BEFORE AND AFTER

First off, sorry about not posting more on Disney. It's coming I promise. Carter is sick (again) and I am also, so it's been hard to post.

Today is the day Lexie has been looking forward to for 2 1/2 years. She got her braces off! I was looking at her before pictures I took, and I can't believe how different she looks. (Both teeth and age wise.)


Before Braces- 8/15/06





First Day of Braces

Last Day of Braces

Braces Off!!! 4/2/09

The orthodontist gave her balloons, a big lollipop, and a cup full of candy she wasn't allowed to have when she was wearing braces.

Disney- Animal Kingdom

I am having to post about our trip in sections. If I waited until I have time to post about the whole thing, then you wouldn't see pictures until next Spring Break! We had a great trip! We were not ready to come home, especially since it was snowing here.


The day we got to Orlando we just hung around the hotel. Lexie and Carter were both on their second day of an antibiotic, so it was good to relax and let the meds work a little more before we hit the parks.


Taking a baby/toddler to Disney World was a lot easier and more fun than I thought it would be. Several people have asked me for some tips, so I kept an ongoing list while I was there and I will have a tips post as soon as I finish posting about the parks. (I got tips from other people too before we went.)


We stayed at Disney's Boardwalk Villas. It was beautiful!! (Thanks Monte!) The location was great because we could walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. The buses for the other parks ran every 20 minutes, so we never had to wait very long.

Lexie and Monte winning worthless junk. (Although they didn't actually win anything this time.)

Carter watching Monte and Lexie. Probably wondering why he gets in trouble for throwing things.

ANIMAL KINGDOM

The first day at the parks we went to Animal Kingdom.


Waiting for the bus at the hotel.



Carter fell asleep on the way to the park. (This happened most days.)

We had lunch at The Rainforest Cafe.

Lexie took Carter around to look at all the cool stuff in the restaurant. He loved it!! She was a HUGE help on the trip. It was great because she loved watching him have fun too, so she didn't get jealous when we did stuff he liked. She also took him around to look at things while we waited in line.

"Oh, no! Mom is driving!"

Lexie next to a "dinosaur".

At the parade

We didn't actually stop and watch it. We watched it as we walked past. It was going one way and we were going the other. We got to see most of it. It was kind of like watching it in fast forward.

Waiting in line for Lion King

Lexie kept sticking the sticker on Carter, and he would pull it off and hand it back to her. Finally he handed it to a little girl in line, and he clapped when she took it away.

Carter danced through the entire Lion King show. We all had to take turns holding on to him. The show was awesome! Lexie and I saw it when she was 6, and it was even better than we remembered. It's a must see if you go.

The Safari

Our driver was a maniac!

Carter was making noises with his hand.

Carter LOVED the characters! (Especially Sleeping Beauty- more about that later.) I wasn't sure how he would feel about them. I actually expected him to be scared of them. Lexie liked them too, but that's a secret. She would use Carter as an excuse to go see the characters.

Go with your gut

This is a post I meant to post before I left for vacation, but I was too busy packing and taking care of a sick baby and teen.

I posted previously that Carter had an ear infection in both ears. Well, he never really got better. I made 4 trips to the doctors' office in 12 days. (And no, I am not one of those people that takes their child to the doctor every time they sneeze.) My title for this post is 'go with your gut' because if you don't feel your doctor is right, get a second opinion. Doctors are human, and they do make mistakes.

Here is a recap of our 12 days:
Day 1- I took Carter to the doctor, and he had an ear infection in both ears. We didn't see our regular pediatrician (Dr. F) because he was booked up, so we saw another pediatrician (Dr. C) in the same clinic.

Day 4- Carter was getting worse instead of better. We went to another pediatrician (Dr. H) in the same office. (Our pediatrician is very popular.) He checked Carter's ears and said they looked better. He said he just had a cold on top of the ear infection.

Days 6-7- Carter was almost back to normal. He was playful and laughing.

Day 8- He starts acting fussy again.

Day 9- Carter has a fever of 103. I call the pediatrician's office and they can't get him in until the next day.

Day 10- Fever is up to 104. We see Dr. C again. She looks in his ears- says they are fine. She looks in his throat- says it's a little pink. She gives him a flu test- it comes back negative. She says it is just a virus and he should be better by the time we leave for Disney World. (in 3 days)

Day 11- Here is where the go with your gut comes in. Carter is a very happy and playful little boy. By this point he was crying nonstop, and by crying I mean screaming. I was getting very worried because I have read too many blogs about sick children that don't get better and end up having cancer or another horrible illness. (I am actually no longer allowed to blog hop because of this. I am also banned from WebMD.) I called my sister and she talked to my BIL (a doctor) and they told me that viruses can last for a long time and be very painful, but to definitely take him back to the doctor if I felt he needed to be seen again. (My sister was very comforting.) I decided to take Carter to my general doctor. Monte and I have both seen him, and we really liked him. He is very thorough and takes time to explain things.

Day 12- I take Carter to see Dr. H, and guess what? Carter has an ear infection in both ears AND strep throat!!! Needless to say we will not be going back to Dr. C. Dr. H put Carter on a really strong antibiotic, and by the next morning he was feeling a lot better. By the time we got to Disney World, two days later, he was happy and having fun with Mickey Mouse. I am so glad that I trusted my instincts and got a second opinion.

Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives

One of Lexie's favorite TV shows is Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. She has been talking about pancakes she saw on an episode that she wanted to make. Last night we had breakfast for dinner, and she made her pancakes. She and Monte thought they were really good. (I just had plain ones.) The banana ones were their favorite. I think I will let her take over cooking dinner from now on :-)

She made a Mickey Mouse pancake for Carter.

Enjoying the Weather

As I have posted before, Carter has been sick. We had a couple of days that he was back to normal, but now he has a virus. The doctor said he should be fine by the time we leave for our trip. (It's only 2 days away, so I'm not so sure.)

Luckily the weather was really nice when Carter felt good, so we went to the park. He loves to swing and watch the bigger kids. He also liked climbing up one of the play structures. He thinks he is one of the big kids, and he tries to do what they do.

I love it when he wears shorts. I think he looks so cute showing off his chunky legs. (If only chunky legs looked cute a 34 year old woman.)

When we were in Russellville there were several hours between Lexie's performance and the awards at the end, so we found a park and took Carter to play. (Lexie stayed with the church youth group.) There were not swings at this park, but he loved the slide.

Carter does not hold himself up when he goes down the slide, so we ended up with some really funny pictures. We also thought his shoes might be gripping the slide and causing him to spin around. I was laughing so hard I could barely take pictures. I couldn't wait to see what position he was in when he came around the corner.

Maybe if we take off the shoes that will help.

Nope!

The non-curvy slide was easier for him.

Spring Break Prayer Requests

I know many of you are traveling over Spring Break, and I hope you all have safe and happy trips.

A few specific requests:

First, my brother and his family are going on a mission trip to Guatemala over the break. They will be working at an orphanage and doing a few other things. Please pray for them. They have two 12 year old girls, and traveling out of the country with kids can be scary (for me any way).

Next, please pray for my family. We are leaving for Disney World on Saturday. Large crowds always make me nervous. I am super paranoid about my children getting lost. Also I am nervous about flying with Carter. It wasn't difficult flying with him when he was not mobile, but I am really not sure what to expect now. Fortunately Lexie is really easy to travel with. Just give her a couple of books and she's good to go. Also, Carter is still sick. He was back to normal for a couple of days, then he woke up from his nap today with a fever. I am taking him to the doctor tomorrow, so hopefully he will be healthy for the trip. Please pray that we will have a safe, healthy, and happy trip.

Enjoy your Spring Break!!

Puppet Master

Lexie competed in the Fine Arts Talent Competition on Saturday in Russellville. She did a really good job. She and her partner received a "superior" rating. I tried to upload the video, but I kept getting an error message. I also don't have any pictures of the actual performance because they wouldn't let you use a flash, so my pictures didn't turn out. (I really need to read my owner's manual or take a class.)



Lexie and Keely practicing with their puppets.




Lexie and Starburst (the puppet)
Keely's puppet is named Skittles.