Disney Child

I can't explain it really.

It just happened.

I fell in love with Disney the moment it hit my life.

See...look at this 2 year old birthday of mine:  Mickey plates, cups, and sweatshirt. (and Karly's awesome purple leotard thing that who knows why she was wearing that to my party?)

Now I know what all of you are thinking...

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...we all love Disney.  Who doesn't?"

However true your thoughts may be, I guarantee that my obsession goes beyond the "norm."

- I watched "The Little Mermaid" an unhealthy amount of a few too many times that I full on broke the VHS and my family had to buy me another one.

-My room was lined wall to wall with Disney posters. (they only came down when I decided in my 13 year old mind that my love for 'Nsync was stronger.)

-I was always the latest princess for Halloween: Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Nala, Esmerelda, etc.  Thank heavens my mother appeased my wishes and always did an awesome job of hand constructing those suckers. (which are all, by the way, in my home closet.)

Belle

Jasmine.

I had the over the shoulder glance down.

-My first time at Disney World when I was 7, I was far more interested in getting autographs from the characters than going on any of the rides.

-I had a paraphernalia of Disney dolls, Barbies, room accessories, etc.

My personal fav was my Aladdin lamp.  The shade glowed in the dark.

Why oh why am I dressed like this?!

I can't decide if it's awesome or embarrassing to post this outfit.

However, I think my family's fondest memories of my Disney obsession is how I personally became the characters.  You're thinking like while I'm playing with my dolls.  Ha...nope.  I mean for days on end I literally was that character.

I think my first was Wendy.

I spent my days singing "You Can Fly" and jumping off the couch.

If someone asked me to do something like, "Hey, Kaycie...it's time for dinner," I would look away as if I did not hear them.  They'd try again.  "Kaycie, it's time for dinner."  Still no acknowledgment.  A sigh and then "Ok, Wendy...it's time for dinner."  That was the golden ticket and I would graciously oblige any request as long as it was the correct name.

I then switched to Patch from 101 Dalmations.  I think this was my sisters' worst nightmare personal fav.  I spent my days on the same level as our own dog, Matey.  I would walk around, lay around, eat, and do anything Matey would do.  When my sisters came home I'd growl and bark regardless of whether their friends were with them or not.  They were truly grateful when I moved on to Ariel.

Ah, Ariel.  My family probably does not want to know how many forks I brushed through my long locks.  I would set up something like a rock jetting out of water, push myself up on it (you know what scene I'm talking about) and sing my little heart out.

Also...you guessed it.  Everyone best be callin' me "Ariel" or I would not respond.

Jasmine followed.  I loved getting a towel or blanket and making that my magic carpet.  I'd sing and look out over the edges at the city below. (Aladdin is still my dreamboat.)

I could go on and on...but I think it's safe to say my imagination was awesome.

To this day I still am obsessed with Disney this much.

Thankfully though, I don't walk around in my Halloween costumes or make Alex call me "Rapunzel."

However, I DO buy Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets. (Because why get circles or dinos when Mickey's an option.)

I DO listen to Disney music on a fairly regular basis.

I DO have dreams about being at Disney World/Land.

I DO watch the movies whether I'm with someone or by myself.

I DO dream about gently suggesting enforcing Disney upon my own children.

 Post-EFY day to the Animal Kingdom!

My first time at DisneyLAND!

 Where "World of Color" takes place at night.

I may have teared up the whole 30 minutes it was going.

Disney On Ice in SLC!

My ONE and ONLY complaint about Disney is that going to their parks is so dang expensive!

If I had it my way I'd be there WAY more often, but when funds are low...I just have to dream about being there.

I honestly can't explain it.

Disney makes me giddy and I don't even care.

It's too good of an obsession to try and overcome.

Cool, placenta. Real cool.

Baby boy enjoyed his first Festival of Colors.

So remember that time my placenta decided to attach to the absolute worst part of my uterus?

Yeah, me too.

I didn't even know this was possible.

Alex and I were at our ultrasound to find out the gender of the babe.

We were having quite the grand time in there as they went through all the parts of our little baby's body and revealed that he is, indeed, a male.

I'm was on such a high!  I'm so beyond excited and when I get really happy I get emotional.

Good thing I'm sure that happens frequently in that room.

So Alex and I are rejoicing when they hit us with the other news.

The nurse informs me that my placenta is in front of my cervix opening.

I don't know what the heck that meant other than knowing what a placenta and a cervix are, but not realizing they should not be together at this stage in the game.

All I'm thinking is, "Sweet!  I made a placenta!  I know that's what you're supposed to have in there.  What up, men of the world?!?  I made a placenta...bet y'all can't.  Booyah!"

She clearly saw I'm not understanding the seriousness of it so she briefly explained it and then got the doctor to come talk to us.

When he came in all rejoicing was over.

He informed me just what placenta previa is.

(linked that for those of you that need a more in depth science lesson.)

I just laid there for a bit taking it all in.

A billion thoughts started pouring through my head.

"How did this happen?"

"Why did this happen to me?"

"He's too little to come out."

"Is my body going to cooperate?"

Then I was emotional all over again...

Alex and I had an appointment with our OB shortly after.

He was able to explain things better and since I'm more used to him, it calmed me slightly.

He told me how to treat my body, what to do in an emergency situation, and that we'll just have to wait it out.

On the ride home I was such a mixture of emotions: sad/frustrated/angry/worried/anxious/happy (I mean, I did also find out the gender.)

When we arrived at the house I asked Alex for a blessing.

I didn't think I could continue until I felt some peace.

I always love receiving blessings from my husband.

I'm so grateful he's always able and willing whenever I need that boost.

I felt better after, but I was still just mostly quiet the rest of the day.

When hard things hit me, I usually need to let things set in so I can figure out how I'm going to handle it.

In the following days I was doing alright.

I can handle this.

I had to take it easy at dance and work, only take walks/swim, and just listen to my body.

Then a month later we have our next appointment.

He took away all exercise.

Baby boy is too big now for me to risk the gravitational pull with any kind of exercise since I have a complete coverage of the cervix...not a partial.

I started to cry all over again.

NO...I had finally gotten used to this adjustment in my life and now I had to adjust again!

Eventually I got around to being grateful that I was NOT on bed rest.

But still...having to sit/lay down AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE?!

Does this placenta of mine not know me?!?!

I was frustrated all over again and my poor husband had to deal with me being all mopey for the rest of the day.

But I figured it out...as I always do.

I was already coming to fairly good terms with this road block in my life, but our Institute lesson last night helped my perspective a ton!

We were in Section 67 of the Doctrine & Covenants.

We started talking about how we can "see" Christ.

Verse 10 tells us the 3 things we need to do: strip ourselves of all jealousies, strip ourselves of all fears, and humble ourselves.

That's it!  HA...easier said than done FOR SURE.

However, our teacher (who is bomb) focused for a bit on stripping ourselves of fear.

He said if we truly believe we have a Father in heaven, if we truly believe Jesus if the Christ, if we truly believe there is a perfect plan of happiness, if we truly believe the Father & Son love us...then what is there to fear?

There is no need to fear because we would more fully understand that everything in this life has been planned out for our growth and happiness.

So my new goal is to strip myself of fear.

Fear of my baby being born too soon.

Fear of my placenta hemorrhaging.

Fear of the future/unknown.

I'm sick of being afraid.

I do know I have a Father in Heaven, I do know Jesus is the Christ, I do know there is a perfect plan of happiness, and I do believe the Father & Son love me unconditionally and in a way I cannot comprehend.

So my prayers now include asking for help in this lifestyle that I'm trying to adopt.

It's only been a day so far...but it's going well. :)

I know I won't be perfect at it, but I really want to be more aware of trying to be fearless in my life.

The moment of truth will be when this baby decides to enter the world whether it's through my placenta hemorrhaging, having a 37 week c-section, or my placenta miraculously moving and making his way through the birth canal.

I'm so grateful for everything I'm already learning from this little guy who hasn't even taken his first breath.

I love him so much.

He's already so full of life and reminds me constantly that he's still here.

(I wish he wouldn't camp out on my bladder or sciatic nerve as much as he does, but that's ok.  I'll take it.)

Alex and I just a few weeks before the little man was conceived.

Little did we know what the next month was going to bring...

K, seriously?!

So I have this friend.

And quite a dear dear friend she is.

Her name is Brittany.

I've known Brittany since circa 1999?  Ish.

Regardless, that's more than half my life.

This is us Freshman year as roommates.

Remember that time I thought it'd be a good idea to gain 10 lbs AND cut my hair short?

Bad move, Kaycie.  Bad move.

There we were just young babies starting out our adult life.

I'll spare you all the sappy/awesome details of our friendship (with the mix in of Katie Claire) because my pregnancy hormones cannot handle it.

Which is precisely what this blog post is about.

Long story short: Brittany and I are BOTH pregnant.

BOTH with baby boys.

And are due 10 days apart from each other.

WHAT?  How does that happen?!

It's always your dream growing up to have babies at the same time your best friends do; but it's just that...a dream.  Not reality.

Well this folks, is reality.

And to show you just how bad these hormones will get you, lemme 'splain.

I went over to Britt's on Saturday night while Alex was going to Priesthood session.

I asked her what all she had for the babe so far and she started showing me.

Then she had some doubles of things so she gave them to me since I'm having a boy too.

One of the items was this hooded pool towel with this sweet green trimming and a tiny giraffe over the chest.

Then all the sudden my mind flashed to when our babies will be almost a year and we take them to the pool together and then after they're done having fun, we put them in these matching hooded towels and they'll hold hands and eat popsicles and give each other kisses (the masculine kind) and just be the best of friends.

Then I got a clump in my throat, my eyes started to well up, and I started to be a ridiculous mess of emotion.

That just made Brittany at first laugh but then her pregnancy hormones got the best of her and she started to cry.

So there we are just a crying mess, but also laughing at the same time because let's face it...it was dang funny.

Finally we pulled ourselves together and carried on.

I'm so grateful I have a friend who just started crying with me.

She's the best.

Our boys are already friends.  We just know it.

We stomach bump them and say "Hi, best friend!"

(It's kind of like a fist pound...but way more awesome because amniotic fluid is involved here.)

That is just one example.

I could seriously embarrass myself with what I cry about these days.

Gender Reveal!

Well I suppose I should FINALLY put up what we did to reveal the gender of our little baby!

We had quite the party....which is just how I like it.

I'm not one of those people that just wants a little post on Facebook.

No, no, no...this is revealing what my firstborn will be.  That definitely calls for a party!

Since we were going down to Arizona the day after we had the ultrasound, we decided it would be so fun to have the party down there since a bunch of family could be there too!

My sister, Karly, and her family as well as Alex's sister, Brittany, and her family live in Gilbert.

Plus my bestie, Ashley, now lives in Mesa and I was SO happy she could be there too!

My in-laws also drove down from Santa Barbara for the weekend.

We had my parents on FaceTime as well as my other sister, Krista, on FaceTime so everyone could watch the big reveal!

Everything was blue and pink and everyone had to cast in their guess!

This box had the blue balloons inside.  On the outside everyone had to write their name on the boy or girl and then tape it on accordingly.

Everyone who guessed girl with their pretty lips!

(I had some family and friends who guessed girl as well...so their names are on the box.)

Everyone who guessed boy with their curly mustaches!

My in laws opening the box!

And the blue balloons floated on out!

It was very exciting!  I loved everyone getting in to it and getting all excited!

It was so fun to have the balloons float out, everyone cheer and clap, and just be so happy for this little man to come!

 Now for some pictures:

Now if that isn't the cutest hand you ever did see.

His cute profile!

Look at that face.  I'm sure I think it's the cutest since I'm the one growing him, BUT...I think his little face is so adorable!

Alex went "Look!  He has your nose!"

I guess he does...it's still hard for me to tell. :)

I won't show off his man business because I'm pretty sure that'd be child porn and I'm not down with that.  But he sure did show it off once he decided to stop being wiggly!  No denying he's a boy!

I love this stage of my life.

It's all so new and scary and exciting all wrapped up together.

I'm so grateful for my sweet husband and that we can share all these new things with each other.  It's been so fun watching my husband grow more and more in love with our little man.  Alex has now felt him kick quite a bit and his kicking keeps getting stronger and stronger.

Only 17 more weeks to go!