With one foot in the preschool years and one trailing behind in toddlerland. A blog about my life, daily goings on, my children, and what is important to me. Feel free to comment! I love a good discussion and new friends.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Weekend Grays

Ugh! This has been one lOOOOOONG weekend! Of course the weekend that we are doing respite is a long, rainy, wet, gray weekend where we can't go outside and explore the natural wonders of the world and (more to the point) burn off excess energy. In addition, my Alayna and I spent 6 hours in the Union emergency room early Saturday morning as she was running a high fever, had a headache and wasn't making any sense when she was talking to me. 6 hours, one chest xray, and a prescription of strong antibiotics later we returned home where we crashed for exactly . . . 2 hours! Then she was ready to go (albeit a little slower than before) and I was ready to cry from the sleep deprivation. Today has progressed much better but, of course, tomorrow is Monday which means all those weekend chores need to be completed and then we are off running at full speed again.

Monday, September 15, 2008

The Simple Woman's Daybook

I love a good daybook. Here is a project started by Peggy at The Simple Woman. If you want to join in, just go the site, read the guidelines here and then add your name to Mr Linky.

Here is mine for Today...

Outside my Window... a beautiful leafy tree that is getting ready to change colors!

From the learning rooms... I'm trying to understand some of the implications from the recent financial companies declaring bankruptcy or being bought.

I am thankful for... online bill paying as I have no time to sit down, write out checks, find stamps and then send them.

From the kitchen... I'm making a bean stew in my crockpot . . .yum!

I am reading... Gale Force by Rachel Caine. I have loved this entire series.

I am hoping... that the foster parent association I just joined becomes something great.

I am creating... a calendar for my children with different craft projects we can do each week that matches what they are learning at preschool.

I am hearing... that gas prices are going to skyrocket again and that I should keep my tank filled at all times.

Around the house... I need to reorganize my kitchen so that the snacks are not so readily available for the children.

One of my favorite things... is the Biggest Loser and it premieres tomorrow. Yea

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week . . . getting adjusted to our new family schedule which includes swim practices, gymnastics, ballet, family visits, foster parent association meetings and a million other entries. Also, finding time to get an end of summer pedicure and haircut.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Back To School Mania

I am completely new to this back to school mania that has suddenly taken over every conversation around me, all sale papers, and the aisle of every store. I feel like I need to buy, buy, buy even though my little ones will not be starting kindergarten until next year. They go to preschool now so I have to pack their lunch every morning and make sure they have their swimsuit on Tuesday, etc. We don't have to worry yet, though, about new clothes, pencils, crayons, or any of that. On one of my favorite blogs (http://www.thisfullhouse.com) today I saw this back to school event being discussed where different products will be reviewed and also given away. I can't wait to see what is posted so that I can begin to prepare myself both mentally and financially for next year!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Wonderful Opportunity for HP Laptop

I saw this post on the 5minutesformom blog and I knew I had to write. They are selecting a family or individual to giveaway a new laptop and printer. I am writing this post on behalf of my beautiful younger sister.

My sister is such a wonderful person and she needs this computer so much. She is 24 and she recently had a stroke. It has been a really difficult year for her and, as a family, we have been terrified about her health and well being. She is doing wonderfully in recovery and has even returned to work and other activities but she lives in a rural town about 2 hours away and doesn't have access to computers. A few years ago I gave her my old Dell laptop to use but it was very old and doesn't work anymore. As part of her recovery she is supposed to be working on building her vocabulary again and communicating as much as possible with family and friends but she can't because she doesn't have a computer.

She was working full time when she had the stroke but she was uninsured so there will be no money to purchase a computer any time soon as her money will be spent paying medical bills and buying medication. My sister has such a promising future and we are thankful everyday that she is still with us. This computer could change her life in so many wonderful ways and help to bring her recovery to that next level.

Monday, June 23, 2008

1 month anniversary!

Our sweet surprise has been with us for month! It has been a month filled with joy, sleepless nights, and lots of laughter. I do hate, however, when I hear new parents talking about their newborns in glowing terms and not addressing the realities. Here are some realities:
*Last night when he wouldn't go back to sleep after his bottle at 1:00 a.m. and then wanted me to PLAY with him until 3:00 a.m. I was not thrilled! I tried everything. We had a 5 minute stint in the swing. We rocked. We sang. We had another sip of the bottle. Nothing worked. As I walked into work this morning bleary eyed and barely able to put together a coherent sentence, I realized that he will spend all day at day care . . . SLEEPING. Ugh.
 
*We have also seen a resurgence of the jealousy monster in my house. She rears her ugly head everyonce in a while and it ain't pretty. It started out with hugs that were just a little too enthusiastic (from preschooler to baby) to full-on shoving (the preschooler to the toddler) and screaming (the toddler to the preschooler). We actually joke because the toddler has an early alert system and she will start her high pitch scream as soon as the preschooler gets with two feet of her and looks like she is going to try to pick her up. Of course this inevitably happens just when I've gotten the baby to sleep. Ugh.
 
*And truly I don't have the energy or time to write about my lack of fashion, makeup, or general salon upkeep. Suffice it to say that I went to Old Navy yesterday to buy some work shirts that I desperately need and ended up with two bags full of clothes. . . yes. . . you guessed it . . . baby clothes. Ugh.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Wonder

It is amazing to me but I fall in love with my sweetie pie over and over again. Growing up when I thought about having children or being a mother (which was very rare as I was sure I was going to be a jet setting career woman with no kids), I saw myself with babies. Occasionally I would think about the dance class my daughter would take or think about her wedding day but, truthfully, the appealing part was being a mother to a baby. When my first daughter came into my life, this view was reinforced. She was a beautiful baby . . . and charming . . . and smart. I was living my dream; only now she is turning four and I have some trepidation about being a mother to an elementary school child, and then a preteen, and then a teenager. I will stop there as I don't want to break out in hives or start hyperventilating!
The great thing that I've noticed in the last few days, however, is that it continues to be great to be sweetie pie's mother. I am enthralled by her every day in different ways. Ways that I couldn't have imagined when I didn't have her. Today we were heading out for our weekend coffee run. This has become such a routine in our household that my children now associate Saturday with coffee and donuts (no joke). Sweetie pie has had a fascination with gum for about 2 months now. She is constantly rifling through my purse to find some and, I'm sure, has some stashed around the house as she keeps popping up chewing gum when we haven't given any to her that day. Anyway . . . I digress. . . We were having some mother and daughter time and I asked her if she wanted a piece of gum and she said without even looking up "No thank you" but it sounded like "No, gainchew". I wanted to cry right there. This might be the last time she says it like that. Recently I noticed that she doesn't call my sister Aunt "Mareny" anymore but says "Mary". I feel all of these little losses everyday and I want to stop time so that I can cry or laugh or just completely remember every detail. And then there are the achievements. She said "No, thank you" . . . unsolicited . . . without her mother reminding her to be polite. When did that happen?

Now I know I can say, I loved the baby phase of her life and I'm loving the preschooler but I can't wait to see the teenager too. :)

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Love Again


As I was walking into my office this morning, I had a moment. The walk from the parking garage to my office is very beautiful and this morning it was sunny and the temperature was perfect. Since it has been raining and miserable here for the last few days, I really appreciated the change. About halfway through my walk, however, I was overcome with this feeling. I suddenly knew that something was about to change in my life. I knew that I was going to try and blog about it later on so I tried, in my head, to figure out how to put the feeling into words. I can only say that I was filled with expectation. It was as if everything inside of me woke up and said "Hey, pay attention".

When I got to work I was busy all morning answering the phone, returning emails, and chatting with my colleagues. This feeling continued to linger though. At 1:00 p.m. I received a call from our foster parent home coordinator. This, in itself, is not unusual. We are currently renewing our foster care license and have been filling out required paperwork for the last 5 weeks and discussing things with her every few days. The very first thing she said was related to our license and increasing the number of children that we are able to foster. Then she says in words that are becoming increasing classic Rose in our household (our coordinator's name is Rose) "well, we have a placement we are looking for a home for". I said "okay, give me the details". At that point she knew very little but she knew it was a male and that he was eight days old. When she started talking about him everything inside of me sighed . . . yes.

and tonight, once again, I am typing this as I burped a newborn and with his soft baby head resting on my shoulder. Whether he is with us for one day or forever, I know it was meant to be.


Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Mama, can you hear me?

Our little charmer was introduced to the joys of outpatient surgery yesterday! We took her to the ENT last wednesday and she had 2 raging ear infections and some hearing loss in her right ear. She was scheduled for surgery to put ear tubes into her ears immediately. Yesterday we had a long, long day. Initially we thought the difficulty would be in telling little charmer that she couldn't eat past 7:15 in the morning. From 3:00 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. she was allowed clear liquids, but this baby is not one to be denied her food!



I imagined fussiness, wailing, tears . . . she was fine. Not a tear was shed - well not by the baby! When they brought her out of surgery and came out to get me, the nurse was amazed. "We have never seen a baby come out of anesthesia like she did." When I got into the room, there was the Dora theme song playing on a neighboring t.v and my baby was swaying, dancing, and smiling away. The nurses were all entranced. I see the beginnings of a career on broadway! :)

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Camera Theft - On the case!




Okay so I get to the end of the SD card in my camera and what do I find? Hmmm . . . someone has been using my camera and left evidence!

Sunshine in my life


Okay. . . seriously have you ever seen anything cuter in your life. I'm biased but still.

Monday, May 05, 2008

Monday Blog Fun!

If you get something out of a vending machine, it's most likely the: Cheezits
A word you sometimes catch yourself misspelling: Sequential
You least want people to see you as: Expendable
You're a little scared of: Gas
The least attractive thing you do in your sleep: Drool
The number of contacts in your cell phone: 31
How many of them are restaurants: 2
You lose your cool when someone: Attacks
When you go to the drugstore, you often can't leave without buying: Candy
Your dance moves can best be described as: nonexistent
The majority of your underwear is: Practical
Something you eat even though you hate how bad it is for you: frys
You think you're really not a great: Dancer
How much cash is in your wallet right now: $20
The majority of your shoes are this color: Black
You don't think you'll ever be able to get rid of your: Shopping
If your breath is bad, it's most likely because you had the: Onions
You feel embarrassed when you: Overreact
The last public place where you used the restroom: library
Something you don't like to debate in mixed company: Politics
You don't think you can pull off wearing: Shorts
Something you own entirely too much of: Skirts
Someone you would love to see in concert who might bring down your street cred: NKOTB
The last thing that you spilled on yourself: dressing
If you were on a reality show, the producers would likely portray/characterize you as the: Sidekick

This list came from one of my favorite blogs (Sarcomical)

Here are the ground rules from said blog:
*Okay, here are the Newbie Ground Rules:
After reading my answers, copy and paste the list into your comment.
Change my one-word responses with yours (yes, only ONE WORD, even if it makes you want to pull your brains through your tear duct - and I design the statements to make it possible if you're clever enough, which of COURSE you are).
Submit your comment.
And hey, you can always post your finished list on your blog, too. (Yes, a post idea! You're welcome.) Link back here if you're feeling nice. Enjoy!

Sunday, May 04, 2008

The cure for jealousy. . . shoe shopping of course!

This morning I noticed that everytime I held little charmer, sweetie pie's behavior got out of control. The jealousy was so over the top. I swear she actually looked a little green. I decided to take the afternoon and have some one on one mommy time with just sweetie pie. We went to eat, went shopping, and went the the library.

It was so great.

I hardly remember what it was like to have one child. She has suddenly hit this age where she really wants my undivided attention and she will do anything to get it. Today I saw many moments of relief reflected in her behavior, her affectionate hugs and kisses, and her calm, sunny attitude. I will definitely be scheduling more solo time with my sweetie.

On a side note, I think the most fun we had was in the shoe store. She tried on all these shoes in my size and she LOVES shoes. I'm so proud. Maybe we can find time every other week to go shoe shopping!!!

I love having daughters. :)

Backyardigans Live Trip


I must have been insane! I bought the tickets months ago after the fourth time we saw the commercial and happy explorer said "I have to see that" while he jumped up and down for 20 minutes!!

It is the first show (spectacle, extravaganza?) that he has really been interested in so we arranged it as a surprise and a surprise it was. . . You know we really didn't like it very much. The animated, witty, cute Backyardigans that we are used to on our T.V. don't translate well to the stage. Unlike the Elmo show which we saw this winter, the costumes or the skill of the actors never allowed you to really believe that they were the real Backyardigans.


I would say that the children were disappointed but they are preschoolers. They left the arena smiling, clutching their $5.00 bag of popcorn and wearing their $20.00 T shirts. Unfortunately (for me and my pocketbook) I think they would have been just as happy with a trip to the playground. Sigh.

Friday, May 02, 2008

Family Visit: Shanna




Cousin Shanna came to visit from sunny Florida and the children were soooo happy to see her. She also showed them how to get the step ladder out to help with cooking. Unfortunately the next week happy explorer figured out that the step ladder can also be used to get into cabinets, climb onto counters and get previously unreachable items. Needless to say, the step ladder has been moved to a locked closet. :)

Thursday, May 01, 2008

and not to be left behind




Not only did little charmer walk three steps yesterday (pause, mamasqueal) but when left in the care of her grams apparently she tried to go up the stairs and was quickly rescued from the second step of our spiral staircase. She is an overachiever! It tooks sweetie pie until she was at least 11 months before she was climbing the stairs. Here she is with sweetie pie showing off her new standing up skills.


Time Travel



Ugh! We are all so sick. This is one of the only times I wish that I was a child again. I would love to be able to go home and lay down and not have to worry about anything. Instead . . . I will be stopping by the grocery store on my way home from work, picking the kids up at daycare, paying bills, playtime, dinner, bath, bedtime stories, bedtime excuses, more bedtime stories, cleaning, the ever present internal fight I have (should I call my friend back . . . should I wait until tomorrow . . . maybe I should email. . . tomorrow), then bed at about 10:30 or 11:00 and then it starts all over again. No one really talks about this when you decide to become a mother. Not that it would have changed the outcome . . . I'm just saying.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Monthly SW Visit



We met with little charmer's social worker last night. She has to come out once a month to see her in our home. When she got there we arranged it so that my mother took the older children off to take a bath. They so have no boundaries and were trying to sit in her lap within two minutes and wanting her to come and play with them. They are certainly not shy and I think she (being childless and in her mid twenties) was a little taken aback. (That is a whole other posting!)

The sw sat next to me on the couch and I had the baby in my arms. Charmer was, of course, her charming self. She was smiling, singing and dancing. The sw was surprised and said "I have never seen her so happy and relaxed". I'm thinking, well, yeah since when you see her she is being handed over to strange people that she sees maybe once a week (and I mean maybe). She doesn't know them, she is in an unfamiliar environment and everyone is tense. I told her "This is what she is like the other 99% of the week".. . Happy.

Sick Day - The illness scramble



I just got a call from my daycare that they think Sweetie Pie has a sinus infection. Now suddenly I am forced into action. I have to call the pediatrician to make an appointment, check my work hours to make sure that I have the time I need to take her to this appointment, pray that she doesn't have anything infectious that will get her suspended from school for 24 or 48 hours and then motivate myself to get up and take her to the doctor when I am sick and feel like I've been hit by a truck.

Oh yeah and when I get to the pediatrician no doubt they will tell me 1. It is not infectious 2. It just needs to run it's course 3. There is no medication that can give her to alleviate her symptoms 4.Basically this visit was a wasted trip. Ugh!

Monday, April 28, 2008

Almost walking!


Little charmer has recently started cruising! She has taken her first steps but it was an accident and we aren't really counting it. My mother walked into the room and called her and she was startled and took two steps toward her but she then fell to her behind and hasn't done it again!

I can't believe how big she is already. Last night I was categorizing her clothes and putting them into storage bins to be stored for our future foster babies and I cried for the entire hour. When she came to us from the hospital at 3 days old, she was so tiny. I had to run out and buy preemie clothes and none of the 0-3 month clothes that we bought fit her. Now she is the smiling, cooing, playing, laughing, almost walking, soon to be 1 year old. Where did the time go?

A future Olympic swimmer - Um no!

We have just entered the world of swimming. The two girls (aged 10 months and 3.5) are in love. I see swim team in their future, lifeguarding classes, maybe even the Olympics. Ok, yes, I'm dreaming big. Happy explorer on the other hand is not impressed and even getting him to put his feet in the water takes the teacher about 10 minutes (no exaggeration) of coaxing. He is terrified and I have no idea why. He loves the bathtub. He loves the ocean (well, the sand). He does not love the swimming pool. Sigh.