I'm Not a Fruit

The other day a friend and I doing what women do-chat about their bodies.  We were talking about how women's bodies are compared to fruits and I honestly couldn't think of a fruit to compare my body to.  

All of a sudden an image of a popsicle came to mind.  From the hips down I'm pretty stick straight, like a popsicle stick.  I have a flat butt and solid legs-nothing to really speak of.  But from hips up--out of nowhere I have this one continuous shape all the way up to my head.  

While it is hardly my favorite shape to be I suppose I don't mind.  I've always been this way-I remember someone referred to me as a beach ball on toothpicks when I was around ten.  

Well, maybe I care a bit.  I can't control my boob size but I could reduce the amount of overflow that occurs at my waistline.  First I just have to stop eating all those delicious popsicles.  I guess you really are what you eat.

Planning A Trip to Walt Disney World-Should I Use A Travel Agent?

  Once we had the dates of our trip-it was time to officially start planning out the details of our journey to the House of Mouse.   As I mentioned, this wasn't our first trip to WDW but our first with kids-not just one, but two.  I knew putting in the legwork planning up front would be well worth it once we got there.  There are many things that have changed since our last trip, and we are taking advantage of some things we haven't before (Disney Dining Plan is one big example) so I really wasn't sure where to start.   After reading a ton of blogs online, I found a highly recommended travel agency (TA).  With it being of no cost to us and what seemed like some additional perks-I thought why not?  I will go into the details as to why a bit later but at this point (pre-trip) I will say that for someone who is a natural planner and doesn't mind doing the work upfront, I personally don't think I will utilize a TA in the future.   Some perks of utilizing a TA-first the obvious:they will actual create your reservations, make payments and advise you on particular aspects of your trip.  My TA did assist me on what week to decide on since my original dates weren't kosher with my work schedule. Additionally I found my TA to be a wealth of knowledge and someone I could ask targeted questions and know that I will get a prompt response.   Another TA perk is the additional discounts that Disney provides for planning with a Disney approved vendor.  The offers/discounts that I received at the time of my January 2015 booking were:  

Disney Quest - Guests will receive two vouchers, each valid for a 1-Day admission ticket to DisneyQuest Indoor Interactive Theme Park located in Downtown Disney® West Side (vouchers must be exchanged for tickets at DisneyQuest Indoor Interactive Theme Park ticket window; valid for two tickets per package; restrictions apply).

Planet Hollywood - Receive a $10 voucher valid for food and non-alcoholic beverages and a souvenir merchandise keepsake at Planet Hollywood, Downtown Disney West Side. VIP Preferred Seating is available from 11:00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m. Not valid with any other offers or discounts. (One per package).

Miniature Golf - Guests will receive two vouchers, each valid for one round of miniature golf prior to 4:00 p.m. on one day at either Disney's Fantasia Gardens or Disney's Winter Summerland Miniature Golf Courses (valid for two rounds of golf per package).

Spa Discount – 15% off most 50 minute or greater services at select Disney Resort hotels. (Hand and foot treatments are excluded. Age restrictions apply. One per package).

Walt Disney World Marina Discounts – 15% off the non-discounted price of any boat rental at participating Walt Disney World marina location. (One per package).

Guided Fishing Excursions Discount – 15% off the non-discounted price of a 2 hour Guided Bass Fishing Excursion or a Bass Nitro Fishing Excursion at select Walt Disney World marinas. Excursions include fishing equipment, rod, reel, shiners, artificial bait, non-alcoholic beverages and a 1 year membership to B.A.S.S. (Bass Anglers Sportsman Society. One per package).

Sammy Duvall's Watersports Discount – 10% off the non-discounted price of all activities including parasailing, water skiing, wakeboarding, and tubing trips at Sammy Duvall’s Watersports Centre located at Disney's Contemporary Resort. (Subject to availability; restrictions apply. One per package).

Children Activity Centers – 15% off the non-discounted hourly rates at the Children Activity Center located at select Disney Resort Hotels. Minimum charge of two (2) hours per child. Services available for children age 3-12. (One per package).

Arcade Game Card - 100 points game play in arcades located in Disney Resorts. (One card per package; available only with Magic Your Way Packages).

Downtown Disney® Area Shopping and Dining

*  Planet Hollywood® - Receive a $15.00 voucher valid for food and nonalcoholic beverages and one souvenir merchandise keepsake. Not valid with any other offers or discounts. (One per package).

*  10% to 20% off at the following locations – some exclusions apply:  Arribas Brothers, Basin,Bongos Cuban Café, Curl® by Sammy Duvall, Fulton's Crab House, House of Blues,Hoypoloi Gallery , Little MissMatched, Paradisio 37,Pop Gallery, Portobello Country Italian Trattoria, Something Silver,Splitsville Luxury Lanes,Wolfgang Puck Café

While those things are a great perk, so far they just haven't weighed far enough on the plus side to warrant me feeling like I need someone to assist me next time.  I am an obsessive researcher so while I wouldn't have a direct contact-there are a copious amounts of blogs and forums of Disney obsessed invidiuals who could assist me in whatever I needed to find out.   Another disadvantage is that you can't make changes yourself.  For example, we initally planned and scheduled arrival on one day and then later on decided to add an extra night at the start of our trip.  We are traveling during a promotional period and when we first decided to make the change, I was able to secure a room that was included in the promotion and just add onto the trip.  But due to the fact that I had worked with a TA, by the time she had gotten around to secure the room for us, less than 12 hours later, she was only able to reserve a room only at the rack rate (without a discount).   Now I am saying this all before our trip.  I will be sure to update how I feel once I have taken it, my mind may change.  Hopefully everything goes smoothly as far as my reservations go, but if not I do have an advocate to assist me.  Also, at this point I don't anticipate utilizing any of the discounts/offers but if I do that could greatly sway me towards using a TA in the future.   Only a few more weeks to go, I will be sure to update this post with my experienced thoughts!

Five

One. Two. Three. Four. FIVE.  Apparently I didn't write a blog post to commemorate Evelyn turning  two.  Whoops.    

Last year I wrote about how Evelyn was very adamant she is no longer a baby, but a big girl.  In the last year she has gone from a big girl to a kid.  A real live kid with her own thoughts, ideas and opinions.  Oh the opinions this girl has.  Ask her about her about the smell of her daddy's food and she will let you know exactly what she thinks of it-much to her father's displeasure.  

Four was as much of a struggle as it was awe inspiring.  Watching her evolve into the best big sister ever was awe inspiring.  My heart aches sometimes at when I think of how much courage she has displayed in taking on the role, and how much she loves her sister.  

Every parent seems to have a particular year that challenged them the most.  I have a feeling I am going to look back at her early childhood and say year four was our most difficult year (until she becomes a pre-teen).  While I still very lucky that her bad days are better than many kids good days, the hard days were hard.
I'm not so blind to see though that the more demanding days were directly related to one of her more endearing or impressive qualities.  When I found myself getting frustrated because she was just being a pill around the house-if I stimulated her mind, she instantly became a new kid.  I know every parent thinks their kids are brilliant-mine really is and sometime it flat out scares me.
When I am struggling with the fact that she is holding a grudge against me for saying the wrong thing, I know it is because she is just wonderfully sensitive and in turn has the ability to show her sweet heart and compassion towards others.    

  Five is another year of changes, but I am so excited for her.  I can't wait to see what is in store for our future because I know this girl can handle anything.

We Are Going to Disney World!

In just a few weeks, my little family will pack our bags and depart on a trip I have been so excited for  since the day Evelyn declared her love for all things Princess related-Disney World!    Boyfriend and I have talked about taking Evelyn to Disney World (DW) for a couple of years now.  We actually went to Disneyland June 2011 when Evelyn was just over a year old.  Of course she doesn't remember but we have the pictures to prove she was there and that she loved it.    In my head, five always seemed like a good age to bring them for the first time.  A five year old is old enough to understand what is going on, but everything is still *magical*.  Boyfriend and I have taken a couple of trips to DW before kids, all during the first week of June immediately following Memorial Day. This week was also successful for us in crowd levels (right before schools let out for the Summer) so our intention was to go around the same time period in 2015.   At the start of the year I looked at my work calendar and realized that there were already vacation requests for that same time period so I wouldn't be able to go.  I thought, "No big deal-we can go in September."  Boyfriend may have a conference in September in Orlando so he would just add onto that trip and we would meet him out there.  I thought to myself that would be great timing since the crowds would be low then since school had started.   I spent about a week pricing out our trip, figuring out how much we needed to save, what special events would be going on, etc. when all of a sudden something hit me.  Sure the crowds would be low because school was in session-but my own kid would be in school.  I had completely forgotten that Evelyn starts Kindergarten this August!   Back to the drawing board on what week to go, it seemed as though the only option was late April (I refuse to go during actual Summer-heat and crowds, no thank you!).  So finding ourselves just over three months out vs nine was a bit stressful but after a lot of work we are ready!   Through all of my planning, I have relied on various websites and blogs to help create a trip as magical as possible.  No longer are the days where you just buy a ticket and go to Disney.  I mean you can, but there are some serious advantages to spending time on the front end planning so that once you are there you can maximize your fun.  These websites and blogs have been so helpful I wanted to contribute our experiences and what I agreed/disagreed with.   My packing list has been written down, itinerary spreadsheets have been created, customized shirts have been ordered-this Phantastic family is ready to go!   

Breaking Down in Walmart Dressing Rooms

Earlier this week on my way to work, as I do most mornings, I stopped to get my morning caffeine.  Typically I will stop at McDonalds and get a $1 Diet Dr. Pepper but that morning I was especially tired as I am still very much in survival mode (nope the baby still isn't sleeping).  I popped into Starbucks and got an iced latte, extra shot of espresso and started my hour commute to work.   About five minutes away from work, my magic juice was starting to pep me up I noticed my cup was forming condensation.  As I was holding it, a couple drips fell off the cup into my lap which caused me quite the pause.  Now normally I don't think I have ever noticed this before but oddly enough I had actually felt the cool little beads of water as they dripped down my skin.     With absolute horror, I reached down between my legs and shockingly felt not only my inner thigh, but I could feel that the ENTIRE crotch of my pants was missing.  Now I have a better picture to illustrate this but to avoid my blog getting hits for crotchless pants pictures-here is just a sample:  

 

This picture honestly doesn't do the situation justice.  Let's just say there was nothing left from about two inches down both thighs, from below the zipper and all the way to the bottom of my butt.  At this point, I'm across the street from my entry to work but obviously that wasn't going to happen.

I'm mentally cursing my dog (as he was the only devilish one to get me into this situation) and start to panic because going home wasn't an option. As I mentioned, my commute isn't a short one-the roundtrip would take over two hours.  It was so early (I start work at 7:00 am) that I also knew my beloved Target wouldn't be open for another hour.  Luckily, there is a small Walmart that opened recently and I thought surely I could find something there that would do.

I don't frequent Walmart but know they have everything so when I walked in (with a sweater tied strategically around my waist) and saw that the clothing section was *tiny* I freaked out a bit.  I wear a very odd size of pants (big belly, no butt) so in general pants shopping is one of my least favorites, with a limited section I felt like I was screwed. 

Somehow I managed to enter some new Walmart prototype with only a few racks of women's clothing with over 60% of it being athletic wear.  My work is causal, but not that casual.  To add on complications-I had an obligation to attend to immediately following work so I had to look semi presentable.

I walked feverishly from front to back of the women's section seeing nothing that would work, with each trip hoping there would be more options magically appearing.  After three laps (that took all of 60 seconds) I settled on a pair of jeggings and a floor length skirt.

The next part of my story is where my mental decline really starts.  There was only one fitting room stall for each gender and both were locked.  I looked for someone to open it for me, awkwardly walking ensuring that my sweatshirt didn't lose coverage and make me a candidate for People of Walmart.  I finally found the Manager on duty but of course she didn't have a key to open the door for me.  She said she would page someone to come open it and left me standing there awkwardly next to the "sexy" underwear section.  The irony was not lost on me.

As I stood there and waited over 15 minutes for someone to come, I considered crawling under the doors but knew the moment I did that the key holder would appear just in time to see me and my crotchless pants in all their glory.  Finally someone who seemed as though they were just woken from a nap and very annoyed came and opened the door for me.

I ripped off the offending pants, trying on the floor length skirt first.  Unfortunately my 62 inches of stature left nearly a foot caressing the ground so that wouldn't work.  I side eyed the jeggings folded on the built in seat, and while I was desperate, I wanted to pretend I wasn't that desperate.  You see, these jeggings weren't just any jeggings-they were nude colored. The kind of pants that made People of Walmart famous:

 

To be fair, the reason I temporarily considered them was because they weren't actually leggings-there was quite a bit of texture and they were several shades darker than my skin (being pale working in my favor here!) but once I got them on, I just looked in the mirror and had a breakdown.

The pants themselves "fit" but they were offensively tight-as in I would feel more comfortable wearing my crotchless pants than these in public.  By this time, I was already nearly 45 minutes late to work and with no options I thought to myself, "I'm going to have to call into work because my dog ate my pants."  

I sat on that little half bench in my tighter than skin jeggings and shed a few tears over how I was going to have to waste an entire day of vacation over this stupid episode.  I chastized myself-how in the world did I not notice?!  And what is worse is I grabbed them from the clean laundry basket, had I already worn them and not noticed?

As I put back on my jeans, I missed the leg hole and went through the gaping space between the legs.  Laughing to myself and wondering why that couldn't have happened two hours ago on my first attempt to get ready for work and no plan on what to do next, I exited the dressing room and immediately across was the girls section displaying a large selection of jeans.

I grabbed the biggest size they had and walked back over to the dressing room, and with a cautious glimmer of hope, slid the pants on.  While they were still nearly a foot too long (which was fixed by rolling the cuff), they fit just fine and in fact I quite liked the fit.  Finally a moment of cheer in my morning I quickly put back on my original pants and purchased them changing in the bathroom.

One hour late to work, I walked in and apologized but luckily my tale of what I had already experienced that morning seemed to be excuse enough. I learned a few things that morning-just how tired I really am, that my dog is a jerk and that my husband doesn't check out my butt in the morning.

An Official Change...

The last few months, I've really struggled when I have attempted to write a post.  I know this is going to sound ridiculous but my use of nicknames for my family members has me totally tied up. I am not one who uses nicknames on the blog to protect their identity, but I started this blog out using nicknames because in real life--that is what I call them.  Jackson (husband) goes by Boyfriend 90% of the time unless I am really angry with him in which case if Evelyn (known as Baby on the blog) is around she will do a spot on impression of me saying, "Jack-SON!" Then Penny (Pillow as lovingly referred to while in utero by Evelyn) came along.  Honestly, using the nickname Pillow on my blog just feels really unnatural because I do not call her that in real life.  So I found myself wanting to refer to her as the baby but then I became confused because my first daughter's nickname is Baby.  So ultimately, as silly as my predicament was I just stopped writing for the most part. So from here on out, daughter #1 will officially be referred to her by her real name, Evelyn, and #2 is Penny.  I will probably still refer to Jackson as Boyfriend, but if I ever make the switch to Jackson-know it is probably because I'm not too pleased with him :) Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Accidents

There are things in life that happen that you didn't plan on happening, and yet they did.  Sometimes life has to decide for you because you are too busy to make the choice yourself.  There are times life just accidentally happens.  Getting pregnant with baby #2 was the best accident of my entire life.

I've mentioned a few times that I really struggled with adding another to our family.  The one constant that tugged at my heart was that I knew what it was like to have a sibling and I wanted my daughter to have one.  Now that the second is here, while I wouldn't have known any better, our lives wouldn't have been complete without her. Watching these two bond is something I had no clue would overwhelm my heart on a daily basis.  I know that we have harder days before us, when they are fighting and ripping each other's hair out, but these moments will last a lifetime. My girls, my adorable, sweet, caring girls are so lucky to have each other and I am the luckiest because I get to be their mother.