Nine.

Dear Banks, 

NINE. 

Wow. 

Nine whole years. This means we are now halfway done with our time of having you here at home with us. Writing that makes my breath catch and my tears fall because I truly feel like it was just yesterday that your Dad and I were sitting in The Cheesecake Factory in Perimeter Mall in Atlanta, when my phone rang telling us we were all set to head to the hospital for induction. You see, buddy, you were so warm and cozy, baking away in my gigantic belly, that you just wanted to stay put. And even by 40 weeks, you weren't ready to make your debut just yet. HOWEVER, the doctor was estimating you to be over 9 pounds; so, we thought it was time for you to evacuate the premises. After nearly 24 hours of induction and labor, we ended up with a c-section, at which point we discovered why I had needed one: you were just too big!!! Nine pounds, 15 ounces, and 23 inches long (Gracious! How much bigger would you have grown if we hadn't induced?!). And you've been off the charts ever since! You'll be taller than me soon, Bankster! And you're only in third grade!

The day I saw your face was one of the best days of my life: the day you made me a momma. And I am SO proud to be YOUR momma, Bankster. You are a leader with a kind and nurturing heart, a friend to all and the most loving big brother I know. You are smart and love, love, love to read and yet, like my mama always used to tell me when I was little, "You'd lose your head if it wasn't attached." The apple doesn't fall too far, buddy. 

You have boundless energy and were born to be an athlete - you started walking at 10 months and haven't stopped since! Your happy place is on any field of any kind, although football is your passion (and cheering you on - obnoxiously and loudly, if I'm being honest - is one of mine). But you also love playing baseball and basketball and golf and tennis and swimming...you just love playing sports! You encourage others and love your friends. You are sociable, outgoing, and well-liked and have a heart filled with empathy, compassion, generosity, and nurturance. You love to be active and play outside, whether it be playing sports in our backyard, riding your bike or scooter, swimming, competing in any way, shape, or form...you are happiest when you are moving!

You still hold my hand, call me "Mommy," want me to sing "our song" to you every single night before bed, and are one of the most affectionate children I have ever known. You love to snuggle and are never shy with saying, "I love you," to those you value in your life. You love Jesus, having accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, and have asked for years to be baptized, which will be happening in a couple months and will undoubtedly be one of my proudest moments as your momma. And that's saying a lot, Banks, because you make me so, so proud, every day. The privilege of being YOUR momma is one of the greatest of my life. How did I ever get so lucky? 

Banks Alexander, you are my sunshine. You are a light in this world. You are joy. You are hard work. You are tenacity. You are kindness. You are exactly who God designed you to be, and I love you so, so much for every single bit of it. Thank you for being YOU. You will do big, beautiful things in this world, and it will be an honor to watch you shine.

Happy 9th Birthday, buddy. What do you say we rock out the next 9 even harder?! I'm in if you are!

With All My Heart, 

Momma 

Cheers to the Week...Vegas or Bust Edition

Hi friends! I hope everyone's first official week of Fall is off to a smashing start! It actually feels like Fall 'round here, which lead me to finally bust out my Fall home decor yesterday. We also found ourselves with no sports practices on a weekday for the first time in weeks, so we took advantage of our free afternoon and visited our local Farm Market yesterday for a Fall treat: apple pie ice cream for some and pumpkin pie ice cream for others (me!!!). Other than being so happy for these Fall temps, here are some other things we've been saying CHEERS to over the last couple weeks: 

Football. Football of just about every variety just makes me so happy. Our Clemson Tigers are off to a great start, our Panthers had a good win over the weekend, and our flag football favorites, the Texans, are now 3-0! I just love watching Banks in his element and get so excited each game day! 

Cheers to cheerleading. I was a high school and collegiate cheerleader/dancer; so, I was ecstatic when Raleigh asked to cheer this season! We are starting with a very beginner, rec league squad to see if it sticks, but so far, she loves it! She practices hard both at her team practices and on her own at home and loved being out there for her first game last week. Go Rals! 

 

Vegas, baby. I am finally recuperated from a whirlwind weekend in Vegas last weekend. I caught a flight straight from Orlando following our Disney trip (while my saint of a husband drove our four kids home and proceeded to take on single dad duty with two additional kids also added to the mix, in the form of my adorable 1- and 4-year-old nephew and niece). My big brother was turning 40 and my sweet hub insisted I not miss the family festivities. Most of my sibs, my parents, my sister "in law"'s parents, and several of my brother's friends made the trip to Vegas to celebrate his big 4-0. There was somewhere around 20 or 25 of us there, I believe? And it was a BLAST!!!!! We all stayed at MGM, right on the strip. On Saturday night, I had a delicious dinner with my parents at Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak, and then the three of us met up with the rest of the party crowd at the High Roller, the huge observation ferris wheel in Vegas that takes you over top the city. We had a private ferris wheel room with it's own bartender reserved and it took about 30 minutes for our lap up and around the city - so fun! We then hit the casinos and crashed. But Sunday was even more fun!!! My sister "in law" had rented this amazing pool-side cabana, and we pool partied it up for my brother's birthday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. It was just the BEST time! We then all freshened up and grabbed some (delicious!) dinner at this Mexican restaurant in the MGM and then hit up the casinos again before crashing. 

On Monday, it was time for me to head home after a week away. I arrived home to...

Mini Meeks. I got to take over duty of my niece and nephew (and own s{quad}) since my brother and sister "in law" would be spending an additional day in Vegas. It was fun, and they are just the sweetest little duo, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pooped after Disney-->Vegas-->six kids in my care. Whew! But it's been about a week, and I am feeling recovered. 

New goals. I am currently reading Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis, and as I was reading a chapter the other day, she mentioned something that struck a chord with me: stopping waiting. Stop putting off goals. Just DO THEM. I have several big goals for myself and decided it was time to tackle one NOW. So...I am running a half-marathon. Next month. And I am actually excited! If you know me, you know that I typically prefer a barre class to pounding the pavement. But. When we brought Bella home last year, I had to adjust my workouts for a few months, as I couldn't leave her in barre childcare until I felt she was secure in our attachment; so, I began running several days a week. Since then, I have come to love running (well, love may be a strong word...like running?). I used to be able to run two miles. Which increased to three. And then four. And the last few months, I have averaged five to six miles per run. I usually run two/three days a week and do barre the other three/four, which feels like a good mix for me. But with all this running, I decided I wanted to tackle a goal I never thought I would want to pursue nor be able to achieve: run a half-marathon. So, with any luck and a lot of training, I'll be logging 13.1 miles by the end of October.

Audiology love. Last week, Bella had an appointment with our audiologist for follow-up hearing testing and to assess her new hearing aid. Even though it was smack in the middle of nap time, after a big morning of school and therapy, she did really well and we were so proud of her! Way to go, Bellaboo! We love you, Lakeside Audiology! 

And that's it for now! I am driving preschool carpool this week and we're in the middle of birthday prep for a certain little (big!) boy; so, I'll try to pop in one more time before the weekend, but no promises, as "free" time is pretty sparse this week. If not, I'll be back soon! Have a great, Fall-ish week, y'all! :) 

Disney World 2018, Part 2: Tips, Tricks, Suggestions, and Advice

Hiya friends! In case I haven't mentioned it 5,682 times around here yet, we are back from our magical trip to Disney. For those interested, click here to see Part 1 of 2 of this blog miniseries, sharing our magical moments from the trip. 

But for this post, Part 2 of 2, I wanted to do the same thing I have done during our previous two trips: share every tip, trick, suggestion, and piece of advice I can, for any who may be planning a trip, whether it be next week, next month, next year, or any time thereafter. :) 

If you've read my previous posts sharing my tips and suggestions, some of the following may be redundant (but that just means I still think it's important to share!). In case anyone wants to reference those posts, here's what I learned during our first trip, with just our 3-year-old Banks in tow, in 2013: 

http://docmomma.blogspot.com/2013/02/disney-how-to-plan-navigate-make.html

Here's what I learned during our second trip, with 5-year-old Banks and 3-year-old Raleigh in tow, in 2015:

http://docmomma.blogspot.com/2015/02/disney-tips-take-2.html

And NOW, here's what I learned during our trip last week, with 8-year-old Banks, 6-year-old Raleigh, and 4-year old Harrison in tow, in 2018:

Use a Disney planner. During our previous two trips, I have no idea how many hours I spent researching, compiling our agenda, making reservations, etc., all on my own, all while trying to plan for things that I thought would be interesting for my kiddos for the ages that they were. A lot of hours, is the answer. I never even knew there were FREE Disney planners who would do all of this (and more!) for you. You don't pay them a dime. They are paid by their companies to do this work for you, and we just so happened to work with an amazing one for this trip, who I so highly recommend!!! Her name is Stacey Bowen of Moments of Magic Travel. She is an authorized Disney vacation planner, and she was absolutely fantastic, making every dinner, Fast Pass, and Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique reservation; saving us hundreds and hundreds of dollars on our resort stay when a great deal came out; answering any and all questions I had; coming to the rescue when we hit a snag while walking in our first park the first morning; coming up with an itinerary for which rides to hit at which times and in which order each day; etc. She was INCREDIBLE. Here is an example of part of an itinerary she created specifically for us based on our likes and interests, the ages (and heights!) of our kiddos, etc. Here is the website - make sure you request to use Stacey Bowen!!! 

Part of our Day 1 Itinerary 

Some of the first ones in MK on Day 1!

Empty park! 

If you're able: stay on a Disney property. Get the Disney dining plan. Totally worth it! 'Nuff said. (Stacey will be able to explain why, but it is 100% worth it!). 

Come prepared. All we carried with us into the park each day was a book bag. Within the book bag were bottled waters and snacks we had brought from home; health and safety items (e.g., mini first aid kit; hand sanitizer; sunscreen; etc.); ponchos in case of rain; portable phone charger; that day's itinerary and a park map; and sharpies and a photo matte for the characters to sign. We both kept our phones on us each day so we could pull them out to snap pics and check the Disney app for wait times, add Fast Passes, check our remaining Dining Plan snack points, etc. 

Front load your trip. We knew we wanted Park Day 1 to be all things Magic Kingdom, as this is our favorite park and we knew we'd be the most rested and most energized going into Day 1! We did the same thing on our previous two trips (Magic Kingdom on Day 1), but the last two trips, we only did two total park days, going to MK on Day 1 and then dividing Day 2 into Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, before heading home on Day 3. We wanted to extend our trip a day this time; so, on Day 1, we went to Magic Kingdom; on Day 2, we went to Hollywood Studios (always a favorite of the kids!) for most of the day, getting back to our hotel that evening just in time for a fun swim before bedtime, and Day 3, we opted to give Epcot a try and then end the day by dining at T. Rex Cafe in Disney Springs. Doing our busiest park day first was really helpful, and we will undoubtedly do the same during our next trip!

Consider a photo matte instead of an autograph book. No matter their age, kids love getting autographs from their favorite Disney characters. But then what? They get their signatures in a notebook and then....it gets lost in the clutter of the playroom? The last time we went, and this time, too, I bought a simple white frame that came with a simple white matte. Then, we simply pulled out the matte whenever we saw a character, got their autograph, and it will be proudly displayed in the frame with a favorite photo of our trip, and hung on the playroom wall for all to see. :) (Note: We also ended up being gifted with three autograph books for our kiddos for this trip; so, we had the characters sign the books and the matte - they didn't mind and it only took an extra few seconds each time!). 

Character meals. Instead of waiting in long lines for quick meet-and-greet photo ops with characters, consider scheduling a couple character meals, when the characters will come straight to your table - no lines at all! For example, at Cinderella's Royal Table, we met five Disney princesses in a matter of moments, while meet-and-greet lines for a princes or two often had 45-minute-plus wait times! Not only that, but the food is usually great (whether a buffet or menu). 

Surprise them. You won't ever forget it. The night before we left, I tossed and turned all night, so excited to surprise our kiddos first thing in the morning. Although this was our third Disney trip, it was the first time we surprised the kids with the Disney news. We woke our big three, sat them at the bottom of the stairs, and broke the news, telling them we had bad news (no Boosterthon Fun Run for them this year), good news (they'd be missing the run but only because they'd be missing school that day), great news (actually, they'd be missing school the rest of the week), and the best news (because we're leaving for Disney World, right now!!!!!). They were SHOCKED and so, so pumped! 

Friends, if you are planning a trip and are able, I highly recommend surprising your kiddos with the big news! I will never ever forget their faces when we told them, and I have watched the video over and over again! Such a special moment. <3 After we broke the news, we lead them to the kitchen for their first of many surprises throughout the week...

The surprise bags. Over the summer, I picked up little Disney trinkets, snacks, and toys whenever I saw them, compiling surprise bags for each of my big three to help keep them occupied on our long drive. I used my trusty Silhouette Cameo to add their names to their bag and water bottles and included individual items I thought each would enjoy (check out the sneak peek of Raleigh's swag, below). This was a great way to keep the surprises coming AND to help keep them occupied in the car. And you can find Disney stuff EVERYWHERE!!!

Make it special. I know this is a personal preference, but I also loved surprising my kiddos with the outfits they would get to wear each day. I ordered a few things from etsy and found some cute things at other retailers. For example, I wanted them to be comfortable on the way down to Florida since we had quite a drive ahead of us, so I picked up some cute Mickey Mouse tees at Target earlier this summer, when I noticed they suddenly started carrying the cutest Disney line! 

For our first park day (at Magic Kingdom), we just had to do a sweet, personalized dress for Raleigh and special tshirts for her Princess Protection Agents, all ordered from etsy. ;) 

For our second park day (at Hollywood Studios), I wanted to get them each a flip shirt to wear, seeing as how (1) they are obsessed with flip shirts these days, and (2) we knew we'd be taking in the Jedi show (hence Banks' Star Wars flip shirt). They LOVED these!

For our third park day (at Epcot), we decided to go big or go home and do family shirts. Heck yeah!! :) 

And now, they can wear their thematic clothes throughout the year. Raleigh re-wore both dresses this week and Harrison has already re-worn two of his shirts! Banks wears football jerseys almost everyday, but I have a feeling that Star Wars flip shirt will be part of his regular rotation. ;) 

Consider the ages of your kiddos. For us, we didn't want to have to battle going back and forth to hotels for naps, or lugging a stroller through the parks. We also wanted to focus on, and celebrate, our Big 3 for how amazing they've been since our Lu Crew grew by one member last year; so, it just made since to leave our baby girl in the loving arms of her Nana and Pop for this trip. She still naps and there's no way she was ready to take on the heat, exhaustion, and non-stop fun that is Disney, not to mention, we didn't think she'd remember much of the trip in the years to come. So, for us, we felt confident in our decision. But there were kids of all ages at all parks; so, it's definitely a personal decision as to what age may be best to take kiddos. But also? It's a great excuse to have to go back to Disney in a couple years. :) And our littlest Lu had so.much.fun. with her Nana and Pop; so, win-win for all!! :)

When to go. This is also a personal decision, but for us, we will always either go in February or September, when the crowds are the smallest. Do we have to miss school? Yes. My kids were scheduled to miss four school days while we were at Disney (which ended up only being three after school was cancelled on Friday due to the hurricane). The second we received our teacher assignments in August, I emailed their teachers and let them know the dates we'd be out. I also collected all notes and homework assignments they would miss, and we knocked out homework on the way down. From what I hear, missing school days is SO much harder on the kids during the middle school and high school years; so, we have chosen to take advantage of our elementary/preschool ages while we can! The biggest perk: like I've mentioned, there are virtually no lines. We maybe averaged 5-10 minutes per ride, with so many rides allowing us to just walk on and so many others we had fast passes for. That doesn't happen at Disney during the summer or holidays; so, February and September are great months to go, in my opinion!

YOLO. If you are hoping for a laid-back, relaxing week at Disney, then this Lu Crew is not the one to travel to Disney with. We recognize that we are only there for a short time and will only get to take our kids to Disney a few short times during these young, magical years. So, we pack.it.in. Allllll the fun we possibly can. We walk 7-8 miles per day, ride/see/do as much as we can, and then crash each night. It's how my Lu Crew does Disney. And I wouldn't have it any other way! 

I hope that was helpful, friends! Have a great weekend. Here's hoping your Disney dreams come true soon, too! <3 

Disney World 2018, Part 1: Magical Moments

M-I-C....K-E-Y....M-O-U-S-E! 

We are back from an incredibly magical trip to Disney, and there is so much I want to share! For those interested (especially those planning future trips or with trips on the horizon!), I thought I'd break down my Disney posts into two topics: (1) The magical memories, and (2) My unsolicited tips, tricks, advice, and suggestions. Today, I am starting with the magic that is Disney, like only Disney can do. Here we go! Presenting, our magical 2018 trip to Disney 

Day 1: Travel and Dinner with Mickey
We kicked off our trip by heading down to Florida bright and early in an attempt to avoid Hurricane Florence evacuation traffic. After handing off our Bella to her Nana and Pop (who loved on our girl so well all week!!!), we were on our way! Our ride was filled with watching Disney movies they had never seen that we borrowed from a friend of my sister's (Peter Pan! Alice in Wonderland! Brave! Princess and the Frog!) and playing with the toys, and snacking on the snacks, from their surprise bags (more on those in the next post). 

We made it to Disney with just enough time to check into our beautiful resort, Grand Floridian (we stayed in the same place during our 2015 trip and love it there!)...

...before jumping on the monorail to head to our first character meal of the week at Chef Mickey's! We loved starting our week by meeting Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto, and enjoying the yummy food (and delicious desserts - my fave!). We then headed back to our hotel just in time for bedtime. We knew the next day would be our busiest of the week!

Day 2: 13 hours of Magic Kingdom 
We purposely chose to go to Magic Kingdom the first day, knowing we'd be the freshest and most well-rested this day, and thank goodness! We had breakfast at the "Be Our Guest" restaurant in Belle's castle in Magic Kingdom, which means we were in the park before it even opened!

This meant that as soon as our meal was done, we were off and running! Over the 13 hours we spent from the time we left our room until the time we got back, we rode 18 rides (max wait time for any ride all day? 30 minutes, which maybe happened twice). Also, because there was a snafu as we were entering the park that day, Disney gave us two additional Fast Passes, in addition to the three we already had reserved. So, we were able to see and do every single thing we wanted to and loved it!! 

We also had my favorite meal of the entire trip this day, at "Cinderella's Royal Table," a character meal that takes place IN Cinderella's castle! Every child was greeted with a "wishing star" upon sitting down and each girl was given a fairy wand while the boys were given swords. After a meet-and-greet with Cinderella in the lobby, we were then greeted by four additional princesses at our table! Not to mention, the food was delicious! 

Also on this day, we had Raleigh's appointment at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique (BBB). I remembered this so fondly from our 2015 trip and could.not.wait. for our appointment to arrive on this one! AND Raleigh ended up choosing the same princess up-do she had chosen when she was a 3-year-old. The side-by-side pic comparison just killed me! <3 

The BBB is magical. They have "fairy godmothers" who do each little girl's hair, make-up, and nails, and truly make each one feel so special. And yes, I did tear up. #whatelseisnew 

Also this day, our boys chose their souvenir for the trip - swords! And they proceeded to sword fight each other the entire rest of the trip - in our room, in the lobby, while waiting for lines - they loved those swords! 

We capped off our day by taking in the fireworks show as a family before jumping on the monorail and heading back to our room for some shut-eye. I loved this day so, so much. 

Day 3: Hollywood Studios or bust!
I love, love, love Hollywood Studios. Even though there aren't as many rides or attractions as Magic Kingdom, I love walking around and taking it all in, feeling like we've been transported to a Hollywood set. This day was a really fun one! Banks and I actually headed there early so we would be there the second they opened the gates. We then raced to our destination: the place we needed to go to ensure we could sign up him (and Harrison, who, again, wanted to do what his big brother was doing) for Jedi training later in the day! Once our mission was complete, we had about 30 minutes before the rest of our crew joined us, which meant hopping straight on one of the new rides in Toy Storyland and then embarking on the Tower of Terror (or the "Tower of Pain," as Rals accidentally referred to it later that day - ha!). I LOVED this ride. Banks was terrified before and during, but loved it after. :) 

Raleigh and my hub then went on it so they could experience it and since, again, we waited in virtually zero lines almost the whole day and had tons of fun from the minute we arrived until we left! 

This was also a really fun day for Harrison, who got to meet several of the Disney Jr. characters. AND we happened upon the Star Wars characters greeting area and were able to meet several before...

...our Lu Crew boys trained to become Jedi themselves! 

We also enjoyed lunch at a really cute, thematic place called the "50's Diner." It was a hot but full day (one during which, Rals picked out her souvenir, Baby Sven)! 

After spending most of the day at Hollywood Studios, we headed back to our resort to cool down with some evening swimming and dinner. It was such a great day!

Day 4: Our first visit to Epcot and a grand finale dinner
Although this was our third trip to Disney, we had never been to Epcot; so, we decided to go there instead of Animal Kingdom for this trip. 

I thought it was great - I loved Epcot!! - and we rode on one of my favorite rides of the entire trip there: Soarin'. Again, between Fast Passes and small crowds, there was very little waiting and we packed in tons of fun!

And I thought it was so neat to "walk around the world," to so many different countries that were a part of Epcot, getting some brief exposure to so many different cultures (we even blew kisses to Bella from China). :)

After our day at Epcot, we went back to the room to freshen up before heading to Disney Springs for my second favorite meal of the week at the T. Rex Cafe. The kids absolutely LOVED this place, and I was so glad we had made a reservation there so many months ago. The ambiance was awesome and the volcanic dessert we ended our trip on was so, so cool (and absolutely delicious!). We then went back to the hotel where we caught some zzzz's before waking up, packing up, and dropping this momma at the airport for a whirlwind trip to Vegas! But more on that in a later post...

Etc. 
Some of my other favorite memories? 

Harrison ordering everything that Banks did. If Banks wanted Mickey-shaped pancakes with a side of fruit, Harrison did, too. If Banks ordered salmon, Harrison did, too. If Banks wanted a sword for a souvenir, Harrison did, too. He would literally just say, at every restaurant, "I want what Banks is having!" no matter what it was. This was the trip that Harrison began idolizing his big brother, and I'll never forget it. 

I loved seeing my kids' personalities come through in such individual ways. Take Banks - he would talk a big game but was often terrified right before getting on a big ride and then was one and done after each time. Raleigh? Our dainty little girly girl is also a fierce and brave little lady - she couldn't get enough of any and every rollercoaster. She would be screaming, "This is AWESOME" as we zoomed and race and flew upside down, loving every minute and wanting to ride more, more, more! And Harrison would try everything Banks would. :) 

Time with my hub. Even though we are non-stop when we go to Disney (I'm not one to skip a coveted ride or cut a day short. YOLO!), I would still find time to glance over at my hub and just think about how grateful I was to be in this place, with this man and these people, right now. <3

Seeing the love my kids have for each other. The kiddos got along SO well during this trip. It was so beautiful to see their relationships flourishing and seeing kindness prevail. It was maybe my favorite part of the entire trip. <3

The MAGIC of Disney. Disney is magical. If you've ever been, you know: magical is truly the only word to describe it. And Disney magic is like no other. 

Banks, Raleigh, and Harrison have done a tremendous job with all the chaos and stress and upside-down-ness that is adding a fourth little one to the Crew, especially given how packed full our first year as a family of six was with appointments and therapies and surgeries and procedures and so much more. They are the kindest, sweetest, most loving big siblings to our Bella, and it was our privilege to whisk them away for this break from the craziness of our chosen life. Next time, all six of us will go together, as one big ol' happy family. But for this trip? It was so nice to celebrate the amazing big siblings that they are. It was a trip I'll never forget for as long as I live. <3 Thank you, Disney, for the magic. We'll be back...