Saturday, November 1, 2008

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Catching Up with the Girls


As promised, here is my post dedicated solely to catching up on the girls' latest and greatest...

C:
- has hit the Jekyll/Hyde stage of childhood known as 4.5 years old. One day she is amazingly mature, patient, and wonderful to be around. The next she is a whiney, tattle tale that drives me insane. Anyone parent who has made it through this age deserves sainthood. I would just appreciate some pointers!!

- is almost 42 inches tall and 41 lbs. Officially big enough for a booster seat which she uses in my mother in law's car, but in my car she will remain in a 5 pt harness until high school. Just kidding...I think at least!

- is loving school. She now goes 5 days a week in the afternoons. Let me just tell you that this schedule fits her perfectly. She takes after both myself and J in that we don't move our butts in the morning. The afternoon schedule suits her well. She's made lots of friends and is thriving there. She's definitely tired afterwards so bedtime has been moved up, along with the shenanagins that accompany it.

- is reading!!! Yup, I said reading! A while ago I bought her a set of BOB books which we recently have been working through. She can already read the first 6 on her own with little prompting from me. It's been extremely exciting and making both her and me proud!

- has taken some great field trips with school. Here are a few pics from the pumpkin patch and the fire station! I'm really enjoying being able to go with her on these!


M:

- is sad that she doesn't get to go to school like C, but is loving Little Gym! We go Tuesday mornings and it's been great for her. She's always the first to go with the teacher instead of me, so I think she's almost ready for school! Don't think there will be much seperation anxiety here!

- is almost 37 inches tall and 31 lbs. She's officially wearing a lot of C's clothes from last year! I'm talking size 4 shirts here!! It's amazing how differently both girls are built. M's torso seems to be longer while C's legs are longer. It will be interesting to see how this impacts their growth later...

- loves sleeping in her new WALL-E bed! She's officially in a twin bed and loves it. We still have some sleep issues (ahem, and a paci ) but she loves her bed. Recently she seems to be trying to get rid of her nap which scares the beejesus out of me! Not sure how that's going to pan out but I'm hoping it's not done yet!!!!

- has for the most part adjusted well to the move. Yesterday was the first time she asked to go to "my house" because she wanted her pictures from her room. Needless to say, I'll be heading over to storage this weekend to get them!

- is talking a ridiculous amount and is funny! She loves telling "jokes" but she just says the funniest things. An example was we all went out to dinner with my cousins and their significant others, and they wanted to pay for us. J and I were protesting it, but they just said, "That's the way it will be so be ok with it!" to which C replied, "I'm ok with it!". We all started laughing and then M turned to us and said, "HA HA! What's so funny??". She also has been going around and doing the robot and saying "I am a robot!". She's just too funny!

Here are some recent pics of her from pumpkin picking:

I'll have some pictures up this weekend from pumpkin carving and Halloween. We're looking forward to it and hope you will to!!

Life Happens...

Hello again!  I know it's been forever since I last wrote.  I wish I could give you some exotic reason why I haven't been blogging like I won a contest and have been in Fiji or I was in Hollywood starring in a miniseries for Lifetime, but nope, nothing like that.  Truth is I haven't been writing because I've been too busy with my life.  Just the day to day things that occur from the time I'm unhappily woken up by my screaming M, to the time I'm dragging my butt to bed.  Nothing fancy there...

What have we all been up to?  Well, here is an abbreviated list:

- We've been slowly getting more and more settled into our new life in NJ.  C's in school, M wishes she was, and I've been enjoying the 2.5 hours of quiet!

- We've made trips to PA to visit friends, had fun with the family, gone on field trips with C's class, and of course made a trip to the pumpkin patch!

- I spent most of September making trips back and forth to VA to settle everything with the house.  No fun there and it was really hard on all of us.

- We all got sick.  Everyone, even my inlaws except M.  How she escaped the nasty sinus infection/bronchitis/viral whatever that we all had is still a mystery.

- I joined Facebook!  Never thought I would, but I did and have been meeting up with some friends from high school that I haven't seen since, oh, high school!

- The girls have been growing and changing.  I'm going to write a whole post on that, because well, they deserve it! 

Well, I think that pretty much sums it up.  It doesn't seem like much when I write it out like this, but it definitely has kept me jumping.  Next post will be an update on the girls plus some pictures!  Hope you'll stay tuned! :)

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Moving on Up...

Yup, we are moving!  J officially accepted a position in NJ on Monday night.  The only catch is that since it's a transfer within his current company, he starts next Monday!!  Yes, the Monday that is 6 days away!  Needless to say it's been full out chaos here ever since.  Thankfully my mother in law is here to help manage the chaos and kids.  I know I'm one lucky lady!!

Now I'm heading up the task of "how the hell I'm going to get this all done and in NJ as soon as possible"????  We are going to be crashing at the inlaws until our house here is taken care of, so most of our stuff will be going in storage.  So far we've packed up the things that aren't essential for survival, and have been going through other stuff.  I'm using this as an excuse to purge the crap that has accumulated over the last 5 years, but that's a challenge in itself.  All I can say is thank god for Freecycle!!

Then there are the calls to make: dr's offices, schools, utilities, etc.  It's just so overwhelming!  Thank god I'll be heading out tomorrow night for dinner with friends and a much needed margarita! :)

Back to the coal mines now, but I'll post again soon.  I'm not sure when, but it will be soon I promise!  I'm sure all 3 of you who read my blog will miss me! ;)  See you on the other side!!

Monday, August 4, 2008

They Say It's My Birthday...

Happy Birthday to me!! My birthday celebration started yesterday with a massage (ooohhh...soooo nice!) and then a Black Crowes concert with my sister. The massage was heavenly and definitely broke up the knots in my back. I'm actually sore! :) The concert was awesome. Sooo much fun! We were supposed to have lawn seats but decided to upgrade them and wound up in the 3rd row! It was worth the extra $18!!!

J surprised me with my gift after I got home at 12:30 am. He got me a beautiful birthstone family ring. It has the girls stones on it and looks great! It's a custom order so it's not here yet, but once it is, I'll post a picture. Needless to say, he scored major points with that one!! :)

To top off my birthday fun, I found out I am a winner of a bloggy giveaway!! Mel, over at A Dramatic Mommy, and her random number generator chose me to win a $10 gift card to Starbucks and a $10 to B&N! Score!! So mosey on over to Mel and thank her along with me!

Ok...off to clean and run to the store, but I'll be back with another post later. Big things happening here, so stay tuned!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Making a list

Yup, making lists...that's what I'm doing right now. List for things I want to donate, list of things I want to sell, list of things that need to be done around the house... Lists for everything.

Some may say that I'm OCD when it comes to making lists, but truth is, it's the only way I can keep the panic monster at bay. I can't control what's happening right now in my life but I can control the lists I'm making. Make sense?? ;)

So I have a list of what I need to do in the next 36 hours while J is in NJ. He's there for a follow up interview and hopefully (crossing everything!) an offer on a job. While he's there, I'm trying to get some things done. My list, so far, is:

- Vaccum
- Do dishes
- Pack up toys for donation
- Continue going through clothes for donation
- Put stuff for donation in garage
- Clean our bedroom
- Clean kitchen counters
- Take out garbage

There are more things I can add to the list, but I think it's a tall order for me to get done alone as is. So where am I in my progress? Well...I'm working on procrastination! What, that's not on the list?? Oh...I'll get around to adding it later I'm sure.

Honestly as much as I should be doing these things, I can't motivate myself. I'm just drained and not wanting to deal with the mess in my house. So, any ideas on how to get my butt in gear?? Caffeine has already been hooked up to the IV and is flowing as we are talking... Anything else??

I swear I'll get some things done tonight while the girls are in bed. Really, pinkie swear. I'm even planning on rewarding myself by watching a movie if I get some things done. Hopefully that will help...

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

It's Pouring...

You know the phrase, when it rains, it pours? Well...it's definitely pouring here!

In case we didn't have enough turmoil in our house because of the whole job thing we came home from NJ on Wednesday to find that our air conditioner was dead.  Nice, huh?  We toughed it out with some fans and the windows open until Saturday and then we gave in and checked into a hotel nearby.  Milo (our cat) couldn't take the heat at all, so he was shipped off to my sister's and was enjoying the a/c.

After the guy came on Thursday and told us what needed to be done (whole furnace needed replacing...can you say ouch!), more stress hit us.  Here we are days away from the end of J's contract and needing to shell out some major dough.  Not good...  We were counting on our savings to help us in case J was out of work for any period of time not to get our a/c fixed.  But Murphy's Law, right??

Needless to say, the a/c is fixed.  We are definitely lighter in the bank account as a result, but what are we going to do?  Now we're just waiting to see if J gets a job offer this week.  It's looking good as the one company is offering to pay for his travel to NJ for another interview, but I'm not counting my chickens until they are hatched.  One to many metaphors here?? :)

Next week is my birthday.  Guess I'm hoping for some kind of miracle and J to have a job lined up by then, or at the very least nothing else goes wrong.  Is it terrible for my birthday wish to be that our life be a little easy for a change??

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

On the Road Again...

Yup, that's right. We're heading to NJ again. J has an interview there on Thursday, another one possibly on Monday and a job fair to attend on Tuesday. Instead of him taking the train up and back, we decided just to go up with him and stay up for the week. This was a last minute decision, so that means lots of laundry and packing are ahead of me tonight! FUN!?!

So, wish us luck and hopefully I'll br reporting some good news from NJ next week!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Summertime Blues...

Ok...it's official. Summer needs to be over, like now. There are only so many times I can hear "I'm bored" before it drives me insane. In fact, if I hear it again today you might as well come visit me at the nut house.

It's not like we aren't doing anything all day long.  We take trips to the farm, playground, mall, story time, free concerts, etc.  We've been making doll houses out of shoe boxes and cookies from scratch.  We've attempted swimming but the rain always foils our plans.  Point is...we've had plenty of things to do.  But yet, the boredom strikes.  And it's not all on the younger members of our house, nope...I'm bored!  Bored of the number of children's activities I need to come up with to fill our day.  Bored of the tons of laundry and other household stuff I should be doing on a daily basis.  Bored, bored, bored...

I do love that I get to be home with the girls.  But there are times, more now than ever, where I miss working.  Not necessarily the work itself, but the interaction with other people, the challenges, and being out of the house!  I know the day is coming when I will be back to working and come back and read this post and think, "I wish I was like that now!", but for now, this is how I feel.  I can't be alone in this right??  There have to be other moms who feel the same way!  I hope...

I think part of my problem is that I feel not in control of my life right now.  This whole job thing has thrown us all for a loop and it's crazy to think that I won't know where we will be living in the next few weeks.  It makes it hard for me to commit to anything, especially where the girls are involved.  Summer camp?  Nope...  More dance classes...won't do that either.  Why am I going to spend the money to enroll them in something to have us drop out in 2 weeks? 

I'm a crazy control freak, so my issues aren't completely about the kids and lack of activities.  I wish it was that easy.  The fact is that my hubby, J, is in complete control of this...not something I am used to at all.  We usually make decisions together or I completely control the show.  Don't get me wrong, I'll be having major input as to the final job decision, but the day to day applying, calls, etc. I can't help with. 

So I need something to distract me from going absolutely insane until this new job is in the bag.  Any suggestions out there??  Bueller, Bueller....

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

2 years...

2 years ago, I lost my grandmother. I know I have posted a few times about her, my grief, and how important she was to me. Today, I thought I would share something that only the people attending her funeral heard...her eulogy.

To set the stage, I wrote this in one shot the night before her funeral. I was almost 2 weeks postpartum, up all night because of grief and a newborn, so my emotions were raw. Well, here it goes:


--------------------

Margaret Carey lived a blessed life. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and friend. She was an active member of her community through the Elk’s Club and American Legion. She touched many people’s lives, as we can see from all of the friends and family who have come to share in this time. On behalf of our family, I want to thank you all for being here.


Although today is our chance to say goodbye, it’s also a time to celebrate my grandmother’s life. She was the true matriarch of the family, the mother bear who took care of us all. She was always there for us, no matter what was going on. I’m sure there were times that we wished she wasn’t so nosey, but that’s just the way she was. You could always count on her to keep up with what was going on around her, even if she had to peek out the curtains at her house to find out.


Grandma gave us many gifts. She provided us all with a strong base to grow from. From her three daughters down to her grandkids, she has given us all a piece of her. Although we may have all been embarrassed by her screaming across the street at 4 o’clock in the afternoon that it was time for dinner, we appreciated her taking care of us. There was never a need to thank her, she just did it.She never cared what other people thought of her. In fact, she was always open and honest about the way she felt. At one time or another I’m sure we all heard her call someone a pain in the ass with no apology for it. Some people may have felt this was a major fault, but it was just grandma.


From her Star magazine obsession to stocking tons of toilet paper, Grandma had little quirks that we all loved. Like the fact that we always knew what we were having for dinner by what day of the week it was, or how a powdered sugar donut and a cup of tea was a perfect bedtime snack.


My grandmother was never one for showing her emotions, however we all knew how much she loved each and every one of us. She always had a hug waiting for us whenever we needed to be comforted, or the wooden spoon ready when we were in trouble. And in the end, we were able to do the same for her. As she left us, she was surrounded by the love and support of her family, just as she is today.


For all of this, I thank you, Grandma. You were truly a blessing to all of us, and will be missed.

------------------

I think it's amazing how I can look back upon that 2 years later and still feel the emotion it was written with. I see flaws in it, like maybe I was trying to be more funny than serious, or that I should have added more about how wonderful she was, how she raised me to be the person I am today. How I wish I could go back and spend more time with her, call her more often just to tell her I missed her. Or how I think about her every day still and wonder if she would be proud of me. How I see her in my girls, their spunk and stubbornness, but also the way they always know when I'm thinking of her and need a hug.


I'm sure I will always wonder and wish and grieve. I guess that's part of remembering. I love you, Grandma, and I miss you more than anything.

Friday, June 27, 2008

And We're Back... Part 2

Ok, so you've made it through part 1 and now what?? Now I give you...



M's 2 year old post!! :)







M officially turned 2 on June 9th at 7:17 pm. To celebrate, she spent the morning at the dr's office for her 2 year check up. Nice mom, huh? Here are her stats:



Height: 36" (95%)...yes, she is my kid but apparently will be looking down at me by the time she's 7.



Weight: 29 lbs (75%)



Here are some things M likes to do:



- Read books. She tries to read them herself and always starts them off with "Once upon a time..."



- Sings. She loves to sing all the time from old classics like Old McDonald to Yellow Submarine by the Beatles. She also makes up her own songs all the time.



- Dance. M has a blast dancing. She has actually accompanied us to C's dance classes and started joining in. It's too cute!



- Play. Of course M loves to play. Her favorites right now are: playing with stickers, balls, little people, cars, baby dolls, and the big doll house we have. She also loves going to the playground!

- Talk. She is a talkative little girl! I should have a list of words she can say, but there are too many. At her appointment, the dr. asked if she was stringing a few words together. No sooner did she say that, M turned around and said "I want to get down!". Sentences only here!!

Here are some pictures of M over the last 2 years:



This was taken when she was a day old.



Her & C on M's first day home:





6 months:





1 year:





18 months:





2 years:



I cannot believe how fast these 2 years have gone! M...I love you and am enjoying watching you grow up! I'm looking forward to see how much you grow and change over the next year. Happy birthday big girl!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

And We're Back... Part 1

After hemming and hawing over what to write, I decided just to go with it. So, here's what's been going on in our lives. To save you from having to read one really long post, I'm breaking it out into parts... Now, no cheating...always start at Part 1 before you skip ahead. We can't skip ahead in life, so don't skip ahead here... ;)

Ok...so to backtrack, back in May, J and I had a long heart to heart about the state of affairs here. We're struggling to make ends meet, and the market here isn't condusive to us selling our house right now. So, I, or we decided it would be best for me to go back to work. On top of this, we also decided that we weren't going to pursue moving back to NJ this summer as planned. Two hard things to deal with, hence my last post.

The very next day I swung into action getting my resume together and looking for daycare. I was really upset over everything and allowed myself the day to mourn. Dramatic? Maybe, but you have to understand that it's really hard for me to be away from family and be raising my kids down here. It's not that I haven't met great people or have found things to do, but it's just not the same as family. I hate having no one to call when one of the girls is sick and I need to run to the store...or worse, when I'm sick and J has to miss work as a result. So, moving to NJ would solve a lot of that. Yes, it would come with it's own share of issues and family drama...but I really thought it would help.

After a day of being pissed off and sad, I moved on. Then something crazy happened...J lost coverage on his contract at work. The downside of working for a government contracting company is that you are up for contract renewal every year (or however long the contract is). J's contract has never been questioned, and up until that Saturday...we thought he was fine for another year. Then that Saturday it was all undone. The contract was going to expire in a month and then J would be out of work. Wow, right???

I did what any good wife would do...kept calm until I was alone and then completely freaked out. :) Needless to say, J has been looking high and low for a job. After a few setbacks, we've decided to go forward with moving to NJ. We figure it's the best for our family and financially makes sense. Now all we need is for J to find a job!! Wish us luck on this.

End Part 1....

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Not sure what to say...

I've been neglecting this blog for a while now...sorry. Truth is, I'm not sure what to write. I have a few posts saved in drafts but haven't had the guts to post them. They're personal, deep posts. The kind that makes things seem dark and gloomy in my life. And although I've been using this blog as a virtual therapy tool, I'm not sure I want to go there. Truth is I'm afraid that if I open that door then a lot will fall out. Honestly, who wants to read about someone else's problems when everyone has enough of their own??

So I've been stuck. To clarify, there have been good things, great things going on as well. C had her last day of school and end of year performance. M is coming up on her 2nd birthday, and we had the first (of a few) celebrations for it. My house is back to being mine with no extra guests. We've taken trips to Baltimore, gone to see a few movies, and are getting ready to head up to NJ for my cousin's college graduation party. See, life isn't all gloom and doom here!!

Today while the girls are napping (or at least M is) and J is at work (yup, on a Saturday), I'm going to make an effort to blog. I'm going to download pictures, write posts and actually post them. What a novel idea, right?? So, until later....

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The Great Mother's Day...

Mother's Day started early this year as C's class had Mother's Day Tea on Thursday. I promptly joined her and her class at 10:30 am to observe her gymnastics/dance/get-all-their-energy-out class and then headed off to tea. J was nice enough to stay home with M, so C and I got some one on one time. I swear, her teacher's are amazing! They prepared quite a spread for us, including cucumber sandwiches! :) The best part was find our spot, which was marked by a special place holder and placemat.

(The card reads: Recipe for Motherhood
1 Heart full of love
1 Head full of understanding
2 Eyes in the back of your head
3 Heaping cups of patience
1 Gallon of generosity
1 Barrel of laughter

Mix well. Sprinkle with kidness, add plenty of faith. Heat with sunshine and spread generously over a lifetime for a plateful of joy and a cup of warm memories.)

We then got our munchies and the teachers played a little game. They had each child fill out a survey about their mom and we had to guess who it was. C's answers were as follows (they are in bold):

1. My mommy is ? years old. (Other children's answers ranged from 6 to 21 but apparently my daughter was nice enough to not reveal my age. :) )
2. My mommy's favorite color is brown. (Really, since when??)
3. My mommy likes to eat salad. (Ahhh, gotta love this response. Yes, I like salad, but if it was my favorite I would probably be a lot thinner!!)
4. When I am at preschool, my mommy: I don't know because I can't see her. (Other kids said work or take care of a sibling. Got to love my literal daughter!!)
Right after question #4, C recognized her answers and told me this was mine. I started cracking up!
5. My mommy and I like to cuddle. (Can I get a collective, AWW!)
6. My mommy laughs when I do funny things.
7. My mommy is really good at everything. (I swear I didn't put her up to this one!!)
8. I love it when my mommy gives me hugs and kisses. (Can you tell we are an affectionate family?)
9. I love my mommy so much because she does nice things for me. (Again, no bribing here!)

I loved this exercise and listening to what other kids came up with!! I went home with tears in my eyes and a huge smile on my face. Score one for C.

After this we headed up to NJ for a wedding. Truth be told, I wasn't looking forward to this. I mean Mother's Day is supposed to be a day of relaxation for me and here I was going to have to drive back home. Yuck! The wedding turned out well, in a comedy of errors sort of way. Here's some of the highlights...


- We got there in one piece which was a small feat in itself since C was coming with us. She was all dressed up, white and purple dress, white tights, white shoes. So of course what does she do 5 minutes after we arrive? Decide she wants to cut through a bed of flowers and wind up with mud up to her ankles! Stockings were thrown out and shoes were washed. How did she manage to get no mud on her dress?? I'm still trying to work that one out myself.

- Once the wedding was over we headed into the reception area and made it through cocktail hour unscathed. Thank god. No sooner did we get into the actual reception room then did I get a flute of champagne dumped down my dress!! Nice, huh??

- C wound up having a blast and dancing all night long. We didn't get home until almost midnight and M was still awake! She was with my mom and apparently decided to have a crib party all her own. I was greeted with her voice over the monitor saying "Mommy, I miss you!!!". Insert aaaawwww here. She didn't sleep at all Saturday night, nor did C.

Both girls were up before 7 am Sunday morning and I was dead. Needless to say we were all cranky beasts and Mother's Day was bad as a result. I even tried to make it to my brother's lacrosse game until to arrive as the horn blew signaling the end because C didn't want to wear a coat!! GRRRR!!!

I definitely was bumming the whole trip home and was still in a foul mood on Monday. Then I realized, well, this is all being part of a mother right?? Why should Mother's Day be any different than any other day? Shouldn't we celebrate our families every day of the year?? So that's what I am trying to do. Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day and you celebrate every day and every milestone! Someone said to me the other day that when you have kids the days go slowly but the years go by too quickly. How true is that?!? So enjoy every moment!! :)

Friday, April 25, 2008

Whatcha Doin'?

That's been the question of late. Every few minutes, M says, "Mommy...whatcha doin'?". And she will continue to say it over and over until you answer. Yes, it's cute and funny but it's also highly annoying. Just close your eyes and picture this:

- Driving in the car back home from the park. It's a 10 minute drive and 4 times you hear, "Mommy...whatcha doin'?"

- In the bathroom where you are trying your hardest to pee in peace...you hear a knock followed by "Mommy...whatcha doin'?"

Now you try and remain calm and answer, ignore it, or ask her the same...but she doesn't relent. It's become the bane of my day right now. I figure I will pay her back when she's 16 by calling her every 5 minutes on a Friday night asking the same question! Fair...I think so! :)

Now onto what we have been doing...

- We were back in NJ last week to visit. C's friend Sophie was in town and we got to see her. Bad me forgot my camera, so there's no pictures...but they had a blast!

- C started tennis lessons and loves them! She now is saying she'll only go if she can hit the ball to another person, but we're far from that. If nothing else, she's running around for 45 minutes! Of course, M is jealous and wants to join in on the fun. If only they had a sibling class...

- M suffered a sinus infection right before we left for NJ, but is feeling much better. Her speech is so much clearer now as well. I'm not sure if it's just that she's getting older or being sick. But it's really great!

- I've been making more of an effort to find a playgroup with kids M's age in it. We went to an activity the other day where the kids were all around 2, and she had a great time! I'm hoping we'll continue to be able to do things like that without C around. Poor M just wants to follow her big sister around all the time that she doesn't play with kids her own age!

- C had Olympic Day at school on Thursday and M and I went to help out. It was a lot of fun! All the kids participated in different events and at the end they got gold medals! C loved every minute of it!

May will be a busy month here. We've got something going on almost every weekend!! Hopefully I'll have some great pictures to post!!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

The Big 4 Year Checkup

Consider this a public service announcement for all of you who have a kid who will be 4 anytime soon...

C had her 4 year old checkup on Friday. It's a BIG visit! They check weight and height like a normal visit, but also vision, hearing, and urine!! Yup, C had to pee into her first cup. Now, I won't go into the specific manuerving we did to make this happen, but it happened. Just an fyi to make sure your kids have a full bladder before the visit!

Now, on to the actual dr. talk. We spoke about potty training, sleep, eating...all the basics. Then she had C write and follow directions. Luckily she followed directions perfectly and all was good.

That is until the shots... Yup, I said shots. 4 of them to be exact! I had prepped C for the possibility of shots, but I came prepared. I had an ice pack and lollipop standing by. None of that helped. C screamed so bad I thought she would throw up. It was awful. We spent a good 10 minutes calming her down before we ventured back out into the waiting room. The only thing that worked was the promise of a new dress for her doll and a strawberry milkshake. Hey, you would give your kid anything they wanted in that position too!! :)

Ok...so here are the stats from the visit:

Weight: 37 lbs. (70th percentile)
Height: 41 inches. (75th percentile)

Vision: 20/20 both eyes, 20/30 individual eyes
Hearing: perfect

She's in perfect health which is wonderful to hear. :) Now she's due for another shot but I'm not tackling that for at least a few months. *** End of public service announcement. *** :)

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

A Very Happy Birthday to You...And You....

Today's a big day in our house. Both C and J's birthdays! Instead of a traditional post, I'm choosing to celebrate by writing each of them a note. So, here goes:

Dear C,

Today you are a big 4 year old girl. You amaze me more and more every day. As much as I miss cuddling you as an infant, I'm looking forward to watching you grow more and more into a young girl. You have so much love for your family and friends that it makes my heart swell. You are a wonderful big sister and we all love you so much! Happy birthday sweetie!!

Love,
Mommy

-----------

Dear J,

30! You old fart! :P I know I'll be joining you in a few months so I'll stop it. Seriously though, I hope you have a wonderful day. You deserve it with all you do for us. I know you joke about it being only C's birthday, but it's your day to and you deserve to be spoiled as well! :) I love you very much and can't wait to celebrate even more birthdays with you.

Love,
Me :)

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Weee'rrrreee Heeerrreee!!

Yup, we're back in VA. What a week we had! Here's the summary:

- C had her first all night sleepover at my cousin's house!

- We saw Horton Hears a Who and C loved it!

-M had a miserable time with diaper rash. She had an allergic reaction to something causing her to have an explosive diaper and burns all over her area. Luckily it's cleared up, but I'm definitely taking her for allergy testing!

- My mother in law and I took the girls to the Big Apple Circus and sat in the front row! It was a great show, but so windy we thought the tent would blow down! M was thrilled with the puppies and horses! :)

- We had a nice visit with my 88 year old grandfather, Pop Pop. He came over to spend time with us on Thursday and on the way out of the door fell on top of me! Thank god I was there or he would have hit the sidewalk. Still took 5 years off my life!!

- I stayed up until 2 am making a Tinkerbell cake for C's party on Saturday. Here's a shot of it:

- We had a great party on Saturday for C, J, J's cousin, and my cousin's boyfriend. Of course C made it all about her and ordered everyone to wear party hats and play games. It was a lot of fun though!

- We made it home in one piece...thank god!!!

There was definitely no relaxing on this trip. I enjoyed the time up there and the company. No one warns you how lonely you can get staying at home all day. It definitely was a nice break from that and it was hard to come home. The girls are already asking when we can go back!!

Unfortunately there is no rest for the weary this week. It's C's and J's birthday tomorrow, I have to make snack for her to bring to school on Thursday, and we're having a small party for her down here on Saturday. I'm definitely going to need a loooong nap and vacation after this week!!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Luck o' the Irish...

And a Happy St. Patty's Day to all of you! We're in NJ visiting family for the week. I'm converting my Italian inlaws into Irish ones for the day with some corned beef and cabbage. YUM! Of course this trip to NJ wouldn't be a typical trip if things weren't going wrong...so here is the list so far:

1. Got on the road 3 hours later than planned because we had to drop hubby's car off at work and pick up his suit for the wedding. Didn't realize that I had also left my jewelry and medicine behind...

2. M decided she was going on a dinner strike and only would eat french fries for dinner....

3. We got lost on the way to the wedding we were attending on Saturday...

4. M was up from 3-5 am Sunday morning and spent the day with a nasty nose, diarrhea, and was just overall miserable...

5. I forgot to pack M's St. Pat's day shirt... :P

Ahh, and it's only Monday! Stay tuned to see how the rest of the week fairs....

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Party Time...Excellent!!

Ok...here we go. Let's get this official Blog Party started!!

First off, thanks for stopping by! Drop your coat by the door and come on in. I'm K, mom to two crazy girls, C, and M, and wife to the wonderful J. Welcome to our little world. I hope you stay around and get to know us!
On to some introductions...

This would be me, K, mom and wife extraordinaire. I used to be a full time working mom until I had my second daughter, M. I then dropped to part time and have been a full time stay at home mom since last January. It's definitely a more challenging and rewarding job than I could ever get paid to do, but I'll be the first to admit I miss the day to day interaction an outside job brings.

Now to meet the family...


Here's J, my wonderful hubby of almost 6 years. We met in high school, fell in love and the rest is history. We'll be together 13 years in June! J is a hard working man who somehow balances work and our home life with the skill of a tight rope walker. He is one of the most devoted dads you'll ever meet, hence why we all love him so much!!






C, our oldest daughter will be 4 in two weeks. She's a firecracker crossed with a princess. She loves all things frilly, princess related, and pink. She's also got an attitude that's a force to be reckoned with. She gives the best hugs and is a loving soul.





Next up is M, our youngest. M will be 2 in June and she's a munchkin. She has this tiny little voice but when you get her mad...watch out! I guess that's what mixing an Irish mom and Italian dad gets you! M is coming into her own right now and loves to sing, dance, and play. She also loves to follow her big sister around and do whatever she is doing. She loves to give kisses and hugs and is turning into a funny little girl!

Add to that our cat Milo, and that's our family! We are loud, love to go to NJ to visit family, and most of all have fun! I hope you'll enjoy our little blog and stick around. We'd love to hear from you! Thanks for coming and don't forget to tip the valet as you leave! :)

Oops...almost forgot! Here's a list of the loverly prizes I wouldn't mind getting my hands on:
1. Bracelet from My Mommys Bracelets (#29)
2. Bead Dangle Photo Tile Necklace from Elemental Memories (#7)
3. Blog Makeover from Shauna (#67)
4. $20 Amazon Gift Certificate from Organized Knitting Club (#39)

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Dancing with Daddy...

Recently C has become obsessed with dancing. She has always loved it, but she is barely walking anywhere anymore...she's dancing. This past week J decided to teach C how to waltz. The result? Take a look...



I love her smile in this one!! :) Just ignore the kitchen mess please...lol!

I took another of her dancing and doing the waltz on the floor...but I can't figure out how to flip it. I took it with my regular camera and didn't realize I would need to rotate it! If I figure it out I will post that as well.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

New Looks

On Sunday we took M for a haircut. She was definitely in need of it as she was sporting a baby mullet, but I wasn't sure what exactly to do with it. After a nasty morning with a plateful of maple syrup and hair that looks like dredlocks, I decided it was time. The result?


I think she looks really cute! It's a little shorter than I would have liked but it will last longer. While trying to grab a picture of it, she shot me this face:


And then this one...

Nice, huh? That's the new face she gives you when you say smile or no, or anything else. The look also accompanies her "NO" or her demon voice as she likes to wip out from time to time. All this has made me realize that she's hit the terrible 2's. Yes, she's a bit early but so was C. It seems my girls like to start it at, ohh around 18 months. I have been dealing so much with the treacherous 3's as J calls them, that I've been caught offguard by this. The attitude, the tantrums, all has started to come falling out of my sweet baby girl. Where oh where did she go?? Oh right, she comes back out right when she knows she's in trouble... Manipulation at it's finest!! :)

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Little Ballerina

I accompanied J to C's ballet and tap class this weekend. I actually haven't gone since the session started a few weeks ago because C always wants Daddy to go. It's kind of a big deal because she's in the big girl class of 4-5 year olds as per the teacher. I was a little nervous as to how she would fare, but apparently I had nothing to worry about. She's doing beautifully in it as you can see from the following pictures:




Now the challenge will be to figure out what class to sign her up for the next session. I want to involve her in some type of sports as well as dance, but I also don't want an overscheduled kid on my hands. Decisions, decisions...

Cha Cha Cha Changes....

We've had a weekend of changes around here. M has been moved into a toddler bed. It wasn't by choice, mind you, it was a necessity. You see we have been debating the great move for a few months now. At first it was because we thought M's sleeping issues were caused by her dropping thing out of her crib or hitting her head on the crib rails. Then it was her "testing" the ability to climb out of her crib. She never actually did it, but she would put her one leg over like she was daring us to say anything.

So what made us make the move? Well on Saturday, Miss M. got her leg stuck in between the crib rails and actually got a burn on her ankle from trying to twist it out. So we decided it was time, or rather J decided it was time. I was all set to leave her crib in the room with the toddler bed for a few days, but J being as efficient as ever had the whole thing down and in the attic while I was at the store. The result?



M slept well until about 3 am Monday morning. Then she thought it was fun to get out of bed and knock on her door every 20 minutes until about 6 am. Needless to say, I wasn't a happy camper about it. Luckily last night was better with only one episode at 3:40 am where she fell out of bed. Hopefully tonight will be even better. She's loving her "big girl bed" and the freedom it brings. I on the otherhand am not as happy. It's a bittersweet moment. M is not in a crib, she's one step closer to being more independent. The crib, which my grandmother gave us, is packed up quite probably for good. So it's a mixed bag of emotions for me. I'm definitely happy and excited but I'm also mourning M's babyhood if you will. I can't even imagine how I'll be in a month when C turns 4!!!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Oh yea, It's Valentine's Day...

I accompanied C to her preschool Valentine's Day party today. What sugar filled chaos!! The kids enjoyed snacking on some cupcakes, and M thought hanging out at the party also meant running out of the room every 3 seconds. Fun was had by all! :S

The kids and I made cards for Daddy yesterday as well as addressed her friend's cards. That's all the heart fun in this house today. I'm not sitting her looking at a huge bouquet of flowers and eating bon bons while admiring my new jewelry. Sorry Hallmark, not in this house. This Mommy is happy with the pure joy my oldest showed me when I appeared at her party. And happy with the huge hugs M has emparted on me today. That's what it's all about anyway, right?? Oh yea, and some kisses from my hubby too. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

The Great Debate

I've reached the point in my stay at home life where I'm wondering if I made the right choice. Would we have been better off if I had continued working? Are the financial constraints my decision caused worth it?

You see I always thought I would be a working mom. I loved working...the interaction with different people, the problem solving, the feeling like I was accomplishing something on a daily basis. At the end of even the worst day I knew I finished SOMETHING! Whereas my stay at home mom status has me lacking in this department. Yes, I know I'm here for my kids and that counts for an awful lot, but when I look at it, there is no task that is accomplished, no client won over or crisis averted. There is just piles of laundry, cleaning to be done, and kids to put to bed.

The closer M gets to 2 the more I wonder if I should be going back to work. Am I ready to throw my hat back in the ring? Will the kids survive and thrive more in some type of daycare? Originally I had planned on waiting to go back to work until M was in preschool and C was in Kindergarten. It seemed like a logical time, but now I'm wondering if it is soon enough? Sure we could use the extra money I mean who couldn't, but is it worth the cost of daycare for both kids? Would I enjoy work for a few days, weeks, months until I am dying to stay at home again??? And hence my dilemma...

For now staying at home is the only option. Unless by some miracle a wonderful opportunity drops into my lap that I can't not take, the cost of daycare for two kids is too much. I would be working to literally pay someone else to care for my kids. And that I cannot accept. Besides, what would I do? I've been out of the work force now for over a year and I'm not sure what direction I want to go in. My old job was easy, no real challenges and no room for growth. So that leads me to be starting a new career which is terrifying. How do you start? Go back to school? Take a temp job? Talk to a career counselor? I just don't know. And so the questions keep going...

So in the life long debate over the stay at home vs. career mom, the stay at home mom wins this round. And as the screaming kids beacon me back to reality, I happily accept my role.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Bitten by the flu bug

Need I say anything else? The flu has hit our house full force. The girls got it almost 3 weeks ago and I spent last week in bed. Thank god for my mother in law coming down or we would have been in trouble! Hope everyone here is staying healthy!!

I have a few posts brewing, and I'll be back later but for now, off to the store and to catch up from being sick!!

Friday, January 25, 2008

Question of the day...

The last few days our house has been hit by the flu, well, correction the girls have. Of course as any parent knows if the kids are sick it's only a matter of time before you get it, and everyone is miserable. Today both girls woke up fever free so I'm hoping we've turned a corner. I've definitely developed more bags under my eyes in the past few days than I'd like to share thanks to my whopping 10 hours of sleep over the past week.

So to say I'm off my A game today would be an understatement. Today is not a day for pondering life issues or trying to solve the economic crisis, nope...today is a day for tea, tv, and NO THINKING!! Of course, Miss C. had other plans for me. Here is our conversation:

C: Mommy, when M grows into a big girl are you going to have another baby?
Me: (Almost snorts my tea) Uh, what?!?
C: Are you going to have another baby?
Me: Ummm...I, uh, I don't know.
C: Well, why not?
Me: (Trying to think of how to explain this when J and I haven't made up our minds yet either..)
Why, honey?
C: Well because on Blue's Clues, Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper had another baby when Paprika was a big girl.

THANKS Blue's Clues!!!!! Note to self: enough tv for the last few days! Seriously though, this has been C's obsession of late. She LOVES babies. When we are out in public she's been pointing them out to me and saying how cute they are. Ahhh yes, I admit I love babies too. But after the past week of the girls being sick I like babies from afar. Like across the restaurant afar. So for now, I'm happy with my 2 girls. We'll see how long that lasts though...

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Just call me Oscar...

Yup, as in the Grouch. I'm not sure what my deal is or what bug crawled up my butt, but I'm just a major grump these days. I can blame it on a lot of things: weather (I hate the cold), lack of sleep (yup, that's still happening), family drama...but truth be told, I'm not sure what really my problem is.

I don't like my mood and the feeling of anger, b*tch*ness, whatever that comes with it and I can't seem to shake it. I've tried reading, watching a show I like, and other "me" time activities, but it doesn't help. I've even tried forcing myself to seem happy but that just makes it worse. If I bury myself in any more chocolate I'll not only gain back the weight I have lost, but you'll likely see me on one of those Richard Simmons infomercials that come on at 3 am. Yes, I'll be the one of the left bawling about eating to help me feel better about my empty life...

The thing is, my life is far from empty. I have two beautiful daughters and a wonderful husband. We live in our own house and while it's not our dream home, it's ours. I have a lot of family that would do anything for me at a moment's notice, and some friends as well. You see, I have a lot to be happy about and I realize it. Still, I'm grumpy...

I'm hoping that going to NJ this coming weekend will help. I'll have more help with the kids, allegedly be able to get more sleep since J will be off work, and hopefully even be able to go out on a date with him. If that doesn't help with my mood, I don't know what will... So my question to all of you out there in internet land is...Am I the only one that feels this way? If not, what do you do to help get out of your funk??

Friday, January 11, 2008

Strange days...

This week has been, well weird. The weather has been unseasonably warm like in the 70's, the girls have been acting strange, and our house on a whole seems unsettled. It may be the weather, but it's also our first full week back at work/school, and I think that has more to do with it than anything else.

So let's start with the weather... C and M enjoyed Monday - Wednesday since it was warm enough to play outside. Monday morning we went for a walk (meaning they sat while I walked...LOL) and then met up with J at the playground and had an early dinner. Tuesday C went to school and M went with me to MOPS. Again, we went outside in the afternoon. Wednesday we headed back to the playground in the morning. I think the outside time has done wonders for all of us. Nothing like fresh air and sunshine to improve our moods! Now we're back to cold and rain, blech. I really don't like the winter at all and would love to skip right to early April, but that won't happen. Instead I enjoyed our weather and the moods it put us all in.


Now the girls, ahh the girls... M has been sick since Christmas, but seems to finally have stopped with the runny nose/coughing she was doing. However, her teeth are really bothering her as she tells me, "Teeth HURT!". While it's nice to know what's bothering her, there's not a whole ton I can do in that department. We're doing motrin/tylenol and orajel at bedtime, but she's still waking up through the night and not really napping. I can't wait to the day I can say she's sleeping normally again!!!!

C has decided not to really nap at all anymore. Yes, I know she's almost 4 and that's probably normal, but my reaction is HELL NO!!! Naptime is MY time...quiet, peaceful, watch my tivoed shows time. Trying to even convince C that she needs to just "relax" in her room and be quiet doesn't work either. She just sits there for maybe 5 minutes and then the "I WANT TO GET UP" song begins. Now if M wasn't sleeping a mere 15 ft from her I would let her yell all she wanted, but then I would have two grumpy kids. No fun for me! In addition C just doesn't make it to bedtime without meltdowns on the days she doesn't nap. And although she may be more pleasant on napping days, she doesn't go to bed until around 10 pm. What to do what to do?!?!

Finally I ventured back to my endocrinologist yesterday to find out what's wrong with me. Turns out my thyroid is fine and my Vitamin D level is extremely low. So, I'm now taking a high dose vitamin once a week which should alleviate my problem (allegedly). Only time will tell on that...

We're in for a busy weekend of ballet, birthday partys, and a trip to Richmond. Let's hope this vitamin gives me the energy to keep up and M sleeps!! Oh and a big keep-your-fingers-crossed that my sister gets this job she's interviewing for as we speak. I'll update on everything next week. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Sunday, January 6, 2008

A Season of Pictures

Here are some pictures from our holidays. Enjoy!!

Our giant Christmas tree. It was over 8' tall and 6' wide. What were we thinking?!?



Here is C and her friend Sophie. We couldn't get one of them looking and smiling at the same time, but here they are making silly faces.



Here is C and M playing. Also, M's first ponytail. Yes, I know I'm a wacko and had to take a picture of it...but she looks so cute!





And here are some of C's favorite presents: Fairy wings, wand, and a Barbie house! (Yes, that is a disco ball hanging from it...)



Hope you enjoy them! I'll be back with a more meaningful post soon...

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Back to regularly scheduled programming...

Happy New Year! 2008?!? Really, already?? 2007 seemed to fly by us as I am sure it did for many of you. I wish I could say that J and I jetted off someplace romantic for NYE, but we didn't. We were here celebrating during the day with some family friends, and then ringing in the arrival of 2008 with my brother. He came back with us over Christmas and went home on the 1st. Back to school for him...

And today we started our normal schedule again. C went back to school and M and I headed to the grocery store. Exciting, right? I have to say, I'm enjoying the peace in our house right now. Notice I didn't say quiet...but peace. My sister is away until the 8th, and we are for the first time alone in our house since early November. It's funny how relaxing that is. I'm still running around crazy after the kids all day long but once J is home and the girls are in bed...we are alone! I've missed some couple time with the hubby that's for sure. So far we've managed to watch a few movies, and have a few talks. Maybe, if the stars align we'll even get to go out this weekend.

So I think this is part of my new year's resolutions...to find more peace in my life. I'm a better mother and wife when I feel peaceful, so it's definitely a resolution I need to keep. I'm not sure what kind of changes I'm going to make for this to happen, but stayed tune to find out...