The LONGEST PTR ever...2012 here we come! :) *DATES!! PG 10*

[YukiPhnx]

Wow....sounds like a pretty big headache there with the baby situation. So she hasn't really confirmed that she'll be bringing you the baby at 6 everyday right? Sounds like they have issues they need to work out, and you're just kind of there trying to hold onto something that isn't very tangible.

I would suggest you think about it some more? It seems like you've made up your mind though. If she doesn't go for the same-time-every day thing, then you'll just ask her to find someone else.

Maybe you can find another way to get that extra $90 a week without all this stress. And be able to spend more time with Keegan too.

 

[*Seanaci*]

Wow....sounds like a pretty big headache there with the baby situation. So she hasn't really confirmed that she'll be bringing you the baby at 6 everyday right? Sounds like they have issues they need to work out, and you're just kind of there trying to hold onto something that isn't very tangible.

I would suggest you think about it some more? It seems like you've made up your mind though. If she doesn't go for the same-time-every day thing, then you'll just ask her to find someone else.

Maybe you can find another way to get that extra $90 a week without all this stress. And be able to spend more time with Keegan too.

You have no idea what a headache it is.

I'm going to give it one more week (since last week was the first week of the 10 hour days) to get her stuff together. If I get a text message Monday night that I can "sleep in" because her SO is bringing the baby Tuesday morning, I'm done. I either want to be in bed early so I can be up early for the baby OR stay up to watch my 9 o'clock shows and then go to bed at 10 to be up at 7:30 for the baby. It's hard enough on me when the freaking time changes twice a year. I'd feel like I was doing a time change every day if that's how she thinks she'll be doing things.

We don't really need the money I'm making watching the baby (the money I make from watching the baby is our "fun" money so to speak...we save it for a rainy day or go out to dinner more, stuff like that)...so I dont' really need to be watching him. The only reason I'm watching him is because she asked while she was pregnant with him. And other in-home day care (or even public, out-of home day cares) charge way more than $25 a day for an infant. Not to mention, she knows he's being treated well, fed on his schedule, diaper changed every couple hours, etc etc. The money was really just a bonus for me to say I'd keep him.

Anywho. I digress. I'll keep ya'll up to date on this drama as it unfolds. lol

Next post is a Disney update.

 

[*Seanaci*]

So much to update on. It's been far too long since I've been on the DIS.

1) Babysitting front: Things are going well. The baby's mom and dad are getting a divorce (he's an abusive butthead, long story short, she got a restraining order against him because he made threats against her and her family, he got a restraining order against her stepdad because he beat the **** out of him after he egged the stepdad on about how stupid she is; they go to court next month for the divorce and custoday hearing). Baby does so well here...and I'm glad I didn't lose him as I thought I would when everything turned really sour. He's like my second kid.

2) Keegan is doing well. Allergies are driving him (not to mention myself) crazy...but children's Zyrtec really helps during the day. I also started potty training him 2 weeks ago. The first week was really bad. And I kept questioning whether or not I should continue on. By Friday, I had talked to several mommy friends who suggested the naked method (naked from the waist down). So, last Monday, I tried it. And what do you know, it worked!! He is wearing big boy underwear all day, except for at nap time and bed time...he still gets put in a pull up then. He does still have little accidents, but he's got the hang of it. Though it is a continued struggle every day to get him to tell me before he has an accident...and so I do a load of laundry every evening to wash his undies. lol

3) My mom has been on vacation from work since then beginning of June...so that is part of the reason I've not been on the DIS near as much. We take the boys to the zoo, or park and go run errands several days a week. And since she's home, she uses her laptop all day. I still don't have a laptop and one of the boys naps in the computer room, so I don't have access to a comptuer until after 4pm. And by that time I am always so tired, all I do is hop on the net, check facebook, read a few PTR'S and TR's and log off again.

I am hoping with DH's work bonus coming next Friday, we can go invest in a netbook. That would at least allow me to surf the net, reply on forums and play the online games I play.

And finally. DH and I will be going away for our first ever no kid weekend the 9th through the 11th. I must admit, I am going to have seperation anxiety more than my kiddo will. lol. But, it will be fun. We're staying at a hotel 45 minutes from home. And we'll be driving up to the mountains on the 10th just for fun. I really can't wait. It should be a nice, relaxing time.

Anywho!

That's it for the real life update...trip update coming in the next post.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Yaaay! It's great having you back~ So glad to hear things are working out well for you.

1) It must be hard to see some people being so abusive. I'm glad she's been brave enough to separate herself from him and that her kid is safe with you. Not a lot of women can do that.

2) The naked method! Now THAT sounds really smart. When I was potty training my cousins, I just put them on the toilet every hour or less, to get them used to it. After about a MONTH of it, they finally started using the potty. It was a beautiful thing. Those pull-ups trainers only work as fail safes in case of accidents. When it comes to potty training, they're not good at all! Kids feel the "cool" but do nothing, or they don't really notice the colour changing cause they're too busy playing. I'm so proud of Keegan.

3) Ooh, netbooks are VERY affordable nowadays. You should definitely be able to get one for less than $300. A good one too.

4)Oooh, a getaway! Sounds like a lot of fun! I hope you guys have a great time!

Can't wait for that update!

 

[*Seanaci*]

going away for the weekend for our anniversary tomorrow...my parents are going too watch keegan for us.

I'll get an update posted on the wdw trip after we get home. The update has to do with a change in resort. Stay tuned!

 

[*Seanaci*]

We are back from our anniversary weekend.

We had a wonderful time! Left for our hotel at 10am Friday morning...checked in and had a room at 11:45. Because I had noted we were celebrating our anniversary, they had taken two hand towels and made a heart on the middle of the bed...and then place chocolates around the heart! So sweet. They also brought us a bottle of champagne to celebrate with...but since I hate the taste and smell of alcohol, and DH doesn't drink much aside from the occassional Guiness, it never got opened up.

I thought those were very sweet and generous gestures.

After we had settled into our room (we actually unpacked our one suitcase into the drawers and closet rather than live out of the suitecase for the couple days we spent there), we went over to Buffalo Wild Wings and had lunch and played some Buzztime Trivia.

After lunch we went back to the hotel and made use of the pool. It was an indoor pool...so we didn't stay in more than 20 minutes...but it was nice to jump in and cool off. Then we went up to our room, showered, and played some Scrabble (I had picked up the game at Target that morning while DH got his hair cut) and watched TV. At around 4, we headed up to Estes Park to have some dinner.

We ate at the local Brewery, but I told DH for the price, we should have just stayed closer to the hotel and had comfort food. Oh well, live and learn. After dinner we went and played a round of mini golf and rode the go-carts.

Overall it was a nice evening.

Have to go get dinner started...so I'll have to finish the weekend update later!

 

[*Seanaci*]

OMG! These last few months have been absolutely crazy!! I'm hoping now that my mom is back at work, I'll have more time for updates...even if they are only weekly. We'll see though.

Anywho!

Mom and I were talking about the trip this summer. I mentioned how we'd just book two connecting rooms...possibly at Pop. She chimed in with "I enjoyed our family suite at Music. Let's do that. Keegan will be old enough he can sleep on the pull-out love seat, you and Ken can sleep on the pull out couch, and dad and I will have the bedroom again." I was shocked. As we had agreed next time we'd do connecting rooms. But, after discussing it more, we agreed it would be more cost effective (what with the room including a mini-fridge, microwave, and room to store a gardengrocer.com order). So, unless I hear that Pop has family suites (which I haven't heard they have any or that they are putting any in), we will be staying at AllStar Music again in a family suite.

I should also add that I bought a copy of PassPorter last month and have practically devoured it cover to cover. lol DH says I'm nuts, but I like being well informed and knowing what options I have.

That's it for the trip update.

Real life update...wow. Lots going on. DH was taken to the hospital via ambulance last month before our anniversary weekend. He'd been super stressed at work (and holds his stress in his stomach apparently), and after getting a chance to sit down and talk with the new boss (the old boss passed away from cancer in June) felt relieved and really great. Until the stress in his stomach relaxed and he felt pains, his blood pressure dropped, and he almost passed out. >_< When my phone rang, I didn't recognize the number and let it go to voicemail. Turned out to be DH's boss calling to let me know what happend. I was pissed and upset. Pissed because my husband is a bit obsessive when it comes to his health (I swear he'd go see the doctor for a paper cut if I didn't stop him) and upset because I had no idea what was wrong and he was 45 minutes away and I couldn't even leave to go down to see him until after the baby got picked up. Anywho...long story short, after the baby got picked up, mom, myself and Keegan went down to the hospital. MRI found nothing and he was released...being told it may have been all the stress he's put on himself lately and to follow up with our doctor if the pain came back. He's fine now. Work is going smoother...and all is well. (Aside from the $1300 we now owe the hospital for his...ordeal. But that will be paid off in the next year.)

Things go along great...we had our anniversary weeeknd...amazing time. Fast forward to this past Friday. Had a wonderful day at the downtown Aquarium with DH, Keegan, my mom and myself...then lunch at a local place called Casa Bonita and then home to relax for the evening/night. Mail comes (I tell you all this for a reason), mom gets a letter saying she isn't eligible for a $50 refund on the new TMobile MyTouch phone she bought back in June (ultra long story short, we went in on a day t-mobile was having a promotion to upgrade her phone, the kid that helped us didn't want to be dealing with an upgrade, he was less than helpful, didn't do his job fully, ended up sending us home with a worthless piece of POOP phone as he hadn't activated the new SIM card he put in it, and on and on). Anywho. We call t-mobile to find out why she's not eligible as from reading the letter I KNOW she was/should be eligible. Turns out, the jackhole who sold us the phone didn't extend her contract as we had told him to. We hang up, hop in the car (it's 6pm) and book it to the store where we bought the phone to tell them to fix it...after much attitude from us (I was not nice to the girl who helped us out), the problem was fixed. Yay.

Drive home. Earlier in the afternoon, DS started limping and not bearing weight on his right foot. We couldn't figure out why. He never cried, and we couldn't find a splinter or sticker. So, we let him be for a few hours. Come home from the phone fiasco to find him in the tub, playing happily but not wanting to stand or bear ANY weight on his foot. It is 8pm, we take him out of the tub, dress him and head to Children's Hospital Urgent Care (checked in at 8:30pm). After several x-rays, showing no breaks/fractures etc, they send us home telling us he sprained it. It's 11:20pm when we get to go home. He started bearing weight on his foot while we were waiting in the hospital waiting room, but by the time we left, he was tired, cranky, and sore from us making him walk for the doctor. Gave him Children's Motrin every 6 hours yesterday...and wouldn't you know it by yesterday evening (after a 2.5 hour nap and a dose of Motrin) he was bearing weight on the foot and a happy child again. Same thing today. Bearing weight on the foot, hasn't limped or crawled once to get around...and happy as can be. I'm beginning to wonder if it was an overstretched muscle in his foot or something. Oh well, he's doing better and now I get to sit and wait to see how much of the visit our insurance will cover. That being said, I guess we will consider ourselves very blessed if we get to go to Disney World after all next year. >_<

As far as me, I'm doing ok. Kicking myself for not exercising this summer...and hating myself every time I look in the mirror or eat ANYTHING and feel horribly sick afterwards. I've got to get myself on track and lose this weight. It's holding me back/down and I HATE IT!!! I'm open to suggestions on what to try, what to do, how to stay motivated (as motivation seems to be my biggest downfall with losing weight).

Alright. I've made this long enough. I'll update again when I can! Thanks for sticking with me.

 

[DenGrampy]

Mind if I tag along?

 

[*Seanaci*]

Lol. Of course you can tage along, dad.

 

[*Seanaci*]

So. My mom made the suggestion over the weekend that we do Disneyland over Disney World. The catch is she wants to go at Halloween. No big deal. However because she would have to take time off of work, we wouldn't be going for more than four days Max.

Could we save money? Sure. But I'd rather save and go to World. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to go to Land...but AFTER Cars Land is open.

Alright. It's tough to write or type all this on my phone. So I'll add to it later.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Hm....what's her reason for going to Land? World has a Halloween thing too.

Personally, I think it's worth it to save for the World.

 

[*Seanaci*]

Hm....what's her reason for going to Land? World has a Halloween thing too.

Personally, I think it's worth it to save for the World.

A few years ago (when my son was born) she and my dad were going to go for the weekend to DL...because DL used to (still do?) deck out the park in all Nightmare Before Christmas stuff for Halloween...and she really wanted (wants?) to see it. But, like I said, in order for us to go at Halloween, she'd have to take a day or two off work (and with budget cuts in the school districts, it's just she and the libriaian (sp?)).

Us going to Disney during her holiday breaks (ie Christmas/Winter Break, or Spring break) are our only options without mom getting in trouble for being gone, or TRYING to find someone to sub for her (as it's unclear whether or not the high school or district is paying for subs for ANYONE in the building now).

I'm pretty positive we'll be going to World still. And maybe in 2012, once Cars World opens (my son is OBSESSED with the movie and quotes it all the time now), we'll hit DL maybe on a different school break for her.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Yeah, that sounds like a better idea. I bet Deegan's excited about Cars 2!

 

[*Seanaci*]

Why?

I'm not feeling so confident about the money part. I know, we are still 15 months out from the actual trip, but we're only about 6 months out from having to BOOK in order to get what we want. We have $1200 to pay on my DH's JULY ER visit/ambulance ride, $150 on my sons August urgent care trip, not to mention we've got to get to a point where we don't have to rely on the CC to get us through between paychecks. I'm also hoping that by putting it off...no, scratch that, POSTPONING it for a year, we'll be done paying on DH's car hopefully in April 2012 (+$340 a month toward the 2012 trip), and have our 2 CC's settled out and paid off through our debt settlement company (+$310 a month toward the 2012 trip) though the earliest for that to happen is Spring or Summer of 2012.

I should give a little back info on our 2008 trip. We were all set for it...saving money. Had the trip paid for and it got down to the wire as far as having spending money goes. I think, if I remember correctly, we went with about...$1000 between DH, myself and DS. That would include meals and souvies. That didn't make the trip very fun because we mentally had to say "Ok, we can afford this much for this meal." or "I'd like this souvie, but what meal can I scrimp on so that I CAN get it." I don't EVER want to do that again.

There's also the little addition of this. I think it would be just amazing to be able to stay in a family suite decked out in either Nemo or Cars (I'm sure my son would LOVE the latter). Not to mention, it'd be darn near brand new still.

So, as of now, I've talked to my mom (showed her the link above) and I told her I'd be totally willing to postpone a year so we can stay there (it's rumored to be across the lake from Pop Century, so we'd hopefully be able to go over there and explore that resort). Talked to dad on FB chat, and he said it'd give us more time to save enough money thumbsup2). And DH is all for waiting as well.

Don't get me wrong, we loved the family suite at ASMu. But with a resort 75% dedicated to family suites in decor such as Lion King, Cars, and Nemo, how can we say "no" to postponing.

So, I'll keep this PTR somewhat updated...as I'm sure we'll all have that urge to say "forget it...we can stay at DAoAR another time...we can't wait till 2012" and debate it more.

Thanks for sticking with me!!

 

[DenGrampy]

Maybe you should rename this "The Longest PTR..Ever!!!"

 

[*Seanaci*]

Maybe you should rename this "The Longest PTR..Ever!!!"

LMAO!!

No kidding. I've been thinking about renaming it.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Yeah, it's always worth waiting and saving more.

I know what you mean by money restraints because that's what happened during my trip and I HATED IT. I'm gonna work hard to save more so I won't have to worry so much about getting something I really want.

I may be staying in those family suites when I go in 2013! Hopefully, they might be cheaper than ASMu? If not, then 3 standard rooms is still cheaper than 1 suite and 1 standard. How weird is that?

The themes for the suites look super awesome though. I would love to swim in their pools.

 

[LuvsTigger80]

yay!!! i'm not the only one going in 2012 with a PTR!!! Thank goodness...lol. =) I can be a bit OCD when it comes to WDW. Especially now that I don't have my DL AP anymore.

Have you thought about renting DVC points for you vacation?? We will be this time around...and since there are 6 of us going (split 3 ways)..it actually comes out to be cheaper than a value. We will be hopefully staying at Beach Club in a 2 bedroom villa for about $5824 for 10 nights. Might be something to look into. Not sure if I can list the website...so if you want to know...just PM me...

Can't wait to read more about your trip....haven't updated mine in awhile..(but i don't have anyone responding either...lol)

 

[*Seanaci*]

yay!!! i'm not the only one going in 2012 with a PTR!!! Thank goodness...lol. =) I can be a bit OCD when it comes to WDW. Especially now that I don't have my DL AP anymore.

Have you thought about renting DVC points for you vacation?? We will be this time around...and since there are 6 of us going (split 3 ways)..it actually comes out to be cheaper than a value. We will be hopefully staying at Beach Club in a 2 bedroom villa for about $5824 for 10 nights. Might be something to look into. Not sure if I can list the website...so if you want to know...just PM me...

Can't wait to read more about your trip....haven't updated mine in awhile..(but i don't have anyone responding either...lol)

Welcome aboard! I'll hop on over to your PTR as well.

Yeah...DVC might be something worth looking into. But, now that we're not going till 2012, the dates will change dramatically...suppose I should update that bit. lol.

Anywho! Thanks for joining in!

 

[*Seanaci*]

Ok. So I figure it's time to update my dates...as that post soooooooo long ago with 2011 dates is pretty much null and void now (unless anyone in my family wins the Lotto OR stumbles upon a maddening amount of money, then those dates will still be good, and we'll just go 2 years in a row).

So, we...ok I...will now be looking at dates that will be based on Mimi's job, Papa's job and DH's job (he's on a new schedule, that I'm pretty certain will remain in place from here on out, he works 3 12 hour days and has 4 days off, then works 4 12 hour days with 3 days off)...as well as DS's preschool (because he will be in pre-school by then). That being said...the new dates are as follows

Friday December 14th 2012 through Sunday December 23rd 2012
Saturday December 15th 2012 through Monday December 24th 2012
Friday December 21st 2012 through Saturday December 29th 2012
Saturday December 22nd through Monday December 31st 2012

So you could pretty much say we're looking at any combo (of an 8-10 day trip) of dates from December 14th 2012 through December 31st 2012. It is also entirely possible we stay through till New Years as well. But, it all depends on when my parents can take off...and when we can pull my son out of pre-school.

Also, as stated in the original dates for the now defunct (sp) 2011 trip, I'd also consider people arriving in Orlando or leaving Orlando early should that need (or want) arise.

I think pin pointing dates will be the toughest part of the planning process...something we'll need to pinpoint ASAP so that I have concrete dates for booking at the new Disney World Art of Animaition Value resort. However, if all else fails, and we have no concrete dates by the time I need to book the new resort, we'll just stay in a Family Suite as ASMu.

Ok. All this planning and date picking is wearing out my brain. So I must be off!