Have a kid, tell everyone you’re going to take them to Disney before they’re three, then take them.  That’s the moment you’ll realize how fast time flies.  It is insane that we are already here.  We are home from Disney with another little Disney freak on the way.  The next time Rick and Jack and I are at Disney together will be when Baby Devens is almost three and it will be here before we know it.

I’m always pretty obnoxious about appreciating each little moment, but this pregnancy has made it so much worse.  I am not in a hurry at all this go round where as last time, I just couldn’t wait to meet our new baby.  I know that our life as we know it will never be the same just as it was with Jack, and I want to savour the time we have before Jack becomes a big brother and Rick and I become equally matched in tiny humans.  

Here are some Disney highlights that I want to look back on  when our house is twice as chaotic:

Jack got in some major bonding time with his grandparents.  My dad wasn’t able to make it due to a knee injury, but at least Jack got to have fun with MOST of his grandparents.  They’re all so different from each other and they each have their own special relationships with Jack.

Speaking of the differences in families:

This is one of my favorite pictures.  Mom and I are kind of mental twins when it comes to Disney.  She has brainwashed me so well that we knew what the next plans were without even speaking.  Luckily, everyone else was kind enough to keep up with our craziness.  I do NOT have Type A personality until I enter Disney property.  Then, I really am Little Debbie (My mom’s name is Debbie.  I don’t become a tasty wrapped treat.)

Jack and Rick obviously already have a great relationship.  The older Jack gets, the more interested they both are in each other.  Because of my condition, I wasn’t able to hold Jack as often as usual so he got even more bonding time with Daddy:

Jack’s reaction to the characters was as good as we could possibly have hoped for.  Against my will (because I thought we were meeting her at the character breakfast), the grandparents talked me into going to stand in a (relatively short) line to meet Minnie and Mickey Mouse.  Jack’s reaction to Minnie was so sincere that I cried.  He saw her and ran up to her and hugged her for a solid minute-and she was so loving to him.  She just held him and rubbed his back.  It may have been the sweetest moment of my entire life.

The only experience I had with kids and Disney is being one.  Besides the original characters, Jack and I had very different childhood priorities.  While my favorite moments at Disney were anything princess related, Jack’s were seeing real life bad guys in person. He got to watch three different Star Wars shows.  The first of which, starred  Kilo Ren and Darth Vader.  We watched this one twice and used to force to defeat them.  We also used the force to defeat bad guys on The Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan’s Flight, and The Little Mermaid ride.  He became so obsessed with bad guys, he wanted to be Kilo Ren-his Momo and Pop got him a red light saber.  Even when his DeeDee and Bert got him a Mickey Mouse Bubble wand, its purpose was pure weaponry.

 

The beauty of being a girl and having a boy is learning that none of it matters.  I didn’t once look for any princesses because that’s not what peaked my little Jedi’s interest.  Even with a boy and bad guys and light sabers, bringing a child to Disney really is the most magical thing.  Seeing the experience from his eyes was incredible.  Watching him love the Figment ride as much as I did and screaming, “MAMA!  DADA!  LOOK!  IT’S KILO REN!” as joyously as if it were Santa Claus was actually endearing.

The most darling moments, though, were when he finally couldn’t hold his eyes open anymore.  There is something so fulfilling about thoroughly exhausting your child with pure fun.

Since we’ve been home, Jack has been asking about the fireworks.  “Where are the fireworks, Mama?”  Or, if there are clouds in the sky, he says the fireworks just went off.  We heard some sort of loud bang yesterday that Jack said were fireworks.  When the sky is clear, he lets us know that there are no fireworks today.  It’s difficult to explain that fireworks four days in a row is not a normal occurrence.

I also wonder if Jack thinks that all groups of Brazilian girls will give him loads of attention after his father (Who is Ferris Bueller in real life) made some friends on the ferry home.

After a long drive home, and worrying about car issues with DeeDee and Bert (which is really a story worth sharing all by itself), we’ve made it back.  Life has been so crazy.  Europe, pregnancy, Christmas, Disney, and yesterday we drove 6 hours round trip for a dear friend’s birthday.  It is finally time to just chill out for the next few months.

For now, we will enjoy our home and our pets and Jack will enjoy getting ALL the attention while he can.  Poor little Jedi has no idea…