Amidst my last week of puking everything from food to water I’ve been trying desperately to find some silver linings amongst the clouds that can overwhelm me from time to time. Here’s a list of things that are making me feel a bit better:

• My parents dropping their weekend plans to spend the weekend with us and help entertain the boys so I could rest and EDad could get a little break
• My mother’s anger when she walked in and found me removing fresh linens from the dryer. “I came here to do THAT!” and from now on I’ll accept the help
• Wonderful friends who have called out of concern, asking to help in any way possible
• My fab new OB who is trying her hardest to find a way to cure my horrible sinus drainage so I can finally hold down food
• My Dad who is coming to stay with us for a few days to chauffer the boys. He told me this is obviously the reason God has finally allowed us to all live closer than we ever have before and he’s happy to help
• Memories of the sweet doting sister friends I met at Disney. There is nothing in the world like having 9 women insist that you take it easy, get to sit first, and simply must EAT!
• The sympathetic ear that a wonderful friend provides. This is a hard thing to go through but so nice to be able to discuss with someone who has been through hyperemesis.
• Hugs from my boys. Time spent cuddling with EBoy so he can tell me all about his day and visits from a concerned ETot to check on me to see if I feel better yet
• A wonderful and amazing husband who has been doing the job of 3 parents at once- handling breakfast, getting ready, drop off to school and then homework and dinner time in the evening.
• A brand new prescription which prayerfullly will finally get me on the way to feeling better
• Finally seeing the light at the end of the first trimester tunnel (next week) and desperately hoping it will make a difference somehow to go into the second

With all of these positives things have got to get better. I know without a doubt that this is my final pregnancy and I’m just looking forward to the opportunity to bask in the beauty and wonder of growing my last little one instead of spending my days hugging the toilet. Thanks to all of the kind words, comments, and emails I’m grateful for each and every one of you as well!

My Disney Adventure kicked off with an extroidinary visit to the Disney World Animal Kingdom Lodge. African themed with gorgeous interiors and housing the largest collection of African art outside of a museum I instantly fell in love with this beautiful location. I’ll blog soon with more details about the art and tour we received there but first I thought I’d share a bit of eye candy from our dinner at Jiko.

Two chefs came to eat dinner with us that evening and shared some of the interesting details about this lovely opportunity to experience Africa. We sampled flatbreads from a variety of cultures and were delighted to share in such great company. Without further ado here are pictures of the meal (sorry no people pictures, I was focused on snapping every plate I could so people could dig in and enjoy):

I had the experience of a lifetime this past weekend participating in the Disney Mom Bloggers event. I don’t even have words to explain how wonderful the trip was- between the VIP treatment, exceptional Disney hosts, and meeting some of the most lovely and grounded women I’ve ever had an occasion to meet I have many many posts coming up to detail each aspect of this wonderful trip. Infinite thank you’s go to our Super Sarah organizer extraordinaire, Maria, Annette, Leane, and Laura. I also have to say a special thank you to Jennifer who has been a wonderful mentor and friend through the years and had a huge role in my participation in this fantastic opportunity.

I have a few hundred pictures to sift through, and I look forward to sharing the cultural and educational opportunities which are available to your family upon visiting Walt Disney World Resorts.

Please make sure to visit all of my blog sistas who attended this magical exciting weekend:

Today is the last day in many states to register to vote. Check out the U.S. Election Assistance Commission website to get details for your state.

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We’ve found an egg-cellent use for eggs on the Review Blog just in time for World Egg Day. Review sponsered by the Parent Bloggers Network.

While we still haven’t told the boys in direct terms that we have a new baby on the way, someone realized I was pregnant long before we had an inkling. ETot has always been a very spirited child. He knows what he wants, how he wants it, and typically is not shy (or quiet) about voicing his demands. I love my little strong personality boy to pieces but he’s always made one preference quite known- he’s a Daddy’s boy. Yes he will tolerate me and give me a hug or kiss when i request it- but Daddy is the focus and source of his joy. Well all of a sudden in August ETot began walking up to me, demanding to be in my lap for lots of hugs and to tell me that I am his best friend. Very sweet and lovable but quite unusual for my typical Daddy’s little shadow child.

Soon after he decided we needed to play a new game where he would be a baby. Now if there’s one thing that’s ever been made known by ETot is the fact that he absolutely, positively, is NOT a baby. There was no quicker way to get him to scowl and storm off than by cuddling him and calling him my sweet little baby (and yes I still did it because I find his scowl hilarious, sue me I’m an evil mommy), so this new baby play was quite surprising. For hours he would happily bring me blankets so I could wrap him up, pretend feed him baby food and bottles, sing him songs, and have him take baby naps. EDad was pretty sure our pregnancy attempts were successful because our ETot has never cared much for being babied, even when he was a baby.

ETot’s other favorite thing is to look at pictures of family members when they were babies. When he sees the above picture of my mom holding me at 2 weeks old he tells me that he used to hold me when i was a baby, and love me, and take care of me. Very sweet and no matter how many times I try to correct him he insists he held me when I was just a little baby. He’s enamored by babies and at church makes sure to coo and tell them how cute they are, insisting he should hold them (even though his favorite “baby” is 2 years old and almost the same size he is).

It’s really fascinating to see my baby so focused on babies. I’m very excited to see how he will respond as a big brother with a baby of his own. I have a feeling the new ebony baby will know ETot’s voice and love very well by the time they are born.