We went from 5people to 14 to 10, 9, 8??!?! PTR 1 WEEK TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[starann]

<3 love to you! I just noticed the birth date, that is my Jacks birthday

Thank you!!!!! I like to think that from something sooooo horrible, came so many wonderful things (becoming a nurse, being a mom to the 3 boys I have now, meeting some of my best friends). There was a time in my life where I wasn't sure I would survive losing him, I was deeply depressed, but one day the fog I was in went away and I started living my life again. I will always wonder what if....but I have made peace with his loss over the years.

 

[inkedupmomma]

Thank you!!!!! I like to think that from something sooooo horrible, came so many wonderful things (becoming a nurse, being a mom to the 3 boys I have now, meeting some of my best friends). There was a time in my life where I wasn't sure I would survive losing him, I was deeply depressed, but one day the fog I was in went away and I started living my life again. I will always wonder what if....but I have made peace with his loss over the years.

I couldn't imagine at all. I'm not very good at dealing with anything traumatic though! Despite getting married, I'm STILL in shock over what happened in my life, and go to therapy weekly!

Super big hugs!

 

[tlenzendorf]

That really stinks about your foot! I hope it heels fast!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Hey Star,

While I disagree I had to laugh about your DH calling Mickey an overgrown Rat... I'm glad he's since come around...

Too cool that he has a firetruck...

Wow traveling with a group that size I say will probably be challenging and really fun...

Sorry about your foot...

Sounds like you've had a lot of challenges... everyone's experiences are different - I can't relate to all of them but some...

Post partum depression is really serious... and while I know people are more aware of it... I really wish it was even in the spotlight... (I had it and its really hard)

I so sorry about your little lost angel, Christopher... I can't imagine... no wonder you had a dark period... I had two miscarriages between my children and that was awful enough...I used to have nightmares about that...

About Cody... everything will be ok... my 10 year has an Asperger's diagnosis... at the beginning... it's all very upsetting and confusing but it really gets better once you've processed it and have your plans all set...

btw...Asperger's almost always has accompanying ADD/ADHD and anxiety... it kind of all goes together... so that isn't any more intense than just Aspergers' per se... but I've been there so I know that must have been a lot to process...

If you need anything or have any questions... please feel free to PM me-I don't consider myself an expert but I have had 4 years to process all of this stuff- so if I can help I'd love to...

Btw... Philly girl here... well actually just outside... Good luck to you and your men with Sandy... I'm just doing some nervous Dis-ing this morning... before we may be out of power...

 

[starann]

Patricia, thanks so much for your kind post. We faired just fine during Sandy, we only lost power for a day. Our fence blew down and a few BIG braches fell on our neighbors home but no real damage.



grrrr just posted a BIG post and it deleted....I will post more tomorrow.

 

[starann]

I swear I have not forgotten about this PTR or all of you! I was away from the DIS for awhile becuase for a long time after Sandy, it was unsure if our trip would be. Mom's house should FINALLY go to settlement next Friday, so keep your fingers, legs, arms and eyes crossed that it does!

Hurricane Sandy was a bugger and really put a kink in a lot of plans. We were hoping to do some home repairs with our tax return, but after Sandy, we have to get a new fence (about $3000) and have 3, 100 ft pine like trees cut down (est have been $3000-6500). So much for doing anything else!

I had the oppertunity over Xmas to pick up some extra hours (as we had a sitter home from college!!!) and worked like a fool (only to have a lot of it taken away in taxes..boo). So the holidays were really busy.

Now the big boys are home this week sick, 1 with strep throat and croup and the other (the one who didn't get his flu shot) with croup and the flu. Let me jsut say Tamiflu is CRAZY expensive!!

I am hoping that after next week we can start to plan our trip, as Sept is right around the corner and we all know most of the fun is writing out plans and such on the DIS and I can't do that until we know for sure! My mom still hasn't told my sister or brother about the trip (she wants to wait until the house sells) so I have no idea if they will even go (my sister is a financial mess at times and this is one of those times).

I'll try to post some picts of the kids later...esp Casey, who is about as cute as they come!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Hey Star,

Hoping that all is going well with the $ for the house repairs/maintenance after that heinous storm...While we fortunately didn't sustain damage... our neighbors huge tree came down on our power line...(we were without for over a week) they just had that tree cut up and carted away... tree work is very, very $$$...

Post baby pictures... I personally can't get enough of them... and we do all kinds of stuff over on these PTR boards...

 

[starann]

Mom flew in this week to settle on the house for Friday!!! YAY

So I contacted the travel agent to get prices on different rooms. Mom is a bs snob, so while DH and I don't care where we stay, she does. We got quotes on POFQ, Beach/Yacht Clubs, BLT and Boardwalk. I have a 35% off code that has to be booked by 2/16, so I figured mom and I would look over resorts and book.

Only settlement is not today........GGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. This is the house that would not sell! Apparently the buyers lawyer messed up and didn't do paperwork he as supposed to have done WEEKS ago. Hopefully Monday or Tuesday.

Oh and in other BIG news. Mom had decided not to take my sister and her BF. My sister is one of those people who is like a hurricane....she shows up late an comes in like a whirlwind! And when I say late, I mean HOURS. Her and my mom clash so much (as does my DH and my sis). So mom is still planning on taking her kids, otherwise they will never go, and Willow, my DNi, is SO into the princesses now. But this may mean DH and I have to fly to FL with FIVE kids......OMG!

But anywany we need this damn house to sell!!!!

So it seems as if we willnot have 14 people, which means I need to change my PTR title!

 

[starann]

House STILL has not gone to settlement. They aren't sure of the day yet, so Mom is torn about flying back to LV and giving my brother POA to sign on the house or to just rebook her flight home.

I had her look over the resorts. The choices I gave her

POFQ...was a big FAT NO...only buses
BW/YC/BC......and those were an ehhhh
Then we looked at AKL (for a Sav. View) and she saw the room decor and was like NOPE!

So that left BLT which is likely what we will go with. DH and I and kids will stay in a Lakeview room, mom and stepdad and sis's kids will stay in a 1 BR. Unsure if my brother or 18yo niece will be going. Mom still has to talk to my sis about taking her kids (but not her!).

DH thinks she is CRAZY for wanting to stay at such an expensive resort (cause we always stay value), but it's her money, so he needs to shut up and 'deal' with staying at a Deluxe!

We still haven't told the boys. I am the parent who won't tell her kids things unless I KNOW it is going to happen (don't want to have them get their hopes up only to have them crushed in the end). Now I'm thinking of making it a TOTAL surprise. We talk about WDW here and there so to ask them where they want to eat is not a big thing, so I think we could get away with it.

Oh and Monday while Mom was here I got the boys a new suitcase for $29. It was 70% off!!! SCORE!!!! It's on the smaller side, but would be perfect for their clothes (esp summer stuff) and they will be able to use it when they go to LV with my mom this summer.

So that is where were are........waiting for the house to sell. My poor Mom is sooooooooooooooooooooooo stressed by it all. Hopefully she will hear today from the lawyer about something!

 

[starann]

To keep me from doing what I should be doing while the baby naps, I will post some long promised pictures. (anything to keep from cleaning, although I am attempting Flylady's 40days of declutter challenge).

This kid make some of the BEST faces!

(this was the 1st time I let him feed himself the meal....he wore more than he ate!)

The big boys did wrestling this year (Shane did it last year as well)

A few weeks ago I took the kids to Five Below (LOVE that store!) and this is what Cody Picked out. I had forgotten he had gotten it and the next morning as I was doing parent drop off, he gets out of the car with this on!!! I LOVE that kid!

Not much else to report here, just waiting for the stupid house to sell. Sounds as if the baby is awake......more later!

 

[wiigirl]

Super cute kidos!

 

[starann]

Super cute kidos!

Thanks, I tend to think so too!

 

[starann]

What a week, and it's only Tuesday!

I worked the weekend, had a headache all day Sunday, came home and helped DH straighten up the kitchen, went out to the mudroom to throw our some recycables, came in the house and passed out! My body does this from time to time where there is something it doesn't like (high heartrate, pain from a migrane). When I came to the pain was so severe all I could do was cry and writh on the floor. DH got the kids to a neighbors and me to the ER. They did the usual tests, gave me some meds (nothing for pain, mind you!) and sent me home. I called my neuro who saw me Monday morning, added a new med and a steriod taper. I feel like garbage. The photosensitivity is going away, but the nausea an headache are still here. Of course DH went back to work today, so it was me and the baby, and now the big boys are home.....I am counting down the hours till DH gets home.

We had promised the boys a movie this weekend, and with me being down and out I wasn't sure it would happen, but DH managed to take them yesterday while the baby napped. I had tickets from Groupon and a giftcard from a mypoints deal, so it ended up costing us nothing!! SCRORE!

The house still has not sold. Mom headed back to Vegas today. It stinks that we haven't booked anything yet, but we still have time (March will be 180 days to book ADRs). I have been thinking about food/eating/ADRs and really am jsut not sure where we will eat this trip. I want to try new places, but there are the places we like and love that DH wants to do again. Any suggestions? I REALLY want to do Ohana for dinner, we had an ADR there last time and ended up not making it.

DH and I got our taxes done and I am happy to say we have enough for the tree removal (3 large pine trees) AND the new fence!!!!! Nothing will be left over, which is stinky, but at least there wll be enough for those big projects.

Not much else to report.....I hate being in waiting mode. I have a friend who is down there right now (her son's HS band played in MK) and she got a Postcard signed by Mickey to the boys that said something like "Hope to see you all soon".........pretty sure we will make this a surprise trip, just not sure how we will surprise them yet!

 

[DrMomof3]

I'm super far behind....
We loved staying at BLT. It was so convenient to walk to MK - especially with your littlest one. And you'll like having a washer/dryer with small children. Trust me!

Amanda

 

[starann]

FINGERS CROSSED, but settlement is supposed to be today, at 3pm. They did the walk thru yesterday and saw a 'problem' with the new a/c unit, but the problem can't be fixed (part of it was never hooked up post Sandy due to temps) until the temp outside stays ABOVE 60, which in NYC, is not happening right now! Hopefully it will all get worked out and I can book our trip tomorrow. I have planning to do!!!!

 

[starann]

YAY!!!

Giveing my mom a few days to get some other things settled then hopefully we can book/plan....oh yeah, and tell my sister we plan on going and want to take her kids with us!

Hubby just about had a fit tonight when he realized we would have to take 5 kids on a plane with us. Sometimes he can get a little crazy and was asking what would happen if a TSA agent wanted to put their hands down my 10yo nephews pants to search!?!?!?!? Has he lost his ever lovin mind? It would not happen AND if it ever did get close I would freak out like it was one of my own kids (like getting arrested!).

We talked about meals tonight, DH and I. His 1 pick is Germany (and CM and 9 Dragons and WCC). He said he does not want to go back to Ohana (bfast) but I told him that was my 1 choice for dinner! LOL!

I also want to go back to HV for b'fast with the characters for Casey and my 4yo neice!

Any other must dos? How about Animal Kingdom?

 

[starann]

I had a nice big fat post yesterday and left the computer for a minute to come back and see that an adorable little boy played with the keyboard and lost my entire post. Good thing he is cute!

YAY Mom has finally decided that she does not want me to end up in a mental institution and has really started to want to plan our trip!!!!

Last week she was saying things like, "we can wait to book" "We don't need reservations (for meals), we can just decide that day" and 'I want to wait until a deal comes out.' This all was not helping my frame of mind, you know us Disney planners have to plan, and I didn't want to spend hours of my time planning for her to change our dates or something (she didn't change the dates!)
!

So this week she went online and looked at resorts for herself and has decided that we will be staying at WL, which is fine by me. Her final deciding factor....money? no....location? no.......a ceiling fan in the room, YES! Not that I have an issue with this. We are fan sleepers. A ceiling fan (or floor fan) is a must for us as we sleep. Crazy, maybe, but I never said we were sane!

So she had me call my sister yesterday to see about me niece and nephew coming (she hadn't said anything to my sister as she wanted to make sure the trip was a go). My sister is not sure about pulling her 10yo out of school and doesn't think that her 4yo will stay with us (I think both kids will be just fine). So she said she wanted to wait a FEW MONTHS and then she would let us know. I explained that a few months was not possible and we need to know by the end of the week (meaning tomorrow). She said she had to check with her BF to see what he thinks about it. I still haven't heard from her, so I will call Sat in between patients at work.

All signs look that we will be booking next week, so tonight and tomorrow I want to work on ADR plans, EMH and so on so I can approve them with mom and book them once we book the trip. There are really important things I SHOULD be doing (like cleaning and laundry) but planning our meals 6 months from now are far more sensible dedication of my time!

It is looking more and more like mon and Vinny (step dad) will fly in the day before. The flights from Vegas tend not to get in until 5/6pm and that means it is pointless for us to take an early flight and basically a whole day is wasted. So they will fly in the night before on a room only ressie, get to the hotel, maybe do a nice dinner at AP and we will arrive the day we planned, leaving early in the am and getting to the resort around lunch and spend that 1st day at a park. PHEW!

It looks like everything is coming together......now we wait and see for it all to fall apart!

 

[starann]

I had gotten the ok from my mom to tell my sister about the trip. Mom wanted to keep it under wraps until she was sure we were going, as my DN and DN have had more than enough disapointments in their lives. So I called my sister last week to tell her about it and she wanted to talk to her BF to give me an answer, and said I'll let you know in a few MONTHS. I explained that we did not have months to plan this, we had days, so she needed to let me know.

In typical fashion I did not hear from her one way or the other, so Sat I called, no call back. I text, no text back. Sun I call, no call back. I call later and FINALLY I get a text that says "I asked little Sam if he wanted to go and he said no, so, no my kids will not be going" That was it. So I tell mom and she texted my sister, no call back. She was going to call her today to see if she could convince her otherwise as my DN and DN are the main reasons my mom wanted to plan this trip. She feels badly for them that they will never get to go otherwise. I don't think she would cancel just because they can't come, but I know the whole trip she would be like "Oh they would have enjoyed this, or that" I hope my mom can convice my sister that they should come, tune in to find out!

 

[starann]

We are at least booked. PHEW! As of right now we are booked for our family of 5 and my mom, stepdad and DN and DN.

So when you ask?
Sept 19 to the 27

Where will we be sleeping?
Wilderness Lodge

Where will be (trying to) eating?
Germany
Norway
Rose and Crown
Ohana (dinner)
Hollywood and Vine (b'fast)
BOG (dinner, yeah, I know, high hopes)
Saanna
Chef Mickey

DH and I may go to 9 Dragons for lunch one day and pay oop, we'll see. We have the 1st few days planned as far as what park/what day, but the last 2 days I think we are leaving as 'toss' up days. See what we want to go back to and do it. As of right now we are planning on spending most days together, at least in the same parks, do some rides together and then separate so we don't want to kill each other, then meet up for meals. I know we will all need breaks from each other!

 

[starann]

I talked to my sister today, she is on board with my DN and DN coming!!!! My neice, Willow, asked to talk to me on the phone (my sisters kids are shy, so this was pretty amazing) today. She asked me if after we go to Disney World, if we will come back to this world!!! LOL!!!! She is too cute! Both kids seem to be excited for the trip. Our boys still don't know. Not sure when or how we will tell them. I was hoping to keep it a surprise, but I know my sister or nephew will talk about it, and there goes the surprise!

I think I have our days planned out. I'm still not 100% on our ADRs, although my mom is, so I guess they will stand for now!

9/19 Arrival Day, Magic Kingdom and BOG (wishful thinking) or 'Ohana for dinner
9/20 Epcot, Chef Mickey's for dinner and fireworks with a friend
9/21 Animal Kingdom and Saana for dinner
9/22 MGM and Hollywood and Vine Chara b'fast
9/23 Epcot, Norway for either lunch or dinner
9/24 Free Day, Rose and Crown for dinner (my family may skip this and fill something else in, not sure if I want to eat at Epcot again or try someplace else)
9/25 Magic Kingdom, either 'Ohana or BOG, whichever we don't get for the 1st day
9/26 Free Day LAST day, Germany for dinner
9/27 Departure Day (I think if we can't get into BOG for the whole trip I will plan a chara b'fast for this morning, depending on our flight)

I feel like we should have 1 other character bfast in there as we only have the 1, so I'll check with DH and see if he wants to pay oop for everyone for Crystal Palace on the 25).

On Saturday before work I will call for our ADR's and hope we get what I have planned!!!!