Barnes Bunch

Welcome Chester to the Barnes Bunch!

2012-02-19T20:00:00.001-05:00

We added a new member to the family today. Meet Chester...

or Cheeto, or Cat as CJ tends to refer to him. Although he is starting to call him Chester too.

This is one super tolerant kitty too. Alyssa has pulled his tail and he doesn't flinch. She has grabbed his face and nothing. She stepped on him and he just got up and walked away from her. I hope he remains so calm with her and tolerant because I am a nervous wreck whenever she's around him.

Those of you who know me probably are thinking what about your allergies Monica? Well, so far I have been fine. Joe brushed him and the girls are going to keep him brushed (or they better). I am trying to limit my actual contact with him of course. I am not a cat person, but Joe and the kids are really enjoying him.

As far as cats go I guess he's a pretty good looking cat.

Teddy Bear PJ Day

2012-02-10T20:45:00.001-05:00

I know this blog has turned into a little of the Alyssa show lately. That wasn't really my intentional. The big kids haven't been up to too much and there hasn't been much to update on. But today CJ was very excited because it was teddy bear PJ day at school. He got to wear pajamas and bring a stuffed animal to school today. He was up and at 'em this morning and running out the door before I was even ready. I did manage to grab a couple of pictures of him though.

CJ's PJ's

Doggy!

So CJ got to dance and stretch today with his puppy dog. He drew a picture of a fishy too. He asked Joe if everyone at work wore their PJ's today too. Awww, if only there was a national PJ day. Or if only everyday was PJ day. So much fun!

Alyssa's 1 year checkup

2012-02-09T20:45:00.004-05:00

Hello blog peeps. Alyssa here and I'm 1 now. Yet again Mommy and Daddy made me go to the doctor today. They really need to stop bringing me there! I DO NOT LIKE IT! I didn't like it from the beginning when the nurse was measuring my head, to the middle when the medical student was touching me with her cold hands, and to the end where I was attacked by those long sharp pointy things! There were 4 things stuck in me today people! Oh and she also forced my mouth open to paint some sealant stuff on my teeth. Did not like that one bit thank you very much. I'm afraid the book I got in the end of it all didn't much make up for it. Although, the bubbles entertained me for about two seconds. Good thing it's a long car ride home and I passed out as soon as we got to moving. I was exhausted!

But you all don't care about my misery I'm sure. You're here to find out how I'm measuring up. I'm still a peanut growing along my own growth curve. I am up to 16 pounds 6 ounces and 27 3/4 inches tall now. I guess the doctor was pleased with my growth as she didn't say anything.

They are going to watch my talking. I've got 3 months to learn 3 words or Birth to Three comes out. Mom says she's not too worried because I babble a lot. Hey a girls gotta move what can I tell you. Who needs to talk with all these big people around doing the talking for me?

I baffled the student doctor with my crawling style. The doctor isn't concerned though because my hips are good and I'm standing and cruising normally. Why would I put both knees flat on the floor? That would hurt. And I get around just fine the way I do it.

The doctor is thrilled that I'm still drinking breast milk. Although, she doesn't like that I do it at night. So that was why the sealant was put on my teeth.

I do have a bit of a diaper rash which Mommy has been battling for a few weeks now. Seems it might have been a little staph infection which is healing and there is also a little yeast. So more cream for the yeast, but the staph is clearing up on its own so unless that changes we'll just wait it out I guess. I'm not really too bothered by it.

All in all I'm a healthy growing girl and looks like I get a reprieve from the doctor until May!

Princess Alyssa turns 1

2012-02-06T20:30:00.002-05:00

I had posted Alyssa's birthday letter on her birthday last week, but I never shared the pictures I took of her that day. We had a very tiny little party just the six of us. I made her her own cake and we had cupcakes for everyone else. And while Alyssa was very tired that night she sure did enjoy the frosting! She liked the cake too though. Here are some pictures of her from her cake:

Alyssa's cake, bright pink!

So shy, we were singing to her. Can you tell she's not used to being the center of attention?

Eating frosting!

Mmmm, good!

Here, want some?

Look at that hand covered in frosting!

Hmmm, what's this all over my hand?

Good thing we took her shirt off, frosting was everywhere!

What do you want me to do with this?

Picking at more frosting.

Ooooh!

Two fist time!

No, don't take it away!

What do I do with this little bit?

Getting really tired! Just about time for a bath and bed.

So that was the end of the pictures from her cake. I bathed her and put pj's on her and off to bed she went for the night. The next day she was in a much better mood and was making some really cute faces so I of course grabbed the camera to snap some shots of duck faces and other silly things and every time I put the camera up she grinned ear to ear. I still got some good shots though and well blinded her in the process.

Happy thought!

So shy!

Say cheese!

What a devilish grin

Such a happy baby!

Sweetness!

Giddy!

Giggles!

Lets get serious now!

Okay more smiles!

So now Alyssa is 1. Let me update you on what's going on. She has just the two teeth on the bottom. She eats everything. Her favorites are mommy's baking, ice cream, and chicken and rice casserole. She is still cruising, no actual steps yet, but she's getting there. She is still doing her "gimpy" crawl, but boy is she quick. She is exploring everything. She loves being around her sisters and her brother. She is beautiful and happy and amazing in every way and I cannot believe she has been a part of our family for over a year now! Where did the time go?

Happy 1st Birthday Alyssa

2012-02-02T23:00:00.005-05:00

Dear Alyssa,
Having you here for the past year has taught me so much as a mother. While you are our 4th child you are the first one who has breastfed all the way to a year old and you're the first one who I have ever used cloth diapers with.

You are my shy cuddly little girl. Like your sisters and brother you have a smile that lights up a room and can make any bad thing seem so much better.

I have loved watching you learn and grow this past year. At the same time it has been a little bitter sweet for me since you are our last baby.

I love how you adore your brother and sisters. You always have to know what they are doing when they are around and just be with them. I hope you will always be close to your big sisters and you and your brother will look out for one another.

This past year has been an amazing wonderful blessing for me. I look forward to what the next year brings for you. Starting to walk and talk more. I am sure there will be amazing things in your life and I am just looking forward to taking this ride with you.

Happy 1st birthday sweet baby girl. Mommy loves you!

Love,
Mommy

Looking back on a year ago

2012-01-31T09:00:00.001-05:00

I was looking back at some posts from this time last year. We were preparing to have Alyssa. We didn't even have a name picked out for her yet. I thought I was going to be induced, but was prepared for things to change at any minute. Good thing I was prepared, because nothing went as planned.

But this time last year I was at my last doctors appointment before Alyssa made her appearance. My mom had come to spend the day with me and learn our daily routine because she was supposed to spend my induction day here getting the kids off to school and home from school. But as I said those plans all quickly changed.

And now this year I am thinking about where the year has gone with Alyssa. She is perfect in every way. We have no party planned for her, but I am still trying to figure out a cake for her for Thursday. And planning a special dinner for her. And CJ and I have been practicing singing Happy Birthday to her. Kaitlyn keeps asking Alyssa what she wants for her birthday as if she understands or could answer her. Natalie wants a party, which we'll probably do at the end of the month.

And in 2 days my baby girl will turn one and we will find out what the groundhog predicts will happen for winter this year. It has been relatively mild this year, but I am still looking forward to the warmth of spring.

Barne's Bunch update

2012-01-21T15:10:00.001-05:00

So I've been really quiet here on this blog. So I thought I would share with you all what the Barnes Bunch has been up to so far in 2012.

Starting with moi: I started a blogger internship recently which has been improving things over on my Monica's Mom Musings blog. Here was my first blog post on the Mom's Talk Network blog though: Teaching Our Daughters About Real Beauty And The Photoshop Effect. Other than my blogging stuff I am doing all the usual mommy stuff too. Cooking, cleaning, refereeing, homework help. Typical mom stuff.

Joe: He's working. Someone is retiring at the end of the month so we are hoping he gets promoted.

Natalie: She's doing pretty good in 7th grade this year. Finally adjusted to middle school and the expectations of her.

Kaitlyn: She's been playing her clarinet. She had a concert this past week and it was very impressive. For a group of kids who have only been playing an instrument for a few months they did great. She's also doing well in 4th grade and making lots of friends. She just went on a sleepover last week at a friends house and wanted to stay the whole weekend.

CJ: We have been buckling down on the potty training with CJ. He has been dry and poopy free during the day for over a week now. So proud of him. I am hoping once we fully get him trained during the day that night time training will be super easy and we can be done with diapers, at least for him. He's loving preschool this year. He's always talking about the kids in his class and makes up the funniest stories too. He has quite the imagination on him.

Alyssa: Well, she has been doing what babies do. She still has her gimpy crawl, but she gets from one point to the other pretty fast. She is cruising the furniture and she can stand up. No walking yet. She loves to eat and we have introduced coconut milk to her diet as well which she loves. That was supposed to be for CJ, but he won't drink it and Alyssa loves it. In less than 2 weeks Alyssa will be 1! Hard to believe.

So that's what's going on around here. I'll try to get some recent pictures up soon.

Happy 11 months Alyssa

2012-01-02T23:00:00.005-05:00

Wow, 11 months old. Just 31 days until my baby girl turns 1. I can't believe it! She has been growing by leaps and bounds. We were worried about her weight a little, but I don't think we really have to worry. She is still breastfeeding, but she also loves to eat. She eats everything too. I made fajitas for dinner last night and while the rest of the kids were picking out the peppers and onions Alyssa was eating them. Joe had steak fajitas and she even ate some of his steak. There really hasn't been much we have found that she won't eat. She even ate pulled pork on Christmas Eve at my aunt's house.

She has just the two teeth, but she puts them to good use.

She still does the scoot crawl. I've never seen anything like it. It almost looks like she's just going to stand up and take off. Joe thinks she'll be walking before she turns 1. I don't think so. I might be eating my words.

She is cruising. Tonight she was standing at the couch and wanted to get to the coffee table. She was reaching for it and it was almost out of her reach. I think she might have been thinking about taking a few steps. I don't know though.

She is standing now for about a minute at a time. Definitely getting stronger on her feet.

She still is only saying Dada. She claps her hands together. She is a mama's girl most of the time, but there are definitely times when she prefers Daddy. She has the biggest brightest smile that lights up any room. She even had her haircut already. These past 11 months have been wonderful with her and I look forward to celebrating her first birthday with her next month.

Here are a few more pictures of the 11 month old...

So precious

What mom?

So happy

Lounging around

So this month I will be throwing myself into a very special 1st birthday party for Alyssa. Butterflies, dragonflies, and caterpillars have been an unexpected theme in her year. So that's what I have to work with.

Out with the old and in with the new

2011-12-31T20:00:00.004-05:00

As we say goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012 like everyone I have been looking back on the year. I have to say 2011 wasn't a bad year for us. Of course the birth of Alyssa made it extra special, but we had a lot of change in our family.

Adding a 4th child to the mix was of course the biggest change. But having three kids in three different schools. CJ started riding the school bus this year. Natalie got into the Avid program. Kaitlyn thrived in school. It was a great year and I'm a little sad to see it go.

I am looking forward to 2012 though. Alyssa's 1st birthday to start the year. Then after Natalie, Kaitlyn, and CJ make it through this school year they will start some important school year milestones. Natalie will begin her final year of middle school, Kaitlyn will start her final year of elementary school, and CJ will start his first truly official year of school with Kindergarten. This time next year I figure I'll be looking into different options for what we'll do for Kaitlyn for middle school. At this point in time I'm not entirely convinced that public middle school is the place for her and she might be better suited in a Montessori school for middle school. The last half of this school year for her is going to be crucial.

We hope to take a trip to Florida this year too to see family we haven't seen in way too long. So it's going to be an exciting year in 2012. We're sorry to see you go 2011, but looking forward to seeing what 2012 will bring The Barnes Bunch!

A Barnes Bunch Very Merry Christmas

2011-12-26T18:00:00.001-05:00

All of the planning and anticipation for the big day and it flies by in a flash. But I can say it was a great one this year. We were together and we were happy and we were loving which is all I can ever ask for on Christmas. Our gift opening began at about 9 a.m. after everyone had used the bathroom. And there was plenty of happiness in the day...

Kaitlyn bringing the gifts she got for everyone into the living room.

Kaitlyn realizes that it's a desk and it's all hers!

Natalie opening her first gift

Kaitlyn is excited that she got crayons!

CJ got Perry

Oooh flying monkies!

"Yay, a new one book"

Oooh, a crystal growing kit.

A slinky!

CJ opening a puzzle

A new book

Connect 4, now she has all of them

Yay, markers!

Cars!

Natalie got a Kindle

He got Handy Manny

What could it be?

The big truck he wanted!

A vibrating ball

Yay!

A plate and fork and spoon set

Alyssa got some blocks

What's in here?

She wanted her vibrating ball back

Okay you can open this now

CJ has a lot of fun with this one, so far Alyssa has had little interest in it

After all of the dust settled and everyone was happily playing with the toy of the hour I started breakfast. Pancakes, omelettes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage. Tons of food. Then we checked out the movie schedule while the kids played some more. We went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. Alyssa's first movie, but she hadn't napped much. So half way through the movie I couldn't get her to settle so I spent the rest of the movie out in the lobby walking her around. I popped in every once in a while, but I missed the last half. The kids had a good time though so that's all that matters. We came home and spent the rest of the evening playing with our new stuff. Alyssa got really cranky and wouldn't go to sleep. She was so out of her routine. All in all it was a great Christmas though.

Barnes Bunch Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T11:45:00.001-05:00

Christmas Eve, like has been the tradition for the past 3 years, was spent at my Aunt and Uncle's house with my parents, my cousin, her husband, and my Aunt's brother. Joe had to work later than usual on Christmas Eve this year so we arrived late. Which of course left me with the huge task of helping 4 children get dressed, do their hair, get baths and showers, as well as get myself ready. This way we could mostly just run out the door as soon as Joe got home from work. It of course didn't work quite that well, but we were out the door by the time I had planned to be which is a good thing.

We arrived at my aunt and uncle's house and were quickly served some delicious food. It might have been a good thing that we were late since everyone had already eaten, I actually got to enjoy a hot meal because my mom sat and fed Alyssa. She ate everything too.

After eating we opened gifts. Everyone got just what they wanted. So we ended up with some very happy children.

Alyssa's a happy baby

CJ goofing around

Pretty Kaitlyn

Pretty Natalie

Alyssa's big blue eyes

Alyssa's starting to stand on her own

Tried getting a shot of Alyssa's whole outfit, including the special diaper cover I had made to go with her dress

We left my Aunt and Uncle's house way later than we would have liked and didn't get home until about 11. The kids were exhausted though and went right off to bed with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads. And Joe and I settle in to start the arduous chore of wrapping everything. Yes, we leave it all to Christmas Eve. We were done by 1 a.m. though and here was what we were left with...

The stockings hung by the door with care (since we have no chimney)

Joe and I went to bed and got to sleep until about 8:30. Well, unfortunately that wasn't uninterrupted sleep since Alyssa still gets up, but it wasn't too bad. Check back later for our Christmas morning pictures...

Putting up our Christmas tree

2011-12-11T16:45:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we were busy busy busy. We started the day by rearranging the living room in preparation for putting up the tree. Joe went and got the tree out of the basement and all the other holiday decorations. We got the tree up and lights on before we had to leave to go to a friend's birthday party. We came home, had dinner, and got right to work on the actual tree decorating.

Alyssa's excited to get this tree decorated

CJ putting an ornament on the tree

Kaitlyn putting an ornament on the tree

Alyssa pulling herself to a stand

CJ wanted to show me his ornament

Angel Celeste Alia is always a part of us

CJ making a funny face

Looking at the tree from the inside out

The final product

I love our tree. It's so pretty! Alyssa is fascinated with the ornaments and has been batting around the ones on the bottom and pulling them off. We keep distracting her from the tree and showing her that we just look at how pretty it is. I'm sure we'll be doing this everyday until the tree comes down, but I refuse to have a tree that isn't fully decorated or a gated tree. She has to learn sometime. Nothing breakable is on the bottom that she can get and there are enough of us to keep a close eye on her.

And of course with the putting up of the Christmas tree comes lots of discussion about why we celebrate Christmas and stories about each of the special ornaments that go on the tree. They all have some sort of special meaning and history for our family.

Alyssa is 10 months old

2011-12-10T23:45:00.001-05:00

So I am over a week late with this post, but Alyssa is 10 months and 1 week old. It's so hard to believe we are so close to her first birthday. This has gone so fast.

You may recall at her 9 month check up there was some concern about her weight gain. We went back yesterday for a weight check and she gained over a pound. She is now 15 pounds 13.6 ounces. Oddly enough she still is not on the growth chart, but the doctor was pleased enough with that amount of weight gain that she said to just keep doing whatever we're doing and we'll see her for her one year. So I'll take that.

Alyssa these days has been doing her cute little scoot crawl and getting herself around very well now. She's also pulling herself to a stand and tentatively starting to cruise. Sometimes she actually looks like she's going to just stand up in the middle of the floor without holding onto anyone. She finally got some teeth. Her first one came in the day after Thanksgiving on the bottom right and then shortly after the one next to it started to come in.

She loves to eat whatever we're eating. She gets upset if she doesn't have what's on our plate. Some of her favorites are chicken, turkey, mashed potatoes, and carrots.

She loves to play peek a boo. She still hates when she's left alone in a room. If she doesn't follow you, then she'll cry. She is very stand offish with people she doesn't know or see regularly and gets a death grip on me if someone talks to her and she plays shy. She gets a huge kick out of CJ. When he's home she loves to follow him around and play with him. He makes her laugh all the time. She likes Natalie and Kaitlyn too, but they are more the other people who hold her than someone to play with I think.

Here are some pictures of her that were taken tonight:

Did you see that penguin diaper? Isn't that the cutest thing ever? I won that for her. And Natalie, who loves penguins, was so ecstatic. She actually thanked me for cloth diapering. Really, this is one of the things I just love about cloth. So cute!

So that's what's going on with Alyssa. Soon we'll be planning her first birthday.

Remembering 3 years later

2011-12-06T16:45:00.004-05:00

Dear Celeste,
No, Mommy did not forget. I could never forget the day I met your beautiful little face for the first time and had to say goodbye. December 6, 2008 will forever be etched in my soul.

I miss you my little Angel everyday. I cry less now when I think of you though. Don't mistake that as me not missing you because I do. I can't help but wonder when I see other 2 year old children what you would be like. I wonder which one of your siblings you would be looking most like these days. I wonder if you would be shy or outgoing. I wonder if you would be a daddy's girl or a mommy's girl.

I have come to terms with you not being with us, at least physically. So Celeste, I thank you for being our little Guardian Angel for the past three years. Thank you for giving us all a little perspective into how precious life is. Thank you for the time we did have even though it was so very short and only I got to feel your movements. Mommy and Daddy love you now and always. RIP sweet Angel Celeste Alia.

Love always,
Mommy

She's really off

2011-11-29T23:00:00.000-05:00

Alyssa has been crawling around for a while. I have been trying to catch it on video for a while now, but haven't been able to. I finally got it today. She has a unique crawling style. She has been finding ways to get around for some time, but now she is everywhere. If you put her down on the floor she usually takes off to go see what her big brother is up to. That is her favorite place to go, his room. But have a look see for yourself how this little girl gets around.

I thought by now she would have stopped doing this, but she hasn't. She just gets faster and faster. She always has her left foot on the floor too and her right knee under her.

Fifty Nifty United States

2011-11-22T10:30:00.003-05:00

On Friday Kaitlyn came home from school and begged us to come to her schools Stafford Showcase Monday afternoon. And all weekend long she kept talking about it and talking about it. It actually got to the point where we were like Kaitlyn if you don't stop we're not going. Of course we were going. Joe had the day off from work thankfully. So we were able to go. It was on the calendar. So yesterday afternoon we arrived at her school a little before 1:30 when the performance was scheduled to start. We waited outside with the other parents who were invited until we could go in. We went in and sat and all of the children began filing in. The principal kicked things off with a little music. "Celebration" to be exact. The kids danced around and then we sat through kids reading stories and poems and a little guess that number stuff. Finally it was the 4th grades turn. They went up there and sang a song called Fifty Nifty United States. I am going to warn you this song gets stuck in your heads. Kaitlyn should never forget how to say all 50 of her states in alphabetical order from this tune...

Veteran's Day 2011

2011-11-11T11:11:00.002-05:00

Thank you to all of the past, present, and future Veteran's who have fought for what we have.

I think this cartoon pretty much says it all!

Go check out my other blog, Monica's Mom Musings. Natalie is guest blogging for me over there today. You can read her letter to the Veterans on Veteran's Day!

Princess Alyssa has her 9 month checkup

2011-11-09T21:30:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone, it's me Alyssa and it's time for another update from me. It is November. If you remember back in August I was not looking forward to November. Well, I didn't remember that. Yesterday Mommy and Daddy took me to the doctor. Where strange people looked at me and made me cry. Then we went into this room and another stranger was touching me. I was stripped down to just my diaper and put on the scale which said I weighed 14 pounds 6 ounces. Oh yeah and I'm 26 1/4 inches tall now.

I got to play with some new toys for a little while and then that doctor lady came in. She seemed to be in a panic about something to do with my weight because Daddy took me out to the scale. This time I was 14 pounds 12 ounces, but that still did not make the doctor happy. I don't know why. They say I'm doing everything I'm supposed to be. Starting to pull to a stand, motoring around, laughing, smiling, babbling, feeding myself, and afraid of strangers. All totally normal for my age. I've been going along this growth curve I guess that the doctor was happy with right up until now. So now I get to eat more. Good thing I love to eat.

Then after the doctor did all this talking with Mom and Dad she started touching me. I was okay with it for the most part because she gave me this cool wood stick. That thing was really interesting and it sure tasted good too. I guess the doctor was okay with everything because she had my mommy get me dressed.

But then I had to get one of those sharp needles stuck in my leg. I heard something about a flu shot. Let me tell you all the bubble blowing and dancing toys in the world cannot make the sting of those needles hurt any less. Lets just say I was happy to get out of there. But there was some talk of me needing to get another flu shot in a month and a weight check. At least that time my big sister gets to get tortured with me though. I think my mommy scheduled us to go in together. I had a hard time sleeping last night though after that shot so I'm not looking forward to feeling like that again in a month. But I get to eat eat eat for the next month. I love that!

So until December...

CJ's 4th Birthday

2011-11-04T23:50:00.001-04:00

I was just sitting here and thinking uh oh I haven't shared how CJ's birthday went this year. So the fact that we didn't have Halloween this year because of no power sure made it hard to wrap my head around the fact that it was my son's birthday.

He got up Tuesday morning and came into my room where I promptly wished him a happy birthday. He spent the rest of the day reminding everyone that it was his day. It wasn't easy giving him everything he wanted either. We had to go find some place that was open to get him a cake because I couldn't bake him one and while we still had one from his party it had been in a fridge that had no power for 3 days. So that was kind of out of the question. Not that he minds not having mom bake him a cake though. He just doesn't like my baking.

So we got him a cake and tried to figure out something that we could cook on the stove top for dinner that he would like. We convinced him to go with chicken alfredo. So we got everything for that and picked him up a little gift of cars and a launcher. The perfect thing for any 4 year old boy, right?

Then we came home hoping for power, but no such luck. Still cold and still without power, but CJ had his new cars and launchers so he was set. We had some lunch and the kids played some games while Joe, Alyssa, and I laid down for a nap. When we got up we started making dinner and the girls headed down to our neighbor's apartment to see if she was looking for some company tonight. She was. The girls stayed down there and we finished making dinner. When that was done we gathered the food, cake, lighter, candle, and headed downstairs to share CJ's birthday with our neighbor. She at least was able to keep her kitchen warm by being able to turn her oven on. Ours wouldn't light for us. We could only get the stove top to work on ours. So it was nice to at least get to warm up. We had dinner, cake, sang happy birthday, and played games by candlelight for most of the night. CJ was wiped pretty quickly after all the excitement and ended up falling asleep in Daddy's lap. After completing our game we gathered our stuff and headed back up to our cold apartment. And that was CJ's 4th birthday. One to remember for sure. Here are some pictures of his cake...

Thank you to our neighbor for helping us keep warm and give CJ a good time on his birthday. I am relieved that CJ has never been upset by anything he didn't get to have when we were without power. It was a tough time for a child having the power go out during his party, having to not go out trick or treating, and then finally spending his birthday without power. But he seemed to enjoy it all none the less even though he didn't get exactly what he would have wanted if things were working the way they should have been. So I'm very proud of my boy for keeping positive through everything and embracing the power outage. The kids all did great considering.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Birthday party

2011-11-03T20:05:00.004-04:00

Well, CJ turned 4 two days ago and on Saturday, the day of a big October snow storm, he had a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday party. I had hoped the snow was going to hold off until after his party started, but no such luck. Around 12 big snow flakes came falling from the sky. We continued to prepare for the party. We had a few guests, but not everyone who had RSVPed. Totally understandable though. CJ had one friend from class and then we had some family friends here. It was a nice quaint little party. One which started out with lights flickering, to lights going off and on, to finally completely losing power to not come back on again for 84 hours. We made the most of it though and CJ had a blast. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

We started out playing a game of bean bag toss.

Then we had a break to play in CJ's room...

and eat...

Then it was time for Pin the Hat on Goofy

CJ got it on his belly

Waiting their turn to play Pin the Hat on Goofy

Where did I get mine?

Can't find Goofy

Did Spencer get it on?

Looks good

Another one way out in left field

Getting a lot of hats

Natalie takes the last turn

We have a winner!

Time for cake...

CJ and his cake

Singing happy birthday to CJ

CJ blowing out his candle

Time for presents...

He opened this Buzz Lightyear and said, "I wanted this all day!"

He wanted these Legos all day too

Opening another present

More Legos

I realized after the party that Alyssa didn't make it in any pictures so after everyone had left and we had nothing else to do but clean and wait for it to get dark and cold I snapped a few pictures of her in the kitchen...

I think from now on we'll refer to her as mini CJ.

So that was what a Mickey Mouse Birthday party looks like for a 4 year old with a power outage. Everyone had a great time. Quite the adventure. I don't think any of us will be forgetting the events of this party anytime soon.

Any October snow storm that ends with all of my family safe and healthy is a good one.

Alyssa is 9 months old

2011-11-02T23:00:00.002-04:00

So not only did we celebrate my birthday today, but it's also Alyssa's 9 month birthday. I think I say this every month, but it feels like she was just born. So lets see, what is she up to these days?

She is trying to crawl. She does get up on her knees for a little. She can scootch herself around on her butt when she's sitting. If she's on her stomach she'll either army crawl or push herself backwards on the floor.

She loves to stand. She pulls herself up on things even. She is getting better at standing while holding onto something too without too much leaning.

She makes a kissing sound and will even repeat it back to me. She really looks at you and tries to pucker her lips and all. Well she does pucker them.

She would eat whatever you put in front of her if she could. As long as it comes from something we're eating. She hates actual baby food though.

She still doesn't have any teeth which is fine by me. As we are still breastfeeding.

She is fearful of anyone that is not me, Joe, or the kids. She might go to someone else for a few, but if I leave the room she'll flip for sure.

She has a smile that lights up the room. She has a smile that makes me laugh every time she does it. She has a pout that melts your heart. And a cry that breaks your heart.

Here are a few pictures of her from the past few days. I didn't take any of her today though. It has been a rough day with lots going on though and she's asleep right now. So these will have to do...

And that is how Alyssa is doing. She has a checkup tomorrow so I'll probably have an update with all of her stats. I think she's doing great though.

Happy Birthday CJ

2011-11-01T08:00:00.002-04:00

Disclaimer: I scheduled this for CJ's actual birthday after the fact due to the power outage and not being able to get online on his actual birthday

Dear CJ.
What a crazy birthday weekend you had. It all started at your party with the power going out and lasted straight through a 3 day long adventure of no power. You probably handled it the best of all of us though. You said you loved the power out. That was until it was time to go to bed anyways. It is scary when it's pitch black though so I don't blame you. I think it's a birthday you'll never forget, but I hope it's not in a bad way.

You are growing so fast. It's hard to believe you are already 4. You are such an innovative little guy too. I love seeing how your mind works. So determined to do everything on your own now. You find a way to make everything happen. Like at school turning the light on with the broom handle. It blows my mind sometimes that you can come up with this kind of stuff. You do though and I think it's so great.

You have really come out of your shell this year. I love hearing about what you do at school and about your friends there. I love that you call your big sisters "your girls". And Alyssa is "your baby". You are such a great big brother to her always trying to show her the way and always wanting to feed her some puffs. Can't forget to take a few of those for yourself too though, right?

I do hope you enjoyed your birthday in spite of the no power and the coldness. We'll have to go all out for your birthday next year I think!

Happy Birthday sweet boy. I love you!

Love,
Mommy

Falling into fall

2011-10-25T23:30:00.003-04:00

The past week has been filled with some fun school activities with the kids. Last Monday Natalie's AVID class invited all the AVID students and their families to go to one of our local high schools and watch her math teacher coach the girls volleyball team. Natalie didn't think she wanted to go, but I felt it was important that Natalie participate in as many of these AVID things as we can. So we went and I think everyone had a good time. CJ was enjoying playing on the bleachers and taking some pictures with my camera...

A picture of the girls playing volleyball

A picture of his little sister

Me with the 2 little ones

Kaitlyn

Natalie watching the game

CJ insisted I take a picture of his triangle

Then on Friday morning CJ had his very first field trip to a local farm. I asked the teachers if we could meet them there and they said sure. So we got there after they had already been there, but we didn't miss much. They were just playing on the bikes and trains and stuff.

Playing on the firetruck

Going to climb on the train

The conductor.

Climbing on the train

Then we went on a hayride.

Holding on tight

Alyssa on the hayride

After the hayride the kids got to go on the bounce houses for a little while.

Then it was time to pick pumpkins...

Found the right one

Class picture in the pumpkin field...

And now with the teachers...

And to end their trip to the farm it was one final ride on the cow train.

When we got home CJ was cranky. I said something he didn't like and he tried to climb into his backpack. He doesn't quite fit...

Natalie had also take a trip to a pumpkin patch with school on Friday and brought home a pumpkin that they were told to decorate and bring back on Monday. Here's what she came up with...

And yet again another winner. The pumpkins were judged and today Natalie came home as one of three other children who received a prize and certificate for their pumpkin. A deserving pumpkin I think.

Everything is going well. I had Natalie's Parent/Teacher conference last night. Her teachers all like her. They all as usual would like to hear more from her. She has all A's and one B so far. She is doing well this year for the most part though so far.

Looking forward, we have CJ's birthday party on Saturday, pumpkin picking on Sunday, CJ's birthday next Tuesday, my birthday the following day along with a Pampered Chef/Avon party for my birthday. So everyone is very excited about the things coming up. I have been working on party stuff this week. I am expecting a relatively good turn out too.

Pumpkin Festival

2011-10-15T23:45:00.001-04:00

Today was our towns annual pumpkin festival. We entered a pumpkin. Joe and the kids worked on it today. Here is what they came up with...
Cannibal pumpkin

Joe and the girls brought it to enter it. They put it in under our family name, but they told them they had to put a grade so since Natalie was filling it out she put her grade and school.
Sitting on the judging bleachers

They came home so we could have dinner and what not. Judging wasn't going to be until after dark when they would be lit. We went back after dinner and couldn't find the pumpkin. It was on the winner bleachers...
A 3rd place ribbon for the 6-8 grade age group

Here was the 1st place winner in that category...

And the 2nd place winner...

Natalie loved this one because it was a penguin...

Now Elmo, that's a different pumpkin...

Natalie with the pumpkin

All four kids and the 3rd place pumpkin...

We were so excited to see a ribbon on our pumpkin. Last year we didn't get anything. So it was great to see something this year. There are always some really creative pumpkins there.

Celebrating a friend's 8th birthday

2011-10-09T22:00:00.000-04:00

Well, yesterday was a beautiful day. Our good family friend's son finally got to have his 8th birthday party. It was supposed to be last weekend, but the weather did not hold up for an outdoor bounce house party. So it was pushed back to yesterday and it was an unseasonably warm day in October filled with sun and fun. The kids all had a blast. There were only a few bumps and bruises too. So it was a fun day. Here's a little video slide show of the kids jumping in the bounce house and the rest of the birthday festivities.

Happy 8th birthday to Spencer! Thanks for including us in your day.

Happy 8 months Alyssa

2011-10-02T23:00:00.000-04:00

Alyssa is 8 months old now. How can that be? She is growing so fast. This past week I had written something on Facebook about how she's not such a baby anymore. After CJ had gotten home from school one day last week and ate his lunch he wanted to watch TV. I was feeding Alyssa and as soon as CJ turned the TV on and I put on Playhouse Disney for him Alyssa had zero interest in eating and had to sit with her brother to watch TV. She adores CJ so much. It is great seeing her try to chase after him.

She has been spinning herself in a circle on her bottom now. She's trying to get around. She reaches for everything. Nothing is safe from her reach these days. She hates baby food, but loves table food. She still has no teeth so we have to make sure whatever we give her is very small and very soft. She likes turkey, chicken, mashed potatoes (ate almost all of mine from dinner last night), rice, bread, and enjoys those Gerber puffs too.

She obtained a new skill today. While sitting on the couch with me she started pulling herself to a stand and then she would laugh. It was so cute seeing how proud she was at her new skill. Lets hope she doesn't skip over crawling though. Speaking of crawling she gets up on her knees, but can't get her whole stomach up off the floor yet. So she has been doing the leg kick to propel herself forward. She's getting the inch worm move down really well.

She has added some new sounds to her babbling. Now she says Dada. Of course she does not refer to Joe yet as Dada, but she babbles it a lot.

I thought she was starting to sleep through the night, but that was short lived. She still gets up to eat at night. I try to not feed her and just get her to go back to sleep, but usually she'll have nothing of it. As soon as she nurses though she is out.

Here are a few other pictures from today. She's getting so big...

And that is our beautiful, goofy, funny, tiny 8 month old!

Everyone loves a parade

2011-09-28T16:00:00.001-04:00

On Sunday the whole family went out to a parade. We had to drop Natalie off with some teachers from her school because she was in the parade. Then we had to walk everyone to where we were going to sit with friends for the parade. And we sat and waited to see Natalie and ~~embarrass~~ shout words of encouragement at her.
Waving to the firetrucks

My friend's daughter in the marching band

Look at how thrilled Alyssa was with her first parade

An old army truck

Alyssa still not super enthused with the parade

The kids looking for more candy

Even Santa was in the parade! With a surf board???

An old fire truck

The Shriners

A tow truck for the little Shriner car

Nice old car

Whoa horsey!

Natalie holding the banner for #1 middle school

We didn't embarrass her at all can't you tell?

Another old fire truck

Snoopy was at the parade too!

Natalie wearing her mum

It was a really nice day for a parade. Natalie said she won't be doing that again though. Ha, she had lost her water bottle so she was really thirsty and worn out. It was a long parade.

Natalie's open house

2011-09-23T15:30:00.001-04:00

Last night we went to Natalie's school to meet her teachers and find out what is expected of her this year. And because she made it into the AVID program they started out the evening for those 50 students and their families with a BBQ. They even had a raffle drawing which Kaitlyn ended up winning a $5 Target gift card. How cool is that?

So we learned a little more about the AVID program and met some of the other families that are involved and then we went to the auditorium to listen to the principal speak. Because of the percentage of students who did so well on the state testing last year they are raising the expectations of the students. So they are going to be pushed this year.

Also the principal had to address the new laws on bullying and cyber-bullying. If a student partakes in cyber-bullying even if it's at home, then the school by law has to take action. They have been talking to the children about how to become the person in the circle of bullies who stands up and tells someone. It's so good to hear them taking a huge proactive stance against bullying. Especially considering just yesterday on my Monica's Mom Musings' blog Natalie shared a personal story there.

Then we got to go meet her team teachers. They seem so young. They all seem nice so far though. I did not really talk to them. After that we went back to the auditorium to hear from the Unified Arts teachers. And finally it was done.

Kaitlyn and CJ went to childcare. CJ was a huge hit there. As a matter of fact so much so that one of the middle school kids that was watching them took a picture of him with her phone and said she was going to have it as her screen saver. Hmmm, that seems a little creepy. Some girl I don't know has a picture of my son on her phone. Wonder what she'll tell people about who he is? Sounds like he had fun though and so did Kaitlyn.

It was a super late night for all. When we got home at nearly 9 we had to send Kaitlyn and CJ to bed right away. Natalie had stayed after at school yesterday to make cupcakes for the BBQ and hadn't come home. We ended up meeting her at the school last night. She did do most of her homework, but still had stuff to do when we got home. So she had to finish that and then I had to type something out for her so she could get to bed at a semi decent time last night.

Thankfully the morning didn't go too bad this morning. Although, I did send Natalie to school without breakfast because we had to stretch her paper some to make it the length her teacher wanted it to be. So she was going to get breakfast at school, but apparently her bus was too late for her to do that. Poor thing must have been starving all day. I think this is going to be a very challenging year for Natalie, but a good one. Lots of new stuff for her. Including getting to march in a parade on Sunday carrying a banner that shows her school as ranked #1 middle school in the state. What an awesome opportunity for her to get to do that and so great that she's a part of the #1 middle school in the state.

Kaitlyn's Open House

2011-09-13T11:00:00.000-04:00

With the start of the school year comes a chance for us to get into the schools and the classrooms and meet our child's teacher and see their class and how their day goes. Last night was that night at Kaitlyn's school. Next week we have one for Natalie and I am hoping that CJ's doesn't end up being the same night as Natalie's. That would of course be the way it goes though since I can't be two places at once.

But anyways, we met Kaitlyn's teacher for the first time last night. I think he'll be great with Kaitlyn. He wanted to know how we got Kaitlyn to behave so well. Raving about her the same way her teacher did last year. I have to say I don't think I've ever experienced this where the teachers have been so impressed with my child's behavior. Let alone two in a row. Now don't get me wrong, I always get compliments about my children and how they behave. It has just been very different these past two years with Kaitlyn. I did want to make sure that Kaitlyn is not trying to play her teacher though so I talked to him about pushing her. She has this thing where she gets to a point where she says okay that's all I can do, but if you nudge her just slightly (and this is the rub with her because you can't push too hard) then she will really shine. I think her teacher this year will do okay with it. Probably not as well as her teacher from last year. He had such an amazing understanding of her from day one. Kaitlyn actually considers him her hero. I think that's so sweet.

Speaking of her teacher from last year, we got to see him last night too. He moved up to teaching 5th grade and we told him we hope Kaitlyn gets him next year. He told us to talk to her teacher this year. So I will definitely be doing that probably around spring conferences. I truly think he will be the perfect teacher to help prepare Kaitlyn for middle school.

We spoke with Kaitlyn's special reading teacher. She's changing her schedule up a bit this year. Instead of seeing her twice a week for one hour blocks she's going to do it 4 times a week in half hour blocks. This way she can push a little harder and they'll know there's an end in site. Sounds good to me. She said Kaitlyn is picking up right where they left off last year so I think things should go well.

Finally we got to hear from all of the grade level teachers. They will rotate into the other classrooms this year again for some lessons. They are pushing the CMT's and preparing for that already even though it's not until March. The band teacher came in to talk about the kids starting band this year too. That starts up for Kaitlyn on Thursday. She should be getting a clarinet from the school.

And that's how we're starting out the school year. Very excited to see what's going to come for her this year. She made such great improvement in her reading last year and I hope she has the same success.

Decade gone, but not forgotten

2011-09-11T10:15:00.006-04:00

Ten years seems so long ago. How could anyone possibly remember what exactly they were doing on that day? Let alone an entire nation. We remember! We will never forget!

Natalie was asked to bring a current event article to school on Friday for Social Studies. She chose one on Cancer Awareness month (which is this month by the way), but many children brought in articles about September 11, 2001. Which of course sparked discussion about the events of that day. Natalie was just 2 1/2 years old. She of course does not remember what happened that day. She was actually sleeping when it all happened. I had just gotten up and was checking my email as I usually do. Joe was at work.

I was glued to the TV after I saw all the news updates about it. I watched the 2nd tower fall. I watched everyone running. I watched the smoke and debris. I watched the chaos. I cried. I worried. I thanked God that none of my family or friends were on any of those flights or in any of those buildings. I wept for the families who lost so much. I wept for the families who will never have complete closure because there is no body to bury. I wept for my unborn baby. I was bringing another child into this world filled with people who were so terribly cruel to innocent people who were just going about their day as I was. I gave birth to that baby girl 7 months to the very day of the events that occurred on September 11, 2011. And it was very much in the news as I sat in my hospital bed holding my new baby. I began to think about those women who were in the hospital giving birth that very day. I began to think about those women who had to give birth to the child they were pregnant with on September 11, 2011 who's husband would never get to see because they were taken away from their family far too soon. Those poor babies growing up without a father. That could have been me, delivering Kaitlyn all on my own.

An entire nation bonded in an instant. To never forget the events that took place. An entire nation remembering today a whole decade later where they were on September 11, 2001. The patriotism our country experienced on that day. We wave the red, white, and blue for the passengers of those four airplanes. We wave the red, white, and blue for the victims in the towers and the Pentagon. We wave the red, white, and blue for the firefighters and emergency personnel who responded to the 911 calls to try and rescue people. We wave the red, white, and blue for our American soldiers who are fighting the fight that was begun here on 9/11/01. It's a decade gone, but definitely not forgotten!

Check out the My Memories giveaway by My Special K's

2011-09-10T22:00:00.000-04:00

So my friend Renee over at Life With My Special Ks is having a giveaway going on right now until September 20th. She's giving away the software for free for My Memories. And what that is is an online scrapbooking site which you can get printed out.

Now I love scrapbooking, but don't really have the patience for cutting and gluing. So whatever sites I can find where I can make a scrapbook page makes me happy. And with Alyssa's birthday coming up (people it's less than 5 months away) I need to get to work on her scrapbook to go into her time capsule. Hey, it's not like I have any other kids birthdays coming up. Oh wait, there's CJ in November ;). No need to worry I haven't forgotten about him and the wheels are turning for his birthday as well. Hey, those that know me wouldn't be surprised to know that my wheels are always turning when it comes to planning my children's next birthday party. So really no need to fret.

But anyways, seriously you should go enter this giveaway because there are a ton of scrapbook pages for this. I think I could have fun with it.

Labor Day weekend 2011

2011-09-08T22:10:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend between Joe's work schedule we did manage to make some memories. We went to Lake Compounce on Saturday and then Monday we went to the park. Alyssa is able to sit in the baby swings now. She's not as big of a fan of the swings as Natalie was, but she seemed to have a good time. I put together a little video slide show of our weekend for you to enjoy. Sorry for the lack of pictures of Kaitlyn on Saturday, somehow she escaped my camera's lens.

It was a nice weekend!

Riding the school bus

2011-09-07T22:25:00.004-04:00

Today was CJ's first day on the school bus. He seemed fine with it, I was a nervous wreck. I put on a happy face about it today though and woke him up all excited about taking the bus. Don't need him getting any of my fears. We stood on the porch with Kaitlyn today trying to figure out who's bus would come first. Technically CJ's came first, but Kaitlyn's was right behind so I had to send her to the corner while I was getting CJ on the bus. He is so tiny he had to crawl up the stairs on the bus because he couldn't get his foot up on the step. We got on and I strapped him in and took this picture.

I asked the driver when I should expect him to be back and she told me 11:40. So I went inside and fed Alyssa and tried to keep myself busy to not think about my 3 year old on the bus. Then before I knew it it was 11:40. So I headed downstairs and waited on the porch for 30 minutes for the bus to come. I was definitely getting nervous, but also I understand that the driver is still learning her route and the kids and the parents and there could have been a problem on the bus or something. CJ was very happy when I got on the bus. I took him off and asked him about his day. He told me they have playdough at his school! Ahhh yes playdough is great when mom has a playdough ban in the house. They also have toys and he got to play he told me. I asked him about the bus and he said it was bumpy, but it was fun! Well, that's good to hear. He will get on the bus again tomorrow. He is growing so fast. What a difference between last year and this year. By the time he starts Kindergarten next year he's going to be running onto the bus and forgetting to give me a kiss goodbye.

CJ's 1st day of Pre-K 4

2011-09-06T22:00:00.001-04:00

All 3 children are officially in school. CJ started this morning. He was pretty excited to be going. He got up and ate breakfast and then got dressed and brushed his teeth, washed his face, and brushed his hair. Well, he had some help with all of that. Joe brought Kaitlyn to the bus stop and the bus that we were told wouldn't start for CJ until Wednesday pulled up in front of the house. Thankfully the bus driver was understanding that he wasn't going to be riding it today, but at least I knew about when to expect it tomorrow. It works out pretty well with Kaitlyn's bus too. Before we left we took our annual back to school pictures...
handsome boy

Got his back pack

All ready to go out the door

At school

Waiting for his teacher

Going in with his teacher

After dropping him off at school we ran a few errands to keep busy and before we knew it it was time to pick CJ up from school. He came out and was super excited to see us. He even had a few stories to tell us about his day which is a huge improvement from last year. He told us he played with puzzles and his teacher read him a story about a bear. Oh yes and we can't forget about his snack (which mommy had thoughtfully placed a note for him in) and he used the potty twice he said. Sounds like he had a great day. No one cried this year either so that's good. There's always tomorrow though. First day on the bus. This I am super nervous about. After a bad experience with a child of mine and a bus I was hesitant to do this, but I know I have to get him used to this and I need to get used to it too. At least his bus driver isn't the same one that left Natalie alone on the bus. Well, considering she was fired she better not be driving the bus.

So anyways, there might be a few more pictures to share of the big boy on the bus tomorrow. He was very tired by the time we got home today and I'm sure tomorrow is going to be worse. I wouldn't be too surprised if he's asleep on the bus when I get him off tomorrow.

I have a video slide show from this weekend that I will be sharing sometime this week too so be on the look out for that. I am glad to be back into a routine again. My plan for tomorrow (if Alyssa will cooperate) is to go through CJ's toys and clean things up in there while he's at school. I'll really need something to keep myself distracted tomorrow from thinking of him on the bus.

Look who's 7 months old

2011-09-02T23:00:00.001-04:00

Happy 7 months to Alyssa! It is going so fast. She is doing great. No teeth yet, but she sure is drooling a lot. We have been trying some baby food with her, but she would much rather skip over that and go right to table food. Those teeth really need to hurry up and come in. She doesn't have much interest in baby cereal or other mushy baby foods. We aren't pushing anything too much with her. It's fine with me if she skips over the baby foods and goes right to table foods instead.

Lets see, what else can I tell you about Alyssa? She's sitting up for longer and longer periods. She can almost get herself into a sitting position on her own if she's slightly propped up. She is starting to pull her knees under her trying to get in the crawling position. She likes to eat her toes. She loves her siblings like crazy. She is very picky about her pacifier. We found this one out the hard way by losing her favorite pacifier.

We are still cloth diapering and loving it. There are so many cute diapers out there in cloth. Her hair is getting long. She likes taking a bath with her big brother. She loves getting out of the house whenever possible.

I can't believe she is now closer to her 1st birthday than the day she was born.

First day of school 2011

2011-09-01T22:40:00.005-04:00

The 2011/2012 school year has started. Natalie is now in 7th grade and Kaitlyn is in 4th. I'm looking forward to great years for both of them. CJ goes to preschool on Tuesday.

So yesterday we had gone out to enjoy the last day of summer and get a few last minute things. When we came home we had no power. That made it interesting for trying to get things together for the first day of school. I was labeling school supplies in the dark. Natalie who was already a bundle of nerves was freaking out about how she'd get up in the morning. The power came on just as we were sending everyone to bed so that was a relief.

This morning Natalie got up with no problems and showered and dried her hair. I got up and found her all dressed and sitting on the couch with her head in her hands. I think she might have been more nervous this year than last and this wasn't even a new school for her. I had to remind her of what needed to be done. We snapped a few pictures and she went off to catch the bus.

Here's my big 7th grader...

A shot of the girls together...

Backpack on...

Out the door...

Once Natalie headed off to the bus stop I made sure Kaitlyn was getting all ready. I kept checking out the window to see if Natalie's bus had come. School starts for her at 8 a.m. and her bus didn't pick her up until 8:05. Perfect!

Kaitlyn got ready pretty quickly and was eager to go out the door. I took some pictures of her and then we headed outside to wait for her bus.

Here's my big 4th grader...

Heading out the door...

Going down the stairs...

Heading to the bus...

One last so long before getting on the bus...

And then my day with just the two littles began. It wasn't too bad, but around the middle of the day I was getting very anxious to hear about the girl's day.

Natalie came home very excited. She likes her teachers and feels much more confident about things this year. While her best friend is on her team they don't have any classes together, but that doesn't seem to be bothering her too much. So things so far seem like they are going to go well for her this year.

Then Kaitlyn came home and seems pleased with her teacher. He's not the best she said. She was happy that she did get to see her teacher from last year though. And she's writing an "All About Me" thing and wants to have a picture of last years teacher to put him down as her hero. She kept talking about how he was a hero to her because he helped her so much last year. I'm so glad she had him. And I'm hoping that she will have a wonderful experience this year too. I think she will. She adjusts pretty easily to things. She did tell me that her teacher didn't have any books she could read. She asked him for help and he found her one, but she said it's tricky. So we'll see how he handles her. I told her tricky is good because it's good to be challenged.

So one day down 179 to go. I think we'll survive. I survived my big homework night. All papers are filled out and ready to be returned to school tomorrow.

CJ's weekend

2011-08-24T11:00:00.000-04:00

This past weekend while the big girls were off with their grandparents we did fun things with CJ. On Friday it was bowling, thanks to the free summer bowling program in town...
Choosing his ball

Will it knock down the pins?

Moving the ramp

Handsome boy

1...2...3...Go!

Big boy carrying his own ball

Okay, I did it!

Bowling freestyle

We bowled two games and CJ did really well. He always ends up losing interest about a few frames into the 2nd game, but this time without the girls there too he stayed interested longer. There wasn't much time for him to get into anything else between turns.

On Saturday we had such a nice day so we decided a picnic in the park and some fishing was in order...
CJ's 1st catch of the day!

CJ's 2nd catch of the day!

And CJ's last catch of the day!

Then we came home to wash up and relax for a few before going to Chuck E. Cheese. CJ got my camera and took this picture of his sister...

Not too bad of a picture for a 3 year old. I wish he would have moved his chair out of the way first, but he did good. And with that we were off to Chuck E. Cheese. He had a blast running around. I didn't get any pictures because it's hard keeping up with a 3 year old and pushing the baby around in the stroller. He was so cute when we left though. He said, "Thank you for taking me to Chucky! We come again morrow?" Sorry baby, but mommy and daddy can only take so much Chuck E. Cheese.

And that was CJ's weekend.

Alyssa's 6 month checkup

2011-08-22T21:00:00.001-04:00

Hello from Princess Alyssa! I'm 6 1/2 months old now and doing great. I am now 14 pounds and 25 3/4 inches tall. My doctor says I should about double my birth weight by now. Even though I'm not quite double the doctor still seems pleased. As I am sitting up and passing things from hand to hand. I babble and roll over in both directions. So all things I'm supposed to be doing by now.

I surprised mommy by handling the exam very well. The doctor was so funny playing peek a boo with me. I love peek a boo. How did she know that? And she had all these neat shiny things hanging off her neck for me to grab at. Loved it! Just when I thought I was in the clear because mommy started putting my clothes back on that doctor came back in with these long sharp things. She started out giving me some drink. I really wasn't too thirsty though and spit some out. Then my world changed and not for the better. They started blowing bubbles and playing these silly dancing toys and then they stuck me in the legs with those sharp things. That hurt! Then the doctor picked me up and started dancing me around and making me pop the bubbles. Just give me my mom. Finally she handed me over to my mom and things were better.

I was so happy to be out of there. I do have a bit of a yeast rash so we had to stop at the pharmacy to pick up some Nystatin. I'm hoping I don't have to go back and do that anytime soon though. I think I heard my mom say something about an appointment in November. I am not looking forward to November.

I guess until then! Bye from Alyssa!

Don't forget to vote for Kaitlyn in the Messiest Eater contest!

Messy eater contest

2011-08-22T10:10:00.002-04:00

I entered Kaitlyn into a contest that I felt was very fitting for her. Don't worry, I asked her before I did this. She has been asking me since I submitted the picture if she won too. Well, voting has begun and I'm calling upon all of my readers to go vote! You can vote for her once a day. Please pass this along. I'm aware that she is probably the oldest in the contest. I find it endearing that she still enjoys her food so much that it doesn't always all get into her mouth. I don't know how she manages it either. If I recall correctly this ice cream incident ended up with ice cream up to her forehead and on her arms even. By on her arms I mean up to her elbow. So please go vote for this 9 year old who really gets into her food.

Thank you!

Monica's Musings #17

2011-08-16T23:30:00.000-04:00

Time for some random things about the family.

*I finished buying all of the kids back to school supplies. That includes Natalie's binder. I made that a much harder task for myself than I had to, but I had a reason to as well. And Natalie is very happy with her binder. I just hope it will work out for her. She's going to have to make it work.

*Somehow Alyssa ended up with this scratch on her face...
It goes from her nose to the corner of her eye. I'm not sure if it was a casualty of her brother or if she did it to herself. I think it bothers me more than it does her.

*Hey, did you see in the picture above that hand on top of Alyssa's head? That's CJ's hand. And yes he has purple finger nails. He wanted his finger nails painted by Natalie today when he saw my toe nails this morning. Much to Joe's objection I let her do it. He has peeled most of it off now so I knew it wouldn't last long.

*Speaking of my toe nails, look how pretty...

It's actually really nice that Natalie is at the age where she wants to do these kinds of things to me instead of me always doing them to her. She had a lot of fun doing this and I think it looks pretty cute. I never paint my toe nails either, so what a treat!

*Kaitlyn loves holding Alyssa. She often carries her around. Well, today while I was cooking dinner she even got Alyssa to fall asleep on her. Awww, so cute...

*CJ might not be going to school this year. We still haven't been able to get him to potty train. Today he sat down on the floor and just peed and sat in it. And yet other times he can tell us he has to go all the time. I can't figure him out. Must be a control thing. We might be able to get away with him at school because he still does do really well when we are out. It's when we are home that he pays zero attention to the fact that he needs to use the potty.

*I almost don't want to say this. It has only been a few days after all. I think Alyssa is sleeping through the night though. Well, she has for the past 3 nights. So maybe possibly she is sleeping through the night. That sure would be nice.

*Cloth diapers are still being used in our house and I'm still really enjoying it too. There are so many cute diapers out there. I really could make this an expensive habit if money were no object.

Well, that's about all I have for now. Plenty of updates coming soon as we start another new school year.

Getting excited about Back to School

2011-08-09T14:00:00.001-04:00

Well, it's that time of year again. The class assignment letters are starting to get sent out for the elementary school students. The team assignments for the middle school students. Everyone is getting ready to start a new year. Everyone is starting to get excited.

Natalie's team assignment came in the mail last week. We already knew what team she was going to be on, but we were excited to get her supply list so we could start working on getting some stuff. Thankfully no one will be needing new back packs this year. In spite of Kaitlyn constantly telling me what she wants for a backpack she will not be getting a new one. We spent a lot of money on backpacks last year for the express purpose of not having to buy them for a few years, hopefully. And everyone's backpack is still in good shape. So she's stuck with it for another year.

Kaitlyn's teacher assignment came today. Her only hope was that she NOT get one teacher. And she did NOT get that teacher either! Yay! She's very happy with the teacher she got. I will be calling him in a few weeks to set up a conference so we can discuss what Kaitlyn will get this year for her special accommodations. Looking forward to a great year and found out that her awesome 3rd grade teacher is now teaching 5th so thinking it would be so neat if she got him again for 5th grade.

Natalie called her best friend today to find out what team she got on and they are on the same team. And now Natalie is really looking forward to 7th grade. I'm looking forward to it too. That was a huge issue for her last year was the friendships she had. She bonds really strongly to people so it was hard not having her best friend on her team. Now she will be unstoppable with her best friend by her side. So I'm really excited for her this year.

We still have a few weeks of vacation left. They don't go back until September 1st. So we will continue to enjoy our summer vacation and prepare for an awesome 4th grade year for Kaitlyn and 7th for Natalie. Oh and lets not forget, CJ in Pre-K4 this year. Although, if he doesn't shape up with this potty training they might kick him out. We're still working on it. I think it's just at home that he's not potty trained though so maybe he'll be fine at school. He doesn't start until after Labor Day though so we get an extra five days to work on things.

6 months of Alyssa

2011-08-02T23:00:00.000-04:00

I think I blinked and half a year went by. Alyssa is now officially 6 months old. Here's a little peek of how she has grown and changed over the last six months...

She is getting so big. I'm going to guess that she's probably around 14 pounds now. We won't find out for sure for a couple more weeks though. But here is what she has been up to.

She is still exclusively breastfed. Although, I think that will be changing very soon. She is getting much more interested in other food and has been nursing much more often so I think it might be time to add a little more to her diet.

Teething has begun. No teeth yet, but she is drooling and hands are usually in her mouth when she's awake. She chomps down hard on anything she gets her hands on.

She is very interested in toys now. Her feet are a pretty big hit too. If she doesn't have a toy in her hand then her feet are.

She is getting better and better at sitting unassisted everyday. She can pull herself up into a seated position too if she is partially propped up.

Alyssa pretty much always has to have her eyes on me. She definitely knows who I am and that I am her food source. If I'm in the room she will practically jump out of who ever's arms are holding hare to get to me if she's hungry.

Alyssa likes to roll around. Diaper changes have gotten fun with her trying to turn over every time.

Speaking of diapers we are still cloth diapering. It hasn't been all that bad. It seems to be working out nicely.

As far as sleeping goes she is still getting up at night. It's not too bad though. She wakes once to eat and I usually just lay down and feed her and will fall asleep while she eats. So it hasn't been causing too much less sleep for me.

Alyssa has certainly found a place in our family and our hearts. We are all enjoying watching her grow and change and try new things. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next six months are going to bring for her too.

CJ-isms #2

2011-08-02T00:00:00.001-04:00

Wow, I haven't done one of these in a really long time. CJ still cracks us up with the things he says and does. And three is a really interesting age. I think in some ways it might actually be more terrible than the terrible twos. I wouldn't want to go back though because even when he's at his worst his best is just so great these days. He has some really funny reactions to things. So here are a few of his latest antics...

*If I tell him to do something and he really doesn't feel like doing it, if he doesn't throw a temper tantrum, then he gets up and storms out of the room and will say something like, "Fine, I go to bed!" Okay, well while I really would like for him to pick up his toys I don't think I can argue with him going to bed. It's not really a punishment for me and I'm not sure why he thinks it is.

*He gets really fed up when I ask him questions sometimes. I ask him a lot of stuff. What's your name? Where do you live? How old are you? You know important information I like to quiz him on from time to time in case he needs it. If he doesn't feel like talking to me though if I keep pushing he'll turn his head in the air, cross his arms over his chest, and say, "I not talking you!" with as much attitude as he can possibly muster.

*One day Natalie was cleaning her room and she had told CJ to get out. He was really hurt by this and told her, "You broke my heart!" Where does he get this stuff? And the way he said it too; it made all of us feel so bad for him. It took some time and some begging and pleading on Natalie's part too for his heart to not be broken anymore.

*I almost wish he'd use that line more often though because the newest one of, "I hate you!" is really driving me crazy. He doesn't understand it though, but Natalie and Kaitlyn think he knows exactly what he's saying. Even though he'll tell his book shelf that he hates it at random times or his sock or some other random thing he runs into. He says it with the same gusto he tells his sisters that he hates them too. So sometimes Natalie and Kaitlyn try to correct him and "punish" him. Like today Natalie wouldn't let him out of the kitchen until he said he loved her. Sigh, I had to explain yet again that we need to ignore this one from him and he doesn't know what he's saying. He gets a reaction though so that's why he says it.

*Speaking of random things he hates. He hated his name today. He said, "I hate my name!" So we talked about what a better name would be and what we should call him and he wants to be called Crash. It did not last for long. He quickly decided CJ was okay. See what I mean though about not getting the word "hate".

*At random times he'll inform any one of us that we are his best friend. It tends to go something like this, "Mommy, you're my best friend!" Which of course I'll reply with something like, "Aww, thanks CJ you're my best friend."

*Just as easily as he makes you his best friend though he will take it away. Much like how he tells me he's not talking to me he'll do that same action to tell one of us that we are in fact NOT his best friend anymore.

*CJ still isn't too big on hugs and kisses. So lately when I ask him for a kiss if he's wanting to give any out he'll do it on my arm. He does not like to kiss on the face usually.

*If he doesn't want to give a kiss or a hug he'll tell me it's broken now. I haven't figured out how to fix it either.

*He has definitely gotten better at saying I love you. That is still one of my favorite things from him. "I love you mommy!"

As you can see though he tends to run very hot and cold. You have to carefully ride his moods and maneuver them. He is super stubborn too. Too bad for him I'm more stubborn than he is. It's good to know though that when he gets in one of his moods they are usually short lived. Unless he's tired. That usually cues bed time for him though.

Tales from the potty part 4

2011-07-27T23:45:00.002-04:00

Oh how I'd love to say we are done with diapers for the boy in this house for this update. Or at least that we are completely day trained! Unfortunately, that is not for this update.

I really thought we were there. Well, not so much. However, apparently he is out of the house trained. When we go out he is great about telling us he has to use the bathroom. He can even hold it when we have to wait in line or can't find a bathroom right away.

When we are home things don't go so well. Sometimes he does good, but most of the time I swear we are taking steps backwards. As a matter of fact I was getting potty training burn out yesterday. I was going to write this update and say I'm waving the white flag. I was seriously considering taking a break.

The last few days we have mostly just been home. The weather hasn't been the greatest. Hot hot hot and then rain rain rain. So we were laying low and CJ was peeing and pooping everywhere, but in his potty that is. I put his dirty underwear in with the dirty diapers and I think the bag has filled up with more of his underwear than Alyssa's diapers. That's just sad. I am really just so puzzled by this.

Today we had a nice sunny day and we went out to enjoy the day. While we were out he told me he had to go to the bathroom. I didn't even have to remind him. I mean, I'd ask, but he'd tell me he was fine. Now at home that usually meant that shortly there after he'd be wet, but out he tells me he has to go. Is it the fact that he gets to see a new bathroom? Does he not like his potty chair? Is it more embarrassing to be wet in public? I have no idea, but yesterday he drove me crazy. He would wet, not say anything, I'd ask if he was wet, he'd tell me no even though I could see he was wet. I would tell him to go take his dirty underwear off and he'd have a temper tantrum. What, you like staying in wet underwear???

I guess I'll have to take the little victories though. I won't actually come out and say we are 100% out of the house potty trained, but he definitely does way better away from home than he does at home. Does anyone know how to transfer that into an all the time 100% being potty trained toddler? Because bribing, rewards, punishment, and making him clean his own mess hasn't been working. I think I'm out of tricks.

When I think about it the differences in the potty use out of the house is of course he doesn't have a little potty chair. He has to use the big potty. And usually that consists of holding him up so he's not really sitting down to pee. He definitely likes doing that, but I can't always help him do that at home and he hasn't gotten the whole "aim" thing. We tend to aim him in the bowl. Sigh, maybe it's time for some Cheerio target practice. He is definitely proving to be the hardest to potty train so far of all of my kids.

Joe's vacation week

2011-07-24T11:30:00.001-04:00

Joe has been on vacation this week. So we have been spending it together as a family and it has been really nice. Officially his vacation started on Tuesday so we went to the new fishing spot we found with all of the kids.

Kaitlyn was showing Natalie how fun wading is...

Alyssa was a happy girl...

Wading turned into swimming...

CJ was looking for rocks...

Wednesday I don't think we did anything exciting. It was hot! I think we did some window shopping at Home Depot and that was about it.

Thursday was Joe's birthday. It was an even hotter day than Wednesday though. So we went out to breakfast and then had to go to DMV because Joe's license needed to be renewed. That of course took a while. When we got out of there we went to the auto parts store for a part that needed replacing on the car and came back home so the kids could got their socks and sneakers on and we could head over to the bowling alley. I get these kids bowl free coupons for each of them every week. They get to bowl two free games Monday through Friday. So the kids had fun bowling and then we went to the store to pick up something for dinner and came home to melt in the heat.

Friday Joe spent in the extreme heat (as it was the hottest day of the whole week) trying to replace the car part while I was inside dealing with a fussy baby from the heat and trying to do some cleaning. Joe also ended up putting the air conditioners in, something I didn't really want to have to do, but when it hit 94 degrees in here it just seemed to be needed. I was after all having a Pampered Chef party and we didn't want our guests to be super uncomfortable. We had a nice time with Pampered Chef and when it was done and everyone had left a very tired Alyssa had finally crashed. She looked like she was praying for cooler temperatures...

And then Saturday brought some slightly cooler, or more comfortable anyways, temperatures. Joe was still struggling to get the car fixed though so he was out there again working on it. So mostly we hung around the house...
CJ wanted to hold Alyssa and have his picture taken

I couldn't resist getting some shots of this new face that Alyssa makes all the time now. She's sucking on her bottom lip. I think it's soothing for her gums as I believe she is starting to teethe. I get such a kick out of this face though...

Joe has another two days of vacation and I'm not sure what that will bring for us. The weather has been a huge factor in our day to day plans. While it has been sunny all week until the weekend it has been HOT. We haven't really wanted to be out in the heat. I'm hoping tomorrow is cooler and we can do some letter boxing though.

My Fun Weekend with my Awesome Grandparents!

2011-07-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

This weekend Natalie went with my parents to New Hampshire to see Nascar. She came home with a ton of pictures and stories of her time so I asked her to blog about it. So from here on out you are hearing from Natalie, my 12 year old!

This weekend I had a lot of fun with my grandparents.We spent most of Thursday night driving to New Hampshire.It took us about two hours to get there. We stayed at Best Western. It was a great hotel.

On Friday we stayed in the pool for most of the day. However, after I put my bathing suit on, the snap broke in half! Grandma and Grandpa thought to fix it with dental floss but they soon found out that it wouldn't work. So Grandma suggested a safety pin, but she only had tiny ones in her sewing kit. So she soon decided to just sew the bathing suit back together.

Here I am playing in the pool...

Then we went out to dinner with the moose...

The next day we went to Joey's Diner for breakfast. The food was very good. From there we headed to the New Hampshire Motor Speed Way. The track was huge and very loud! Grandpa got me some headphones so the loud noise wouldn't bother my ears. My Grandpa and I argued about who would win. Grandpa said Joey Lagano would win but I thought Kyle Busch would win. I was right, Kyle Busch won the race! It was his one hundredth win! I was very happy.

Kyle Bush's trailer

Kyle Bush warm ups

Kyle Bush getting ready for the start of the race

Kyle Bush getting interviewed

Joey Lagano's car

And Kyle Bush's big win...

On Sunday we went to Joey's Diner for breakfast again. We ate our breakfast and headed back to the hotel so we could pack our things. We then headed home. We stopped to have some watermelon and strawberries after a half hour or so. Then we were back on the road again. We stopped for an early dinner at Pickadilly. After we were done with all the good food we headed back home. When we got home I showed my family a whole bunch of pictures that I took. I had a lot of fun and I can't wait to hopefully go to New Hampshire again next year!

So that was how Natalie spent her weekend with her grandparents. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Mini golf and fishing, does it get any more summer?

2011-07-18T10:15:00.001-04:00

This weekend Natalie was with my parents for the weekend. So I was back to being a parent of 3. On Saturday we took the kids mini golfing. It was packed. We had fun though. I couldn't get any pictures of us actually golfing because, well it's not easy juggling a baby, a toddler, a putter, and the scorecard let alone add picture taking on top of that. We had a good time though and we'll definitely be going back because I won a free game. The last hole where you sink your ball to never be seen again if you get a hole in one you win a free game. I've never done that before. Actually, the whole game I had no holes in one. I did it when it counted though. I doubt I'll ever do it again. It was a lucky shot. I thought it was going to bounce out the way it was bouncing around. So when it went in and the bells went off I stood there in shock. After we headed over to the ice cream shop there though for some dinner and ice cream.
CJ watching the people golf

Kaitlyn at 9 years old still really knows how to wear her ice cream. I get such a kick out of how into her food she gets.

Alyssa was just happy to be out of the Ergo at this point!

Then on Sunday we found a new fishing spot. We didn't have any luck, but it's very pretty and we took a little hike. We're heading back this week I'm sure.
CJ ready to fish.

They call this a pond! Looks like a lake to me!

Alyssa napping

Kaitlyn was sitting by the water looking hot and bored...

Do you want to go in the water? Yeah, okay take your shoes off...

Going wading...

In she goes...

Eventually she did get to a point where she was more wet than dry so we told her to just dunk herself and then get out to dry off because we had no towel or anything for her and we were going to get going soon.

CJ was getting his fishing on!

We brought the fishing stuff back to the car and did a little exploring on some of the trails and then came home. It was a nice summer day. Kaitlyn went and took a shower as soon as we got home and we started getting dinner ready and then before we knew it Natalie was back with us.

CJ gets a big boy bed

2011-07-15T18:05:00.002-04:00

For a while now we have been trying to figure out what to do for CJ for a bed. I was going to turn his crib into a toddler bed, but apparently some parts are missing to do that. So then we thought about buying a twin mattress and setting up one of the girls old beds in his room. But then we found this great deal on a toddler bed and we couldn't pass it up. So yesterday we got it for him and set it all up in his room. And he couldn't be happier about it as you can see.

So last night CJ said he wanted to go to bed. He went in there happily to go to sleep. However, my parents had the girls and they brought them home shortly after we had put CJ to bed. So he ended up coming out when he heard his sisters home. As soon as they left though he happily went right back to bed and stayed there. He didn't get up this morning until about 8:30. He came in our room and suddenly I heard this little voice saying, "I was calling you, but you didn't come!" Awww, I guess he forgot he was in a bed and could get out of it. Must have dawned on him pretty quickly though. Now we just need to figure out a crib for Alyssa. CJ's crib has seen better days really and besides it doesn't meet new federal guidelines. So we will have to figure out a way to get her a new crib.

Jump 'n Jammin Birthday and baby giggles

2011-07-10T20:15:00.000-04:00

Today CJ had his first friends birthday party. It was at a local indoor bounce place. He had so much fun. The parents were nice enough to include our two big girls in everything too. Somehow Natalie escaped the camera. Be sure to check out the cute video full of baby belly laughs.

CJ getting in one of the bouncy things

Kaitlyn

CJ coming down the big slide

Making his way through the maze

Daddy got to join us some too

Alyssa found Daddy extremely funny tonight. No tickles he just had to fake sneeze at her and she was giving such hearty belly laughs. CJ even got in on the fun.

Happy kids and big belly baby laughs! Does life get any better than that?

Fishing, nature walks, and milestones for today

2011-07-09T21:00:00.001-04:00

Phew, what a day! A beautiful, breezy, sunshine filled day spent with family fishing and taking nature walks. But yet the most exciting thing of the day had to be the fact that Alyssa is starting to sit unassisted. It's only for 20 seconds tops, but still she's doing it. But here are some pictures from our fishing, nature walk, and then Alyssa sitting up at the park today.

We started out with a picnic lunch at the park before we began fishing...

CJ loves fishing!

Alyssa hanging out on the blanket

Joe loves fishing too

The girls were more interested in hanging out at first and taking pictures of each other...

Then CJ caught a fish...

So Kaitlyn had to get in on the action...

Watching daddy take the hook out of the fish.

CJ took this picture.

Natalie decided it was time to catch a fish. I wonder if she could get that fish any further away from her?

Alyssa was getting a little antsy so I decided to take a walk and everyone else wanted to come along.

CJ spotted this duck on our walk

Some pretty flowers.

All four of my kids, but Alyssa was not happy.

The big kids looking at the fountain.

We spotted this tadpole in the water on a rock.

We headed back to our fishing spot and Joe took off with Kaitlyn and CJ in search of frogs...

They didn't catch any.

Meanwhile, Natalie and I stayed with Alyssa and tried to get some pictures of her sitting up...
A little wobbly.

Don't let go mom!

Okay let go mom!

Oh no I'm falling!

Finally sitting completely unassisted!

So that was our exciting day. It was very nice spending it all together. And Alyssa is 5 months and 1 week old today and is starting to sit up unassisted!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-07-09T00:00:00.000-04:00

They say it's your birthday! Well it's my birthday too yeah! Okay well not really. It's my mom's birthday today. Her 29th of course! Because I decided on my 29th birthday that we don't age past 29 as women in our family ;). But just look at my mom. She can't shut off the mothering. Helping CJ with her "birthday cake" that we had in celebration of her birthday last week. Okay, my mom made the cake. It was very good too as usual.

Mom, even though we aren't getting to see you today we are all thinking of you and hoping you are enjoying your day. Love you mom and we all hope you have a truly happy birthday!

Wordless Wednesday: Baby faces

2011-07-06T00:00:00.002-04:00

For more Wordless Wednesdays click here.

Fireworks for the 4th

2011-07-05T11:25:00.001-04:00

Here are the 4th of July fireworks we went to last night. Alyssa did fine with them until the finale. That was when she started crying. I thought she was going to fall asleep in the beginning actually. CJ did much better this year than last though. He wants to see fireworks everyday now. We had a perfect view of them too. It was a great evening.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July weekend!

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-04T18:15:00.001-04:00

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY FROM THE BARNES BUNCH

5 months down

2011-07-03T13:15:00.003-04:00

Alyssa is now 5 months old. I was thinking yesterday on her 5 month birthday, as I was working feverishly to clean the house and prepare for our picnic, that a lot has changed. Not just with Alyssa either. 5 months ago on that very day we had a terrible ice storm and then yesterday we were enjoying some beautiful sunny weather and having a picnic out doors. Not that this is a huge surprise though that winter and summer are completely different. Just goes to show how much change five short months can bring though.

So here are the changes in Alyssa. She is really getting her own little personality. She seems to know who I am and is always looking to have her eyes on me when someone else is holding her. She loves each of her siblings. She loves pulling the girls hair. She smiles at CJ all the time. I think she gets a real kick out of him. She rubs the top of her head to go to sleep or calm herself down. She pulls her pacifier out of her mouth and then screams and then tries to put it back in. She babbles non stop. It really sounds like she's trying to get in on the conversations going on around her. I swear she said Kate Kate the other day. My dad thinks she said "Grandpa I love you" yesterday. She has the cutest sing songy little voice too. I love hearing her talk. When rubbing her head doesn't soothe her to sleep she'll actually talk herself to sleep. She loves rocking. When you hold her in a seated position she'll rock herself back and forth. She has excellent head control. I don't think it will be long before she's sitting unassisted. She is really trying to copy facial expressions. She loves sticking her tongue out. She still gets up once during the night to eat. She is still exclusively breast fed although I'm thinking that could change soon. She might be starting to teethe. She bites down on things much more often now. She has been a great addition to our family.

Here are some pictures from yesterday...

Alyssa with my dad caught rubbing her head trying to self soothe.

There's that tongue

Where's your belly? What a quirky little smile

Really got a good shot of her tongue in this one

She's getting a little disgusted I guess.

And that's our 5 month old baby girl on her 5 month birthday!

Falling asleep with a good book

2011-07-01T17:50:00.001-04:00

So I was going around the house picking up and getting some laundry together. I made a pit stop in CJ's room and noticed he had a lot of stuff that needed cleaning up. So I was calling him and calling him while I continued my wandering around the house and he wasn't coming. I walked into the living room where he was and this is how I found him...

Fell asleep reading a good book. Awww, I guess the room can wait. He's still in his chair sleeping with the book just like that too. No doubt about it though, I'm raising voracious readers.

Lake Compounce bring a buddy day

2011-06-29T22:30:00.000-04:00

Today we had made plans with an old childhood friend of Joe's to go to an amusement park. It was bring a buddy day. It was such a beautiful day. Very crowded though. Small world with Joe's childhood friend, she went to school with my brother. She remembers him a little. I showed her a more recent picture of him and she said he looks the same.

Anyways, I have no pictures to share. I had my camera, but it seems that with taking care of the baby I had a hard time getting pictures. I don't think I went on a single ride. That's okay though. The kids had a great time. It was an exhausting day. Natalie was really unsure about the whole thing because Joe's friend has 3 boys. She didn't think she wanted to hang out with all boys. Turns out they weren't too bad though. She actually enjoyed them. The kids hit it off pretty well.

I got sunburn. Shame on me. I make sure the kids are protected from the sun, but somehow I never get enough sunblock on myself. My own fault. I know better. It was a day full of swings, bumper cars, roller coaster, water park (with really cold water), more bumper cars, more roller coasters, ghost hunts, more swings, games, a lost child, a found child, and complete exhaustion. That's what spending from 11:30 in the morning until almost 8 at night will do to you though.

Our summer is getting off to an exciting start!

Tales from the potty part 3

2011-06-27T20:45:00.001-04:00

It has been a while since I've done a potty update. Probably because there hadn't been too much change. I have been trying everything with him. I pretty much have all of his cars now which he has to earn back by staying dry. I have tried guilt trips with him. Telling him he's a baby when he pees or poops in his potty. And now with cloth diapering his sister I've just been washing his underwear with her diapers. So every time I've had to put his underwear in the wet bag I make a big deal about his underwear going in with the stinky baby diapers. Well, that back fired on me. He wets and tells me I'm a baby now. Okay so what's going to work with this kid?

Last week was his last day of school. We have been telling him right along that if he doesn't learn to use the potty he's not going to be able to go to school next year. He actually got to see what hopefully will be his new school next year last week. And as we walked out to the car he told me he was wet. So I talked to him about how he has to tell the teacher he has to potty and they won't let him in school if he doesn't use the potty and we went home.

His vacation started and he had been asking to go to school. I think he started thinking that he can't go to school anymore because he didn't use the potty. Because last Friday he was dry all day and pooped on the potty twice. Just went in there and went all on his own. We made a huge deal of it too. The whole family was cheering for him. Then Saturday we were out all day and I was paranoid he'd be wet in no time. We brought his potty chair with us in case we couldn't find a potty for him and I brought a ton of underwear and clothes. And we didn't need any of it!!! He stayed dry all day again. And then Sunday more of the same thing. Until right before he went to bed that is, he had an accident. Still, super proud of him.

But then there was today. He had some accidents including a poop accident. However, he did also poop in his potty. We might be getting closer though. He's a stubborn boy, that's for sure. We're hoping he gets this down pat soon so being in school won't be an issue next year.

Beach time

2011-06-27T09:00:00.002-04:00

Now that summer is officially here and school is out we headed off to the beach on Saturday. It was a cold summer day though so no swimming. But plenty of beach exploring and lots of fun. CJ wants to go back too so we'll definitely have to make sure to go to the beach when it's warmer and we can really play.
Walking through the sand

Here's a nice rock Daddy!

Come on guys lets go swimming!

Mom wants a pictures of us

One more for good measure

Carrying CJ

Best I could do of a picture of fussy Alyssa. And of course Joe had to make a face

Awww, that one's much nicer!

Such a great way to start out summer vacation.

School's out!

2011-06-25T23:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the last day of school for the two big girls. I now have a 7th grader and a 4th grader. Here's my new 4th grader with her teacher from this year. He was a complete God send to her. It was an emotional day. Kaitlyn does not want school to be over. She misses her teacher already. It's probably going to be a very long summer of her talking about Mr. T until she goes back and sees him again next school year.

So, report cards! I don't have one from Natalie yet. However, based on her grades on the computer she should have 3 A's and 3 B's. Pretty good way to end the year of accelerated classes. I see great things for her next year too with the Avid program.

Kaitlyn's report card was her best EVER! She doesn't get letter grades yet, but it was all 3's and 4's except for two 2's in things that they had just started learning though. This has been an exceptional year for her. While she is still below grade level in reading she made huge leaps and bounds there and if she keeps that up then she shouldn't have any trouble at all catching up.

Just to give you an idea of the level of understanding and respect Kaitlyn's teacher had for her here are the comments he gave:

Kaitlyn has had a fabulous year in third grade. She has made major gains in reading, which is a testament to her hard work and determination. Kaitlyn is eager, ambitious, and demonstrates a true love of learning. As the year comes to an end she has taken pride in showing me just how neat her written work can be as well. I have so much respect for Kaitlyn, as I have seen her diligently work through this entire school year always with a smile on her face. She is a truly wonderful child, and I will greatly miss having her in class.

That's my girl. So proud of them both. I'd share more about Natalie, but there is nothing to share. She just continues to push through and do well in school.

This is a stick up

2011-06-22T12:30:00.000-04:00

Awww, who would stick up this adorable baby girl? She fell asleep like this the other night. She likes to rub her head to fall asleep so I imagine that's how she ended up like this. She is quite the character. Last night we were laying in bed with her and Joe would rub her head and she would start rubbing her head. Not sure what it is about rubbing her head to fall asleep. She'll probably be one of those kids who twirls her hair around her finger to go to sleep when she gets older.

Welcome to summer fishing

2011-06-21T21:00:00.001-04:00

It's the first day of summer and Natalie and Kaitlyn are still in school. However, CJ is out. So we took him fishing to celebrate the first day of summer. He loves "fishing pole". That's what he calls fishing. Although, he needs to be reminded numerous times to not reel it in.

Here he was waiting for Daddy to set up his pole...

Alyssa came along for the ride...

Finally doing some fishing...

He caught his first fish...

We went to explore the rest of the park because there had been some new additions since last summer. So on a little nature walk...

We came back and CJ Daddy had caught three more fish...
No one tell his sisters that he didn't catch these guys.

It started to rain, but CJ wanted to try to catch another one. So he was giving it a go, but didn't end up catching anymore.

We enjoyed our start to the summer for CJ anyways. The girls only have 3 half days of school left and then they finally get to start their summer vacation and fishing trips with Daddy on a whim.

CJ's End of Pre-K 3 Ceremony

2011-06-20T16:00:00.001-04:00

Today was CJ's last day of his first experience with preschool. I was told they were going to have a party today to celebrate the summer birthdays and just it being the last day of school. I wasn't really expecting any sort of performance or ceremony. So I brought him to school, but needed to feed Alyssa. So I told his teacher I would be back in about 15 minutes figuring we were just going to be hanging around mostly anyways. Well, I walked back into the classroom and there were chairs set up for the adults and the kids were all standing in the front of the class. A bunch of parents were snapping pictures. So I grabbed my camera and then the kids started to sing. So I had to quickly switch to video mode. But not being entirely prepared I hadn't cleared my memory card. So I ran out of room partly through recording. However, my son quickly lost interest in actually participating in the song so you didn't miss much I promise. I worked on getting some pictures off my memory card though so I could get more video and pictures. They sang one more song, but I couldn't get a good angle on that one. Then they gave each of the kids a certificate and three books and crayons. Then the eating began. For your viewing pleasure though here is my Pre-K 3 year old graduate...

Now tomorrow we go to have him evaluated for the 4 year old program. It's a little easier to get into this program because there's more than one of them in the district. I'm pretty confident he'll get in.

This dad does not need to wake the hell up

2011-06-19T20:00:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine had directed me to this article last night. Written by a dad who is very much awake. A dad who doesn't understand many fathers who think their job is done once the seed is planted. A type of dad which I'm fortunate enough to say does not live in our house.

As I write this, my husband, the father of our four children, is laying down with Alyssa. So sweet seeing him cuddled up with our baby girl. Here it is, Father's Day and he's getting her to go to sleep. My husband got up with CJ this morning while I stayed in bed with Alyssa for a few more. He then went off to work for a little while. When he came home he played with Natalie and Kaitlyn. He helped me cook dinner. Even though I urged him to go sit down he preferred to help me out. Even though it's father's day.

My husband brings our 3 year old to school and picks him up whenever he has a day off or is in work late. He brings Kaitlyn to the bus stop on mornings when he's here. He rough houses with all of the kids. He lets his daughters put barrettes and ribbons in his hair. He takes all of them fishing. He cooks dinner. He helps out around the house. He goes to the kids school events. He knows their teachers. He wipes boogers and poop. He changes poopy and peepee underwear. He rocks babies to sleep.

He is a father who gets it. He prefers to be home with his children. He doesn't go out much with friends. He doesn't golf or go to sporting events. He is a wonderful father and I hope my children realize how lucky they are to have him. I know I'm proud to say that man is the father of my children!

Saving the planet one diaper at a time

2011-06-15T20:30:00.001-04:00

When I was pregnant with Alyssa I looked into cloth diapering with her. I was really on the fence about it because of the up front cost of it and when I had discussed it with Joe he said no way. So I didn't push it, but I got a deal I couldn't refuse recently. That coupled with the fact that since Alyssa was born Joe has only changed a handful of diapers I knew I had to try this. Just a note about Joe, he took on a huge role in potty training CJ when Alyssa came along and has cleaned him up countless times so I'm totally not complaining about his lack of diaper changes. He is doing more than his fair share.

So anyways, before I said yes to this I did discuss things with Joe. He still didn't want to do this and he has his reasons, but he said go for it, but he would not be changing the diapers. Okay, that's fine. I understand him being leery about this. I never thought I'd be on board with this, but yet here we are.

So yesterday I received our cloth diapers. We got flats which are like the old fashioned cloth diapers that our parents and grandparents used. There really is so much out there, but I didn't have much of a choice in the whole thing when it came down to it. But after looking into everything I was pretty confident I could do this. So last night I washed and prepped our cloth diapers to give it a go for today. I just couldn't wait to get started.

This morning I got up and got our cloth diapers all piled up.
That's 24 flats right there

I took one flat and folded it with an oragami fold like I had learned from a few different videos. I got Alyssa in it and was amazed that I got it on her to stay on her.

Look at that cute cloth diaper tushy

And then I went along with my busy morning of getting a husband to work and kids off to school. About an hour and a half later in the home stretch of getting the kids to school I thought Alyssa felt wet. I didn't have time to stop and change her as I needed to get CJ out the door to school. So I brought him to school and came back home to check the diaper situation. I was very shocked. She had completely saturated the diaper all the way through the cover, onesie, and her pants. Wow! super peer. So I changed her and went about my morning. Fed her and did some stuff around the house and then it was time to go get CJ from school. I needed to redress Alyssa though, but figured I better check that diaper. It was very wet again. So changed her and put clothes on her and went and got CJ.

She ended up being in this diaper for about 4 hours because she ended up taking a nap after lunch. I was really worried about what I would find when she got up to eat again, but she was fine. She needed changing, but it wasn't soaked. Okay, so thinking maybe she just pees a lot in the morning. So I changed her, fed her, and then headed out to pick Joe up from work. When we got home about 45 minutes later I checked her again. And again she had leaked. However, this time her diaper wasn't as soaked so maybe it's the way I'm folding it. So now we get to try things out to see how it works. Might have to put some inserts in to catch a little extra pee. As long as she doesn't pee or poop while Joe is holding her we should be good.

Speaking of dad, she was lounging on him tonight...

I was hoping and praying that she was not going to leak on him. She didn't. she was wet, but she held that one in pretty good. I think we're going to be okay with this though. Just think of the money we're saving and the planet. So I have got to stick with this, right?

A new blog

2011-06-14T15:45:00.002-04:00

I love blogging so much that I started another one. I am now also writing for Monica's Mom Musings. I will still continue with this family blog. It will just be focusing more on the family. My other blog will be more about me and my thoughts and my ideas on parenting. And hopefully some reviews and giveaways thrown in there too. So be sure to watch me there too if you like my writing. I'm really excited about this new adventure.

Duck Watching

2011-06-12T09:30:00.001-04:00

Every so often I get a chance to have what I have lovingly coined as a "date" with my handsome little man. Joe gets out of work early and I want to cut down on the driving back and forth so after school I'll take CJ out, just me and him. Well, now it's me, him, and Alyssa. Thankfully he doesn't seem to mind much. Well, most of the time anyways. One of CJ's favorite things to do is go see the ducks. So usually I'll pack us a picnic lunch and we'll go to the park to eat and watch the ducks. However, this week when I was going to do that on Thursday it had started raining in the morning. It was a short lived rain, but it was enough to have me concerned about sitting on the ground in wet grass. So I canceled the picnic portion of our "date" and told him if we get home quickly and eat lunch quickly then we could still go to the park and watch the ducks. He was okay with that change of plans and he did good. Before we left the house he did request that we leave Alyssa here though. I asked him who would watch her and he said he didn't know. So needless to say we had to bring Alyssa with us. She didn't put too much of a damper on things. We got to the park and found a nice bench under a tree to sit at and watch the ducks. Someone had been feeding them so they were all out of the water when we got there. CJ started heading over to investigate...

They started heading back into the water, probably to beat the heat of that super hot day

He's so excited about the ducks.

Doing some investigating...

He found a feather, which he kept calling leaves...

He wanted to take a picture of Alyssa, but he cut her head off...

I took a picture of him...

And he wanted to try to get another picture of Alyssa, but he still cut her head off...

Just to try to make sure there was a picture of her whole face I gave it a whirl with her sitting in my lap and if you put my picture together with CJ's we've got all of Alyssa...

Some more ~~leaf~~, I mean feather finding...

Before we left CJ wanted some picture of the ducks...

Now we're all ready to go, got his shades on and everything. Shhh, don't tell him they have Snow White on them and don't tell Natalie he was wearing her sunglasses. Still he looks super cool.

So that was our fun trip to see the ducks on a super hot day. That might have been our last date of the year to see the ducks because this is his last week of school. Our next trip to the park will probably be with all of his sisters.

CJ's Spirit Week

2011-06-11T12:00:00.000-04:00

This week at CJ's school they had spirit week. We missed Mondays because the paper didn't come home with him until Monday, but he participated in the rest of them.

Tuesday was red white and blue day!

Wednesday was field day. This completely wiped him out and he fell asleep at the table after eating lunch...

Thursday was favorite character t-shirt day. CJ's favorite character is Handy Manny...

And finally on Friday was mismatched day. He could wear anything, mismatched socks, sneakers, clothes. Backwards. Inside out. Whatever. So he picked out his clothes and he got himself completely dressed. In all honesty he didn't do a terrible job. It's kind of hard for him to mismatch though because his drawers mostly consist of blues, reds, and denim. But this is how CJ would dress if left to his own devices...

And that was spirit week at CJ's school.

Alyssa is the newest 4 month old on the block

2011-06-02T23:00:00.001-04:00

Today Alyssa is 4 months old! As you can see I did a little photo shoot of her tonight. I should have done this before her doctor's appointment this afternoon because I wanted to show off her big toothless baby grin. But after getting four vaccines today smiles were not easy to come by and now she's passed out and I wanted to get this up tonight. But I thought I got some really cute shots of her.

Where has the time gone? Four months ago I was in a hospital having contractions and trying not to punch the doctor who was on call the night I went into labor. I think I forgot how great 4 month olds are too. I kind of feel like I was a little robbed of the joy of a 4 month old with CJ with all the problems we ended up having. Here is what Alyssa is up to these days.

She is smiling so big and pretty. I love it. Joe can be holding her from across the room and I can be doing something else and she'll be looking at me with this huge gummy grin. Melts my heart. She is such a sweetie.

She's rolling over occasionally front to back and back to front. She doesn't do it a whole lot and usually gets upset when she does it.

She holds her head up really well though. I don't have to give her much head support except maybe when she is tired.

She giggles for everyone but me. I have of course heard her giggle, I just haven't been able to make those giggles happen. I sure love hearing it though. Even if I'm not the one who can get her to do it.

She has slept 6 hours at night. That's the closest we've gotten to sleeping through the night so far. Although, that only lasted for a few nights. She is now back to her 3 or 4 a.m. feeding. At least she goes right back to sleep after she eats at 3 or 4 in the morning.

She is still exclusively breastfeeding and it's going really well.

Her hair which used to be so dark is now going very light. She still has a lot of it too. It's actually getting really long and almost in her eyes. I might have to get it cut soon.

I guess that's about it for what she's up to. A lot of you probably want to know about her doctor's appointment. More specifically about her weight. I asked my Facebook friends to make a guess as to how much she was going to weigh today. I had guessed 12 pounds. And I'm happy to say I was wrong. She's 12 pounds 7 ounces. Natalie's guess was the closest at 12 pounds 5 ounces. She's doing great though. She is 25 inches long which is in the 70th %tile. I can't remember what %tile her weight was in though. The doctor is super pleased with her head control. All looks great health wise. She seems to be right on target and maybe even a little advanced. The doctor was disappointed to have her already not happy to be examined. Already a little stranger anxiety. Well, she is only ever with me though. So it kind of makes sense I suppose. I was told I can start giving her baby foods. I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet though. We'll see what happens.

I discussed what we can use in the sun this summer with her. I don't want to have to always be finding shade this summer when we're outside to keep her delicate skin safe so the doctor said there's a baby sunblock by Neutrogena that she recommends. So we'll be giving that a try with her. I don't think the doctor really wants us to use sunblock, but she also knows that with 3 older children it's really going to be hard to avoid the outdoors.

So all is looking great with Alyssa. She's been such a joy these past four months and I'm cherishing every single moment with her. She's such a beautiful, sweet, funny little girl already. Next doctor's appointment is her 6 month check up.

36 Years

2011-05-31T22:30:00.000-04:00

Today, my mom and dad celebrated 36 years of marriage. That is amazing to me! I sure hope someday my kids will be talking about how their mom and dad have been married for 36 years. Mom and Dad, just wanted you to know that I've been thinking of you today! You have been such a great example to me and hopefully I have learned enough from you to keep my marriage going strong for 36 years. I hope you had a great day today. Happy Anniversary!

Birth Story #4

2011-05-30T18:30:00.005-04:00

Here is the final chapter in my posts of my children's birth stories for the month. Here is Alyssa's. I know I pretty much gave the story just about 4 months ago, but here it is again with everything leading up to her birth.

Alyssa was born February 2, 2011 at 11:00 p.m. Eastern time.

So much like my pregnancy with CJ this one was not without its problems. I continued with the blood pressure issues and I had questionable Gestational Diabetes. I say questionable because I opted out of the 3 hour glucose test. Instead my doctor had me check my sugar levels four times a day. All of my numbers were really pretty good though so I never needed insulin. As long as I watched what I ate I was good.

My doctor was getting concerned about her size. Meaning too big so I had to go for a couple of growth scans. I was also getting twice a week non stress tests. The last month or so I was contracting pretty regularly although I did not feel it. I tested positive for Group B strep which was a concern for Alyssa and not so much for me. So I needed to get antibiotics on board and of course being allergic to penicillin (the drug usually used to treat Group B strep) that made things a little more complicated. My doctor and I discussed what we could do. Now having had the c-section with CJ my doctor knew that I was going to attempt a v-bac (vaginal birth after c-section). So we discussed being induced. This way we could get antibiotics on board before my water broke and my doctor would be there to deliver. I wasn't entirely keen on Pitocin, but after discussing the problems with Pitocin I decided it wasn't that big of a risk and my doctor knew what she was talking about. After all she was the one who had performed my c-section 3 years before. So the plan was actually we would try breaking my water first and then if things didn't work we would add a little something to get things moving. I figured okay, we have a plan. My induction was scheduled for February 3rd which was six days before my due date. I had everything all planned out. My mom was going to come up early in the morning to get the kids off to school while Joe and I headed to the hospital and then hopefully by the time they got home from school they would get to come visit their baby sister in the hospital. At my last appointment on January 31st I was contracting away as usual. All looked good. My doctor did not want to check me and I kind of agreed to just leave it be. We didn't need to know. I figured I was going to see her 3 days later and things should go perfectly.

Then February 2nd the kids had yet another snow day. Everyone was home due to an ice storm. I had been feeling kind of blah that day, but really how I had felt a lot lately. I was noticing a few contractions, but it felt like what I had been experiencing for the past month. When the snow and ice stopped falling Joe went out to clear the sidewalk and driveway and clean off the car. Then he walked across the street to pick up something for dinner from the store. He came home and we fed the kids and then Joe and I sat down to eat in the living room. I was sitting on the couch finishing up my dinner when all of a sudden I felt this pop and then a gush. I jumped up and said, "Oh crap!" Joe was like what? I said, "I think my water just broke!" I ran into the bathroom to try to access the situation. I had never actually seen my water break before. It had always been done for me so I wasn't sure what was going on. I figured out pretty quickly that it had to be my water though. Joe started making phone calls. He called the doctor and my parents. The doctor told me to head to the hospital. So we packed up. We were going to wait for my parents to come to the house, but knowing that the roads were icy, we were 20 minutes from the hospital on a good day, and in the past I had gone quickly we decided we would have to meet my parents at the hospital. So we loaded everyone in the car. Joe was freaking out. I was trying to stay calm for the kids. Contractions were definitely there, but not too bad.

They brought me in and checked me out right away. I was actually only around 4 centimeters dilated which I was a little surprised about. They brought me to a delivery room where they hooked me all up. I was being closely monitored due to my vbac attempt. I also needed to get the IV antibiotics going. They had to give me a stronger antibiotic to make sure it took care of everything. I was contracting pretty hard while the children watched. Thankfully my parents arrived to take them away and I could really let it out. I was in a lot of discomfort and the jerky on call doctor wasn't helping matters by questioning my induction (which really was pretty moot at that point). And when I chuckled during a contraction when he said and you want no pain medicine and he was like what's so funny I wanted to jump down the man's throat. I did end up getting Nuban just to take the edge off the back labor I was having. I still felt it, but it made me sleepy so I could rest a little between contractions. It didn't last long though because I quickly became very uncomfortable. I was moving all around trying to find a comfortable position. The poor nurse who was trying to keep a close eye on me had to stay in the room with me to monitor things. I was standing, I was sitting, I was laying on my side. Finally the nurse suggested I turn to my other side which was super uncomfortable for me, but that was what got me fully dilated and pushing. I think I pushed twice and she was out with a perfectly round little head. I got to hold her and then they took her away to check her out. She was perfect and not nearly as big as my doctor feared. As a matter of fact she was the smallest weighing just 7 pounds 9 ounces and was 19 inches long. She looked just like CJ. Tons of dark hair. Explained all that heartburn I had. When they were done stitching me up, which I still swear took hours and not like 10 or 15 minutes they brought her to me and put her right on my chest to breastfeed. She was a pro, right away. We hadn't decided on her name yet. We had a few choices which we went through with her and she responded to Alyssa so that's how she got her name.

Because of my questionable Gestational Diabetes they checked her sugars shortly after birth. They were concerned with what they saw and wanted to give her formula. I refused a bottle so they set us up with a way to get formula at the breast. They didn't hold out much hope that it would work, but she was a champ sucking at the breast and got colostrum and formula in her all at once. And after that her sugar was fine from then on out we didn't even have to worry.

I pushed to get out of the hospital as quickly as possible. She was born at 11 p.m. on a Wednesday night and I was ready to go home Friday morning. However, they hesitated in discharging her because she was getting jaundice. I knew I did not want to stay there though and experience what I had with CJ so they let us leave only if we went back Saturday to have blood work done and go to see her pediatrician on Saturday which we did. All ended up being fine. My milk came in on Saturday too so that helped get that jaundice to go away.

My labor and delivery definitely was an adventure with her. She had to make things interesting. But I am so pleased that I can say that I had a successful v-bac. I wish it didn't have to be with the jerky doctor and I often wonder what would have happened had I truly let him have it like I wish I had. But she came on her terms and I accomplished what I wanted to with her. No surgery and a healthy baby!

And that completes my birth stories and our family of 6.

Natalie's Birth Story
Kaitlyn's Birth Story
CJ's Birth Story

Bronx Zoo

2011-05-30T14:30:00.000-04:00

Last Monday Natalie went with her class to the Bronx Zoo. She had a good time until she was almost home. She brought my camera with her and ended up taking some pictures and video so I put it all together in a little movie for you.

Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-30T09:00:00.001-04:00

While you're eating your hot dogs and hamburgers, watching your parades, and enjoying what is considered the official start to summer lets not forget what today is all about. Remembering those who we lost fighting for our country. And I want to say a special thank you for the families who are left behind while their loved ones are deployed! It takes a very special person to deal with that day in and day out and I will forever be grateful for all of those sacrifices.

Natalie the Country Music Star

2011-05-26T20:00:00.000-04:00

So here is Natalie all dressed up as a country music singer. She had a project for her music class today. She had to write a report on a genre of music. She chose country music. She had a lot of fun with it I think too. She wanted to dress the part as well so I put her hair in braids this morning to help her out. Her hair is so pretty. Mine used to be like that, sigh.

Anyways, she missed most of class today because I had a meeting with her regular class teachers and the guidance counselor. I had wanted to talk about her struggles with keeping organized and keeping her grades up. It took a little longer than I expected because the guidance counselor wasn't ready for me. There isn't too much that can be done at this point for this year. I mean her grades are good. As her Social Studies teacher said she's a solid B student. Which is great, I'm happy with that. She's in accelerated classes after all. What I am not happy with is when she brings home 50's. Not acceptable. Because that means she has to work that much harder to increase her grades. So mostly her teachers just spoke to her about finding a way to come to them when she's not getting something or when there's a test grade she's not happy with. Whether it's coming to them after school, after class, or slipping them a note about it. We then spoke to the guidance counselor. I wanted to get more information about the Avid program she got into for next year. It is really going to help her with organization because she has a huge notebook that gets graded every week. So maybe that will help her out. Since we know what team she is going to be on since they put all of the Avid kids on a certain team I wanted her to hopefully get to know next years teachers a little. She will have that opportunity too with a field trip coming up for Avid that she gets to go on and her guidance counselor is going to set something up too.

So while all of the changes of this year have been tough for her I think we are getting her set up very nicely to do great next year. She went back to class and I came home after that. Natalie stayed after to retake a math test she did very poorly on and she was very pleased to tell me she got an 80 on it. Much better than the 55 she originally had on it. And she thinks she did really well on her music project too. Her teacher was really pleased with how she had dressed the part and loved the music she chose to play too. So hopefully she ends the year on a good note.

Kaitlyn is a success!

2011-05-25T13:15:00.001-04:00

So last year I made no secret of my distaste for Kaitlyn's teacher. She was awful. She broke Kaitlyn's spirit and made 2nd grade a terrible year for her. In all honesty after talking to numerous parents who's child has had her as a teacher I'm surprised she's still teaching. She is definitely not well liked.

Now anyone who knows Kaitlyn knows she is a good kid. Now I'm not some delusional parent who thinks her children are perfect. I am sure they make mistakes at school, but in comparison to some teachers generally wish they had 20 more of my kids in their class. That's the feelings of Kaitlyn's teacher this year. We truly lucked out to leave the school we were in.

I've also made it no secret that the teacher Kaitlyn got in her new school has been superb. In all honesty the man is the best teacher any of my children have had. It's actually sad to see the year come to an end. This year Kaitlyn's teacher took that broken child and transformed her into one with great confidence. In October she announced to me and her teacher that she would like to reach a reading level of 30 by the end of the year. I worried that her goals were too high and she would be so disappointed if she did not achieve this goal. Her teacher and I even had a discussion about it. After all we're talking about a child who only managed to leave the 2nd grade reading at a level 12. She really made no gains to speak of at all in 2nd grade. However, while Kaitlyn did not reach her goal she came very close. Just one level away at a level 28. I asked her if she was upset that she didn't quite make her goal and she said no. She's proud of what she did. I am too. Her teacher is blown away by her. He has never seen anything like it. He attributes it to her work ethic. That is the thing with Kaitlyn, she doesn't give up. She keeps plugging away. She sets her mind on something and she works to get there. She managed to not let what happened last year get her down. She managed to do all of this at a new school with a bunch of children she didn't know. She managed to make better friends this year at this new school than she has ever had too. The entire atmosphere in her new school has just been such a great thing for her.

She came home the other day with a grade of a 95 on a project about kangaroos that she did. She was so excited. Here she is with her project:

A close up of the kangaroos habitat...

She had fun doing this. She had fun doing most things in school this year.

She is still behind where she should be. I will never know had we moved her out of her old school sooner last year if that would have been better for her. There really can be no looking back and playing the what if game. We are where we are now for a reason and she's getting the education that she needs and deserves and that she could not get in her old school.

She will continue with her special arrangements for testing. She will continue to work on the Wilson reading program to continue to build on what she has already learned. I see no reason why she can't possibly be at or even above grade level by the end of next year. Just look at the gains she has made in such a short time after having such an awful experience. To go now from a wonderful experience onto hopefully another wonderful teacher there really is no reason that she can't do it.

And her teacher has already assured me that he will sit down with Kaitlyn's teacher for next year and tell that teacher all about Kaitlyn. Honestly, there really is no better person to do it either. He knows Kaitlyn almost as well as I do. It is going to be so hard to say goodbye, but I know that he will continue to check in on Kaitlyn and I just see so many great things for her. Don't ever count Kaitlyn out of anything because she will work her butt off until she accomplishes what she wants to accomplish. With gentle nudging and a helping hand there for her in case she falls nothing will stop her. I will be forever grateful to the man who got Kaitlyn to increase 8 reading levels in one year! And I couldn't be prouder of what my determined girl has done. She's a true testament to the never give up motto.

Monica's Musings #16

2011-05-24T12:30:00.000-04:00

Things are coming to an end for the school year and there's lots going on around here.

Kaitlyn had a field trip to see Charolette's Web last week which she enjoyed and then two more field trips coming up in the next two weeks. One of them is to a local baseball game.

Natalie had a field trip to the Bronx Zoo yesterday. She had a lot of fun even though the weather wasn't the greatest. It didn't end so well for her as she got sick on the bus. So embarrassing.

As a matter of fact both of the girls were throwing up last night and are home today. That has thrown a monkey wrench into my plans for the day. I'm nothing if not flexible though, lol.

CJ has VIP day today. He got to choose someone to come to school as his VIP today. I asked him for days who he wanted and he kept requesting Daddy so daddy made sure to get the day off to go to that. CJ got to show him his classroom and eat snack with him.

Alyssa has been sleeping longer clips at night. I don't consider it sleeping through the night yet, but she has been going six hours at night.

She's quite the chatty Kathy these days too. Always making little cooing noises. It's very sweet.

Well, I guess that's enough randomness. Be sure to check back though, I'm working on a post all about Kaitlyn.

Tales from the potty part 2

2011-05-24T09:30:00.001-04:00

So I'd love to be able to say he's got it he's really got it, but we're not there yet. I have noticed that there are days when he is dry, but he just poops in his underwear though. I have thought well maybe we should rejoice in the little things. So okay if he stays dry even if he has a poop accident he gets a car. And then if he poops on the potty he'll get a car. Well, I'm not sure if that's exactly caught on because today he wanted a car after he peed on the potty every time. Well, that can't happen. He has stayed dry a couple of days and he has managed to poop on the potty once since I instituted this new rule last week. So maybe just maybe there's progress. It could have been better if I didn't feel the need to keep him in a pull up over the weekend after the whole concussion scare. I just wanted to focus on his neurological function rather than whether he was pooping and peeing on the potty. I hope I haven't just jinxed everything by saying I'm seeing some small progress out of him. We'll keep plugging away...

And for your viewing pleasure some school pictures of my little potty boy in training. Six months has brought a lot of change for him...

Birth Story #3

2011-05-23T18:30:00.004-04:00

Continuing with my month of May birth stories, here is the story of my only son, CJ.

CJ was born on November 1, 2007 at 8 a.m. Eastern time.

My pregnancy with CJ had been my most problem ridden. I had chronic high blood pressure and then developed Gestational Diabetes. I managed to control that with diet. But I was being seen twice a week in the last few months of my pregnancy with him. It was discovered around 30 weeks pregnant that he was breech. We watched to see if he would turn, but he did not. So my doctor began discussing my options. Either we could do an external version where her and another doctor would push on my stomach from the outside to make him turn. If all went well then I could just continue on happily with my pregnancy until the end and he'd come on his own. If he became in distress we would have to do an emergency c-section. I had to make up my mind about this before 36 weeks because my doctor said they'd have the best chance of turning him at 36 weeks. Or I could just opt for a planned c-section. She could not deliver him breech vaginally because the hospital would not allow it. I was willing to give it a try, but my doctor had no experience with it and there was a hospital policy against it. So it didn't seem I had many options.

I went back and forth on my choices for weeks. I researched to try to figure out ways I could get him to turn on my own. I tried a few of the things I was able to do like putting something cold on the top of my belly or playing music on the lower part of my belly. Some special exercises to try to get him to turn. He wasn't budging though. And I got to thinking, I never had an issue with my two girls before with them being breech so there must have been a reason that he was not in the right direction. He just couldn't get there. I didn't want to go through a painful procedure like the external version and have it not work or worse have something go wrong and need an emergency c-section and a preemie baby. So I finally opted to have the planned c-section. It was the best choice for our family.

Originally it was scheduled for November 2, 2007 which would have had me sharing my birthday with my boy. However, they realized my doctor wouldn't be there that day so they changed it to November 1, 2007. That worked too. In the weeks leading up to my planned c-section I was experiencing some contractions. I went to the hospital a couple of times worried that I might be in labor. I was sent home each time though. I held on until my scheduled c-section date which was 8 days before CJ's due date. After trick or treating the night before November 1st we brought the girls over to my friends house to spend the night and for her to bring to school the next day. We came home and tried to go to sleep so we could get up early the next morning and head to the hospital. By 6 a.m. we were on the road to the hospital. We arrived and got all checked in. I was contracting away. They checked to make sure he was still breech. I got hooked up to everything. I was shaved. I had to sign consent forms and then my doctor came in for one last talk before we headed into the operating room. They put this warm blanket on me and I walked into the freezing cold operating room. Joe who was already all gowned up had to stay out in the hallway. They put my spinal in which I was shaking for. I had never even had an epidural and I was freaked out about the thought of having something stuck into my back. They got it in and laid me down on the table and brought Joe in. Before I knew it they were starting. My doctor informed me that it was a good thing that we did not attempt the version because CJ had the cord wrapped around his neck twice. So this was the only option we had. I knew there was a reason he was breech. At exactly 8 a.m. CJ came screaming into the world. He was my smallest baby weighing just 7 pounds 12 ounces and was 19 inches long.

My doctor stitched me up and Joe checked out CJ and took pictures. They brought him over to me to see all wrapped in the blanket. I remember thinking where did he get so much dark hair from. I didn't get to hold him until we were in recovery. There he breastfed for the first time, but he was having a hard time maintaining his temperature. They ended up having to take him away and we had to go to our room without him. They brought him to us in an incubator after he was doing better. Our stay in the hospital was a long and stressful one. He had some issues with jaundice. I was up and moving around by the next day (my birthday). And I was able to enjoy a special birthday dinner and cake. It was a very different experience from the birth of my girls, but I knew I had made the right choice for him by having the c-section. The recovery was a long one, but really not much longer than my recovery from Natalie.

Check back next week for Alyssa's story, my VBAC(Vaginal Birth After C-secion).

Here's Natalie's birth story.

Here's Kaitlyn's birth story.

Here's Alyssa's birth story.

Update on CJ

2011-05-20T23:30:00.001-04:00

So after CJ's possible concussion/minor head injury from yesterday here's how he is doing...

Last night I woke him up at about 4. He wasn't easy to wake, but nothing I wouldn't expect out of him at 4 in the morning. He did roll around and move with my attempts to wake him and he sat up at one point. I asked him how his head was and he mumbled something and laid back down. Okay, seemed about on course with when I've tried to wake him up any other time so I tucked him back in.

Then Joe was up around 7 this morning to go to work. He went and woke CJ up no problem. He brought him into our room and put him in bed with me and Alyssa. He fell back to sleep. I got up around 8 because I had a headache and I needed to call Natalie out of school. Everyone stayed home because it ended up being a late night of worrying for everyone.

Shortly after I had gotten up CJ was up and calling for me. He wanted something to drink. So I got him a drink and started feeding Alyssa. CJ then wanted something for breakfast so I told him to go wake up his sisters to help him. So he did. They got him something to eat and before he sat down to eat it he threw up. However, he then got up at the table and ate his breakfast.

I called Kaitlyn out of school and then CJ and asked the nurse to call me back to discuss CJ. Then I called the doctor's office. I told them about CJ throwing up and they said okay but other than that how is he? He was fine. Playing with his sisters and talking and walking normally. They said okay well if anything changes call us, but we don't need to see him. Okay, sounds like a plan.

So we laid low all day today. CJ played with his sisters. He did take a nap for nearly 2 hours, but he had gone to bed 4 hours later than usual last night and still got up kind of early. He didn't really eat dinner again tonight, but he had eaten the rest of his meals today fine. He has for the most part been back to his mischievous self though. Seems to be doing better. He still has a good size black and blue egg on his head, but other than that he's good.

The school nurse never did call me back. Guess she wasn't too interested in what was going on with CJ. Oh well, I'll talk to his teachers on Monday to let them know what had happened so they can watch him a little more closely. Glad things seem to be getting back to normal with him and hopefully he continues to improve.

Concussion or minor head injury

2011-05-20T00:30:00.000-04:00

Either way, it just gave mommy and daddy a few more gray hairs. CJ fell at school today and bumped his head. It literally happened right after I dropped him off because as soon as I pulled in my driveway and was about to get Alyssa out of the car my phone rang. The nurse said she'd like ice to be kept on it for a while because where he bumped was right by the temple and she thought he needed to go home. Okay, no problem. So back in the car I went. This is the I don't know how many times CJ has fallen at school and bumped his head, but this was the first time the nurse thought it warranted going home. However, she didn't seem to think he needed to see the doctor.

So I got to the school and he was sitting in his class holding ice on his head. I looked and he had a good size egg just around his left eyebrow. I asked him what happened he said he fell. His teacher showed me what he hit his head on. We got his stuff and came home in a quiet car. CJ requested no music. I gave him another ice pack when we got home and he sat and watched TV for the rest of the morning. I gave him some lunch and he fell asleep at the table. Not entirely unusual for him though. He played in his room and was acting fine. We went to pick Joe up from work later in the day and then went to do some shopping and he seemed fine. Then we came home and were making dinner and he said he didn't feel well. He didn't want to eat and he was just very irritable. After not eating his dinner he was saying he wanted to go to bed. Not like him at all. It was only 7:00 and he wants to go to bed.

I called the doctor and she said well if he's not vomiting or stumbling around then just let him sleep. He probably has a concussion, but sleep is what he needs. No TV or video games just put him to bed and check on him before we go to bed at night. So we went to put him to bed and he started vomiting everywhere. So I called the doctor back. It took a while this time to hear back from her, but she told us to go to the Children's Medical Center. She would call ahead and let them know we were coming.

So off we went to the hospital. We got triaged right away and then they made us sit and wait. We got admitted and we sat and waited again. And we waited and we waited. Finally nearly 2 hours after we got there we were in a room and being seen. The doctor talked to CJ and asked us questions about his behavior and said I don't think it's too serious. He has normal neurological function so he'll get some Tylenol for the pain and you can bring him home, but wake him every 3 hours or so. If he is harder to wake up or doesn't know who he is call the doctor. If when he's awake he walking around like he's drunk call the doctor. So we left with a diagnosis of a minor head injury.

Didn't get out of there until 11:30. Home at midnight. Now it's time to go to bed so when Ms. Alyssa wakes up to eat again I can go wake Mr. Man up. Fun fun fun. Never experienced anything like this with the girls. This boy is giving us a run for our money. Usually I'm like oh, just another bump on his head no big deal, but this time definitely something more was going on. Glad he got checked out and hoping for no more symptoms and no lasting effects from this.

Chorus show shenanigans causes a public apology from principal

2011-05-18T22:30:00.000-04:00

Natalie had her chorus concert tonight. Someday maybe I'll actually get a good seat so I can take some video of her, but as it is I just really can't usually see her. I got one shot of her as she was walking out onto the risers.

I wasn't entirely planning on blogging about this. I mean my daughter did a great job I'm sure. She got up there and sang. She only sang three songs in this huge group and then we had to sit through the rest of this program even though she was all done singing. Don't get me wrong, it was a good concert, but it just seemed to drag on. There was some excitement of the evening though and it's what prompted me to write about tonight.

There is an 8th grade chorus. There last song was a rendition of "Splish Splash". The kids had this cardboard cut out of a bath tub that they brought out with a chair. No one sat in the chair which was placed behind the cut out. They began singing and this kid came running through the audience and jumped up on stage, took off his shirt, and hopped in the "tub". He was very entertaining dancing around in the "tub". Hopping out of the "tub". Running around the auditorium. He really got the audience going and cheering. Everyone seemed amused by him. I sure was. I wish they had ended with that instead of putting it in the middle because after I must admit I was getting a little sleepy sitting there.

Anyways, after this little performance the principal of the school made a "public apology" for this student's shenanigans. She said he'll be dealt with accordingly and that this isn't what she expects of her students and our children. Now maybe I'm just so desensitized to the shaking of the booty or the pelvic thrusts because my potty training toddler does that and much more running around here half naked. Heck, ten years from now he might be that kid up on stage doing just that, who knows. I'm assuming the principal had the issue with the booty shake and the pelvic thrusts. I would hope that she was okay with him splishing and splashing in the "tub".

I found myself wondering about the parents of this boy though. Are they sitting there turning all shades of red hoping no one knows that's their son? Are they proud of what he did? Are they just indifferent and a little disappointed in the principal for ruining all the fun? I think I kind of fall into the latter if it were my kid. I mean they are 8th graders. It's their last year and they just want to have a little fun. I don't know that I'd support a school punishment.

I do see why the principal had to say something I guess. I mean she has to keep some sense of order. And I know there are probably parents who were totally offended by that. So she was probably trying to head off the phone calls and complaints. But you know what I think sometimes schools are way over sensitive to things and think it's their job to do all of the discipline. Yes, this did happen on school grounds at a school function so it is her turf, but it was also a performance and to me it just seemed like this student was trying to make it a most memorable performance for the outgoing 8th graders. And I think he did just that. I wish he didn't have to get in trouble for it.

Maybe I'm in the minority. When I asked Natalie what she thought of it she said it was funny, but she thinks he SHOULD get in trouble for his actions. Huh, go figure. What do you think? Was this just a kid expressing himself or was it a lousy prank that should be punished by the school and the parents?

The latest acceptance to AVID

2011-05-17T21:30:00.000-04:00

After filling out an application, having an interview, and watching a bunch of her classmates get accepted into AVID Natalie finally got the word today that she too got in. That means next year she will be on the Blue team in school. That means the skies the limit for her in her future. That means she will spend the rest of her time through high school getting all of the best she can get out of her education. She will get to visit colleges. She will get advanced placement classes. She will get challenged. She will be required to have a well rounded school career. Just another step towards getting into college.

I'm proud of the latest AVID student, but I'm also very frustrated with her. I'm hopeful that AVID is going to help her get a little more organized and maintain much more consistent grades. While she came home today with this wonderful news she also came home today with a 55 on a math test. She lost the test which she needs to have signed because of the grade. Seems that spring fever is really getting to her. Hopefully AVID will help keep her on track.

Birth Story #2

2011-05-16T18:30:00.006-04:00

For the month of May I am writing out each of my children's birth stories every week. Here is the story of Kaitlyn's birth.

Kaitlyn was born on April 11, 2002 at 2:10 a.m. Eastern time.

My pregnancy with Kaitlyn was anything but uneventful. It started out with morning sickness unlike what I had with Natalie. I eventually started having problems with my blood pressure towards the end. So weekly I was going for non stress tests. At 8 months pregnant my doctor was concerned about my heartbeat so I had to wear a Halter Monitor for 24 hours. Not something I would recommend at 8 months pregnant. All was fine though. As the final weeks approached my doctor had asked me if I was getting uncomfortable enough that I might want to be induced because he wasn't against doing that. I originally had said no because I did not want Pitocin. He offered to try Cervadil if my cervix was favorable for it though. Joe and I had discussed it and knowing that Kaitlyn's due date was just a week before Natalie's birthday I did want to be done with the pregnancy before her birthday. Also we lived about half an hour away from the hospital and knowing how quickly I went into labor with Natalie we didn't want to have her on the way to the hospital. So we called up the doctor and told him we wanted to be induced. He said he'd check me at my next appointment on April 11th.

On April 10th Joe and I had been out all day long shopping and what not. We came home and were just relaxing around the house. We had something to eat and then I was playing Bejeweled on the computer. Joe was sitting there with me and began noticing that I was wincing. He kept asking if I was okay and I was like yeah I'm fine. So he started timing my wincing. It was every five minutes. He was sure I was having contractions. He made me call my doctor. I got the on call doctor though. When I told him how my labor with Natalie was only 2 hours he told me to get to the hospital. So it was 10 p.m. at this point. We packed up and left Natalie with the woman we were living with and headed to the hospital. I wasn't too sure that I was actually in labor though. We got there and they put me on the monitors and sure enough I was contracting hard every 3 minutes. They checked me and I was 5 almost 6 centimeters dilated. I was told that didn't mean I was going to be admitted since this was my second child. However, the doctor arrived and he said she's staying. And again I was walking around feeling nothing in the halls. At midnight the doctor decided to break my water. And yet again that got things going. By 2 a.m. I was fully dilated. I pushed for 10 minutes this time and Kaitlyn was born. Right onto my stomach she went. Again, no pain medicine of any sort. Completely natural. She weighed in at 8 pounds 15 ounces and was 22 inches long. The biggest baby in the hospital. She had about five chins. She was perfect. I did scare some other lady in the hospital who was having her first because I screamed so loud during delivery.

Kaitlyn came in her own time though and not when we had wanted her to come. She was 4 days before her due date.

Come back next week to read about CJ's birth story.

You can read Natalie's birth story here.

Here's CJ's birth story>

Here's Alyssa's birth story