Big News

I had went through infertility for almost 2 years before getting pregnant with Maddie, we weren't sure if we wanted to go through that emotional rollercoaster again, but instead of waiting, I made the phone call to Dr. Jarrett, a Reproductive Endocrinologist after finding out I did not ovulate without drugs (again).  We went to Dr. Jarrett to conceive Maddie and after one round of Femara and shots, we got pregnant on the break cycle. (If you ever go through infertility, don't give up on the break cycle!)

I was not sure about doing this again, but here we were with more infertility coverage, so that was a plus! 
5 days of Femara and the worst hot flashes you've ever seen
1 instructional video on how to give the shots (I needed a refresher)
7 days of FSH injections in the stomach....I couldn't give them to myself, so Ryan had to do it.  And one day that I needed a shot when Ryan was traveling, his dad met me at Maddie's gymnastics and gave me a shot in the parking lot, I'm sure people were wondering what was going on!

3 Ultrasounds to see the growth of follicles (an hour drive away)
1 shot of HCG to release the egg

All while still working, which the stress of my job did not help with the stress of infertility.

Which resulted in a NEGATIVE pregnancy test!  All that work for nothing...I was prepared to do it all over again though.

We were getting ready to go to Disney, and find out the day before that the drugs must have still been in my system (which is very common), plus take away the stress of my job and the result is a POSITIVE pregnancy test! 

Maddie is going to be a big sister at the end of September!

After "graduating" from the Fertility Specialist, I get kind of sad because they treat you like you are someone special, once you go to the OB, you are just another pregnant person.  I was used to getting an ultrasound every 2 weeks....now I have wait 3 months before the next one!  After going through infertility the first time around, I knew that the one thing I would have done differently is to go see Dr. Jarrett way earlier, and I'm very glad I did!

The last bit of planning for Disney World

All of my planning for our Disney trip is almost to an end.  There is one thing that we are going to try that I found through reading the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World.

I highly recommend reading this if you are taking a big Disney trip.  It has all kinds of recommendations and with it, you get a discounted price to use their Touring Plans.  In the Touring Plans, you put in the rides/attractions you want to see at each park, your scheduled breaks (a must for little ones), and your meals.  It then tells you which order to see the rides, with the least amount of waiting in line.  And for this highly organized GOLD personality, it makes me feel much more at ease than arriving at the park without a plan!  I did however, go against their recommendations on not going to a park with Extra Magic Hours, but that is because I wanted to take advantage of the early morning hours as we are morning people, and I know that Maddie will be up by 6:30am everyday, so I'm hoping we make it to all the parks at "rope drop".  Then head back to the resort for a nap, then come back for dinner and more rides.  I also didn't want to pay the extra price for the park hopper.

This is what a touring plan looks like, you can move the attractions around, and you can get the app on your smart phone and while you are at the park, you check "done" and it will tell you where to go next.

 

I have also printed out a customized map for each day from the Disney site, and added our touring plan with each one so I can just grab the map each day and be prepared.

 

And the last thing I had to do was make some cute iron on t-shirts for Maddie to wear under her princess dresses (I may have made a couple for me too).   All of these designs came from the DIS Boards. So we are all prepared for our big trip to Disney.  I love to plan and be organized, so this just makes it more fun, and besides all of the books tell you that it is better to have a plan in mind for Disney, as you will get to experience more.  No matter how much people tell me that a vacation is supposed to be spontaneous, that's just not me!  But we are ready for our big Disney trip and our little princess is so excited, I can't wait to see all of her reactions! 

Making Our Disney Trip Magical Part 2

After reading some blogs about Disney, I decided to plan little packages to be delivered by "characters" each day.  I plan to have my husband and the princess to leave the room when we leave each day and then leave the package behind so we have something to come back to when we come for nap time each day.  There will be some days that the "character" will have to find a way to leave the package in the morning.  This may look like alot of stuff, but lots of it was bought at the dollar store or in the dollar section of Walmart, other than the princess dresses and dolls,  plus some t shirts which I scored some great deals on.  The princess dresses were on sale online through the Disney Store on Black Friday for what you would normally pay at Walmart and the Princess & Me dolls were on sale at Toys R Us on Cyber Monday for half price (plus grandma helped buy some). She's also getting socks of all of the princesses that I divided up for each package, so I don't really have to pack any socks!

Since we are staying in The Little Mermaid room at the Art of Animation, I thought Ariel would be perfect to deliver the first day.  I just have to figure out how to get it in the room when we arrive so she can wear her Ariel dress that day.

The next day, the princess has an appointment at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, and since she is in love with Sleeping Beauty and her dress from Walmart is falling apart, I'm hoping that she'll choose to be Aurora and hoping this package arriving that morning will help her decide.  This comes with an invite to the BBB made from the DIS Boards and an invite to eat lunch with Pooh and Tigger that day.

The next day she will get a package from a group of princesses (there's just too many to do them all).  She Rapunzel, Snow White, Jasmine, and Tiana will be giving this to her so she can wear her Snow White dress to Epcot the next day.  Since she is such a girly girl, she loves to wear tutus and dresses and will be wearing this pettiskirt and a t shirt applique that I got from Etsy for $3, with an invite to see Jake and the Neverland Pirates for lunch at Hollywood studios, made from the DIS boards.

After we get back from Epcot to take a nap, Belle will have a gift for the princess as we will be having dinner with her that evening.  The invite made for this from the DIS boards was beautiful!

On the day we go to Animal Kingdom, she will get a package from Minnie Mouse and an invite to have lunch with her and Donald Duck.  I found this pettiskirt from one of my photography prop sites that I like to shop, plus the t shirt applique from Etsy.

 On our last night, we will be having dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table, so of course this was a big package.  One of the items I got for free (just paid shipping), a Cinderella charm bracelet from Disney Movie Rewards  from purchasing the new released Cinderella movie.

On our last morning, we will have breakfast with Mickey at Chef Mickey's.  So he will be delivering her a Minnie dress and some other items, plus and invite saying he's sad to see her go from the DIS boards. 

Every package has glow sticks for the evening so she doesn't get scared, plus stickers and a magic towel all from the Dollar Store.

At least I know what she will be wearing each day because of her little packages, just have to make the t shirts to wear underneath them from the designs I got from the DIS boards!If you ever take a trip to Disney, the DIS boards is something I would highly recommend for any invites, t shirt appliques, or any questions!  Hopefully, I can pull all this "magic" off!  I've been planning this for months, but that's sometimes my favorite part of a vacation, is all the planning!

Making our Disney trip magical..Part 1

It has been one month since I said goodbye to my job to stay at home with my daughter.  While I feel like I've been on vacation for a month, I'm beginning to wonder how in the world I ever got anything done while working as the little princess sure keeps me busy.  My biggest focus is our upcoming trip to Walt Disney World and I am spending lots of time to try to make this the most magical trip ever for the little princess.  We announced to the princess on Christmas that we were going to Disney World with Mickey balloons coming out of a box.  I have had every detail planned out for months, from which park we are going to each day and where we are eating.  We have a  character meal for each day as we are on the Disney Dining Plan.  I even know what Maddie will be wearing each day as most days, it will be a princess dress.

I've spent many hours working on packages for the little princess and invites from the Disboards.

If you are planning a trip to Disney, I highly recommend checking out the Creative DISigns for invites and luggage tags, as well as mousekeeping envelopes and best of all, they're free. This was one of the invites that we used for Christmas.

Designs from DISboards for our matching t shirts.  We are not really matching t shirt people, but I thought these would be cute to go with our Disney pajama pants we are all wearing!

Our Autograph books.  The encyclopedia came from The Lakeside Collection for just $5.  The tube is her pressed penny holder that is made out of a mini m&m container with a design from the DISboards.

What we've been reading the past couple weeks to get even more excited for the big trip.  Its a little outdated, but the princess likes to tell me all of the things she's going to see.

Since we are driving down from Indiana, I thought it would be a good idea to have little surprises along the way.  Most everything came from the dollar store, except for the DVDs and Cinderella case!  Just one of the ways I am making our Disney trip even more magical....more to come!