Orlando 2010

Orlando here we come!!!

We had so many bags.

It was so hard to manage my suitcase, Jason's suitcase, Kohen's suitcase, Jason's golf clubs, the car seat, stroller, Jason's carry on suitcase, my carry on bag and my purse...oh... and my baby. The funny thing is THIS was the easy part.

I know what you're thinking.... "oh how sweet"... Nope. You're wrong. Believe me. Just ask anyone sitting in the back half of the plane.
Take off went well. Kohen sat on my lap and said "Wow" about 50 times.

I had everything covered. Books-check. Different types of cars and trucks-check. DVD player and DVD's-check. Pens (yes, he loves pens)-check. Doodlepad-check. Random toys that I bought just for this trip-check. The only problem was he lost interest in no time.

We had a layover in Maryland. Before we got off the plane the pilot let Kohen sit with him in the cockpit of the 737! It was awesome! Kohen didn't want to leave! If only they would have let him ride in the front during the trip!

Waiting to board our second plane to Orlando...

Still waiting...

Oh, I forgot to mention Kohen peed through his pants on our flight to Orlando.... awesome.



We finally made it. Kohen still had no naps all day.

Kohen had zero naps, went to bed after midnight and woke up screaming at 5am...ugh.

On Thursday we went to Disney's Magic Kingdom!

So this is about the point where I could feel myself getting emotional. Throughout my life I have made many trips to Disney World. This would be my fifth visit. But this time was very different...
It wasn't about me anymore. It wasn't about running to get "fastpasses" or trying to get the front seat on Space Mountain.
It wan't about riding the biggest and fastest rides... It wasn't about doing what I wanted to do.

This time it was different. This time is was about taking MY baby to Disney World. It was about seeing him see things for the very first time. I was glued to his face. I can't tell you what color the flowers were. I can't tell you what conversations were taking place around us or how many people were around us. I can't tell you how many people were in line or how long we waited in line.

I CAN tell you what my baby's face looked like when he rode the monorail for the first time. I CAN tell you what my baby's eyes looked like when we stepped foot on Main Street with Cinderella's Castle in the background and when we entered our first ride. I can tell you what my baby's expression was with every single firework that went off at closing time. This, by far, was my best trip to Disney World.

When I read the information about this ride in the pictures below it said:

"ASTRO ORBITER: No height restriction". They're crazy. Seriously, I do not think a 15 month old should be riding this!!! I had no idea the intensity of this ride! I held on to Kohen for dear life! LOL!

One of Kohen's favorite rides was the "Mad Tea Party Teacups". He LOVED it! He enjoyed standing in line watching them spin around as much as he did riding!

This is Jason changing Kohen's diaper in the middle of the park...No changing table required for the Smith's!

Time to ride DUMBO!!!

This was Kohen right when we got on the "Haunted Mansion" ride. He was awake, alert and excited....

This is Kohen by the end of the ride! The dark, cool mansion was the perfect place to take a nap!

This is outside the Haunted Mansion

Kohen missed the Peter Pan ride because he was still asleep.

Time for the Disney Parade!!!
Kohen said "WOW" at EVERYTHING

Here's MICKEY!

Time for the Fireworks show!

Jason informed me that we had to leave the Magic Kingdom to go pick up one of his friends at the airport. (The whole reason we went to Orlando was so Jason could attend the PGA show). I was SO mad. I thought this was our time (the rest of the trip Jason was going to be tied up with golf stuff) to be together and now some guy that I didn't even know needed a ride??? Seriously? I complained the whole way to the airport. I even called my mom to complain while Jason was inside the airport helping "his friend" get his bags. Jason came out and asked me to roll down my window...I was still on the phone with my mom... very angry...and he just stood there and stared at me. I said "WHAT?".... then I looked over and saw Sasha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could not believe it!!!!!!!!!! Jason didn't have to pick up his friend- he flew in my BFF from Kansas City to come hang out with us in Orlando!!! I can't even tell you how shocked and excited I was! All I could say was "OH MY GOSH- I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE HERE"!!!!. I said this over and over and over and over. Even when we got to the restaurant I still couldn't believe it! This was the BEST surprise ever!!!

I was SO happy to have Sasha with me in Orlando. It was perfect. She had never been to Disney World and couldn't wait to visit all the parks. She wanted to do it all, just like me. And I was so happy I didn't have to take Kohen by myself to all the parks! We seriously had the time of our lives!

Park #1: MGM (Disney's Hollywood Studios)

We were waiting in line for the next show/ride and they asked for volunteers. So like the good friend that I am, I volunteered Sasha :) This is her below in the middle...
Sasha's had to play the captain of the ship!
It was hilarious! I got the whole thing on video, so I'll post it later.

Sleepy baby.
Park #2! Epcot!

This picture of Kohen and Sasha was on a huge screen right above everyones heads when we came out of a ride.

Park #3: Magic Kingdom (Kohen and I wanted to go back so Sasha could see it too)

FYI: Going to Disney World in January is the perfect time to go. Hardly any people! We had this boat on the "It's a Small World" ride all to ourselves!!! Can you believe that?!

Later that night Sasha and I walked over to a restaurant while Jason put Kohen to bed. This is a friend we met on our way there!

This is my sweet baby eating his breakfast :)

Park #4: SEA WORLD!!!!





Sea Turtle

Oh my goodness. These are sting rays. I was determined to touch one. I did and I had no idea I would let out the sheer terror scream that I let out! TWICE!

Feeding the dolphins:

This was great. We got to feed and "pet" the dolphins. Kohen couldn't keep his eyes off of them!

This picture is out of place, but cute!
back to the dolphins...

We went to an AMAZING dolphin show. Can you see the dolphin way up in the air on this picture???

The Shamu show...

That night we went out to eat at the Polynesian restaurant that Jason and I ate at when we were on our honeymoon...

We also celebrated Sasha's half birthday, LOL. Yes, I said HALF BIRTHDAY. She has celebrated her half birthday since she was 5. Because her birthday is in the summer, she never got to celebrate her birthday durning the school year... this is the reason for the half birthday celebration :) This is one reason why she's my best friend :)

Continuing the birthday celebration, Sasha and I went to this awesome place!
It's an Icebar!!! Everything except the floor and ceiling were made of ice, even the glasses were made of ice! I love it! Sasha was FREEZING and had to get an extra coat! I was right at home! I could have gone in without a coat and would have been just fine!

I feel the need to add a little something about golf since that's the reason for the trip in the first place! Jason usually attends the PGA shows by himself but I couldn't pass up the chance to take my baby to Disney World and Sea World! Here's a few of Jason's favorite things :)

Jason and his friend Jeff from CA

Our last day in Orlando we only had time for lunch then we had to go to the airport. We decided to eat at T-Rex.

This was our dessert!

WE DON'T WANT TO LEAVE!!!! And how are we going to fit all of our luggage plus Sasha's in a tiny SUV???

We had such a great time in Orlando! THANK YOU SASHA for surprising me!!!! LOVE YOU!!!

Smart Boy

So... lately I have been working with Kohen and trying to teach him animals and animal sounds. He can recognize a bird (as long as it's on a St. Louis Cardinal shirt or hat), when asked what a dog says, he will say "woof woof woof" (always 3 woofs), and when I point to Dentin or Peyton he will say "K-Kitty". I've also been teaching him other animals like duck, monkey, lion, etc.

Short story 1:

We went to a shoe store two days ago and there was a big ceramic horse in the kids shoe section. I rolled Kohen's stroller up to the horse so he could look at it while I looked at shoes. The first thing he said when he looked at the horse was "wow"! Then he said "woof woof woof".

Short story 2:

We arrived in Orlando yesterday and went to dinner at The Crab House. Kohen was pretty fussy because he was exhausted, so I walked around the restaurant showing him different things. There were a bunch of big colorful fish hanging from the ceiling in the restaurant. Kohen spotted them immediately and pointed up and said "wow" followed by "woof woof woof".

Short story 3:

After we left the restaurant last night we had to go to Wal-Mart because Jason forgot all of his toiletries. I took Kohen to look at the fish aquariums while we waited. He was amazed by the fish. He of course said "wow" then he looked at me and said, "K-Kitty".

Seriously, I must be the worst animal/ animal sounds teacher ever....

Laundry Basket

First of all, no... I do not dress my child in footed pj's and put shoes on top of that and take him places...I do however, put shoes on top of his footed pj's in the mornings so he can walk better. After breakfast I change him into "real" clothes with socks and shoes. I just don't want yall to think I don't have fashion sense... Anyway, I thought this video was pretty funny. This is when Kohen discovered the little laundry basket in his room.

Lunch with Max & Random Pictures

Today Mom and I went to eat lunch with Max at his school! Max is in Kindergarten, has two missing teeth and has very good artwork hanging in the hallway at his school :). I brought Max a kids meal from Subway. I asked his momma what to get him in his kids pack and she said: Turkey sandwich, chocolate milk and apples. Well, I got him: Turkey sandwich, chocolate milk, Cheetos and a chocolate chip cookie :). I think Max liked his lunch from "Stetie" :)!!!

Maxy-Boy and Me

Mimi and Max

After Mom and I left Max's school, we picked Shelley, Maddie, Kohen and Asa up so we could do a little shopping. We looked hilarious everywhere we went because we had so many buggy's and kiddos! Below is a picture of Kohen, Maddie and Baby Asa at Old Navy.

And here they are in Target :)

RANDOM PICTURES:

I took this picture a few minutes ago of my boys.

Dentin wanted in the picture too.

On Thursday Kohen and I went uniform/scrub shopping with my mom. Kohen was getting a little bored so I gave him a sucker. He LOVED it! AND he didn't get messy :) Mom said she has never seen a kid eat a sucker and be so clean afterward!

This is a very blurry picture but I still wanted to post it. Kohen has recently started holding hands (actually he just holds two of my fingers) and guides me around everywhere. He pretty much pulls with all his might for me to follow him. I love it. He's so amazed at his new "trick". He pulls me around and watches my feet walk beside him :)

And this is a VERY random picture, but it makes me happy. This is at our new house that we're in the process of buying. I drive by it everyday. On this day there were two huge storage "Pods" in the driveway- so, they're packing up so we can move in! YAY! Only 11 more days until we Close!

The first time I left my Baby

Eight pages. That's the number of pages of instructions I left my sister-in-law. We left for the Dallas Market on Saturday around 6pm. I was able to put Kohen down for a late nap before we left. I told Kristin that I thought I was going to be ok. Boy was I wrong. Kristin followed us out to the garage to tell us bye and I felt like I was going to loose it. She hugged me and told me it was ok to cry. That's when I started the "ugly Oprah cry". Kristin just kept hugging me, rubbing my back and kissing my cheek, telling me it was going to be ok. I remember blubbering the words "I'm going to miss him so much".

We got in the car and left. Jason rubbed my leg then held my hand while driving. I made it to the hill on Irby (two streets over from our house) before I started boo-hooing again. And I mean boo-hooing...like grabbing my forehead, snot coming out of my nose boo-hooing... Before we got to the next exit Jason told me we didn't have to go. I told him I was ok. I lied. I cried until we reached Mayflower, which was about 20 minutes. I was a mess. I knew I had to pull it together because we were about to meet our friends Brian and LeeAnna in Bryant so they could ride to Dallas with us. About 5 minutes before we met B & L, I felt sick. I called my sister and asked her if I could come by her house (in Bryant) to use the bathroom (TMI, I know). Max & Maddie were so confused why I just came to their house, went straight to the bathroom, then had to leave again.

I didn't cry again until I laid my head down that night to go to sleep. Again, I lost control. I cried and cried and cried. Jason was very comforting, but he was exhausted and had to get some sleep. I stayed up, crying, looking through pictures of Kohen and videos of Kohen on my iphone until around 3:30am. That's the last time I remember looking at the clock. I cried myself to sleep. I woke up about 2 hours later and couldn't go back to sleep. I got up, got in the shower and got ready before our wake-up call ever rang. I sat in the hotel room chair and read to get my mind off of things. This was working. I read the whole time while Jason took a shower and got ready. Just before we left to meet Brian and LeeAnna for breakfast, I had another crying spell.

This was the last time I cried. I knew I would get to see my baby that night.

We arrived at the Dallas Market and it was AWESOME!!! I didn't know what to expect but I sure didn't expect this:
It was amazing! This was just one of the buildings we visited. It was (I think) 15 or 16 stories high with over 30 stores per floor. Very overwhelming! Jason and I were SO tired by the end of the day. I told them that if I were to amputate my legs it would hurt less than how my legs felt at the moment!

We got home around midnight on Sunday. Kristin said that Kohen was great and she had lots of fun with him. I appreciate her keeping him so much.

After she left, I woke up my baby. I couldn't help it. Kohen ended up staying up until about 3am-ish. But it was worth it.

455

Four hundred and fifty-five. That's how many CONSECUTIVE good night kisses I've given Kohen. Tomorrow that streak will end. Tomorrow I will not be able to kiss my baby boy good night... Or sing You Are My Sunshine and Amazing Grace to him before I lay him in his crib. I will not get to read "I Love You Through and Through" to him either. I will not get to turn on the video monitor 100 times to make sure he's ok. I will not get to hear him playing with his toys when he wakes up in the morning. I will not get to say good morning and change his diaper while I sing "Good morning to you, you live in a zoo, you look like a monkey, aaannnddd you smell like one too!". I will not get to hear him laugh so hard at that song and want me to sing it again.

Jason and I are going to Dallas tomorrow. My WONDERFUL sis-in-law is staying with Kohen until late Sunday night. I feel completely comfortable with Kristin keeping my baby boy. She works at Children's Hospital so she's always around babies and she knows what to do in an emergency (right Kristin??? Just remember... 911...) :) No, I really do trust her. She loves Kohen and I know he loves her so much too. They will have so much fun together.

I don't know how I'm going to drive away tomorrow.

Below is a picture of kiss #1...

How did you get up there?

Oops...I forgot

I forgot to post in my last blog pics of Kohen's play house, his Santa picture and our Christmas tree

Kohen was in mid clap when this picture was taken! He loved Santa!

This was how I solved the problem of Kohen pulling ornaments off the tree...
I only decorated the top 2/3's of the tree!