Disney World Day 1

Disney World was just wonderful.  We had a great time and we can't wait to go back.  I went to Disney World when I was 2, so this was essentially my first time, along with Benjamin and Sarah.  Geoff had been a few times when he was younger, and it had also been a long time since my mom had been there.   

We arrived at Disney World's Magic Kingdom on Sunday morning for our first day there.  As per Geoff's plan, we arrived at Magic Kingdom's gates at 7:30, 1 1/2 hours before they opened.  We walked right up to one of the ticket scanners basically to wait for the park to open.  We were approached by Santa, one of the ticket scanners and she asked me if we wanted to be the family that opened the park that day.  I said, "Sure," not having any idea what that meant.

At about 8 o'clock, they took us through the gates.  It was just us and the cast members making final touch-ups to the park.  An antique firetruck picked us up at the front gate and took us into Magic Kindom, driving right down Main Street.

They stopped to let us take a few pictures at Cinderella's Castle.  The whole time we were wondering what was going to happen, but no one is telling us anything other than to have our cameras ready.  They just smiled and said we were going to love it.  We drove though Magic Kingdom until we reached Mickey's House in Toontown.  We got out and played on the playground across from Mickey's House as the first steam train of the day pulled into Toontown Station. 

The cast members then told us that a bunch of characters would be coming out of Mickey's House in a couple of minutes and we could spend some time with them and take a group picture (see above).  Each of the characters also signed Benjamin and Sarah's autograph books.  After our group picture, we got on the train with all the characters.  We sat beside Mickey Mouse and Alice sat behind us and she and Chip and Dale entertained us the whole way there.  We arrived at Main Street Station at the front of the park and the Disney dancers and the characters welcomed the crowd of people waiting to enter the park at 9 am.  They announced us to the crowd and then we got out of the train and waved to everyone while the characters kept singing and dancing.  Geoff and I got to throw streamers along with the characters as the park opened and the mass of people poured through the gates.  We took another group picture with Mickey Mouse and then headed into the park to start our "regular" day riding Dumbo.  The whole experience was beyond anything we could have imagined.

Curious Sarah

Yes, this is Sarah.  My mischievous child.  I was getting ready to go to a family picnic with Geoff's church choir and orchestra.  I thought it sounded a little quiet and my first thought was "uh-oh."  I can usually leave Benjamin alone with his trains and not worry about him getting into anything.  That hasn't been the case with Sarah since the time she could crawl.  Anyway, I found Sarah sitting in the middle of the living room writing all over her arm with pink permanent marker (as you can see in the picture).  Thankfully, permanent markers aren't as permanent as they used to and it came off without too much scrubbing.     

Sarah's 6 month pictures

Here is our precious little girl at 6 months old. She is growing up way too fast. She is grabbing at everything now. She sits up by herself, but still falls every once in awhile. We are definitely enjoying every minute. More about Benjamin later...

Too Much Sickness

This past month has been a whirlwind of sickness. The Saturday before Christmas, Benjamin and Sarah woke up sick with colds. Benjamin's cold quickly turned into wheezing and Sarah's turned into an ear infection. Benjamin was given an inhaler and a steroid. The steroid made him aggressive and quite ill, so I am hoping they don't have to put him on that again. We were terrified that Sarah's cold was going to turn into RSV because of the nasty cough and congestion. After two weeks, she finally got better. Geoff and I also got sick, but not to the same extent as the kids. All the sickness made for an interesting Christmas, but we still had a good time.

This past Sunday, the kids and I skipped church because I didn't want them to get sick again. About mid morning, Benjamin started acting weird and eventually came down with a fever. I gave him Tylenol, but his fever stayed between 101-104. We called the doctor Sunday night because we were worried about his fever, but she said we were doing the right things to try to keep it down. She said it was probably a virus and to call back if his fever went above 105. I was worried about him and wanted to make sure he was ok during the night, so he slept with me in my bed. At about 11:30, he started throwing up. We got the sheets changed, got a bunch of towels, a bucket and went back to sleep. The clean sheets didn't last very long. He threw up most of the night, stopped at 5:30 am and we got a little bit of sleep. His fever stayed between 101-104 again on Monday. The doctor's office didn't have anymore appointments for the day, but said we could come in at 6pm for one of their after hours appointment. After checking for an ear infection, bladder infection (that was fun), the flu, and strep throat, they ran a blood panel. They found out that his white blood cells were 26,000 instead of 8, 000-13,000 indicating some sort of bacterial infection. They sent us to the hospital to have blood drawn for a blood culture to determine what kind of infection it was and how they were going to treat it. After having blood drawn, we went back to the doctor for a shot of antibiotics. The shot was so strong that they split it into two separate shots in each leg. They told us to come back the next day for another round of shots and to check on how he was doing. We had another night of restless sleep, but the throwing up finally stopped. We saw a different doctor the next day and he told us that Benjamin had a bacteria infection in his blood, but they didn't know what it was yet. He said that it was definitely a very serious thing and he was thankful that the doctor we saw the night before caught it and treated it with strong antibiotics. We went back to the doctor on Wednesday, but still didn't find out what kind of bacterial infection was in his blood. Thankfully, his white blood cells had gone back down and he didn't have to get another shot. She put him on oral antibiotics for 8 days and she said she would call with the blood results. We finally heard from the doctor on Thursday night. Benjamin had a form of strep bacteria in his blood. The medical name is streptococcus pneumoniae. Here's a website that explains it much better than I can: http://qs21.com/diseases/streppneumo.html The lab is now testing the strain of the bacteria and making sure it will respond 100% to the antibiotics that Benjamin has been given since some are antibiotic resistant. Benjamin has slowly been recovering each day. He finally started eating again, getting some energy and getting back to himself. He is arguing with us about all the normal stuff, so we know he is getting healthier. Now, we are hoping to stay well for a while. I know the doctor's office is tired of seeing us.

Halloween

Benjamin got the concept of trick or treating this year for Halloween and he loved it. Benjamin dressed up as a golfer and Sarah was a pumpkin. We got them both dressed with the intention of taking them trick or treating in the neighborhood and to our church's fall festival. Sarah got dressed up, took some pictures and was ready to go to sleep. She stayed home with Nana and Granddaddy and greeted trick or treaters that came to our house. Benjamin put on his golf outfit and was bouncing off the walls. He was so excited. It was still light outside at 6pm, so we went to church first. He played a bunch of games, but the best part was that he loved going up and down the inflatable slide without Mommy and Daddy. After having lots of fun at church and going down the slide many, many times, we headed home to go trick or treating. We just went to the homes in our neighborhood. Benjamin would not say trick or treat, but he would either point to his pumpkin bag or put it closer to the person at the door. He did always say thank you when someone gave him some candy. He wasn't interested in talking to the neighbors or staying at someone's house too long. He kept saying, "get more candy, get more candy." It was pretty funny.

Benjamin flying down the slide

Benjamin with the pumpkins that Geoff carved

The best picture we could get of them together

Sarah was so cute in her pumpkin outfit

Benjamin up close saying "CHEESE"

Potty Training

It seems when you have kids, you are on a constant adventure. We are in the adventure of potty training right now. We have been working on Benjamin for a while now about using the potty. When I first bought the fun Elmo and Thomas the tank engine underwear and Elmo potty, he was so excited about it. He would run around the house dancing in his underwear and sit on and actually go pee-pee in his potty, but would always want to put his diapers back on. After Sarah was born, he didn't want anything to do with underwear or sitting on the potty anymore. We never stop asking him though. He started wearing his underwear again last week and then on Tuesday of this week, he didn't want to put his diapers back on. It was not the ideal time to start potty training because he had a Halloween parade at preschool on Thursday, trick or treating on Friday and his birthday party on Saturday. We have had our share of battles and accidents, but he has also earned lots of stickers and candy.

Benjamin sitting on the potty
Sarah being so cute in her Pooh outfit

Benjamin after eating a marshmallow at his preschool's fall festival

Sarah and Daddy

Sarah's 3 month Pictures

I know I have been slack at blogging, but here are some pictures of Sarah at 3 months. We are having her picture taken every month like we did with Benjamin. Babies change so much the first year, so we want to make sure to not miss it. Sarah did achieve a major milestone tonight. She rolled from her stomach to her back. She had a little smirk on her face like she knew she really accomplished something. It was very cute.

Sarah in her cute Pumpkin outfit

Such a cutie!!