Month: May 2015

Catch the Moment: Week 19 (Disney Style)

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

I haven’t forgotten about this project and I haven’t lost any steam – we’ve been on a 9 day vacation to Walt Disney World. So get ready to be inundated with pictures from that magical place this week and part of next. My last post was only 6 pictures so this one will be 8 to make up for it, then back on track with 7 each week. I can’t believe our trip, that we’d been looking forward to for so long, has already come and gone. I plan to write a series of posts regarding our trip while it’s all fresh on my mind, but for now – just a glimpse. In other words, stay away from here if you are anti-mouse. Just sayin’…

Linking up with Mindi at Stavish Stills Photography, Carrie at My Life, Our Journey, and Stephanie at Behind the Camera and Dreaming.

126/365: Wednesday, May 6th. We arrived in the afternoon and made a beeline for the Magic Kingdom. The best part of the night for me was walking up to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, nervously anticipating the cast member measuring Dexter’s height, and seeing that he was indeed tall enough to ride everything that I’d hoped he’d be able to (so that WE’D be able to, as a family). I do have a picture of him getting measured (with a big grin on his face) but I decided to save that one for a separate post once I start my vacation recaps. 05-06-2015

127/365: Thursday, May 7th. My birthday! It’s no coincidence that our vacation was scheduled the week that spanned my birthday, Mother’s Day, and Dexter’s 4th birthday. What better place to celebrate? We went to EPCOT. We’ve gotten a picture with Donald in the World Showcase 2 trips in a row so maybe it will become a tradition. 05-07-2015

128/365: Friday, May 8th. Back to the Magic Kingdom for a full day of fun and wonder. 05-08-2015

129/365: Saturday, May 9th. We arrived at Animal Kingdom 90 minutes before park opening for our character breakfast dining reservations – which put us way in the back of the park before park opening. Ryan and I each rode Expedition Everest with no wait times before I realized that Theo was tall enough to ride as well. When we discovered this, he and I couldn’t wait for Ryan to get back so we could share this news with him. He rode it with me and he LOVED it. I love him. It was a big moment for me as a mom and for him as a kid. How did we get here in 5 short years? On one hand, it’s really exciting, but on the other hand, it’s kind of sad. My baby is truly not a baby anymore. He’s a thrill-seeker!05-09-2015

130/365: Sunday, May 10th. Mother’s Day. We were definitely ready for a break from the parks after hitting them 4 days in a row. On Mother’s Day, we swam in the resort pool and then spent the evening at Downtown Disney picking out some souvenirs. (Despite our sun-screening efforts, Dexter did get a tiny sunburn at the pool that was gone the next morning… but it’s not as bad as it looks in this photo, I promise).05-10-2015

131/365: Monday, May 11th. We spent the day at my favorite park (and former employer), Hollywood Studios. Meeting Baymax and Hiro from Big Hero 6 was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for Theo and Dexter. One of the biggest highlights for me was watching them spontaneously hold hands and excitedly talk about the experience as they ran ahead of us when we left the Magic of Animation building. They were on Cloud Nine. Melted my heart and made the 80 minute wait (our longest wait the entire trip) 100% worthwhile.05-11-2015

132/365: Tuesday, May 12th. We took another break day from the parks and played mini golf, grabbed lunch at a different resort, then swam the rest of the afternoon and evening. Dexter got Ellie (yes, he named him and yes Ellie is a boy) at Epcot and carried him around the entire trip. This was the last time my little sweet boy fell asleep as a 3 year old.05-12-2015

133/365: Wednesday, May 13th. Dexter’s 4th birthday! We enjoyed breakfast at ‘Ohana inside Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort with Lilo, Stitch, Pluto, and Mickey. It was adorable and delicious. The boys get so excited when they come face to face with these larger than life characters from the movies. We spent the day at Magic Kingdom afterwards.05-13-2015So now I’m all caught up on Catch the Moment – time to start wading through my recap posts in the upcoming week or so.

I hope the mamas out there had a good Mother’s day and have a special place in my heart for anyone who was hurting on or because of Mother’s day for some reason. I feel incredibly lucky to be the mommy of these two little boys and that we were able to spend 3 special occasions together. More to come!

xo,

~C~

 

Dear Dexter (2015)

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

IMG_2745IMG_1369 3yrsoldDear Dexter,

There’s this smartphone app called TimeHop…who knows if it will be around when you’re older. Every day it shows me a glimpse back at that day of each previous year that I shared something with social media. In the days and weeks leading up to today, I’ve so enjoyed looking back at blog posts from when I was pregnant with you 4 years ago. Life was filled with SO much uncertainty. Would we be able to handle life with 2 babies, just 14 months apart? We didn’t know anything about you. We didn’t know if you were a boy or a girl. You could have been Edyth June instead of Dexter Jay. Actually, you could have just as easily been Crosby Jay and almost were. We debated between Crosby and Dexter from the moment you were born until you were a good 4 or 5 hours old. It’s so weird to think about you being anything but a boy and anyone but our little Dexter Jay.

We didn’t know you’d have blonde hair and sparkly blue eyes or a contagious, constant, happy energy. We didn’t know you would have the laid back personality of someone who’s happy to be along for the ride, regardless of where we’re going. We didn’t know your laughter would make bad days better. We didn’t know you would find such joy in making other people happy. We just knew we already loved you and that love has only continued to grow and grow and grow.

We love seeing you look up to your big brother (except for those times when he’s not being a very good example – ha!). We love that you two are close. Buddies. We love that you love being around him. We love your big huge squeezy hugs and your sweet little tender kisses. We love that you made our family feel completely … complete. We love being together, the four of us, wherever the road takes us.

Before I had kids, I used to say that if I had 2 boys, I’d have 3 kids. I couldn’t imagine life without a daughter. Now that I have 2 boys, I can’t imagine life any other way. I can’t imagine a life without a house full of Legos and Batman toys or closets without holy jeans and dirty tennis shoes. I don’t want to imagine life that way – I know these things will disappear gradually.

You like to color. Every day you are gaining more control. You have surprised us with learning to write most of your name seemingly overnight! School has been a transition for you, but a good one. Your teachers have watched you grow. It’s hard to believe that a year from now we will be signing you up for Kindergarten. Poof! Just like that, the baby years are over. You still like Batman (a lot) but it doesn’t seem to be the obsession that it was 6 months or a year ago. You like heroes and the bad guys. You love water. Bath. Swimming.  You are scared of loud noises like the car wash, ShopVac, big trucks, hand dryers, and automatically flushing toilets. You will scream and cover your ears every time.

Lately we’ve been dealing with a dumb little medical issue. You are so scratchy! You have a common childhood rash on the back of your legs called Molluscum and you scratch, scratch, scratch it. And it gets infected, infected, infected. 2 weeks ago it got so bad that you ended up admitted to the hospital with IV antibiotics. Dexter! Honey! Stop scratching. Easier said than done, I know, and it wasn’t your fault. We are still working with the doctors to figure out how to keep this from happening over and over. But really, stop scratching.

We are all spending your 4th birthday together. Not only do we get to be together, we get to be together at our favorite place ever! Walt Disney World! There’s nowhere we’d rather be and no one we would rather spend the day with. I hope we can find the Star Wars cupcake you’ve been begging for while we are there.

Dexy, I have a feeling this is going to be a great year for you. For our family. You and your brother have grown and changed so much. I like to just sit and watch and listen to you two plan. You have big conversations and big imaginations. There’s no 2 boys I’d rather mother. When I think about you, I think about how blessed I am. Even when it seems like everything is going wrong, I’ve got you to hug at the end of the day. Please don’t stop hugging back!

So much love – Happy 4th Birthday, Dex!

xo,

Mommy

Catch the Moment: Week 18

Gallery posted on by mommyinthemidwest

I’ll pick up right where we left off last week, with Dexter being admitted to the hospital on Wednesday night.

120/365: Thursday, April 30th. By Thursday Dexter’s itching was under control and we’d started giving him the antibiotics orally. He seemed stable enough that the docs felt comfortable discharging him just under 24 hours after we came in to the ED. My boy was such a trooper, I was really proud of him. He did fine with being confined. He did fine taking medicine. He did fine with the no-no board (so he wouldn’t mess with his IV). He didn’t get much sleep but he was still in a good mood. I don’t know if I’d ever been happier to go home.04-30-2015

121/365: Friday, May 1st. Ryan’s parents watched Dexter Friday. I just wasn’t ready for him to go back to school. We played it by ear and decided it was still okay to go forward with the boys staying the weekend as we’d been planning for several weeks. I’m sure it was a nice distraction for Dexter from all the yucky medicine he is taking. I took this a little too late to catch the sunrise after I tucked the boys in bed and headed home.05-01-2015

122/365: Saturday, May 2nd. Niko was very helpful with folding laundry.05-02-2015

123/365: Sunday, May 3rd. Life lately.05-03-2015

124/365: Monday, May 4th. A little treat for myself – mani + pedi after work. I take my camera almost everywhere I go, including work. Good news: when I realized I’d be able to make it to Dexter’s follow up appointment with the pediatrician, I tore out of work. Bad news: I left my camera locked in my desk. So this is my 2nd phone photo this year. Boo. The color is lovely though!05-04-2015

125/365: Tuesday, May 5th. Another week without a picture of Theo, huh. Shoot. He’s just not as cooperative lately. I’ll have to work harder. So here’s Dexter shaking a maraca made at school in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. 05-05-2015

 

This is a short, early post this week. Next week I’ll be a couple days late with an extra picture. All for a very good reason though!

Linking up with Mindi at Stavish Stills Photography, Carrie at My Life, Our Journey, and Stephanie at Behind the Camera and Dreaming.