The magical Disney Magic!

Not sure I could ever find the words to adequately describe such an amazing holiday, though magical is definitely appropriate. Robert and I have done over 20 cruises combined, and without question, Disney's got it "licked" for families with young children.

Getting there was not exactly smooth sailing though...as baby came down with the chickenpox ON THE FLIGHT to Miami. It was a far worse case than Andrew's, so Robert and I had all but written off the trip entirely the whole time we were in Florida. We called our travel insurance company the day before embarkation, who advised us that a doctor's note was mandatory in order to make a claim. So, off we went to a pediatrician in Florida, where we had to enter the building through a private entrance designed for contagious children, and were (very fortunately) seen immediately. After a thorough examination, the doctor, though surprised to see the severity of outbreak on Ryan, particularly a baby that was breastfed AND had taken antibiotic treatment, advised us that Ryan was, without question, NO LONGER CONTAGIOUS!!! To say that Robert and I were elated would be an understatement! She wrote a doctor's note for us to take along with us, and our vacation REALLY began then, approximately 1:00 in the afternoon the day before the ship was to set sail. We left the doctor's (through the normal exit doors) and were absolutely over the moon. We went to Tia and Abuela's house for a celebratory birthday meal for Tia, and headed back to the hotel to prepare for our cruise.

Everything was "smooth sailing" from the moment we arrived at the port. In my opinion, Disney Cruise is so far superior than any other cruise line (when it comes to cruising with children) that, honestly, they are in a league of their own. Every little thing is considered, from the layout of the cabins, to the amenities, service and kids programs. As we boarded the ship, the gangway lead us directly to the beautiful and immense atrium, where there was a "Welcome Home" team, which consisted of two rows of about 20 crew in each row, dressed in uniform, who clapped, danced and cheered, along with Mickey, as each family was welcomed to the ship, over the loud speaker system. As we danced along past the welcome committee, and I heard the "Welcome Home to the Chamberlin Family", I could not hold back the tears. I was SO relieved and SO happy that our vacation was actually happening! And we had a VERY excited little 3 year old boy; witnessing the awe and thrill in his face was priceless! The cabin was perfect. Unlike other cruise lines that do not have a bath tub unless you are in a suite, it is a standard item on Disney. The bottle warmers, bed rails, diaper genies, etc. are all available, free of charge. And EVERYWHERE we went with the stroller, it seemed like there was a crew member just waiting to help us out. Whether it be getting on an elevator, through a door, or even in line at the breakfast buffet, there was a server who took my tray, and Andrew's too, served the food for me and even fetched the coffee and took it to a table...all I had to worry about was pushing Ryan in the stroller! Completely stress free!!! The waiters in the main dining rooms are equally amazing. The minute either of the boys seemed to get a little antsy during dinner, our assistant or head waiter was there, telling jokes, making frogs out of the the kids' paper menus, bringing the Mickey ice cream bars to Andrew for dessert, etc. (and Andrew even had the option to leave from the dining room as there are staff from the kids club at the outside entrance to the dining room, ready to take your kids back up to the club, or eat dinner IN the kids club itself) One evening in the dining room Andrew got pretty tired, so our waiters brought extra chairs and table cloths to our table, and prepared a full-on bed for Andrew to sleep in with pillows and all! I could go on and on and on. It was JUST unbelievable service.
Our first stop was Castaway Cay, which is Disney's private island in the Bahamas. The beaches were beautiful, the traditional American barbeque lunch was to die for, and the amenities on the island were endless. My only wish was that we could have stayed longer in this port of call. For me, that turned out to be the first and last time I got off the ship until we disembarked in Barcelona, 13 days later! I knew ahead of time that the ports of call on this ship were of little appeal to me, largely because we have already done them several times before. Additionally, getting around these such European ports are not exactly baby-friendly (or stroller-friendly), so it was far more enjoyable for me to stay onboard with the kids and let the ship itself be the vacation for me. (although next time I do plan to climb up the Rock of Gibraltar to see the monkeys at the top!) Robert got off in one other port of call, but for the most part, he was on the same page as me with respect to the ship itself being the vacation. It would take me a month to capture every fabulous detail in this blog, but other highlights of the cruise included the evening shows, the character events (dance parties, deck parties, tea parties, etc. etc. etc.), the kids club, the baby club (and the fabulous staff in said clubs), and the endless amount of pool/jacuzzi time we enjoyed together as a family. For me, the scrumptious food, and the fact that I did not have to cook it, or clean up after it, was of course, THE best!
If you are interested in seeing the photos, let me know and I will send you the link.

JOYEUSES PAQUES!!!

"The Easter Bunny SURE is nice"...were Andrew's comments first thing this morning! I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, me or him. Now that he's reached the age where he really "gets it" and really believes it, it is just THE best! However, not having Daddy here to share in the fun was a tad bit depressing. :-( The egg hunt was so much fun, though a tid bit early, as both boys were in my bed at 5:15 this morning and we started the hunt before 6! Andrew was most excited about the chocolate bunny that the Easter Bunny brought into his bedroom...perhaps that was not such a good idea, as he was ready to party as soon as he saw it!

Update on the boys...Andrew's spots have mostly vanished, you probably wouldn't even know he had the chickenpox if you saw him today. The waiting period has just begun with Ryan. Since the incubation period is 10 to 21 days after being exposed, and Andrew most likely became infectious about two weeks ago and remained infectious for a good 8 days, well, it could be a loooong wait. I have pretty much all but stopped talking about our trip with Andrew...which really sucks quite frankly because part of the fun is the anticipation of it all, but Andrew knows that there will not be an airplane ride or a Mickey Boat if Ryan gets the chickenpox. And he has accepted that quite well, since he knows that if you have the chickenpox, then you have to stay home. I've had my good days and my not-so-good days, but THE hardest part by far was trying to keep the boys apart and myself clean after each and everytime I touched Andrew. (the skin on my hands is completely dry and cracking now from washing them so much!) Fortunately, I can let my guard down on that now, and as soon as I gave Andrew the green light to touch Ryan, he was all over him, and has been so ever since.

All my fingers, toes, legs and arms are crossed that our vacation will follow through as planned...and that Robert will be picking us up in the Miami airport approximately 60 hours from now!

the waiting period is gonna drive me mad

Having such a difficult time with this. Robert, so wish you were here. I KNOW this is not the biggest deal in the world but I cannot deny it is such a letdown. Andrew is doing fine. This is Day 4, and it appears that there are no new spots forming (or very few) and most have scabbed or are beginning to scab. He is SO happy to be home with us and being a very good boy.
But I'm still desperately trying to keep the boys apart, not knowing if it is totally pointless. I have been doing endless laundry, trying to keep everything clean. Washing my hands, and Andrew's til I'm blue in the face. Andrew is generally good about keeping his distance from Ryan now, about his daily showers with the soap and taking the anti-itch medicine, even though it is obvious he doesn't like the taste. I'm so grateful for that. But he touches everything that Ryan puts in his mouth (which is everything at this stage) and I can't prevent that.
I keep going online, looking up more details on the chickenpox, researching the likelihood of antibodies in my breastmilk, the incubation period, the contagious period, etc., etc.
We are in the process of buying additional travel insurance now. Robert and I have both considered the option of just one of us going with Andrew, the other staying back with Ryan. I am open to Robert going with Andrew, but not really open to me going alone. First of all, it would mean having to give up breastfeeding, even if I continued to pump the whole time, my body would still stop generating enough to keep it up in the same supply it is now, as I don't get near as much when I pump as when Ryan nurses. Secondly, I don't think I would be ready to leave my baby for 2 weeks especially with an illness, and thirdly, the thought of being there without Robert and Ryan is almost equally depressing as not going at all.
Ok, so that's my venting for the moment. There's NOTHING anybody can do, and I just need to stop obsessing about what could or could not be.
It's a beautiful day...time to put on a happy face and enjoy it with my beautiful boys!

CHICKEN POX!!!

Andrew woke up Wednesday morning, and as per our usual Wednesday morning routine, he climbed into Mommy and Daddy's bed for a snuggle with me and Ryan. It was quite early (before 6am) so we laid there together for a while, talking, playing little games to make Ryan laugh, tickling and kissing each other...in addition to a few licks by Andrew to Ryan and some soocy swapping (Ryan put Andrew's soocy in his mouth). When we got out of bed, we went to Andrew's room to get him dressed as our intent was to head to the gym followed by a play date. (Andrew keeps asking me to take him to the gym - he loves the toys in the daycare there!)
ANYWAY, when he took off his underwear, I noticed a spot on his thigh...and a similar spot a little higher up and knew instantly what it was. In all honesty, I was kinda relieved, thinking it was great that he contracted them now, BEFORE our upcoming trip/cruise. It wasn't until I did a little research on the internet that I realized how disastrous this could be...the incubation period ranges from 10 to 21 days...which means that Ryan, if he gets it, will get it somewhere in between boarding the flight to Miami and boarding the ship. Which could mean NO FLIGHT and/or NO SHIP. I FREAKED out. Instantly I regretted not vaccinating Andrew. But then the reason why I chose not to vaccinate is because many kids I know who have been vaccinated have still gotten the pox...and though it's really more serious for women, because if they get them when pregnant, it is very dangerous to the unborn child but supposedly it's a lot worse to get them in adulthood anyway, so I thought better to just have them and get them out of his system.
We've been talking about doing this trip for almost a year now, we've been building it up to Andrew for the last several months, it's the most expensive trip we've ever planned, it is a dream holiday for this family. Now what? So, I stewed for a good several hours, called the doc to see if Ryan could get vaccinated (he's too young), and carried on worrying for a good part of the day, wishing I could talk to Robert so he could calm me down and assure me it would all work out in the end (he has a magical way of soothing me!) But Robert was in meetings and then heading directly from the office in Madrid to the airport to board a flight to the US. So, I called my friends. And they listened, sympathized with me and though they couldn't fix the problem, I did feel much better. But then in a way I felt worse. Not for my problem, but for my friends' problems...which are far more grave than my own. It had been a while since I'd last spoke to a few friends and they are confronting conflicts far more stressful than the one I'm currently faced with. It will be a MASSIVE bummer if the vacation gets cancelled, but in the end I realized that really, the biggest problem is just WHEN we will be able to go on vacation. Cuz if this one gets cancelled, we will just have to postpone...of course it won't be a Disney cruise, because the transatlantics only happen once a year, and the regular Disney cruises are far too expensive for our vacation budget, but it will be something, and as long as we're all together as a family, it will be fun.
In the meantime, Andrew's case of chicken pox seems relatively mild, I'm treating him with special soap in the shower, antiseptic stuff on the spots and an anti-itch medicine to consume 3 times a day. The spots span from his head to his toe, but so far, there's really not that many, I'm guessing around 50 in total. He's as HAPPY as ever, perhaps even moreso cuz he doesn't have to go to school and he gets to stay home with Mommy and Baby Ryan! I am TRYING to keep the two boys apart, in the off chance that Ryan hasn't already got it, that he won't pass them on now, but am not terribly successful....Andrew forgets and just naturally goes to Ryan to play, to soothe him, etc. He's getting better now about staying away from his brother (this is the 2nd day of spots) but the damage has probably already been done anyway.
So...that's the latest in our lives...fingers are still crossed though that it will all work out as planned...it is possible my breastmilk still has antibodies in it. (please God!!!)
What I don't get is why these things ALWAYS happen when Robert is away????

I think the espanol battle has been won...

by Robert...who has, against my VERY strong desire, chosen not to speak spanish to Andrew. When I picked Robert up from work yesterday, his colleague Hali was walking out with him and she stopped to have a chat with Andrew in the backseat. She was asking Andrew about school and held up her hands to have him count her fingers. He counted them in english and then upon her request, he then counted them in french. Then she said "espanol", to which he replied in a very serious tone, "I only speak english and french"!!!!!! (even though he knows how to count to 20 in spanish)
I've started to persist he speak spanish to Ryan. But I suppose I should probably just save my breath!

One birthday, four birthday cakes!!!

Truthfully, I was not too keen on the prospect of turning 38 (I think it's that clock I am starting to hear tick...and, I am still somewhat hopeful for baby #3 if I can ever convince Robert that it would be a great idea!!!), nevertheless, I have been reminded by many events in the recent past that birthdays are indeed something to be celebrated. I feel seriously blessed for every day that I am here and healthy, that I get to share with my three beautiful boys, and my amaaazing family and circle of friends. I had originally thought about planning a girls dinner night out like Steph's, but with Robert only back for one week, the first weekend of which he was totally recovering from jetlag, I opted against it in preference for some more family down time together.

Birthday celebration #1 was with Gia and Karl...Gia's birthday is one day before me, so she brought over cake for gouter (afternoon snack) with one candle for each of us (we of course let the boys blow the candles and make our wishes!), then we had a play date, then headed off to dinner at McDonald's! A fun day!

Birthday #2 was the family "party", a wonderful dinner that I did not cook or clean up after, and started off ever so sweetly when each of the boys brought the above home-made birthday cards to me in bed.

Birthday #3 was hosted by Steph, my hillarious and extremely thoughtful friend (who also happens to be a gourmet cook), who invited me over for an amaaazing birthday lunch, along with Jackie, whose birthday is one day after mine.

And birthday #4 is to be celebrated, sans children, tomorrow, when Robert and I will have a lunch date together while Andrew is in school and Ryan at creche...CANNOT wait!!!

My surprise from Robert

Got this email from Robert who is currently on his loooong trip home from Australia......yippeeeeeeeee! (for both R coming home and a balcony cabin!)

Babe......there is something I need to tell you.........I've been thinking about how to tell you, or if to tell you at all........I figured you would find out soon enough, so I will tell you (see how I'm "building up" to the news :-)..........see below.....

































.......how would you like to cross the Atlantic over 14 days sleeping on a DELUXE OCEANVIEW STATEROOM WITH VERANDAH ?????........maybe something like Cabin 6610 on the Disney Magic?.......would that be OK with you?........we could always go back to an inside cabin if you prefer, but I thought you may like this :-)
...Take a look
http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships-activities/ships/staterooms/magic-wonder/deluxe-oceanview-stateroom-with-verandah/

I looooooove you!!!!!!
Me.