed to try to see characters.  Unfortunately, they headed to break because the parade started at 3;45.  Since it was 3:00 the kids and I ran to bugs life while Matt kept our spot.  Gibson lost it inside the movie and immediately started freakinf out.  We had to leave w both kids screaming.  We then watched the parade.  They loved it.  Gibson accidently spilled his whole box of popcorn.  LeLe started swapping pins from the Disney people.

After the parade, we stayed in line to meet the up characters and then headed home.

We tried to take naps at the condo but that didn't work. So around 6:40 we headed to Buffalo Wild Wings and had dinner.  It was a disaster.  The waiter was clueless and didn't bring us our drinks.  They did have a dude making balloons which the kids enjoyed.  We then headed to magic kingdom to watch the fireworks.  We didn't realize they you had to jump on the monorail to egg there after parking.  Gibson had fallen asleep and slept until the fireworks started.  He was scared of them. He cried the whole time.  After the fireworks we headed to get signatures from the princesses.  Gibson was in love and started jumping again every time they talked to him.  Snow White was from auburn and she was super nice.  She read the book to LeLe and Gibson and we loved her!!  We Then jumped on the carousel before catching the electrical parade which was really cool.  After the oarade we headed to Peter Pan and it's a small world.  Gibson loved it and LeLe was just as excited.  We got home at 12:00 Orlando time and the kids crashed.

Visit from old friends

The Alexander's came to visit today after church.  It was great seeing old friends.  We also got to see "the Nut job" that was funny.  Gibson called it "the screw movie"instead of the squirrel movie.

Saturday blues

Matt and I slept in until 10:45....yes, 10:45!  The kids got up and entertained themselves.  Eventually, they woke us up asking if we were going to sleep all day.  I guess we could have!  I woke up with a killer headache so we didn't do much of anything.  Actually, the only time that we left the building was to grab pizza.  I went to Tortugas to grab pizza...we are and then went back to bed.

Terrific Thursday

Well....not really but it could have been worse.

We woke up to take LeLe to school.  When I got to the car....it was dead...dead as a door nail. 

We jumped into matts car and took her to school.  When we got home, I got the sequoia running.  I took Gibson to school and then ran a couple of errands.  I lost 1.4 pounds at weight watchers.  When I went to pick him up, I decided to run through chickfila but unfortunately I didn't have any money...no money, no purse, no wallet...

So much for that!  I pulled out of the driveway and then came home.  I worked on some more orders and then we went to get LeLe.  Around 5, we met our new neighbors that I am super excited about. We grabbed dinner at Milo's and then went to get LeLe her birthday present from Lauren.  She picked a remote control boat for the pool.

Sunday

We went to church this morning.  Matt got a call from work asking him to go.  So I called Lauren and we went to lunch at the Olive Garden...that's all I remember.

National championship/birthday and gymnastics

Whew!  I am already tired!  We were delayed a hour today for cold weather.  Since this is the first day back from school, I will happily go in late.  I took LeLe to school and Matt took Gibson.  Matt dressed Gibson and when I got home from taking LeLe, I realized thga he didn't take him a coat.  According to Matt, a sweater is plenty when it is 16 degrees outside!

I went to get Gibson early and took him in a coat.   Matt brought LeLe home and he. We headed to gymnastics.  This is LeLes first class this year.  We are at mtn brook gymnastics this time.  My sweet friend Carrie's daughter is in there too!

After gymnastics we headed to chickfila for Emily Kathryn's birthday.  We had some delicious strawberry cake from ashley macs.

 

I rushed home to watch the auburn game.  Lauren came over and Matt fell asleep after the 1st quarter.  I was a nervous wreck during the game....I will go ahead and say that I was not disappointed in the outcome.  

FREEZING!!

It is freezing outside!  Gibson decided to sport his precious sweater today in honor of the auburn coach who wore a sweater vest on the championship game.  Who wears team sweater vests?  

LeLe went to school an hour late.  I could get used to sleeping in!

After school, we stayed inside it is a whopping 9 degrees out there!

Last day before school starts back...

Today, I woke up with 3 dogs, a husband and 2 kids in bed with me.  I have no idea how or when they bombarded my bed or how I didn't notice!?!  

Gibson woke up asking for "nilla" milk.  We quickly realized that it was 9:45 and time to get ready for church.  We all got ready and headed to church at 11.  We went to the traditional service and at the end it dawned on me that LeLe is now 6 and should not be in children's church.  Gibson is going to be very disappointed.

When we left church, Matt got a call that he needed to go to work for a trauma surgery.  I ran home and grabbed the things that I needed to take back to costco and then we met Lauren at Olive Garden for lunch. 

We then ran into Costco and I was at my wits end so we came home and rested.  Matt brought home davenports pizza and then we ran to visit the neighbors.  It I suppose to get really cold tonight.  It is raining.  They have delayed schools for 1 hour tomorrow.

LeLe did try to make her brother play tea!

2014....where has the time gone?

With a new year...comes a new resolution...

So, I am going to attempt to start back blogging everyday.  So...as I sit...it January 3rd...and I haven't started.

Let me recap..

January 1st -  The Skinners came over late afternoon.  I taught the girls how to sew pillowcases while Laura and Matt took Gibson to the store.  The girls did a great job.  Afterwards, we had our usual...Ham, turnip greens/collards, black eyed peas, hog jowl, and cornbread.  The men played video games while Laura and I got some things together for LeLe's birthday party for Saturday.

January 2nd - I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off most of the morning...that is what was left of the morning.  The kids and I slept in to 10:30!!  I ran to chikfila, met Amy Estes and then headed home to sew before the Alabama game.  Alabama played Oklahoma and I knew from the kickoff...the outcome wasn't going to be good.  :(

Mom came over before the game and played with the kids...LeLe did a magnetic board thing that she got from Santa...and made her daddy a flower.

Mixed Emotions...Kindergarten!!

Denial...Scared...Excited...these few emotions about sum up what I am feeling this week.  WHERE has the time gone?  Okay...so some days, I feel like will never end...I never imagined that the past 5 years would have flown by so quickly.  My baby girl is starting kindergarten in less than a week.  Is she prepared...YES!  Am I prepared?  NO!

LeLe has to be the most happy child that I have ever known.  She can make almost ANYONE smile and she is such a caring giving child.  When I asked her 4 year old teachers what we needed to work on over the summer...the only thing that they could come up with was that she gives EVERYTHING away.  I am not quite sure where she gets that :)

I have been a nervous wreck over the past week.  While our friends in neighboring Hoover schools have found out their teachers...here we sat...waiting on the mailman.  Yesterday, the original day that we were told we would find out passed with no letter, I decided to call the school.  They said that we would know today at 3:30 when they posted on the windows of the school.  I decided not to take LeLe to the school to fight the crowd.  Instead, she went to a friends house and then I took Gibson to the doctor.  He has terrible skin and has been running a fever.  He woke up several times during the night with nosebleeds.

I am not sure why I am feeling so overwhelmed with LeLe starting kindergarten.   I am not sure if it is the fact that she now is going to be on a strict schedule or if it is the fact that we are now going to have to start getting up at the crack of dawn.

I still have many questions...what should I send on the first day of school?  What should I do about lunch? What should I give the teacher?  You know...all those things that normal people don't even think about...I am losing sleep over.  I believe more than anything...it is just the fact that we are starting a new chapter...and in order to do so...it means that we will have to close the one that I am on...and this particular chapter...I would be fine with lasting for eternity.

Getting better...

We got home from the hospital around lunch on Memorial Day.  My sweet cousin Lauren took LeLe to a Memorial Day swim party.  Gibson and I put train tracks together, built block towers, and watched MORE movies.  I fell asleep a couple of times...probably because I haven't slept but 3-4 hours over the past couple of days. 

He still is fighting taking his medicine.  This is something that is very new to me considering he has ALWAYS been a great medicine taker.  He actually still takes medicine a couple of times a day for allergies and for his eczema.  So, medicine is not new to him....however, I do think that it was causing some issues on Saturday and he correlates the 2 together.

We went to Krispy Kreme...which was his first request...and he carefully and cautiously gulped down 2 doughnuts today.  We are on top of him regarding intake of liquids.  We did try to get him to eat outside (which is one of his favorite things to do)....but it ended in screaming and crying.  Lauren finally convinced him into taking his lortab...and then he started acting better...well, acting drunk...but not crying.  After the lortab kicked in, I loaded him up on Popsicles in the bathtub..They were filled with fructose...which is a big "no no" for Gibson but at this point, I would rather him have any liquid than to get dehydrated.  He ate 5 of them!  I am sure that the fake sugar is much better tasting than regular Popsicles which we usually have. 

He fought off sleeping...another new experience..but finally fell asleep while I watched "The Bachelorette".  I took him to his bed...I climbed in too...and we slept until 10:15 today!

When we woke up...I decided I could NOT TAKE being in the house any longer.  We herded the crew together and headed to grab some lunch at Newks...where G didn't eat a thing...and then to the popcicle place in Homewood...where...Gibson didn't eat anything.  :(  We then headed to the new target in Homewood where G loves to ride the escalator.  Anything I can do to make this baby not cry all day lon
g.  I think Lauren and Gibson may have ridden it 10 times.  :)

We have continued to push "nilla" milk, gatorade, but tonight...he asked to go to the "cook behind you place".  So, we all loaded up and headed to Stix.  He FINALLY threw back some food....and a lot of it.  He loves watching the fire and while paying attention to the guy cooking...ate about 1/2 cup of rice and some steak.  Matt...claims we will go every night until this baby is back to normal. 

Gibson's first trip to Children's

Thank you again for the outpouring of love over the last few days.  We are at home now and hope to stay here for a while.  If he does not continue to drink or take medicines, we will have to return.  I have received several questions about what happened so I decided to go ahead and post instead of emailing you guys individually.  

Gibson had his tonsils and adenoids out on Tuesday (we found out Monday they needed to go).  We were warned that 1 in 100 of these do sometimes start bleeding.  Matt and I laughed and said...that will be us.  However, I didn't think much more about it.

Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday and Thursday, Gibson was whiny but not miserable.  Saturday was a different story.  He couldn't get comfortable.  Saturday night, I put him bed.  Even though he was sleeping peacefully, something told me to just lay down in his bed.  About 2:30, I heard him coughing/gagging.  I looked over and it appeared he had dark stuff all over him.  He wasn't crying but was startled. I switched on the light and he got upset so I turned on the hall light to find he clearly needed to go to the er.  His face, hair, shirt,pillow and about a foot or so of his sheet was covered in blood and many many blood clots.  I quickly woke up Matt and he took off his clothes and threw him in the car.  Since lele was sleeping, we decided to call  Lauren Reaves to go with me and he would stay behind with Lele.  

Gibson remained calm.  Lauren jumped in the car and we were greeted by the er staff.  I am not quite sure what they thought of us when we walked in.  Here Gibson was with red crusted hair, no shirt, wrapped in a blanket and here we were well, not looking our best.  He started getting upset when I had to put him down for a weigh in. He weighed in at 15.3 which was significantly lower than the 17.8 just a few days earlier. They couldn't get a temperatures reading and after my looks of death, she went ahead and sent us back.  We went to er room 4 where we were greeted by a nurse and an er resident, then an er doctor, then 2 nurses, then an ent resident, ent fellow, and many others.  Gibson continued to vomit blood and clots at the tune of several ounces if not a cup or so each time,  Lauren was in charge of vomit catching.  He did it enough to look at her when he needed to get sick again.  The nurses tried to get a line in but unfortunately, he was uncooperative and dehydrated. they went ahead and did X-rays on his chest since his breathing was labored.  Lauren and I held him in the correct position while they did the X-rays.  Fortunately he Didn't get sick again until we got back into the room. The ent doctor then suctioned as much out of his mouth. He could and was able to take a quick look of his throat...enough to know that there was a clot in the back of his throat large enough to obstruct his airway.  At this point, Gibson was just begging for me to hold him. The doctors came in to let us know that we would have to have surgery.  By this point, he was lethargic so they were able to get an IV started. 

We moved up to the operating room where we were greeted by a ton of folks.  Gibson was sound asleep as they took him back.  At this point, it was around 5;30.  They found that his right tonsil scab had fallen off but that it was healing quicker than normal.  The left side also a

Had fallen off it there was a vein closer to the surface which was causing the problem.  They then removed what they called a large blood clot and cauterized the vein.  They then pumped out a "significant" amount of blood.  Gibson didn't cry in recovery but was asking everyone to "get him out of this place".  We met him in the me children's tower 1046 where he continued to rest.  

They pumped him with fluids, anti nausea meds and pain mediation. He rested until around 5:30.  

Matt brought dinner to all the nurses which was appreciated.  We took him on a wagon ride with IV in tow.  He didn't even ask to get up.  He got really antsy during the night and they brought him a dose of Benadryl through the IV.  He also continued to fight when we asked m to take his lortab or Advil but we got enough down him to make him comment "the doctors and medicine makes me not hurt".  Matt came home.  Mom had lele and I stayed.

We woke up this am greeted by 2 doctors and they decided not to give him blood or steroids as we had first spoken about.  Instead, they sent us home on strict orders, special diet and w new meds.  Gibson has done better today than since Tuesday.  W are still fighting over medicine and liquid intake.  He did ask for dough nuts which was a great sign

  So far, we have had 3 doughnuts, 5 popcicles and 2 vanilla milks.