Keep Calm, it's only...

Or so that's what the call we received on September 6th, 2013 told us could be a possibility. Before you go thinking we had that dumb, 50% accuracy blood test done that test for these abnormalities, we didn't. Because we would love and carry our children no matter their condition, we have always opted to not get this test done with any pregnancy.

August 27th, 2013 (Chance's 24th Birthday)
We went for our 20 week anatomy scan, where originally we would've found out if there was a hamburger or hot dog, but us being the impatient ones that we are, we already knew there was a hotdog. But this scan/ultrasound isn't only to find out the gender, it's also to make sure your baby is growing properly and there are no abnormalities. Leaving the clinic that day, we had no doubt that our baby boy was "as healthy as an ox" and everything was perfect. Or this is what the tech that performed our scan made us believe. He repeatedly talked about how beautiful he looked and how perfect his heart was.

September 6th, 2013
Chance was at work, the kids and I were at home finishing lunch and I got a call. It was one of the OBGYN's from the clinic. He proceeded to tell me that he was reviewing our 20 week anatomy scan and found a cyst (Choroid Plexus Cyst) that was located on the baby's brain and that he was going to set us up with an Italian specialist at Udine hospital for a more in depth/level 2 ultrasound. I remember thinking to myself while he was talking; this is the quietest you've ever been on the phone Tabitha. As I fought back the tears, he continued and said "after we get the results from Udine we'll know what our next step is". It took everything in me to not let him hear how hard I was sobbing. The only question I could muster or even think of at this time was, "what does the cyst mean/do?" And he responded with, "it’s a red light for Trisomy 18 also known as Down Syndrome but these cyst tend to go away on their own". He also said that everything else looked good on the scan which was good because usually babies with Down Syndrome show multiple abnormalities in a scan and this is why he would be sending us for a more in depth ultrasound to either confirm that it was indeed Down Syndrome by finding more abnormalities or dismiss it in hopes that the cyst goes away on its own. My heart sank even lower. Not because of the Down Syndrome, no...that was the good part. The bad part was depending on the severity, we could very well be burying yet another child before we pass. He then urged it a good idea to go ahead and go to the clinic later that afternoon and get the dumb, 50% accuracy test done so that we would know round about how big of a risk we were at. I hang up and just sit down crying and praying. I didn't want to go through another child loss. But I knew no matter what, we would carry him full term, birth him, and give him the best shot at a normal life as possible! I knew if this was to be, God chose me and Chance for a reason. He felt we were fit enough as parents to care for such a fragile, very special blessing. I called Chance and told him the news to which he was very upset too. Luckily his supervisors let him off work immediately. I went and got the blood test out of the way, but it still didn't do us any good because it would be a few weeks before we got the results back for that. Since I was already at the clinic I made a stop by the OB's office to ask more questions since I had had more time to think about this. I walked up and asked the front desk lady to speak with the doctor (she hadn't went over my chart yet, so she wasn't sure all the details) and she asked me to wait one second while she went and grabbed my chart and grabbed the doctor. On her way back in, she looked up and said "oh, is this about your low lying placenta?" I must've looked at her like she had three heads. You mean something else was wrong?! I said "no, I wasn't even told about that. What does that mean?" She said, "you are border line placenta previa. That means that your placenta that should be up high on your side is only 1.2cm away from covering your cervix where the baby will pass through. If your placenta moves and covers the cervix you are at risk of bleeding to death, losing the baby, and possibly the only way to save your life is a complete hysterectomy...worst case scenario. If it covers the cervix you will be put on high risk status and cannot be more than 30 minutes away from the hospital at all times. But in most cases the placenta will move away from the cervix as your belly gets bigger." Wow, my head was spinning. Never had we had ever had anything wrong with any pregnancy! Maybe this was what we get for being pregnant almost constantly for the past 7 years except for 2010 and 2012. Not to mention my severe underweightness. Maybe my body was finally throwing the towel in. The doctor, who was a different one than the one who I spoke with on the phone, walked in shortly after the front desk lady finished telling me that and I simply told him, "prepare me for the worst." He said, "it's just a cyst, and most of the time it goes away on its own. Considering there were no other abnormalities on the scan, I'm pretty sure it will. As far as the placenta, it is a worry but you're not in dire risk right now. Yes we like for your placenta to be at least 2cm from your cervix but as long as it's not covering it we will just closely monitor you and do a few more scans to see if it’s moving at all. If it stays where it’s at, you can still have a vaginal delivery but we will have to take extra precaution and go over the major risk it could pose when you dilate and begin to push. But I honestly think the more your belly grows the more the placenta will move up and away." I breathed a very light sigh of relief thinking "alright, chances are both of these conditions will go away on their own and all will be well again...hopefully".

Days passed and we constantly thought and prayed for healing or comfort. I remember thinking to myself, "maybe this is what I get for that comment (I can't remember what it was now though) about Down Syndrome people while at Disneyland". And for those that don't know, I have no problem with anyone with a disability. But while we were at Disneyland in July we came across many people with Down Syndrome who were very rude and constantly screaming at people to get out of their way! Maybe this was to make me more understanding of those people and their condition?

I researched both conditions online giving more hope that in most cases these cyst go away on their own and the placenta moves up over time.

Hours turned to days; with no phone call for an appointment in Udine (we were waiting for our insurance to approve the referral). Days turned to weeks and our routine OB appointment came around. The doctor, a different one that the other two I had previously talked too, once again went over everything and assured we should have our Udine appointment soon. She also mentioned how big the cyst was for the first time...7mm. This was almost double the size she had normally seen. But she too thought odds were on our side since no other alarms were detected in the scan. I then asked if they got the results back from the blood test and they had. I had a chance of 1 in 10,000 of passing Down Syndrome to him, but to me this test meant nothing. For one, it wasn't very accurate and two, we've been part of a statistic (SIDS) before and the odds were not in our favor. We left, not knowing what to think or feel. We just knew they needed to hurry up and call us with an appointment date so we could know for sure what was going on.

September 27th, 2013
Finally we were called and our appointment date came. Three weeks of the grueling unknown was about to be known. Chance set outside in the waiting room with the kids while I went in. The specialist was an older Italian, but spoke very fluent English and was highly talked of. He began the scan and he talked a bit about how the cyst are a red light but usually go away on their own and I told him, "well when you get to it, tell me so I can see it" because let’s admit, sometimes you have no clue what they're looking at during an ultrasound. He replies, "well it’s gone. It's not there anymore." I'm surprised Chance didn't hear me in the waiting room! I shouted, "What?! It's gone? Completely?!" He said yep. Emotions flooded my body, but I held it together. To lighten the emotions the specialist said, "doing your ultrasound is easy. Most American women are fat and it’s hard to see their ultrasounds, but you're not fat and it’s easy!" While laughing I watched as our perfect baby boy yawned, made sucking motions, kept his hands in front of face, and squirmed about in my belly. Nothing had ever been so beautiful. The specialist ruled out any abnormalities to our baby then checked his weight. He weighed 1 lb. 8 oz. which had the doctor worried at first that he was on the big side for my size. But when he found out that I birthed regular sized babies, Gavin at almost 8 lbs. and Jayden and Gracie at 7 lbs., he didn't seem too worried. Next he moved on to check the placenta. It had moved up away from the cervix just a smidge. It went from 1.2cm to 1.5cm away from the cervix. So we weren't completely out of the woods there, but it seemed to be getting better which was moving in the right direction! He finished up, handed me a booklet (literally 45) of ultrasound pictures, and I walked out to the waiting room and immediately darted to the bathroom with my sidekick, Gracie. I told her when we walked out she was to hide behind me then jump out and yell "the baby is perfect!" (except she said his actual name) when I told her too. So out we walked, Chance looking and laughing at us, I said now Gracie and she popped out and said it but Chance said "what?" because when she says his name it's hard to catch so you really have to be listening, so she said it again, and he said "who?" then she pointed to my belly and he looked at me teary eyed and said what?! What did he say? I told him and you would've sworn a few years of worry had been shaved off us. We were so excited that we forgot to pay for our parking when leaving the hospital parking lot, so we ended up backing up traffic at the exit gate and making the gate guard a little less fond of Americans.

So with great joy, our baby boy IS as healthy as an ox and we'll know more about the placenta with our next OB appointment. If everything is still moving in the right direction, we will hopefully be coming home for a visit in around a month and a half!! Eeeek!

To celebrate the news, my birthday, and to just get away for a night, we rented an apartment on the beach that Saturday and enjoyed some much needed family time and relaxation. So here are some pictures for you to enjoy of our healthy boy, my growing tummy at 24 weeks (these are not the professional ones I had done, just ones we took ourselves), and our little trip!

Yawning :)

Profile :)

Nose and mouth

Gorgeous heart<3

Eye sockets

Side profile

I thought it was so neat how you could clearly see his bones!! His femur.

Arm bones and waving or flexing his daddy would say  :)

Spine

Distance between the placenta and cervix

Tiny little foot :)

 

 

1, 2, 3, 4...5?

When someone finds out that we have 4 kids, whether or not they know Jayden is here with us or not, the first question we are always asked is, "Are you done?!"

I'll give you a background on our previous pregnancies.

Baby #1: Jayden Glenn Ryan. Conceived in June 2007. Me and Chance had known each other all of 9 months and been intimate all of 2 months. Very fast, we know. In our young minds was not our age but how badly we each wanted a child...or how badly we wanted to fill a hole of love in our hearts. I had just recently lost my mother in April. He had lost his father at the age of 5 and his mother was having health probelms. We wanted something to fill this void, give us something to love, give us something we could better ourselves for...and we got our angel Jayden. He was planned. We decided that when we became initmate "whatever happens, happens".

Baby #2: Gracie Lynn Ryan. Conceived in October 2008. Little did we know that in the blink of an eye, 3 months and 18 days to be exact, we would lay our first born to rest. We were more lost now than ever before. We had no purpose in life. What we lived for was gone. A few weeks after Jayden passed away I couldn't handle the emptiness anymore. I couldn't handle walking around with my arms hanging to my side. I couldn't bare to go in a store and see babies everywhere, even with parents who didn't even deserve them, yet our baby was chosen. I wanted another. We wanted another. 3 months after trying, 6 days after our wedding, we were blessed to find out we were pregnant again. She became our saving Grace. She was planned.

Baby #3: Gavin Chance Ryan. Conceived in March 2011. A few days after bringing Gracie home from the hospital, I was talking to Chance on the phone (he was in tech school for the Air Force) and said, "I want another." It didn't matter that I had a few day old baby on my chest. I knew I wanted one more. I knew I wanted a sibling for Gracie. I knew I wanted to try for another baby boy. I loved having my princess. I loved playing dress up and tagging her along everywhere I went. But I knew Chance wanted another son. I knew he wanted what I had with Gracie. He always talked about the things him and Jayden could've done together. We decided that we'd put at least 2 years in between our kids. Then in January 2011 we got orders to Italy. Baby fever had started to hit but I knew we should wait til after the move because it would be super hard to move overseas pregnant. I wouldn't be much help. Not to mention I wanted to have a spring baby so that means we would start trying right after we got to Italy. Perfect. So I got on the Nuva Ring birth control. Unfortunately it was making me sick so I decided to stop it. I found out a few weeks later that when I stopped the birth control it induced a menstrual cycle and an ovulation and caused us to get pregnant when weren't expecting to. A little sooner than we had planned but it was okay, we would make due. He was a planned surprise and we felt complete. We felt that we were done, we didn't want to take anymore chances. We had two happy, healthy, rambuncious kids on earth and it was time to focus on ourselves, our marriage, and our education. We used breastfeeding as our birth control for Gavin's first year of life because it is 99% effective, plus I didn't have a cycle during this time, therefore no ovulation. Cycles began to come back and we began to watch the days that we were intimate. I didn't get on birth control then because I was still breastfeeding and I don't like the thought of any extra hormone I'm taking getting into my baby's system. February came and we stopped breastfeeding and decided that I should get on birth control until we got "fixed". The only thing was, we were afraid to get fixed. We were afraid that maybe long down the road, we might want more. So birth control was the solution until we were fully decided and ready. We knew that if we wanted more, we could and if not then not. Started the birth control in April. The first week was rough because it made me have morning sickness but it was okay, I was going to tough this out because this is what we wanted. First week passed, the sickness subsided and all was well. I could do this!

Baby #4: Not telling you the name ;). Conceived the very end of April 2013. I had just got done taking my placebo birth control pills (the pills you take while on your cycle), and started my new month. And again, the sickness hit me. I was second guessing if I could do this anymore. Every month I would have one week of sickness until I got fixed?! (Chance posted a note on our refridgerator with a crying baby saying "one week a month or you'll get this!" God love him!) Not to mention we were going to the zoo my 2nd day of taking the pills and I didn't want to feel sick the entire time. So I just quit taking them. We'd figure something else out later. This time, no cycle was induce so I thought we were in the clear to just go off my previous cycle and plan when not to be intimate. Wrong. An ovulation was induced, just not the cycle. And as the story goes, no cycle came after that either. May 8th, I was a few days late and Chance had mentioned that he thought I was pregnant but I didn't feel like I was. Sounds silly I know, but with all the others I knew I was pregnant before I even peed on the stick. I figured since stopping the birth control, it had messed up my clock work cycle I had and my cycle would eventually come. But after Chance mentioned he thought I was pregnant, that became all I thought about. I had one test in my bathroom. Fine, I'd take it the next morning and felt like I would be able to prove him wrong. With all the other kids, and I know this is silly, but we have always waited to test until we were both home so we could share the moment of joy together. But I just knew it was going to be negative, so I didn't bother waiting. Let me mention that a week prior to this, Chance had his referral put in for a consultation about getting the vasectomy. Morning came and my built in alarm clocks go off (the kids :)) and I stumbled to the bathroom almost forgetting to take the test. I take the test, didn't even bother to look at the results, laid it on the sink and went to get the kids. Get them downstairs, cups of milk and cereal in their hands, and I go to check the test. Get out of here! One bold pink line and a very faint second. He was right and now I felt bad because he wasn't there. But I didn't feel too bad because the emotions that run through me this time wasn't the same as the previous ones. I was scared. Even adoption ran through my mind. But what didn't cross my mind at this point, except abortion? I was completely blown away in shock. I gathered myself and decided I had to find a way to tell Chance and texting or calling wasn't how I wanted to do it because as much shock as I was in, he was bound to be too and I wanted to see. So on the kitchen table I laid the test with a note that read this, "You might want to take a seat and put your glasses on. And maybe give your doctor a call." He came home from work, started telling me about his day not knowing anything about what awaited him. He changed, went into the kitchen and stopped at the door. He had seen. He went and read the note, came in the living room holding the stick with a smile on his face saying, "you're kidding right?" "Nope I took it this morning." "You took it without me?!" And then immediately he started asking the same question I did, what are we going to do? We knew what we were going to do, we would let it soak in, get our acts together, and prepare to make our family bigger. What would our family's say though? We already know they think we have enough and are too young anyways. If they couldn't support us, that was okay. We'd still get by. This was our blessing. God intended for this baby to be in our lives. We might've planned no more kids but you learn in life things don't go as planned. The Man upstairs has the upper hand and he'll never steer you wrong. As the weeks passed, we became more excited, deciding on names, planning the nursery, and biggest of all...telling Gracie. She is 4 now. Old enough to understand. She is over elated, and that's an understatement. So, this one was not planned, but that doesn't change anything.

Back to the question everyone has been asking..."are ya'll done?" And the answer is yes. When I was first asked this, I would say "I'm not going to say yes or no because we thought we were done the last time. So until an operation takes place, I will say I don't know." And it also didn't help that I'm OCD about things being even. We knew that it wasn't twins and so there wasn't a chance of 1 boy and 1 girl to keep it even. We knew that it would either be a boy or girl and one of the kids would have a forever best friend and the other would not (I say this because me and my sister are super close and Chance and his brother are super close and we both have siblings of the opposite sex that we're not as close to). Not that Gracie couldn't be best friends with her brothers or Gavin be best friends with his sisters but you just have more in common with the same sex and usually have similar interest. This kind of made me want to try at least one more time no matter what the sex of baby #4 was so they could possibly each have a same sex sibiling. I know this all sounds silly, but for me and my husband, we pretty much only have our sibilings to rely on. I'm not that close with my fathers, my mom is gone, and Chance's parents are gone. We know what it's like to have nearly noone but your sibilings. So I prayed. Chance really insisted he was done. But I wasn't for sure. I didn't want to make him have another just so I could be happy. I wanted to be at peace with the 4 children I was blessed with. And then I was. At supper last night, Chance mentioned going back to the doctor. I hadn't even told him I was at peace with it yet. So I stopped him in his tracks before he finished his "I'm going back to the doctor" with "no matter what you say" and said, "Okay. It's okay. I'm at peace with it now. I prayed about it and I'm ready to be done if you're ready to be done." Looking at me awkwardly, "So what changed your mind?" "Well I prayed about. I told God to make me at peace with you wanting to be done. Open my eyes and show me that it will be okay if Gracie doesn't have a sister or Gavin doesn't have a brother. And He did. He reminded me of the amazing bond me and my mother had together. Had it just been me and her for the rest of our lives, I would've been okay with that. She was there for me for everything. Better friend that any kid my age. More wiser and my guider. She was the perfect listener and had the softest shoulder to cry on. I have no doubt that me and Gracie will have that same bond and she will be okay without another sister. And, God forbid me leave too soon, I know that we will raise our children so close that no matter what their gender is, they can lean on each other." And with that we smiled and finished supper. I'm at peace with my decision. I'm done. Unless the good Lord above decides otherwise, Chance will have his operation before this baby is born and me shortly after.



Oh and I guess since I'm blogging and you didn't catch it up above...maybe you would like to know the sex of baby #4?! When we first found out, we were all dead set it was a girl. I even done this at home bake soading gender test, where you put baking soda in a cup, add some of your urine and if it fisses its a boy and if it doesn't it's a girl. Mine didn't fiss. I didn't believe the test just because there's a bunch of old wives tales out there, but I was almost for sure it was a girl anyways. About 3 weeks ago I got this strong urge that the baby was a boy. I told Chance and he said no way, it's a girl. So in reality, I was team boy and he was team girl unlike the photos depict. And with the results in as of August 7th, 2013 at 6pm via 4D ultrasound with a gestational age of 16 weeks and 4 days.....

By PumpkinCharm Photography

 

A few photos we did ourselves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By PumpkinCharm Photography

 

The Ryan's family is overjoyed..

It's ANOTHER baby

BOY!!! :)

 

 

 

His adorable face with his hands by it!

Money shot ;) Even with a twinkle on top!

 

 

Edit:

As of 2 years (May 2013) after this post, neither of us have had any permenant operations done. And we are not going to. Since being in Italy we've developed a closer relationship with God and we feel that if more children are in his plans for us, then we can't wait! Maybe Marcus might be our last or maybe not. Maybe God will bring us to foster or adopt. Whatever lies in our future only he knows. And we know that he will guide us through it all! We love our children and would be blessed to have more of God's blessings!!  We are at peace with whichever way things go. So to answer the question again...are we going to have more? Only God knows!! :)

   

Reliving our "glory days"! (Yes, that's quoting Mrs. Incredible :))

(Funny, the last time I blogged was Gracie's 3rd birthday! Must be something special about blogging about her birthday's.)

Early 2013, I got to thinking about what I wanted to do for Gracie's birthday. What theme would it be? There's really nothing she was into like her 2nd and 3rd birthday. But she was talking about being a princess more and loved wearing dresses and heels. Princess theme it was. Would we come back to the States for it or would we have one in Italy? Going back to the States was to big of a risk in the summer flying on the rotator (the cheap plane for military only) and not being able to get back on time, and flying commercial was out of the question (over $4,000 for all of us). So Italy it was. Where would it be? I hated cleaning up and having everything set up at our house for her 3rd birthday, so we'll try and rent out the building in area D (Aviano is not one big base, its made of several 'areas' and you have to drive to get to each. Area D is the recreational area with the soccer field, building for parties, play ground, etc.) Who would we invite? This was the big question. We have no family here, hardly any friends, AND it's summer meaning most people are going to be traveling. Would anyone show? Would it just be us? Forget that. This is my baby girl's big day, to celebrate her life. No way am I going to let her down. What was that theme again? Princesses? Where could we take her in Europe that deals with princesses? The wheels started turning BIG time. DISNEYLAND PARIS!!! I knew I needed to plan months in advance because it was surely to cost a lot, but I didn't care..this would make her year (ya know, instead of make her day? :))! Planning began and then I thought, well if we're already going to be in Paris, why not go visit the heart of Paris too? Just go all out in case this is our only chance to visit France. So Disneyland and Paris it was! Tickets were bought, hotels were reserved, money was saved, months turned to weeks, weeks to days, days to hour, and then it was time!

July 9th, 2013
5am the alarm goes off and we are still so sleepy we hit snooze (excited weren't we? I should say we were up til 1am). 5:30am, we finally roll out of bed, get ourselves ready then we went to get the kids up. Camera's rolling, we burst through their door (they share a room now since Gavin's old room doesn't have air conditioning and Gracie's does) shouting "time to get up! Today's the day!" Gracie kind of rolls over, still groggy, eventually sitting up, rubbing her eyes and Gavin is still knocked out. We tell Gracie today we get to go to the castle and she lightens up just enough to show us she's excited but still sleepy and Gavin, well he wasn't happy. He got picked up by daddy and immediately started crying for mommy. We get downstairs, get them ready, Gavin calms down once milk and cereal are in his hands and 30 minutes after planned (7am) we head off to Venice airport.

It's about a 45 minute drive from our house, so the kids watched a dvd and me and Chance started building dreams. We arrive at the airport and find out that when flying with the airline we chose, you only pay for your tickets/seats and you pay a separate fee for your baggage which we obviously didn't do. So I go pay for our one luggage (yes, I'm super proud of us for only having one luggage!), get everything squared away, get in line for security where you don't have to take off your shoes, and head to our boarding gate. Being our first time using an Italian airline to fly anywhere in Europe I wasn't sure of how things worked, so thinking we didn't have assigned seats we board the plane, sit in 3 empty seats (Gavin was a lap child), get comfy until we were informed we were in someone elses seats. We then move to our assigned seats that were stated on our boarding passes and settled in for an hour and 20 minute flight. Our little travelers were simply amazing like always, Gavin watched Mickey Mouse on the iPad (a life saver) and Gracie colored. Sometime close to 12pm, we had gotten off the plane headed to get our luggage when we passed a McDonald's. What right American would pass up American food just to hope they found something they liked else where? These American's right here. Chance ran in and ordered some food (which I might add that I should of patented my idea of having computers set up for customers to complete their own order so they know it's been put in the system correctly, but McDonald's stole that...there goes my million dollar dream) while me and the kids ran to baggage claims (a big treasure hunt) to get our bag. I should also add that we didn't take the double stroller, we took two little umbrella strollers so they would be easier to fold up and carry when need be (Gracie's ended up being our worst nightmare because the wheels wouldn't work, so it's currently sitting in our garbage can outside). We finally all meet back up and decide to figure out how we're getting to our Disney hotel before sitting down to eat. We find out there's a shuttle that runs to Disneyland that costed money so we decided to go sit out and wait for it and eat. We open our delicious bag of McDonald's food to find Chance's burger was forgotten and the kids nuggets became a cheeseburger. It was okay though, we were in Paris, | | this close to Disneyland (I have to mention that after Chance found out his burger was missing he decided to eat his fries which he only got to eat half off before they jumped out of his hands to their death on the ground, so no lunch for daddy but thankfully we had packed lots of snacks...we had to laugh it off). A bus pulls up and we ask if they're going to Sequoia Lodge (the Disney hotel we were staying at) and he replied no, yet this was the shuttle the information desk told us to wait for because this shuttle took you to Sequoia Lodge (apparently it only went directly to the park). Getting antsy and tired we decided an expensive taxi was better than waiting around for another shuttle to get there and possibly get us to where we wanted (we found out later had we paid to take that shuttle to Disneyland, then caught a free shuttle at Disneyland to our hotel room we could've paid half the price). 110 Euro later we arrive at our paradise for the next 2 days. We get checked in, go to find our room, get lost, finally find the burning furance (our room), get somewhat settle, and lay down for a nap (who takes a nap first thing when you're at Disneyland?! Tired parents with two tired kids!) Everyone is knocked out except me because I can't breathe because it is so hot in our room. Why is it so hot? Our air conditioning has been on for an hour now on the coldest setting, highest fan. Somethings got to be wrong. I call down to the reception desk and address our problem (I should add that we called down before laying down and found out that if your window is cracked open the air automatically shuts off, which ours was so we were assured after we closed the window our air should work) and I'm told the maintenance guy was on his way. 15 minutes passed no maintenance guy in sight, everyone's still snoring and I don't see how...I can't sleep, I'm tired, can't breathe...yep, I started boiling. I go to the reception desk, irratated, tell them my problem again and they ask me if I shut my window...yes, then told me a maintenance guy was on his way...now or 15 mintues ago like you said? She called him back to make sure he knew I meant now. Another note: I am very impressed with English that was spoken by almost everyone we had to deal with our entire trip. Almost everyone spoke it fluently. I go back to our room, telling myself the maintenance man better beat me there and of course no one was in sight again. I pace the hallway way, prop our room door open with a stroller and sit out beside the door and wait. 5-10 minutes passed and they finally arrive, where everyone got woken up (if you recall at the beginning of this day, Gavin doesn't like to be woken up so you can bet he was super cranky) and we where told it wasn't fixable. We had to move rooms. Trip started out good didnt it? We pack back up, get to our new room with working air (!!), drop our things off to finally go to Disneyland (this is around 5 or 6pm)!

Anxiously awaiting the bunch of Disney characters that we would see on the streets, we walked in only to see thousands of people and no characters because they all had set times and set places where they would be and you were lucky if you got past the pushy crowds. This was a bit disheartening for me. I really expected more. But I can see where the costumes would get hot and the crowds would never end. Searching frantically for the castle we get through main street where all the shopping stores are, and behold, the most magical place on earth, The castle.

We stopped for an ice cream break, took some pictures, rode the carousel, then headed off for the big Parade. Searching for a good spot, we settled on a spot behind a crowd with Gracie on daddys shoulders. After the parade we rode flying Dumbo then headed for our reservations to watch Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show with Mickey and friends (this was at 9:30pm which was probably a mistake for us after traveling all day).

 

We were seated with the best seats in the house, front row, and waited for the show to start. Included in this show was our very first ever, actual 3 course meal. Of course we didn't know this at the time and with being as hungry as we were, when we were served our first course (chili and corn bread) we gobbled it down. Then the server came around with our second course which included a chicken thigh, ribs, pork sausage, and mini whole potatoes. After that was dessert which was a hot apple pie thing for adults and popsicles for the kids. I should also add here that we were super worried about eating while on our trip because we're super picky with super picky kids, which ends in you better have the choice of hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken nuggets, pizza, or something American for us to eat. The food wasn't bad but our other fear happened..what would the kids drink? We can't take milk with us and probably no where will sale it...they can't live off water...I don't want them drinking coke or a lot of juice...but alas when orange juice wasn't an option coke it was. Back to the show, it was mainly about the wild west with the appearance of Mickey and the gang (go figure). It was very fun, we seen horses, bulls, buffalo, cowboys and indians, and "Annie Oakley"...which if you know who she is you know she's famous for shooting guns and that didn't sit well with Gavin. He's petrified of fire works or anything with a loud sound so as the show was going on I was being wallered by Gavin until finally he passed out.

We decided to leave the show right before the finale because it was so late, Gavin was asleep, and secretly I wanted to go see the Disney Dreams show which started at 11pm. This included going through Disney stories shown from a projector that projected the stories on the castle and of course fire works. It was amazing! The kids weren't too excited as Gavin slept through it and Gracie wanted to sleep through it, but I loved it. I'm a Disney fanactic though, it's what I was raised on. I videoed, took pictures, danced and sang through the whole thing (yes, it was in English. All the showings were done in English).

Around midnight we finally got back to our cooled off room where we had a message from the front desk telling us it was concerning our bill. Well we had already paid everything so we weren't sure of what it was. Chance went down to investigate and apparently in the fridge, from our first room, they provide in your room, they stock it with cokes, beer, alcohol and candy. If you take anything out or move anything there is a sensor that goes to the front desk that says you consumed that. We had a water that was hot so I moved two cokes to the back row to make room for our water and it registered that we drank those cokes. Chance assured them we did not and no charges were pressed. After all that our heads finally hit the pillows and we were out!

July 10th, 2013 otherwise titled Gracie's FOURTH Birthday!!
Alarm clock went off at 8am, giving us an hour for everyone to get a shower/bath (note: if you plan on going to France bring your own wash cloths unless you want to use your hands...French don't believe in them! We were using huge hand towels as wash cloths) , get ready, and out the door for meet and greet of the characters and breakfast...HA! Running late, everyone was dressed we headed downstairs to find Minnie for the first character we would meet at the hotel. Gracie in her birthday attire, was elated (Gavin, not so much. He didn't like when any of the characters got close to him, even Mickey!)! She soaked up every moment of meeting Minnie and getting her autograph (we got an autograph book just for the characters we met), she even kissed Minnie on the nose.

We then set off for breakfast where who else would we run into but Mickey?! Apparently he walked right past me as I was getting mine and kids breakfast, to see Gracie. After finishing up eating and getting ready to leave who else would show up but Pluto! This was probably the happiest I have ever seen Gracie! She hung all over him, kissed him, sit in his lap, he played with her, oh my goodnes...the sweetest sight ever! Again, Gavin...not so excited.

We finally leave and head to the park, where Gracie was promised she could have whatever she wanted that whole day, not thinking she would actually take advantage of it. First thing was a big Minnie balloon. Then it was everything she seen in sight with "but you said I could have anything I wanted"...oh boy. We finally get through the entrance with two giant Mickey and Minnie balloons smacking us and everyone we walked by in the face. We also got suckered into those funny protraits drawn by people sitting outside of attractions gates. Of course I thought they'd be somewhat similar to our actual features...ha, those are being locked away just for our memories. I was kind of disappointed especially in the price we paid, but you live and learn right?

The weather was beautiful and all was good. Well, except for my patience. My lack of it ended up almost tripping a man flat on his face and getting into it with another woman who claims I pushed her son when I promise I just stuck my arm out so that he wouldn't cut us in line when trying to get a picture of Gracie trying to pull the sword out of the stone (I'm laughing as I type this!). We then go get Gracie's face painted for her special day. And as I'm watching the woman paint her face and how she is sitting there so patiently, my eyes filled up with tears...my tiny 6lb 13 1/2oz baby girl sit before my eyes, at 4 years old, so grown up.

We then went and rode some rides walked around then went to our reservation for lunch with the Disney Princesses where Gracie would have her birthday cake. This was another 3 course meal restuarant, the most expensive in Disneyland park, consisting of French courses. Oh boy. You should of seen mine and Chance's faces when we looked at the menu, and should've seen the waiters face when we were ordering. Me and Chance then came to the conclusion that us Kentucky folk just aren't made for 3 course meals...we're satisfied with beans and taters. But what made this lunch worth every penny, Gracie meeting Suzy and Perla (two of the girl mice off Cinderella), Belle, Cinderella, and Aurora with Prince Phillip (which she wasn't to fond of...her belief right now is that girls can only talk to girls and boy can only talk to boys..and this applies everywhere even for me and Chance. For example if I go on base and the gate guard is a boy, I get fussed on by my 4 year old because I can only talk to girls.) After barely touching any of our food and Gavin only eating those strawberry-apple star puff things, they bring Gracie's cake out (I say Gracie's cake because apparently she wasn't the only one whose birthday was that day or being celebrated). They sang happy birthday as they brought it to her (no I didn't record it and yes I'm kicking myself in the tail for it!), and who better to accompany them besides Aurora and Prince Phillip! Aurora knelt down beside her, talked to her, told her about making wishes, and stood right there as she blew out her candles. How much better could it get?! My heart was so full of happiness it was unreal. The cake was scrumptious and everyone enjoyed that, it was chocolate cake with chocolate icing and white chocolate candies on top...how could you not enjoy it?

The appetizer they brought out for Gracie, HA!

We left there and went to ride just about everything Gracie could ride on, Gavin rode on most of the rides too and I rode on all the rides that didn't go in circles because if you know me I get motion sickness real easy. While walking through the park a disturbing message came across the intercom, "Please keep your luggage and belongings with you and supervised, pick pocketers are out and about!" Being the smart woman I am, we didn't have to worry about this because I sported a nice fanny pack our entire trip but this did explain the reason why France doesn't have backpacks...they have frontpacks, where everyone wheres their bag on their front. Surprisingly, we got through everything we wanted to do in the first Disneyland park so we went to eat supper at a place with burger's, fries, and nuggets while watching different Disney short flims on a screen. We ended up leaving Disneyland with Gracie having a Woody doll just like the one on Toy Story and a huge lollipop as big as her face.

After getting back to the hotel around 9:45pm we decided to walk around and see what all it had to offer, knowing there was a pool somewhere. It had a cool slide, huge pool, and hot tub but we found it just as they were closing so there was no chance of swimming that night but it opened at 7am and we could go that next morning before heading back to Disneyland. So to our room we went, where the kids turned into hulligans while stretching their "all day, sitting in a stroller" legs and watched a little Disney Junior in French (that, they didn't have in English).

We again had another message about our account, and again it was the fridges. Except this time nothing was touched because we couldn't even get the fridge in our new room to open. Everything was worked out and we passed out.

July 11th, 2013 Last day at Disneyland first night in Paris
Alarm went off at 7am so we could get up and head to the pool except when it went off, no one jumped up to go. The kids were still passed out and we were considering skipping the pool and passing back out. But the trip was for Gracie, not for us to sleep so I woke Gracie up giving her the option to go swim or not. What 4 year old turns down swimming? Not mine! Darn. We get ready, get to the pool and to me, if it doesn't feel like bath water it's too cold. Me and Gracie got out to the pool before the boys did so we stuck our feet in waiting on them. Chance and Gavin came out and Chance went to get in with Gavin and he threw a fit. He was not having this early morning swimming stuff. Perfect! Mommy and Gavin could just sit out and watch daddy and Gracie get cold.

That lasted a whole 45 minutes before they got out and we headed up to get ready and go eat breakfast, except on our way to the room they were doing a meet and greet with Eeyore. I push Gracie in line, told daddy to stay with her while I ran to grab her autograph book. Probably the fastest 15 seconds of my life. It comes Gracie's turn where we 1) find out Gracie has to be wrapped in her towel because she was still in her bathing suit (which was fine) and 2) Eeyore didn't have hands so he couldn't sign her book. Pictures did the job though. We then went upstairs, quickly got ready and headed back down for breakfast to find Goofy doing the meet and greet. Our turn came and Gracie was more shy with him than any of the other characters she had met so far. A quick photo and signature and we were off for breakfast, then Disneyland.

This day was our last day at Disneyland so we decided we'd spend most of the day in Walt Disney Studio's (the 2nd park) where there was lots of live shows, meet and greets, and a few rides. When we arrived it was crazy windy and cold so we ended up buying hoodies because we had dressed for 80 degree weather. We get in Walt Disney Studio's meet Buzz, ride some rides, meet Woody, watch a Stitch Live show, then head back to Disneyland Park. We had orginally planned to leave Disneyland and head down to our other hotel in Paris by 3pm except things didn't go as planned. We ended our Disneyland fun with Daddy and Gracie going to ride Dumbo one last time while me and Gavin waited in a forever long and pushy line of parents trying to make reservations for their little ones to have a one on one meet and greet with a princess. I got our reservation done, except for it was for 6:40pm. We so didn't want to be there that long, but what the hay, for our princess...anything. It was finally our turn to meet our princess and I was praying it wasn't one we'd already met. It turned out to be Ariel!

Gracie didn't really recognize her because she had her dress on and not fins and Gracie seemed to be more shy around her than the other princesses. They talked a little, took photos, got her autograph then we headed out. While walking we passed a ride that Gavin loved, it was a train roller coaster! He cried the day before when we had to get off and he had been watching a train pass us several times while we were in line reserving our princess meet and greet saying "choo choo!" So of course we had to stop and ride just one more time for him. By now we were Disney'ed out and ready to leave. We had walked more this day than any other, because we had parked hopped at least 5 times. It was very stressful with having to plan times for things and it not being a free flow kind of thing. It was also hard because every ride Gavin went on, he had to be held the entire wait. We were ready to go somewhere with a more slow pace...Paris. We said our goodbyes to Disneyland and headed to eat at the Disney hotel, grab some souvenirs, get our luggage then head to Paris. By the time we got to Paris and got checked into our hotel/apartment it was at least 11pm (now do you see why I was so excited we were packed and ready 1 day before our trip? We're never on time!) and both kids were passed out. We did have a disappointment when we found out our apartment room didn't have the direct view of the Eiffel Tower like we had requested, but we didn't care...we were tried and ready to sleep and relax. Besides that, we still had an awesome view of Paris being on the 19th floor with the reflection of the Eiffel Tower in the building across from us.

July 12th, 2013
(Incase anyone was worried or even knew, there was a train crash right outside of Paris on this day in the afternoon. We were not involved and are obviously alright.)
No alarms were set, so we just got up whenever the kids decided to get up. Oh how nice it was to sleep til 9. They had been going til they were empty too, so they slept extra late for us. We got up, had showers/bath (again using a huge hand towel for a wash cloth), ate nabs for breakfast, slowly got ready, and around noon decided to go get lunch then see Paris. Of course as I mentioned early we are picky eaters, so on our way to the airport before our trip began we had googled how far a McDonald's was from our Paris hotel. Luckily for us, there was one right down the street. We figured we'd be living off McDonalds for our stay there. On our way there, there was a carousel so we let the kids get on that.

Again this McDonald's also had the nifty machines where you put your order in, so we got our food, everything is there this time, sit down to eat only to have a little girl, around 7 years old, come in and (in French) start begging for food. I'd have gladly given her some if her clothes weren't so nice and she actually looked hungry. We finished our meal and walked outside only to see the girl that was begging for food, walking away with a Starbucks cup in her hand and her mother had a burger in her hand. We headed for the Eiffel Tower, which was about a 10 minute walk from our hotel. We decided that we'd go to the top and have a look around. While standing in line though, there was about 372784313 chinese kids (just kidding, there was only like 10) in front of us with a group leader who looked to be in his early 20's. Gracie, sitting quitely in her stroller, complaining she didn't feel good, all of a sudden had all these chinese kids looking at her, pointing, and laughing. My heart sank. What was wrong with her? She wasn't doing anything funny? So me being the aggressive mom asked in a stern voice, "Is something wrong?" To which the crowd gets quite around us and the chinese kids have a very confused look on their face and the leader says, "I'm sorry?" I said again, "Is something wrong? Your kids are pointing and laughing at my daughter!" (remember I speak and was speaking English at this time). He says, "Do you speak German?" The guy is talking back to me in English and hears me speaking English, yet asks me if I speak German?! Anyways, he says "I don't understand the problem." I said, "They're laughing at my daughter for no reason!" He says, "They just think shes beautiful, is that wrong?" I said, "Of course not! But don't point and laugh at her if you think shes beautiful, try smiling and waving!" He then turned to give his kids a big lecture about us uptight Americans (well this I'm assuming that's what he was saying considering he was speaking another language) as each of them turned and looked at us. Anyways, we got our tickets and Gavin started fussing and the nice security guy seen my struggle with trying to keep the wiggling fussing kid in my arms, so he broke through the line, waved us to follow him, took us straight through to get on the elevators to the top (mind you we cut right in front of those chinese kids, hahaha). We step on the elevator and I tell Gracie to stay focused on mommy and mommy would stay focused on her because we were going very high up. Boy was it scary when thinking just one cable had to break for your elevator to go surging to the ground. But we braved it, and all was well. It was super windy but super beautiful! Gavin passed out on the ride back down and Gracie was super tired so we decided we'd go back to the hotel and rest then venture back out later.

On our way back to the hotel there was a candy stand similar to a Candy Craze from the mall...yep we went candy crazy. After everyone rested up, me taking a hot bath to soothe my aching legs, we set out again for supper under the Eiffel Tower and to see it lit up. Can you guess where we ate? McDonalds? Nope. We had found a Subway on our way to the Eiffel Tower so we ate there and got the kids an Italian pizza next door. Hey, we're just staying true to our American side. We get our food and go find a bench at the base of the Tower and settled down to eat. Poor Chance hasn't had good luck with his meals while on vacation so what better way to end his supper than tipping his coke over. Afterwards we went to find a spot in the grass to wait for the tower to light up. While waiting the kids and daddy went to play at the park, while I stayed back to keep our seats warm...literally, it was super cold the last 3 days of our trip. At 10pm, the lights started to come on and the "spectacular light show" (as Chance called it) happened, where flashing lights lit up all over the Tower (what my video that I posted on Facebook shows). After sitting there in awe til almost 11pm we decided to head back to the hotel except across the street from the Tower was another carousel so we let the kids go ride on it. We then went back to the hotel and crashed.

Our view while eating supper :)

July 13th, 2013 Last day of our trip
We had planned today to be very laid back like the previous day. We got up around 8:30, got ready and set out to McDonald's to eat breakfast only to find they didn't have the whole menu that they do in the states (I really wanted some McDonald's biscuits and gravy). It had very few items on it, so we decided we'd go back to the hotel and eat a healthier breakfast of fruit we had bought from a stand the night before. Before heading back to the hotel though, we had to go find another luggage. Yep, our one luggage deal didn't last. We ended up having to buy a separate luggage for just souvenirs. But we got it for a steal of 18 euro! We got back to the hotel, ate, packed (we had to check out at 11), then took our luggage down to the holding area so we didn't have to carry it around Paris all day because our flight wasn't until later in the afternoon. We figured since we had a few hours to kill we'd go see two of the big monuments that are most famous and a must see...Notre Dame (the largest cathedral in France and the Hunchback's home from the Disney movie) and the Louvre (the big glass pyramid with a museum underneathe holding the original Mona Lisa painting and many more famous paintings. And its legend that Mary Magdalene's tomb is there). We didn't go tour inside either because the Notre Dame had hundreds of stairs to climb and I'm not a big fan of seeing a work of art. We did go inside the Louvre just not through the museum part. We of course asked about the tomb but was told it was just a legend, but Chance swears that it's there.

 

Inside the Louvre

We went and grabbed lunch at McDonald's afterwards then went and grabbed our bags at the hotel and headed for the airport. Our trip was ending. It was so fun, and the days seem to last forever then seemed to fly by when we looked back.

In the taxi on the way back to the airport. Gavin loves his sissy!

We got to the airport only to find we were super early and had to wait 2 hours before we could even check our bags and even then it would be 2 hours after that, that we would board our plane. So the kids took naps (again, we have the best little travelers ever!) and we done our best to stay awake. Our time came to finally check in our bags and once again we hadn't paid for the bags just for the tickets/seats, so we paid separately for those. We landed back in Venice around 8pm, got our bags, got out to the car, got ready to leave the parking lot only to find where I left the ticket in the sun like I thought you were suppose to, it faded it so much that the machine wouldn't read it. So me being the smart one I am, I decided on my own to go try and find this place to get a new ticket that was in the middle of a parking garage and needless to say it ended up with me going from one end to the other, freaking myself out because of all the bad movies I've seen involving parking garages, and running back to the car. It was quite the sight to see. No new ticket in hand, I get to the car and tell Chance either he can go look for the place or we can all get out and go. We decided to all go, and wouldn't you know we found it, no problem. I told Chance, I just needed my security guard with me. So finally a big fee later, we get out of the parking lot and around 11pm we got back home.

This trip will definitely be something I'll never forget and hopefully Gracie will never forget it either!

Happy 4th Birthday Princess! We love you so much!