Annabelle

She's Here!

Annabelle Brady

March 8, 2015 at 8:38pm

7 lbs 13 oz

21.5 inches long

She's pure perfection!

Disney Day 4 and the Trip Home

On day 4 we went to Hollywood Studios.  By now, Brig has an infection in his nose and eyes.  They are both super gunky and he's a mess.  Jon is feeling his worst and I am starting to get symptoms. We debated begging for a refund of our day 4 pass (we had the room mix up as leverage, right?!) but we ultimately decided to just go and take it easy.  I think we only went on four attractions. We also let the kids pick a pastry from a little cafe. We went on the Great Movie Ride, which was cool for adults but not the best for kids. We went to Disney Junior on Stage, it was Jake, Sofia, and a bunch of other characters from Disney Junior shows as puppets.  This show was a bit disappointing because you really couldn't see.  They have you sit on the floor but the stage is about four feet high.  It was really an odd set-up.  Although for this show, our family got to be the family to open the doors.  Even though it made Vanessa cry because she was scared and didn't understand what was going on.  I really didn't know either, but I probably should have clarified exactly what was going to happen to calm her nerves and save the breakdown. My favorite thing from this day was the Spectacular Stunt Show.  They just showed you how they do different car stunts in the movies.  The boys didn't really understand the schematics for everything but they thought all the racing around and tricks were pretty awesome. We had to head back to the resort around 2:30 to catch the bus back to the airport.
We had a lay over to get back to Kansas City in Atlanta. Unfortunately, the run ways in Atlanta were backed up which made us late landing. So we got into Atlanta just as our plane was boarding. But we HAD to get Brig to the bathroom to clean him up-remember the infectious eyes I mentioned?- and Benson had to go potty as well. We were still dealing with the affects of my "get things moving," darn it. We came running around the corner to get on the plane just as they were paging us.  We were the last ones to board and they had to ask people to move so we could be together.  Everyone was amazingly accommodating though. All three kids just crashed on the flight home. When we pulled into Kansas City, there was no one to drive the power chair to baggage claim.  Brigham was so miserable he would only be carried, and Vanessa was just as wiped out as the boys.  So Jon carried Brig and pushed the older two in the stroller. While I straddled the power chair from the back and drove that way.  I am sure we looked ridiculous. And I definitely ran into a couple poles. That chair is not easy to drive.
In Kansas City, we were planning to just bust out the drive home but it was snowing when we got in.  And, driving in a Missouri snow storm is miserable.  They aren't that great at keeping the roads clear.  Plus, we were all fairly cranky at this point. We opted to stay in a hotel and finish the journey home the next day. We made it just fine, without any incidents other than lots of fevers. When we got home, we all basically went straight to bed. I finally drug myself out and took Brigham to instacare.  Five hours later, they had results back from a culture swab and he was positive for influenza A and had double ear infections. We assumed it was the same bug for the rest of the family and had the pediatrician call in scripts for all the kids. It took a solid ten days of barely wanting to move but we finally got better and felt like life could go on! If you have to get so sick you can barely function for ten days, I think going to Disney World for four days makes it way more bearable.

Disney Day 3

Today was family shirt day! We knew we wanted to stay late for the fireworks so we didn't wake the kids in the morning and just let them wake on their own.  This landed us at the park around 10. First thing we did was Tomorrowland Speedway. Up to this point, Benson hadn't gone #2 so the night before I added a few things to his tubie mix to get things moving again.  I apparently over did things a little.  I think Benson would have enjoyed this ride much more if he hadn't been so concerned with holding things in.  I felt really bad and we ended up going to the bathroom 8 times today! I rode with Vanessa and Brigham and when we got to the end, Brigham was pitching a fit that he didn't get to drive.  So they let our whole family just stay in and go again so Brigham could drive.  After this we did the Space Ranger Spin, the one where you have a little laser gun and shoot Zurg through the ride.  Brigham wouldn't touch the gun so I just held him and kind of shot around.  We'll keep that as the reason for my score ;)
We also checked out Adventureland a little more and went over to Tom Sawyer's Island.  Right before this we also happened to run into another little boy with a power chair. He also had SMA. It was fun for Benson to talk with this little boy.  I think it is probably the first kid he remembers meeting with type 2.  He remembers meeting a couple type 1s, but their life look a lot different than Benson's. Jon and Vanessa rode Thunder Mountain. Which of course, since it was a roller coaster, she loved it.
We took the boys on their first roller coaster, the Barnstormer.  Benson loved it and Brigham cried and held me in a death grip the entire time. We tried two different treats, the ever famous Dole Whip and some kind of fruity slush from Gaston's Tavern. It may have been all the hype surrounding the Dole Whip, but I was disappointed and probably wouldn't ever get it again.  The slush was awesome though and I would get that again for sure.
We saw the afternoon parade again so Vanessa and Brigham could watch and then we camped for a spot for the light parade and fireworks.  Brigham was pretty sick by this point and did a lot of sleeping in the stroller.  He coughed so hard he puked on me at one point and we had to watch his fever closely.  It's one of those tough parenting decisions when you can never decide whether to just keep them there or take them back to the room.
When we headed back to the room for the night, all of them were asleep.  Jon had brought a lanyard to pull Benson's power chair because we had anticipated this would happen at some point. I tried to take pictures but it was so dark, you can't see the string.  But you can tell Benson is completely asleep.

Disney World Day 2

Magic Kingdom. We couldn't get a fast pass for the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride so the game plan was to go in on Extra Magic Hour day and bee line it for this ride. Only Vanessa and Jon could ride- my pregnant state excluded roller coasters, and the boys weren't tall enough- while they did that ride, we rode Dumbo, the Carousel, and Winnie the Pooh. Vanessa LOVED the Mine Train. Definitely worth bustin our butt to get there early. The line was always crazy after that and they had some

Mechanical problems a few times. The only character Vanessa really wanted to meet was Rapunzel. Rapunzel was also with Cinderella so you meet them both together. Benson gave Cinderella the sweetest little hug. It was so cute. If you've ever gotten a hug like this from Benson, you know that his fragile little arms basically just make you melt. 

My memory is already getting sketchy on the order from here but we rode It's a Small World. The kids enjoyed this one but not a favorite. Peter Pan's Flight, Brigham threw a holy fit getting on this ride. He did not want to do it. But he ended up loving it. 

This day was also the only day we had a reservation at a full service restaurant. We are at The Plaza. I ordered the strawberry chicken salad and it was delish. Jon had a turkey sandiwch that was also great. Vanessa had a hamburger and Benson had a turkey sandwich too. Brigham just shared with everyone. It was plenty to fill us up but you definitely pay a premium for food at DWorld. And this was supposedly the cheapest full service restaurant in Magic Kingdom.

After lunch the boys and I staked out a spot to watching the parade. Vanessa and Jon went to try to catch another ride on the Mine Train. Try ended up getting stuck in the line with mechanical problems and didn't make it back for the parade. Brigham was happy to get a nap with no ride interruptions so Benson and I enjoyed ourselves :)

After the parade we headed over to Tomorrowland and went to the Monster Inc Laugh Floor. The kids thought that was pretty great. At this point, everyone was getting pretty tired so we decided not to stick it out for fireworks and head back to the resort. At the resort, Brig went to bed and Jon took the other two swimming for an hour before the pool closed. Then it was off to bed. Until we woke up around 1am to Brigham with a raging fever. He was really roasting. We ended up calling the frontier Wal to try to find a thermometer, who ended up sending the resort Medics. A lot of work when you forget a thermometer! It was 102, so we just kept keeping him dosed on ibuprofen. We both felt so bad that he was so sick. But for being so sick, he was such a trooper!

Winter Weather

Our weather has been nuts. It didn't snow a flake until Feb and then it has been snowing but then warming up (a bit) and then snowing. So one of our warmer days we went to the park to try to wrestle out some cabin fever. And possibly induce labor but that definitely didn't happen. The geese at the park must have been hungry because they were ornery and bold. It actually made the kids pretty nervous.

And then here we are a week later, with six inches of snow.

Look at how cold this face looks! Brrrr!

We have also done a little of this because it takes longer to get the boys dressed than they generally want to be out. Benson loves the idea of playing in the snow but his lack of fat and lean muscle makes him get cold in about .25 seconds. We did this last year and it was actually Benson's idea to do it again. I was surprised he remembered!

Disney World Day 1

So it happened like this. Jon kept asking if we wanted to try to go somewhere for his week off in Jan and we hadn't made any decisions. So then we get a pamphlet in the mail talking about how January is the least expensive time to go to Disney. So we decided to look into it and ended up deciding to do it. We were all ready to book for Disney Land when I rechecked the flights and they had doubled over night! So, we ended up booking to Disney World. From booking day to leaving day was two weeks. I'd call it about as last minute as a Disney vacation can be. 

We left Tuesday around 11am. We drove to Kansas City, then flew directly to Orlando (I love when there is no layover). As we were leaving, Jon mentioned he had that scratchy, I'm-getting-sick throat feeling. But, no worries, I had Doterra cough drops. All is well with the world. We got in to Orlando around 7:45pm. We used all Disney transportation and tookthe  Magical Express to our resort, Port Orleans. By now it's around 10. Jon is sick. Like fever and chills sick. Ugh. So, because the world is set for a family of four we had to book a family suite. We chose the least expensive family suite which happened to be in Downtown Disney and we weren't that stoked about te location. But, it was a significant savings. We specifically noted we needed wheelchair accessible. Well, they booked us on the second floor with no elevator. So they ended up putting us in a four person room anyway. I wish we had made a bigger fuss, or any fuss. It was pretty lame. But really, we just wanted to get to bed. 

I had packed the kids some jammies in our carry on so they immediately went to bed. But Magical Express was supposed to be bringing our bags for us. It said about three hours to get them to you. Well, it took 5. Poor Jon was so sick and didn't have any medicine in the carry on. The bags finally came around 1 am.

Day 1- Animal Kingdom

After a rough start, we got up early and headed out for our first adventure. We saw a 4D film called "Its Tough To Be a Bug." Vanessa loved it and the boys thought it was terrifying. We went on Triceratops top spin, went to Dino world, and went on a safari. Vanessa was the only one tall enough to ride Dinosaur. Jon took her and she ended up huddled in a ball crying. Oops. Too scary. I thought it was a roller coaster. Anyway, the highlight for Brigham was definitely the Lion King show. He told everyone about this show for weeks. It was a pretty cool performance. The highlight was definitely the guy that danced with the fire. Unfortunately for Brigham, he started to run a fever half way through this day. He wasn't super sick yet but definitely started acting tired and clingy. After we had gone on all the attractions we wanted, we jumped in line to meet Pocahontas. Vanessa talked with her and she was very cute. Benson hid from her and Brig refused to get out of the stroller. Poor guy was so tired. Neither Jon or I saw it but Pocahontas gave Benson a kiss on the cheek. It wasn't until we were leaving that I noticed the lipstick and asked Benson about it. He was so funny! He zipped away in his chair and wouldn't say anything and acted shy. But when I laughed and asked to take a picture, he very proudly held that cheek up! The park closed early, at 5:30pm and it was actually kind of nice to not feel like we needed to push the kids to stay up super late. We went back to the hotel, got some food, watched a few cartoons and went to bed.

Ice Skating Lessons

Vanessa started ice skating lessons. She is really enjoying them so far! Not the greatest pix but she's in the purple

Coat and gray pants.