Motherhood

Day 08: A favorite song

Music does so much for me.  It's one language that really speaks to my soul and pierces my heart.  I've been passionate for music my entire life.

Here are a few of my faves:

#1.  Through Heaven's Eyes performed by Brian Stokes Mitchell with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  AWESOME!


#2.  Jon Schmidt--love all of his music.  But, I seriously love "Love Story meetsViva La Vida".  Listen here.  Maybe someday I can rock out the piano like he does.  So, so, so talented!

#3.  My Girl.  Reminds me of my parents and I love them!  *Just got them tickets to see The Temptations for Christmas.*



#4.  From This Moment by Shania Twain...our wedding song!  Still love it!  Still love that man, my Straight Arrow!

Day 09: A Favorite Movie

I'm SO not a movie person.  Or a TV person for that matter.  Every once in a while, I will sit down and actually make it through an entire movie....and...like actually like it in the end.  It's rare, but it's happened.  Here are a few of the ones I've liked:

And my favorite movie in Kindergarten...loved it so much that I had American Tale pajamas.  I saved the tags off of the pajamas.  Instead of throwing away the sales tags, I brought them to "Show and Tell".  The rule was that everyone had to put their show and tell on the teacher's desk.  But my teacher, upon seeing my pajama tags, thought they were trash and threw them away before Show and Tell time.  I was devastated (obviously left a mark on me since I remember that still 24 years later!)

Day 06: Something I bought recently

Straight Arrow and I debated back and forth over what we should get each other for Christmas this year.  I really didn't need anything or even want anything big.  But what we really needed to do was build up our food storage and work on self-reliance.  So, our big Christmas purchase this year: A Solar Oven!  It is so awesome that even on 30-degree day, without any electricity or fuel of any kind, and as long as the sun is shining, we can cook!

I christened our Sun Oven with a loaf of homemade whole wheat bread.  Take note that while it baked at 350 degrees, there was snow on the ground!

Day 05: Pet Peeves

I can't say for sure that this is my Top-Ten list of pet peeves because I had a hard time thinking of things. I thought about it all day (not the best topic to be thinking on).  So, I read an online list of pet peeves to help me remember things that annoy me. :)

So, in no particular order, here is what I came up with:

1.  Misspellings--it drives me crazy!  What is as bad or worse than a misspelling is a misuse of a homonym (sounds the same, but have different meanings).  Don't mix up your too, to, two around me.  :)

2.  When I am trying to do something on the computer and someone reads over my shoulder. Ugh! I don’t know why this one bothers me so much, but it does.  

3.  Interrupting--I can't stand it when my kids interrupt Straight Arrow and I when we're talking.  I also am super annoyed when I'm on the phone and get interrupted.  But even worse are those select adults who you can always count on to interrupt no matter what. 

4. People who don't RSVP--The ironic thing about this one is that I never, ever RSVP.  I think it's a commitment issue!  But if someone doesn't RSVP to the birthday party I am trying to plan, it's super annoying.  I guess what goes around, comes around.  :)

5.  When people say, “You should have…”. What good does that do me?? I already did it and I can't change it!

6.  When my kids get woken up from a nap (whether by a phone call, someone at the door or noise outside). I am pretty protective of my kids nap time.  The UPS man is the worst.  I realize that it must be their company policy to ring the doorbell when they leave a package, but I've even put signs on our door saying to please not ring the doorbell...and they still do!

7.  Being late--Now, I understand that unexpected things come up sometimes and that's okay.  But don't be late every time!  Plan to leave with enough time.

8.  Too much perfume--I used to think that only women did this, but I've learned that men do it too.  Do you do it because you think it smells THAT good, because you can't smell very well, or because you failed to shower?  Either way, it's almost poisoning to inhale!

9.  When I see little kids at the store late at night.  Kids need to sleep...put them to bed!

10.  Having to repeat myself!

Now, think HAPPY thoughts!

Day 03: A favorite photo

Just met this little girl 17 days ago, but oh, I'm so in love!

My newest addition who is yet to be Road-sign-named.  Photo by artbyashleyphotography.com 

Meet our newest addition.

Isn't she perfect?  

What a wonderful gift from our Heavenly Father!

We're loving every second of her.

**Photos courtesy of the extremely talented Ashley Clauss of www.artbyashleyphotography.com.  I highly recommend her!**

The story of a fourth child.

**The birth story.  It's long.  You've been warned.**

It all started in October 2009.  We wanted a baby and were able to get pregnant during the first month of trying.  And as fast as it happened, I miscarried.  We were sad, but kept trying.  In February 2010, I was pregnant again...and again, I miscarried.  So, if anyone knows the story behind our third child, we were holding out hope that our trip to DisneyWorld in March would be the answer to a viable pregnancy.

Sure enough, Disney was the place "where all yours dreams come true".  I was pregnant and this time, I stayed pregnant, due on the magic of none other than Christmas Day!  But just as Disney is filled with roller coasters, so was this pregnancy.  Just as I'd come off of one emotional roller coaster, I'd get on board another.  I was constantly wondering the outcome and if this baby would survive.

At week 6, just having barely found out that I was pregnant, I started spotting.  I was sure that this was another miscarriage and was devastated.  After going to the doctor and having an ultrasound show that everything was okay, I still continued bleeding for 7 weeks straight.  Finally at week 13 and after another ultrasound, I found out I had placenta previa.  Hopes were that it would move by December.  And luckily, it did.

All was well and we were so excited to go to our 18 week ultrasound.  Roundabout wanted to go with us to see if she would be the big sister to another brother or a little sister.  We  were thrilled to find out we were having a girl to even out the teams.  Straight Arrow had to leave immediately after the ultrasound to get to work while I waited at the doctor's office to see my obstetrician.  When she finally called me into her office, she informed me that the umbilical cord wasn't formed correctly.  I had a Single Umbilical Artery, which is often an indicator of a heart defect and often leads to low birth weight in infants.  Furthermore, part of the right ventricle of the baby's heart wasn't seen on the ultrasound.  I was immediately referred to Duke Children's Hospital to a pediatric cardiologist for a fetal echocardiogram.  My doctor also ordered a second ultrasound scheduled for two weeks later.

Those weeks crawled by, every day worrying and crying over what might be.  I received a Priesthood blessing which brought comfort, but still worrisome thoughts ran through my mind.  We had the second ultrasound and everything looked great.  The heart and spine both looked fine on ultrasound.  And then finally I got to have the echocardiogram, which found nothing at all wrong with our baby's heart.  Such relief came over us.

We were able to enjoy the next few weeks of pregnancy knowing that all was well although I was feeling very tired, exhausted, and had no motivation to do anything.  I often felt faint and dizzy and kept wondering what could be wrong with me.  At week 28, I had the routine bloodwork and glucose test to check for gestational diabetes.  Never before have I had gestational diabetes during the previous three pregnancies.  But this time, I failed the first glucose test and had to come back for the 3-hour glucose test a week later.  I failed it too.  I cried.  Of course, I then had to go to a diabetes class to learn all about how to manage diabetes through diet.  At the same time, I found out I had an ear infection and a sinus infection at the time of my glucose test.  And after being treated on antibiotics for those infections, I began to feel somewhat better and I believed that the glucose test was a false positive because of my infections at the time.  I religiously monitored my glucose levels every morning and after every meal for several weeks.  My sugar level was never out of the range that it should have been and I concluded that I did not have gestational diabetes.  But, I had to be treated as a diabetes patient until the end since I had failed the glucose test.

That routine bloodwork done at week 28 also came back abnormal.  Not only did I have anemia, but an antibody on the Direct Coombs test came back positive.  I had no idea what this meant, but immediately went home and did some research.  Meanwhile, I was referred to a Hematologist at the cancer center.  Scary.  Weeks went by before I got to meet with her and they were filled with worry and fear.  She explained to me that they believed my baby was Rh+ and that I am Rh-.  I had received Rhopholax several times during the pregnancy for spotting/bleeding.  But since the Direct Coombs test was positive, they believed that the baby's and my blood had somehow crossed the placenta and the baby was now attacking my red blood cells making me have hemolytic anemia.  They couldn't be sure until delivery, but I was told I may need a blood transfusion when I delivered her.  So scary!  They did more bloodwork (7 vials!!) to see if they could find out more before she was born.

Those 7 vials showed two things. 1...The positive Direct Coombs was a false positive.  All my worry and fear for weeks had been over nothing.  I did not have hemolytic anemia.  Again, what relief.  2...My hemoglobin and ferritin iron levels were so low that the hematologist thought it was not safe for me to have a cesarean until I had IV iron.  The news of this was hard for me.  Here I am with three kids at home to take care of and pregnant.  And my doctor tells me that I need to go to the hospital for 5 consecutive days, 4 hours each day to have an IV in me giving me iron.  How in the world was I going to be able to leave my kids for a week?  The week of Thanksgiving, no less!  Through a whole series of runaround from the doctors office/hospital/miscommunication, I got scheduled for the IV iron beginning the Friday before Thanksgiving.  I was scared to death.  I hate needles.  I hate IVs even more.  And I had read horror stories of how bad IV iron hurts to receive.  Straight Arrow was able to go with me the first day and I had the greatest nurse, Beth, to help me get through the treatment.  One tender mercy that day was to find out that instead of 4 hours, it would only be about an hour.  All in all, from start to finish, it took about 3 hours to get checked in and checked out.  The greatest blessing that day though was that it didn't hurt to receive.  After Friday's treatment, they left the IV in and I used the same IV again on Saturday morning.  2 treatments down and I was feeling better about this whole ordeal.  Saturday, the IV was starting to bother me and so they took it out.  The IV site was red, inflamed, and hot and hard to the touch.  Sunday came.  It was Stake Conference and I knew that our stake was about to split and I wanted to be there to hear about all the changes.  So, I went into the hospital super early with my mom that morning in hopes that I would be able to make it to Stake Conference by 10am.  What I didn't know was that iron treatments constricts veins and makes it nearly impossible to get an IV started.  After 7 different attempts to get an IV started in my right arm, an anesthesiologist was able to get one started in the bend of my arm.  It was stressful and painful to have been stuck that many times.  I had the treatment on Sunday and I wanted desperately to be able to leave this IV in and come back on Sunday night for another treatment to just get this over with.  The nurses all told me and the pharmacist agreed that it was safe and the best idea to have another treatment Sunday night and then again Monday morning so that they would have to give me a new IV.  After the run around from all the doctors on call who didn't want to make a decision about my treatment since they weren't my actual doctor, I asked the nurse to call my own doctor even though she wasn't on call.  Not only was she completely rude and yelling at my nurse for calling her on her "day off", she ordered the nurse to remove my IV and let me try again on Tuesday.  She said that I could call her on Monday morning to discuss my options.  I called her on Monday morning, so upset over what had happened on Sunday...and she refused to talk to me personally.  Through several phone calls with her nurse that day, she suggested that I have a PIC line inserted to my heart to have the remaining treatments.  I refused.  I'd rather not have the treatment than to go through having a PIC line inserted.  Luckily I was blessed on Tuesday that the nurse was able to start my IV in the one vein she thought it might be possible.  After my treatment on Tuesday, they gave me a splint of sorts to keep my arm completely straight until Wednesday morning's treatment.  I felt like a free woman leaving the hospital that Wednesday.  It was so nice to leave knowing I had completely the treatments and could enjoy Thanksgiving with my family.

The days went by and that first vein that had become inflamed just kept bothering me.  And by Saturday morning, it was so swollen in the joint of my left arm that I couldn't bend it straighten my arm all the way. The vein was red, swollen, hot, and so hard.  I found myself back at the hospital in the ER with an infected vein.  Who does that happen to?!  Antibiotics cleared it up and I was on the home stretch to delivery.  It couldn't come fast enough.  I was so uncomfortable, so scared, and so ready to end this emotional rollercoaster.  I swore that this would be the last time I'd ever want to be pregnant. All I wanted for Christmas was this baby girl.

My cesarean was scheduled for Saturday, December 18 at 7:30am.  Since Curvy Road had surprised us at 37 weeks 4 days, I was just sure that I would go into labor early with this one as well.  But 37 and 38 weeks passed with nothing my constant Braxton Hicks contractions and multiple nighttime wakings.  I was so ready. Though everyone thought I looked so small, I felt so big and so uncomfortable.  On Thursday the 16th while we were eating dinner, I felt the baby turning and kicking and shortly thereafter, I had a few painful contractions.  By bedtime, I was beginning to wonder if my contractions were coming at regular intervals and I watched the clock as a fell asleep.  They were coming at 10 minutes apart and were painful enough that I couldn't sleep through them.  As I writhed in pain through the night, Straight Arrow would periodically tell me to call my doctor.  I was so afraid of calling in a doctor to the hospital in the middle of the night and then having it be a false alarm.  Twice before in labor with Roundabout and Green Light, my labor never progressed.  So, I waited until 5am and finally called Dr. Cousins.  She told me to go on to the hospital and she would meet me there.  Once there, of course, my contractions stopped totally.  The nurse checked me at 1 cm dilated and monitored my lack of contractions for about an hour.  Dr. Cousins arrived and said that since I wasn't contracting and my water wasn't broken, they would proceed on with plans to do the cesarean on Saturday morning...and sent me home.  Ugg.  Such a disappointment.  While I was already at the hospital though, they checked me in and did my Pre-op for surgery the next morning.

I went home and went about my day as usual.  I had packed my hospital bag during the night while I was contracting.  I cleaned and waited for Roundabout to get home from school.  When she got home, she asked me to take her to the library so that she could pick up some books to read while I was in the hospital.  As I was about to leave to take her, I talked to my mom on the phone and told her we were leaving for the library.  She was worried about me going; worried that I would have contractions, but I assured her that I hadn't had ANY contractions all day since I got home from the hospital.  She insisted on taking Roundabout herself though.  So, while she was gone, I sat down upstairs and directed the boys in picking up their toys from off the floor.  Surprisingly, I started feeling crampy while my mom was gone even though she was only gone for about 20 minutes.  When she and Roundabout walked through the door, I had one contraction and it was so incredibly painful that I felt like I couldn't move in the chair I was sitting in.  When it ended, my mom made me lie down on my bed and wait for Straight Arrow to come home from work.  She thought I should call my doctor, but since I had already sent home from the hospital once, I just couldn't do it.  10 minutes after the first contraction, a second one came and immediately burst my water.  My king-size bed was soaked and I was lying in a huge puddle. With perfect timing and less than a minute later, Straight Arrow walked through the door with pizza for dinner.  I got up and my water just kept gushing.  The contractions picked up and started coming closer together.  I showered off quickly and we left for the hospital.

I had a few contractions on the way to the hospital and Straight Arrow dropped me off at the door.  It was 6:00 pm.  When I went to the desk to check-in, there was no one there at the desk.  I waited and waited and Straight Arrow made it into the hospital with me before anyone actually came.  Finally, a nurse (the same nurse who had treated me in Triage earlier that morning) saw me and came out to get me.  Meanwhile, my water was running down my legs and puddling on the floor.  I changed my clothes into a hospital gown and they put me in Triage again.  I had paged my doctor while I was still at home, but her nurse called me back and told me that she would relay the message to Dr. Cousins.  She wasn't at the hospital when I arrived though.  The nurses started paging her when I got into Triage.  They hooked me up to monitors again and checked my cervix.  There was no need to check to see that my water had actually broken because it was still gushing by then.  The nurse checked me and then walked away without saying anything.  When I asked if I was dilated, she said, "I felt a hand.  I'd say you're at least 4 cm."  My contractions were coming at 3-4 minutes apart and lasting about a minute each.  The pain was paralyzing and my back was killing me.  My doctor finally arrived and joked with me that I didn't have to prove that I could go into labor and I overheard the nurses and doctor talking about how there was not an open Operating Room.  My doctor immediately went out to try to get into an OR.  When she came back, she checked and and said she felt the baby's foot.  Things weren't looking good as I was progressing quickly, the baby was turned transverse and couldn't come out, and there was no OR.  I was scared and in pain.  One of the nurses in the room was LDS and one of the times I asked, "What happens if this baby tries to come?"  I remember her saying, "Everything happens for a reason and it's going to be okay."  It was scary!  I started asking for pain medication and they finally gave me an IV drug "to take the edge off".  I'm not sure it helped with the pain at all, but it sure did make me dizzy and loopy.  I was squeezing Straight Arrow's hand during every contraction and I just remember thinking that I couldn't believe how painful it was.

Finally, an OR was available and they took me from Triage to the Operating Room.  The part I dread most is actually getting the spinal block.  It hurts to get the local anesthesia and there is a lot of pressure in getting the spinal block.  I always cry, not because of the pain but just the emotion of the whole situation just gets me every time.  I wish they would let the husband into the OR while you're getting the anesthesia, but they won't.  The surgery started and I had him by my side to comfort me.  It didn't seem like long before they had her out and hold her up over the curtain so that I could see her.  She was beautiful and I was so relieved that she was out.  I made it to the end!  Our little girl was born on December 17, 2010 at 7:29pm.  Straight Arrow went with her to have her weighed and bathed.  She weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches.  I laid there forever being stitched up.  In previous cesareans, I've had staples to close my incision, but this time I didn't.  My doctor gave me disolvable stitches and the difference has been amazing.  The staples pull so much on the skin and hurt.  I went to the recovery room and stayed there for a few hours until I could lift my legs and hips.  Straight Arrow convinced the nursery to let him bring the baby to me so that I could see her and nurse her.  It was wonderful.  I got to my room and my parents were there and had brought me a meal from Chick-Fil-A.  So yummy and even had a peppermint shake!

I stayed from Friday night until Sunday morning when I got discharged.  My recovery has been amazing.  I have felt so great!  The baby has been a champ.  She's nursing well and like all of our other babies, has been a marathon nurser until they get my milk to come in.  She's so cute.  She's beautiful and I am taking in every second of holding her and nursing her.  I want to enjoy every bit and remember every thing that I can about being a mother of a newborn, especially if this is the last time I get to experience this.  I feel so blessed to have four wonderful children and to have had the experience of being their mother.  I love to hold them.  I love they snuggle up on my shoulder.  I love the little noises they make while they are nursing.  I love the drunken state they're in after the warm milk has settled in their bellies.  I love their baby smell.  I love their fisted hands and wrinkly skin.  I feel so blessed.

Throughout this pregnancy and delivery, I've felt the Lord's hand in my life.  I know that He has guided me and has healed our bodies.  I don't know if there was ever anything wrong with our baby, but I do know that the Lord has comforted me and let me know that she would get to be a part of our family.  These months have been a hard and emotional trial, but have also been filled with many miracles and tender mercies of the Lord.

Giving Birth.

After one and half hours of intense labor and my body surprising me by actually progressing through labor, the Operating Room was a welcome sight since our baby girl was turned transverse.  This was the first birth that cameras were allowed in the OR and I am thankful for these memories.

In surgery, waiting to see my baby

my man holding my hand

There she is!

Got to kiss her for the first time in the OR!  Never been able to do that before!

7 pounds 11 ounces.

My parents seeing grandbaby #10 for the first time.  Love this picture SO much!!

Hallo-ween!

Well...
where to start?  Minus the first two years of her life when Straight Arrow and I chose her costume for her, Roundabout has never deviated from her favorite costume.  Princess.  We're 5 years running now.  At least she's beautiful and knows how to play the part, oh so well!

Green Light is into Super Heroes.  He knows nothing about them other than some of their names.  He doesn't know what they do, how they act, or really what their super powers consist of...but still, he loves super heroes.  This year, I bought him a Superman costume, but with his birthday money he bought himself a Spiderman costume.  And as a birthday present, he received a Batman costume.  He's been mulling it over for a couple of weeks and finally decided to be Batman.  He was a very serious Batman.

Curvy Road didn't know the first thing about what Halloween was all about, but he did know that his brother and sister were constantly talking about their costumes.  At first, he wanted to be whichever whim his big brother was on for the day.  But then, a change happened.  One of his  favorite songs is from the Wiggles and it's about pirates.  And from then on, he's been wanting to be a pirate.  He's told everyone he meets about it.

Straight Arrow put together a few select costume pieces to be a 70's-ish Orthodontic patient.  He made himself some fake braces, wide rimmed glasses, and gave himself some hair back.  He was quite the sight.

As for me, I'm just going along with baby in belly.  I made this "skeleton" shirt and I love it!  7 weeks until baby Linlee!  For being 7 months pregnant, I feel like I'm still pretty small.  Don't comment on that if your opinion differs!  :)

The princess cake.

Though we had a pool party, we had to go through a bajillion cake ideas before we came to this one.  It was actually a dramatic decision that shouldn't have been dramatic.  But lo, she is a girl who loves drama.  The idea scheme went something like this: pool cake, swimmer cake complete with goggles and swim cap, pool cake, beach cake, castle cake, sand castle cake, flower cake, butterfly cake, purse cake, flower cake, pool cake, NO CAKE.  I had had enough of the mind changing!  And so, she settled on a princess cake.  Whew.

It's a.....

the 10 year milestone.

I got the jitters this morning at 4am and couldn't go back to sleep, just the way I did 10 years ago.  Who'd have thought 10 years could go by so fast, yet be so jam-packed full of goodness?  I can't hold back the tears when I think of all that we've become through this journey so far together.  An RM marrying a teenager, feeling so ready to take on life but being so naive all at the same time.  We did it though.  And we've done it the right way. 

10 years later, we find ourselves with a family, three beautiful children and one more on the way.  We've trekked through nine years of student life, late hours, neverending study sessions, and bringing three children into the mix along the way.  We've suffered through tragedy, comforted in wee morning hours, and joyed in triumphs.  We have changed diapers, heard first words, taken Emergency room trips, cuddled up to small warm bodies, rocked and bounced, and have begun to see the little personalities we created take shape.  We've turned to the Lord in times of need and times of plenty and have always been blessed immensely.  We've attended the temple often, learned in it's beauty, and tried to become better through it.  It's all so beautiful.  

I'm so glad that I can be one to say that I love my husband, even more than I thought I loved him then.  And I can't wait to take on the next 10 years.  I love you, baby!

Hollywood Studios.

The land of awesome shows!  I love this place.  We split this day into a short morning visit and then a late afternoon return so that we could stay up "late" for Fantasmic.

I could watch the Beauty and the Beast production over and over...I think it's so cool!  We also saw "Lights, Motor, Action" which was just mind blowing.  I cannot imagine how much practice it takes to do the car stunts they performed.  Seriously amazing!  Plus, the kids loved it too! 

 We went to "Playhouse Disney"  which was semi-cool for the kids.  Green Light turned to me halfway through the show and said, "These aren't the real guys".  So, it wasn't quite as magical and believable as the rest of the Disney characters.  We saw Muppet 3-D vision and weren't all that enthused by it...the other 3D shows in the other parks were way better...but then again we're not hugely into Muppets around our house. 

Rockin' Rollercoaster was a ride just for me and the Doctor.  The munchkins didn't have the height for it.  Takeoff is the most amazing on any rollercoaster that I've ever ridden.  0 to 60 in 2.8 seconds.  I nearly lost my stomach. 

 The new Toy Story Mania is all the buzz!  Admittedly, it's a pretty cool little ride.  We went twice and loved it!

Probably the coolest thing at Hollywood: Fantasmic!  It may just trump all other nighttime Disney shows!  It has it all...lights, fireworks, lasers, music, amazing fountains, 1.9 million gallons of water, a 50 foot dragon that Mickey gets to defeat as the Sorcerer's Apprentice, and 45 cast members including the Princesses!  It was awesome! ( A word to the wise....Get there super early, but don't sit too close or you'll get pretty wet by the end.)

Rainy, rainy MONDAY.

So, our plan all along was to leave Sunday night to drive through the night to get to Orlando.  The goal was to have the kids sleep all night in the car...and I'm proud to say that it worked!  We had three drivers since Scott's dad was able to come with us and we took turns sleeping (I never actually drove!).  It RAINED all the way to Florida.  In fact, we left North Carolina in the middle of a tornado on the ground.  Scary!  We got to Disney at around 5:30am and were so lucky to be able to check into the *only* empty cabin at that hour.  Check-in wasn't supposed to be until 3pm, but we got a place and unpacked and then headed to the Magic Kingdom. 

Let me say it again...it was pouring!  We pulled out our Disney ponchos that we were forced to buy on our last trip to Disney because we weren't prepared for the rain.  They didn't help much...we still got drenched!  BUT...it was totally worth it to be in the park during a downpour because there was seriously no one else there.  We rode every single ride that we wanted to as many times as we wanted and we were *done* by mid-morning which was just about the time that the rain let up and people started pouring into the park.

The kids were enamored by everything!  Cinderella's castle, Dumbo, cotton candy, shops, the ponchos, the rollercoasters, Small World, Grandpa being with us, 3D shows, just everything was so magical to them (except for Curvy Road's fear of big Goofy characters!)

We went back to our cabin, changed into dry clothes, set out our dripping shoes in the sun to dry, and took a nap to take advantage of the park again in the afternoon.  Day 1 was a huge success, but I realized early on that I had forgotten how tiring a fun vacation is!

This trip marked the first time that our kids were tall enough for a roller coaster.  We tried Big Thunder Mountain railroad first.  Green Light LOVED it, Roundabout wasn't a fan.  Then Splash Mountain...Green Light LOVED it, Roundabout hated it.  Back to Big Thunder Mountain...Green Light couldn't get enough; it was growing on Roundabout.  It turned out to be one of her favorites by the end, but it did take some time for her to settle in that she did actually have fun on it.