- I feel retarded trying to figure out how to work the belts on the car seat. I know some of you might not like me using the word “retarded,” but I don’t know how else to say I feel like my brain is not fully developed and I lack the mental capacity to understand this stupid thing.
- I am really excited about seeing “Holiday Wishes” from the Magic Kingdom when we have our anniversary dinner. I’m listening to a holiday version of my Disney theme park radio stations and it was playing. My dad booked dinner for Tom and I, and asked which night we wanted to go. I checked the calendar and picked the Christmas version. I’m so excited.
- Baby’s suitcase is packed for a week in Virginia. So far, his is the only one.
- You know, the problem with Tom taking his clothes off as soon as he walks in the door is that when the doorbell rings he has to frantically run around and try to find a shirt and pants. Takes about 5 minutes. I’m surprised anyone waits that long for us to make it to the door.
randomness
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disney “pros”
HEY! If you have a Disney Theme Park Podcast – you better know what the heck you’re talking about!
So, I’m listening to this podcast… I’m not sure why – because they’ve let me down before. They’re talking about Top 5 Epcot attractions that they miss. Okay, fine. I’ll listen. (Even though their website says, “Your Disney NEWS” and attractions that have been boarded up for a decade are hardly news.) They all list the same ones. Yeah. Each person lists their Top 5. It’s not a cumulative and well-researched list of the absolute best… 4 people each come up with their Top 5… up to 20 things.
Really? Would you REALLY rather have Food Rocks than Soarin’?
In the same conversation, they poop on Ellen’s Energy Adventure being dated. But Food Rocks, yeah, we miss Food Rocks SO HARD.
I should have quit when one of the hosts said, “Supposeably.”
Towards the end of their Long Lost Epcot Top 5, they’re talking smack about the Sorcerer Mickey hat at Disney-MGM Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Look, NO ONE likes that friggin’ hat. No one likes it. They have to have it… they have to cover the Chinese Theater. DO SOME RESEARCH. I don’t have official sources, but these podcast folks don’t even bring it up – they don’t even mention, “Oh, by the way – rumor has it Disney didn’t want to continue paying for the rights to use Grauman’s Chinese Theater on promotional materials, so they had to block it.”
I listened to the dribble for almost a solid hour! Talk, talk, talk… saying nothing.
Tom says I should start a Disney blog, but I’m aware of my limitations. As much as I know about Walt Disney World, there are people out there who know more (although not these people). Why would people come to me for news and updates when I’m getting my news and updates from DisneyParksBlog.com? Why do they need me to tell them that Thomas Jefferson is the Sheriff in the old west on the Great Movie Ride when they could learn it for themselves on a YouTube video of Jim Korkis?
I was listening to some Disney-Mommy podcast and they were talking about where they use their Disney Dining Credits, like, which restaurants are worthy. If you’re paying full price for your hotel and tickets and are rewarded with free dining, YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG.
If you’re hardcore with Disney, then you are a Disney Vacation Club Member. If you’re a DVC Member, they don’t offer free dining plans – but that’s okay! You are already saving thousands and thousands of dollars on annual vacations by being a member of the club.
If you are a person who’d like to take their kids to Disney at some point in their life, perhaps DVC is not for you. If that’s the case, you might book your trip at regular retail and get free dining (although I still can’t make it make sense to me). Maybe in that scenario, you would want to hear this podcast about which places are most worthy of surrendering your credits… but if you own and operate a WDW podcast then YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER.
Not all uber-fans are DVC Members. Tom and I are not DVC Members. (Yet.) But we’d still NEVER use the Disney Dining Plan because we are real, hardcore Disney addicts that make it down there as much as we can. We have Annual Passes, and as a result we’ll never ever book a vacation package that includes our room and park tickets at regular price. If you are a real Disney know-it-all, I would think you’d have an annual pass and go more than once a year.
That’s another thing – there are always special discounts offered on rooms through Disney’s website. They ALWAYS offer some kind of end-of-season deal for up to 30% off room rates. Disney Annual Passholders get room discounts. AAA members get room discounts. Why would you ever pay full price for a hotel room at Disney just to eat for free. Quick service dining package retails for $35/day per person. You get two quick meals, a snack and a refillable mug. Well, let’s start right there… bring the mug from your last trip. I don’t know if Tom and I ever spend $70/day at WDW on quick service meals. We might (but don’t) each spend $15 for lunch, $15 for dinner. That’s $30, which leaves $5 for a snack. ::shrug:: It’s a wash. You’re not saving some incredible amount of dough by buying into the dining plan. I don’t think a Dole Hhhhhwhip even costs $5. I mean, the Quick Service package says right on there, “Save 10%,” so it’s definitely a waste of time if you’re not getting it for free. (P.S. Annual passholders get discounts at restaurants anyway.)
A Value Resort Package for Tom and I with “free” dining would be $1200. That includes tickets for 4 days and a hotel for 5 nights. Those tickets aren’t hoppers, so you have to commit to a park and stay there. Even if it’s crowded because it’s the Extra Magic Hours Park.
So, alright – let me take the same 5 night trip Tom & Wendy style. Based on the cost of my AP and the number of uses, it costs me $30/day to get into the parks, times 4 days and two people that’s $240 for tickets. I’ll save a measly 25% on my room rate. $75/night at Pop Century times 5 nights = $375. That last night might cost more since it’s a Friday night, so we’ll round that up to $110, which makes the room for my stay $410.
Room $410 + Tickets $240 = $650. We would have to eat $550 on two quick service meals and a snack each per day to break even with the retail cost of our trip plus “free” dining. It’s total BULLCRAP. I know we don’t eat as regularly as most… assuming we did, $30 per person on lunch and dinner, $5 each on a snack… times 6 days = $420. We’re still losing $130 with “free” dining.
Our typical cost looks like this:
- Tickets, $240
- Room, $410
- Food, $13.50 theme park meal for lunch x 2 people = $27 x 5 days = $135
- Food, 2 Incredible Dining Experiences (Cali Grill or Artist Pointe) $50 pp per meal = $250 after taxes and gratuity.
- Snacks, $50
The grand total on that comes in at $1035. I just can’t justify $1200 for two free quick service meals per day. We sleep in. We relax. We snack at the hotel. We eat once in the park at about 3 in the afternoon (except AK). We don’t stay late a couple of days because we have a big amazing dinner planned at some place awesome. We’ll have leftovers from those amazing dinners and eat them in front of the fireplace at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge in the late morning before we go to the parks.
I’m not saying EVERYONE should have APs and avoid the dining plan like the plague. I’m just saying that if you report on a Disney Blog or Podcast then you damn well better. If I’m trusting you as an authority on the subject, you better be a freakin’ PRO!
starting to assess the situation
Omg, y’all… I’m gonna be, like, really bummed if I have an ugly baby. Gosh, what if I don’t KNOW he’s ugly? Everyone thinks their baby is the cutest…
I was not an adorable newborn. It’s amazing Mom took me home at all. I looked Asian, though. So, that’s good since I’d like my son to look more like Tom. Tom’s Asian. I looked Asian. Hopefully baby will look Asian. This has got me swooning for the moment:
This one, although Asian, looks like Lindsay to me:
It’s tough to find ugly Asian babies, I’ll admit. But they’re out there…
great deal.
Maybe the $20 is for each base… but that’s not how I read it.
What a bargain! So, I can spend $80 buying the stuff individually off the list, or $100 as a lot.
fiiiiiiiinally!
Guess who’s baby’s finally got a car seat?! Woo hoo!
I hate posting twice in one day, but in my defense we are getting awfully close, I didn’t post at all over the weekend, and these are exciting new developments (if you consider shopping for the bare necessities exciting).
Here’s the thing… love this because it goes all the way.
No, we didn’t buy this one.
Look at it. It’s like a throne for an astronaut. Love the color. One purchase lasts from birth to booster seat. Love it. But, it’s $185. I’m also kind of confused about how to use it, because I remember when my cousin Amy would bring her baby, Kyle (“baby,” who just got his drivers license), to Gammy and Papa’s house she’d bring him inside the house in the infant carrier. I just feel like that’s more convenient for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, restaurants and all that kind of stuff than taking him out of the car seat and carrying him in. I got a stroller that’s super lightweight and reeks of awesomeness. It is perfect for Walt Disney World – it folds up pretty tight but it doesn’t have the infant seat component. It just reclines back enough for a newborn.
At some point, I am going to be rolled out of the hospital and they’re going to need to see a car seat before they’ll let me leave. Even if I had the dough for the Alpha-Omega… I don’t know if I can pull the trigger on it while I’m still confused about the carrier situation. I have also registered for a really cool Chicco Travel System, but it all comes back to the same thing – okay, it’s $300 and I HAVE a kick-ass stroller already. Do I want to spend all that money on this thing when I really just need the carrier? I love the stroller part, too, but I hate how big and bulky those things are even when they’re folded down. It would take up the vast majority of the back of the 4Runner. And while we could probably fit a few duffel bags back there with it, I don’t know whether or not we could fit a few duffel bags, a Pack ‘n’ Play, a baby tub, a diaper bag, and a dog.
Enter craigslist. We bought a Graco Travel System for $75. For $75, I don’t mind taking a risk on a travel system that includes a bulky stroller that we never use. I was really hoping to spend $25-$40 for a used infant car seat/carrier that would carry us through the first few months while we decided what we liked, so I don’t mind dropping $50 on a stroller that it will click into. That’s fine. If we hate it, we can sell it on craigslist. Maybe we’ll enjoy the travel system. Who knows?
Our “new” stroller and car seat!
Now, Pack ‘n’ Plays… they are so advanced. It used to just be a cloth/metal/plastic playpen. Now it’s that, but with different heights, a bassinet, a changing table, side storage and a character mobile. Forget it. I don’t want all that. Once I get all of that put together I’m never going to want to take it back down and go anywhere. It’s not temporary enough. I do, however, LOVE the super-pricey Baby Bjorn Travel Crib.
Only $279!
Stream-lined. Simple. Portable. TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-NINE DOLLARS. And you’re probably going to want a crib sheet for that, and that’ll set you back an additional $43. Yowza.
Enter craigslist.
I know Dragon Kid needs a place to sleep while we’re in VA. I know I don’t like Pack ‘n’ Plays. I know I don’t want to spend $200 on something I don’t like… but $40… I could go $40 on it.
Retail: $189.95
Because I’m so smart: $40. Boom baby!
Look at that. Little happy can sleep right next to Papa Bear and Mama Bear… assuming he can sleep through the two of us sawing logs all night. I don’t have to get up to feed him. Just grab him and pull him into the bed.
All this talk about baby travel has made me really want that Puj tub. Someone listed one on CL here in Charlotte, and I found a couple in DC. If I could get my hands on it for $20-$25 I’d be one happy camper. Cross your fingers for me.
head down
Hook Hand Thug: Head down.
Flynn Rider: HEAD DOWN!
Hook Hand Thug: Arms In.
Flynn Rider: ARMS IN!
Hook Hand Thug: Knees apart.
Flynn Rider: KNEES APA – Knees Apart?
Little Happy’s head is down… “That boy has assumed the position!” I don’t know how anyone can tell that by looking at my stomach, but apparently Dr. Wolanski can. Feeling kind of crampy, but now that I think about it, it’s not as bad as regular period cramps, but it is a sign that my body’s getting ready to get this wagon train a-rollin’. Everyone says when it’s labor you will definitely know – so I’m not worried about that. Dr. Wolanski said he’s 95% sure this week will be uneventful and it’s safe to go back to Charlotte, so that’s what we did. Doc also said that if the worst should happen, you know, if my water does break – we have plenty of time. Just call him, tell him what’s happening and he’ll tell us what to do.
So, this week will be spent packing and cleaning and packing some more. I need to buy a car seat, probably from Craigslist for the time-being. I also need a solid name.
I want a really good name, like Thomas Andrew La or Wendy Michelle Johnson. I had so many excellent girl names. Oh boy, what am I going to do.
I think I also need to print and fill out one of those birth plans. How does that work? Does anyone in the hospital actually read/honor those? I spent a lot of time telling Tom my demands last night on the way home. It’s nice to have that dude in my corner 24/7. An example is, okay, there will be hundreds of thousands of photos taken of this kid throughout his lifetime… I want Daddy to take the very first one. I can’t think of other things on the birth plan. Drugs, yes. Water birth, no… although I really would like an excuse to get in the Jacuzzi in my MJH birth room. Keep the placenta, HELLLLLLLL NO.
I get updates from different baby websites in my inbox, today: “Especially for you this week on thebump.com: CRAZY Labor and Delivery Stories!” Really, thebump.com? Why the HELL would you think I want to read that right now?
Uncle Haley turned 22 on the 22nd. Dee Dee came and it was like, “Birthdays all around!” She brought me a birthday present and Mom a birthday present and Haley a birthday present and Baby a birthday present! She had some things off the registry including the first thing I registered for (back when I thought we were pregnant in Sept. 2011):
It makes me SO happy, and is going to look great in his room next to his orange lamp. It reminds me how devastated I was when my period came that time, and how elated we were to finally get that positive test a few months later. She bought a Finding Nemo sleeper that features Bruce and the other sharks, it really makes me want to name him Bruce. That thing is SO much cuter in person than online! It’s no longer in stock, and I feel like I want to find it in every size now.
I need to finish the changing table. It’s almost all sanded… and I need to paint it. I was always planning dark blue and lime green, even back when I was sure my baby was a girl. I never bought newborn cloth diapers. I think I’ll just have to use the disposables while we’re in VA and work out the cloth when we get back home.
I’m slowly, and I mean slowly getting excited about seeing his face. This surprise has been building for months and months… and is finally about to be revealed. You know that I’m crazy and have only been cautiously optimistic all this time. I start thinking about how “all this time” goes back to the Super Bowl. Tom and I were both in the bathroom and just cried and cried. Happy crying! Really, I thought something might be up when Dad, Lindsay, Haley and I went to Daytona for the Rolex 24.
We went over to WDW and took this picture at Animal Kingdom the day before the race. Look at my face. I’m thinking, “they don’t even KNOW!”
Yeah. Right now it’s a cartoon lion baby. Give it 9 months.
I’m not sure why Dad’s yawning.
this could be the room of any small boy
…but it happens to belong to a boy named Luong Jie, you know him better as Lil’ Happy.
I am very ashamed of myself for posting these pictures with 0 art on the wall. The furniture’s in! The chair arrived! It’s organized and clean! “Done!” I thought to myself. No. Not done. I want it to look like it’s out of a magazine. I want it to make people jealous. And here I am, an art major with 0 art on the walls. What the heck was I thinkin’?!
So, not quite done… but here’s an update.
phew! glad that’s over! (almost)
- Chocolate Milkshake from Baskin Robbins
- M & M Minis
- M & M or Oreo Blizzard from Dairy Queen
- McDonald’s Fries
- Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie
- Mei Wah Roll
- Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries
- A big, soft, ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookie
- Serious Dark Chocolate from Lindt or Ghirardelli
- Phish Food and Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream from Ben & Jerry’s
- Bread from Topeka’s Steakhouse
The MJH Diabetes Nurse Educator suggested I make a list of things from Tom to bring me in the hospital after the baby is born. That is what I’ve got so far. I’ve been writing it down in the back of the log book that came with my meter. I should also put granola cereal and lots and lots of fruit on there, because that has also raised my blood sugar so I haven’t been able to have it.
I’m just too damn sweet.
I’ve gotten in the habit now of eating meat and vegetables and not much else. I can’t imagine that it’s very good for me to have so much red meat. (Before you say anything, I have had enough chicken!) I wonder how hard it will be to revert back to cereal and applesauce for breakfast. A sub would be nice. I miss sandwiches.
BUT!
My numbers this week have been declining. I’m thrilled. I’ve gone from 135 – 170 on 9/4-9/6 to 87 – 127 so far this week. I guess, that doesn’t mean anything to you unless you are diabetic, but I’m supposed to keep it under 120. The MJH DNE said the placental hormone production peaks at 36 weeks, which was 9/9.
So although we’re not done pricking and bleeding and metering and logging yet… we’re getting there. Won’t be long now and Tom can bring me all the things on that list! I was so frustrated with the whole thing, I’m glad to have a handle on it.
That La Kid 