The Vandervorts Do Disney 2009- Tuesday

Last Tuesday, we leisurely headed to the Animal Kingdom. The thing about AK is... Neither Roger nor I are super crazy about it. We thought Ian would be totally into it, though, so that's why we went. Turns out, Ian wasn't totally into it.

We went to see the Lion King show first... about 1/2 way through the show, Aaron fell asleep. A few minutes later, Ian got down out of his seat and said, "mommy, I want to color." During the Lion King!!! WHAT?! There is SO much going on!

It was also extremely hot. I'm talking in the 90s with 60% humidity. Animal Kingdom always seems so much hotter than the other parks too. We were roasting. We let Ian play in the dinosaur boneyard playground for awhile and then Roger and I took turns riding Expedition Everest.



Sadly, I report that is all we did at Animal Kingdom. We headed back to the Wyndham to swim in the pools and hopefully take naps. (No naps, but the swimming was great!) In the evening, we met up with friends again and had dinner at 1900 Park Fair at the Grand Floridian Resort. I must say, someday, I'd like to stay there! It was so cute! The buffet dinner was delicious and the dessert buffet was even better. The company was delightful. We met Cinderella and Prince Charming as well as Cindy's evil stepmom and sisters.



We returned to the hotel and turned in early so we could get a fresh start bright and early Wednesday morning when we were going back to the Magic Kingdom.

2009 Family Vacation: Days 1 & 2

On Sunday, we flew out of Pittsburgh at the buttcrack of dawn. Literally, we watched the first light appear in the sky from the terminal and the sun rise above the horizon from the airplane just before takeoff. The boys both enjoyed their first airplane rides and were very good. Aaron slept for a lot of it, Ian colored and played games on Roger's phone. Both boys entertained the people within 4 row radius of our seats. Traveling through the airports (Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Orlando) was not as daunting as we feared it may be, despite having 3 backpacks, 2 strollers, 2 toddlers, 2 carseats, and 2 suitcases. It was EXTREMELY helpful that our children were very well behaved and in *mostly* good moods.



After arriving in Orlando and getting our rental car... (From Alamo, and we will NEVER rent from them again. HORRIBLE service. Horrible. If you'd like to hear more about that, I'll write a whole separate post on the subject someday.) We drove to the Magic Kingdom and got the boys their haircuts.







Aaron got his First EVER hair cut there, and when you get your hairs cut at the Barber Shop on Mainstreet USA, you get a set of Mickey Mouse ears embroidered with "first haircut." Adorable. We also rode It's a Small World and bought Ian his mouse ears. The kids absolutely LOVED Magic Kingdom. So much so that we spent the better part of 3 days there!

We met my parents at our Condo- The Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort. It was as big (maybe bigger? no, definitely bigger than our first apartment here in Monroeville.) It was beautiful. Luxurious. My dad made us a steak dinner and we hit the hay pretty early.

Monday Morning we set off to meet friends at Ohana (at the Polynesian Resort) for the Mickey & Friends Character breakfast. We dined, met Lilo, Stitch, Pluto & Mickey, and Ian participated in a parade around the restaurant. We then headed out for the rest of the day at Magic Kingdom.







We started in Tomorrowland and rode the "train" that shows you around the area. Ian loved that part, so we knew he was in for loving the REST of the park. We played Buzz Lightyear's Astro blaster (or whatever it is called), drove cars around a track, Met Buzz, and splashed in the water fountains in Toon Town. Ian also rode his first Rollercoaster, the Barnstormer, and then we waited for the Parade down Main Street.










Of course, both the boys LOVED the parade too. Afterward, we hopped on the Monorail and went to Epcot to eat dinner at the Biergarten. It wasn't as good as it was 4 years ago... and they didn't have Sauerbraten anymore. Or Schwarzwalder Kirchtorte. Ian enjoyed dancing around to the live oompa band, though. We ran back over to MK for the fireworks.

It was a REALLY busy day, but we had so much fun! It was also really hot, but apparently I didn't know what hot was, and Mother Nature had plans to give me a little taste. The week only got hotter as it went by... yikes!

Stay tuned for the details on the rest of our days down in Florida!

Birthday Dinner

Last evening, we took the boys and went to CiCi's Pizza for dinner. Whenever we drive past CiCi's, Ian always says, "Look Mommy! a PARTY!" so we thought, "hmm...Pizza Buffet, Ian think's it is a party, it's $4.99 for adults and kids eat free... It's perfect."

Even at the tender age of one, pizza is one of Aaron's favorite foods.

Here's the gang, being goofy!











We came home and had a (rather lackluster after the rainbow specimen) birthday cake, sang happy birthday a couple times, let Ian "help Aaron" blow out the candles. It was a nice birthday.

And then... Aaron puked on me. He's still sick. He started a new round of antibiotics yesterday, added in another set of nebulizer treatments, and *hopefully* will get and stay well during our trip to Florida. Please pray for us. We really need a break here. Well, Aaron needs a break, the poor kid has been sick for a month. Sheesh.

Dear Aaron, Happy Birthday!

Dear Aaron,

Your life has been full of surprises! You surprised us with your conception. No, it is no secret that we were not planning you, but the Lord knows what he is doing. After our initial surprise, we were excited to be expecting you!


You surprised us again on July 9, 2008. Not only did we learn that you were actually due a month sooner than we thought, but that you are a very special BOY! We were surprised to learn you have only one kidney and your kidney was swollen & a little sick. Even though mommy was hoping for a girl, when she found out you were, in fact, a little boy we immediately were excited to have two brothers to love!



You surprised us again when we saw you on 3D!



And when we went back to see you on October 22nd, just to check "one more time" that your kidney was doing ok before your due date, a month later... You surprised us by showing signs of kidney failure. Our perinatologists thought it was best if you came sooner, rather than later. In fact, they didn't even want mommy to leave the hospital. After a few hours and a couple pushes, you came into the world, beautiful as ever, perfect in your own way, and healthy. 6lbs, 14oz, 19 inches (give or take), dark brown curly hair, blue eyes, & screaming!



You had your first holidays...



You were diagnosed with and cured of tortocollis. You helped Grandma recover from heart surgery.



And ended up spending 8 days at Children's hospital with RSV & bronchiolitis.



You've learned to sit, crawl, and walk. Spent the summer doing fun things with your big brother Ian.


You had surgery for a minor urological issue.


You've touched our hearts in a way we never imagined possible. To us, you are a miracle. We are so glad to have you, to be celebrating your first birthday, to be able to love you.

...Even if I AM on hold with the doctor's office, because you are still sick... Here's to a hundred more years! We love you!

A Whole Year!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Aaron.


We love you!


I'm working on a "real" birthday post, but it won't be done for a little while longer.

Aftermath

Aaron (and Ian) had cake for dessert last night too. I think cake pictures might be funnier than spaghetti pictures!

Teaser

UPDATED:

• directions for rainbow cake: Rainbow Cake @ Mycharmingkids.net
  
• I used my own buttercream frosting recipe, let me know if you would like that, too.
• It was a (little) time consuming, not too bad, but it really wasn't hard at all. Just LOOKS like it was hard!
  
• Also, make SURE you level off the layers with a serrated knife like the directions say, that is an absolutely necessary step. It will NOT stay together if you don't.
  
• I baked the cakes 2 days in advance, leveled them off after they cooled, put them on a plate separated by wax paper and covered in saran wrap, froze them. On the day of the party I made the frosting and assembled the cake while the layers were still frozen. It worked out GREAT.

Here's the cake! More tomorrow... if we make it to tomorrow. Ian is having a battle with bedtime tonight. He's just SO exhausted & overstimulated... poor guy!

A post about Ian

I've been sortof heavy on the Aaron posts lately, so I just wanted to add a little "update" post about big brother!

Ian is learning new words by leaps and bounds. He uses correctly probably 5 or 6 words every day that I've never heard him say before. We've been reading the "Richard Scarry big word book" (Or whatever it is called) and he is proving to know FAR more words that Roger and I thought he knew. It is SO fun (and really awesome) to sit back and watch Ian's language explode before our very eyes.

Ian loves to dance. He's starting to pick up on dances his friends on the television do. For instance, the part at the end of Shrek where they are dancing to "I believe." Ian will do all the dances he sees on there, including the Macarena. It is so funny. He also has the opening musical number to Madagascar 2 under his belt. And of course, there are the many dances Ian does on his own, especially while he's singing his own songs. He also loves to sing.

He has finally *almost* mastered the Alphabet. It has taken a LOOONG time, but he's almost there. He can count to 20 now, even though he almost always skips seven, eleven, twelve, and seventeen. He gets to 20.

He loves his brother. Every morning he wakes up and asks where Aaron is. They also play together, make each other laugh, and give unprompted hugs and kisses. Ian shares his snacks, his milk (ew! I wish he wouldn't...) and his toys. They are becoming best friends and it is SO neat to watch it happen.

Ian loves school. He doesn't cry at dropoff anymore. In fact, this week, he cried at pick-up. he didn't want to go home!

Ian can dress himself almost fully, including socks & shoes. I often don't let him, because it takes 14 years for him to get it all done, but he can do it, given the chance.

He sleeps incredibly now. Given his past, this is HUGE for him. If you had told me a year ago that Ian was going to sleep so well now (for naps and nighttime) I would've called you a liar! Even just one short year ago Ian was waking 3-5 times per night, taking 2 hours to fall asleep for bedtime, and needing to be driven around in the car in order to fall asleep for nap... and then only napping in pure silence with even the distant bark of the neighbor's dog waking him and starting the whole process over. Those days are gone. Those days are GONE!

He loves to draw, paint, color, and otherwise be artistic. In fact, I'm willing to go ahead and say it is favorite thing to do. Sure, he loves to make believe with his wooden castle, play cars & trains, and go to playgrounds, but given the choice: playground or painting, he'll almost always choose painting.

Ian is going to LOVE Disney World. I think it is partially why Roger & I are getting so excited about going...Ian is just going to LOVE it.

Ok, everyone is tugging at my pant legs, asking for some attention, I'm going to oblige them! Tomorrow, we will celebrate Aaron's first birthday with a small gathering of friends and family. (Even though he's not officially one until the 22nd.) There will be many, MANY pictures to come!

Physical Therapy for his Torticollis

Aaron has been receiving Physical Therapy services for his torticollis since January. His neck was really tight on the right side. (It is very obvious in the photos now, isn't it?)





Today, since he has been getting pretty good at walking, his physical therapist decided November 6th would be his last session. He's being released from Physical Therapy! Cured, healed, rehabilitated... he's done!