memories Archives - Page 3 of 18

Mar 5, 2013

The Most Magical Place on Earth

I was somewhat quiet in the social media world last week, and with good reason. After months of planning, saving and waiting, we packed up the kids and drove to Florida so our daughters could have their first experience at Walt Disney World.

It was the first time we’ve been on a week-long vacation as a family, and the first full week of vacation I’ve had in nine years. Aaron and I had spent a day of our honeymoon at the Magic Kingdom, then for our one year anniversary we spent a week at the Disney World Resorts. The second trip wasn’t quite as much fun as we expected because I was newly pregnant with Cordy at the time, and spent the entire trip with morning sickness (24/7 sickness, really). I was unable to eat anything and generally had no energy to do much.

Back then we had dreamed of coming back to Disney for our 10th anniversary, and bringing any children we had with us. So last year, around our 9th anniversary, we discussed it and decided we’d try to make it a reality for 2013. Our anniversary is in March, but the pitfalls of getting married during spring break is that you can’t travel anywhere warm for anniversary trips without crowds and higher vacation fees. But the end of February was close enough.

This time we stayed at Port Orleans – Riverside in one of their new Royal rooms.

This was the building our room was in.

The rooms are decorated as if Princess Tiana had made the room up for the other Disney Princesses, including a note on the table welcoming her royal friends to stay with her. There are hidden elements of all of the princesses in the room, from Cinderella’s mice and Aurora’s three fairies in the border along the top of the walls, to Ariel’s fork and pipe (dinglehopper & snarfblat) in the shower curtain design, and even the sink faucets looked like the genie’s lamp from Aladdin.

The cool part was the hidden surprise in the bed headboards. Pressing a button gave us a magical fireworks lightshow in the headboard – it’s no surprise that the kids wanted to press the button several times every day.

Sleeping under the LED fireworks.

We visited all four parks while we were there, with two days spent in Magic Kingdom. Seeing the dropped-jaw looks of amazement from our daughters as they saw Cinderella’s Castle for the first time and met their first characters made tears come to my eyes. To them, this was a dream come true.

The castle lights up in different colors at night.

The rides were also a hit for all of us. Thanks to a special card we got for Cordy (more on that in the next post), it was possible to ride every ride we wanted to without Cordy having an anxiety attack from standing in a long, tightly-packed line.

There were a few rides Cordy refused to ride, and a few that we coaxed her onto and then she refused to ride again. Cordy’s experience of Disney World was mostly what we expected it to be: she didn’t want to leave home, then she was anxious about every new experience once we were there and didn’t want to leave the hotel room each day, and then at the end she didn’t want to leave Disney. “I don’t want to…” was most often heard from her during the entire trip, but we expected this.

On the bus to Hollywood Studios – Cordy loved riding the bus and the monorail.

Because of her autism, she’s an awful grump about doing anything new, which means she complains and whines throughout the entire experience, then tells us later that she liked (most of) it. It’s a good thing we have some understanding of how her brain works and know how to compensate, or otherwise we would have felt like this was a horrible trip for her. She did have a few moments where she felt safe with a new experience and really enjoyed herself. And of course we went back to the rides she liked as much as we could so she could really enjoy them the second time, now that she knew what to expect.

Finally! A hat big enough for Cordy’s head!

Mira, on the other hand, threw herself fully into Disney with the force of a five-year-old typhoon. She was determined to see and do it all, and even if her feet hurt she wouldn’t complain for fear of leaving the park early. She had an agenda of what she wanted to accomplish, including rides she wanted to go on and characters she wanted to meet. Other than riding Space Mountain (which we convinced her was probably too intense for her) she checked off everything on her list and then some. As we rode the bus back to the resort each night, she usually leaned against me and fell asleep fast.

Mira LOVED meeting Stitch. They’re two of a kind.

Whenever anyone asked her what her favorite part of Disney was so far, she always replied, “Everything!!” And I’m fairly certain she meant it, two exclamation points included. She loved everything about Disney World. Even if she did figure out that the characters were people in costumes. When we met Cinderella at the Magic Kingdom on Thursday, I joked that we’d see her in less than an hour in her castle for dinner. Mira gave me the “are you serious?” look and said, “Or maybe it’ll just be another Cinderella.”

During the fireworks, Tinkerbell flew out of the top of the castle directly over us. I pointed to her and said to the kids, “Look! Tink is flying past us!” and Mira then responded, “I think she’s really using a zipline.” Despite her clever mind, Mira was still willing to put aside her rational thoughts to fully enjoy each character meeting, though.

I have no idea what secrets they were sharing.

As for Aaron and I, it was fun to experience Disney as parents. I went to Disney as a child, and we went together before we had kids, but this was our first trip seeing it through their eyes. It was definitely more exhausting, and we were at the mercy of their wake up times and energy levels, but it was still a fantastic experience.

My mom and aunt were also along on the trip (they stayed off-site and spent most of the week seeing other places in Orlando) and they watched the kids for us for two evenings so we could have a nice dinner and spend some time riding rides together without the kids. It was a good balance of time with and without the kids.

We topped off the trip on our last night there with dinner in Cinderella’s Castle with the princesses. What better way to end our vacation than by seeing the inside of the castle and visiting with the princesses one last time? I had my own surprise for everyone, too. In the weeks before our vacation, I had secretly ordered a custom cake to be delivered at dinner that night.

Sorry for the dark photo – it was dark in the room at that point.

It was gluten-free for Aaron, with a design that was reminiscent of our wedding cake and a flavor that matched one of the tiers of our wedding cake. It was so gorgeous no one wanted to cut into it! A tenth anniversary cake in the castle at Disney World – perfect end to the week, no?

The morning that we started for home, there were tears from all of us. No one wanted to leave. Before we had even left our resort, Mira had already started asking when we could come back again. We agreed we didn’t want to wait another ten years to come back, and that maybe we could begin slowly setting money aside for a repeat trip in a few years. (Once we finish paying off this one!)

I know there are many people who are cynical about Disney, but I can’t help getting caught up in the magic. Yes, it’s all designed to get you to spend money, but I never feel cheated in handing it over. It always feels like we got our money’s worth and then some. Disney works very hard at providing a unique experience that goes above and beyond any standard theme park, and for us they were completely successful.

It was a magical vacation.

More to come on what attractions we liked best and recommendations if you’re planning your own trip. I wish Disney had invited me to write about our trip, but this wasn’t sponsored at all, as my Visa card can attest. We really love Disney that much.

Filed Under: family time, love, memories ·

Feb 13, 2013

Nightmares Feeding On Mom Anxiety

By Christina ·

Do you ever have those dreams that are so real that you wake up startled, disoriented, and trying to determine if it actually happened or if now, awake in your bed, is the true reality?

Now what about nightmares?

My sleep was disturbingly interrupted by one of those nightmares this morning. This one was worse than many because it didn’t involve any danger to me, but instead to one of my children. And unlike other bad dreams where I can wake and realize any danger was highly unlikely and improbable, this one involved a very real scenario that left me shaken and unable to go back to sleep.

In my nightmare, Mira died. It was a very life-like situation: she wasn’t with us (I can’t remember if she was at school or with family) and she choked on a bit of hot dog. The horrific scene played out where we received the news, and then planned her funeral. I remember sobbing that I’d never hug her again or see that impish smile. I tortured myself with “what if?” – what if she had been with me that day, what if she had only picked a different food or someone had cut up the hot dog better for her, or what if I had never encouraged her to like hot dogs? I remember walking into her room and seeing her favorite stuffed animals on the bed, and I was overcome with grief.

And then I woke up.

Terrifying, right? It took me several minutes to calm my breathing, wipe the tears out of my eyes and realize I could hear Mira arguing with her sister downstairs, perfectly healthy, perfectly alive. My mind was still on fire with the false memories from the dream, trying to push them aside and write them off as fears conjured into a hellish scenario for my brain to process.

The half hour remaining before my alarm went off was useless. I tried to go back to sleep, in the hope that more sleep would erase the lingering images from my mind, but the danger had been laid out for me and I couldn’t stop thinking about what I needed to do to prevent this from becoming a reality. After all, I had just bought hot dogs for Mira at the grocery last week after she asked for them – was this some warning, or just my mind arranging a random collection of thoughts and memories then taken to the extreme end?

I do occasionally worry about Mira choking. The kid is a talker – an excessive talker – and that includes while she’s eating. I’m often reminding her to chew and swallow, then talk. How easy would it be for her to accidentally inhale a piece of food?

And the concept of choking is one I’m personally familiar with. When I was five or six, my babysitter had given me some of the candy orange slices as a treat. (You know, the thick, sugared gummy-jelly wedges?) I was so happy to get them that I inhaled them. Literally.

I ate the first two without any trouble as I looked out the back door, trying to finish them so I could go out to play, but when I popped the third one into my mouth, it accidentally slid too far back and got stuck. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t yell for help. I remember the confusion and then the panic as I tried to cough or swallow to dislodge the candy. My babysitter was two rooms away and I didn’t think I could make it to her.

I walked from the kitchen to the living room, starting to hit myself in the chest, begging my lungs to work as I became light-headed. I remember stumbling over the rug (her rug had tripped me on many better days as well) and landing with my chest on the arm of the couch. And that did it – the candy popped up enough for me to cough it out. My throat burned as I gasped for air.

My experience could have ended far worse, and to this day I still won’t go near orange slices candy. I know Mira has trouble focusing on any single task, so I guess it’s only natural that I’d have a nightmare about her choking.

The hard part now is getting the nightmare out of my mind. As parents, we only have so much control over our children and we can’t guarantee their safety 100% of the time. Letting a child out of your site, even for a moment, is trusting that you’ve surrounded your child with the safest possible world and the best teaching, and that they’ll remember what you’ve taught them.

But there is no absolute safety. There are always risk, accidents you have no control over, and dwelling on all of the what if’s will only zap all of the joy out of being a parent.

When I came downstairs this morning, I sat on the couch next to Mira and she immediately threw her arms around me and said “I love you, mommy.” I pulled her close to me as she nuzzled her face into my neck, and hugged her tight.

That was my restart for the day. Instead of thinking about possible danger, I’m choosing to focus on the great moments I have with my kids. Because if something bad should ever happen to any of us, I want to know that our days were filled with love and happiness.

If anything, the nightmare was a good reminder to notice the little moments of joy in each day.

This kid cracks me up.

Filed Under: being a mom, family time, love, memories, Mira ·

Jan 7, 2013

Snow Days

By Christina ·

This winter has already proven to be far better than last winter. The day after Christmas, the snow started, and kept coming in intervals of every couple of days until the new year, leaving us with a lovely blanket of the white stuff.

With the past few winters being fairly dry and lacking in snow, Mira hasn’t had a lot of experience with it, and Cordy’s experiences are vague at best. Once they saw it on the ground, it didn’t take long before they were asking to go play in it. I bought them snowsuits and new boots and decided that since it was winter break, we’d make the most of our time with the snow.

This was also Cosmo’s first experience with anything more than a dusting of snow. He nervously pawed at the snow at first, but seeing the kids run out into it helped him get over any fear.

About to be knocked over by a dog running full force.

The next day, we decided to take the kids sledding. There’s a local sledding hill that apparently a large percentage of Columbus decided to visit with this new-found snow. During the drive, we created an image of how awesome sledding was for the kids, and how much they would love it.

At the hill, Aaron took them both up the hill to wait in line while I stood near the bottom to meet them when they came down. Mira was the first one down the hill – it’s hard to see, but she’s the one in the middle of the screen after a few seconds on the pink circle sled. Also? You can watch with the sound off so you don’t hear the people beside me yelling to their friends across the hill:

She was a little scared after clipping a few people at the end, but wanted to try one more time. Cordy had a harder crash on her first trip down, colliding with another sled on the way down. She was also shaken and scared to try again, but she also agreed to give it another try.

Parents, a helpful tip: if you must wait for your children at the bottom of the hill, stand to the side or far enough back that you don’t serve as an obstacle for the uncontrolled projectiles coming down the hill. I can’t count the number of adults who served as an abrupt stopping point for random kids, and many of the adults were then upset that the kid crashed into them. If you do choose to stand in their way, pay attention to the hill and move if someone is coming your way.

Mira’s second attempt ended poorly. Two other kids had collided and stopped halfway down the hill. Mira’s round sled hit another little girl just as she stood up, taking her off of her legs again and landing on top of Mira’s head. But Mira kept going, finally ending her rough journey by slamming into a group of adults and a sled they were holding. (No photos of that because I saw the crash coming and put the phone away!)

I was still comforting Mira and wiping away her tears when Aaron got Cordy into position. I tried to wave to Aaron that maybe we needed a break, but I was lost in the crowd and Cordy came down the hill again.

Thanks to all of the snow being packed, she picked up speed quickly. I was trying to run to her to help stop her, as well as yell to a group of people to watch out, but they didn’t move. Cordy hit them but had enough momentum to keep going. I jumped right into another group of people and grabbed Cordy’s coat just as she hit me and bumped the people next to me.

At that point I felt like an awful parent as both kids told us they hated sledding and wanted to go home. We had been there for less than half an hour, and they were now hurting and traumatized by sledding. So much for that awesomely fun experience, eh?

My mom came to the rescue a few days later, suggesting they go to my aunt’s new house and try sledding on the little hills around her house. There were no obstacles, no crowds of people – they could even have their own hills! (Why didn’t we think to do that in the first place?)

It took a lot of coaxing, but they now like sledding again. Cordy won’t try anything larger than a speed bump, but at least she’s willing to try the sled again.

This weekend we all went back to my aunt’s for a little more quality time with the snow, bringing Cosmo with us as well. Squeals of joy and laughter were heard all morning.

I’m so happy to have the snow back this winter.

Filed Under: Cordy, Cosmo, daily life, family time, memories, Mira, snow ·

Jan 1, 2013

New Year’s Eve: Glancing Backward, Leaping Forward To 2013

By Christina ·

Another year is nearly in the history books. Overall? 2012 was fairly good for us. I don’t think I could have dreamed it would go in the direction it did when we started the year, but that sudden turn ended up being a mostly pleasant change of scenery that will hopefully all turn out for the best.

At the beginning of the year, I was hoping beyond hope to become a permanent employee at my job. (I worked overnights as a nurse answering questions for new parents via phone.) That aspiration didn’t come true – instead, my entire shift was eliminated, leaving me without a job – but I didn’t realize at the time that it was a message from the universe saying I needed better. I didn’t realize how exhausted I was from working third shift. I was barely living, missing out on my family’s lives because I was either asleep or in a sleepy haze when they were home.

It was frightening to be unemployed, knowing we needed two incomes to pay our bills, but thankfully it didn’t last long and that “right place at the right time” karmic moment came and I spent only two weeks unemployed. Not only did a job opportunity fall into my lap, it was one that was a delightful fit for me, and has since helped me expand and grow my skills while truly enjoying what I do.

Thanks to my current employment, I’m also living among the daywalkers again, although after several years of third shift, I’m still sluggish in the mornings. I have the opportunity to pick my kids up from school each day, saving them a long, dull bus ride and providing the chance to keep in close contact with Cordy’s team of teachers at school.

Aaron’s job this year was rocky but ended on a high note. In May he was told his job was being eliminated but in a last-minute move they decided to keep him, but only at part-time. He’s been giving full effort to his job, in the hopes of seeing full-time again, and just in the last week or so he got his wish. He’s starting a new full-time position with the company this week, working with the military, and it looks promising for future opportunities.

Mira started kindergarten in 2012 at the same school as Cordy. Having them both in the same school is fantastic. Cordy’s had some troubles along the way, but she’s doing better and we now have new plans in place to help her deal with her anxiety. I love spending more time with them now and learning so much from them.

I had some fantastic opportunities in 2012, too. I worked with Slim-Fast and reached my goal weight, an accomplishment that has taken 20 years to achieve. I walked in my first fashion show at BlogHer, an experience I will never forget. We went on mini-vacations to Cedar Point and Put-in-Bay, where I re-introduced the girls to my passion for roller coasters and water . (And they discovered their love of golf carts.)

And we now have a dog, who is a lovely oaf that is convinced he’s either a 95lb lapdog or my third child.

I also wanted to find ME again in 2012. I didn’t quite meet that goal, but having a stable sleep schedule and getting to be with my family more has helped me make a lot of progress toward that goal.

Back to my original statement. Overall? 2012 was fairly good for us. It’s been a steady climb out of the hellhole that was 2008. It’s truly time to shine now.

And now…2013. This year will be awesome. It just has to be. With a lead-in like 2012, we’re all primed for some amazing things to come our way this year. Not only are careers and kids going well, Aaron and I will be celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary in March 2013, with a big trip planned as part of the celebration.

This blog will be getting a facelift, too. I’m this close to getting it all moved to WordPress (FINALLY!! *insert fireworks and cheers here*) so be ready for a new look very soon. I’m combining three blogs into one, pulling it all back under one space for my own sanity. Which also means I want to be writing more, too. I have a lot of opinions and stories to share, I only need the momentum to get them written down.

So let’s do this, 2013. I’m ready. I’ll bring the effort, you bring the magic.

Filed Under: family time, holidays, memories ·

Dec 10, 2012

Our Life As Seen Through Holiday Decorations (& Giveaway!)

By Christina ·

Shortly after Thanksgiving, as soon as Aaron felt well enough after the flu, we pulled out the holiday decorations and set up the Christmas tree. I love that we always decorate the tree as a family, with everyone involved in dressing it up with garland and ornaments.

Our tree’s ornaments are an ever-evolving group, which started originally with ornaments from when I was younger. You could say it’s one big geek tree. My mom used to buy me a new ornament every year, usually a Star Trek or Star Wars ornament. I then added some Disney ornaments to it in my early 20’s.

The Next Gen Enterprise – one of my favorites from high school

Once Aaron joined the family, my mom picked up on his interests (comic books and superheroes) and went to Hallmark for a new superhero ornament every year. This was one of the first she gave him:

flying near the top of the tree, of course

There are plenty of other sentimental ornaments on the tree, too. There’s the Siamese cat that reminds me of our first Siamese. And the Irish dancer glass ornament from when I used to dance. This is one we bought at Walt Disney World when we were on our honeymoon, nearly ten years ago:

As soon as Cordy and Mira were old enough, we began taking them to Hallmark to pick out a new Keepsake ornament each year as well. It’s so much fun to open the box of tree decorations and see a visual history of our daughters’ interests by what they picked for their special ornaments at different ages.

This year, the store was full of possibilities. So many different ornaments that they liked, but our limit was one each. They walked back and forth considering the possibilities for nearly 15 minutes before making their choices.

So. many. choices!

For Mira, it was Rapunzel from Tangled. She loves the Disney Princesses at the moment. For Cordy, it was Snoopy, since it reminded her of our trips to Cedar Point this year.

My mom has already picked out two for Aaron this year, although he doesn’t know what they are yet, so I can’t share here. But Hallmark also sent us an ornament for him, too:

Thor’s mighty hammer will crush any tree invaders!

This is one of three Avengers ornaments that come with bases that can join together for a tabletop display. Thor is now joining his superhero friends on the great geek tree, near Iron Man and the Hulk.

Beyond the Christmas tree, Hallmark also sent us a gift for the kids. (Mira, really.) Meet Christopher, one of the Interactive Story Buddies:

He’s not just a stuffed animal that accompanies a storybook. Inside that plush covering is a smart little electronic box that not only lets Christopher speak, but is programmed to listen to you for certain phrases and then respond, as if he’s listening to the story and can’t help but chime in. Just like your kids do when you’re reading a story they already know.

I have to admit, this is a super-cute idea. Mira adores this bear, and his book, Christopher Can’t Sleep!, is a favorite request for her bedtime story. I’m amazed at how well he recognizes the trigger phrases to respond to when I’m reading the book. (The phrases he responds to are a different color in the book, so you know when to speak clearly and not skip a word, like I sometimes do when trying to hurry through a book.)

He’s not a one-trick bear, either. Besides the book and respond-along CD that come with Christopher, Hallmark already has other interactive books that he interacts with, and there’s an iPod/iPad app for him, too. He’s one of several different Interactive Story Buddies, each with their own theme and books to go with them. You can check them out at Hallmark’s website or in stores.

Giveaway!

Hallmark is giving one lucky reader a Thor ornament to start (or continue) your geek tree, as well as Christopher, the Interactive Story Buddy! To enter, please use the Rafflecopter widget below. Giveaway is open until the end of Saturday, December 15.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Full disclosure: I received the two products mentioned above from Hallmark for review. All opinions are my own, including my belief that the best ornament ever was the Star Trek Shuttlecraft Galileo with Spock’s voice wishing us a happy holidays. And yes, I have that on our tree, too: