Disney Wonder

On Sunday we woke up early and took the hotel transfer to the port. It was so incredibly easy. Not only did they take you there but they took care of our luggage as well. Once we got off we did not see them again until they were in our room.

Up until now Kaylie wanted nothing to do with Mickey's ship. When we woke up to get ready she finally said she was ready to get on and was excited to see Mickey and Minnie.

Waiting to get onto the boat. They had movies playing, snack bars, and Mickey and Minnie out for a picture.

Our first family vacation picture.

"Hooray" for Mickey's boat.

Apparently lil miss is scared to death of Mickey but no so much of Minnie so when Mickey went on his break and Minnie stepped in Kaylie wanted to see her.

It is hard to tell but she actually freaked out as we walked up to her. That is why she is with daddy placed as far out as she can be.

We tried for a hug but settled for a kiss that she blew to Minnie to say good bye. At least she looked back.

Once on the ship we immediately headed up to the nursery to make sure they had our times Kaylie would be there. We decided she would eat with us the first night but every night after that we had her there to play. It was the greatest thing we could have done. After one night of her climbing all around the table and chairs and almost becoming a few speed bumps for the waiters we realized she needed to be there. The best part was she would go in completely overstimulated and come back calm and ready to do something. It was quite enough for her to desensitize herself.

While we waited, we were the only ones on this floor so we took advantage of the long hallways in hopes that maybe she would take a nap in the room. It was definitely wishful thinking.

I love this picture. You can see her reflection in it.

Since Kaylie was not potty trained she was not allowed to be left without us in the kids club but could be in there with us. We took advantage of exploring this right away so she could have some time to play and get used to it before it was complete chaos. Their were some scary parts for her so being able to try things a bunch of times with out being pushed all over the place made it easier the next time we went to play.

This scared her but she doesn't give up.

Poor Mickey...she wanted nothing to do with him. She was terrified of him.

Emergency drill. I love the life jacket Kaylie got. It had sleeves and a hood for her. Everyone should have that. Any way...I was shocked. I really didn't think she was going to let us put it on her.

This is her "I have had enough pictures" pose. Even with that she didn't cry or throw a fit once.

Our setting sail deck party. Kaylie was overstimulated at first but began to get into it as the characters started to come out.

It impressed me how much they stressed movement. They were constantly dancing and encouraging everyone to join in.

Right after we pulled anchor we went to the front of the boat to watch us sail off. Kaylie really enjoyed herself. I was shocked.

The one meal she joined us with. I think she was only in her chair for about 5 minutes.

After dinner sunset.

Gift shop fun.

She had to have her pirates telescope.

Each night a new towel animal was on our bed. She would get so excited to see what it was. Shortly after the excitement wore off she would undo it, sit down on the bed and lick the chocolate before giving it to mommy or daddy to finish off.

When she saw her bed made and her animals out she screamed, dropped what she was doing, and jumped into be.

By the end of the trip and with no nap taken Kaylie would fall asleep in the most random places. This was during one of the shows. She was out cold.

Flying on an airplane

Disney, Disney, Disney, Disney...The past 10 days (May 1st through May 10th) we lived everything Disney. The first part was on a cruise ship named the Disney Wonder. It was an absolutely amazing ship. The second half was spent exploring Disney's 4 parks...Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios. It has been so long since we have taken a trip of this kind and we were so excited. All said and done we were gone a total of 10 days.

Having flown before I was actually relaxed when it came to how Kaylie would do. The trick is to buy toys she has never seen and pull them out as needed. Having mastered wearing her "listening ears" was also a big part of keeping her entertained. Dora will forever be a part of our trips. Overall, she did an amazing job.

You will have to excuse the picture quality...they were all taken with my phone.


Sometimes I wonder what we were thinking. Thankfully, the people movers turned out to be a success. After a little slip we quickly figured out the best way to master them. Jason would get on, turn around and help her jump on. She refused to be held and would not let us take her back pack so this was the best solution. She is turning into such a big girl!

She absolutely loved her back pack. She was so proud to take it all over the airport. She refused to leave it even to go to the bathroom.

Already acting like a Diva. Should I worry?!?

"Flying in an airplane looking out the window..." I hate that Barney song but it helped comfort her during take off.

We decided to get into Cape Canaveral the day before so we were not rushed. It helped put us at ease and allowed Kaylie some time to adjust to not being at home. When we are away she doesn't eat or sleep well and becomes extremely hyper so allowing for some time to let it all sink in worked well.

That night we ended up going to a place called "Rusty's" for dinner. We sat on the porch and enjoyed the ocean while Kaylie played with some of the other kids at the restaurant.

The start of many, "no pictures mommy!" Apparently she doesn't like my camera.

Now that Kaylie is in a big girl bed it was some what stressful for Jason and I because we were not sure how her being in a BIG bed was going to work. She was so excited to see "her" bed and thankfully went to sleep fairly easy. We piled up pillows all around her and put her in the middle. She slept really well until she woke up the next morning and forgot where she was.

Listening Ears

In preparation for our trip we needed to get Kaylie used to head phones so she could watch movies on the plane. We tried this when we went to Colorado in September and she wanted nothing to do with it. This time she refused to watch a movie without them.

Woo Hoo

I have posted!!! I keep saying I am going to get better but I can't seem to get my act together so for now you get a bunch of posts with 3 videos included. I figure I needed to make up for the absence of posts.

Kaylie update:

Miss K is doing fantastic!!! She has come so incredibly far and is accomplishing so many of her goals that have been set for her in the past few months we are all blown away. As of now she no longer needs physical therapy or occupational therapy. She needs speech but only for help with her receptive side of things. That means she is needing help understanding what you are saying/asking. Her vocabulary is amazing and she is truly talking up a storm. Spend five minutes with her and you will be busting a gut at the things she has to say. She definitely takes after her mommy in that she has an opinion.

A few weeks ago we completed an evaluation for the preschool program for children with disabilities through our school district. Once she turns 3 she will no longer be able to do ECI so they have to transition them to the school district. The only catch is that they have to qualify. Since Kaylie does not struggle with her cognitive abilities they were thinking about putting her in walk-in speech only. After providing everything we could possibly think of they decided to go ahead and recommend putting her in the preschool program to help fill in the gaps and help with the social side of things that she currently struggles with. We are very grateful for this because we have had so much support we fear losing it would put her more behind. She will start with two weeks left in the school year and then continue once the 2010-2011 school year starts. I can't believe my baby girl is old enough to go to preschool.

Weight wise...After having gained less than a pound since November her body has finally given in and we are now 24 lbs. She is no longer the weight of a 12 month old. Height wise their is really no concern. She is on the charts with that and the doctors are thrilled.

Health...Everyone is so pleased with her progress! We are taking her off her inhaler and changer her to Flovent which is huge. Since we got her immunity fixed her illnesses have been mild compared to the illnesses she had prevaccine. What a blessing. GI wise...he is also thrilled. Weight wise they are no longer concerned and we are not having as many issues with throwing up as we had. We have been slowly increasing her volume of food and she is for the most part tolerating it. The only semi negative thing we have is with her ears. We have one ear that is about to be tubeless. It is pretty much stuck in wax. It has definitely come out way to soon. Hopefully, we will not have any issues from that.

That's about it for now. Enjoy all the pictures!

Early MD present

Since we do not have another MOPS meeting before Mother's Day we were blessed with an absolutely adorable craft from our kids. I so appreciate this craft because as I read it I know that the majority of the answers truly came from Kaylie. I can picture her saying the entire bottom paragraph. These are the gifts that truly mean the most to me. I will cherish this for a long time.

Scooooooooooterrrrrrrrrrr

I am still shocked at how well she can ride it!!!

Bunny helmet

The other day we were at our neighbors house playing and after watching Kaylie play on the scooter they offered it up to us since they were all too big for it. Miss K was so incredibly excited and wants to play on it ALL the time. She loves it so much she tries to sneak it into the house to play. If it isn't visible she will ask for it until she finally gets her way.

With her daddy being such and outdoorsy person we decided to go ahead and get her used to wearing a bike helmet. We figure if we start pushing this now it wont be a problem once she starts riding a bike. Surprisingly, she didn't mind it. We tried on several helmets and this is the one she chose...pink helmet with bunnies.

The first time she wore it we had a hard time buckling it. She got pinched and then refused to wear it. When we told her no helmet, no scooter she quickly changed her mind and put it on. Now she asks for it even when we are not needing it.

Trying it on.

Our first ride with the helmet.

Kaylie's play kitchen has a phone on it. One day after breakfast I realized she was having a pretend conversation with her daddy. When I asked her to do it again this is what I got.

Spring time flowers

This year Jason and I decided it was time to do some serious planting. With the last freeze behind us we have spent several weeks buying and planting flowers. Luckily we have gotten a good amount of rain and our flowers are absolutely gorgeous. We also lucked out in that we went a little early in the season and found some flowers we had never heard of and probably wouldn't have bought if we had waited. So far we have been super pleased with how our yard looks. Now the goal is to keep up with it.

On a side note...Kaylie was wonderful during all of our shopping adventures. The first day we went to Calloways. After a few minutes of fighting her we gave in and let her be. By the end she had her shoes off while bear walking down the aisles. Thankfully, it wasn't busy at all!

Merry Go Round

We have slowly worked ourselves up to this moment. As we walked by the Merry Go Round Kaylie asked to ride it. When I let daddy know mommy doesn't do well going around and around

he gave in to her beautiful blue eyed baby girl and took her on her first ride on the big girl horses. She loved it. Daddy loved it too with the exception that he was a little nauseous when he got off. That was the exact reason why mommy didn't want to go.

Hi Daddy

Occasionally I will try and send daddy some video or photos of our day. She wanted to let her daddy know how much she loves him.