Last Post of the Year!

2009 I think will be year we look back to and remember as a year of growth. Growth for the girls in so many ways it is easy to loose count. We were eating dinner tonight and Chris and I were talking about Charlotte and her big girl bed, he had totally forgot that Lily too upgraded this year. Growth for Chris and I not only as a couple but also as individuals. He and I hit a large bump in our road this year. While I am not happy that we had to go through that period, in the end I think we came out stronger for it. I know that we are only going to keep growing as a family as we enter into this next year.

2010 has a lot of wonderful things already waiting for us. First of all Chris and I will be celebrating our 10Th wedding anniversary, and a total of 15 years together as a couple. In September we will be heading back to Walt Disney World to celebrate our anniversary along with my parents who will celebrating their 35Th wedding anniversary!

This time next year Charlotte will be potty trained! Wahoo! Hopefully so will Gracie Puppy! Double WaHOO! :-) Chris will be rounding home with his Bachelor's program.

I am working on a video for the whole year. I normally try to do one for each of them on their birthday but time just got away from me, so I am going to wrap them both into one!

I hope that you and yours have a wonderful happy healthy New Year!!

Bye-Bye Baby

About 6 weeks ago, Charlotte decided that during her nap time she would no longer be sleeping in her toddler bed. The first time she did this about scared me to death because when I went in to check on her I didn't see her right away. Lily doesn't nap in her bed, she likes ours to nap/rest in so she really thought it was funny that 'silly Charlotte' was using her bed. Ever since that very first day she has flat out refused to nap in her little bed. Charlotte would sleep in her bed at bedtime. Lily made it quite clear to her on those first few attempts that Charlotte made that she didn't find it that funny.

Chris and I knew that she wouldn't last very long in her little bed, and were very glad we didn't invest too much money into it. But we were very concerned as to how two twin beds would fit into their bedroom. At first we looked at bunk beds, but we were very uncomfortable with it. We kept thinking it over trying to figure out the spacing. In the meantime she just kept napping away in Lilu's bed!

Then Christmas week came. Chris and I had been talking about what we would do over his break from work and school. We had nothing at all planned. This is not a good thing for us, as we seem to get into projects. This week has been one huge project.

We realized that the only way to get their two beds in the room was to not have the last two remaining pieces of the nursery furniture in the room. Not really what we wanted to do for a couple of reasons; 1) it cost a lot for it, and 2) I am not ready for it to be gone. What to do? What to do?

Then it hit us in the back of the head... re purpose! Both pieces were saved, just moved out of the room. In their place is now two (much smaller) dressers, TWO big girls beds and two very happy little girls!!

Bye-Bye Baby Charlotte :-( Hello to our newest Big Girl!! :-)

Here is the video from our adventure!

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Best.Christmas.Ever!

The title of this post says it all! Today was simply blissful. Chris and I were hard at work until about 1:30 this morning. I think the few glasses of wine didn't help our progress! Before we went to bed we had the great idea to run Lily into the bathroom to pee, to maybe help her sleep just a bit longer. It did help a little. She got up at her normal time. But not early! We will take that!

We heard her rolling around on the monitor, we wanted to hear her reaction to Santa bringing the girls their very own little tree for their room. We were laying in our bed giggling listening to her reaction. It was a huge gasp, followed by thumping of little feet. She had announced pretty late in the Christmas present gathering that Little Mermaid was now a favorite (?) and she really wanted a Little Mermaid doll. Thankfully Santa got our message and right beside her already stuffed stocking was her Ariel doll! When she found it she whispered 'Charlotte wake up, Charlotte WAKE up! I got Ariel!' Then we started to hear Charlotte stir more thumping of more little feet, and squealing that she has found her 'tinter bell!'

We opened up the stockings in their room. We sent them into our room to watch a show. Chris and I really think that they thought that was it! I will let the pics do the rest of the of story.


This is what happens when you tell a 3 year old to throw the reindeer food into the yard! :-)

Leaving our food for the reindeer!
Putting out the key just for Santa!

Ohh they are sooo darn cute!! :-)
Christmas Morning!!!

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I love her faces! Everything is just such a surprise for her!

Charlotte was not into it right away... ohhh but she got into it soon!

Too cute!

Charlotte and her train! She LOVES this! Santa got it just right for her!

Lily proclaimed that this 'was just what I always wanted!!'

The girls LOVE to play salon.. I have the bruised scalp to prove it!! So they HAD to have a vanity!

Getting ready to play salon!

Charlotte in her new pink satin Princess night gown, high heel dress up shoes, playing train!!

Lily with her Leapster game!

There is NO way this day could have been better! The girls played ALL day! They didn't even take a nap (oh we tried!)! I will say this evening if we had our camera out we could have won 10,000 from America's Home Videos. Charlotte and Chris were playing with the train on the floor, Chris put another little car on the tracks. He tells Charlotte to stop the train with her train controller. What does she do? What any other two year old would.... she hit the train with all her might with the controller, then yelled out 'Yeahhh!! I did it!!' OMG it had us rolling on the floor!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Tomorrow we got to visit with Chris' family in the afternoon! We are excited to see everyone!

3 It's Our Magic Number...

A friend of mine once wrote on her blog that when she couldn't get the thought of another child off of her mind, she asked God "to change her mind, or change her heart". I must have read that line years ago and it has stuck with me all this time. I have asked for the same thing, so far the only thing that has happened is that the little seed in my heart has grown.

This past month made it quite clear what we wanted. We thought that by some medical miracle we had become pregnant. I stayed VERY quiet about it (sorry mom). I didn't want to think too much into it knowing full well it more then likely I wasn't- it just isn't possible. But thought we did, excited we got. Just to be told what we already knew. It really happened for a reason, Chris and I talked a lot about what having another child would be like and in the end it made it crystal clear to us that we indeed have room in our hearts (though maybe not our house) for another child.

While growing this little seed in my heart, it has seemed to become rooted on a specific spot. Really no different then when we choose Guatemala for Lily. My heart was sold on those beautiful faces. My heart has fallen in love with Special Need population. Chris wasn't too blown out of the water when I told him this. I worked for 12 years as a Nurse with adults with Special Needs. I grew up with a best friends whose brother and sister were living with Downs Syndrome. The only thing I couldn't really express why. That was until tonight and I was left to entertain myself (dangerous!;-) while he worked on homework. I stumbled onto the story of the Starfish.

Once upon a time there was a wise man that used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer.He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn’t dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.As he got closer he called out, “Good morning, what are you doing?” The young man paused, looked up and replied, “Throwing starfish in the ocean.” “I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?” “The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don’t throw them in they’ll die.”“But, young man, don’t you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can’t possibly make a difference!” The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said, “It made a difference for that one.”There is something very special in each and every one of us. We all have a gift – the ability to make a difference. And as we become aware of this gift, we strengthen our vision and power to shape the future. We must each find our starfish. And if we throw our starfish wisely and well, the world will be blessed.

So far this is just in the talking phase and not a step past that. We really can't do anything anyway until Chris is done with school. In a way the wait is just what we need to really think it all the way through. I do admit there is a large part of me that wants Guatemala to get itself together and for adoptions to reopen. That is our very first choice. 3 will be our magic number though. Chris has always just wanted 2 and I wanted 4. So 3 is just perfect for us!! :-)

Craft Time This Morning!

This morning while working on a our Thanksgiving Turkey Hand Crafts, Charlotte surprised Lily and I! She started naming colors. Before today she had only been saying red. This is why I love I get to stay home with them!

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Lily's Big Day!!

****I have a lot more pics, but for some reason I can't flip them. When Chris gets home I will have him look and add them then. ****

Today Lily started preschool! She did great and we held our breathe.

Here is a little insight on Miss Lily. When she gets anxious she talks a lot about Guatemala. A LOT. The more she talks about it the more anxious I know she is becoming. Yesterday, we talked about Guatemala ALL DAY. It started in the morning when I was in the bathroom, she came in (as normal) scooted her little self on the side of the tub and promptly informed me that she wanted to 'talk about Guatemala'. She followed that statement by letting me know that she 'didn't want to go there' and she was 'sad when we leave her there'. I reminded her that we only left because we HAD to but came back as soon as we could, and that she is home forever. I also reminded her that when she is older it is ok if she wants to go back to visit, but that her home was here. She just nodded and repeated that she didn't want to go.

I let it go, we always let her be the Captain of the Guatemala boat. But I knew there was something up. Through the day she was very snuggly. That isn't so normal as much anymore since she decided that she was 40 and would sit in Chris' seat when he isn't home. Remember she is a big girl! We even rested together and watched movie on my bed. I just went with it. Before bed last night there was more Guatemala chats and more reassurance was given that she was home forever. She did concede at one point and tell me that she would go but 'just one time for a little bit'. No problem.

At 530 this morning she wakes up screaming 'Don't leave me!!' over and over again. Chris went to get her and brought her into our bed. While he went to the bathroom I asked her if she was ok, she told me that she was sad because we left her in a store. :*( All 3 of us snuggled up until it was time to get up and ready for school.

She got up very excited, there wasn't anymore talk of Guatemala or being left anywhere. We went over who is allowed to to what to her. The whole, who touches your glasses, earring, Suzie talk. She was right on the ball and very excitedly told me that she will wipe her own butt in school- wouldn't that make any Momma proud!! LOL

We got Charlotte up and off we went! Taking a TON of pictures on the way! We got there a little early- when it only takes literally 2 minutes to get there that tends to happen! We let her get out and we all walked up to the door. It was still closed so we hung out and waited a while. I told her then when it was time to go in the big kids would come out and that Mommy, Daddy and Charlotte would all say good-bye and she would go in without us. Well wouldn't you know the next words out of her mouth were 'I don't want to go to there without you' I asked what she was talking about and if she meant school. She told me 'no Guatemala' sigh.... Rewind the tape. stop.start.

'Lily, baby, you can go to Guatemala whenever you want... when you are older. You aren't going today, and Guatemala isn't behind that door. Your school room is. Mommy and Charlotte will be here at lunchtime to come get you... I promise. ok?'

That seemed to be enough. The older kids came out about a minute later. We did as we told her and said a quick good-bye handed off her bag of supplies. We walked away. And like two big babies CHARLOTTE and I burst into tears! Charlotte kept saying 'WherD Lilu go? WherD Lilu?' Chris told her she was ok and then asked if she wanted to go get a donut... amazingly her crying just stopped. Then she asked Chris 'Momma K?'. We all got home and Chris left for work.

Charlotte and I headed over to the store. I think both she and I are going to need to figure out our new routine too.

Before we knew it was time to go get Lily! We headed back over and she came out smiling ear to ear! Her teacher said she did great and there was no problems at all! She hasn't said one more word about Guatemala or being left behind. Tomorrow she is having a Halloween Party. We are in charge of Napkins! But the looks of the list she is going to have a great party! They are supposed to wear their costumes. They will be trick or treating around the school (just the teachers!).

When we got in the car to come home she announced that she LOVED school and she couldn't wait to go back tomorrow! I asked if she knew the names of anyone or if she played with any of the other little girls, she told not the girls, the little boys (I think somewhere Chris just grabbed his chest! LOL). They class sang itsy bitsy spider, she got to paint, and played doctor. She had a great day!!

Going to the Chapel...

On October 7 Chris' little sister Lizzie got married to a wonderful guy named Jeff. It was a beautiful ceremony on Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. Here are pictures from the day! Enjoy... I do apologize the pics are all out of order thanks to blogger.

Lily and her new 'for real' (her words) Uncle Jeff!

Lizzie, Lily and Jeff

So happy!!

Lily and Grandpa


Charlotte and Grandpa

Lizzie, Charlotte, Jeff, and Lily

Charlotte and Grandpa

Lily and Grandpa

Sweet Charlotte- putting sand in her flower basket!

Sassy Charlotte!

Charlotte and Jeff

Lily building a sand castle

Grandma and Grandpa

Junior bridesmaids and the flower girls- soooo cute!!

our baby

Our two beautiful girls

The new Mr. and Mrs!

Sealed with a kiss!

The Sand Ceremony

Grandma and Grandpa

Charlotte fell asleep right after she completed her flower girl duties! Thank God for that answered prayer- all I asked for was for her to be still, I'll take a quick nap anytime!!

WIDE awake at the reception!

So beautiful!

Our baby (shh don't tell her that she would have a fit!- she is a big girl you know!!)

I think this is a repeat but I am gonna leave it, because it is my blog and I love this picture of them!!

It's a GIRL!!!

Introducing..........

Gracie Lou Freebush AKA Gracie!

She is a 9 week old Beagle! She came home on Friday. We went to visit with her the Sunday before last in the afternoon and met her Momma and Daddy. We asked if the owners would be willing to let us pay a deposit and pick her up after the wedding. They were agreeable to that. It turned out to be a good that we had that week in between. We had time to talk more to the girls about her coming home. Something we weren't expecting was the tears from Lily off and on this week about Beanie. She has talked about him more this week then ever before. We are all adjusting well. You do really forget that having a puppy is very close to having a new baby. With Chris being on a work trip this week it's been fun!! ;-)

She and Gus have been getting along ok. Gus is a shy guy and not at all Alpha-Dog material. We knew when we started thinking about a new friend that we needed to have one that wouldn't come in and rule the roost. So far it looks like we hit it right on the head!

Welcome to our family Sweet Gracie!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Charlotte!!

Dear Charlotte,

Wow, is all I can say! I cannot believe you are two years old already!! This year you have just blossomed into a beautiful little girl. Not much baby Charlotte left. While this makes your Daddy and I sad, we are also feel so happy and blessed that we are able to watch you grow each day. I love to watch you learn something new. My favorite memory of you this year would have to be the day that you discovered the fly in the window. You and I must have sat there for an hour 'talking' all about that little fly. You were just amazed by it. I found that beauty can take form in a little house fly that only little ones take the time to really notice. As I sit here and think back to the days leading up to and your birth I realize that we may not have understood the timing with everything but someone knew that we would be missing a little burst of sunshine. That is why we were given the gift of you. You bring so much joy and happiness into our little house. I don't Lily thinks it is so joyous when you playfully take her favorite toy and take off running squealing with laughter. But, you two love each other so much that alone makes your Daddy and I the happiest. In years to come I hope that you never loose the way that you love. You give it your all, just like you do all things. Whether it is wrestling toys away from Lily, or giving big hugs and kisses to your 'babies' in your bed, or making sure you catch your kiss and put it on your face each night. Charlotte we love you so very much, you truly are an angel sent from heaven and we feel lucky to be your parents.

We love you as high as the sky and as deep as the ocean, and it will never end.

Happy Birthday sweet girl!!!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Happy Birthday to you…You work at a zoo…Charlotte laughs like a monkey…and Lily forgets to say “I pooed” Not the traditional version we have all grown to love, but we are not a traditional family. :)

Today marks the day that my beautiful wife was born. This blog has been to many of you a window into our lives, but sometimes the person who is responsible for this wonderful site goes unnoticed behind the curtains. Today Megan is your day. I wanted to let you and the whole world know how much we all love you. You bring so much happiness into our lives and we are truly blessed to call you “Mommy” and “Wife”. So for this one day Megan stand in front our window and let the whole world see just how special and magnificent you are.

Happy Birthday, Megan

Love,

Chris, Lily, and Charlotte

Disney Day 4 Video!

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Family Memo #1

Dear Patients 0,1&2,

Don't act confused you know who you are and I love you all dearly. I really do, so please do not take offense to this letter. Mommy is just tired, tired of almost 3 full weeks of snot, chicken pox, bronchitis, sinusitis, snot, ear infections (did you see the plural on that? Yes I am talking to you Charley!), snot, vomit, oh yes and my favorite of all of this, the goo-like snot cheesy substance that two of you have decided needs to now come out of your eyes!!! Did I mention the snot?! Mommy does not want to go to the doctor (again) this week, don't mean to keep singling you out Charley I know that you were a little late to the snot party. Thank GOD your doctor took pity on me today and just called your antibiotic in. I just wanted you all to also know that I have no clue why I haven't caught more then this weird half-illness thing from you sick people, but I think that you are ALL in on it!! I don't like it, I am tired of it!! Yes Chris, I have told my body to get sick or get off the pot! So far it is still only half listening!! ARGH!

Do I have to remind y'all that this weekend is Charlotte's birthday party?! Oh yeah, and NEXT week is Lizzie's WEDDING! Snot is not cute on a flower girl... OR THEIR DADDY! Ya'll need to get it together ASAP!

I love love love you!! I just want my healthy family back! Did I mention I am tired of all the snot?! I have been having nightmares about snot! It is like you ALL (yes you too Chris) have turned into Blob people.

Love,

Mommy :-)

PS BLOW YOUR NOSE!!! DID YOU WASH YOUR HANDS?!?!?!

Disney Day 3 Part 1

I don't want to get too far behind, I am afraid I will start to forget things. To keep moving forward Disney Day 3 will be in two parts. Video now, blog this evening!

Enjoy!!

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Delay in The Replay

I will give you a hint as to why...in a song



Old Team Henry had a Farm
EIEIO
And on that farm they had a CHICKEN
EIEIO
With a POX POX here (and on her back)
and a POX POX there (and on her tummy)
EVERYWHERE a POX POX

Holy crap!

Oh and we think Chris may have the flu! Isn't that special! fabulous. truly. He has about 10 more minutes to take himself to the walk-in clinic before I send in reinforcements!

So far Lily only has a runny nose, and I am ok.

Charley my poor baby, she has just had it all this year. I noticed a few bumps the other day on her chest, but honestly thought that it was a few bug bites. Then yesterday there were more, I freaked and thought she had started renting out space in her crib to little critters and cleaned their room, disinfected, and washed all of her bed linen, and bed babies in hot water. I felt much better when we went to bed. She had horrible bouts of gas last night so she and I were up most of the night together. I did notice this morning that she had caught a cold and was just miserable. I didn't take off her night gown before Lily and I headed out to do some needed food shopping. When we got back she was napping, once she woke up she just looked very rough. Something told me to pull up her shirt. I did and saw that her back was covered in lovely red spots. We called the doctor, and I did what every good Momma does while waiting for the doctor to call. I called my Momma!

Once the doctor called back and I told her what was going on she thought that more then likely that is what it was. If she is still breaking out new spots by Monday we have to call back. Oh and if THAT wasn't enough... really why would it be?! She woke up from nap with that damn croup cough. Her doctor said we are going to try to ride it out a little to see what everything does. She doesn't want to give her Prednisone unless we have to while she has Chicken Pox. At least so far she doesn't seem too bothered by them.

Everyone all together.... ARGH!!!!

So there will be a slight delay in the Disney Replay...

Oh one very good piece of good happy news....

Last night was the first night in almost 3 years there wasn't a full crib set up in the girls bedroom! We took the side off of Charlotte's crib last night, she did great. It was that gas that kept her up last night. She napped in there like that this afternoon and when Chris went to check on her she had gotten into Lily's bed and fell asleep! He moved her back to her bed and she slept there until we woke her up! She needs to stop growing up right now!! LOL

Day 2 Continued... Charlotte's Hair Cut

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More Tomorrow!!

Day 2 Magic Kingdom With Video!!!

This was the night that we were too excited to sleep! One of the girls woke up around 3:30 in the morning because of a bad dream, Chris and I both thought it was time to go!! We did have to get going pretty early that day because I had scheduled us an early reservation for the Crystal Palace.

Once we got the girls up and dressed we found the invitations that Tinker Bell had dropped off over night. One was for Crystal Palace for breakfast, and the other was for Charlotte's very first hair cut! We got ourselves loaded down like two mules and headed out for our day.

We got all the way to the bus stop and while waiting, I thought that I had forgotten sunscreen. While I searched the bag Chris ran back to the room. Just as I found it, I saw him walking back with it. It was getting pretty late and I was getting worried that we weren't going to make it on time. When you don't rent a car you are at the mercy of the Disney Bus system. That could go one of two ways. That day it wasn't in our favor. Finally the bus arrived and we realized that we were the first bus stop! Sweet. The good with this is that we always had a place to sit, the bad is that we still needed to five other stops in the resort before we got on our way. Just as we were nearing the final stop Chris looked at me and went pale. He told me that we forgot Lily's Key to the world card. That is her ticket! ! !

We all got off the bus, we really weren't feeling the magic at all. We did luck out that there was a bus there that could take us back to our stop. Long, non-magical,story later we were BACK on the bus hitting all four other stops again. Finally we made it. We called in to the dining reservation line to let them know that we were running late, but that we were on our way. They told us they could hold the table for 20 mins, we were not that far off so all was still good.

We made it through security, and though the main gate. We as we started to round the circle we let the girls out of the stroller. We knew we were late already, so what was 5 extra minutes really going to mean?! Lily was so excited, when we got really close to the top of main street I ran a little ahead to get the picture of them seeing the castle for the first time. As you will see in the video it was a once in a lifetime moment! We decided to let them walk themselves down main street, there weren't many people at all. Lily is not used to us just letting her go ahead of us like that at all so she was a little slow to understand that it really was ok. Charlotte on the other hand, she pulled Lily down Main Street for the first 10 feet or so yelling 'come on Lilu come on!' LOL It sounds more like Nom when she says come, so it was really cute! We even had a few Cast Members stop and giggle at the two of them!!

Soon we made the turn to get to the Crystal Palace. We went up to the front and checked in. We apologized all over our selves for being late. They told us not to worry, and we would be seated soon. We found a little bench and I was just about to start putting sunscreen on when they called The Christopher's Family. Well we really thought they just said Christopher, so we went in! Oops! Not us, but we got a great family picture and they gave the girls some paper confetti to play with. Just as we were about to see what was going on a nice woman came and asked if we were the Henry Family. Bingo!

Side- Note....
What I really loved about the Dining plan (other then it being FREE) was that when we checked in they asked what we would need highchair booster etc. When we got to our table every time we were all set up and ready to go! That really helped with the girls!

Once we got seated we were told how the Character Meals worked, ordered our drinks, and we set off to make the girls' plates. Not too long after that we saw the familiar face of Piglets! Lily about lept off of her chair! Charlotte did the same however for her it was more out of fright! The Characters here were great, a little fast at the table. We did have to wait a while for Eeyore and Pooh to come around. We just about left, but just as were about to give it up when they came around the corner. Once they signed we wrapped it up and headed over to Fantasy Land!

We didn't plan on riding the Tea Cups first, but the line was so short that we got on the very next time. That was the trend of the day. They only one we waited for was Dumbo... Charlotte calls him Dum-Dum LOL We only waited for him about 15 minutes! After him we went on to Pooh, Peter Pan, and It's a Small World. After that is was already about 12 pm and we hadn't gotten Charlotte's hair cut yet. We decided to make our way back to Main Street and find the Barber Shop.

I swear the Barber Shop is so small and tucked away, that if we didn't know exactly where to look we would have never seen it. It is very small, and we saw a lot of little bodies in the shop so Chris ran a little ahead to check out the wait. It turns out that it was just really that small and there was only one family ahead of us! We went in and enjoyed the very cool, much needed AC for a while. Did I mention that Florida is H O T?! I also take a medication that makes me sweat more then normal anyway so combine that with the heat that I am not used to... yeah fun times! So we cooled off and waited for our turn.

While waiting we started to hear music getting louder/closer to us! We had front row seats to the Mid-Day Parade!! The girls glued themselves to the windows watching and waving. Lily really lost it when the dancers would see them and wave back. Then we saw THEM... MICKEY and MINNIE!! We were waving and they waved back!! Charlotte was literally screeching 'Mittkey, Mittkey!!' and waving/clapping at them. It was great! She was still able to see them as she got her hair cut too!

I really can't believe how little the charge for this service. You really do every penny of the $14 dollars you spend. Chris and I both said that we would have paid double that in a heart beat! They were so gentle and kind to her. The first thing they did was cover her in Mickey stickers! To keep her hands busy! After a few minutes (hours in Charlotte's world) she became board with the stickers and so she was handed a Buzz Lightyear light up toy- she loved that thing!! Again though after a few minutes she was board so we moved onto bubbles! She really was very good though it. I was very worried about it for nothing. She hadn't liked anything being done to her hair/head until recently. She sat so very nice. They collected her hair for us and put it in tissue paper mixed with Mickey confetti! She was also given a large certificate, and mickey Ears that has 'First Hair Cut' embroidered on the back! Chris took a great video of her that I am going to post hopefully along with this post and video.

After we were all done in the Barber Shop we packed it up and headed back to our Villa. LOL I love to say that Villa, we are SOO not Villa people!! LOL

The plan was to go back and take a nap, so that we could make it to watch the firework show that night. Thankfully that all went according to plan! While the girls napped I walked over to the main building to send out my Fairy Godmother postcard for the another little girl, and I also sent one to Juice too! The girls did nap, but it was WAY too short. We figured we would head back over anyway and just take a one step at a time approach. Again the crowds were very light.

We made our way around to Mickey's Toon Town! This place is like Toddler heaven! The first thing we did was let Lily ride on the Barnstormer for the first time. By the time we left she will have rode it 5 times!! SHE LOVED IT!! After Chris and Lily finished on there we headed over to try to visit with the Princess' and Fairies! We were able to do the Princess' pretty quickly. Charlotte looks miserable in these pictures. She was... sorta. She had rubbed sunscreen in her eyes UGH! I know that hurts for sure. Even with that she stole the show while we were visiting with them. She was a ham!! When we were down Lily said the best thing. I told her that we were all done and she announced loudly 'Come on I want to meet somebody else!' LOL The whole room cracked up! We were going to get in line for the Fairies next but the wait was every bit of 45 minutes, we skipped that and tried for Mickey. That also had a very long line. Charlotte had caught a glimpse of the train pulling in the station, she loves trains! We hopped on, who knew how difficult it would be to get our huge stroller on? We did and rode all the way to Adventure Land.

We got off and walked around and found Pirates! We didn't give Lily much of a choice. We got on and told her if she didn't like it then she didn't have to do it again, but she was going to try it! LOL She loved it all, except in the very beginning when there is fog scene right before the little water fall. She didn't like that guy, and told us every 15 minutes for the rest of the night!! LOL

When we finished there we were all getting a little hungry. I had heard lots of great things about Casey's Hotdogs. YUMM-O they were right! After that it was getting close to firework time! We found a great place to sit to get a great view of Tinker Bell flying. While we waited a convinced Chris that the girls needed to have something that lit up! LOL The girls played with their new over-priced light up toy until it was time. Then we all sat together on the curb snuggled up sweating together and watched as a circle was completed in our life.

I didn't take one picture, Chris and I memorized every second. From Lily singing 'her song' (wishes theme) to Charlotte trying to catch the fireworks as they fell from the sky. It was wonderful, emotional, and something I will never forget.

Before the show started Chris and I agreed that we were going to hang back a little. We remembered the crush of people trying to get out. That did help, but wow that was a lot of people! Charlotte fell asleep before we got back to the room. It was a great day!!

Tomorrow all of our plans CHANGE!!! LOL

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9/7/09-Day 1 Arrival With Video

The afternoon before Chris and I had finished packing. Once the girls went to bed there were only a few odds and ends to take care of. I will always make sure we pack this way, it went so much more smoother then I ever thought it would. We waited until it was just dark enough to load the van. We try not to draw too much attention that we are leaving. We showered and believe it or not we actually slept!!

When 4 am rolled around we had gotten about 6 hours of sleep! We knew we were going to need it! We finished taking the final items to the van. Then it was time to wake up the girls!! I had been telling Lily that she would know that we are really going to Disney the day we came in and it was still dark outside. When we went into get them, Charlotte stood right up and started saying hi, Lily took a minute to realize what was going on! It was a slow start for her!! They were very surprised by the shirts that Mickey left for them. Lily was VERY impressed that he knew her nickname!! Before we all knew it we were on the way to the airport!!

Even though it is more costly we like to park in the garage, here is the first of our little miss steps. We had parked in there when we visited and picked Lily up, so we thought we knew what we were doing. Some how we ended up going the wrong way on a service road. Thankfully we turned around and found the right entrance, found spot and parked. The original plan was for Chris to drop the girls, luggage, and I off at the terminal and then go park. But when we left that morning we were just so excited we decided to get rid of that plan and go all together on the shuttle. It actually worked out better then we thought it would. We did the curbside check in and made it through security in a matter of just a few minutes.

Thankfully on the other side of security we found well really Charlotte saw a little (very expensive) shop that had bananas and coffee perfect! We found our gate and waited. We tried to make sure that Lily had ample potty breaks before the plane took off, and had her in a pull-up just in case.

Before we knew it, it was time to board. We headed straight to the back. We figured that we would disturb less people in the back, and we were close to the bathroom. Lily had gotten a little nervous right before we boarded and told us that she now wanted to sit with me. She had been saying for a while that she wanted to sit with Chris. We told her that it was fine, but that once we got on she could not get up and change. She was fine with that. Charlotte stayed with Chris. We lost one of Charlotte's shoes getting to our seat. A flight attendant did help us find it. Take off was fine, we had both girls drink from their sippy cups to help with the pressure. Lily was still very nervous. I am glad that she stayed with me. I am always nervous during take off, so it was a nice distraction of getting her through it.

The flight was BUMPY to say the least. The girls really loved the airplane bags we made. That really helped pass the time. Charlotte actually fell asleep while we were landing. We were about 3/4 of the way there when Lily announces to me that she has to pee. I told her that we would when we landed, she said ok. About 2 secs later she tells me she has to go in a hurry. Funtimes. Did I mention the flight was bumpy? She and I made it through ok and with dry pants- thankfully. Once we got on the ground we gathered up ourselves and stroller and headed towards the nearest bathroom again just to make sure everything remained dry. After our bathroom stop, Lily was a little put of that Mickey and the castle were not right there. It took a lot of explaining, I still don't think that she really understood at that point... she got it crystal clear the nesx day!

It was only a matter of minutes for us to make our way to the Magical Express. We had everything we needed so we just breezed right through to the waiting area for our bus- thankfully it was indoors. FYI Florida is H O T! LOL It was less the 10 minutes and we were being greeted by our bus driver Hugo. The bus was empty, except for us and one other couple. Remember that bumpy plane ride?? Well the combo of that, heat, and now this wide ride to our resort had my motion sickness kicked up way high. It surprised both Chris and I because it had been so long since I had a problem with it. There is one picture from the Magical Express that I look pale as can be!! I had to keep my eyes closed during the last half of the ride, Lily kept asking Chris if I was sleepy! Too sweet!

Finally after months of planning we made the turn into Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa!! This place is mammoth. They dropped us off at the main entrance and since we had done the online check in it was very smooth. We didn't get our request of rooms, but I am so glad we didn't fight it. They told us that we could have bell services drive us to our room or we could walk. I had quite enough of motorized transportation so we walked it. Again I am so glad that we didn't get what we asked for. We were located within sight of a bus stop and literally 50 feet one of the quiet pools. Over the week Lily called this pool the red pool!

We made it around to our what Lily called our 'Yellow Disney Home'. It was beautiful, big and jut wonderful. More then enough room for us to spread out. Once we had another potty break we decided to head over to Downtown Disney to get some lunch. We took the boat over. I think the girls rode every possible mode of transportation that day!! Chris and I forgot what day it was. Being Labor Day it was packed to say the least. The girls started to become cranky so waiting too long wasn't an option so ended up having lunch at McDonald's. Not as magical as I had hoped, but they were happy. We shopped a little on our way back to the boat. We rode back on the boat and got the girls down for a needed nap.

They slept so hard that they didn't even notice that our Garden Grocer order was delivered! When they did wake up we had a snack and then headed to the pool. This was a favorite! They had horse heads that sprayed water and a pool. We stayed for a while until everyone was starting to get hungry again. We headed back to the room to get dried off.

*** This is where the first of our mishaps begins. While we were in the bathroom drying off Chris left and in her excitement Charlotte tripped over her towel and fell head first into the tile floor. O M G!!! She is wailing. Chris and I are trying to check her over to see how bad it was. I hate rope you walk as a parent to freak out or not freak out. We choose the latter, although we were a nervous wreak watching over her.

We made it over the Artist Palette for dinner, all the while checking Charlotte for signs of a head injury. She continued to be ok. After dinner we headed back and gave the girls a bath. While they were bathing *Mickey visited our room and left brand new PJ's and stuffed Mickey's for both girls. After *Mickey was done I went into tell the girls that someone had been in our room and left what seemed to be a present for them. Lily yelled out 'Was it Santa??' LOL. I told her I didn't know for sure and that she had to get out of the tub to see. That helped wrap the tubby up quick!! Out they shot, and found the surprise. Lily was floored, and Charlotte kept yelling 'Mittkey' What was really great is that she noticed the night gown was from the Disney Store. The same one we told her didn't come in her size, we told her that Mickey knew she really liked it and had it made in her size. After a few minutes she told me 'Mickey made this for me, see it says Poose on the back!' It was really great!

After the new PJ's were put on it was into bed, the next day we see the Castle!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We are home :-( Preview Of Things to Come

We made it back safe, sound and sad. Lily kept saying on the plane, 'but I love disney so much I no want to leave' and giving me the saddest sad face ever! Charlotte slept again on the way, which is good she really needed it. Lily did too but she was just to geared up. When we landed we thought that the pilot took us to La Auroa airport (Guatemala)... my adoptive Mommies understand what I mean... ;-) it was rough!

I didn't get to blog really at all for several reasons. First of all by the time we got the girls to sleep each night, we literally fell into our bed and slept. The few times I did try, the connection was just too slow. We really didn't want to keep spending $10/day to be aggervated. It is all coming very soon. I am going to do a day by day entry.

I will say though that we really didn't think that Charlotte would get much from this trip. We had talked about it and excepted it. We had no clue how wrong we were going to be! Charlotte just loved it. Truth be told she didn't love all of the non-face charactars or any of them that looked 'mean'. But she just had a blast! Pool is her new favorite word!

We had our 3 bad things happen, well four. I have a long Thank You Memos, to write to a Mr. Michael Francis we really hope that you enjoyed your trip!! Southwest Baggage Handlers and the USPS> insert HEAVY sarcasm. In that chaos, I have a big thanks to Charlotte and her big Daddy head. We are able to make jokes about all of the above now.

We made a lifetime worth of memories in just 7 days, Chris and I will never be able to look at each other w/out giggling about an Uncle Jim dying, Lily turns pink faced each time we mention her Prince Charming, and why Charlotte came home with 4 new 'babies' .

Stay tuned... Unless I can convince Chris he really needs tomorrow off, I will have to wait until nap, oh yes there will be nap tomorrow!! LOL

The First of Many Disney Pictures!!!!