Easter Sunshine.

Yes, it was technically sunny here on Easter, but certainly not warm... the temp at 9am was about 35 degrees and made the carefree light-as-air halter dresses I made the girls seem quite ridiculous. Jenna decided to be in a foul mood all morning, screaming and crying through her bath and hair-dry, then flat out refusing to wear the dress. That of course set Dan (who was ushering at church and was a little ramped up about getting there super early) and I (who had already promised the girls that I will never, ever make them dresses again if they were going to be so ungrateful and cranky about trying them on the day before) off to the point that five minutes before we left for church we were all yelling at each other.

Here is the only picture of the girls in their dresses. Notice the happy face on Jenna.

He is Risen, indeed! Hallelujah!

But things got better from there and we really enjoyed the service. The girls sang at church and did a great job. We spent the afternoon with Dan's dad, my parents, and our aunt and uncle, who hosted a delicious, traditional Easter dinner. The girls were thrilled with all the candy and egg hunts and treats and DVDs and goodies bestowed upon them. And they got to take off those ridiculous dresses.

The day before we colored Easter eggs with my mom, which is one of the highlights of her year. Seriously. We colored 15 eggs and then I helped decorate the bunny cake she made for Easter dinner. Super cute. Because what is Easter without coloring eggs and a bunny cake?

Jenna was quite concerned about the Easter Bunny coming into our house (see previous posts about Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy) and I am not egg-sagerating when I say she asked us about 20 questions on Easter Eve, which included: Where does the Easter Bunny live? How does he get inside our house? Does he stay a long time? Will I hear him? What if I wake up and see the Easter Bunny? What does he wear? Does he hop in the house? Does he have big feet? Does he wear shoes? Is he nice? Does he like children? Is he mean? ... and on and on.

And last but not least, as promised, here is an artfully done pregnancy pic of me, heavily cropped out and edited so I look okay and so you can't see the pregnancy growth of my tushie. 17 weeks and counting!

Thoughts on Easter.

I love Easter.

I love the let's-start-it-off-with-a-bang of Mardi Gras, the solemnity of Ash Wednesday, the sacrifice of Lent, and the crescendo of Holy Week. It's not only the highlight of the the church year, let's face it: it's great drama.

Palm Sunday has always been a favorite of mine and I look forward to it as much as Easter Sunday. I find the images of the crowds following after Jesus, waving the palm branches, straining to get a glimpse of this miracle worker on a lowly donkey riding into Jerusalem, throwing down their coats for the donkey to walk on just such a stirring image. I am also a huge fan of the music of Palm Sunday, with it's air of celebration tinged with bittersweetness and the sad knowledge of what is to come. Ride On, Ride On in Majesty floats in my head for days afterwards. (Ride on, ride on in majesty, in lowly pomp ride on to die...Ohh! So beautiful. So poignant.) I told Dan last weekend that Palm Sunday was one of my favorite Sundays and he said, Really? And I said, Sure... it's the only time Jesus sort of gets the praise and pageantry he deserves. Hosanna! (Save us!) Hosanna to the Son of David!

Dan and I attended Good Friday service last night and I am always, always moved by it. Our church does a Tenebrae Service with readings from the Gospels and music and hymns. After each section, part of the church goes dark until the entire sanctuary is blacked out when the story of Jesus dying is read. Each section of the Passion of Christ has a passage or two that just kills me each time I hear it... Jesus finding the disciples "sleeping for sorrow" at the Garden (and, incidentally, I always thought Sleeping for Sorrow would be a great band name) while He sweats blood of agony, Peter's denial of Christ and hearing how "the Lord turned and looked at Peter"(I mean, really think about that... in the midst of all that chaos, all that pain, knowing what is quickly approaching Him, Jesus hears and knows Peter has denied him and stops to look at the disciple, His Rock... can you imagine? The betrayal! The disappointment must have been crushing... yet He knows this is what has to happen. It just pierces me. For awhile I entertained the thought that maybe the Lord the passage talks about is really The Big Guy Upstairs and that just terrified me. But at some point it was clarified to me that no, the passage is referring to Jesus)... the cryptic, stilted conversation with Pilate: "Are you a king?" "My kingship is not of this world..."... the chants of the crowds asking that "His innocent blood be on our hands and the hands of our children"... the ripping of clothing, the rioting people, the bloodlust, and of course the mocking, the ridicule, the scourging, and the actual crucifixion.

Since I've had children, the image of Mary watching all of this unfold has been especially harrowing to me. I remember when I saw Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ for the first time: the part that really made me weep- openly, uncontrollably- was when Jesus starts to carry the cross and Mary says to Him, "I am right here with you" and she has a flashback to when He was a child and fell and she scoops Him up and comforts Him by saying, "I am right here with you." And you think of how many countless times you do that as a parent. And all of a sudden she is not a saint-like person in a book but a real, loving, terrified, frantic parent watching her son go thorough the most awful torture imaginable.
Can you imagine watching your baby be lead to die?

Last night I was particularly moved by the section where Jesus, being lead to Calvary, hears the women following Him mourning and wailing and says to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' Then they will say to the mountains, 'Fall on us! and to the hills, 'Cover us!' " As someone whose womb is full of her third child and who has nursed her children waaaay longer than she'd care to admit, let me just say that passage hit a little close to home.

No question: Good Friday is a horrible event to have to relive every year. But it is so much part of the Arc of Holy Week and Easter... if you don't have Good Friday, can you really feel the joy of the Resurrection? Do you really feel the promise, the hope, the redemption, the peace? Easter is always done so perfectly at our church: full of loud music, shouts of joy, filled to the rafters with people just thrilled that He lives. It's a party, a celebration, and of course all the kids dressed in their finery just add to the fun and smiles.

Ahhh. Easter.
I can't wait.

The Long and Short of It: Disney Edition

Our first moments at Magic Kingdom

Ahhhh.

I have just finished sewing Michaela's and Jenna's Easter dresses (and it's only Thursday!!), I have shopped for their baskets, I am almost caught up with the laundry, I have edited all 300 pictures from our trip, I have a big plate of spaghetti next to me, and Jenna is deeply engrossed in Peter Pan.

I am now ready to tell you about our trip to DisneyWorld.


It's all about the weather. Like I said before, we had a great time. We had awesome weather, which I was most excited about: warm, low humidity, and mostly sunny. A few passing rainstorms dumped some rain on us, but for less than an hour each time. It was glorious to be comfortable and in our flip flops and sandals and shorts.



Sunset at Epcot: and we live in the frigid Northeast because...???

Getting there is NOT half the fun. While our flight to Orlando was uneventful, we did experience and little... tension upon landing. We had secured seats on the Disney Magical Express, which drives you from the ariport to the Disney Resort you are staying at. As we were exiting the tunnel that brings you to and from the plane, I spotted a big sign that said: "Disney Magical Express Passengers: Bypass Baggage Claim" and I'm like, Awesome! We don't have to get our three suitcases that were juuust under the legal limit and drag them across Terminal A to Terminal B where the Magical Express Check-In is. So I tell Dan this and he's all, How will they know which suitcases are ours? That makes no sense. And I'm all, LOOK, It's Disney, I don't know really how they do anything but it's all magical. Let's try it. So against his better judgement, we dragged the girls, sans suitcases, to Terminal B and of course immediately were asked where our suitcases were and whether they were marked with the yellow Disney Magical Express tags. Oooooh. Right. That would be NO.

So we went back to Terminal A, got everything and made it fine onto our bus. By the time we got to the All Star Sports Resort, we were tired and cranky and it was late and I'd already had enough of everyone. We had a little trouble finding our room, towing our three suitcases and two very cranky children around an unfamiliar place and Dan and I had a little argument about where exactly Room 110 was.

And honestly, this is what we were saying to ourselves in our heads (we told each other later):

Dan: I can't believe I'm taking directions to the room from someone who can't even get to our dentist's office without getting lost.

Cheryl: I AM NEVER GOING ON VACATION WITH MY FAMILY EVER AGAIN. EVER.

But then the Pixie Dust started working it's magic on our brains and nerves and we all liked each other again.

Eating Adventures. We bought the Disney Dining Plan, which is possibly the greatest meal plan EVER. For about $11 each per day (we got a slight discount), we got a full breakfast or lunch, with dessert and drink, a snack (we inhaled countless Mickey Chocolate-covered Ice Cream bars on a stick... soooo good!) and a full sit down meal with dessert at any of the Disney restaurants in the Parks or at the Resorts. It was such a great deal that by the third day, I was convinced it is just a huge marketing-research tool so they know everything about what and where and when you eat... because there was no WAY they are making money on it. I guess I'll just chalk it up to the Magic of Disney.

We had a great time checking out new restaurants and had particularly good meals at Tony's on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom and at the Whispering Canyon Cafe in Wilderness Lodge (which is worth going to just to see the resort... holy gorgeous). We had a character lunch at Ackershus in Norway and the food, while Norwegian-inspired, was actually very good. We also ate a quick service meal at Yak and Yeti in Animal Kingdom that was really good and different than the usual fare. But really, each place has it's own charm and I was thrilled to not be cooking and to be able to eat these big meals. Because Momma's eating for two and is huuun-gry.

Meeting Cinderella at Ackershus

Hitting the Parks. We went to all four parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot) and also went to Blizzard Beach water park. Blizzard Beach was AWESOME and I would recommend to ANYONE with kids to plan to pay the extra money (it's not included on a Park Hopper ticket) and spend the day there in the middle of your trip because it's a totally different type of pace and play for them. You don't really wait in lines, there are play areas for all ages, and we really had a blast. I think the girls did a lot of decompressing that day... it's a great break from the hurry-up-and-wait and overstimulation that can happen at the parks. Plus the theme of Blizzard Beach is super cute: a former ski resort finds all the snow has melted, leaving a water park instead. They even have a chairlift to take you to the slides that start high up. They play a mix of winter music (we heard Jingle Bells and Winter Wonderland) as well as more relaxing songs, like Jimmy Buffet. The lazy river ride is super relaxing and we just loved the whole park.

Michaela tries the icebergs as Jenna looks on

We went to Magic Kingdom three times and I'd have to say that Animal Kingdom was the girls' least favorite. Though they did get their hair wrapped there, and that was a big hit.

The main activity for Jenna was meeting the characters. We met Mickey, Minne, Pluto, Goofy, Donald (twice), Daisy, Cinderella, Ariel, Belle (twice), Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Pocahontas, Chip and Dale, and The Incredibles (Mr. and Mrs.). The girls both loved getting hugged and posing for pictures. Michaela also went on some big-girl rides with Daddy: Space Mountain, Test Track, and Thunder Mountain Railroad. She and I had an adventure on our own one night while Daddy took a very tired Jenna back to the hotel: we waited in line for an hour and twenty minutes (an hour and twenty minutes of my life I will never get back, I might add) to ride the Toy Story Midway Mania 4D Spectacular. She loved it and I... well, the important thing is that she loved it.

Meeting Donald in Mexico at Epcot

Legs Libutti and her sister, Tall One

Meeting Daisy on Main Street In Magic Kingdom

Lots to See at the Resort. We stayed at a value resort because all the Moderates were booked. It was completely fine: clean, fun, utilitarian, and CHEAP. But it did lack some of the small-scale details and amenities of the Moderate resorts. The major downside (and really only downside) to staying there is that it was flooded with high school students taking Senior Trips. 90% of the kids were fine but we heard some language I was not thrilled with and saw LOTS of FLESH. I mean, the girls wore SCRAPS of clothing: tiny little string bikinis and low cut tops and itty bitty cut off jeans. I actually felt bad for the teenage boys by the end of the week, all hormonal and surounded by all this flesh being flaunted. And they were all tanned up and manicured and belly-pierced and sported very carefully done "casual" updo's. The old fart worrying mother of two daughters in me kept looking around for the chaperones and wondering, "Who's SUPERVISING all these kids?? How do you know they are not all fornicating in the rooms?"
And the girls were all attached to their cell phones, texting away, and at least once a day we sat next to some poor girl who was angst-ridden with some kind of drama about a boy. We actually heard one girl say, in a fabulous mock-Valley Girl accent, "ALL I am gonna do today is LAY OUT at Blizzard Beach and SLEEP because I am so SICK of his CRAP!!" and I was suddenly, overwhelming, profoundly happy that I was married, fat and pregnant with my third child.

On our last night, we were riding the bus back to our resort from Magic Kingdom and I said to Dan, "Don'y you think it's more crowded this week than last?" and a Senior Tripper girl, in a very helpful but unbelieveable self-centered way, says, "Well, it's Senior Trip!" And I thought to myself, "WELL, unless you brought about 500,000 students from your high school, I don't think YOUR senior trip is making the difference." But I really just said, "Oh, there were kids here last week on Senior Trip, too." and she seemed somewhat shocked by this nugget. It was really quite precious.


The Wrap Up. We were really sad to leave by Wednesday... if Jenna was not completely exhausted and overstimulated by the whole trip, I would have looked into staying an extra few days. It was a fantasic break from the routine, lots of fun together, and while every night one of the girls was quite cranky at dinner, we made it through and I think the girls really enjoyed it. Dan and I always leave Disney World with utter awe at the level of perfection demonstrated throughout the whole property: it's so clean, so fun, so big, so well-run, so incredibly pleasant, so magical. We plan on going back again when this baby is three or four, and we plan on bringing reinforcements to help us out.





Jenna in front of the gorgeous topiaries- they had every princess- at Epcot


I leave you with my favorite piece of video from the trip: Jenna on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. We stopped for a moment, the driver was talking to us and Jenna, somewhat hopefully asks...

It just perfectly encapsulates her whole experience: yeah, I'm having fun, but can we go home now?

Baby # 3 Update: Week 15/16ish

I am happy to report that all is going well on the baby front. I am officially 16 weeks pregnant tomorrow (I think... these weeks are whizzing by and while I used to live and die by how far along I was in my first two pregnancies, I have to admit that I have lost track many times as to exactly how far along I am... just too much other info swirling around in my brain, I guess!)

I am happily in the second trimester and feel much, much better. I am now just hungry all the time and have to eat every few hours or my poor empty tummy aches with longing. I have been very careful with what I am eating, enjoying lots of fruit and veggies and healthy snacks, in an attempt to keep my weight in a good range. I am about even on the doctor's scale from where I started out- I lost two pounds my second visit and then gained two back today. I think this pregnancy looks more like Jenna's (smaller) but feels more like Michaela's (sicker).

I got to hear the baby's heartbeat, which is indeed one of the most beautiful sounds in the universe, and it was even and steady and strong. I did not ask what the heart rate was and the doctor did not offer that info. I asked for a refresher from my OB about anatomy because I couldn't figure out exactly where the baby was and what parts of me are starting to pop out. So he showed me where the top of my uterus was (whoo-hoo!) and said by 20 weeks it will be up by my belly button. I still am a little confused about what parts of my guts feel tight at the end of the day and what it is that is starting to "show" but I guess it's just my insides and my abdominal muscles doing what they are supposed to be doing. I am wearing my "ghetto-maternity jeans" today: my regular jeans with a rubber band through the buttonhole, keeping them from splaying open. I am not longer able to button anything anymore around my waist.

Now for the exciting part: mark your calendars for April 30th... that's when the famous FIND OUT THE SEX OF OUR BABY Ultrasound is!!!! Yes, in a mere three weeks we will be able to better envision this baby coming into our lives and nail down some specifics, like whether we can keep the nursery walls pink and green or switch over to a baseball theme which Dan has all planned out as well as smaller, minor details like what we are going to name it (we are 100% set on our girl name but only about 50% sure on a name for a boy). I am so excited to find out!!!! All of this just makes it seem more real somehow.

So, overall, it's a good report. I am hoping to post a baby-bump picture soon. (And I am working on the Disney vacation post, I promise!!!)

Teaser.

We're back from Disney and I don't even know where to start blogging about it.
Good Heavens.

We have been home for about 15 hours and I have gone grocery shopping and started sorting through the 350+ pictures I took as well as catching up on the 156 emails I had. I haven't even thought about starting the laundry. Stuff is in piles all over the house: mail, newspapers, clothing, souvenirs, toys, plastic bags of stuff and plenty of Disney ephemera. (Isn't ephemera a GREAT word??)

Overall, though, this is the bottom line: we had a BLAST. We had great weather. We met LOTS of Disney characters. We waited in LOTS of lines. We saw lots of shows.

We are happy, refreshed, sunburned, and warm.

Life is good.

More to follow in the next few days... I have a few really, really, really funny stories to tell you.