Disney Destination

I've realized something. I published one blog post every month when I had one child. Now that I have two children, I guess I only post once every two months. By the next kid, you'll only here from me four times a year, and after that it might as well just be a Christmas card update.. Surely it won't follow that trend. (And all the 'moms of many' out there are saying, "Oh, yes it will!")

The last month or two I've been convicted to live my life with margin. Not filling every week, day, hour so full that I'm unable to handle delays because of the stress that puts on the rest of the "agenda". When you live life with margin, you're able to say "yes" to things you previously didn't have time for. You're able to prioritize time and activities, because only the most important things make the cut on the calendar. Blogging is one of those things that I love to leave margin for. Does it always happen? Nope. Is that ok? Yup. But at this very moment, I have margin and so I'm here. 

Nothing creates "margin" in your life like a houseful of sickness. Which is exactly what we've had this winter. I came down with a month-long cold right after Christmas. Each week I kept thinking it had to start getting better, only to take a turn for the worse. It was miserable. I usually felt pretty good during the day, but coughing fits followed by extreme headaches kept me from sleep each night. Right about the time I recovered, James and Trevin came down with the flu the first week of February. Fevers and complete exhaustion for a solid 5 days. Myla has managed to stay healthy, thank goodness. We are so ready for spring, it's not even funny.

  

My Birthday:

We had a day full of church activities on my birthday, so James surprised me the next night by inviting over my cousins for cake and cards, three of my very favorite things. James' sister, Bethany, made me the most amazing coffee chocolate cake for me. It may have been the best thing that's ever grazed my tastebuds. Of course, I had to share the birthday party with Trey, because his birthday is two days before mine. We've been sharing parties since birth. 

I turned the big 25 this year. One-quarter of a century. That's something to celebrate. 

Do I have any Office fans out there?? Where are my people at? The Office is pretty easily my favorite show.  (I live for any scene that Creed is in.) James got me the coolest shirt for my birthday. I would wear it every day, except I want it to last forever... Major dilemma. 

Speaking of James, if you saw him in January or February, you may remember him like this..

His hair was 6 inches long and I'm pretty sure a small family of birds could have had a mansion in his beard. But they are both no more. James said he was tired of the "maintenance". I still can't believe he let it go as long as he did. He wore a lot of stocking hats to keep his hair under control, but we both decided it would be best if it was gone before we went to Florida. 

It's tradition for my friends and I to all go out before someone has a baby. Usually we get pedicures or go out to eat. My sweet friend's due date was quickly approaching, so we planned a girls' night to celebrate Ashli's upcoming delivery. Everyone was going to meet at my house at 6:00. Her water broke at 5:30. She was bummed to have to cancel, but was thrilled to be headed to the hospital instead. She told us we should still go out in her honor. So we did. But we were checking our phones every two minutes to see if we had received any baby updates. We promised her we'd reschedule. I'm thinking it's about time to try again; hopefully with a little more success than last time. 

Hearts for Jesus Benefit:

Hampton Lutheran School hosts a silent and live auction each year to help raise money for the school. It was our first year attending, and we managed to score a few sweet items. Trevin's job at the event was to hand out popcorn to all the guests. 

The "big kids" were doing face-painting. Trevin was all over that. 

Florida: 

Our flight was at 8:30 AM out of Omaha, layover in Chicago before heading on to Orlando. We flew out on a Friday and returned the following Saturday. I set my alarm for 3:45 AM to give us plenty of time to get loaded up and get on the road to the airport. Myla must have sensed vacation, so she was up at 3:00 AM ready to go. It made for a lonnnnnnggggg day. She napped the entire way to Omaha and the whole second flight. It's almost like she was tired or something. 

Since Myla isn't two yet, we were able to have her on our laps and didn't have to buy her a ticket. Trevin was excited to fly again and was really surprised when the flight attendant gave him a Junior Flyer Wings pin. 

We spent Friday-Tuesday morning in Orlando and then headed south to Fort Myers Tuesday-Saturday. When we were in Orlando, we stayed with James' cousin, Brack, and his wife, Monica. They have three kids around Trevin's age, so they got in lots of playtime. 

 

Trevin was able to catch a couple lizards in their backyard. He was convinced that he could bring them home for pets. We opted to let them live instead.

We did a lot of fun things in Orlando, but one highlight was walking downtown and catching the Magic's game. We got to watch Brack and Monica's girls perform a dance camp at halftime of the game. One even had a sweet debut on the jumbotron. Trevin loved the crowd initiated cheers - clapping, shouting, and stomping. We grabbed supper in the heart of downtown. There was a live band with people everywhere. It was just a few minutes from the Amway Center, where the NBA game was.

Living in the country all my life makes things like this seem crazy to me. I'm always drawn to the hustle of downtown, just to experience it. I can't say I'd ever desire to live in the big city, but I love soaking it in. I love showing the kids what other people's lives look like. I love opening their eyes to opportunity and new memories, while also demonstrating the reasons we love where we live. 

The Helms girls were so sweet to (and patient with) Myla. They loved having her around and she eventually warmed up to them. 

One night we went out for pizza. The kids were exhausted and the restaurant was packed. I didn't know how on earth we would make it without a meltdown from someone. Then the waitress brought out a paper plate with pizza dough on it for each kid. How cool is that? I thought it was brilliant and it kept the kids entertained for a long time. 

The boys tried a little fishing, but didn't have any luck. Trevin got his hook caught on some large rocks along the bank. He walked out on them and slipped, falling head first onto a large rock. He had a massive goose egg for a few days, but didn't seem too phased by the whole ordeal. 

And then it was Monday. Monday was Disney day. 

None of us had ever been to Disney. (Actually, none of us had ever even been to Florida.) So we had no idea what to expect. I read several blogs, watched a few videos, got the app.. But I had no idea what we were about to experience. 

One thing that I didn't realize was that it would take so long to get from the gate above to the actual Magic Kingdom park. By the time we took the right exit, paid for parking, parked, walked to the gate, waited for the ferry, rode the ferry, got to the next gate and into the park, I think it took us an hour. That was something I wasn't prepared for. When we got to the real entrance to the park, I remember looking around at the shops, the people, the rides, the vendors...and I kept thinking, "I don't get it. What is this all about? Why is this such a big deal?" Sure it was big and had some cool things, but why the hype? And then it happened. Music started blaring from the castle, the doors opened wide and some of our favorite characters came out. They welcomed us and sang some songs. I looked at Trevin and Myla, they were trying to piece it all together, but I could see the excitement in their eyes. And that's where the magic was. I started to get it. Little by little. 

A little something about me, I'm a worrier. No, I didn't say warrior. Worrier. I stress about small things, try to plan out everything, and often get in my own way of having fun. The very thought of Disney had me spinning in a frenzy. And then one day, as I was trying to solve the equation that is Disney, I stopped. I said, "Nope." Instead of mapping out our every move, using all the secret tips, making sure we experienced every ounce of magic with the least resistance, I decided not to. I opted to try the "winging it" thing, (something that I am not fluent in). So I planned nothing, and let me tell you, we still survived. Crazy, right? So then I adopted that attitude for the entire vacation. No agenda, no plans, no expectations. Because vacation with kids basically has to be that way anyways, am I right? I let my family lead, doing what seemed to interest them in the moment. It was so easy. We didn't hardly scratch the surface of Disney, but we made the most of the time we had there. 

About 20 minutes after getting into the park, Trevin asked if I would send some pictures to his class. They had been talking about our trip to Florida for several weeks, where we'd be going on the globe, things we'd see and do. So Trevin was really excited to send them pictures. When we got home, one mom told me her daughter had been praying for Trevin the entire time we were gone. I think they missed him, almost as much as he missed them. 

Shortly after we arrived at Disney the dance party started up. A bunch of characters came out on floats and started dancing with the kids. Woody hopped off right in front of us. I told Trevin to go to him. He was really unsure what to do, so he just gave him a hug.  

Like I said, we didn't plan out our day, so no fast passes for us. We decided to wait in the 30 minute It's a Small World line. The kids did surprisingly well and they loved that the ride was on a boat. 

If I had to sum up, in one word, how the kids felt about Disney it would be overwhelmed. They really enjoyed certain parts of it, but many times I would catch them staring straight faced at it all. It was so much to take in. 

The parade was a big highlight of the day, and a good break from walking. 

They especially loved the Tangled and Mickey Mouse floats. We also waited in line for Peter Pan. I still don't know how we made it, but we waited for over an hour and a half. It was fun, but I don't think it was worth that. (This is where those fast passes would have come in handy.) 

This is how the kid's felt about the day:

 

And this is how James felt:

He seems to think Disney was a "one and done" type of thing. Typically, I'd agree, except we didn't even step food into the other parks. I really wanted to take Trevin to Hollywood Studios to see the Star Wars exhibits, but it didn't work this time around. So I say next time, and James says never. 

Trevin picked out a mist fan and BB-8 Mickey ears. Myla got Minnie and she adores her. 

One thing I really wanted to do was hang around for the firework show. We had made our way around the park and circled back to the front by 5:00. We had a decision to make. Either end the day on a good note and leave happy with the memories we had, not having to fight the crowd out, or we could stall another couple hours until the kids were both on the verge of meltdowns, see the fireworks, and face the billions of people leaving at that time. 

We opted for smiles. I told James we'd catch the fireworks next time. He says there is no next time. 

Obviously, Disney wears a kid out. And a mom. And a dad. 

On Tuesday, we said good-bye to Orlando and our family there, and headed south to Fort Myers. 

We met up with James' Aunt Jan and Uncle Ron for lunch. They showed us around their retirement community and the kids were thrilled to see a huge turtle swimming under the bridge. We also managed to sight a dolphin!  That was a fun surprise! 

Myla still repeats everything she hears, so when she heard Uncle Ron refer to their community as an "old folks home," she picked up on that pretty quick. We went all the way to Florida, and all she talks about is the "old sokes home."  

 

After lunch, we went straight to our hotel on Estero Island. We checked in and got our suits on right away. This was the first time the kids had seen the ocean. Trevin got his first taste of salt water; he wasn't a fan. And Myla wasn't sure what to think of the waves at first. 

But the kids LOVED the sand. The white sand beach felt like flour. They could have played in it for 8 days straight. 

Trevin wanted to build a volcano the first day, so we did! 

We had so much fun playing on the beach, but the late afternoon breeze got pretty chilly. We ventured back to the pool to end the day. It was a salt water pool, which was fun, and it was nice and warm. The kids really took to swimming and it became one of our favorite things to do. 

We also ate some amazing food. The kids (including James) particularly loved the ice cream shop across the street from our hotel. Another favorite was the Yo Taco! food truck down the road. 

I took pictures of nap time almost every day. I wanted to remember, that while we were doing some really fun and cool things, we still stopped to rest. Vacation isn't always unforgettable memories and perfect days full of smiles, sometimes it's tantrums and a desperate cry for sleep. I wanted the kids to have the best time, and some days that meant napping so we could enjoy a fun evening together. Some days that meant snuggling up in bed and listening to the kids' chatter, until everyone felt refreshed. Most mornings it was really cold, so we were kind of stuck in our hotel room. We've been working our way through the Narnia series and finished a couple more books in Florida. The kids did fairly well adjusting to new places, but we ended up laying down with Myla every day (and night) to help her fall asleep, something that we never do at home. It created some really special moments. The thought of her growing, even just a little bit more, had me heartbroken and giddy every day. 

 The next day, James walked to the store across the street and bought a set of beach toys. Trevin loved designing sand castles and keeping his moat full of water, and Myla loved that Dad would fetch a pail of water every time she requested, just so she could dump it out and ask again. 

Eventually we convinced Trevin to let us bury him in the sand. He thought it would be so funny if we built the sand up to look like his body with arms and legs. I loved seeing his sweet, creative mind at work. We also tried to bury Myla... that didn't go over as well... 

We had brunch with Ron and Jan on Thursday morning and Gracia was able to come meet us for supper that evening and stay over night with us. She was in Florida for the horse season but came back to Nebraska this week. It was so nice to spend a little time with her.

 

On Friday morning we went on a boat tour, courtesy of Aunt Jan. She had given Trevin a book about Florida birds, so it was fun to be able to compare what we saw with the pictures in the book. 

The pelicans were really cool to see. We were amazed at how big they were. We were able to see manatees, dolphins, and more birds than we could count.  The boat tour docked for lunch across the bay, we tried alligator, which was surprisingly good! (I was glad that was our only encounter with alligators during our Florida adventures.) While we were on the dock, we spotted several schools of fish and even some tiny jellyfish in the water. 

Our hotel room was directly on the beach. We walked out our door, down three steps and we were on the sand. We could watch the water from our room on the chilly mornings. 

These two had a great time being together all week, but we could tell by the last few days that they were getting on each other's nerves. It's fun to watch Myla get older and see their relationship really take form. 

We really wanted to spend money on memories this year instead of things. I also decided that I wanted to spend time on memories, instead of things that were fleeting. This trip, I really wanted to spend time doing things that mattered. So that meant my hair got brushed, and I showered when I could, but nothing more, so that I had opportunity to do small things, and big things, with my family. Can you believe that I still had a great time? Perspective changes everything. I took a vacation from ridiculous expectations, and it felt good. Try it sometime. 

Uncle Ron is a wonderful musician. He makes up silly songs on the spot and Trevin loved this one especially:

"There once was a young boy named Trevin, who counted much higher than seven. He counted so high, it reached to the sky. I do think he came straight from Heaven."

He sings it quite often now that we're home. 

Our trip home was an interesting one. The first flight went off without a hitch. Our plane was delayed a little bit in Chicago, but we managed to watch them load the baggage from the airport window. We saw our carseat get stuck at the door on the conveyer, the rest of the luggage knocked off the carseat onto the ground. They loaded the remainder of the luggage and several people walked by without seeing it. It was quite amusing. Finally when we were in line to board the plane, someone spotted it and got it loaded. It would have been difficult to get home from Omaha without the carseat.  

 When we arrived safely in Omaha, James and Trevin went to get the car from the parking garage. We had a flat tire and they couldn't get our spare down. He had to wait for maintenance to come air it up in hopes that we could make it home. That extended our trip a little longer than any of us preferred, but we made it back and were all thrilled to sleep in our own beds that night, well except Myla. She didn't miss her crib.. 

Bathroom:

Progress is being made in our main bathroom. Sheetrock and mudding is complete. James is tiling more of the shower as I type. Walls and ceiling are primed and are just need finishing touches on paint. New window has been installed. Next will be the last of the painting and laying the floor tile, trim, and fixtures. It is coming. We're almost there.

 

We're hoping to finish it up in the next couple weeks, before the farming season gets too busy.  

James also poured our concrete countertop for our basement buffet. It turned our incredible and I'm already scoping out other places in the house where I can have more concrete. 

Our basement project is done, minus a few very small finishing touches. It's come a long way, but it gives us motivation to finish our other projects, because the satisfaction is unbelievable when it's all finished. 

Trevin:

+Somehow I managed to miss Grandparents' Day in my last post, but Trevin was lucky enough to have both sets join him at school one day in January. 

+One day I asked Trevin, "Who do you play with at recess?" He said, "I play with the other Kindergartners... Unless Mrs. Montoya is on recess duty." I asked why he doesn't play with the Kindergarteners when Mrs. Montoya is on recess duty. He said, "Well I like to walk around with her and talk for awhile before I go play." Sure enough, one day I got to school early to pick him up and they were out at recess, and Trevin was nowhere in sight. Then I saw him and Mrs. Montoya walk around the corner. She told me at Parent/Teacher Conferences that the Kindergartners usually all hang around at recess and they all go and find rocks or tell jokes. Trevin was sad to find out he wouldn't have Mrs. Montoya next year, but the good news is that he gets to move on to 1st grade! 

+Third quarter was huge for Trevin when it comes to learning. He is reading words without help, he's sounding out words to write sentences, and when we try to spell things (you know, when Mom and Dad are trying to say something in code) he usually figures it out in no time. At least once a week he'll write something and then give it to me to read. Usually, I have no trouble understanding what he wrote. The picture above was one of my favorite pages he brought home. Not going to lie, I look at it when we have hard days and tell myself that at least one time in his life he liked me. I'm only half joking. 

+Trevin has now lost 5 teeth. The last several, he wouldn't let us pull at home. He wanted Miss Irene to do it at school, "because she does a good job and then I'll get a tooth-holder." Two of the bottom teeth are growing in. He had to get fillings this week (sigh), but he handled it like a champ. 

+One day out of the blue, Trevin said to me, "Mom, I'm pretty much baptized, because I jumped in the pool that one time." 

+I called Trevin to the kitchen one day. He walked in and asked, "Why are you persecuting me?" I lost it. I couldn't stop laughing. And then we had a lesson about real persecution. This kid is always making us laugh. 

This is what it looks like when Trevin tries to take a selfie with Myla.. 

Myla:

+Myla's favorite word is "hallelujah!" She learned it at our Wednesday night church program. They sang Praise Ye the Lord, and she is always breaking into this song at home. And the hands go up when she says hallelujah. It's darling. 

+No progress has been made on the potty-training front. I didn't want to do much before Florida, and we've had some readjustment issues that have taken priority. So potty-training has taken back seat because...

+The week after Florida we officially pulled the plug... on the pacifier. It wouldn't have been terrible, but if you remember, we laid down with Myla to help her fall asleep every day when we were in Florida. And then we took the pacifier away. So basically she doesn't sleep now, unless she is in my bed with my face 12 inches from hers. Honestly, we just traded one bad habit for another. At least this one won't screw up her teeth. I'm just her sleep slave now. We're working on getting back to normal. And we're making progress. (That's what I'm telling myself.) It's fine. I'll get my life back eventually. I think. Or not. At this point, I don't know. 

Princess Tea Party with our friends! 

+February 3rd about did me in. Trevin had come home sick from school that week and James got knocked out with the same junk. They were both on day 3 of high fevers, body aches, and living on the couch. I was running around trying to keep everyone comfortable, washing everything we owned in order to try and keep Myla and I healthy, and failing to keep up with everything that was quickly piling up work-wise and house-wise. Myla had a particularly eventful day, pulling out all of the wipes, dumping a cup of water on the mail, finding the bag of powdered clay and sprinkling it all over the office, washing the bathroom floor in lotion... You know, that kind of boring stuff. To say I was exhausted is laughable. My brain was functioning solely on autopilot; miraculously having the ability to make my body go through the motions. James and Trevin were set up in the living room and Myla had toys sprinkled all over the floor. I was attempting to get some soup on the stove when I heard Myla let out a cry and I saw James sit up quickly. She had stepped on a tiny toy table that was upside-down, with the table legs standing straight up. She started running towards me, holding her breath, so I went to her to pick her up. By the time she got to me, she collapsed in my arms and was instantly stiff when I picked her up. The convulsions started. I laid her down and went through the "drill" that I despised I even had to know. 

The thing with seizures is that it feels like they will go on forever. Even though I know she will wake up, I know the seizure will end, in the moment it feels like an eternity. With each jolt of the body I'm forced to watch this child that resembles mine, but she doesn't seem to hold life. I had never realized how much life is spoke through they eyes until I had to watch her seize. Her body is laying there, but she's oddly detached from it. My daughter isn't present. I think that's the scariest part. She's not there. And for one instant I feel the darkness of the world without her life and it's devastating.

Her convulsions only lasted 15-20 seconds, MUCH shorter than the previous two. Her body finally relaxed and entered a state of relief. She peeked her eyes open and let out a few small cries. James took her to the recliner and rocked her as she slept for another half-hour. 

When Myla woke up and came completely out of it, she was right back to normal. She started running around laughing, playing, and being as ornery as she'd been all day. My emotions couldn't keep up. We'd just experienced this trauma and before my eyes could dry out, she was back to her silly-self. It felt like emotional whiplash. It turns out we're still not "in the clear". 

Do you want to know the good news? That was one day, one day of the past two months. We've had so many really really good days, as you can see. We're always wondering what God is doing with us and through us. He has been incredibly gracious to us and we believe His ways are higher than our ways. That takes a tremendous weight off of our shoulders because we don't have to have it all figured out. We don't have to make sense of it all. We get to walk in obedience and trust that He's got it. What a blessing that has been to us in this season.

So today I'm going to stare at this picture with a big smile and think about the many sweet memories that go with it. 

Found Florida, growing on the farm...