Let the Magic Begin--Day #1

For Spring Break this year we headed back to the Wonderful World of Disney!  I know I have said this before about our trips to Disney, but every penny spent on this fabulous trip was TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!  Seeing the look on my kids' faces was a memory I will never forget.
We started our adventure in Dallas on Saturday and stayed the night at a hotel close to the airport.  We got up bright and early to head to the DFW airport...we arrived at 4:16 am to be exact.  But the kids were so pumped they didn't care how early it was.  Our flight left out at 6:00 am and we arrived at our hotel around 10:30 am...Florida time.  We got checked in and headed straight to our Little Mermaid room at the new Art of Animation resort on the Disney property.  It was so cool and totally geared towards kids.  After a quick nap, we loaded up and headed to Magic Kingdom.
We arrived at just the right time...the beginning of the parade.  We got a front row seat and Harper got to "high five" and wave at most of the characters.  After that, we headed to see Mickey Mouse himself.  It was at this point, that I saw the magic in Owen's eyes.  He was so excited to have Mickey sign his autograph book and was in awe of every character we met after that.  Harper was the perfect age to still believe in the magic, but I could tell she played it up for her brother too!  I must admit, Disney is just as magical for Richard and I as it is for the kids!
We stayed at Magic Kingdom for the rest of the evening.  We rode all of our favorite rides, watched the fireworks show and danced at the block party.  We even got to visit the new part of Magic Kingdom, where the Beast's Castle is.  Harper and Owen got to enjoy some LaFue's Brew at Gaston's Tavern (non-alcoholic...I assure you!) and we were also graced with Gaston's presence.  But no rest for the weary, we headed back to the hotel to get geared up for the next 5 days!!!
Get ready...here come the pictures!

Patient Owen

Last Sunday night, Owen was running a super high fever and was complaining of immense pain in his neck.  He couldn't seem to move his head from side to side and he was crying...a lot!  We decided to take him to Children's Hospital, because he wasn't getting better with Motrin and he was inconsolable.  My mom and I took Owen and we arrived around 9:15 pm.  Then the fun began...doctors & nurses...an xray...an IV...a CT scan...IV pain meds because he couldn't move his neck. 
All this and around 4:45 am, the doctor came in and said we were going to be admitted due to the fact that Owen had a retro pharyngeal abscess.  Huh?  They explained it to me, it is a small lymph node at the very back of the neck, right at the airway that can get abscessed from complications with strep (or at least that is what I interpreted the doctor saying.).  All this time, Owen had never fallen asleep.  Richard came to join us in the mix of all that and we were both exhausted! We got settled into our room upstairs just in time for nurse shift change and IV antiobiotics, etc.  So...no rest for the weary. 
Monday morning, Owen was excited to get Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast, but wasn't interested in much else.  Just laying around and watching TV.  The best part was when our Child Life Specialist (yes that is really a job...so fun!) came into our room and brought Owen some toys and played with him.  She also invited Owen down to the Playroom downstairs, but he wasn't up for moving just yet.  Richard ran home to shower and grab our stuff.  At this point, they kept saying it would be a couple of days!  Meanwhile, Owen and I hung out...had lunch and went for a walk around our floor.  He just had a little trouble remembering that he was hooked up and could only go as far as the tube would allow.  Richard came back, I got a shower and we had a ton of visitors that brought Owen all kinds of super cool and entertaining gifts!  That night, Harper came with Grandma and Boppy and she got to play with Owen in the Playroom downstairs.  They were both in heaven!  We finally dragged Owen upstairs and got wiped down and ready for bed.  At this point, Owen couldn't have anything to eat or drink because they were planning on doing surgery on Tuesday morning to drain the abscess.  But Owen sacked out early...we all did!  Of course, I didn't sleep well with all of the nurses coming in and out, but Owen did! 
Tuesday morning he woke up and seemed so much better. When the doctor came in he said they weren't going to do the surgery, but that we would stay with the antibiotics and pain meds for a few more days!  Owen was bouncing off the walls, so the nurse and Owen agreed that if he drank all of his milk, she would "unhook" him so he could go back down to the playroom without having to drag the IV along.  He was all for that.  He ate a hamburger for lunch...again...and we spent most of the rest of the day playing in the Playroom and the outside area.  We even got to have a picnic with Aunt Mel!  We returned to our room at 3ish and not too much later the nurse came in and said, "I have your discharge papers!"  What?  I was thinking a few more days, but we packed up in about 5 minutes are we were out the door!
Since then, Owen has been on heavy antibiotics, but hasn't had motrin since the weekend.  I think he is all back to normal.  Owen was the patient...but I had to use my patience this time around!  Here's to healthy kids!!! :)

Goodbye Basketball

Two weekends ago, Harper had her last basketball game of the season.  The league we played in this season was an absolute blast.  The girls learned so much.  Harper has become quite the aggressive ball stealer!  She takes after her mother!!! :)  She also learned how to really look and anticipate where to pass the ball.  She made several great assists and even scored a basket too!  I am so glad that she loves basketball so much!

We Love Snow!

Although we haven't gotten quite as much as most of the places around us, we did get a GOOD snow a few weeks ago.  It actually just stayed for a few hours, but it was the good, wet, sticky snow...the kind we never get where we live.  It is usually just icy and doesn't stick together at all.  Right when we came home from school...the kids bundled up (we joined them too!) and headed out to build a snow family!
I could not believe how Owen could roll those snowballs...he was a supreme Snowman maker!  Harper was all about finding the least "dirty" snow to make the perfect snowman and she did a great job...except the head of her's kept falling off.  We finally got it to stick!  We all played for quite awhile, building our snow family and a snow fort, but once we had rolled up most of the snow, it was time to go in.  Plus I was a frozen popsicle.  Yippee for Snow!!!