Thursday, February 16, 2017

Universal Studios

I think baby boy was less then a week old when Dr. J turned to me in bed one night and said, "So what are we going to do from Fall Break.  Fall Break, those random nine days off your kids get in October.  J had gotten the nine days off and he wanted to do something.  So five days after I had a baby we booked a trip to Disneyland.  It was nuts.  Who does that?  We do that.  So with a six week old baby we headed to California.  Originally our trip was going to be three days at Disney, one day at Legoland, and one day at Sea World (look I felt a little guilty about that one but J really wanted to go and so we went).  It was part of our city pass.  Honestly that felt like a lot but then one of our kids asked if we were going to go to Harry Potter Land.  We hadn't really planned on it, but since we were going to be in California we figured, "What the heck."  Here is the thing though about "What the heck" and Universal Studios and a family of six plus a baby, what the heck cost well over 600 bucks, but we still went and the kids loved it. 



Cheetah was able to get on a lot of the rides but there were a couple that she wasn't.  The nice thing about Universal is there is still stuff to do if you can't ride the rides.  We watched a Pets in the Movies show, think Owls from the Harry Potter movies, old Air Buds, and a bunch of animals running all over the stage, including a chicken.  We also hung out at Super Silly Fun Land.  With the other kids we watched Universal Animal Actors and the Special Effects Show.  She did get to go on Flight of the Hippogriff, Shrek, Despicable Me, Minion Mayhem, and Jurassic Park the ride, which SHE LOVED!  The kids were all going to go on Transformers as well but the ride broke down and after standing in line for 45 minutes they decided to ditch it.  J tried to get the older kids to ride The Mummy with him but the only kids we have who could finish that movie was too short to get on it so we skipped it.  The older kids also really enjoyed Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.  While waiting for them to finish that ride Cheetah, Baby Boy and I bought Pumpkin Juice and Butter Beer.  We also watched the Triwizard Spirit Rally.  The kids had a good time at Olivanders and the candy shop although their dad balked at $50 wizarding wands.  We went back and forth on this five or six times with Captain E.  E wanted one really bad but J told him that if he picked it that would be the one souvenir we would pay for.  He wanted it, then he didn't.  Finally he decided he didn't want it but it was an all day debate.  We did buy them each a Chocolate Frog and some Everything Beans.   
In the end we had a good time but I still go back and forth on weather it was worth it or not.  The hours the park is open in October and honestly most of the winter months are not that late.  We ended up having to leave while it was still light out and we didn't have time to eat at the Three Broom Sticks.  Also as fun as Harry Potter Land is Harry Potter Land should be it's own park.  I'm not kidding at all.  Just imagine it.  You could have a Hotel that was set up like the school.  There could be rooms in the dungeon, rooms by the kitchen, rooms up in a tower.  There would be an eating area where they projected the sky on the ceiling.  You could have a water ride where you ride a canoe across a lake, with a lake monster, and rain.  You could have a Whomping Willow Ride, a flying Car ride, a ride Quiditch Ride.  I mean every book has a ton of shows you could do or rides you could make!


Come join me in Harry Potter Land.  Check out my cute date for the park. 

Hanging out in the Candy Land.  I waited until the end of the day to buy my chocolate frogs because I didn't want them to melt but apparently I was not the only one with this idea.  
Cheetah and I hanging out at the Pet Show.  Baby boy sleep through most of it.
Hanging out with our chocolate frogs.
I can't be the only one who loves this unicorn from Despicable Me.  I want to own a huge one but I also didn't want to haul that around for a week.  I did let Cheetah play a carnival ride to get this tiny one.
Oh my gosh, look at that six week hair and belly button!  Dr. J worked up until the day we left and he was beat.  He tried to catch his zzz's when he could. 





Friday, February 3, 2017

Baby Blues - The First Month

The first month of Baby Boy's life just rushed by and to be honest I spent most of it in a sleep deprived haze.  It took our guy probably two weeks to really start packing on the pounds and those first three visits I had at the doctor to check his weight were so stressful.  This was my first time having baby blues.  I don't know how I'd never had it before I haven't but this time it hit me like a train.  I was crying all the time.  Things that made me sad I cried, things that made me happy I cried, things that were just there I cried.  I went to the doctor to have his weight checked and I cried.  The doctor turned to Dr. J and said, "Is she ok?  Is she going to be ok?"  "I think so," he said.  To be honest it wasn't reassuring.  I actually went online to read about baby blues.  I saw that anything past 10 days after birth is considered postpartum depression and I started counting down.  I tried not to talk about his birth at all because every time I did I started to cry and I didn't want to tinge my happy memories with sadness.  I tried to sleep, the kids went back to school, and Dr. J went back to work and then like the sun coming out on a foggy day the sadness and frustration started to wane.  It seriously was about ten day before I could give a real smile again, before I could talk to my other children without yelling, and before I could see a commercial about kids online and not cry.  I was so relieved but I also felt so sad that 10-15% of woman suffer from postpartum depression.  If by chance you are one of those woman please, please, reach out and seek help.  Talk to a doctor, a partner, a family member.  Those feelings are real and you are no less of a person because you are experiencing them.  I have a couple of messenger friends who live far away who I always contact when I needed to feel a little grounded.  Those girls were my rock as I counted down.  It made me realize that when your doctor is asking those mental wellness questions in that post baby checkup that they aren't just boxes that need to be checked, for some they are a true lifeline. 



My OB gave me this onsie and I love it!  I did not love having a c-section but I loved her.  She was the best.










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