December!

Hi there. No slideshows, yet. I'm getting there. I am working on posting pictures of the baptism, halloween and updates of the kitchen. Maybe by this weekend, you'll see everything!! ;-)

Mid November Update

Many things have happened since I've last visited my blog:
SweeTart's Baptism; Halloween; work on kitchen; more stuff but I can't remember off the top of my head right now. I will post pictures of everything as a separate entry.

SweeTart did wonderfully at her baptism. Our family and friends nearly filled half of the church up at our early service. I make that statement because there are generally only 10-15 people at our early service. It was a nice sight. SweeTart was a trooper throughout the entire service and put on quite a performance when it was her turn to shine. She didn't make any sounds, just looked out over all of the congregation with an attentiveness like I've never seen before. She was happy to be in the spotlight. Not a sound came out of her either when the Pastor took her to pour the holy water on her head. Quite a gal she is!

Halloween was the following weekend. Following tradition, we invited practically everyone over for pizza and trick or treating in our development. It went extra quick this year because we missed the cul de sac and only did our circle. The kids took the lead and there were so many of them that I couldn't keep track. Good thing at least one parent from each family walked with us so they kept tabs on their own. I had Nanny Extraordinaire with me so I could keep track of just ... SweeTart (who fell asleep in her stroller). :-) Aunt Karen made the girls their tutu skirts for their candy corn fairy princess costumes. They were so cute!!! Twinkletoes loved her outfit but hated her shoes because I got her shiny silver ballerina flats that were so slippery it was a sin. Plus she was running to keep up and running in slippery shoes plus autumn leaves on the ground do not make too safe of an environment. DinoBoy was a soldier this year. Desert colored camo outfit but his face was green and black camo. It was the best I could do. He didn't wear the helmet I searched high and low for and even paid extra t have it shipped quickly. Oh well. It was fun!!! Next year, same time, same place. Be here or be .... where ever we are living then? *giggle*

Kitchen. I have running water, a fridge in my kitchen and a working stovetop. Yay!!!! Bad news is the oven isn't quite working yet. A repair man is coming out on Friday. Yes, you heard it right. A repair man. I haven't even used the oven so it can't be my fault!!! I think, after that oven issue is fixed, we'll only need to get the repair guy here for the dryboard and then the painter and we're done? Ok, we won't have our new kitchen table yet but who cares?? We have a kitchen and our old table (which is still perfect in everyway, except it doesn't match the kitchen.) (Beggars can't be choosy now, can they?)

Tomorrow, I will make it a point to get the pictures posted in a slide show of sorts. Toodles!

Moving right along

It's been weeks since I've posted. Who has the time these days? I get home get the SweeTart hand off or feed the dogs then get the SweeTart hand off, hope the kids got their homework done with the Nanny Extraordinnaire and maybe even ate something so that I can feed the baby ... then maybe figure out what the husband and I can eat for dinner. Other nights I get home, get the baby hand off or feed the dogs then rush immediately to the soccer field for practice. Luckily, this is the last week of soccer. The kids are playing on Saturday ... the coaches set up a type of tournament so that all the teams will be playing each other at least once on Saturday. It will be neat. There is also a 3/4 grade tournament that day (with outside teams) so parking at the field will be crazy and at a premium.

Woops. I got a little carried away.

The remodeling project is moving right along. We now have a kitchen floor, cabinets, sanding and spackling done, and the countertops were installed today! Yay!! The electrician is supposed to be here tomorrow to put the under the cabinet lighting in and hook up the rest of the appliances that need to be hooked up: fridge, range hood, etc.

Trying to gather pics Mom took today to upload but I'm not having luck with Snapfish. I will try to get them posted later on.

We may have a kitchen that we can eat in by the end of November. Yay!!!

Support Breast Cancer Research

This time with Sony. Seems like each day, I get a new email about another company who is supporting the cause of breast cancer research. :-)

National Breast Cancer Awareness

Hi there. You'll have noticed (after enjoying the slideshow of SweeTart) that I've added a new button to the left of my blogs for the Breast Cancer Site. One click on this site helps fund free mammograms for women. Its free for you. One click and you're done. Here is a link to info on the Breast Cancer Site. Please don't forget to click daily to help those who need it.

Its also fun to play the Memory game that I added a few days ago (Race for the Cure). Seems a lot of companies are getting into the giving spirit. Why not give the game a spin and have Pepperidge Farm donate money to the cause! ;-)

Enjoy your weekend!

Slideshow

Race for the Cure

Play this GAME and Pepperidge Farm will donate $1.00 to Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure! You have a few minutes of FUN and breast cancer research gets paid. A win, win situation for all. ;-)

Target Markdowns

Huh? I just found all of this great info on Target markdowns. Since I can't shop right now (no place to put it!!!) maybe I can shop vicariously through my blog readers! Let me know if you're able to get any good deals!

Daily Markdowns – In addition to the odd lot items that may be lurking among the regular merchandise and could be haphazardly stashed at the end caps, Target has a system for marking down their merchandise weekly: Monday - Electronics, Kids Clothing and Stationary (Cards, GiftWrap, etc.)Tuesday - Domestics, Women's Clothing, Pets and Market (food items)Wednesday - Men's Clothing, Toys, Lawn & Garden, Health and Beauty itemsThursday - House Wares, Lingerie, Sporting Goods, Shoes, Music / Movies, Books, Decor and LuggageFriday - Auto, Cosmetics, Hardware, and Jewelry By closely following the markdown schedule, and hitting the stores early in the morning, it is possible to get what you want before anyone else knows about it. (We often hit the food items on Tuesday morning and come home with armloads of canned goods, boxed dinner kits, and gourmet juices for pennies!) Holiday Deals – Target participates in a generous markdown after major holidays, as well. Clothing is at a fabulous price during their after-holiday clearance, with many Valentines or Independence Day t-shirts for under a buck. (By picking some generic prints and designs, they can be worn year-round.) Their holiday markdown schedule is usually as follows (with the exception of Christmas, which can vary):50% off the day after holiday for three days75% off the fourth day after holiday for three days90% off the seventh day after holiday for 1-2 days. Some additional points to note about Target shopping: If you find an item at 75% off, and you want it, don’t let it get away! They rarely mark down non-holiday items below this discount. If it the price ends in the number 4, you may be looking at your last chance to buy.
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Just a feel

For all the stuff that I've been kvetching about lately. I KNOW that it will be beautiful when it is finished. Nothing that he does ever turns out bad. Nothing. So, I just bide my time, cry my tears of frustration that we can't wave a magic wand to get it done overnight. We're tired of camping in my bedroom. We have been getting on each others nerves like you couldn't believe. Check it out:
steps to main upstairs

hall to laundry/garage/powder room

stove/fridge area (fridge is moving)

sink dishwasher area

ceiling

entire kitchen

dining room

used to be living room/family room. like that fridge? Go scarlet knights!

Houston, we have a flipper (and other stuff)

We have a flipper. SweeTart has learned the fine art of flipping from her back to her stomach and then back again. While we've seen her do it here or there, I caught her practicing when she woke up from her afternoon nap -- and I was spying on her! Too cute! She's growing so fast -- she'll be 5 months old this week. It's been a roller coaster.

While I'm writing this, I'm listening to the echoing screams of DinoBoy and Twinkletoes through the house. See, is 7 o'clock on a Sunday night and as of yet, no one is bathed. They've been tinkering with the garage door opener, trying to program the outside keypad to the opener and trying to program the truck to the opener. We were almost late for church this morning because we had extra time on our hands and tried to program the truck's opener before leaving the driveway. Its hard to leave with such an important project unfinished. But we left it unfinished and made it to services on time. Just on time, mind you. Now, the Husband and the neighbor and the kids were working on the project. They're now in the house and the project remains ... unfinished.

We had 1/2 of the H family join us for services this morning. I can only imagine what is running through their heads. Jerbones joined the kids in Sunday School. The kids said they all had fun. I can just imagine what their conversation on the way home was like!!

We had our first days of 1st and 2nd grade this past week. What troopers they are! The first day, Dinoboy wound up in the wrong classroom but made it to Mrs. W's room okay and the 2nd day, Twinkletoes had to eat at the lunch table for "children with no lunch" because (as the directions indicated) I sent in a check for $45 for 20 lunches to her teacher. The lunchroom must not have had time to process all the new requests for lunch tickets and hence had these "special" tables for the kids. She survived. No big deal. Me, on the other hand, I am still having a hissy fit. I cannot believe the letter from the school indicating the teacher's name on it doesn't have her room number on it and that such special tables exist in the lunchroom. As if I would (ok my Mom would) send my child to school with no lunch!!!!!!!!

Things at work are there. I'm still struggling to keep afloat. I know that it will all come together. We have 3 returning employees for this school year (me included) and 2 newbies. The newbies and I are pretty much at the same stage of the game. I left so soon after taking my new position ... I hope I can get back up to speed asap.

Ok, I've taken 12 minutes to put these words onto the computer. In the meantime, the kids are now in tears after bouncing off of the walls and presently I believe Twinkletoes is hurt. Could she have been running around without shoes on our bare floors? Oh goodness - now SweeTart has joined the crying club. I must go see what the heck is going on upstairs before I start to cry with them. Give us all STRENGTH. Goodness.

Post Partum ... as defined by ... ME (and other stuff)

I've figured it out. Not how to fix it but why it exists and why certain people get it and others don't. So - take a peek.

I've heard it frequently lately. Nine months up, nine months down. SweeTart is 5 months old in a few days. I'm well on my way to going "down". Not all the bumps and rolls are in the right spots (reason #1) and my boobs are at my knees (reason #2 for post partum). There are times when I'm exhausted for no reason at all, and others when I can't sleep. (like tonight - reason #3) This is especially annoying when she sleeps all night but I do not. Reason #4: I'm 35 and bald. You think its not so bad but really, if i don't cover up the holes in my head, you will notice and you'll do your best to try to look away but it's awful. Dreadful. So - I just do what I do best, pull it back and show it all off. Bald spots and all.

Tomorrow starts my "official" start of going back to work full time. Yay. (Reason #5 - not that I get much of anything done at home but it sure is fun playing with the baby and watching the other two engrossed by their Webkinz games.) I still want to nurse the baby. It's convenient. It's inexpensive. At times, when we're alone, it's soothing. To both of us. It may be the one thread I have still attached to being sane. With the students coming back to the building on Wednesday or Thursday, I have a feeling I won't be able to pump once a day as I've been doing throughout the summer. Do I wake her before I leave in the morning to nurse her or just wait until when I come home? Wait, it can't be when I come home - the kids need to fed then rushed out the door to soccer practice. It will have to wait until bedtime, which is generally before the kids are finished with soccer practice. Egh. (Having to make decisions like this: Reason #6.) The alternative of nursing, food and formula. Yech. I got my first "gagging" diaper today. If I could avoid these types of BM's, I'd nurse her til she's old enough to wipe her own butt. GROSS!

Someone really must have had a good time trying to figure out how to mess with women even more than having them deal with morning sickness, prenatal vitamins (made me want to puke all the time!), labor, birth, recovery, and post-partum. I know, complain, complain, complain.

I just can't help it. I spent today ... let's see: feeding the baby, changing and bathing the baby, packing pieces of the kitchen, packing again (not that you can even tell I made a dent in it at all), helping the kids on Webkinz, running to the grocery store for apple juice and coffeemate (this morning I didn't have coffee until after 10 ~ I was not a pleasant camper!) Still not really complaining ... okay, maybe about the kitchen part.

It will be beautiful. Everything that the husband plans turns out beautiful. Everything. Its just a pain in the butt to rearrange everything to get it to where it needs to be for demolition then construction. The cabinets are scheduled to arrive Thursday. I'm not quite sure when the carpenters will be able to install them. Then we need to get the countertop and appliances. And I am allowed to order all new dishes and glasses. I just got new pots and pans and I cannot part with them. I'm having a hard time parting with my dishes already. I've got them all packed up into a tote. The tote has wheels but its so heavy it won't move. And, its not all of them. I probably have another whole tote to go. Should I sell them? Donate them? Another perplexing moment in my life. I am going with putting them in the shed for now and selling them later. Maybe someone can use them for their beach house or something (Or ... maybe I'll get a beach house! Hahahahahaha - thought that would make you laugh!)

Enough whining. Jimmy Buffett should be playing tunes while you're readng this extra, extra long post. At least you can relax and pretend you're on the beach sipping a fruity drink while listening to me whine!! If you don't hear music and your speakers are on, let me know so I can figure out how to fix it. It was a major project for me to figure out how to put that together tonight. I've got my fingers crossed that it will work!

I'm going to try to go to sleep now. Hopefully soon. I have to be at the office tomorrow no later than 7:30. That I am not looking forward to ... nor the rest of the day. Oh well. It will get better. I will get back into the swing of things. It won't kill me and I will continue to lose the baby weight for JAMAICA in April to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary! Yahoo!

All stressed out ...

The auditors are in - the baby just got shots - my kitchen is on its way to being torn apart - we've paid for the cabinets already (gulp!) - the dining/toy room is empty - the living room only has dog crates and a couch in it - there is painting, carpentry and who knows what else going on downstairs. And - my hair has decided to fall out. Not all of it - yet.

I suffered from this after I had the other two kids too but nothing to this extent. I called Dr. C. He told me that I could stop taking the birth control pills or go to a dermatologist OR do nothing and see what happens. (like wait for all of my hair to fall out??) Ok, I know, its a little on the vain side. But hey, what can I say, I liked my hair. The way it was. Attached to my head!

So - I'm not stopping birth control (I know everyone just sighed a collective breath of relief!) and I'm sitting around waiting for the rest of my hair to fall out. Today, on top of the kids annual exams, I took myself to the dermatologist. Not any dermatologist - a "bicoastal" dermatologist (she told me this herself today). She pretty much walked in and said "yup" - you've had a major stressor in your life. You've just given birth and your hair is falling out. "I can see it from here" she said. Goodness. I thought I was hiding it pretty well. Obviously she has a fantatic eye for this OR I really am not as good as I thought I was. She called this loss something of course, I cannot remember the name. Anyhow, about 25% of my hair will fall out (I think more than that has fallen out already but who am I to assume these kinds of things - I pulled so much hair out of the drain the other day, it surely could have sprung legs and walked away!) and will grow back in. The entire process takes about 6 months. What did my sister say? 9 months up, 9 months down? Oh geez . She's right. Again. Shhhh! If this issue hasn't corrected itself in a few months (meaning we don't see any new hair growth) I am to go back for more "agressive" treatment.

On the good side, Dr. Buck did tell me that I need to destress a little too. Okay, a lot. Does it show? I guess I'm just not good at hiding things anymore. She recommends at least a massage or a hand/foot treatment a week. Yippee - can she put that on a prescription pad? She did give me the name of the multivitamin that she takes and recommended that I use that (don't worry, I stopped at the vitamin store on the way home and had the nice lady behind the counter order it up - it will be in next week.) We'll see how it all plays out. With soccer starting, school starting and all of the other stuffs in life going on, who the heck will have time to de-stress?????

The kids, on the other hand, are fantastic (when they're not fighting!) SweeTart went for her 4 month check up on Tuesday. She weighs a whopping 16 pounds 11.7 ounces! She is in the 85%. She is in the 50% for height and 75% for noggin size. So, she has a big brain! Wahoo!! DinoBoy and Twinkletoes went today for their annual physicals. Dino boy is only in the 50% for height and the 19% for weight!!!! At 7, he only weighs 50.9 pounds. Dr. SpongeBob told him (and Twinkletoes) that they both need to concentrate on eating healthy things -- fruits and veggies. Yay! Can he come feed them too? DinoBoy said okay but he's not looking too keenly on the fruits I brought home from the supermarket toda. Twinkletoes, on the other hand, is 49.7 pounds, and in the 67% for both height and weight. Not too shabby! He was impressed with their sports activity and their swimming - and also told them that that they need to wear their helmets when they ride their bikes. CHECK. These guys wear their helmets when they go to play on their itsy bitsy tricycles!!!

Guess that's it for now. SweeTart is not wanting to take her afternoon nap, DinoBoy is antsy to get on the computer to play Webkinz, and I need to cook dinner for the Husband. Let's hope he shows up before 8 o'clock tonight. We need to get back on some type of school-based schedule - soon!!

Happy Birthday DinoBoy!

As a friend reminded me earlier today, 7 years ago today, I became a mother. No one and nothing could have prepared me for the change this little boy brought to my life. How hard can being a parent be? Boy oh boy have we found out. And, truth be known, friends that have older kids have warned us that we haven't even touched the tip of the iceberg of parenting.

Hello? Not even the tip of the iceberg? What have we been doing for these past years? I mean, I've qualified for mom fo the year on several occasions in my dealings with Dino Boy. Most recently being that he's not alowed to open gifts from his birthday party last weekend (7/16) until the toy room is cleaned out. Mainly I'm realizing that I'm generally cutting off my nose to spite my face on this issue because evidently, he can be as hard headed as me. He worked for maybe an hour or two in the toy room, grew bored and decided he wanted to keep all of the toys and sat his rump on the couch to watch tv. No problem. The gifts remain unopened. Indefinitely.

Ok, it really is a problem. The gifts (his and his sister's) are now in the kitchen. There is no place else to put them other than out to the curb! The carpenters are beginning work tomorrow on our "new" kitchen and will need the space. We need the toyroom space for our living room furniture and TV. We need the living room space for our kitchen table, etc. Even after the toy room is cleared out, I still don't know where the new gifts will go.


Alright, off the point a little bit. DinoBoy was born on his uncle's birthday. The only day out of the entire month I wanted to NOT have him. I'm a believer in everyone having thier own special day. We overcrowded Uncle L's. Sorry. The kid arrived on time, a healthy 8 pounds even, the heaviest of any of our kids. I was a house when I was pregnant with him. I was so happy to just have him on the outside instead of the inside. He was healthy and a fussy eater from the start. This trait is still with him. He would not nurse. He would not drink from a bottle. His Aunt nearly opened a small bottle of formula in the hospital and poured it down his throat. Once he got the hang of it, though, there was no turning back from the bottles. And his binky. Boy oh boy ... I thought we'd never get rid of that thing. He was 3 before we finally got rid of it.

And, back to when he was three, he was in a "special" class in our school district because of his limited vocabulary. I know we shouldn't make comparisons between the children but Twinkletoes was speaking in full sentences, with punctuation, at the age of one and he wasn't. We were told by the school district that he would be in this class until kindergarten. But, little did we know, that once the button in his brain was pushed to "talk" there was no turning it off!! They kicked him out of the program after his first year when he started spouting off the names of dinosaurs -- and pronouncing them correctly. Better than his teachers! That was it. Special class was history! He's been talking non-stop ever since. Just shows what he can do when he puts his mind to it.

That being said, he brings me inspiration every day. Whether it is just him working on his reading skills which are getting better every day or just by the excuses he comes up with for not doing something that I ask him to> He is a pretty funny kid!

His imagination will take him into the farthest reaches of being. His quest for knowledge about obscure things will hopefully get him through college and into a great career of his choosing. For the past few years, he's been inclined to say he wants to study dinosaur bones -- and now he also wants to be in the Army. He wants to know if he can combine both careers. I'm sure that his career choice will change many times along the way and we'll support whatever decisions he makes in life.

He is a compassionate, generous little boy. Can he still be a little boy at age 7? Yes. But a little more of that "littleness" disappears each day - each day he becomes more in-tune with the world outside of our home, he loses a little more of his innocence, he steps into the throes of "growing up". While it is a little sad, it is exciting to watch his growth and the changes it brings.


I came by this quote the other day and it reminded me completely of DinoBoy:
One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest. - Maya Angelou

Whew -

It's almost been a month since my last entry. Crazy as that seems is as crazy as it has been around here!! We were on the Outer Banks of North Carolina for the 4th of July holiday on a family vacation. We had so much fun!!! Here is a picture of the kids!!! Our photographer, Daniel Pullen, www.DanielPullenPhotography.com, was phenomenal!!! I highly recommend him to anyone going to Hatteras Island anytime in the next century!! This is just a sample of the great job that he did. We have kids pictures, family shots and even ones of me and the Husband!

Best of all, the hard copies are on their way to us now and I can't wait to pick which ones to order and enlarge!!

SweeTart rolled over today - twice - no fluke. Belly to back - which is easier than back to belly so we'll see how long that one takes.

DinoBoy has another loose tooth. Pretty soon I'm going to have to break down and get him a shirt that I saw in a catalog recently "on the tooth fairy's payroll" is what it said. How true it is. He currently has 3 empty spaces in his mouth.

Twinkletoes is as gabby and ornery as ever! Last week she went to a gymnastics camp from 9-12ish M-Th. She loved it. She goes back next week. I'm contemplating signing her up for the rest of the summer if she doesn't start behaving. Ship 'er out! ;-) Just kidding. That would be way more work for my mom than is necessary.

Swim lessons have started again this summer. Tomorrow will be lesson #2. All I heard last week before lesson #1 was "i hate swimming lessons" - I heard it yelled, whispered, whined and practically burped. DinoBoy was really trying to get his point across. Twinkletoes loves them. She loves her new instructor. Whew!!!! I think DinoBoy will come around. The new instructor is a college co-ed and I think DinoBoy thinks she is cute! Twinkletoes told me today that she likes Miss Sarah better than Miss Cathy (their instructor for the last three years).

Ok - just wanted to give you a quick update and post the photo. Still in the process of getting all of the pictures onto the computer from the camera from OBX. After I do, I'll post some, promise!

Happy Birthday Twinkletoes!

Since I've already qualified for "Mother of the Year" this year, it should come as no surprise that I'm writing the birthday blog for Twinkletoes - late. She turned six on Thursday. Today - it is Monday. I really suck!

She came in to our world unexpectedly - just a short ten and a half months after we welcomed her brother (yes, it is possible!) She was overzealous from the start, arriving a full month ahead of schedule. So, if you're sick to your stomach in your third trimester, it may be a good idea to get to the doctor to have an internal exam - you may be in labor. That being said, when we arrived at the hospital for her delivery, there was no room at the inn. See, after 9/11/01, there seemed to be a "baby boom" so the nurses were met with a very irritated woman in labor, her sick (yes, he had strep throat and an ear infection) husband and our doctor. Doc C told the ladies to clean up Room #1 because I was 4 cm at 10 am and it was now after 3 pm - he couldn't imagine that the number went down. :-) Nothing like having the doctor root for your team! After an epidural, a round of pitocin, and a refresher on the epidural which wore off - Twinkletoes came into our lives after just a few pushes. She also went into the NICU for the next five days where they worked on issues with her breathing and digestion -- but she came home without any problems and we were happy to have her.

Since then we've decided she is going to be an actress. She is a total drama queen. Nothing is taken lightly by this one. She wants to be a vet when she grows up. She understands that she won't be able to help all animals but she wants to make a difference (except in the lives of snakes). She loves going to school and is eager to start each day and is up bright and early (like her mom) and seems to be a morning person. She is a joy to her teachers and never poses a problem in her classroom. I'm sure after this next round of Rutgers Reading this summer, she'll be reading books without any help from us.

She is a helper! She loves to help out with her baby sister and even helps her brother tie his shoes and find lost objects. She also believes that being a tattle tale is helpful. Can't blame her but boy oh boy is it annoying!!!

She is in such a hurry to grow up!!! She idolizes her older cousins and now is the proud owner of an MP3 player. She asked me to download Hanna Montana, High School Musical 2 and (a girl after my own heart) Jimmy Buffett. So, while she is singing Jolly Mon or Fins out loud because she doesn't understand that even though she can't hear herself, we CAN hear her, we have to just sit back and wonder where all the time went. She is going into first grade in the fall. I wish her all the happiness her heart can hold - she's brought so much into our everyday that I cannot imagine living without her.

It really does seem like yesterday I was cursing at my mom when my epidural wore off.

Happy Sixth Birthday Twinkletoes. Never stop reaching for the stars!!

Its gonna be a hot one

It's Saturday -- the weather forecasters in our area are calling for our first "official" heat wave of the summer. Not sure if it is true in other places, but here they like to say that any three consecutive days of 90+ degree weather consitutes a heat wave. A perfect time for our next door neighbor to have his pool liner replaced!!! We may venture to the swim club this afternoon when they open. I don't want the kids to be inside all day but then, how long can I keep SweeTart outside in the heat? Ugh - decisions, decisions.

Last night we went with family to see Tom Petty play in Philly. What a show!! Steve Winwood opened for them - it was a fantastic show from start to finish. I was impressed. Thanks to D for making the call to get the limo so I wasn't stuck being the designated driver all the way from Philly (not like it is that far but when I drive the husband home after a few beers, he's not such a fantastic co-pilot -- he likes to tell me how to move around in the traffic, very loudly, might I add). From their house to home was a fine drive for me. The Jimmy Buffett concert is next weekend. I cannot wait for that!!

We had SweeTart's first "professional" photos done yesterday. What a gal! She was so cooperative and we got so many great shots, it was hard to choose which pictures to purchase. As usual, I bought too many and spent too much. But she's only this big (or small as you may see it) once and geez is she cute. Here is one of the shots. I know it says "zazzle" across it but that is who hosts the pictures for the Picture People online.

Here we are ...

Here I am. I seem to be blinking in and out as far as blogging is concerned. I don't think I ever posted a picture of SweeTart with Dr. C (the man who was not "on call" the night she was delivered but he showed up in my room bright and early the day after she was born!) Here it is:

What else has been going on? We survived our first Memorial Day holiday. Barely. We started out at the V-Town parade which was scheduled to start at 10 a.m. I guess we arrived around 9 - 9:30. SweeTart was okay, for a little bit after we arrived. Then she decided that it was time to eat. I wasn't exactly prepared to feed her there on the street, by bottle or otherwise. I had packed bottles but they were two blocks away in the truck. I was not nursing her right there. I still can't really nurse her in front of people. I don't know why - I am just too uncomfortable doing it. But we made it through the parade and I was able to feed her once we got back to the truck. Whew. A ride to the shop for a pee-stop on our way to my sister's house for her annual picnic and Beverly's parade which is now thrown in honor of my niece's birthday every year. Kind of like how the V-Town fireworks are for Jerry's birthday every year! ;-)

Karen did a great job (ok, you too Luis) with her picnic and the party. The parade usually runs itself. This is the first year in all of the years I've seen the parade from her house that my sister has actually seen the entire parade too. She's usually throwing together last minute items for the party/picnic. Kudos on a job well done. Jacqui looked fabulous too in her fancy red, white and blue dress. Here's a cute picture of her:

My kids were very good over their aunt's house - they enjoyed the parade and the party. They're already excited about next year!

Now, we're getting down to the nitty-gritty. I go back to work next Monday. While I'm looking forward to the interaction with other adults and the daily challenges my job brings, I'm not looking forward to having to pump in a nurse's office instead of just simply nursing the baby and all the fun other things that I will be missing while at work. But, I think that they need me as much as I need them right now. I've been home for almost 8 weeks, and I guess that is long enough. :-)

The kids went swimming in our neighbor's pool yesterday. Boy did they have fun!! I took pictures with my phone. Although they look good on the phone, they look horrible uploaded. So, you'll have to take my word for it! They were very cute and I'm glad that they're getting some swimming in before we leave for our annual 4th of July vacation with our family to the OBX. Twinkletoes was a little unsure of herself and it took her almost 45 mintues before she ventured into the deep end. Once DinoBoy was done whining about how "cold" the water was, he was a terrific swimmer! It was hard to get them both out of the pool and back home so that we could start dinner!! It will be a fun summer since the neighbor's said we could use the pool as often as we want. With having the baby this summer, I don't believe we'll be at the swim club as often as we were last year but we'll do our best!!

Catching up ...

Wow – here we are at 6 weeks already. SweeTart is growing like a weed!! This week she started to smile at us. For real. There’s nothing like a real smile from an infant! She seems to recognize each of us and has different initial smiles for all. Don’t get me wrong, she still has her gassy smiles and still sleeps and dreams with her eyes open at times (which is still very freaky) but it is nice to have her recognize us. Twinkletoes wanted to know last night when she is going to be big. I just told her a few months. I’m sure she’ll be more fun to play with, at least with her, when she can sit up and fully interact with her. One of my friends recently sent an email and told me that her oldest son was disappointed when his little brother was born (I think they are two or three years apart) … everyone told him that he was getting a playmate, but all he got was this lump … which is how I’m sure Twinkletoes feels right now. I’m constantly at her to get out of SweeTart’s face and to lower her voice instead of shouting at her but she really is trying. She’s a tremendous help around the house (get this for me, get that, etc.) and we’ve been trying to show her that we appreciate it more and more. Hopefully it’s working. She goes back to the doctor for her 2 month check up on June 10.

Twinkletoes is doing fantastic in school too. I wasn’t too convinced when I got her 3rd quarter report card that gave her “sometimes” in way too many categories than I was happy with, including the equivalent of the “behaves appropriately” column. I was mortified and began asking her what was going on. Is it the baby?? Is she not getting along with the kids in class? Are there bullies in kindergarten? Is she the bully? I even went as far as to ask her teacher of her enrichment class if she was behaving appropriately in her class to which the answer was an overwhelming YES. That made me relax a little.

She is always trying to do DinoBoy’s homework with or rather FOR him. This makes for much angst at homework time at our house. She gets angry and her feelings hurt when we tell her that she has to not help with his homework (she does all of her homework at her enrichment program) and that he has to learn it himself otherwise he’s going to have to repeat the first grade. He gets irritated and his self-esteem gets bruised when his “little” sister is trying to do his homework (and sometimes knows what he doesn’t.) This causes plenty of screaming and tears most evenings.

Yesterday, Twinkletoes comes home with this note from school (dated 5/19 and needed to be returned 5/22 – hello, wasn’t yesterday 5/22??) indicating that she scored very well on her standardized tests and that on 5/23 they’d like to administer another test to her but we have to sign off on it. The test, if she does well, will place her in a gifted and talented class. WOW – talk about knocking our socks off. Of course, she needs to do well on the test and who knows how she’ll do but to even be considered is great to us in and of itself. We explained to her that she will be taking a test today which may put her in a “special” class like her brother is in a “special” class during the day. (He does a basic skills pull-out for reading.) It was the simplest way for us to explain it to her without causing more school-related friction between the two of them. I need to keep them a year apart in school. I need him to “just keep swimming” and learn what he needs to learn and know it well. I’ve signed them both up for the Rutgers Reading program again this summer – hopefully that keeps him where he needs to be.

DinoBoy continues to do well too. Last night, after their dinner, but before mine we were in my room singing songs that they had learned in school. He is very proud of the fact that he knows a song or five more than his sister and helped her out with the words for the one she was trying to sing. He told her he was able to help because he is in the first grade and he is a pretty smart brother. I love it when it works out that way instead of all the yelling and screaming from one to the other. When they just accept the fact that they both have their gifts and talents to offer – we just have to step back and realize which child has which talent and receive them both equally. Treat each other as they’d like to be treated. (this is a hard one to swallow – hopefully they learn by practicing it and enjoying the good feelings that being nice and someone being nice to them is actually a wonderful feeling!)

And - you'll enjoy this. At the beginning of the year, I paid for 10 hot lunches for DinoBoy at school. We explained to him what to do to buy lunch and told him about the hot dogs, nachos and pizza that the school offers and he just said "no". He's been taking a grilled cheese sandwich every day for just about the entire school year. Earlier this week, he said he wanted to buy PIZZA at school. I know that one of his friends buys lunch just about every day so I told him to just do what his friend does -- and we packed a lunch for him too -- just in case. When he came home from school that day he was so excited to show us that his lunchbox was still FULL. He bought lunch for the first time and even had a bottle of water with it instead of drinking his YooHoo. Could this really be my kid? The next day - he wanted to buy again. They were having chicken nuggets and a roll (it doesn't get any better than that for him!). This time he didn't have a packed lunch back-up. He was so excited again that he was bursting at the seams when he told his Dad how many chicken nuggets they gave him and he even had ketchup with them. And the roll. And he drank more water! Today - 3rd day in a row, he's buying lunch. They're having a personal pan pizza today. When we went through next week's lunch menu, there was only ONE day that he wanted to bring a packed lunch. It took 9 months, but he finally got the courage up to buy his lunches. I think he'll be buying a lot more next year now that he knows the ropes. Guess I won't be getting an $18 check back from the cafeteria this year after all.

I’m sure we’ll have lots of pictures to share come Tuesday. We have a full weekend planned – a birthday party at 9 AM on Saturday (what were you thinking WOMAN??), a picnic with friends in the afternoon; relaxing and maybe a trip to the pool on Sunday; two parades and a birthday party on Monday. We may need Tuesday off to recuperate! With that, have a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend.

1 month check up

hi there - just a quick entry today. Sweetart had her one month check up today. She's gained some weight and is growing nicely according to the Doctor. She weighed in at 9 lbs 8 oz (still less than her cousin) and measured at 21 inches, which is 1.5 more than when she was born. Not too shabby, I guess.

hope you had a wonderful mother's day. my kids made breakfast for me before we left for church -- coffee and a bowl of cocoa krispies. if these kids don' t know the way to my heart, no one does! :-)

stay dry and warm today if you're in this nasty nor'easter today.

28 days old - the slideshow!

28 days old!

Hello!!! Yes, we are still alive!! Tired but doing well! We're going to call her SweeTart on the blog because that is what I call her most often (when I can't remember her name in the middle of the night {just kidding!!!} although she does sometimes get called by her sister's name and I'm not the only one who has done it!!) She has her 1 month old check up on Monday morning. I'm anxious to see how much she's grown in the past month. She's still eating and pooping like a champ. Come to think of it, I've never seen a baby poop so much in my entire life!!! Her brother and sister weren't nursed but they were fed pumped milk for the first few months/weeks of their lives -- its amazing!

She's beginning to nap the afternoons away and generally will sleep for at least five hour stints at night - sometimes even longer depending on what is going on in our house (baseball, tball, etc.) that evening.

Twinkletoes and Dinoboy still love her to pieces. Every morning when they wake up they come directly into our room to see what the baby is doing. Is she sleeping, nursing, burping or pooping?? When they get off the bus in the afternoon, the first thing they ask is where she is. Not where I am, mind you. Where's the baby they want to know. They're still willing to hold her (when she isn't crying or sitting in poop) and they sing to her when she is fussing. Its very cute. Eventually, I'm going to have to get the video camera out and tape some of the interactions between these siblings. It is definitely something that we'll want to remember when they're in the throes of teenage-hood and want nothing to do with their sister. It will prove to us all that at one point, they truly were amazed at the little one who just entered their lives.

Thank you to everyone who is still sending cards and gifts. We appreciate everything and all of the well-wishes. Thanks a million to my mom too. She patiently gets the older kids on the school bus each and every morning while I'm attached (literally) to SweeTart. She has discovered that OxiClean gets the poop out of clothes (the baby's and mine. I've never been pooped on before this child!!!)

A few other notes ... we have a new nephew born to the Husband's brother and our sister in law on the 24th. He was a big guy - having three pounds and 4 inches on SweeTart. We had fun seeing the new family at the hospital the day after he was born. I still can't believe his Mom pushed him out. She's my hero (and, I hope to never have to push one so big out myself!)

DinoBoy lost another tooth! His first top tooth! He currently has 3 empty slots in his mouth and by the look of things, he may be losing one or two more pretty soon.

Twinkletoes is coming right along with gymnastics! Now, we need to sign her up for summer camp there as well as sign them both up for Rutgers reading camp again this summer.

The husband and I are headed down to AC tomorrow night to see Van Halen - I'm excited! Hope SweeTart will take the bottle for Mom. :-)

Time to close - have to get dinner on the table before those kids STARVE. They've been pretty dramatic lately. Enjoy the pictures I'll post separately and, please, keep in touch!

It's been a week and a day ...

since our Piper has come to join us. So far we've all survived and I've managed to care for a newborn again without breaking her (knock on wood). Things are going as well as can be expected -- the kids still love to see her, hold her, touch her but neither are going near a smelly or wet diaper -- the dogs are coming around. We had her on the floor in her bouncy seat this afternoon before Aunt Kristen came to visit and Guinness and Jack were fantastic with her!! What a difference a week makes!

Thank you all for all of your well wishes and gifts (and food!!) We appreciate all of you and your excitement and enthusiasm helps make this special time a little more special knowing there are so many friends enjoying the time as well!

PIPER

She's HERE!!!

Well, looking at my last post on 4/9, I've been terribly remiss in updating the blog ... but -- she has arrived.


Her name is Piper Alice and she was born on 4/10 at 4:03 a.m. She weighed in at 7 lbs 2 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. Her delivery was quick and uncomplicated as far as birthing goes, I guess. We arrived at the hospital at 3:35 a.m. and then there she was!!! The doctor (not my doctor mind you - he was still at home - waiting for the hospital to give him an update on me) had just entered the room to examine me (because I really, really wanted an epidural!!!) and I told them I needed to push - the contractions were hard and fast - and I could feel her coming - they kept telling me to breathe through the contractions - not to push (not an easy task). The doctor peeked under my sheet to see what all of my fussing was about (he wasn't robed, gloved, or anything - everyone was just taking their own sweet time) and he said "oh" - then the husband looked too "oh" was what we got out of him too - the doctor was reaching for a robe and gloves within seconds and instead of telling me to breathe, telling me to PUSH. Two pushes and there she was. Painless, no. Quick, yes. Having a new little girl so quickly and without apparent incident: priceless. (The entire hospital visit, from start to finish is enough to write it's own entry about ... I'll get there ... eventually.)


The kids love her. Twinkletoes is holding her now. She would hold her all of the time if she was able. The first thing DinoBoy wanted to do was hold her when he got off of the school bus. They're trying to be very good with her. It's hard sometimes, because they think they are so grown up and can do whatever they want with her - but it's all good.


She's nursing and sleeping well. She's pooping like a champ and trying to get used to being on the outside with her brother and sister, as well as the dogs. Sudz could really care less that she's arrived, Jack is on the fence about whether or not he should give her a second thought and Guinness is just downright crazy. We didn't send home a blanket or hat or anything with her scent on it for the dogs to get used to ... but I don't think that would have helped Guinness any. He just wants to be near her all of the time and when she cries, forget it; he's a basket case. He needs to be in her face or in your way (like we'd take her somewhere away from him) to figure out why she is making those sounds! Eventually, I'm sure he'll settle down and ignore her like Sudz does.

I haven't uploaded my own pictures yet but I've made a slide show of pictures that others have taken. I'll update after I upload our cameras!

Off to feed the princess -- have a great day!

Guess What?

Still no baby.

I guess I should give up thinking she'll come early. I'm still exactly where I was last week except that I learned that her head is at a stage +2 and it needs to get to -3 for delivery. So - a pregnancy is 40 weeks and technically, I still have 2.5 weeks left. So there. My blood pressure is up as is the swelling in my legs. I think once I'm done with work, that will subside. I also think that because I was sick last week (in bed from Wed-Sun), that had a profound impact on the baby's progress downward. Isn't that what they do when they don't want you to have a baby - put you on bed rest??? So -- I'm psyching myself up for being pregnant for another two weeks .... it's all good.

4/4/08

no baby but boy am i sick!!!! i've been out of work since Wednesday - missed a baby shower the girls had planned for us yesterday and have been told that they've taken a picture of the cake and are eating it without me today (not that I'm allowed to have cake anyhow), but what luck, huh? i guess i have whatever it is that everyone else had before Easter. Stuffy head, runny nose, sore throat, cough - it sucks. Dr. C. told me to take tylenol, use afrin and stay in bed. and to call him when the contractions are 6-7 minutes apart and he'll meet me at the hospital! :-)

the visit on tuesday to the ob went well. was 3 cm dilated (yes, i know how long you can stay at 3 cms) and 80% effaced. i think with all the bed rest i've been getting this week, she'll stay put for at least another week. i totally thought i would go yesterday because my niece left for her senior trip yesterday a.m. the husband's friend had wanted me to go the day before because it was his birthday. (his twins were born on the husband's birthday - so it only seemed fair!). i missed a niece's birthday, a nephew's birthday, friend's birthday, the day of departure, next up is another nephew's birthday on tuesday. we'll see how it goes. i am going back to the drs on tuesday at 4. will let you know how we're progressing.

have a great weekend!

Hey D - Here's the Bon Jovi Concert!!

Where did the week go?

It's almost the end of our spring break - and I feel like it hasn't even started yet!! It is nice to be sitting here in my PJs at 9:15 in the morning but .... the kids are just eating breakfast now -- it will be a while before we're fully "in gear" to get moving. We have a lot of errands to run, maybe throw in a trip to the library for fun, and I have taxes to review and complete. Sounds like a day you wish you had, doesn't it???

Yesterday, I took Guinness to the vet, worked on taxes and took Twinkletoes to her gymnastics class at 4:30. Dino Boy played the Wii for a while, vegged out in front of the TV and wouldn't budge until we went early to pick Twinkletoes up from her playdate with Fully. He then played outside with the girls on the trampoline while I finished putting a set of taxes together at Fully's kitchen table.

Gave the Nanny the day off today. She's got more important things to do. Mommom is coming "home" from the nursing facility today. She'll be coming to my A. Kyle's and U. Jack's - for an undetermined amount of time. The Nanny is pretty excited that she's finally leaving the home.

Still no baby. :-) The Cryocell box is stashed out in the car - just in case. After I figure out what to pack in my overnight bag, I will throw that out there too, just for good measure. The less I have to remember when it is finally time to leave for the hospital, the better. I do not have a very good track record for remembering things these days. Ask the husband. He'll probably tel you I have the worst case of pregnant brain he's ever seen!!!

Prevent Wolverines from Disappearing Forever

Prevent Wolverines from Disappearing Forever - sign this petition, if you so desire, by clicking here.

I survived!!!

Easter is over and I survived without going into LABOR! That is always a plus. Additionally, no one got sick from my cooking. Seemed as if everyone enjoyed themselves and the egg hunt (which boasted a $20 golden egg this year - wowzie!) and some are even coming back for more punishment tonight in the form of leftovers. Might as well get rid of them any way I can, right?

Saw the OB this morning. Quite a visit. It was my first internal exam since the beginning of the pregnancy. Yes, I'm still pregnant. I am, however, starting to thin and am currently 2 cm dilated. Of course, I could be 2 cm dilated for the entire next four weeks. I think the doc was concerned with the effacement. I have another appointment next Tuesday at 4, after work. Will let you know how we make out ... either before or after the appointment! ;-)

Have a great day.

It's almost Easter

Almost Easter. Geez. Somehow that seems impossible. See: Easter was the timeframe when we told the kids the baby would be here. It was always "after Easter" because in September they really have no clue when "april" really is. It was just easier to use another holiday that they would recognize. And, it's almost here. Goodness help me now!

We had an appointment with the fetal specialist on Monday who let us know that everything is going perfectly. The fluid on her one kidney now measures 6.6 which is less than the benchmark of 7.0, so there is no need to put her on antibiotics after she is born -- for her kidneys anyway. By measuring her thigh bone and putting it into some type of equation, they were able to estimate that she was weighing in at approximately 5.13 lbs at that point (35 weeks). Twinkletoes was born at 36 weeks and weighed in at a nice 7.8 lbs. So, seems that the baby is a little smaller than Twinkletoes but as long as she is healthy and we have a somewhat easy delivery, it'll all be good.

Speaking of the baby - a quick thanks to my friends and family who were able to make it to a dinner to celebrate the baby's arrival the week before last. They called it a "diaper dinner" and she got all kids of neat stuff, including lots of diapers that I cannot believe I'll be changing again soon!!!

Easter: dinner is here. Egg hunt is here. I have to go to the grocery store today to make sure that I have food for the crowds. I'll bet you that some won't even eat! But that is how things go around here. No big deal. I try not to have too much but when you've got 5 families to feed, how do you know how much is really enough?? I ordered filled Easter eggs for the egg hunt. Lazy, yes. Practical, even more so.

I'm sure that I won't update this blog again before Sunday - so please have a happy and safe Easter. I'll be sure to update after Sunday so that you know I've survived!!! ;-)

Happy Easter!

Go Scarlet Knights (and that dreaded Wii)!

To celebrate the first college football game for the Wii video game system, EA Sports is having a contest to select which college mascot will appear on the cover of NCAA Football 09. Fans are able to vote for their favorite mascot once per day, and voting ends on March 14. Pass the link along to friends and family and help put the Scarlet Knight on the cover!

Visit http://www.easports.com/ncaa09/ to place your vote!

PS - The Wii pointer is too cool!!! And Rutgers is part of the Big East Conference - just in case you needed to know!

What's in a name?

As we come closer to the arrival of the new baby, I came across this cool search in a fellow CTMH consultant's blog. Pretty cool. There are two people in the US with my exact name - first and last. There are 8 with Twinkletoes' name. So far there are none with DinoBoy's or the new baby's name. Just for fun - I'm adding the link to the side of the blog so that you too can have a little bit of fun with it if you've got a few free minutes on your hands! :-)

Have a great day! The weekend is ALMOST here!!!

PS - the icon is screwy. at some point in time I will fix it. :-)

After the snow

OH I GIVE UP!!! I just had my entire post done - went to highlight the entire thing to change the font size and blip - away it went. No commands can bring it back. I've tried everything...now I have to settle for trying to recreate the entire thing! UGH!

Ok, after the snow, and I'm the only one who hasn't uploaded her pictures yet. Bad Mommy. The way I figure it, I'm pretty lucky that I even took pictures anyhow. The way it went on Friday was like this ... school was cancelled for me and for the kids and the husband was out working. The kids had breakfast and got dressed in all of their snow gear -- only to be put outside in the RAIN. yuk. They definitely made the best of it, playing outside for over an hour until I called them in to dry off and warm up. I was afraid their fingers might fall off from playing so long in cold, wet gloves. They did get to play outside again, after the mess from the sky had basically let up, in the afternoon - when their Dad got home and took them out front to clear the driveway and the walkway. A fun job for them!! Then they even built a snowman out front, behind the pear tree. Maybe I'll take a picture of it today since it is still standing. :-) Of course, they came in crying and pouting because they (he) wanted to play outside for longer even though it was getting dark out. Next year, I'll be sure to get them proper "snow wear" and "snow gloves". Maybe their Dad will teach them how to ski next year so they're not bumps on the log at the lodge with a cup of coffee and a good book -- you know, like me!

Yesterday was my SIL's baby shower!! It was very nice. Unfortunately, although planned well and in advance, they had to call her and tell her that it was her shower and where and when to show up. Why?? She is sick!!! Of all the days to have to get a pregnant butt out of bed and put on a happy face -- man oh man. I give her a lot of credit. I doubt I would have been as gracious and pleasant as she was if I felt like crap! She got tons of stuff!!! I remember our first baby shower - we needed a trailer to get all of the stuff home. It was an exciting time though!! Now, its funny. Although we're excited, bringing a ton of stuff home to our house for the baby isn't appealing. We've got way to much stuff in here now!! I've definitely got to declutter.

We've got a new high chair in the living room, right next to the new stroller and infant seat. In the foyer, a box of clothes that we bought at the store last weekend. In the hall upstairs, the box holding the travel swing. In the kids bathroom, all of the bedding and the mobile to match Twinkletoes' room. Now there is just the simple issue of making room for the baby. In the living room, in the toy room, in the bathroom, and her bedroom (Twinkletoes' room). Why am I so unorganized? Lazy I guess. Even though I get 100 messages a day from the Fly Lady on what to do to get my house organized, I simply click and delete without giving them a second glance. Maybe I should really open them, read them and give them a spin. Only 15 minutes a day from what I understand. I'm sure I spend at least that long yelling at my kids (which I've probably already gone over that timeframe this morning.)

Ok - GD is somewhat under control. Met with the nutritionist on Tuesday. She gave me a bunch of options other than what I was doing wrong (and right) so I think that we're gonna be okay. This will also, I'm sure, help me out with losing the "after baby" weight. Bring on the OBX (Yes, we're going and I'm just kidding - I can't imagine that I'll have the baby weight off by the 4th of July!!) I go back to the endocrinologist on Tuesday for another "check up". Remind me not to have the "less sugar" oatmeal that I had this morning that drove my sugar through the roof. Can't imagine what the "real" stuff would be like.

Have a fantastic day!

GD

Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes, that is only suffered by pregnant women.

In Gestational diabetes, a woman’s blood sugar is higher than normal because of the other hormones pridcued during preganancy interfere with the insulin that is produced naturally.

Gestational diabetes usually becomes apparent during the 24th to 28th weeks of pregnancy, and, in most cases, disappears of its own accord once the baby is born.

Women with gestational diabetes usually do NOT have an increased risk of having a baby with birth defects.

Generally, sufferers of gestational diabetes have normal blood sugar levels during the critical first stages of the preganancy. While there can be complications caused by gestational diabetes, these can usually be managed by careful attention to nutrition and blood sugar levels.

Approximately 3 to 5 percent of all pregnant women in the developed world suffer from gestational diabetes.

2/13 - just a bit of info just in case you didn't already all do your research on g.d. I am now the proud owner of a blood sugar testing kit and have to test three times a day for now. Ugh. No sugar – no cookies – no candy – no real soda – no ice cream. Luckily for all of us this baby is due in just ten short weeks. Hopefully there will be no bloodshed from sugar withdrawl in the meantime.

I go to see the nutritionist on Tuesday, the OB on Tuesday and then the endocrinologist the following Tuesday. Hopefully, I keep all appointment times straight and don't wind up in the wrong doctor's office. (Not that the trip to the endocrinologist's office was a walk in the park - geezoman - those women have got to find new jobs where they can be nasty to other people!!!)

Fish and Hermit Crab

I've been so worried about myself that I forgot to post that our "boardwalk fish" - a blue and red beta fish from two years ago - finally died. FINALLY. We noticed before Christmas that it had started to grow some sort of tumor on its stomach and it just grew and grew and grew and grew. Over two months this fish lived with this tumor. Finally on Thursday it took its last breath. It definitely was a trooper. Who'd have "thunk" that a fish that DinoBoy won on the boardwalk two summers ago would have survived the ride home from the beach, let alone two years in our house??

On the flip side - Twinkletoes' hermit crab kicked the bucket this week too. We noticed it last night. She wasn't too upset (like DinoBoy was about "fishy") - she just wanted to know when we could go to the pet store to get a new one. She did help Dad bury the hermit crab next to the fish -- we've got quite the pet cemetary going on in our front yard (if we put them in the back, I can only imagine which dog would dig them up and EAT them first - eggghk!)

Today, we took a break from me working after church and went for a ride to the pet store. I had my fingers crossed that they wouldn't sell hermit crabs in the middle of winter - they did. Fortunately, Twinkletoes didn't want an "army" crab (the one who looked the liveliest in the bunch was in a green and white/tan shell) so she grabbed a couple of guppies to put into DinoBoy's tank. DinoBoy got three (he calls them a "herd") neon fish (tetras) and two albino cory's (kind of like a catfish). They all survived the ride home! Which is pretty cool considering when we left for the store it was 43 degrees outside and when we got home it was in the low 30's. Brrrr. Now, three hours later, we have a happy tank once again. (for now - the fish all have a 14 day "live" guarantee - who wants to take a dead fish back to the store??)

Wish us luck - so far, they've both decided that I can continue to feed the fish in the morning when I let the dogs out - like I did with the Beta. Hopefully it will continue to be this easy but with these two, I doubt it.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Just breathe ....

Ok - we have an appointment with the endocrinologist on Tuesday at 8:45 a.m. I've been told that this doctor will probably refer me to a dietician that specializes in diabetes treatment and management. I'm kind of confused. I don't feel any different than I did - if I'm "sick", shouldn't I have some type of external symptoms? The only thing I'm feeling, besides scared, is angry!!! And I should be happy that the doctors and tests caught this right? How can I fail a one hour GTT one week and pass it the next? If I were just given a repeat of the one hour test, I'd have passed it. But with the three hour test, I failed only the two and three hour portions of it.

And, there is so much conflicting information on the internet on "what" to do - but there are no specifics. So - what do I do in the meantime but get more and more frustrated? I've tried to cut out as many extra carbohydrates and sugars as I could -- I'm an ice cream and bread FREAK -- so this is hard! Harder than starting and sticking to weight watchers. At least in that, they give you the flexibility to "cheat" and enjoy some of the things you love. I'm thinking that with this diet that I'll be on, there will be none of that. But - since who knows when I will actually get to see a dietican, I don't know that for sure.

I guess if CRANKY is one of the "symptoms" of having GD, I've got it and I've got it bad!

Gestational Diabetes

I guess we'll all be learning a bit more about Gestational Diabetes in the next ten or so weeks. The reason? I flunked my second glucose tolerance test last week. The big one - the three hour one. What I don't understand at this point is: I failed my one hour test by three or four points. With this new test, the doctor's office advised that I passed the fasting portion of it, I even passed the one hour portion of it but I failed both the two and three hour portions of it. How can that be? How can I fail a one hour test one week and pass it the next? Doesn't make any sense to me.

Now, I am sitting here, waiting for the endocronologist to call me back to tell me they were able to rearrange a schedule somewhere so that I can get into their office asap. When I first called, they told me the first available appointment is April 30. That is one week after the baby is due to arrive. A little too late. So - my test results were faxed to his office yesterday afternoon so that he could see that I really did flunk the test and am in need of his services asap. I think that I will have to see a dietican too. Ugh.

From what I have been reading (trying not to do too much research - too much information will probably make me a bit more neurotic) I will have to follow a strict diet and exercise program until the baby arrives and then some. I think that this can only benefit us both - while in utero and after she arrives. Maybe it will help me get back to my pre-pregnancy weight sooner.

Only time will tell. Any advice is gladly welcomed!!!

Happy Thursday!

I'm still alive ....

and, planning on going back next year for some reason!!

The weekend crop was fantastic!!! It was held at the Flanders Hotel in Ocean City - not such a bad place!!! We had a one bedroom "suite" I guess is what you would call it. Living room/dining area, small two burner stove/kitchenette/with full fridge, one bath and one bedroom. Wireless internet access from the couch - pretty handy since my cricut was set up on the kitchen table. Food - good food and lots of it. Drinks a plenty - the kid-friendly kind for me (and Ocean City, which is a dry town). The girls got to have their margaritas, mom had her 7&7 and pina coladas - I'm sure Barb had something in her covered container too although I don't know what it was! I was up until after midnight both Friday and Saturday nights -- a big accomplishment for me. And, I was able to get all of my pictures onto pages that I took when we went out on the boat over Labor Day weekend with friends.

Good news = Mommom was released from the hospital into a "home" for rehabilitation. Big steps up these days. She desperately wants to go home but until she is in better shape, the answer is "no". I'm sure she only has so many days at this "home" that her insurance will pay for so she'd better hurry it up and get 100% better soon!

What else? I think that is it for now. Keeping very busy at work and at home - working for the husband. Getting all of the stuff ready for his financial statement compilation next week. Dino Boy is almost finished with wrestling and Twinkletoes starts her "big girl" gymnastics class next week. It's all good!

One Day and Counting

Only one more day (ok, two if you count all of tomorrow) before we leave for our scrapbooking weekend. It should be a good time. This time, we're heading to an old hotel in Ocean City - the ladies running the crop indicate that there is only one 'old' elevator - hopefully it doesn't give out and I'm in line for a room on the 10th floor. Just my luck, 'eh?

Still trying to figure out which scrapbooking supplies to pack and which pictures to actually work on. I have a plethora of pictures that I ordered for last year's weekend crop but didn't get to work on. Then I went ahead and ordered an extra plethora (or two) of pictures from between then and now to work on. There is a recurring "beach" theme so maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to get a lot done since I will be working on all one theme. We'll see.

Last night we (the kids and me) went to my SIL & BIL's house. SIL cut Twinkletoes hair, just a little bit, to get the yukky stuff off the ends and to clean her up a little bit. I'm a bit perplexed about growing her bangs out. They're way past her bangs and we can sweep them up into a braid or pony tail or even barrettes but who wants to have their hair up all of the time (yes, it is me talking, the one who wore her hair up everyday for YEARS!) but eventually - all will be good. Just keep giving her vitamins and her hair will grow, grow, grow. Twinkletoes indicates that you can't take too much off because, you know, she is a gymnast!

The kids had a fantastic time playing with their aunt & uncle's dogs - they have Boston Terriers. 2 of them. A five year old and a one year old Dino Boy tells me. He can't remember their names - did he even think to ask? He might have just asked how old the dogs were. They're definitely a far cry in size from our Boxer boys! I had a hard time adjusting to calling the dogs "she" since we're so full of "hes" in our house. Then they had to play with the fish tank - turn the light on and off- touch the glass. I told Twinkletoes I'm taking her back later in the week with windex wipes to clean off where all of her fingerprints landed on the tank.

SIL & I had quite a few things to talk about - having pregnancy and a semi-crazy family (which so includes me!) in common broke the ice a little! Speaking of pregnancy - ok, she is due 3 days before me - and I know, it is her first baby, and I know, she is WAY taller than me - but her belly is TINY. I look like I'm carrying sextuplets compared to her. Her baby gets to grow up her torso while mine has been growing OUT of my body since day one. Not that I wish discomfort on anyone but Hello - can we get a BELLY going over there, please??!!! I teased her about it, not to worry. I'm excited about the kids being due at the same time.

They're waiting to find out the "gender" of the baby until it's arrival. She's so paitent. I couldn't wait...to find about any of my kids!! I needed to decorate - to buy clothes - to KNOW. I have no idea how she does it. They both have guesses as to what the baby is and it kind of seems like it is going both ways - changing with each ultrasound. :-) So they're still mystified, although thinking maybe a tech tipped them off. But maybe not. Maybe tech's just refer to babies more as one "gender" than the other. Who knows?

It's all good - it'll be fun to welcome another baby into the family. These babies will be #s 13 and 14 if I'm counting correctly. Its amazing that there are still neat names left to pick from! :-)

Happy Thursday!

The Dogs

have the life in our house. While sometimes it sounds like the City Pound in our house, other times are pretty laid back. Check it out. The picture is low resolution, from my phone - but cute nonetheless.

Jack, Sudz, and Guinness

Don't forget!!

Time is almost up - please don't forget to click on the GO RED link to the left on the blog. For every vote, the Campbell's is donating $1 to the American Heart Association ... a group that is near and dear to our hearts here. Both the husband and I lost our Dads (at young ages: 53 and 55 respectively) ... so anyway we can get the AHA recognition, we'll do it!!

Today is a home wrestling match. DinoBoy is refusing to wrestle. REFUSING. He likes being on the "practice" team only. He doesn't like the competition nor making other kids cry (unless, of course, that other kid is his SISTER!) His father is pushing him, disappointed that he is being a "sissy". Ugggh. What's a mom to do? I'm just closing my eyes and looking up for guidance today. I really have absolutely no idea what to say -- to either of the boys. I have to go to the match - I am working the concession stand for the first half of the match and we're bringing the soft pretzels. So, it's going to be a toughie over here today. Wish me luck!

Notes from the hometown...

It's always fantastic for me to learn about "kids" that I grew up with doing fantastic as adults. Kind of proves that you are not "where" you come from but who you make yourself into. Small town people do big time things. Determination and hard work are key factors. Of course, I'm a firm believer that lady luck does help out a little sometimes.

I learned of this when speaking to a colleague at work about his son who is a senior in high school ... dreaming of a career in sports management if not the sport itself ... and his connection to this guy. No matter how far we go - something is always there to bring us back to our roots.

LINK TO NEWS

Gymnastics!

Our Weekend

Since it's Tuesday evening, I thought I'd update you on the events of our weekend - which was pretty exhausting!

Friday - the husband stayed home and took care of the kids so the Nanny could hang out at the hospital with Mommom. They came up to my work to take me to lunch. Twinkletoes ordered chicken fingers at the diner while DinoBoy ordered a pizza which he wouldn't eat. What kind of diner makes a pizza parlor pizza anyhow? It just didn't look right, he said. Uggh.

Saturday - Twinkletoes had a gymnastics "meet" for the younger kids. She did EXCELLENT! She's ready to move up to the next stage in her gymnastics 'career' but I've got a few cute pictures to share (I've created my first slideshow - don't fall over!!)

After gymnastics, we dropped the kids off at Aunt S's house. They haven't spent the night with her since way before Christmas and were looking for a fun night out. Sounded great to me and the husband who took the opportunity to take in the new National Treasure movie (two thumbs up) and were planning to grab a bite to eat at PF Chang's afterwards. After all, who in their right minds is eating dinner at 9:30 at night? When we got to the restaurant, it was a ZOO!! I couldn't believe how many people were still waiting to be seated. At 9:30 - I must be getting old because that is just ridiculous to me! The restaurant next door to PF Chang's still had a wait as well. So - we just headed to our local diner and had an okay meal. The service stunk and the food was just "okay" but it filled our tummies and we didn't have to cook it ourselves!

After we got home and let the dogs out and cleaned up a few things, the phone rang. Who calls at 11:00??? At first, I thought something had happened to Mommom - but, lo and behold, it's Aunt S who tells us that DinoBoy just threw up for the 2nd time in an hour. We needed to bring him clean clothes and pick him up if we wanted to. Of course we'd pick him up. I grabbed two pairs of pjs for him, his robe, socks (who knows how sick he was or where he was sick) and we headed out the door. He was feeling not so sick when we got there but he wound up puking in the truck on the way home. We moved his mattress from his bed to our floor, on top of a bunch of sheets - just in case. This way we wouldn't have to clean up a mess from his floor, walls or inside of his bed if he decided to be sick again during the night. He was able to fall asleep and I finally fell asleep around 3 - no more puking during the night. Looks like Aunt S. got the brunt of this one.

Sunday - now the husband doesn't feel too hot. I run over to Aunt S.'s in the morning to get Twinkletoes who isn't even dressed when I get there. Ugggh. I had left the truck running because it was so cold out ... but she got herself ready and we loaded the truck. The husband was feeling a little better by the time we got home and had gotten himself out of bed. We didn't do too much, DinoBoy didn't even get dressed all day (until yesterday afternoon, as a matter of fact.) But we were exhausted!!! Even Twinkletoes...she must have had a heck of a night playing with her cousins!

Yesterday, the kids and I stayed home while the husband went to the office. I spent 99% of the day working for school from home. The kids played and fought and all the other great stuff they do on a daily basis. The dogs ran around and went in and out like there was no tomorrow. I was almost happy to get back to my desk today - more problems to solve and work to be done. The kids were happy to get back to school today as well. The Nanny went to the hospital while the kids were at school to check on Mommom - who wants very badly to go home. But since she is still so weak, that is not an option right now. She needs to get herself stronger and eat some more and get ready to walk around again ... she seems to think she is ready for it but after being laid out since New Year's Eve, she's just not.

Tomorrow it will be Wendesday already. I can't believe the month is already 1/2 over. On Thursday, my sister will celebrate her 30TH BIRTHDAY!!!! I'm surprised she and I both survived as long as we have -- growing up with each other!!! ;-) On Thursday as well, we'll celebrate the Monster Hewitt's 2nd birthday. He's really cute and not as bad as that but since his mother calls him a monster all the time, it seemed like a fitting name for him here.

That's it for now...the boys are home from wrestling practice and having dinner. I need to get the ice cream all set for when they're finished ... which won't be too much longer.

Toodles!

Baby it's cold outside!

Ok - the snow is gone. The rainy change over predicted did indeed happen. The forecasters were very close to being on the ball with the last storm. And, with the storm that passed below us yesterday. What we're left with are frigid temperatures. Not as bad as some places I've seen - like International Falls was at -16 this morning. That is crazier than crazy!! We're just wearing extra layers today if we need to venture out. (Which probably won't happen.) If you're in any place cold, please remember to bundle up and don't leave your dogs outside for too long. I have an eerie feeling they'll turn into icecubes!