Adventures on the Road

Our vacation to go to my cousin's wedding turned out amazing. We had so much fun.

This was our first real road trip with Sophie. Prior to this, we'd only driven 2.5 hours to Corpus Christi with her and flown everywhere else. This was driving from San Antonio, Texas, to Crestview, Florida, which is a good 12-14 hours. AND Sophie was newly potty trained, so we had no idea what to expect. However, Sophie did not have any accidents on our trip and, best of all, every place we stopped was an exciting adventure for her.

Carseat, oversized sunglasses, princess blanket...just how I roll.

We left out at 6:15 a.m. and drove across town to beat San Antonio rush hour traffic, then stopped to have breakfast tacos at Taco Cabana. Sophie was excited for tacos and excited to point out all the suns on the wall! She was excited to go potty!

Then, we drove over halfway to Houston and stopped for gas in Weimar, Texas. When we walked in the door, the convenience store had a bull that you could ride for $1, so after we went potty, Sophie rode it and loved it!

Hilariously, the song "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins played
during the entire bull ride. Only in Texas.

At truck stops, she marveled at the big scales you could weigh yourself on in the restrooms. She pointed out when we were shown on the security camera TVs-"We're on TV, Mommy!" She napped a little and watched videos and played games on her Fisher-Price iXL while we drove. She never complained once. What normally would've been a long, ho-hum drive was actually fun since we saw it through her eyes. :)

We stopped in Biloxi, Mississippi, and spent the night at one of my favorite casinos, the Beau Rivage. When we went down to have dinner, Sophie saw all the slot machines and wanted to play. I told her those were "Big Girl Games." After a delicious meal, I went to play slots and J took Sophie to the Kiddie Arcade, aka the "Little Girl Games."

Amazingly, after losing almost $80 on quarter slots, I hit it big and won $1350 on one of them! It was so exciting! I've never won that big before. When I went back up to the room, I told Sophie, "I won at the Big Girl Games!" Sophie ran and got some little plastic fish and a ball and said "I won at Little Girl Games, Mommy!" LOL. We were all winners!

Sunrise, Gulf of Mexico, Biloxi, MS

The next morning we went for a swim in the beautiful pool and looked out over the ocean, then got dressed and checked out. We headed to Mobile, Alabama, about 30 minutes away, to meet my cousin Cindy for lunch. It was great to see her and catch up. Then, we drove on through Mobile ("We're in a tunnel, Mommy!") and Pensacola, Florida, and finally arrived at our destination: Crestview.

Several of my cousins and aunts and uncles live in Crestview, but the wedding was actually taking place in a little town called Florala, Alabama, which is 25 miles north. It's where my parents grew up and I'm related to most of the town on one side or the other by marriage. The only place to stay in Florala is a bed and breakfast, but that is where my cousin Caitlin was having the reception and her wedding party was staying there, so we had to drive back and forth from Crestview everyday.

Main Street, Florala...small town, big chair!

After checking in to our hotel, we drove up to Florala and checked on my dad and uncles who were putting up lights for the outdoor reception at the B&B. Then, we drove to my grandparents' farm to see my mom and aunts and the bride and her sister, who were working on wedding decor. Then, we drove back down to Crestview to have dinner at my uncle's house.

The next day, J and I had planned to take Sophie down to the beach in Ft. Walton, 25 miles south. I was born there and the beaches there are some of the prettiest in the world, but I can hardly ever break away to go when we visit. My cousin's wife, Ashley, and her four-year-old niece Kelsey, ended up coming with us, and actually directed us to the exact stretch of my beach my parents always brought me to when I was Sophie's age.

Nothing like the white sand beaches of Ft. Walton. I played here at Sophie's age.

After our fun beach excursion, we drove back up to the farm for dinner. It was fun to see Sophie playing and running around and enjoying the farm. I only wish my grandparents were alive to see it. She's more of a farm girl than I ever was, for sure. :)

Sophie runs around on the farm her Papa grew up on in Alabama.

My grandparents would've loved to see her enjoying the farm so much!

The next day, Sophie and J stayed at the hotel to swim and hang out, while I headed up to the farm to help prepare wedding decorations. My aunt does interior decorating as part of her job, so she literally made every flower arrangement, bouquet, corsage, and table decoration, with our family's help! It was A LOT of work, and I remember now why I paid someone to do all that FOR me, but it turned out beautiful. And it was fun to hang out with my cousins, my aunts and uncles, and my mom and dad and work on all of that together.

That night, we attended the wedding rehearsal. Sophie and her fellow flower girl Zoey followed directions well, but got a little bored standing up front while everyone worked out the ceremony details, so they began swinging their flower girl buckets around a little, much to my chagrin. However, when I tried to tell Sophie to please stop, my aunt, the mother of the bride, told me to let the girls do whatever they wanted to...swing their buckets, sit down, whatever. It would be cute no matter what.

Finally, the big day came. Sophie and I had to be up at the B&B at 2 p.m. to get her hair done. The wedding didn't start till 6. I was a little worried about keeping her entertained and out of trouble for four hours, especially when the lake and a playground were just down the hill from where we would be.

Getting her hair done. This was the first time she had ever had her hair curled,
a fact my cousins, former child pageant girls, couldn't believe!

I needn't have worried. Sophie was in the zone-very focused on her flower girl role! She played games while the stylist did her hair and then hung out in the B&B, either playing games or going with me to check on my cousin Caitlin's progress and see her in her dress. I ended up running around doing things for Caitlin and Kenna, her sister who was the Maid of Honor, or my aunt. Everyone was impressed with how well behaved Sophie was-frankly I was pretty impressed LOL.

Waiting to go down the aisle.

At 5:20, we got her into her dress and at 5:40, we crossed over to the church. I thought Sophie would run to J and my parents when she saw them seated in the church, but she merely waved and said, "Hi Daddy! Hi Nana and Papa!" and continued to her spot on the side of the church. In. The. Zone.

I was seriously proud of her! J, smiling at right, was too.

She waited patiently and then, when it was time, went sweetly down the aisle throwing flower petals like a pro. She got into place by Kenna and Zoey and quietly stood there holding her bucket for the first few minutes of the service, looking out at all the people who just a few months before would've made her cry from shyness.

Success!

And then, probably getting a little bored, she began to swing her bucket. One of the bridesmaids, thinking she would nip that in the bud, reached out and grabbed the bucket mid-swing, and attempted to take it away from her. In the audience, J and I froze and silently freaked, "Girl, what are you doing? If you get the bucket away from her, she will cry and ruin the wedding!"

Never fear...Sophie just looked at the girl and tugged the bucket back away from the bridesmaid without making a sound. The audience, made up of mostly our relatives, burst into laughter, totally on Sophie's side of the debacle. The bridesmaid turned red, completely embarrassed. I felt sorry for her. Sophie didn't swing her bucket again and kept one eye on that girl for the rest of the ceremony!

Zoey, the other flower girl, had her own moment of levity when she kept patting a pillar standing up behind them and knocked it over! Kenna caught it and had to stand it back up while everyone laughed. Then, Zoey sidled right up to Sophie and began pulling feathers off her dress. Sophie just stood there and looked at her silently and bore up well, considering she was besieged on all sides LOL.

Zoey, Caitlin, and Sophie

The moral of the story is, don't have little kids in your wedding if you want all the attention on you. :)

Sophie, Nana, and Papa after the ceremony.

Now that Sophie had performed her job beautifully, I could finally relax and enjoy myself (being the mother of the flower girl is kind of stressful!). We headed back to the B&B and spent the next three hours dancing up a storm! Sophie stayed out on the floor dancing with J, me, my parents, and trying to do all the line dances and everything!

Ashley (my cousin's wife), me, and my cousin Cari at the reception.

J, Sophie, and me get the party started!

My sweethearts.

Boogie-ing with my little dancing queen!

Thankfully, Sophie isn't old enough to be embarrassed by us yet. LOL.

The next day, we began the drive home. We drove all the way to Lake Charles, Louisiana, and spent the night at another fun casino, the L'Auberge du Lac. Sophie and I spent an hour at the gorgeous pool, and Sophie kept showing me her new dance moves in the shallow end until the pool closed for the night. J got her ready for bed while I stole off to the casino for a little bit (good thing I don't live close to any casinos or I might have a problem LOL), My lucky streak continued-I won $283 on quarter slots, only investing $40 to do so.

We arrived home safely the next day. The entire trip went better than I expected at every turn, especially Sophie's performance as flower girl in the wedding! Sophie continued her trend of growing up and showing us new sides of herself on every trip we take. I look forward to more adventures on the road with her and J in the future.

What has been the best road trip you've taken with your kids?

Sophie in Bloom

Everything is in bloom right now in Texas-bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, and other spring wildflowers, bright green grass, and my daughter Sophie.

It's the spring of Sophie.

Sophie's always been a pretty reserved baby and child, much like my VERY reserved Canadian husband, J. While she talks at home, when confronted with a stranger in public asking her questions, Sophie's the kid who doesn't answer. And this is kind of okay with me on the stranger-danger front, but as a person who is a people-pleaser by nature, I find myself answering FOR her and excusing her silence with the comment "She's a little shy!" Which I know is bad and I shouldn't make excuses for her and call her shy-it's OK and that's just her personality. But the people-pleaser in me can't help myself sometimes.

At the Japanese Tea Garden, one of my favorite spots in San Antonio

At day school, her teacher has worried about Sophie all year, because Sophie never talks in class. She always knows the answers, does pretty much everything she's asked to do, and is generally well behaved, but she's quiet as a mouse.

Any time when she's not quiet is generally because she is uncomfortable in a new situation and full-on freaks out for the world to see. She cried every week the first six weeks she was in soccer class. In December, she freaked out at her dance recital and couldn't bring herself to dance with her class ("Mommy, everyone was LOOKING AT ME!"). In fact, she freaked out at her own birthday party last year among all her friends when she realized everyone was looking at her during the birthday song!

BUT! A change has come over Sophie in the past few months and it is amazing and delightful to witness.

She is talking more and more to her teacher in class, and not just talking-talking without being prompted BY the teacher to talk. She's also talking more in public, even to people she does not know. Now, when a lady in Target compliments how cute she is and asks her how old she is, she readily volunteers her age, complete with three fingers held up for the lady to see. This never used to happen!

Monday, at the doctor's office, Sophie told the nurse her age without even being asked. Then, when the doctor came in, she informed the doctor that her ear was bothering her, totally unprompted. She chatted away with the audiologist giving her a hearing test about the stuffed animals making noises during the test.

Sophie and her soccer coach!

In soccer, she is now completely confident in her skills and does every single part of class without getting upset or melting down. She's often the first to score a goal! Unlike most of the other kids in class, she no longer needs us to be on the field to help her during class, we only have to be nearby so she can high-five us when she does something well!

A reward from her teacher! Potty training is almost at an end for us! SO PROUD!

And y'all, to top it all off, in the last two weeks, not only did she finally begin going poop on the potty and doing it consistently (after several months of peeing on the potty only), she began GOING TO THE POTTY WITHOUT ANY PROMPTING FROM ME. Now, she just goes to the potty. On her own. When she needs to. Without me reminding her. OK, I still remind her occasionally, because I am trained to at this point, but she's going when the mood strikes her and not having accidents. THIS IS FABULOUS.

Now we just need to work on getting rid of the overnight diaper, but this is HEAVEN compared to the HELL potty training has wreaked on our life for the better part of the last two years (take note, Moms, don't start too early like I did!).

As a mother, I've just been so blown away with how she has bloomed into this tall, confident, sweet, funny, independent, polite little girl in the last few months. She climbs in and out of the car and car seat on her own. She eats without getting it all over herself. She talks and talks and talks. She says "No thank you" politely when you ask her if she needs help with something. And then does it herself! She lets me help her get dressed in the morning and do her hair without ANY fuss. She is a far cry from the tantrum-y two-year-old of last year.

Cowgirl Sophie has no fear! Don't you love the boots?
She loves things that sparkle, just like her Mama.

Another change is even more wonderful for me. Sophie, who has always been a complete Daddy's girl, practically J's shadow, who always wants Daddy for everything, has now turned her favor to me.

We've always had our Friday Fundays together when I'm off work, and she's always been all about me on those days. But any other day or moment when Daddy is around, it's always been all about him. "I want Daddy to do it! I want to sit by Daddy! I want to go with Daddy!"

Now, the tide has turned. She still loves J and probably still loves him best LOL, but I'm the one she wants. "I want Mommy to do it! I want to sit by Mommy! I want to go with Mommy!" I think this change has a lot to do with the fact that J moved offices recently. Now, instead of him taking her to school and me picking her up, as we've done for years, he's working 25 minutes away, so I take and pick her up from school every day. She's spending more time with me and I'm the one who's there more, so I'm the one she wants. And I love it!

On April 14th, Sophie's going to be a flower girl in my cousin's wedding. When I asked her if she wanted to do it last fall, Sophie said yes and has been really excited about it, but based on how she reacted to the dance recital and other situations, I was terrified about how she was going to do.

This is Sophie's flower girl dress. I call it the Bjork Swan Tutu,
although I think she looks beautiful in it. My cousin is a former pageant girl,
so I wasn't surprised the dress she chose was, um, over the top. Sophie loves it!

Now though, I'm excited, because Sophie has been in bloom all spring and walking down the aisle as a flower girl seems like an appropriate way to cap off this wonderful season. No matter WHAT happens at the wedding, I'm so proud of her and I love her so, so much.

At Disney, Dreams Really Do Come True

I love Disney World. As a kid, I used to daydream that I lived in Disney World. I would ride all the rides during the day and by night I'd sleep in Cinderella's Castle. Occasionally, I would camp out in the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse or on Tom Sawyer's Island.

So, it was a no-brainer to want to take Sophie to Disney World. I hadn't been myself since 1994. To make it even more fun, I thought the Grandparentals could come with us and we could combine the trip with a Thanksgiving visit to my mom's sister, my favorite aunt, who is now disabled and unable to travel.

Disney Highlights:

First sighting of Cinderella's castle, or as Sophie calls it "My Castle."

Pluto!

The castle looked gorgeous in lights!

We spent lots of time taking buses from our resort, Shades of Green, to the parks.
Sophie loved the bus rides as much as anything else! Here she is with the Grandparentals.

 

My favorite part of the Animal Kingdom was the safari!

 

Sophie loves Chip and Dale, so we were glad to see them!

The main man, Mickey!

I loved riding in Spaceship Earth at Epcot!
Sophie loved the bubbles the Disney folks were blowing for fun!

A Francophile like me was very excited to visit the Paris section of Epcot,

but we were especially excited to encounter Marie
from one of our favorite movies, The AristoCats!

 

Everything we did was leading up to this...

Sophie in her Cinderella costume going to meet Cinderella

and eat dinner in the castle at Cinderella's Round Table!

 

Cinderella with her lord and lady in waiting.

 

Cinderella and her favorite subjects, Papa and Nana.

 

As we waited to be seated, Sophie really hit it off
with this little girl Grace who was dressed as Ariel!

 

Sophie and Grace were fast friends...they were so adorable
and this was one of my favorite moments of the trip!

 

Princesses have to twirl!

Sophie was totally starstruck when she met Cinderella!

 

The blue crew...Cinderella commented that we were all wearing her favorite color!

 

Still stunned when meeting Snow White back at our table.

 

Still in disbelief meeting Belle. Not sure why Belle isn't wearing her yellow princess dress.

 

By the time Aurora, Sleeping Beauty, came by, Sophie was warmed up and ready to chat!

Excited to meet Ariel!

 

It was such a magical night and Sophie is still talking about all of it months later!

 

Oops...Sophie turned into a pumpkin on our way back to the resort!

 

She was so tired she didn't even wake up as we changed her into her PJs and put her to bed!

 



Eating dinner at Cinderella's Castle was the fulfillment of the dreams I had of living in the castle as a little girl, but the experience was made even more amazing by how much Sophie loved it. It was worth every penny we spent...everyone there was so nice to us, the princesses were so sweet to my shy, starstruck little princess, the food was amazing, the pictures turned out wonderful...I just can't say enough good things about it. And Sophie still talks about it, so I hope that it's a memory she treasures forever. I know I will.

Overall, I think the trip was fantastic...we had some moments where we all had different ideas about what we wanted to do and everyone got on each other's nerves a little in the interminable waiting in line for rides, but despite that, our party of five had a really great time!

After we finished up at Disney, J and I took a side trip over to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which was super fun and deserves its own post, and then we all headed to my aunt's house to spend a few days with her and celebrate Thanksgiving, which was wonderful.

I'm so glad we did this trip when Sophie was this age. It was the perfect combination of Disney magic and family together time!

What are your favorite things to do at Disney World?

How Do You Know When You’re Done?

This is a question I’m asking myself a lot lately in relation to having children, because I am pondering taking steps toward permanent birth control.

I love being an only child. I don’t feel I missed out by not having siblings. I have a very close, very loving relationship with my parents. Growing up, I got to take dance classes, piano lessons, and fun summer programs, and go to a great university. Our family was firmly lower middle class, so if I’d had additional siblings, these things probably wouldn’t have been possible.

Given my background, I really only ever wanted to have one child. And J was good with having just one as well. Other than moments of desperation during our infertility battle when we would’ve happily taken quintuplets if that’s what we were blessed with, and my one bout of serious babyfever when Sophie was 18 months old, we’ve both been completely grateful to have Sophie and, at the same time, completely in agreement that we were one and done.

Sophie is an amazing kid. She has traveled with us to several states and two other countries in her short life. I’ve already got her in ballet, tap, and soccer, and life is SO GOOD. We are so blessed.

I really, deep down in my heart, know with 100 percent certainty that I don’t want to have another child. I don’t.

Our life is busy, our house is always messy, and I had to go part-time just to feel like I had a handle on things after Sophie was born. And I’ve adjusted to it and I love it (other than the messiness of my house) because of all the wonderful moments in those crazy days with my little girl, when she’s talking to me about her day or playing princesses or dancing alongside me to Just Dance 3 on the Wii. I just can’t see adding another child and more craziness and more stress to my life.

And I’m certainly done with fertility drugs and infertility treatments. NEVER AGAIN. I’m pretty sure seven months of fertility drugs did a number on my body that continues to this day and I have no desire to put myself at further risk physically or emotionally.

So, considering that I AM infertile, why am I even considering permanent birth control? Do I really have to worry about that?

Yes, because it would be my luck to have a fluke cycle where I randomly got pregnant despite my infertility. It has happened to people I know. And while if it happened, I’d consider that God’s will and proceed forth in life as a mother of two, I don’t really want to leave things to chance.

TMI ALERT!

The bigger reason I am considering permanent birth control is simple. I’m tired of having a period.

As a teenager, I had horrible periods (probably caused in part by an undiagnosed thyroid condition) where I bled for a month straight or every other week. All the time. It was traumatizing, until I was 17 and my mother took me to an OB/Gyn, Dr. F, who put me on the pill. Suddenly, I had simple, three-day periods, once a month like clockwork. I stayed on that pill for 16 years, until J and I decided to start trying for a baby when I was 33.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that pill-free, my period only lasted an extra day and was still pretty regular. Then, six months later, I was UNpleasantly surprised to find out I wasn’t even ovulating and couldn’t get pregnant, so what was I doing with a period every month anyway?!

Then, we finally had Sophie (who was delivered by Dr. F-I find someone I like, I stay with them!). When my periods returned post-pregnancy, they were much heavier, crampier, and longer. The pill no longer worked for me and I had lots of breakthrough bleeding, so I stopped taking it. This last year, my periods started coming closer and closer together, so I was basically bleeding every third week.

I really feel like my quality of life is suffering. I’m exhausted, probably a little anemic, and uncomfortable, more than I’m not at this point.

Researching my options, I discovered something called ablation, where they laser off the uterine lining and you no longer have a period. You usually have to do something else along with ablation, such as your husband having a vasectomy (not likely) or having your tubes tied (more likely for me), because if you did get pregnant after having ablation, the egg wouldn’t have anywhere to implant and it would be a bad, guilt-inducing situation.

So, I visited Dr. F, explained the situation, and waited to see what he recommended. I didn’t mention anything about ablation-I wanted to see if he brought it up as an option. I did tell him that my ever-closer periods, plus a laundry list of other symptoms meant I was going into early menopause. Ha!

He told me I was NOT going into early menopause (not sure I believe him), didn’t mention ablation as an option, but thought the reason my periods are coming closer together is because my eggs, which were so awesome and viable just three years ago (it’s the only fertility test I passed with flying colors-I had good eggs, they just didn’t GO anywhere to make me pregnant!), are now aging and unable to last a full cycle. Thus, closer-together periods.

He actually said, “Well, if you were trying to get pregnant now, you’d need a lot of help.” Um, hello, I needed a lot of help the first time when my eggs were GREAT!

He recommended I go back on a very low-dose version of the pill that would sort of smooth things out hormonally and help the eggs hang on longer, thus spacing my periods back out some. Great! A solution that’s not so drastic, I thought.

I started the new pill at the end of my period on a Sunday. Six days later, OUR FIRST DAY AT DISNEY WORLD, I began bleeding again. Heavily. And I bled for the rest of the trip, until I finally stopped taking the pill. Two periods in three weeks. ARGH. No more pill for me.

Then, last month, pill-free, I had a few days where my cycle ran long and I hadn’t started bleeding, and I was like, “What if I am pregnant?!” and I was in a complete panic. I really didn’t want to be pregnant and I was so relieved when my period finally came and I knew I wasn’t.

So, now I’m back to considering talking to Dr. F about more drastic measures like ablation and tube-tying, but I’m having a hard time with it. Because even though I know I truly don’t want to have another baby, it is so hard for me to take a step that will make it COMPLETELY impossible. To close that door forever.

As an infertile person, I spent a lot of time praying to God because I wanted a baby more than anything in the world. I’m so lucky to have a beautiful, healthy child and I’m completely happy, grateful, and fulfilled as a mother of one. Even though I really don’t want another baby, it still feels too hard to personally take an action to end my childbearing ability forever. Even if it is probably already gone on its own anyway (see: AGING EGGS).

So, I’m just waiting and thinking. And giving it more time. And hoping that I can be at peace with whatever decision I ultimately make. If anyone else has thought about this or done this, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Say My Name, Say My Name

Ever since I started this blog almost two years ago, I've referred to myself as Glam-O-Mommy, my daughter as S, and my husband as J.

I did this because I wasn't really sure what I was getting myself into and being anonymous seemed like a safe choice. My husband preferred that I keep things anonymous...he's a very private person and doesn't even like knowing that I share our life so openly on Facebook. Also, I really wanted this to be a place where I could write privately from my "in-real-life friends" and just write whatever I think without having to filter my thoughts.

All this time later though, I find I really want to come out of the anonymous closet. I want to use my first name and my daughter's first name. Through this blog and Twitter, I've made some terrific internet friends and I know their names and their kids' names and it seems weird to keep carrying on anonymously.

I will say that everything I've written on my blog to this point is absolutely true and my real life with just names changed, but now I'm going to just say my name, say my name (sorry-Beyonce on the brain).

Hi, I'm Sonya aka Glam-O-Mommy.

Hi. I'm Sonya, aka Glam-O-Mommy. I am indeed 38 and a working mother of one who went through seven months of hellish fertility drugs and two rounds of IUI to get pregnant with my miracle baby.

This is Sophie.

The miracle baby's name is Sophie and she is the smartest, funniest, prettiest, tallest three-year-old who isn't completely potty-trained (still!) I know.

J and Sophie, ringing in the New Year.

I'm going to continue to refer to my Canadian, IT-guy husband by his first initial J, just for him.

Sonya and Sophie...pretty cute names for a mother-daughter duo, right? :) Both of our names are derived from the Greek "Sophia" and mean "wisdom." Sonya is the Russian derivation and Sophie is the French derivation. When we found out we were having a girl, J wanted both of us to have "S" names. He is part French-Canadian, and I love all things French, so Sophie was an easy choice.

So, there you have it, internet. Feel free to say my name anytime, and I hope you come back soon. I'm going to try and blog more regularly in 2012!

Glam-O-Update

This has been a crazy fall. Over and over again, I have an idea for a blog, then time passes and I can't seem to find time to stop and write. So here is an update on all the random things that have happened in the last two months or that I wanted to post about recently.

1. Goodbye, Paci.
S turned three at the end of August, so I knew the time had come that we absolutely had to take away the paci. We considered doing it last year, but thought we would wait until she was potty trained (ha ha). Since that is an ongoing process, we decided to do it in late September when we had a week off from work and could afford a few sleepless nights. We had already limited her use of it to her room at night only several months ago.
In the last few weeks S had with the paci, I was really emotional. S took to the paci from day one and it always soothed her so well and calmed her down immediately no matter what. I was sad to see this last vestige of her babyhood going away, but I was also really sad that I knew it was coming and she didn't. The last two days she had with the paci I got teary watching her sleep with it.

We got rid of it in an interesting way. The last month we hid all the pacis except one that had a sea turtle on it. The week we were off, we went down to Corpus Christi to the beach and then spent the night.

On the beach, no idea this is her last day with the paci :(

The next day we visited the Texas State Aquarium and saw the sea turtles. All of them are injured in some way and cannot be released back in to the wild. S was fascinated by the guide's explanation of which ones were missing flippers and such. "He's missing his arm!" she said, over and over. J and I, sensing an opportunity, told S that she should give them her paci, because it would make them feel so much better. "Because they're missing their arms!" she replied. Before we left, she picked out a stuffed sea turtle to take home.

Hemingway is missing a few arms, poor thing

The sea turtles are so sweet!

That night, when she asked for her paci at bedtime, we told her we had left it with the sea turtles to make them feel better and that she had her stuffed turtle to make her feel better. She cried, but adjusted well. She's only asked for it twice in the last six weeks. She's definitely not sleeping as well without it and there have been days J and I wished we could give it to her to help, but we've stayed strong even though we're sad.

2. Potty Training Continues.
S has gotten really good about going pee on the potty, but still has the occasional accident at home and at school. She still mostly refuses to poop on the potty, but did go unprompted recently. We were at a friend's house for a dinner playdate with my two mom friends and their kids. All of a sudden, the kids got quiet, so we went to check on them. They had left my friend's son's room and went into the bathroom together! When we found them, my friend pulled her four-year-old son out of the bathroom, just as S hopped off the potty totally bare butt, having just pooped on the potty, and my other friend's daughter was jumping on without flushing LOL. S doesn't want to poop on the potty, but it's cool to do it with friends? Peer pressure at work? I don't know, but it was really funny!

S with Spiderman, her bathroom buddy!

3. Disney!
We are leaving for Disney World in 10 days and I feel really unprepared. I have no idea what to pack. I feel like I have nothing to wear. And I've been working so hard and planning the trip for so long that it doesn't seem real it's 10 days away. I feel like I should be more excited? But I can't quite muster up the enthusiasm yet? What is wrong with me? DISNEY, PEOPLE! I haven't been since 1994! Come on!

4. Giving Hope.
Last year, I wrote about one of my sorority sisters who reached out to me after I posted something on Facebook about going through infertility. She thanked me for speaking out about my infertility battle and wrote "now when I see your posts it also reminds me that even people who struggle with infertility can end up with a fantastic family." I was incredibly touched to hear that, since I've made a point about speaking out about my infertility in hopes of helping to end the stigma infertile women and men feel. We wrote back and forth, sharing information and experiences for several months.

This week, she announced on Facebook that she is pregnant! I literally cried tears of joy for her and her husband. It's so wonderful to see someone else getting their miracle. She wrote me a personal note after she announced it, thanking me again for my support. I couldn't be happier for her!

5. Extracurriculars.
S has started two new extracurricular activities this fall. She is taking ballet and tap at her day school every Wednesday and Soccer Tots on Saturday mornings.

She took to dance right away and is very excited every Wednesday to get to wear her tutu! She loves her teacher and seems to really love dancing! And this just warms my heart, since I took 11 years of ballet, two on pointe, 11 years of tap, several years of jazz, and danced on my high school and college dance teams. Nothing would make me happier than if dance is something she loves and continues to love doing as she grows up! Don't get me wrong...I don't want to be one of those crazy Dance Moms, but I would love to share that interest with her and get to relive some of my dance years through her!

S doing her best Flashdance impression

Soccer had a bit of a rocky start because the skills class requires the parents to be involved at first until the kids get comfortable. We finally figured out that if we just sit out and cheer her on, but let her do everything by herself, she follows the coach's instructions and behaves MUCH better LOL. She's doing great though and it's terrific exercise, so we are signing her up for the next session and will probably keep with it for awhile!

Score!

6. High School Reunion.
My 20-year high school reunion was at the beginning of October. I kind of dreaded it beforehand, but it ended up being SO MUCH FUN. I think the reason I liked it was that it was better than the 10-year. At the 10-year, everyone was focused on what they had and what they were doing. At the 20, people were just genuinely excited to see each other and see everyone's kids and it was awesome!

Me, Salutatorian of my class, 1991

My two girlfriends/dates for the reunion, a guy friend we were all excited to see, and me at the reunion banquet!

Another reason it was fun was because instead of dragging my poor husband who didn't know anyone and would've been miserable to the banquet, I went with two of my girlfriends from high school. One is getting divorced and didn't want to go alone and the other's husband was like mine and wouldn't know anyone, so we went together! And driving around before and after, reminiscing, and dancing at the event really felt like old times, as if 20 years had not passed!

Then, the following day, we had a big reunion picnic, so I brought J and S to that and introduced them to everyone. It was neat to see S playing with the daughter of one of my friends from junior high!

With my friend and her new baby at the reunion picnic

My friend P's daughter with S. P and I were really good friends in junior high!

7. The Best Halloween.
This was S's fourth Halloween, but definitely the best so far. The first year, she was eight weeks old, and I dressed her in a furry pumpkin onesie and worried that she was hot all night since it was 95 degrees.

My little pumpkin, Halloween 2008

The next year, at age one, she was a cute Tinkerbell, but was so cranky she only wore the costume long enough for me to take pictures and did not go to any houses. (Also? Still 95 degrees!)

Tinkerbell, Halloween 2009

Last year, she went as sort of a bee fairy. She was cranky about putting on the costume and only made it to three houses before she had a complete meltdown and the night was over. And it was 95 degrees.

Bee Fairy, Halloween 2010

This year, S decided she wanted to be Cinderella. I got the full Disney costume, since we are going to have dinner with Cinderella at the castle during our Disney visit, so she can wear it again. She tried it on a few days before Halloween and was SO excited! "I'm a princess, Mommy! Like Cinderella! I'm so pretty!" she said. So adorable!

Halloween night, she came home from school and wanted to immediately put on the costume! And when she realized people would give her candy at each house, she was all about trick or treating. We went all the way around the block, hit about 16 houses, and had so much fun! She didn't meltdown or fuss once. Everyone thought she was so sweet! And it was actually only 75 degrees, which was AWESOME.

Cinderella, Halloween 2011

Trick or treat!

Happy Halloween!

So there you have it...my fall, abridged version. How was yours? I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving and I will try to post a Disney vacation update after we return! If you have any Disney travel tips for me, please share. I definitely need them!

Ten on Tuesday

I thought I would take a moment to do Ten on Tuesday! Thanks to Chelsea over at Roots and Rings for hosting and providing the questions!

1. How do you take your coffee?
I don't. My regular Starbucks order is a Grande Peppermint Hot Chocolate. However, Coke is my real coffee. I drink it every day!

2. Do you prefer soft or crispy chocolate chip cookies?
I prefer chewy and warm chocolate chip cookies. Or better yet, I can be happy just eating the dough straight out of the package before I get around to baking any.

3. Do you wear a belt everyday?
I haven't worn a belt since I graduated from college, not even with jeans. Post-baby especially, I am attempting to camouflage the mommy pooch in my waist-ish area, so I don't need a belt shouting, "LOOK! FAT RIGHT HERE!"

4. What is your favorite color combination?
Pale blue and black. Or turquoise and chocolate brown. Or cherry red and pale pink.

5. Do you like sour candy?
I LOVE Sour Patch Kids. Obsessed.

6. How often do you do laundry?
I do laundry almost every day. S often comes home from school with poopy, wet, or food-stained clothes, so I try to toss those in the wash and take care of them right away. Some weekends I do five loads in a row to catch up (towels, my lights, my darks, darks for S, lights for S).

7. Did you ever wear braces?
In third grade, I wore braces on my front two teeth and my bottom teeth to straighten them up for a year. Then, I wore this awful contraption called a bionator for another year to correct my overbite. I have pretty straight teeth today, so I think it was all worth it.

8. Are you good at Roman Numerals?
I know enough to figure out the year at the end of movies.

9. What is your favorite form of social media?
I love Facebook for connecting with my friends and family across the globe. It's especially great for sharing what is going on with S with her Canadian grandparents who don't get to see her often. I love Twitter as a way to learn from others with common interests (Harry Potter, mommy stuff, infertility issues, Castle love, etc.). I also love that I can ask a question out to the Twitterverse and almost instantaneously get an answer! That totally surprised my husband when I tried it recently.

I think Twitter is really my favorite at this point, because I feel like I've "met" so many interesting people from across the country, even the world! As I go through my day, I find myself checking in on my Twitter friends!

10. How do you feel about chin dimples?
I think dimples in general are awesome. And usually adorable. :)