Something for Mom

Last week we made a trip to Kohls so Dave could get some new dress shirts for work and finally use the gift card his mom got him for Christmas. I know I can't believe he still had it to. While we were there we got some summer clothes for Emma and a few new shirts for Ian. Little man still fits into all his stuff from last summer so he really didn't need more but I wanted him to have few nice things.

Last year at this time Kohls started this thing they call Kohls cash where for every $50.00 you spend you get $10.00 in Kohls cash to spend at a later date. Since I was the only one that didn't get anything last week I took the Kohl's cash.

The cash was good starting yesterday through May 6th. I was going to wait and go over the weekend but I had one of those really frustrating days at work. Since Dave was off today and at home I decided to take advantage and I left the kids at home with him and went shopping by myself. I don't know about you but for me just going to a store and looking around cheers me up so actually getting something for just me was even better!

I tried on a bunch of Capri's and tops even though I knew I wasn't going to be able to buy allot and of course everything looked great. That made the decision much harder but I finally decided to go with this







The pants I got in Navy but couldn't find a pic of them everything else is exactly what I got. I was glad to find a pair of sunglasses because one of the lenses in my old pair came out today on my way home from work. I ended up being very proud of myself because the total cost was only $2.00 more than the Kohls cash.

BY the time I got back home I was in a much better mood and was able to play with the kids for a while before they had to get baths and go to bed. Hopefully tomorrow is better because I wont be able to go shopping again.

Sunshine, Cleaning, and Sangria's

My weekend started off with a phone call at 8:30 Friday morning, a mere hour after I got to work. Ian was vomiting at the babysitters and running a fever so I had to leave and take him home. He got sick once in the car on the way home and then two more times once here then he fell asleep and woke up good as new a few hours later. As much as I didn't want to leave work and use more of my time it ended up being a blessing. The sun was out and it was finally warm. While Ian slept Emma and I started on the spring cleaning I had planned for the weekend. We got the kitchen, living room, and dinning room done. After Emma ate her lunch I decided it was time to let her play Mario Kart on the new Wii we bought Thursday. It was so cute watching her learn how to use the steering wheel. While she was playing Ian woke up and of course he had to get in on the action. It only took one race for him to offically be addicted! Since Ian was all better my MIL decided she still wanted them for the weekend so my mom and I took the kids up to her and made a pit stop at Polaris Fashion Place. I couldn't believe how warm it was when my mom and I walked out of the mall at 9 that evening.

Saturday Dave had to work as usually and he woke me up to say good bye a little after 8 that morning. I remember thinking that I would just lay there for a few more minutes, the next thing I knew it was 10:30. I couldn't believe I slept that long but it felt so good. The first thing I did was let Ginger out and unlike usually it was already hot outside. I came back in and opened all the windows in the house and turned the fans on to get the air flowing. Our house doesn't have central air (don't gasp it's ok) but we do have wondow units. Of course we don't have them in since it's April and it was in the 30's and snowing the begining of last week. I was a little worried that if I didn't get the air flowing early it would be too hot by mid afternoon. I always forget how cool this house stays when the windows are open. After that was done and I ate some breakfast I continued with my spring cleaning and tackled the breafast nook (a useless room in this house) and the dreaded bathroom. By the time I got done with those I hopped in the shower and got ready for the day. Then it was off to Wal-mart to pick up some things for dinner. With the sunny 80 degree weather it called for grilling. I purchased a couple of steaks, a baked potatoe for me, brocolli for Dave, and salad for both of us. I also bought some ingredients to make an Adkins Diet Chocolate Moose and White Wine Sangria (Dave is currently on the Adkins diet and doing great). When I got home I had to start the Sangria so that it had time to chill in the fridge. I thought it turned out really well. We had friends come over after dinner so I made a double batch and I probably drank half of it by myself. If you want to check it go here. The chocolate moose wasn't bad but you could tell it was diet. Like I said though some of our friends came over and they brought their Wii remotes and a few games. The guys played the Metallica Gutiar Hero for a while while us girls talked and when they were finally finished we all played Monopoly on Wii. I wasn't sure what it was going to be like but it ended up being really fun. Me being the dork I am thought it was cool how you had to shake the controler to roll the dice. It came down to Dave and our friend Christen who finally forfited to Dave because it was after 3 am and everyone but Dave was falling asleep.

Sunday both Dave and I slept until 11:30 which is the latest I have slept in a very long time. A friend of mine from high school's mother passed away last week so another friend and I decided to go to the showing yesterday afternoon. So I got ready for that and ate some lunch. When I got home from the showing my mom came over and the two of us went upstairs and cleaned the kids rooms. We also rearranged Emma's room to the way I wanted it when she got the big bed last year at this time. It looks so much better and she has more room to play now. I should have taken a picture of it for all of you to see how cute it is but I didn't think about it until just now so sorry. :) Dave also finally got around to putting the vanity my MIL got Emma for Christmas together and it is now in her room. By the time I was done with all of that I was so hot a sweaty because it was close to 90 yesterday and we only had ceiling fans upstairs. I'm pretty sure I lost a few pounds from sweating though.

I was sure when I got up today I would be sore from all the cleaning and bending but I surprisingly felt pretty good and it was so nice to wake up to a clean fresh house that has all the dirt and grim from the winter gone. I should say that I wasn't doing all the spring cleaning for myself even though I should have. At some point this week an Insurance Adjuster is coming out to look at the roof because we are getting a new one and they need access to the attic which you have to go through our living room and dinning room to get to the stairs in the kitchen and then up to the kids rooms. While my house is not a dirty one it is lived in one where both parents work and there are two young kids. I didn't want some stranger coming in for the first time and seeing it in it's normal everyday condition so until this man gets out here I will be a stress ball trying to keep my house prefectly clean. Is anyone else as crazy as I am? Anyway my point to all of this is even though I spent my kid free weekend cleaning I still got to enjoy the gorgous weather and I had some fun with friends so in my books it was a good weekend.

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

I knew the minute I loaded this picture that is was going to be the one I shared for Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta.



This is Emma, Ian, and my cousins son Dominic at my Grandma's house last Saturday. We always take pictures of the kids before they start their egg hunt. We have one normal picture that I shared earlier in the week but for some reason my two kids have weird looks on their faces and Dominic is showing off his missing teeth. This is one of those pictures that just makes me laugh because it's so ridiculous!

Now it's your turn so head over to Candid Carries and share your favorite picture with us.

Little Man

I'm thinking after Ian's Endocrinologist appointment today I need to come up with a better nickname for him.

If you remember back in January at our first appointment with Dr. Lazono Ian was measuring in the 3rd percentile for his height which was not good. We also had the blood test results showing his IGF-1 levels as being extremely low. The conclusion at the first appointment was to wait 3 months and then re-measure Ian to see if he was growing or not.

When the nurse called us back we stoped at the measuring station and had Ian weighed. In the last 3 months Ian has gained one pound which was great because it means his weight is still progressing normally. Then they measured his height and the nurse turned to Ian's folder before telling us what his height was. After what seemed like 5 minutes (probably only a few seconds) the nurse turned to us and said his height is the exact same as last time.

My heart instantly sank at that moment. I knew based on Ian's clothing fitting the same as when they were purchased that he probably hadn't grown much. I did however think that he would have some growth even if it was a very small amount. I never had my hopes up that this whole thing was a fluke, in fact I have had the thoughts the last 3 months that this appointment would not be good yet I found myself on the verge of crying when the nurse said he was the exact same. It may seem silly to some of you but part of me feels like I have done something wrong. I know that I haven't done anything wrong but I can't help thinking it. I also hate that something is wrong with my baby and I can't fix it with a band-aid and a kiss!

So after the nurse wrote down the numbers in Ian's chart we went to his room. One thing I liked at the first visit was that we didn't have to wait long for the Doctor to come in and it was same this time. When Dr. Lazono opened Ian's chart and read his height measurement he looked very surprised that Ian hadn't grown at all. He still went through all the exam stuff and measured Ian's head, arm spans, legs, checked his ears, eyes, nose, teeth, heart, lungs, and even his testicles. (I'm not sure if any of you have been to an Endo but with little boys they have this string of beads and each bead is a different size. They take a testicle and hold the different size beads up to them to see which one matches the size. Of course there are certain sizes for certain ages. Luckily for Ian his man parts are growing the way they should.) Except for the height measurements everything else was just fine with Ian. After all of that Dr. Lazono took Ian out and measured himself just to be 100% sure that Ian hadn't grown any and he actually got a measurement that was 3 millimeters less than the nurse got. Of course this was just human error and the result was still the same.

The next step in this process is to have a stimulation test and an MRI done. Because of Ian's size he can only do the 4 hr test which would consit of them giving Ian some sort of medication to stimulate the growth hormones and then taking blood from him every 20 minutes for 4 hours. We have decided to wait another 3 months before taking this step for a few reasons. This test is very invasive for such a little guy and we would hate to put him through it if we don't have to. We are also hoping that Ian will gain a little more weight so all the blood that they will take wont be be as risky.

For me I am not very hopeful that Ian will grow between now and July but Dave seems to think Ian just needs a little more time and he will grow on his own. I guess we will have to wait to find out who is right on that one.

I'm still sore and tired!

This past weekend ended up being a fun weekend despite the aches in pains in my knee and back.

Saturday the kids and I drove down to my Grandmas (moms mom) to celebrate Easter with that side of the family. Here in Ohio it was an amazingly beautiful day filled with sun, blue clouds, and a high close to 80. My sister had a friend meet her at my grandmas so she rode down there with us which made the drive for me easier.

When we first arrived it was just us there so Steph and I helped Grams with some things and then went to raid the movie closet while the kids played with their faviorite things at Mimis (their name for my Grams) house.





Our Grams husband Robert was a huge movie buff and collected a wide range of movies during his life. He also liked to video tape and photograph events when his health was better. What I leading you to is that Steph and I decided to pick a few old family movies to watch once everyone else arrived. The tape we choose had a Christmas Parade my dance studio was in from 1990. After that came Christmas Day with the family. Surprisingly it was at our old house instead of Grandma's that year. We all got a huge kick out of our clothes and hair styles but the best dressed award was given to my cousin Chris. He was 9 that year and was wearing the classic acid wash jeans and high top sneakers with a very strange t-shirt in neon colors with a figure of what looked like a man. The best part of his outfit however was the navy blue windbreaker that had HOT PINK swirls all over it, so many that you really didn't see anything else. Of course he was also sporting the spikey mullet hair do.

After the video we had an awesome lunch and great desert. If anyone wants an awesome light summer desert check out this recipe from Krafts Food and Family magazine. I made it Friday night and it was a huge hit!

Finally after all of us adults recovered from stuffing our faces with food we took Emma, Ian, and my cousins son Dominic outside for their Easter Egg hunt. In our family it is a tradition to lay eggs out in a path that leads to the Easter baskets. A few years ago to make this process easier we took letter stickers and put E, I's, and D's on the eggs so the kids would know which path was theres. We also hide eggs without the letters for the kids to find once they have found their basket.








After the kids found all the eggs us older grand kids and my Aunt Pat decided it was too nice to go back inside and that we needed to play a game of whiffel ball. My brother KJ and SIL Alicia were chosen to be team captains. Alicia picked me, Aunt Pat, and my sisters friend Casey(a guy). KJ choose Steph, Nick, and our cousin Chris. It just happen to work for us that Chris is coaching his son Dominic's t-ball team so he had all the bases in his car. The game started with KJ's team batting first and I was playing 3rd base. The second person up to bat hit a pop up in my direction and as I was running to catch it my foot found a hole in my grandmas yard which sent me flying thru the air and landing on my knee and face. Of course it had to be the knee that bothers me all the time. I think also twisted my back some in that fall but I'm not sure. All I know is that I should have just stopped right there because my body does not bounce back like it used to. For the first few innings KJ's team was kicking our teams butt but we eventually found our groove and made a good comeback. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to win the game but it was still allot of fun.

After some snacks and good conversation with my cousin Jer it was time for the kids and I to leave. The drive back took about an hour and half and by the time I got home and stepped out of the car I knew I was going to be in major trouble because my knee and back were killing me. I sat on the couch and watched tv the rest of the evening.

When I got up yesterday morning everything hurt despite the fact that I do full body cardio workouts 3 times a week. It was also rainy and grey outside. I decided that I was going to wear my sweats all day and just veg in front of the TV with the kids. We started by watching a DVD of McClintock (John Wayne movie) that I brought home from Grams house. Robert was a HUGE John Wayne fan and this was one of my favorite John Wayne movies to watch with him. The kids sat and watched most of the movie so I think they enjoyed it. After that the kids watched a few shows on Disney while I started some laundry and picked up the kitchen. Then my mom and KJ stopped by and ended up watching Jurassic Park and ordering pizza with us. The kids had never seen Jurassic Park and they loved it! When that was over my mom and KJ left to finish running their errands and the kids and I rented Beethoven on OnDemand. Just as that was ending Dave came home from work which meant it was time for me to start dinner.

I think it was smart of me to do nothing yesterday and just rest because I am still sore today but mainly in my knee and back areas but the game was worth it.

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

Yay it's Friday and with that comes Candid Carries Friday Foto Finish Fiesta.

This week I am sharing a picture of the kids coloring eggs from last Friday.



As usual Emma is smiling like a cutie pie but look at Ian's face. That boy is plain crazy. I used to not be able to get him to look at a camera. Now he will look most of the time be he makes faces like this.

Now it's your turn to share a silly foto, just head over to Carrie's place and join us.

One Year Ago

One year ago today I started this blog. I can't believe it's been a whole year!

I started this blog with a little encouragement from my friends Tif and Lindsay who both had one. I decided that this would be a good way to remember all the little and big things that happen in our lives.

Before the blog when one of the kids would do something cute, funny, or crazy and I would share the story with my mom or grandma they would always tell me that I had better write that down because one day I wouldn't be able to remember it. When it was just Emma I didn't think I would forget the big things then Ian came along and I had to remember more. Of course that meant I started forgeting things.

Since I started this blog I haven't had that problem and I have even referred back to this for details of things that have happened. My mom and grandma no longer tell me to write things down because they know if I think it's important I have it in here and for the most part they are right.

When I wrote my first post I was so nervous about it. I wasn't sure if anyone other than Lindsay and Tif would read it. I also was scared that if others did read it they would critize me. I've never been one of those people that was good at writing. In fact it was one of my worst subjects in school and the thought of people all over the world reading what I wrote was very scary. Thankfully I got over that fear very quickly and everyone I have met through blogging has been very kind to me.

I never thought something as simple as starting a blog to change and effect my life as much as this has. This has been a place for me to share my stories good and bad and connect with other people that have had similar situations. It's very nice to know no matter what you are going through there are others out there that understand or even if they don't understand they care. So for all my real life friends that read and all my blogging friends thanks for making this so great.

Here's to another year of blogging!

Easter 2009

Our Easter celebration began on Friday evening when the kids colored their eggs. Since they are still little I buy the cheap color tablets and they just dunk the eggs. I also only boil a dozen eggs total because they are just like me and wont eat them once they are died. I have tried everything to make them understand that once the shells are off they are just normal hard boiled eggs but they don't care. So here they are enjoying the 20 minutes it took them to dye there eggs.



Saturday my sister and brother Nick rode with the kids and I out to Heath, Ohio (where we are originally from) to spend time with my dads side of the family and our cousin Cathy and her husband who live in Switzerland. They hadn't been home since the week Ian was born 3 1/2 years ago. Heath is a small town that has been growing lately. It was strange driving through town seeing all the new restaurants and stores that have gone in and very weird to see two restaurants where my middle school once stood.





Once we got to my grandparents house we made our way inside there tiny little house filled with what seemed like a million people. My dad was one of seven children and all his brothers and sister where there plus most of there kids which consist of two a piece (except for Steph, Nick, and I) and then half of us grandchildren now have kids and we were all in a 3 bedroom ranch. You could barley turn your head let alone walk anywhere but it was nice to see everyone. At one point the kids were all getting restless so some of us adults took them for a little walk to see the neighbors horses. When I was little the house at the end of the street belonged to my second grade teacher and they had tons of horses. The horses are still there but my teacher isn't, so that was a little sad.

Yesterday morning the kids woke up to find a trail of eggs leading to the baskets the Easter bunny left for them. I'm not sure who started this but growing up my mom would also make three trails (one for each of us) with both the plastic and real eggs leading to our baskets and I have kept this tradition alive. All though the best years where the ones when the baskets and trials were outside but since Emma was born we have not had a warm enough Easter day to do that.



Of course the kids had to take everything out of the basket to get a good look at what they got. Then it was off to the bath and to get their Easter outfits on. In normal fashion Ian did not want to cooperate and have his picture taken so this was the best I could get.







Then it was off to Dave's moms house for a traditional Easter lunch, and egg hunt with Dave's cousins 7 girls, and then a movie for the adults, and play time for the kids. By the time we got home at 7 last night I was completely worn out and ready for bed.









Most people's Easters probably ended there but this year for us we will be going to my moms moms house this coming Saturday for Easter with all of them and then we will done. Hopefully Ian will take some better pictures because the two of them together in their outfits is just too cute!

Yes I am still alive!

Last Sunday I came down with Strep and it has taken this whole week for me to get back to normal. I used to get Strep allot as a teenager but it has been years since I have gotten this. Apparently a few of the parents of other kids at my kids babysitters had it the week before and for me it doesn't take much exposer for me to come down with it. According to the doctor it was a very bad case and they put me on a very strong antibiotic. I spent Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in bed. I finally went back to work on Thursday but it was a very long day but Friday was a better and today has been much better.

Before I got sick I had plans of writing a post for Sunday all about the great day the kids and I had last Saturday. I spent all of the morning doing some heavy duty spring cleaning. Around 1:30 that afternoon I called my friend Lindsay to see if her and her kids wanted to join Emma, Ian, and me at a park. It was a very nice and sunny day and after all the cleaning I didn't want the kids in the house to mess it up. So we drove over to Lindsay's house and then we all drove to the playground at Slate Run. The playground out there was really nice they had the normal swings which everyone likes but then they had two different play sets. One was for younger kids with shorter slides and bridges and the other had big slides, big bridges, a zip cord, and this strange stepping stone thing. All the kids had a great time and ran around like chickens with their heads cut off.

After the park Lindsay invited us to an Easter Egg hunt at her sisters church and a dinner afterwards. Of course the kids loved hunting the eggs and everyone they found had some kind of candy in it which made them even better. They both ended up with a ton of eggs. At the end of the dinner everyone family there was given one of those green grocery bags filled with canned good to take home with them. Apparently whenever this church has these meals they do this and you are asked to take the bag home after that you can keep it or give it to someone in need.

Last Friday and Saturday were very nice days here and then Sunday came and everything changed. I am very thankful to have made it through the week. There were a few moments where I really thought I was dying! So I am still here and kicking and I promise that by Monday you will have a full report of all our Easter events!

Monsters vs Aliens

Yesterday afternoon while I was trying to kill some time at work I had the brilliant idea to take the kids to a movie. It was rainy and gloomy out so a movie seemed like the perfect things to do. We had never taken Ian to a movie before but here recently he has been able to sit and watch whole movies at home so we thought he was finally ready to see one at the theater.

So I pre ordered tickets to see the 3D version of Monsters vs. Aliens (let me just say that movie tickets have gotten so expensive, it cost us $49.00 for all four tickets!). Dave and I agreed not to tell the kids what we were going to do and make it a surprise, I did mention to them that they had to be good because we had a surprise for them but I didn't say what it was.

When we got home I went and warmed up some leftover pasta from dinner on Thursday evening and when I brought the kids plates to the table Dave was just starting to play the OnDemand making of Monsters vs. Aliens. It was really funny to Dave and I how the kids watched the making of it and kept saying how they wanted to see the real movie. Finally it was time for us to leave, of course the kids were asking us the entire time where we were going but we never told them.

When we pulled into the parking lot Emma knew exactly where we were but she didn't know what movie we were seeing. Ian was a little confused as to what we meant by seeing a movie but he had a smile on his face so he must have known it was a good thing. I was so glad I had pre ordered tickets and printed them because the lines were so long. We got right in and of course we had to get some popcorn and drinks. While we were in line Emma spotted a bag of purple cotton candy and asked to have it so we got one large popcorn, a bag of purple cotton candy, and two large drinks for us to share.

As we were walking into the theater they handed us our 3D glasses and the kids each got a sample of the new crayola color explosion markers and paper. Like all movies they had a bunch of previews for upcoming movies and it appears that this summer will be full of a ton of family friendly ones. After the first couple a big sign came up that told everyone to put their glasses on and then they showed three previews for 3D movies that will be coming and they all looked really cute.

Finally the movie started and right off the bat the 3D effects were amazing. I had never seen a movie in 3D before so it was all new for me. The script for the movie was very funny and had some adult things that the kids wouldn't understand but it was also kid friendly for them. I was really shocked at how well both the kids sat and watched the movie. I'm pretty sure Ian didn't take his eyes off the screen the entire time, even to eat his popcorn. The only thing I didn't like was how the glasses were one size fit all. Towards the end of the movie but the kids made some comments about how they were having problems keeping them on. Other than that the whole night was perfect and I am so glad I had the idea.

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

For the first time in weeks, months, or even this year the week has actually flown by. I didn't realize this until about an hour ago when my sister made the comment that she couldn't believe tomorrow was Friday already. It has also been a fairly good week as well.

So for my Friday Foto Finiah Fiesta picture I am sharing this one.



I snapped this picture of Emma a couple of weekends ago shortly after we came back in from playing outside. It was actually a really nice Saturday with the sun shinning and warm weather. There is something about warm days in early spring that just makes you happy and this was one of them.

If you want to join in on the fun head over to Candid Carries.

Blackberry Humor

Today when I went to pick the kids up from the babysitters I had to wait around for a few minuted until Lindsay got there. She was bringing some catalogues for me to look at tonight so I sat down with the kids to wait. While I was talking to the sitter Emma picked my Blackberry up off the floor to look at the picture.

Like any kid she became fascinated with the phone and the keyboard. It was keeping her quiet and occupied while we waited so I let her play with it. When it was finally time to leave Emma asked if she could hold my phone in the car on the way home. I really didn't care so I said sure.

About half way home Emma asked me what kind of phone I had and I told her that it was called a Blackberry.

Note to reader, if I wasn't so lazy I would have a link here to my post about my BB so you could see the color of it but that is too much work for me tonight. So take my word for it it's RED.

She instantly started laughing and said to me that she thought it was more like a pinkberry!

Yes you have got to love kids and there thought process!

On a different note, all you moms out there should go and check out the giveaway that Two Little Monkeyes has going on right now. This women is truly amazing and her crafts projects are just great. As soon as I get some free time I will be making the hairbands in her tutorial.