Ok so this will be the longest post ever. Johnnie's parents took Johnnie, Olivia and I to Disney World at the beginning of March. Our flight was leaving on a Thursday morning at 9:35 so we booked a room at the DFW Hyatt on Wed night so we could just wake up and already be at the airport - best decision ever! It was so much less stressful. So I knew I would need Mon-Wed to do laundry, pack, finish up shopping for the trip, etc... so I asked my mom if I could bring Olivia out to her house on Mon morning and she could stay the night and she of course said yes and that she would bring her home on Tues afternoon. Monday morning Olivia woke up at 6am (she never wakes up before 8:30) calling my name. I turned on the monitor and she was just standing up calling for me but not crying. I turned it off hoping she would lay down and go back to sleep. In less than 3 mins she was quiet so I turned the monitor back on and she was laying back down with her eyes closed so I assumed she had gone back to sleep. A few minutes later I heard her cough so I turned the monitor back on and she was laying on her back, head on her pillow, eyes open, grabbing pieces of something out of her mouth and flicking and wiping it on her blanket. I thought to myself that she couldn't have thrown up b/c she wasn't crying. Then I noticed a little pile of something on her pillow and I knew that had to be what it was. I told Johnnie and we both jumped up and ran in there. I didn't turn on the light, I just walked in and said, "Hi Olivia, what's goin on?" She said, "Ummmmm, I frew up." I said, "Oh okay well let me help you and I'll clean it all up." I picked her up (still in the dark) and asked her if she was ok and she said, "I need a wipe." I took her into the bathroom and turned on the light. I could not believe what I saw. Her entire face and most of her hair was covered in vomit and she was just as calm as could be. It was so sad. I handed her a wipe and she started wiping off her face while I used a wipe to get it out of her hair. I am so glad that I heard that little cough b/c I think she would've just sat in there for a while and maybe even went back to sleep. Johnnie took care of all her bedding while I bathed her and brushed her teeth and got her all cleaned up. She wouldn't eat but acted like she felt ok. No fever, no other symptoms so I went ahead and took her to my moms in hopes that it was just something she had eaten that didn't agree with her. She didn't throw up anymore but my mom said that she slept a lot, wanted to be held a lot and mainly stayed on the couch and watched movies. She refused all food except popsicles until that evening when she ate some buttered pasta and green beans. I was glad to hear that she had eaten and hoped that she was over the "bug." That night before bed my mom said she had a little diarrhea but acted like she was feeling better. All day Monday I did laundry and packed Olivia's suitcase. When Johnnie got home from work we ran some errands and then on Tuesday I layed out all my clothes and ran some more errands. That afternoon right about the time my mom brought Olivia home I started having cramps - BAD cramps. I was thinking - please don't let me have whatever she has had. I had Olivia's suitcase all packed and when Johnnie got home he packed my suitcase and his. Olivia was crankier than usual - definitely not 100% but seemed ok. She went to bed early on Tuesday night and woke up around 7:45 on Wed. She was not herself on Wed - rude, cranky, nothing nice to say, very tired. She went down for her nap early and took a long nap. I was hoping she would wake up in a good mood - I was wrong. She woke up calling for me and when I walked in she had a grumpy look on her face. She started to get upset and told me to fix my hair. I told her I was actually just about to straighten it and asked if she wanted to come and help me. She said no and told me I was not pretty :( She usually tells me, "you're so pretty mommy!" I got her out of her crib and grabbed a diaper. She said she didn't want her diaper changed so I said, "Ok why don't we take a bath." She said she didn't want to (unusual) but I started her bath water anyway. I thought things were looking up when she picked out a colored bath tablet for her water but after she dropped it in she said she didn't want to take a bath. I tried forcing her in but it started a war. I battled her for what seemed like hours! First, trying to calm her down to sit in the tub, then in every room of the house. Getting her diaper on took 10 mins. She kicked and screamed and twisted around and I eventually got the diaper on, her jeans on and her shirt on but she fought me with everything she had. She may weigh less than 25 lbs but she is STRONG!!! I eventually broke down and cried out of frustration. I seriously wondered if she was having some sort of psychotic episode. It was very scary. She was SO NOT herself. Luckily my parents showed up early (they were taking us to the hotel) and they took her outside and calmed her down while I finished packing up. Johnnie got home and we got everything loaded up and we left. We at dinner at Spring Creek. She ate a few pieces of turkey, a few green beans and some corn. She drank some milk and some of my moms tea and then ate a ton of ice cream. She seemed to be feeling a lot better and she was definitely acting more normal. We got to the hotel and she LOVED it. A Tinkerbell show came on the Disney channel and she loved that and loved watching the airplanes take off and land out the window. We hoped the drama was over. Since she had refused her bath earlier in the day I knew I would have to bathe her at the hotel. We had a huge room, executive suite - it had a big bedroom, big living room & 2 bathrooms. The first bathroom I looked in didn't have a bathtub - just a giant shower, so I figured there would be a tub in the other bathroom. Nope. Another giant shower. Johnnie thought she might get in the shower with me but I was doubtful that I could get her in there. But when I went in there to go potty she came in and started playing in the shower while it was off. I asked if she wanted to take a shower with me and told her it would be like playing in the sprinkler. She acted excited and we had a lot of fun. It was actually much easier than a bath. She went to sleep really well Wed night and we all slept great. Johnnie got up at 5:30 and got ready, I got up at 5:45 and got ready and we woke Olivia up at 6:45. She was not as grumpy as I thought she would be. She wanted Johnnie to hold her a lot though so I got her dressed while he held her. She looked so cute in one of her new outfits. She sat in the bed and watched tv while we got everything ready to go. We wanted to be downstairs to catch the shuttle to our terminal at 7:20. At 7:10 we turned off the tv, grabbed all of our bags and headed for the door. I was holding Olivia when she coughed and I knew what was coming. I looked at her face and leaned her forward as she threw up. It splattered on my face, in my hair, on her cardigan, on my cardigan and all over the floor. It was her dinner from Spring Creek. I ran into the bathroom and she finished in the sink and then said, "What happened??" I wiped her face as Johnnie took off our cardigans. I washed her hands, my hands, the spatter off of my face and out of my hair, wiped the little bit that had gotten on my shirt and her adorable little tank top. Johnnie cleaned up the floor and we got out 2 new cardigans and I decided it would be a good idea for me to put a change of clothes for myself in one of our carry on bags. Olivia's suitcase was a carry on so we were covered there. I brushed her teeth and we quickly headed downstairs and made it on the 7:40 shuttle. She seemed ok. We got off the shuttle at the baggage check and she was so excited that Nana and PawPaw were there. We got through security and I went to Starbucks to get me a drink and some oatmeal. Then to McDonalds to get her a plain biscuit and Sprite and something for Johnnie. She said she wanted her milk so we gave it to her and then she started eating her biscuit. Nana finally convinced her to try the Sprite but she said she didn't like it. As I was stirring my oatmeal and Johnnie and Nana were feeding Olivia her biscuit it happened again - vomit everywhere! Nana caught some in her hand, John caught some in his, his jeans caught some, ALL over the floor, her cardigan, that adorable tank top, Nana's shoe. And boy did it STINK!!! It was her milk and biscuit. We all hurried to wipe up what we could and I headed to the bathroom to wash her up. She said "I frew up Nana, do you have any Dora stickers?" LOL! She never got upset. She just throws up and moves on to the next thing. PawPaw and I were the only ones that didn't get it on us. John cleaned his jeans in the bathroom and used a Wet One to get the smell out. Nana cleaned her shoe and I changed Olivia's shirt. After all that, we ate and it was time to board.
Olivia sat between Johnnie and I and asked for her beloved pillows as soon as we got in the air. She slept the entire flight. I sat and wrote in my journal and hoped for a vomit-free vacation.
Daddy helping with her seatbelt
This old Rangers tshirt was not the cute outfit I had in mind for the plane ride but after the morning we had been through I thought it would have to do.
She woke up right before we landed. We made it through the airport and onto the Disney bus but she wanted NOTHING to do with me. She wouldn't smile at me, got irritated when I even looked at her, etc... She just wanted her Daddy. And sometimes her Nana. So Johnnie had to carry her all through the airport. She sat with Nana on the bus. We got to the hotel and she loved it because the washcloths were folded into different animals and had stickers on them for eyes, noses and mouths. Its the little things :) Since she had already slept on the plane she didn't need a nap so we just got all settled in and ate some snacks.
Our dinner was at 5:45 in Epcot, in Mexico, at the San Angel Inn - one of our faves. We just call it "the mexican place" b/c we eat there every time we come. We were early for dinner so we went on the boat cruise there in the restaurant. It is called the Gran Fiesta Tour starring Donald Duck and his two Mexican buddies, Panchito and Jose.
After the boat ride we ate dinner and walked down to Norway to go on another boat ride, Maelstrom. It had a 20 wait time and Olivia fell asleep after we had waited about 10 mins. We got on the boat and she stayed asleep. It was a viking themed ride with lots of darkness and a scary sounding narrator but there were some things that she would've loved - polar bears, trolls, and going fast down a hill so I hated that she slept through the entire thing. It was only our first night though and I knew were eating at Epcot again the next 2 nights so I figured we could do it again. We also wanted to take her to "Talk Time with Crush" which is an interactive show starring Crush, the sea turtle in Finding Nemo, but since she was obviously worn out we opted to do that on another night also and just take her back to the hotel. She woke up before we got out of Epcot, we took the monorail back to the hotel, I gave her a bath and then she played games on her ipad while I took a shower and got ready for bed. She threw a screaming fit when it was time to turn off the ipad and got to bed and she flopped around and talked and sang until almost 11pm. Then we had to wake her up at 6:45am to get dressed and catch the bus downstairs. We had breakfast reservations at the Tusker House in Animal Kingdom. She was NOT a happy camper at 6:45 but we just kept telling her that she would get to see Donald Duck at breakfast and that kept her somewhat content. I had a whole list of things that I wanted her to see and do at Animal Kingdom so I was hoping her attitude would get better as the day went on. Before we got seated for breakfast she got her picture taken with Donald and she loved that.
Then during breakfast she got to meet Mickey, Daisy, and her favorite - GOOFY!!!
OH - let's back up a bit - I realized Thurs evening before dinner that our camera battery charger was NOT in our camera bag where it usually is - it got left at home :( The battery wasn't dead but it didn't have a full charge. I had also brought our little Sony camera but the battery charger for that one got left behind as well :( So - back to breakfast at Tusker House - they had a photographer that took her pic with Donald. Then Mickey was the first of the other 3 to come to our table. I grab the camera and start to take pics of her and Mickey and.....dead battery. I scrambled for the little camera and I used it for Daisy and Goofy also. After breakfast we went on the Kilimanjaro Safari. Olivia actually agreed to sit with me for a change instead of Johnnie. She had a great time. We saw giraffes, hippos, elephants, wildebeasts, crocodiles, rhinos and ostriches. She really enjoyed it. Then we walked the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail where we saw more animals including some gorillas. Then we rode a train from Africa over to Rafiki's Planet Watch and she got to pet a sheep and some goats and she saw a pig, a llama and some donkeys. We rode the train back to Africa and then went to the Bug's Life show - It's Tough to Be a Bug! She loves Bug's Life and knows all the bugs names so we were really excited to take her to this. We had been telling her she would see Hopper (the MEAN grasshopper) at Disney World and she always said she was going to talk to him and tell him to be nice - LOL. She refused to wear the 3D glasses but liked the show. I had wondered if she would get scared but she never did. We walked back to Africa and ate lunch at Pizzafari and then walked to Camp Minnie-Mickey and waited in a line to meet Chip and Dale. She LOVED that!
kissing Dale's nose! So sweet!
She barely stayed awake as we walked over to Dinoland USA to watch the Finding Nemo Musical. We were too early so we took her on the Triceratop Spin ride and she liked that. Then we went to the musical. She got pretty fussy right before it started and then when it did start we worried that she wouldn't like it since it was people dressed as the fish and not an animated movie. She LOVED it though! I couldn't believe she stayed awake for the whole show but she paid attention until the very end. I was so proud of her and let her pick out a new friend. I told her she could choose Nemo, Dori, Crush, Squirt or Bruce. She chose Squirt - so cute! I figured a new friend "might" help her to stay awake on the bus ride back to the hotel. Squirt, a bag of Pops chips and some rowdy boys on the bus kept her awake but we only got to the hotel in time for a 40 minute nap since we had dinner reservations at Epcot again. Johnnie didn't ride the bus with us back to the hotel. He took a cab to Best Buy to get a battery charger for the camera. Charger - $40. Cab ride - $90!!!! - but.....pics of our sweet girl on her first trip to Disney World - PRICELESS!!! After the short nap we went back to Epcot for dinner at Via Napoli in Italy. After dinner we just walked around and ended up going back over to Norway to ride Maelstrom again and Olivia stayed awake and enjoyed it. Then we went home and went to bed. It had been a LOOONG day! The next morning we were up bright and early again b/c we were having breakfast at Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom. Olivia was still in a funk from not feeling well the past few days and lack of sleep. So her behavior was not great but she enjoyed all the Winnie the Pooh characters at breakfast.
loving on Eeyore
kissing Eeyore's nose
giving Eeyore five
loving on Tigger
giving Tigger five
loving on Piglet
kissing Piglet's nose
so sweet!
Piglet being silly
Olivia asked Piglet to give hugs to her Nana and her PawPaw. Nana would kill me if I posted her pic on here with Piglet - she had her mouth full when Piglet surprised her with a big squeeze - not a great picture :) But this is very cute of Piglet and PawPaw!
loving on Pooh
After breakfast we went on the Jungle Cruise which is described as a "silly safari boat tour." Olivia still wanted nothing to do with me and preferred sitting with her daddy. Which worked out because I got some great pics of the two of them having a great time. Johnnie was in heaven with all the attention he was getting from her.
we were passing by a waterfall and all the wind and the spray from the water was getting them!
the waterfall livened her up a little and she got in a lot better mood
here comes another waterfall!!!
we were in complete darkness - she looks a little frightened!
After the Jungle Cruise I wanted her to ride on The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. I asked PawPaw and Nana to go to so I could try to get some cute pics of all of them.
Then she wanted to ride again so Nana and I rode together and Johnnie took the pics. Notice in the picture below she has her hand on her clip. And I am oblivious to this as I wave to the camera.
And in this picture below (with me still oblivious) she is pulling the clip out of her hair. She then threw it on the ground and as we are walking away from it she says, "Hey don't forget my clip." And she points back to it. Silly girl!
After the magic carpet ride I could tell Olivia was exhausted already. It was Saturday at Magic Kingdom and was the first day of Spring Break for a lot of kids so the place was packed. There are so many fun things I wanted her to be able to do at Magic Kingdom but it just wasn't feasible. I hated to just leave and go back to the hotel so early though so we got on the train. It goes all the way around the Magic Kingdom and I thought it would be a good napping spot for Olivia and resting spot for us. We rode the train around 3 or 4 times so that she got a really good nap. The weather was perfect and it was so relaxing. By the time we got off though we were hungry again and all the restaurants were PACKED and it was just too crowded for us to find anything to eat so we went ahead and went back to the hotel to eat lunch.
That evening we had dinner reservations in Epcot again at Teppan Edo in Japan. It was good but Olivia was restless and didn't want to be there. I ate as fast as I could and took her back outside and I pushed her around in the stroller while Johnnie and his parents finished eating. Then we went to "Talk Time with Crush" which she loved and then on to "The Seas with Nemo & Friends" which was a little ride that she also enjoyed. I think her favorite part though was seeing all the fish in the big aquariums and getting to see Bruce, Chum and Anchor - the sharks on Finding Nemo.
Sunday - our last full day at Disney World. We had breakfast reservations in Hollywood Studios at a restaurant called Hollywood & Vine. It was also a character breakfast and she got to meet a lot of fun characters from shows she watches on Disney Junior.
about to kiss Handy Manny
kissing Leo's nose :)
hugging Special Agent Oso
She was SOOO excited to see June from the Little Einsteins! She hugged her...
kissed her...
and told her, "I love your purple dress. It's very pretty." Such a sweet girl!
After breakfast Johnnie went and got into a line for us to see Playhouse Disney - Live on Stage! While he waited in the line I took Olivia into another building to meet some characters. We found Pluto, Goofy and Mickey
running with open arms to Pluto - so cute!
kissing Pluto's nose as the signs her autograph book
having a snack while waiting in the line to see the Playhouse Disney show. It did not disappoint. They did skits from Little Einsteins, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Handy Manny. It was really cute and she loved it! After the show we headed back to the hotel to rest up for our big night out at Downtown Disney. We saved the best for last and had dinner reservations at Fulton's Crabhouse - everyone's favorite! After dinner we went shopping for gifts. I got my mom a cute tank top, my dad a tshirt, Olivia some Winnie the Pooh legos and Nathan & Preston some Toy Story legos. On our way out Olivia wanted to ride on a carousel and I'm glad b/c I got more cute pics of her and her daddy.
On the bus ride back to the hotel Olivia made a new friend. I can't remember this kid's name but he was SUCH a talker. I thought Olivia was a talker but this kid talked to us the entire bus ride home. He was mainly speaking to Olivia - so cute! He asked her to hold his hand when we were halfway home and she did - so sweet! Then they got off at our hotel and walked in together hand in hand. I took a picture of them before we got on the elevator but Olivia is too interested in his light-up shoes to look at the camera.
Monday morning we were all packed up and ready to go and we had our last Disney meal - breakfast at Chef Mickey's. This was Olivia's last chance to try to see Minnie Mouse. She had still not seen her anywhere and had been asking about her every time she saw Mickey.
As Goofy is making his way around the room Olivia is standing there with her hands to her mouth yelling "Goofy! I'm over here!" Luckily its noisy enough in there where it wasn't a big deal.
He finally made it around to our table and she was so excited to hug him.
kissing Mickey's nose
touching Pluto's tongue
kissing Pluto's nose
hugging and cheezin it up with Donald
and the moment she had been waiting for the whole trip - HUGGING MINNIE MOUSE!!!
pure happiness!
and she sealed it with a kiss!
This was an amazing trip and I am so lucky to have such wonderful in-laws! Thanks again Buster & Linda! Olivia STILL talks about Disney World. She asks probably every couple of weeks, "Remember when we went to Disney World?" And I say, "Yeah, it was so fun!" And she says, "Can we go there tonight?" And when she sees an airplane in the sky she always points it out and I'll ask her where she thinks its going and she will either say "to the airport" or "to Disney World." And of course she loves looking at all the pictures. It will be a vacation we will always remember and Olivia can't wait to go back when her little sibling is old enough :)
