Can't Plan for Baby? Better Plan for Disney! -- PTR

[Leger13]

I'm totally joining on for this PTR!! I too had a long TTC journey (5 years ) but we finally were blessed with our miracle baby in December 2010. He was conceived via IUI. I also took Clomid and Menopur for my cycles. We had a less than 1% chance of conceiving on our second IUI cycle and I was so ready to move on to IVF and then the day we had our IVF consult scheduled, I got my BFP from that second IUI! It was April Fools Day I'm praying for you for sure!! We are TTC #2 currently. I had an IUI last September which sadly ended in a BFN. We're now TTC naturally for a while. Anyways, I wish you the best of luck and I hope that the IUI on Thursday goes very well!!

 

[ljcrochet]

Can't wait to hear about all your plans.

 

[monkey30]

I am joining in to read on your TTC! I wanted to reassure you the BF and going to WDW with a young one works I did it when DS was 10 weeks!! He was the easiest, never fussed we had to wait in line, and Ellens ride was great to feed him on!!LOL

 

[annmarieda]

Wow! It's nice to meet another doula... I am glad that you enjoyed the work so much. I only plan on taking a few clients each year-- something to fund a small Disney trip, LOL!

I did enjoy it. It was so wondrous to see the strength of the mothers and then the miracle of the birth of their babies. I didn't get many private pay clients though and those who I did, never paid. The ones through the state, I made next to nothing for (I think back then it was $37 a visit and I could charge for a prenatal, delivery and postpartum visit.) So... I would never have been able to fund a small Disney trip on my earnings.

Your nieces and nephews are so adorable! I remember thinking how lucky you were to be able to travel with (wasn't it?) your brother in law and his wife and two kids. I have a hard time just getting my dh to travel with me.

 

[jenny105]

Joining in on your PTR! Look at you planning for not only 2012 but for 2013 as well. I like the way you think Looking forward to reading about all of your plans

 

[Corrine 1973]

Hey I am joining in on your PTR and am sending you some pixie dust for getting pregnant.

You sister's family is so adorable. I love the youngest girls eyes. Adorable.

I don't have an experiance taking a baby to WDW, but I have taken all my children as babies to Six Flags many times. With a carrier, stroller, and your DH to help you should be fine.

I am also planning a trip in 2013. I am planning on taking my DD for her 8th birthday and have already started making plans and started a PTR. I am hoping to be able to figure out a trip for this year as well.

Good luck to you.

 

[oboedm]

I'm totally joining on for this PTR!! I too had a long TTC journey (5 years ) but we finally were blessed with our miracle baby in December 2010. He was conceived via IUI. I also took Clomid and Menopur for my cycles. We had a less than 1% chance of conceiving on our second IUI cycle and I was so ready to move on to IVF and then the day we had our IVF consult scheduled, I got my BFP from that second IUI! It was April Fools Day I'm praying for you for sure!! We are TTC #2 currently. I had an IUI last September which sadly ended in a BFN. We're now TTC naturally for a while. Anyways, I wish you the best of luck and I hope that the IUI on Thursday goes very well!!

Welcome! Thanks for sharing your journey! It gives me hope!

Can't wait to hear about all your plans.

Thanks for joining. There will be plenty more plans.. and changes of those plans, and changes to the changes,

I am joining in to read on your TTC! I wanted to reassure you the BF and going to WDW with a young one works I did it when DS was 10 weeks!! He was the easiest, never fussed we had to wait in line, and Ellens ride was great to feed him on!!LOL

That is good to know! I have actually never been on the Ellen Energy ride, now I have no excuse not to do it!

I did enjoy it. It was so wondrous to see the strength of the mothers and then the miracle of the birth of their babies. I didn't get many private pay clients though and those who I did, never paid. The ones through the state, I made next to nothing for (I think back then it was $37 a visit and I could charge for a prenatal, delivery and postpartum visit.) So... I would never have been able to fund a small Disney trip on my earnings.

Your nieces and nephews are so adorable! I remember thinking how lucky you were to be able to travel with (wasn't it?) your brother in law and his wife and two kids. I have a hard time just getting my dh to travel with me.

Interesting. I have never thought about doing something through the state, I was plan on just taking private clients. We will see how that goes, though! I am hoping that once I get certiied through DONA, I will receive some referrals through their website.

Yes, we did travel with my BIL, his wife, and kids in September 2010! We also went with my SIL, her husband, and her kids in February 2011. We like travelling with family, I guess! I plan on doing short recaps of our 2011 trip as part of this TR, so you will get to see some cute pictures of my nieces!

Joining in on your PTR! Look at you planning for not only 2012 but for 2013 as well. I like the way you think Looking forward to reading about all of your plans

Welcome, Jenny! I am having so much fun following your PTR... I am glad you came over to mine!

Hey I am joining in on your PTR and am sending you some pixie dust for getting pregnant.

You sister's family is so adorable. I love the youngest girls eyes. Adorable.

I don't have an experiance taking a baby to WDW, but I have taken all my children as babies to Six Flags many times. With a carrier, stroller, and your DH to help you should be fine.

I am also planning a trip in 2013. I am planning on taking my DD for her 8th birthday and have already started making plans and started a PTR. I am hoping to be able to figure out a trip for this year as well.

Good luck to you.

Welcome! I am glad that taking a baby to a theme park isn't so bad! I figure he/she won't be too much trouble. I won't have to pack solid foods, I won't have to worry about his/her mobility, etc. We shall see though... you never know!

 

[cindianne320]

Your trip report title caught my eye- we also have trouble in the baby area- and I've relied on the DIS and Disney to get me through 3 losses... I look forward to hearing about your miracle baby- and your future fun trips!

 

[MelMel11]

Count me in!!!

 

[MiaBella05]

joining in

 

[oboedm]

Your trip report title caught my eye- we also have trouble in the baby area- and I've relied on the DIS and Disney to get me through 3 losses... I look forward to hearing about your miracle baby- and your future fun trips!

Thanks! It looks like we will both be at WdW pretty close to each other in 2013. What cruise do you plan to take? I am thinking about staying in AoA as well. What drew you to that resort?

Count me in!!!

Welcome! Thanks for joining!

joining in

Thanks for following me!

 

[cindianne320]

Cool! We'll be at WDW in late October, and then are taking a 3 night cruise on the Disney Dream. I was drawn to A of A because it's new, and because of the family suites. My mom and sister will be joining us, and we'll hopefully have 2 littles by then!

 

[oboedm]

Cool! We'll be at WDW in late October, and then are taking a 3 night cruise on the Disney Dream. I was drawn to A of A because it's new, and because of the family suites. My mom and sister will be joining us, and we'll hopefully have 2 littles by then!

How exciting! I love the newness of AoA-- we will have to see what resort we choose when the time comes to start talking about that! The three night cruise sounds amazing! I really want to take a cruise aboard the Dream!

 

[oboedm]

Argh! I had a lovely update written about day one of our last WDW trip, but MS Word decided to “Force Quit” and failed to recover my document! I will be re-writing that tonight/tomorrow and will post it then!

However, in other news, we had my nieces and nephews decorate “treasure chests” last night. They each received a large file box (which they painted and decorated with stickers) and a small plastic box (which they decorated with stickers).

We bought a bunch of Disney Pins from eBay. The kids can earn pins for good behavior, or have pins taken away for bad behavior. The earned pins will be housed in the small “treasure chest.” They can spend their pins in a little shop I am creating. They will be able to purchase things for the trip. For example, a new shirt costs 15 pins. Dinner in Cinderella Castle will cost 35 pins.

Once they have “purchased” the item, the pins go back into the communal pot so they can re-earn the pins. The purchased item goes into the large treasure chest for safekeeping before the trip. For the activities we plan to do, they will receive a picture of that activity. For example, a picture of Cinderella's Royal Table, a picture of Pick a Pearl, etc.

The kids were SUPER excited about decorating the boxes and had a good time. I will post pics as soon as I get them from my dad’s camera! =)

In other news, my BIL (bakerudall) has joined the DISboards! He found them independently of me, I promise! I think Evan and my sister want to start a self help group for people who have lost their spouses to Disney trip planning.

Anyway, BIL is now following this thread, and hopefully he will comment one day!

As stated before, I will be back later with Day 1 of our last trip!

 

[oboedm]

Travel Time: Day 1, Part 1

Welcome to the TR for my last WDW adventure! I plan on sprinkling updates throughout this PTR and want to be finished with it by the time we leave for our *possible* trip in December.

This trip occurred from 2/26/11 to 3/5/11. On our last day at WDW in 2010, I asked Evan if we could bring his sister, her husband, and their two girls next time. He said yes. We had bought the Premiere Annual Pass because we did a WDW and DLR trip within a month and a half of each other. Why not use the annual passes to their fullest extent?

Anyway, when we returned, I messaged Carol on Facebook and proposed the trip. She said yes! She took the kids out of school for a week and we waited until late February so they would have their tax return for souvenirs.

We didn’t tell the girls about the trip until Christmas morning. After we had opened all of the gifts and cleaned up the paper, she “found” another gift—a large gift bag full of balloons. The girls had to pop the balloons in order to figure out the gift. Each balloon contained a word. Here is a picture of the completed puzzle.

At that point, they received two more gifts—the promotional DVD for Walt Disney World and a countdown chain. Every week or so, the chain had a mickey head on one of the links. That meant that they needed to open one of the little gifts stored in the garage. We gave them each a princess shirt, water bottles, backpacks made by yours truly, etc.

Carol is married to Steven, and they adopted two girls from foster care when they were 2.5 and 1.5 years old (Chloe and June). They both have amazing personalities and were so much fun to hang out with. This was the least stressful trip I have ever taken, and the reason why is because their family is so laid back.

Anyway, the night before our flight Carol, Steve and the girls traveled to our house since we only live about 45 minutes from the airport. The spent the night and we got up bright and early the next day for our flight.

I remember leaving a bit later than I wanted to, so when I saw the long security line I was a bit worried. We got through security just fine, though, and because we were a bit later we didn’t have to wait long at the gate!

During the first leg of the flight, June sat between Evan and me. They received Leapsters for Christmas and both girls had fun playing with them during the flight.

Here is Chloe peeking out from behind my seat.

I gave the girls my old Point and Shoot as well as a FLIP video camera to use during the trip. They weren’t too into this idea, though. I think they took one picture and 0 minutes of video. I think my niece Emma will be excited about this on our trip next October, though, so I am saving the FLIP for her and already gave her my camera.

The view from my window seat.

I think we got to Orlando around 2:00 in the afternoon. I had decided beforehand that we would eat in the food court. By the time we rode the ME, checked into our hotel room, got settled and got food, we would be starving. We had reservations for CRT that night, so we didn’t want to eat a mere hour or two before our ressie.

I think we all had Chick-Fil-A and I don’t remember it being as good as AZ Chick-Fil-A. It seemed greasier or something. However, the worst part was trying to find a table! We ended up crowded six people around a table built for two.

Here is Chloe in the food court.

After we ate, it was time to board the Magical Express! Chloe was willing to look excited for this picture!

I love her expression in this one…

In that picture, you can see the line behind her. The last two times I went to WDW, I went in September and never encountered lines at ME! I was a bit worried, but after waiting 15 minutes or so our bus was ready!

June and Chloe were so excited! Evan and Steve were too:

One we got on the bus, we realized how tired we were! June decided to take a nap, and Chloe relaxed and watched the movie.

After a half hour or so, we pulled into the MK resort area and our home for the next 7 nights… the Wilderness Lodge Villas! (We rented points from a DVC member). The moderate resorts with queen beds were all full, and we definitely didn’t want to sleep in doubles for a week!

Carol and I checked in at the counter while the boys marveled at the lobby. I think Steve was impressed!

At this point, I was starting to feel really awful. I get migraines, and those migraines make the nauseous. When we got to our room I laid down right away, hoping my Excedrin would “catch” the headache. When I woke up a couple of hours later for our reservation at CRT, I felt more nauseous than ever.

Would I make it to our CRT reservation? What would the girls think of the princesses who were “just people in costumes, which is silly?” Stay tuned to find out!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I love the pin/treasure chest idea! That is so neat, and so much fun for the kids, I bet.

I'm excited for the rest of the flashback TR!

 

[suorkaterina]

oooh the flashback TR is a great idea. I started my PTR so early I dpn;t have so many updates, but putting in a flashback TR is a great idea and I really am enjoying yours. We get to know everyone ahead of time! Very cool.

 

[ronnmel]

I thought I had subscribed to this, but guess not. I just subbed to it now, will come back later to read it.

 

[bakerudall]

You sister's family is so adorable. I love the youngest girls eyes. Adorable.

Thank you for the compliment on my DD . DW has green eyes and had to wait until the fifth kid to pass them on.

 

[bakerudall]

Paula called me out, so I had better comment on this thread. As she mentioned, our family was a part of the 2010 DL disaster. It actually wasn’t a disaster for us, but many in our party considered it so. I think Disneyland is a good indicator of whether or not you need professional help. If you cannot enjoy yourself at DL, you should probably consider therapy. As SIL wrote, we split into two groups: negative people, babies, and toddlers in one, happy people in the other. I stayed with the negative group to keep DW and DD’s sane.

This is what my group did much of the stay (adults more than the kids, but I don’t have pics of that):

Here is what I accomplished with three full days of park hoppers:

DL Park: 22 different rides--then went back for 2nd and 3rd rides on attractions like HM, IASW, POTC, and other slow movers.

DCA: 3 rides, 3 shows, and the Bakery Tour.

Needless to say, I left California hungry for more. I loved the carefree feeling of being in the parks (I’m good at ignoring others and enjoying myself). I also appreciated the attention to detail that permeates the parks, the excellent professionalism of the cast members, and the cleanliness of the restrooms. Despite the immense volume of people the cast members deal with every day, they make the resort maintain its magic. So while I am not a Disney freak, I am becoming a Disney Parks freak. The thrill of the rides, the strategy of the logistics, and the artistic atmosphere make the parks very attractive to me.

This year, my family came across some extra money, and with a hefty upcoming tax return, we were considering a trip to DL this fall with only our family of 8 or with SIL and BIL joining us. SIL convinced me to wait for Oct. 2013 and do WDW instead. Still yearning to experience the rest of DLR, I am planning an inexpensive trip for myself and DW for Oct. 2012. We will not tell the kids where we went until after the 2013 WDW trip.

I do have a lot of great memories from 2010:

My kids got to see the ocean for the first time…

…Tigger had fun playing with Sara’s “tail”…

…and one of my proudest moments as a father…

I also got the chance to sit with DW and watch the Dixieland jazz combo at the Main St. firehouse. The baritone sax player was the best I have ever seen. World of Color was also, of course, amazing.

Now that I am on Disboards, I will probably end up putting together one of these trip-report things for Kidless Disney 2012.

Let me close by saying that Paula and Evan are amazing people! They have been through a lot trying to have children, and they have been a great aunt and uncle to my children. I don’t even pretend to know what they have been through. We conceived our last four on birth control through half-blocked fallopian tubes. We are looking forward to a kid-less trip and they are dying for a trip with kids. We are grateful to have them in our family, and we know that they will make great parents soon.