Now A Family of *gulp* Six.

I awoke at 6am - thank you, Charlie, for sleeping in! Birthday call from my parents. I played a game of Top-It (War) with Roman before school. I graded a bunch of projects and am now actually ahead of my self-imposed schedule. I ate a lot of lasagna for lunch. Leftovers, but it was sooo good. I taught. As always, fun and trying at the same time. Picked up Ro and played a game of Cooties after school. I love playing games with him. Got Wendy's for dinner. Again. Second year in a row. Next year, we're going out. Hopefully not to Wendy's. Had a Wendy's Frosty w/M&Ms for dessert. That was nice. Half is still in the freezer. Birthday call from my brother. Birthday call from my in-laws. Charlie was in a fabulous mood, all smiles & jabbering. Got a gift from my boys - a digital photo frame! Very exciting. Doug and I coordinated schedules & to-do lists. Going to order clothing from Land's End after I blog. Then I will go to bed & peruse a scrapbooking maga...

Today I had plans. Had noticed that most of Roman's fellow kindergartners are riding bikes without training wheels, while Roman was still using his. As it was a gorgeous day, thought it'd be a good day to start practicing without them. I imagined the whole thing - going up and down our sidewalk, holding on to the bike and letting go, probably a couple spills until he took off down the sidewalk on his own. Big grins, "I'm so proud of you!," and then into the kitchen for a popsicle that we'd have on the deck. Perfect, right? Like a Norman Rockwell painting. Right. Things started out okay, although Roman is cautious by nature and was very nervous. He strapped on knee & elbow pads, as well as helmet. He actually is good at balancing until he thinks about what he's doing, then the minute he wobbles he freaks out and causes himself to fall. After four or five (forced) spills and one accidental one where he scraped the back of his calf, Roman threw his bike d...

Our youth pastor at church & his wife welcomed their first baby into the world on Monday. As I was looking at the birth-day pictures on Facebook today, tears just started rolling down my cheeks, but I knew they weren't the happiness kind. I realized then - of course - Charlie. It was hard to see all the brand-new-baby pictures, naked-baby, first cry, weighing for the first time, being placed in his mama's arms. Jealousy and sadness. I know we were chosen as the parents of a preemie because we are strong and we could handle it much easier than some. But still, I guess time hasn't healed that wound yet. I don't think it ever will be fully okay.

Details on where we stayed: Port Orleans Riverside Orange Lake West Village condo Click here on this Link to see my pictures on Snapfish (all 223 of them! Yikes!)

This morning we were pleased because there was nowhere to go in a rush. Which is why Charlie decided that 5:30am was a good time to start fussing. Luckily with a little head-rubbing, he went back until 6:45am. The joys of parenting. We got up and started packing (and blogging) right away, and finally checked out at 9:30am. Headed to Riverside for some last-minute fun before the airport. We had an hour, and darnit I was going to go fishing. We all headed over to the Fishin' Hole and got a couple cane poles and a cup of worms for a half-hour period. Ro grew bored quickly (no surprise) and when Daddy caught 2, and he caught none, Ro decided to go to the playscape with Charlie and Grandpa. I took over his pole and had my worm stripped but then caught a little one. We figured that was good fishin' for 20 minutes, and so turned in our poles & extra worms and headed in for lunch. Off to the airport after lunch, and while our flight was pushed back about 30 min., it was no big deal...

Our last day of fun before heading home. This morning we decided to join the grandparents at their resort for breakfast, then headed out to Animal Kingdom. This is our least favorite of the parks and we're not sure why; although I think because we have an awesome zoo near our home, perhaps we're not as thrilled as others to see the animals. We rode the Safari in Africa and got some great shots of the animals - even Charlie liked it! We then wandered through Asia and had ice cream at 11:15 for snack. Yay vacation! Roman wanted to go to Dinoland so we headed that way. They had a huge play area that looked like an excavation site, and Roman and I played in there for awhile. Then we checked out the rides. It looks like an old-fashioned midway, which none of us are too keen on. Roman wanted to ride the Triceratop Twirl, and he and Daddy did that while the rest of us scoped out a place for lunch. Went to Restaurantosaurus and had hot dogs and fries. Charlie was in a much better mood ...

Whew! Another long day, and I finally have to admit that even I am tired. Today was Charlie's day to melt down, but that was later. Here's our excitement: Went to Magic Kingdom again, fast-passed Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. Roman really wanted to do Aladdin's Magic Carpets again but this time with Doug, me, & Baba, so we did that. Then we wandered through the Swiss Family Treehouse with Grandpa while Baba stayed with Charlie. Then it was off to the Crystal Palace where our breakfast with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet was held. It was a good choice - we had a table for 6, good seats, delicious breakfast buffet that lasted us pretty much to dinner. Except for Charlie. It turns out his apple spice muffin was going to be the last bit of food he had for the day. We went back and Doug, me, and Baba did "Pirates" one last time. Doug and I decided to surprise Roman and buy him the Pirate Mickey-Ears which he had been pining for since Sunday. He wore the...

Today was a long day. Boys slept until 7:30am which was just awesome. Decided to go back to Epcot to do the rest of the park. Doug fast-passed "Soarin'" and Roman, Grandpa & I stood in line to meet Mickey, Pluto, Minnie, Donald, & Goofy. I love the way Disney does their character stuff now; with one 35-min wait we got to see all the major characters. Epcot also listed the countries where other movie characters would be located, and we were able to catch 2 of them later in the day - Mulan & Snow White, as well as Mary Poppins again. Roman would have nothing to do with meeting these ladies. We aren't sure if it's because they're girls, or because they would actually talk to him and that blows his mind. I tend to think it's because actually talking to the real characters scares him; Doug thinks it's just because they're female. But he does want their autographs, so it's Mama & Charlie who get to see the ladies. Speaking of ladies...

Whew. For not doing much of anything, we sure are pooped this evening. Made arrangements to meet up with my coworker who hooked us up with our condo at 9am. Boys up at 6am. Nice. Ro and Doug went out to swim in the condo pool. Jackelyn & her husband came by, we started to chat around the pool, but it started to rain. So I decided to go over and see her condo while Ro and Doug went to the arcade to wait the storm out. I got there with Charlie and it started to rain. Harder. And harder. And then it hailed. So that was interesting. Went back to our condo but now Charlie needed to nap. Made arrangements to meet my parents for lunch, Ro and Doug watched "Clone Wars" on Cartoon Network while I read a scrapbooking magazine. Met up for lunch, and it rained. Some more. Decided we were going to go to Downtown Disney shopping. That bus took forever to come, though, so we decided to go to Plan B: Epcot. That bus showed up. Got to Epcot and it rained. Lots more. We went on "The S...

Due to the late night last night, the boys slept in until 7:15. WOW. We didn't get up and around to meeting grandparents or getting to Hollywood Studios until about 10am. Which is fine, because this is the first trip ever with no firm plans. Baba's knee was acting up today so they only stayed through lunch, but she iced it well and is ready to cruise another park tomorrow. Here is our day: Fast-passed Star Tours, watched part of the Jedi Training Academy. Indiana Jones Stunt Show, which blew Roman away. He had a look of nervous awe the whole time. Lots of pictures in & around Star Tours. Lunch at Pizza Planet. Take the "back streets" to The Great Movie Ride. Saw Lightning McQueen & Mater; Roman did not want to stand in line. During the Great Movie Ride, Grandpa & Charlie stayed outside to wander and Grandpa reported Charlie stuck his hands in every movie star's handprint or footprint - that had water in it! Grandparents headed back to the hotel, clan V...

I'm just going to keep a listing tally of what we're doing; I type faster than I write, anyway. And free wi-fi is nice. Saturday: flight was great, Roman a trooper, Charlie not such a great traveler. Let's just say everyone on the plane knew who he was. Southwest is a great airline to travel, I will try to keep them first when booking from now on. Met my parents at the airport, checked into our condo (very nice!), unpacked a little, then headed to Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kingdom. Got right in at 5:10 even though our reservation was for 5:30. Charlie had his first ever drink of chocolate milk and he downed it, every single drop in the sippy cup. Everyone went to bed slightly tired and excited for Sunday. Sunday: Boys up at 5:50 for Easter Bunny's baskets. Charlie had a stuffed bunny & a bag of toddler cookies; Roman had Skittles, M&Ms, Pez, & money for a Lego purchase later this week (Easter Bunny left a note saying he couldn't carry it and Roman should...

While he has been taking a handful of steps between objects for quite some time, Mr. I'll-do-it-when-I-want-to Charlie hasn't struck out on his own. Until this morning. He was standing by the fridge, watching me as I talked to Doug behind him. Next thing we know - boom! - he's toddling across the room to me with a big grin on his face! We shot this video just after that: And then, after he turned the corner (in the video above), I moved and caught this video of him coming back to me: A few minutes later he walked from the windows all the way across the room to me again. Awesome! Side note: We're off on vacation starting tomorrow. Disney World! Will be posting again on the flip side. Happy Easter, everyone!

While the lighting is bad, the content is great! Charlie began climbing stairs & sliding down them at my parents' house a couple weekends ago after watching his brother. Now it's his favorite thing to do - climb up, slide down, climb up, slide down... in fact he cries when we close the door to the basement. Another milestone conquered! This video was taken on our basement stairs. If only he'd strike out with steps of his own - he has appeared to draw back into his shell, refusing to take more than 3-4 steps without holding on to two hands. He did get his first pair of shoes on Saturday, though. Size 6, double-wide. Clearly doesn't get his feet from his Mama. He doesn't mind having them on, but it's still great fun to take them off in the car.

That's the theme of my pastor's sermons, I may have mentioned before. And in thinking about it, I would certainly be making much different decisions in some areas. The trick is, shouldn't I follow through on current commitments, even if I wouldn't have made that decision with my "30 days glasses"? Or should I consider now as being that 30 days, and if it's not important then just drop out? A true dilemma. It was a humbling lesson to learn when I was put on bedrest. I can, literally, be plucked from my life, even temporarily, and with a few adjustments the world goes on entirely without me. I think that was actually a hard emotion to cope with - of feeling "left behind" and removed from everything else. Sure, my absence was missed, but in the scheme of things it wasn't universe-altering. So shouldn't I just expend energy on the things that really matter? Anyway. I find myself embroiled in drama again in a couple areas of my life, and I jus...