Baby Girl:
Toots:
Monkey:
Thoughts and opinions?
Monday, December 6, 2010
Photo Outfits?
I'm horrible at coordinating things among all three kids so I'm wondering what others think before I move forward. The only thing I haven't figured out is shoes.
Monkey:
Monkey:
Monday, October 11, 2010
Realizations
I have always believed that everything in our life happens for a reason. We may not always know what that reason is, or even ever find out, but there is one. Sometimes we are lucky enough to figure it out though and for me, the last couple days has been my realization.
Most of you know that Monkey's dad left us when I was pregnant. Well I should clarify, we split up before I knew I was pregnant. I refused to get married just because I was pregnant so he ran off and married someone else. All while abandoning myself and our daughter. After she was born he told everyone she wasn't his and did nothing to support her. It wasn't until she was 5 months old when the courts proved she was indeed his and ordered support that he began contributing. Even then, thats the extent of it. Except for a handful of phone calls last year he has had no involvement with her.
Because of that I was forced to handle things on my own. I had to deal with every change, crisis, responsibility, major decisions, etc by myself. I had no family here that I could lean on, I only had myself. And I had to do it, I had no choice because I had to make sure my daughter was taken care of.
For 4 years it was just her and I and I learned very quickly how to manage. Was it hard? Heck ya it was. I had a few nights I cried. From frustration, anger, hurt, loneliness....the list goes on. I wondered if I had found out I was pregnant sooner would things have been different? Then I wondered why didn't I find out? Why did I have absolutely no idea? And trust me i didn't have a clue, it wasn't just denial there. Most of all I wondered why did things end up the way they did.
We will be living just one day at a time and taking things as they come. The good with the bad and hoping that the days fly by in the mean time. Will it be easy? Some days will be easier than others and some will seem like we've hit rock bottom. We will take lots of photo's with the kids, do some traveling to visit family and friends, and make awesome care packages for Mr. X to enjoy where ever he ends up. We will make the most of every moment. And then when he comes home we will cry at the pier, hug like we never want to let go, kiss like it's our honeymoon...and then go home. Where we will have to adjust to living as a 2 parent family again and start the cycle all over.
Most of you know that Monkey's dad left us when I was pregnant. Well I should clarify, we split up before I knew I was pregnant. I refused to get married just because I was pregnant so he ran off and married someone else. All while abandoning myself and our daughter. After she was born he told everyone she wasn't his and did nothing to support her. It wasn't until she was 5 months old when the courts proved she was indeed his and ordered support that he began contributing. Even then, thats the extent of it. Except for a handful of phone calls last year he has had no involvement with her.
Because of that I was forced to handle things on my own. I had to deal with every change, crisis, responsibility, major decisions, etc by myself. I had no family here that I could lean on, I only had myself. And I had to do it, I had no choice because I had to make sure my daughter was taken care of.
For 4 years it was just her and I and I learned very quickly how to manage. Was it hard? Heck ya it was. I had a few nights I cried. From frustration, anger, hurt, loneliness....the list goes on. I wondered if I had found out I was pregnant sooner would things have been different? Then I wondered why didn't I find out? Why did I have absolutely no idea? And trust me i didn't have a clue, it wasn't just denial there. Most of all I wondered why did things end up the way they did.
Now, years later, I look back and I think I know why. What I learned was that I could survive. I could be on my own and live to tell the story. What I know now is that all those years were preparation for whats to come. To show me that yes I'll be lonely and frustrated but it doesn't last forever, that "this too shall pass". Those years were to give me the tools I needed to survive as a Submariners wife. Mr. X told me once that a chief on his boat tried to warn him that very few wives could handle how much they are gone. His response to this chief was spoken in confidence that he knew I would be just fine and he believes it whole heartedly. The first time he left was a perfect example. I handled purchasing our current home, packed and moved everything, took care of 2 kiddo's, and worked a full time job. All while preggo with Baby Girl and a fractured tailbone. Yup, I can handle anything.
Anyone who thinks being the spouse of a service member is easy is sorely mistaken and add the fact that your other half is stuck on a sub somewhere under the water well...it stinks. You go days or weeks with out contact. Just living by the moto that no news is good news. The constant frustrations of not having real time contact. I can email my hubby tonight but it could be days before he gets it and the same in return. We can't email photos, there's no skype. And the amount of time they are gone?? Well I might as well be a single mom again.
We recently got the schedule for our boat for next year and while I'm not allowed to go into specifics due to security reasons lets just say he will be gone way more than he'll be home. He'll miss every single holiday and birthday except one. Am I bummed about it? Completely. But since I did the single mom thing before I know that we can survive this.We will be living just one day at a time and taking things as they come. The good with the bad and hoping that the days fly by in the mean time. Will it be easy? Some days will be easier than others and some will seem like we've hit rock bottom. We will take lots of photo's with the kids, do some traveling to visit family and friends, and make awesome care packages for Mr. X to enjoy where ever he ends up. We will make the most of every moment. And then when he comes home we will cry at the pier, hug like we never want to let go, kiss like it's our honeymoon...and then go home. Where we will have to adjust to living as a 2 parent family again and start the cycle all over.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
We are drop outs
When we moved to our current house last year we knew that the school we were zoned for was not one we would send our kids too. Most people wouldn't buy a house under those circumstances but anyone who has seen our house...well it was a deal we just could not pass up. Especially when there were other options to avoid that particular school. We loved her old school which wasn't that far away but because we were out of zone we had to provide transportation back and forth. With my daycare hours it was just impossible.
One option was going to a private school. Very costly just paying for tuition, then you have uniforms and everything else. This honestly would be our last resort just because of finances and also transportation. Depending on the school we may have had to still provide transportation. There are a couple really good schools around here though so we couldn't rule it out entirely.
Another option was the magnet program but it's a lottery system so there is no gurantee of getting in. Monkey ended up getting wait listed at 2 of them and since getting in at that point depends on no shows and drop outs there is also no gurantee of getting in. Great program though and we wouldn't have to worry about transportation because the city buses the kids regardless of where they live.
And finally our last option was homeschooling. Everyone knows this is the route we ended up taking and not for a minute do I regret it because it showed me a few things which I'll explain in a minute. With homeschooling we had so much flexibility, I could work schooling around our schedules and vacations rather than the other way around. We could spend more time on things she needed help with and go right through the things she didn't.
Monkey did very well with the lessons and taking the time to learn things as I knew she would. Heck I even learned a few things along the way. What I didn't account for was how much she would miss actually going to school. Having been in public school for 3 years now she was very aware of what she was missing. Adding to that her walking with my assistant to put her daughter on the boss every day and well...I ended up with a crying 7yr old wanting to go back to school.
So last week I started making calls and went up to the school board to see what our options were. Our request to go back to her original school was denied because it is "full" so that was a no go. So we re-explored the magnet program. At one school she was still #33 on the list. At the other....they had a spot for her!
Well, they HAD a spot for her. Turns out the principle had tried to call us the week before school started to let us know the spot was open. Apparently though the old school never updated it with in the computer systems that our phone number had changed and the principle never actually saw our application for the program which had the new number on it. So obviously we never got the call. Thankfully though since it was right at the beginning of the year, they got busy with all those first few weeks of school stuff - etc, they never filled her spot with someone else. So the spot is still Monkey's. She gets to start next week.
When I told her that she was going to get to go back to regular school the child literally jumped up and down. Anyone ever seen a kid that excited to go back?? Of course I'm fully expecting it to wear off at least a bit after a couple weeks but we'll see. The program at the school she is going to focuses on international languages which Monkey has been trying to learn Spanish lately. Of course that is based on the various learnign toys we have that speak in English and Spanish so it's kinda interesting what she has learned.
So now at this point I get to officially say we are homeschool drop outs. But in a good way! This week I'll get to go school shopping with her to get what she needs. And since we started our schooling back in July she has already covered everything that they are doing up to now in class so she won't be behind. It's going to be wierd not having my oldest around during the day now but it will be ok knowing she is happy too.
One option was going to a private school. Very costly just paying for tuition, then you have uniforms and everything else. This honestly would be our last resort just because of finances and also transportation. Depending on the school we may have had to still provide transportation. There are a couple really good schools around here though so we couldn't rule it out entirely.
Another option was the magnet program but it's a lottery system so there is no gurantee of getting in. Monkey ended up getting wait listed at 2 of them and since getting in at that point depends on no shows and drop outs there is also no gurantee of getting in. Great program though and we wouldn't have to worry about transportation because the city buses the kids regardless of where they live.
And finally our last option was homeschooling. Everyone knows this is the route we ended up taking and not for a minute do I regret it because it showed me a few things which I'll explain in a minute. With homeschooling we had so much flexibility, I could work schooling around our schedules and vacations rather than the other way around. We could spend more time on things she needed help with and go right through the things she didn't.
Monkey did very well with the lessons and taking the time to learn things as I knew she would. Heck I even learned a few things along the way. What I didn't account for was how much she would miss actually going to school. Having been in public school for 3 years now she was very aware of what she was missing. Adding to that her walking with my assistant to put her daughter on the boss every day and well...I ended up with a crying 7yr old wanting to go back to school.
So last week I started making calls and went up to the school board to see what our options were. Our request to go back to her original school was denied because it is "full" so that was a no go. So we re-explored the magnet program. At one school she was still #33 on the list. At the other....they had a spot for her!
Well, they HAD a spot for her. Turns out the principle had tried to call us the week before school started to let us know the spot was open. Apparently though the old school never updated it with in the computer systems that our phone number had changed and the principle never actually saw our application for the program which had the new number on it. So obviously we never got the call. Thankfully though since it was right at the beginning of the year, they got busy with all those first few weeks of school stuff - etc, they never filled her spot with someone else. So the spot is still Monkey's. She gets to start next week.
When I told her that she was going to get to go back to regular school the child literally jumped up and down. Anyone ever seen a kid that excited to go back?? Of course I'm fully expecting it to wear off at least a bit after a couple weeks but we'll see. The program at the school she is going to focuses on international languages which Monkey has been trying to learn Spanish lately. Of course that is based on the various learnign toys we have that speak in English and Spanish so it's kinda interesting what she has learned.
So now at this point I get to officially say we are homeschool drop outs. But in a good way! This week I'll get to go school shopping with her to get what she needs. And since we started our schooling back in July she has already covered everything that they are doing up to now in class so she won't be behind. It's going to be wierd not having my oldest around during the day now but it will be ok knowing she is happy too.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
My Funny Guy
I posted before about how Toots has just started talking pretty much over night. Every day he blows me away with the words he says and his ability to communicate. There are a few things he has been doign lately that just crack me up every time.
Mr. X will point to Toots and say "Who are you?" which Toots replies "You!". Then Mr. X will point to himself and say "Who am I?" and Toots replies "Mine!".
I have been getting him to repeat the alphabet letters back to me while we are doing diaper changes and we never make it past "D caus eit goes like this. "Say A....A!!!, Say B....B!!!, Say C....C!, Say D....Daddy!!!!"
Mr. X will point to Toots and say "Who are you?" which Toots replies "You!". Then Mr. X will point to himself and say "Who am I?" and Toots replies "Mine!".
I have been getting him to repeat the alphabet letters back to me while we are doing diaper changes and we never make it past "D caus eit goes like this. "Say A....A!!!, Say B....B!!!, Say C....C!, Say D....Daddy!!!!"
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
What Now?
I've posted before that we have been dealing with an issue concerning Baby Girl's eye. She has a vascular malformity on her right side which makes her look like she has a permanent black eye. It's essentially a clump of blood vessels where they shouldn't be and if left untreated and grow and damage other areas of her eye.
We went yesterday to our follow up appointment with the specialist since the CT scan was done a couple weeks ago. Originally the plan was they would view to see where it was at and decide if surgery should be done now or wait until a little later. Our appiontment yesterday didn't go like that at all.
The specialist said that most of the malformity is in her eyelid and appears to be slowly growing back into the eye area. It isn't something that would go away like a regular hemangioma would. This type would continue to grow as she grows and begin to damage other areas. At this time since she is still so small (12lbs at 4 months old) he is really wanting to avoid surgery for awhile. So instead he wants to try a minimum of 3 laser treatments followed by a second CT scan to see if the laser treatments appear to be working. If they are then we would continue with laser treatments until it is either gone or it appears to no longer be working, which at that point surgery would be the only option. The treatments would be done every 4 weeks with the first one starting sometime in the next couple weeks.
Sounds great right??? No surgery and a much less invasive option would be the ideal. However in our case because she is so young she doesn't understand that she has to lay completely still during the procedure. So to ensure that she doesn't move it would require her being put to sleep under general anesthesia every time.
Something in my mommy sense is making this plan of action not sit well with me. The idea of having to go through the ordeal of giving her an IV and putting her to sleep every month just doesn't seem right. I know how hard it was for them to put an IV in her last time. It took them 4 tries to get a successful one. I know how sick she got afterwards. We're not 100% sure if it was because of the anesthesia but it seems an odd coincidence that a perfectly healthy baby becomes horribly ill with in hours of having it done.
So now I don't know what to do. She has her 4 month well check on Monday and I plan to discuss everything with her pediatrician whom I love. I really want to know from her opinion the side affects and possible issues with having to do this so often. What other options there may be and so forth. Even Mr. X isn't thrilled with the idea of Baby Girl having to go through this and is wanting to go to a different specialist to get a 2nd opinion.
So for now this is where we stand.
We went yesterday to our follow up appointment with the specialist since the CT scan was done a couple weeks ago. Originally the plan was they would view to see where it was at and decide if surgery should be done now or wait until a little later. Our appiontment yesterday didn't go like that at all.
The specialist said that most of the malformity is in her eyelid and appears to be slowly growing back into the eye area. It isn't something that would go away like a regular hemangioma would. This type would continue to grow as she grows and begin to damage other areas. At this time since she is still so small (12lbs at 4 months old) he is really wanting to avoid surgery for awhile. So instead he wants to try a minimum of 3 laser treatments followed by a second CT scan to see if the laser treatments appear to be working. If they are then we would continue with laser treatments until it is either gone or it appears to no longer be working, which at that point surgery would be the only option. The treatments would be done every 4 weeks with the first one starting sometime in the next couple weeks.
Sounds great right??? No surgery and a much less invasive option would be the ideal. However in our case because she is so young she doesn't understand that she has to lay completely still during the procedure. So to ensure that she doesn't move it would require her being put to sleep under general anesthesia every time.
Something in my mommy sense is making this plan of action not sit well with me. The idea of having to go through the ordeal of giving her an IV and putting her to sleep every month just doesn't seem right. I know how hard it was for them to put an IV in her last time. It took them 4 tries to get a successful one. I know how sick she got afterwards. We're not 100% sure if it was because of the anesthesia but it seems an odd coincidence that a perfectly healthy baby becomes horribly ill with in hours of having it done.
So now I don't know what to do. She has her 4 month well check on Monday and I plan to discuss everything with her pediatrician whom I love. I really want to know from her opinion the side affects and possible issues with having to do this so often. What other options there may be and so forth. Even Mr. X isn't thrilled with the idea of Baby Girl having to go through this and is wanting to go to a different specialist to get a 2nd opinion.
So for now this is where we stand.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
A Full Plate
I haven't been blogging lately just because it seems like I am always busy doing other things. Right now I think I have so much going on I either need a bigger plate or need to trim the excess. Not sure yet though. My daycare is still going strong. We have a lot of the fune very day and we are constantly comign up with new ideas. Especially with our lunch's and snacks. Tomorrow is Bunny pies. Hopefully the kids will be enjoying the flavor so much they won't notice the few veggies we sneak inside.
In addition to the daycare my sewing has really taken off. I've got orders that require me to do some sewing every single night to keep up. Last night I spent like 5 hours behind my machine and was up until 2am. Not a good thing when the alarm goes off at 5:30am so that I can get ready for the first kids who are dropped off at 6:45am. I'm enjoying it though. The embroidery machine I got has really been a blessing. I've got so many ideas floating around in my head and there just is not enough time in the day for them all. Maybe one day though my sewing will be doing really well and I can just focus on that only. We'll see though. If any of you are interested though click HERE to go to the facebook fan page. You can also search at www.etsy.com for Daffe Designs to find my items.
Those 2 things alone keep me busy and then I still have to take care of the house, the kids, Monkey's homeschooling.....the list goes on and on. Maybe one day I'll get to take a "real" vacation.
In addition to the daycare my sewing has really taken off. I've got orders that require me to do some sewing every single night to keep up. Last night I spent like 5 hours behind my machine and was up until 2am. Not a good thing when the alarm goes off at 5:30am so that I can get ready for the first kids who are dropped off at 6:45am. I'm enjoying it though. The embroidery machine I got has really been a blessing. I've got so many ideas floating around in my head and there just is not enough time in the day for them all. Maybe one day though my sewing will be doing really well and I can just focus on that only. We'll see though. If any of you are interested though click HERE to go to the facebook fan page. You can also search at www.etsy.com for Daffe Designs to find my items.
Those 2 things alone keep me busy and then I still have to take care of the house, the kids, Monkey's homeschooling.....the list goes on and on. Maybe one day I'll get to take a "real" vacation.
Friday, July 30, 2010
It's the little things
It's amazing how much the little things we do for each other add up. Mr. X and I have this thing we do to show we care or that we're thinking about each other. We leave cards. Sometimes they are fancy, sometimes they are really simple, sometimes they are hand made, sometimes they are store bought. The point though is to bring a smile to the others face.
He started it too. I would get cards through out the year, not just for the normal holidays. And he would leave them in various places too. On the kitchen counter, on the pillow for when I wake up. Then he got me started. Now I leave them for him too. It's starting to become a game almost. the most odd ball place to leave them. Once I knew he was going to be taking the car to do some errands so I snuck out and left it on the dash. He left one under a pillow on the couch where I normally sit. It's just our thing.
Whats yours?
He started it too. I would get cards through out the year, not just for the normal holidays. And he would leave them in various places too. On the kitchen counter, on the pillow for when I wake up. Then he got me started. Now I leave them for him too. It's starting to become a game almost. the most odd ball place to leave them. Once I knew he was going to be taking the car to do some errands so I snuck out and left it on the dash. He left one under a pillow on the couch where I normally sit. It's just our thing.
Whats yours?
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Another Little One
I've said for a bit now that I thought Baby Girl was going to end up being little like Toots is. Based on her weigh in yesterday it looks like I may be right! Granted maybe she'll have a big growth spurt in the next few months but I doubt it. Guess it's a good thing I didn't invest in a lot of larger sizes for this winter.
She is now 3 1/2 months old and yesterday she weighed 11lbs 11oz. I pulled Toots weight information and at 4 months old he was 13lbs 8oz. Such a difference in all my kids too cause Monkey was over 15lbs at 4 months old. I guess we forgot the Miracle Grow when the seed was planted. LOL
She is now 3 1/2 months old and yesterday she weighed 11lbs 11oz. I pulled Toots weight information and at 4 months old he was 13lbs 8oz. Such a difference in all my kids too cause Monkey was over 15lbs at 4 months old. I guess we forgot the Miracle Grow when the seed was planted. LOL
Monday, July 19, 2010
She Bit Me!
Baby girl is exclusively nursing and just like with Toots we have been lucky in that it has been fairly easy. I think some people believe I'm a freak of nature because I never had the common issues tha tpeople talk about. The only pain I've had, until today, was just when the milk initially comes in. I know, it's not normal but all things considered I deserve a break here.
Anyways, tonight I was feeding Baby Girl while surfing on net. She's got her eyes clothes about to fall asleep so I was off in lala land reading another blog. All of a sudden I get a piercing pain right where her mouth is. I holler "Ow!" and yank back. "No biting" I tell her. I kid you not, she looked at me and giggled. Something tells me she is going to be more of a handful than Toots.
Anyways, tonight I was feeding Baby Girl while surfing on net. She's got her eyes clothes about to fall asleep so I was off in lala land reading another blog. All of a sudden I get a piercing pain right where her mouth is. I holler "Ow!" and yank back. "No biting" I tell her. I kid you not, she looked at me and giggled. Something tells me she is going to be more of a handful than Toots.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Word Explosion
I've always heard that kids who are slow to talk will just wake up one day and start talking. I don't know that I ever believed it though because I hadn't seen it personally. Monkey was early to talk and always spoke very clearly. Toots on the other hand is much slower with the talking. Up until about a week ago our conversations consisted of grunting, pointing, and screaming. He could say mama, dada, and sissy but not much else. There were a few other things he would say that we figured out over time but to a stranger who wasn't used to his speaking they would have no clue.
Then one day we were reading books and we always try to get him to repeat after us. And the boy just started saying the words. Not only saying them but saying them so we could understand him. Then a couple days later I hear him start talking in sentences. "Where did it go?" seems to be his favorite since we play catch and he often loses the ball.
It's just amazing to me to hear him talk and to be able to understand him. Now that he's getting words he is babbling more now too. I guess maybe he didn't see the point before?
Then one day we were reading books and we always try to get him to repeat after us. And the boy just started saying the words. Not only saying them but saying them so we could understand him. Then a couple days later I hear him start talking in sentences. "Where did it go?" seems to be his favorite since we play catch and he often loses the ball.
It's just amazing to me to hear him talk and to be able to understand him. Now that he's getting words he is babbling more now too. I guess maybe he didn't see the point before?
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Shout Out!
I'm giving a shout out for a friend and her amazing creations!! I can only hope that one day my projects look as awesome as hers.
So if your looking for some interesting things go check out Goldilocks Creations!
So if your looking for some interesting things go check out Goldilocks Creations!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
The CT is over
Today we took baby girl in to do a CT scan for her eye. For a normal person it's not a big deal and really for her in the long run it isn't either. It takes 5 minutes to do and isn't painful or anything like that. However it does require you to lay completely still the entire time. Since baby girl is only 3 months and doesn't understand the concept of staying still it was required to give her a sedative through an IV.
Again, normally not a big deal but since she's so little her veins are very little too. It took 3 failed sticks before they finally got it on the 4th try. Poor girl has bruises on both hands and feet. Thankfully Mr. X was able to go after all so he held her most the time. She wasn't allowed to eat after 3am and considering it was 7:30am by the time they tried to do the IV I knew she was hungry and smelling me wouldn't help. So I stayed to the back and fought a losing battle with my own tears as I listened to her cries.
Thankfully they finally got the IV and at that point she pretty much just collapsed from exhaustion. I was able to hold her and I walked her back to the room where they do the scan. I held her until they gave her the sedative which worked really fast. Let me tell you, it's pretty creepy seeing them fall asleep with their eyes open. Once she was asleep we waited about 10 minutes and they took her to a recovery space so she could wake back up.
Thankfully she doesn't seem to be any worse off. After she was awake for about 15-20 minutes she was babbling and talking to us. We even got a couple smiles out of her. The nurse said she has the sweetest little voice which I agree of course. I was able to feed her again and we waited a bit longer just to make sure she wouldn't start vomiting. Then we were sent on our way with instruction on things to watch for. So far so good and although she has been sleeping a bit more than normal she really does seem fine.
Now I've been emailed and asked if I can explain better whats going on and why ultimately she is going to be having surgery. I actually managed to capture a great picture recently that really shows whats going on so I'll share that in a minute.
Baby girl has whats called a vascular malformity. It's basically a clump of blood vessels behind/around her eye that shouldn't be there. Over time it can/will grow and will cause issues with her vision and growth if it's not taken care of. When she was first born it looked like she just had bad bruising around her eyes and it still does. Well sorta like she has a black eye if that makes sense. Here's the photo so you can see.
Again, normally not a big deal but since she's so little her veins are very little too. It took 3 failed sticks before they finally got it on the 4th try. Poor girl has bruises on both hands and feet. Thankfully Mr. X was able to go after all so he held her most the time. She wasn't allowed to eat after 3am and considering it was 7:30am by the time they tried to do the IV I knew she was hungry and smelling me wouldn't help. So I stayed to the back and fought a losing battle with my own tears as I listened to her cries.
Thankfully they finally got the IV and at that point she pretty much just collapsed from exhaustion. I was able to hold her and I walked her back to the room where they do the scan. I held her until they gave her the sedative which worked really fast. Let me tell you, it's pretty creepy seeing them fall asleep with their eyes open. Once she was asleep we waited about 10 minutes and they took her to a recovery space so she could wake back up.
Thankfully she doesn't seem to be any worse off. After she was awake for about 15-20 minutes she was babbling and talking to us. We even got a couple smiles out of her. The nurse said she has the sweetest little voice which I agree of course. I was able to feed her again and we waited a bit longer just to make sure she wouldn't start vomiting. Then we were sent on our way with instruction on things to watch for. So far so good and although she has been sleeping a bit more than normal she really does seem fine.
Now I've been emailed and asked if I can explain better whats going on and why ultimately she is going to be having surgery. I actually managed to capture a great picture recently that really shows whats going on so I'll share that in a minute.
Baby girl has whats called a vascular malformity. It's basically a clump of blood vessels behind/around her eye that shouldn't be there. Over time it can/will grow and will cause issues with her vision and growth if it's not taken care of. When she was first born it looked like she just had bad bruising around her eyes and it still does. Well sorta like she has a black eye if that makes sense. Here's the photo so you can see.
When you look at the picture its the eye on the left. Don't mind the red marks, those are birth marks. The area in question is the dark purple like right over her upper eye lid. It almost kinda looks liek she has eye shadow on. Thats where all the blood vessels are clumped up. You can even tell where it's kinda puffy on that side compared to the other. When her eyes are open or in certain lights it can be hardly noticeable but it's definetely there.
The surgery itself will involve them cutting right along the crease of her eyelid so that after it heals it won't really be noticeable. They will be removing those clumps to make sure that nothing else about her eye is damaged from the growth. Then for the next few years we will have regular check ups with the specialist to make sure that it's not regrowing back or anything.
The CT scan done today is supposed to show exactly how bad it is. We can only see whats visible right by the eyelid, we have no idea how deep it may actually go. If it's deep or causing other issues then they will do surgery soon to try and prevent damaging anything else. If it's not that deep or interfering with anything else then we will wait as long as possible to do the surgery. We were told that after the scan today no news is good news if we don't hear from the doctors office prior to our August 9th appointment. if it's worse than he thought or considered urgent then we'll called in for an earlier appointment so we can get things going.
So there you have it. Maybe with the photo it will be easier to understand since now there is a visual. I know in the beginning it was confusing for us so I get why some people arent understanding what the issue is. Just keep fingers crossed that we will be able to put off the surgery a bit because the older she is the more surface area they have to work with as well as the better she will be able to handle the surgery.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Need to fire the toothfairy
Yup, the woman is slacking on her job. I mean...all she does is go around collecting teeth and leaving money for the kids who lost, or in Monkey's case, yanked out their teeth. This is the 2nd time now that she has completely bypassed our house at night and I've had to deal with a crying child in the morning. Next time she's expected to come around I'm just gonna have to stay up and kick her hiney!
**Yes I completely forgot to exchange the tooth for money last night. I've got Monkey thinking the toothfairy is just an extremely overworked and exhausted person who needs and assistant so she won't miss houses in the future.
**Yes I completely forgot to exchange the tooth for money last night. I've got Monkey thinking the toothfairy is just an extremely overworked and exhausted person who needs and assistant so she won't miss houses in the future.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Rockin Robeeze
Yesterday I hit up my favorite thrift store and scored a pair of Robeeze that look brand new for $3. Pretty typical of this store which is why I love it! They are 12-18 month and fit Toots perfectly. Apparently he loves them because now he wont' take them off. We tried last night before bed and he screamed. This mornign and he screamed. Tonight again and he screamed. Here he is today rockin them...
My New Obsession
I recently had the opportunity to invest in an embroidery machine and man am I so glad I did!! Now I really want to get a serger just to complete my process but that will have to wait a bit. I need to sell off some more projects to pay off the embroidery machine investment first. Anyways, I've been finding all sorts of things to personalize. My very first one I can't post just yet cause I don't want them to see it before it arrives in the mail. A bit of a surprise if you will. So these are a couple other things I've done today.
First, this morning I did Baby Girl's lovie.
First, this morning I did Baby Girl's lovie.
Then I made this bag for a friend of ours. It's a memory bag for keepsakes from the little girl they lost.
Then on to burp clothes. These are flannel on each side with a prefold diaper in the middle for obsorbancy. Turned out quite cute I must say!
Hmmm....so what else can I do??? LOL Right now I'm limited to just a few things. There are some designs built in but I'm still thinking on how to use them. I do have some others that I bought, like Ballerina's, firetrucks, stick people, etc that I'll be able to use. I'm just waiting on a memory card that I need in order to get them from my computer to the machine. Hopefully this week!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
And so it goes...
Mr. X has always told me that he can't gurantee being able to get off work even for some important things. In almost 3 years we have been extremely lucky in that he has always been able to get off when needed. It really hasn't been a lot of requests though, maybe 3 or 4 different ones. I think I was spoiled.
Last night he informed me that they denied his request for leave next week when Baby Girl goes in for her CT Scan. With them getting ready for work ups and it's a duty day for him it's really bad timing. Granted it's not the surgery itself but it does require them doing an IV and giving her medicine to make her sleep. Not to mention he more than likely won't be here for the surgery either. At least it's looking more and more like it will be that way. I know he was upset that they denied it as well but there's nothing he can do.
This really sucks having to take her by myself.
Last night he informed me that they denied his request for leave next week when Baby Girl goes in for her CT Scan. With them getting ready for work ups and it's a duty day for him it's really bad timing. Granted it's not the surgery itself but it does require them doing an IV and giving her medicine to make her sleep. Not to mention he more than likely won't be here for the surgery either. At least it's looking more and more like it will be that way. I know he was upset that they denied it as well but there's nothing he can do.
This really sucks having to take her by myself.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Unbelievable
I was in Target Saturday picking up our weekly case of wipes and looking for July 4th outfits for the kids. Of course I can never just pass by the clearance rack so I checked it out. Came across this really cute shirt marked down to $3.
I thought it would be perfect for Toots since he is turning two in less than 2 months. I didn't pay much attention to the sizing but just looking at it I knew it would fit him so I put it in the cart and kept going. It wasn't until I got home and was putting things away that I caught the tag. It's a size 12 months. Yes, my soon to be 2yr old is wearing a shirt made for a 1yr old. Anybody want to bet his pediatrician tries to send us to some sort of therapy after our next well check?
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Happy 4th of July!
I want to wish everyone a very happy 4th of July. Please stay safe and happy BBQ'ing and fireworks!!
Today is a special day for Mr. X and I in another way as well. Exactly one year ago today was the first time we said "I love you". Ya ya ya I know some of you are doing the math, we were together way before that. Yes it took just 19 months for us to say it the first time. I would have said it earlier but I wanted him to do it first.
That weekend we were camping with friends and as we laid in bed in the tent listening to the fireworks go off around the camp ground the conversation went like this:
Mr X: Do you love me?
Me: Yes
Mr X: Well I love you to.
**Sigh** And that my friends was the beginning of Baby Girl who was born almost exactly 9 months later.
Today is a special day for Mr. X and I in another way as well. Exactly one year ago today was the first time we said "I love you". Ya ya ya I know some of you are doing the math, we were together way before that. Yes it took just 19 months for us to say it the first time. I would have said it earlier but I wanted him to do it first.
That weekend we were camping with friends and as we laid in bed in the tent listening to the fireworks go off around the camp ground the conversation went like this:
Mr X: Do you love me?
Me: Yes
Mr X: Well I love you to.
**Sigh** And that my friends was the beginning of Baby Girl who was born almost exactly 9 months later.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Peter Pan Syndrome
I wonder if after you have a certain number of kids you start to suffer from the Peter Pan syndrome. Meaning that they never grow up in your eyes. I can remember when Monkey was a baby how I could see her growing and getting bigger. I watched her change from an infant to a toddler to a young girl. I never felt like we were stuck in one moment of time.
Now with Toots and Baby Girl I look at them and still see them as little ones. Course the fact that Toots is almost 2yrs old and is still pretty tiny for his age probably doesn't help. At his 18 month check he was 22lbs. I can still get him into some of his 6-9 month onsies. Anything bigger than 12 months in shorts and they fall right off of him or look like high water pants. Thats even in cloth diapers where it's expected to wear a size up to accomodate the diaper.
Baby Girl will be 3 months old in less than a week and I still see her as an infant. Yes I can see where she has grown a bit and she is developing in other ways. She smiles all the time and coo's/talks to us. We even got her to start giggling which is the best sound ever. But when I look at her I still see a baby face.
What made me think of it is I recently saw another baby who is less than 2 weeks older than Baby Girl and it seemed like she actually looked like an older baby. So I started actually paying attention to other babies/toddlers and they all do. They just have a more "grown up" look to them then when I think of my own.
So I'm wondering if I suffer from a sort of Peter Pan syndrome where in my eyes my kiddo's will never grow up. Course we know they will but I still, how long will they be babies in my eyes? Forever??
Now with Toots and Baby Girl I look at them and still see them as little ones. Course the fact that Toots is almost 2yrs old and is still pretty tiny for his age probably doesn't help. At his 18 month check he was 22lbs. I can still get him into some of his 6-9 month onsies. Anything bigger than 12 months in shorts and they fall right off of him or look like high water pants. Thats even in cloth diapers where it's expected to wear a size up to accomodate the diaper.
Baby Girl will be 3 months old in less than a week and I still see her as an infant. Yes I can see where she has grown a bit and she is developing in other ways. She smiles all the time and coo's/talks to us. We even got her to start giggling which is the best sound ever. But when I look at her I still see a baby face.
What made me think of it is I recently saw another baby who is less than 2 weeks older than Baby Girl and it seemed like she actually looked like an older baby. So I started actually paying attention to other babies/toddlers and they all do. They just have a more "grown up" look to them then when I think of my own.
So I'm wondering if I suffer from a sort of Peter Pan syndrome where in my eyes my kiddo's will never grow up. Course we know they will but I still, how long will they be babies in my eyes? Forever??
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Happy Daddy's Day!!
I know it's now almost 10pm but I figured better late than never right??? So HAPPY DADDY'S DAY!! This goes out to my dad, my hubby, and all the other daddy's out there.
Unfortunately my hubby wasn't able to spend the day with us so that we could pamper him. The boat managed to steal him away yet again. Such is the life I'm told. We did get to talk to him briefly this evening which was better than nothing I suppose. Oh well, at least we got to take him out to dinner last night to celebrate.
Unfortunately my hubby wasn't able to spend the day with us so that we could pamper him. The boat managed to steal him away yet again. Such is the life I'm told. We did get to talk to him briefly this evening which was better than nothing I suppose. Oh well, at least we got to take him out to dinner last night to celebrate.
My latest Project
I'm always looking for new things to try and make and tonights was rather interesting. It took me forever cause I was trying to plan it as I went. Overall though I like how it turned out!
I've been making and selling wetbags for a little while now. We cloth diaper and they come in handy for when we are out and about. Rather than using a plastic bag I can use this reusable one that is waterproof and keeps the smell in. Plus I can make them so it's super cheap to have several of mine own.
Tonight a friend suggested making one in a backpack style. We frequent the beach and water country and having one we can just carry on our back seems like a great idea. So I took on the challenge and came up with this.
This is it opened up and showing the straps.
A close up and the straps shortened. See how the bottom folds up and makes it shorter in eneral. Great for if you only have a couple things to carry.
And finally me wearing it. I stuffed 3 regular size towels inside and there is still plenty of room for swim suits or changes of clothes.
I have a couple change I'd like to make. Like having the zipper more on the front of hte bag instead of at the very top. Just have to work out placement. Other than that It's a nifty bag to have! And isn't the print just too cute!
If it was only a week...
Brandi over at Excess Baggage posed the question "Only one week to live...where would you go?" on her blog.
Where would I go? My first thought is to say home but well, we all know I don't really care for home. There isn't much to see really in the good ole 'Fort. Well there is the children's zoo but thats not exactly a high priority when you only have one week left.
Hmm...Maybe Europe?? I've always wanted to go to Italy. Then again it just seems like way to much work even to get there because you know I'd be dragging Mr. X and the kiddo's along with me.
No, I think I'd rather stay right near the water. We would get a cottage with a bedroom whose window overlooks the ocean so that every morning I could wake up with my hubby to watch the sunrise. I'd spend my days laying beside Mr. X while watching the kids play and laugh in the sand and water. We would eat anything and everything our heart desired. The idea being to totally live in the moment and savoring each and every single one. For once there would be no cellphone or laptop. My hubby and my kids would have my undivided attention.
Just like Brandi I'd want to be right there with my family, enjoying them, savoring them, loving them.
Where would I go? My first thought is to say home but well, we all know I don't really care for home. There isn't much to see really in the good ole 'Fort. Well there is the children's zoo but thats not exactly a high priority when you only have one week left.
Hmm...Maybe Europe?? I've always wanted to go to Italy. Then again it just seems like way to much work even to get there because you know I'd be dragging Mr. X and the kiddo's along with me.
No, I think I'd rather stay right near the water. We would get a cottage with a bedroom whose window overlooks the ocean so that every morning I could wake up with my hubby to watch the sunrise. I'd spend my days laying beside Mr. X while watching the kids play and laugh in the sand and water. We would eat anything and everything our heart desired. The idea being to totally live in the moment and savoring each and every single one. For once there would be no cellphone or laptop. My hubby and my kids would have my undivided attention.
Just like Brandi I'd want to be right there with my family, enjoying them, savoring them, loving them.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Trying Not To
Ever since we saw the specialist on Monday I find myself constantly inspecting Baby Girl's eyes looking for any change. I told myself after the appointment that I wouldn't focus on that because I don't want to imagine something that isn't there. It's like when you take a pregnancy test, if you stare at it long enough your gonna see a line. Even if it is an imaginary one. In my case....I really don't want to see it.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Cloth Diapering Savings
I've been asked if cloth diapering really does save money and is it really worth it. I think a lot of people, like myself at one time, can't get past the initial start up cost while doing cloth diapering. I mean spending a couple hundred $$ at once on diapers when a box of Huggies is $20 at Walmart can be hard to get past. What they also may not know is that there are cheaper ways to start up rather than going all gung ho with the big name brand diapers.
So here is how I figure the breakdown of savings for us. Currently I have 2 kiddo's in cloth diapers exclusively. There's not a single disposable in my house that doesn't belong to one of the daycare kiddo's. Starting up I have spent just under $250 which gives me enough diapers for both kids and allows me to do the washings every other day. I prefer the pocket diapers with the occasional personally made cover with a prefold. My pockets consist of Bum Genius, Nubunz, and a handful of Kawaii Baby. The nubunz were bought brand new but the others were bought 2nd hand or off ebay at a discounted price. Surprisingly cloth diapers have a really good resell value.
Now, with 2 in diapers I'm estimating we would have spent approximately $80 a month on disposables. In addition based on our most recent water bill with the extra washes there was an increase of $5 per month. Nothing else in our life changed in the last month so I'm pretty sure thats from the extra laundry loads. Based on those numbers in just over 3 months we would have broke even. That means going into month 4 we would be having a savings of $75 a month. In a years time (I'm pretty sure Toots won't be potty training anytime soon) that is a savings of $900. Now this isn't taking into account swim diapers or the fact that we probably won't need diaper rash cream since rashes aren't common in cloth. Plus they are well made diapers so they last a long time so I'll be able to use them for baby #4 if we are blessed with one so the savings just continues.
Is it worth it?? For me it is. Cloth diapering really isn't that difficult. Yes it means I have a couple extra loads of laundry to do each week and but really how hard is that? You wash them, hang them to dry and your done. Even Mr. X has not found it too difficult to deal with of course I do all the stuffing for him and take care of the poopy dipes but still, its no different than a disposable to him he just doesn't throw them away. And quite honestly, one benefit is I have actually kept on top of the regular laundry instead of letting it pile up and doing it all in one day. Thats one thing Mr. X definetely won't complain about now.
So here is how I figure the breakdown of savings for us. Currently I have 2 kiddo's in cloth diapers exclusively. There's not a single disposable in my house that doesn't belong to one of the daycare kiddo's. Starting up I have spent just under $250 which gives me enough diapers for both kids and allows me to do the washings every other day. I prefer the pocket diapers with the occasional personally made cover with a prefold. My pockets consist of Bum Genius, Nubunz, and a handful of Kawaii Baby. The nubunz were bought brand new but the others were bought 2nd hand or off ebay at a discounted price. Surprisingly cloth diapers have a really good resell value.
Now, with 2 in diapers I'm estimating we would have spent approximately $80 a month on disposables. In addition based on our most recent water bill with the extra washes there was an increase of $5 per month. Nothing else in our life changed in the last month so I'm pretty sure thats from the extra laundry loads. Based on those numbers in just over 3 months we would have broke even. That means going into month 4 we would be having a savings of $75 a month. In a years time (I'm pretty sure Toots won't be potty training anytime soon) that is a savings of $900. Now this isn't taking into account swim diapers or the fact that we probably won't need diaper rash cream since rashes aren't common in cloth. Plus they are well made diapers so they last a long time so I'll be able to use them for baby #4 if we are blessed with one so the savings just continues.
Is it worth it?? For me it is. Cloth diapering really isn't that difficult. Yes it means I have a couple extra loads of laundry to do each week and but really how hard is that? You wash them, hang them to dry and your done. Even Mr. X has not found it too difficult to deal with of course I do all the stuffing for him and take care of the poopy dipes but still, its no different than a disposable to him he just doesn't throw them away. And quite honestly, one benefit is I have actually kept on top of the regular laundry instead of letting it pile up and doing it all in one day. Thats one thing Mr. X definetely won't complain about now.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Her Beautiful Eyes
First for the easy stuff. Baby girl had her 2 month well check today and she is getting to be a big girl! She is now 11lbs 5oz and 23 1/4 inches long.
Now for the harder stuff. I have been putting off telling people about baby girl's eyes because I wanted to know what was going to happen first. I figured it would be easier that way plus I would have some answers of my own instead of having to say "I don't know".
Going back a bit when she was born she had a lot of dark spots on her eyes and forhead. We had figured that it was bruising because she was rather large and born pretty fast. At her 2 week follow up though the spots over her eyes had not faded away as a bruise would have and showed no sign of doing so. The pediatrician referred us to a specialist just to be safe. She had her first appointment with him a month ago and he confirmed there was definetely something going on. What though was the question. He said that he thought it was a hemangioma which is a growth. You will see these on other parts of the body mostly. Since it's around her eyes it would have to be treated or she would likely have vision damage. The decision was made to wait a month and watch how it grows to see which would be the best way to treat it, either laser or steroids.
Today we had our 2nd appointment with the specialist and it didn't go at all like I had thought. At this appointment he said that in fact it does not look like a hemangioma, that it is actually a vascular malformity. I think I spelled that right. Anyways, what it boils down to is she will have to have surgery. He wants to try and put it off until she is closer to 5 or 6 months since she will have to be put under and should handle the procedure better than if we were to do it now. Plus she will have more skin and area to work with so it will be easier for the surgeon to do what he has to do. He also said that if it is not obstructing or causing visible problems then he may want to wait a little longer than that and take it month by month.
So again we wait. We'll get a call in the next week for when she will need to go in for a CT scan. This will tell them just how deep it is and an idea of size and what they are dealing with. She'll then be scheduled for sometime in August when she is 4 months to see the specialist again so he can check the growth progression again and then make the decision from there.
In the mean time while at home we just have to keep an eye on it. If her eyelid starts drooping, looking like it's puffier, or if her eye itself doesn't move as it should we'll have to take her in right away and the whole process will get moved up. The other side of it is once they do the surgery it won't be the end of it. She'll have to have check ups for awhile afterwards to make sure that they got it all and that it doesn't start to grow again.
Whats really sad is it's very likely that Mr. X won't be here when she gets the procedure done. So goes the military life I suppose. I'm thankful though that I have several very good friends who I know will be there for us if he isn't able to. I know he'll be worried about his little girl though and hopefully there won't be a huge delay in communication for us. We shall see though.
Now for the harder stuff. I have been putting off telling people about baby girl's eyes because I wanted to know what was going to happen first. I figured it would be easier that way plus I would have some answers of my own instead of having to say "I don't know".
Going back a bit when she was born she had a lot of dark spots on her eyes and forhead. We had figured that it was bruising because she was rather large and born pretty fast. At her 2 week follow up though the spots over her eyes had not faded away as a bruise would have and showed no sign of doing so. The pediatrician referred us to a specialist just to be safe. She had her first appointment with him a month ago and he confirmed there was definetely something going on. What though was the question. He said that he thought it was a hemangioma which is a growth. You will see these on other parts of the body mostly. Since it's around her eyes it would have to be treated or she would likely have vision damage. The decision was made to wait a month and watch how it grows to see which would be the best way to treat it, either laser or steroids.
Today we had our 2nd appointment with the specialist and it didn't go at all like I had thought. At this appointment he said that in fact it does not look like a hemangioma, that it is actually a vascular malformity. I think I spelled that right. Anyways, what it boils down to is she will have to have surgery. He wants to try and put it off until she is closer to 5 or 6 months since she will have to be put under and should handle the procedure better than if we were to do it now. Plus she will have more skin and area to work with so it will be easier for the surgeon to do what he has to do. He also said that if it is not obstructing or causing visible problems then he may want to wait a little longer than that and take it month by month.
So again we wait. We'll get a call in the next week for when she will need to go in for a CT scan. This will tell them just how deep it is and an idea of size and what they are dealing with. She'll then be scheduled for sometime in August when she is 4 months to see the specialist again so he can check the growth progression again and then make the decision from there.
In the mean time while at home we just have to keep an eye on it. If her eyelid starts drooping, looking like it's puffier, or if her eye itself doesn't move as it should we'll have to take her in right away and the whole process will get moved up. The other side of it is once they do the surgery it won't be the end of it. She'll have to have check ups for awhile afterwards to make sure that they got it all and that it doesn't start to grow again.
Whats really sad is it's very likely that Mr. X won't be here when she gets the procedure done. So goes the military life I suppose. I'm thankful though that I have several very good friends who I know will be there for us if he isn't able to. I know he'll be worried about his little girl though and hopefully there won't be a huge delay in communication for us. We shall see though.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Running out of Room
I don't think I have any more room for titles at the end of my name. There's bound to be more though that I haven't thought of. Now I get to add "nurse". In the 2 1/2 years Mr. X and I have been together he has never been sick. Well he's had a minor cold I think once but it passed very quickly and wasn't a bother at all. Now....I've got one very sick man on my hands.
He came home really early from work and immediately changed into his favorite pajama pants and retreated to his man cave. When I went to check on him and say hello he tells me he's running 102 fever and isn't feeling well. Just swell right? So I quarantined him to the room to avoid spreading any more germs and lysoled where he had been when he came home. I wasn't too concerned about prior to that since he had duty last night and hadn't been here for mroe than 24 hours at that point anyways.
Now he's been home about 12 hours, taking tylenol every 4 hours for the fever and it still hasn't broken. We're doing cool wash clothes for his head cause he has a headache too, and lots of water and fluids. Well as much as I can force into him anyways. He has no appetite at all but thankfully he hasn't been to demanding.
Needless to say it's going to be a long night though as I'm up/down to check on him, make sure he gets his next dose of meds and changing that wash cloth. Hmmm....wonder if the favor would be returned if it were me that was sick??? He is a man after all.....
He came home really early from work and immediately changed into his favorite pajama pants and retreated to his man cave. When I went to check on him and say hello he tells me he's running 102 fever and isn't feeling well. Just swell right? So I quarantined him to the room to avoid spreading any more germs and lysoled where he had been when he came home. I wasn't too concerned about prior to that since he had duty last night and hadn't been here for mroe than 24 hours at that point anyways.
Now he's been home about 12 hours, taking tylenol every 4 hours for the fever and it still hasn't broken. We're doing cool wash clothes for his head cause he has a headache too, and lots of water and fluids. Well as much as I can force into him anyways. He has no appetite at all but thankfully he hasn't been to demanding.
Needless to say it's going to be a long night though as I'm up/down to check on him, make sure he gets his next dose of meds and changing that wash cloth. Hmmm....wonder if the favor would be returned if it were me that was sick??? He is a man after all.....
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Just a Snoozin
You know you have awesome friends when they will remain friends with you even after you fall asleep on them. Not literally "on" them....actually more like when your having a conversation with them.
A few nights ago I invited a good friend over for some girl time. We'll call her "K". Mr. X had duty which means he is gone all night and the kiddo's go to bed early so it's just me all by my lonesome. After so many days of nothing but kid talk I was more than ready for some adult conversation.
So K comes over after the kids are in bed and we're chatting away. She brought some yummy chocolate caramel candies and we're catching up on various craft things we have been working on. K does some amazing work with items you would never even think of! Before I know it it's like 11:30pm and the sleepiness hits me like a brick. Course I had been up since 5am and running circles with the kids so I was bound to be tired. I didn't think this tired though!
The next thing I know I blinked....or what I thought was a blink. It was a blink that was just a split second too long and my eyelids were glued shut. I could still hear K talking but I was definetely on the fast track to dream land. Until I jerk myself back to the real world totally embarrassed. K is still chatting on and of course I've gotta decide to I pretend like I didn't just doze off on her or not. LOL She paused and sat up like she was getting ready to leave and I just blurted it out..."I totally just dozed off on ya with out meaning to".
Of course she saw it and thankfully she doesn't totally hate me for it either. At least I hope!! So K.....I'm sorry for falling asleep while you were talking!! I swear it's not because your boring or anything like that. I was just having a battle with my eyelids and unfortunately for just a moment they whooped my butt!
A few nights ago I invited a good friend over for some girl time. We'll call her "K". Mr. X had duty which means he is gone all night and the kiddo's go to bed early so it's just me all by my lonesome. After so many days of nothing but kid talk I was more than ready for some adult conversation.
So K comes over after the kids are in bed and we're chatting away. She brought some yummy chocolate caramel candies and we're catching up on various craft things we have been working on. K does some amazing work with items you would never even think of! Before I know it it's like 11:30pm and the sleepiness hits me like a brick. Course I had been up since 5am and running circles with the kids so I was bound to be tired. I didn't think this tired though!
The next thing I know I blinked....or what I thought was a blink. It was a blink that was just a split second too long and my eyelids were glued shut. I could still hear K talking but I was definetely on the fast track to dream land. Until I jerk myself back to the real world totally embarrassed. K is still chatting on and of course I've gotta decide to I pretend like I didn't just doze off on her or not. LOL She paused and sat up like she was getting ready to leave and I just blurted it out..."I totally just dozed off on ya with out meaning to".
Of course she saw it and thankfully she doesn't totally hate me for it either. At least I hope!! So K.....I'm sorry for falling asleep while you were talking!! I swear it's not because your boring or anything like that. I was just having a battle with my eyelids and unfortunately for just a moment they whooped my butt!
Sneaking Up
It seems like Mr. X just got back from the last deployment and here we are talking about the next one. I know he warned me way back in the beginning that they are always gone a lot but I don't think you really understand what that means until you actually deal with it. I got spoiled by the fact that in the first 2 years we were together he was only gone just over 2 months. And that was at the very end of those 2 years. Now it's looking like he won't even be here for our 1st wedding anniversary. Something I know every single military wife has the possibility of but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with.
So now we are moving into preperation mode. Yes, it's still a few months out but waiting till the last minute means we're sure to forget something important. Like last time when I didn't have access to his bank accounts and it caused a huge problem with buying our current house. Thankfully it all worked itself out in the end but I'd like to try and avoid those stressful situations if I can. Being seperated is hard enough with out adding stuff like that.
The first part of that to-do list is things around the house that need done before he leaves, like looking into replacing our ancient heating/ac unit to getting ceiling fans installed in the remaining rooms. Getting power of attorney (the right one this time), and making sure any bills he normally takes care of I know how to access and handle. Some are big some are small but all things that need to be taken care of.
The second part of it is things I'd like to do while he's gone to help pass the time. The things I know I can manage on my own. Like sanding down the kitchen cabinets and replacing them. Painting the rooms in the house like we've been saying we'll do for almost a year now. All those little home improvement projects that we won't do this summer cause instead we are going to the water park or having a BBQ. I just hope he likes what I've done when he gets back!!
On top of that we have to try and squeeze as much family time as possible into an already crazy schedule. He's already going to be gone a good bit as they do work ups and "suffering" through duty days. I guess one positive to the time right before deployment is it's like trial runs for me to make sure I really can survive on my own with 3 kids, a huge house, a home business, and everything else I have going on. Thats just assuming that I haven't managed to get knocked up again by then.
Needless to say I should have lots and lots to blog about in coming months and beyond. I just hope that I don't get so busy that I forget like last time!
So now we are moving into preperation mode. Yes, it's still a few months out but waiting till the last minute means we're sure to forget something important. Like last time when I didn't have access to his bank accounts and it caused a huge problem with buying our current house. Thankfully it all worked itself out in the end but I'd like to try and avoid those stressful situations if I can. Being seperated is hard enough with out adding stuff like that.
The first part of that to-do list is things around the house that need done before he leaves, like looking into replacing our ancient heating/ac unit to getting ceiling fans installed in the remaining rooms. Getting power of attorney (the right one this time), and making sure any bills he normally takes care of I know how to access and handle. Some are big some are small but all things that need to be taken care of.
The second part of it is things I'd like to do while he's gone to help pass the time. The things I know I can manage on my own. Like sanding down the kitchen cabinets and replacing them. Painting the rooms in the house like we've been saying we'll do for almost a year now. All those little home improvement projects that we won't do this summer cause instead we are going to the water park or having a BBQ. I just hope he likes what I've done when he gets back!!
On top of that we have to try and squeeze as much family time as possible into an already crazy schedule. He's already going to be gone a good bit as they do work ups and "suffering" through duty days. I guess one positive to the time right before deployment is it's like trial runs for me to make sure I really can survive on my own with 3 kids, a huge house, a home business, and everything else I have going on. Thats just assuming that I haven't managed to get knocked up again by then.
Needless to say I should have lots and lots to blog about in coming months and beyond. I just hope that I don't get so busy that I forget like last time!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Half Way
Today marks 6 months since Mr. X and I got married! I remember that day and thinking that even the 6 month mark seemed so far away. And yet here we are! Since I had fallen off the blogging wagon back then here's a copy/paste job of how it came to be since the whole thing was very short and sweet and to the point.
Friday, December 4, 2009 at 3:51pm
Yesterday Mr. X and I were out looking at furniture for his new "man room". We stopped at Olive Garden for lunch and as we were leaving he asked me if I wanted to have my anniversary present early. We had an hour to kill and our dating anniversary is tomorrow. Of course I said sure cause I suck at waiting for anything. Well he drives to the jewelry store and tells me we're looking for my engagement ring! Course my 1st thought was FINALLY!! LOL We looked around and didn't find anything that we could really say was it and we needed to get to my doctors appointment. So we left and said we would discuss some more and then come back after.
On the way to my appointment he tells me "I've been thinking..." and goes on to say that he thought it would be really neat to get married on our dating anniversary but since the courthouse wasn't open on Saturdays how did I feel about Friday. I pretty much was stunned. My 1st response was "but thats tomorrow!" LOL And so the plan was hatched.
After my appointment we went to a different store where he said he had found a set he really liked previously but wasn't sure if I would. Of course it's the one I love and we ended up buying it. We bought his as well while we were there so we were all set. I posted about the engagement ring about 4pm last night and of course everyone was so excited about it. I think the common response was "It's about time!".
So this morning we got up, got Monkey dropped at school and took Toots to our previous sitters house. Went down to the courthosue and by 10:30am we were married! To which of course I posted "Yesterday he gave me my engagement ring...today he gave me his last name". So it's all official. Still seems a bit unreal but honestly, I'm happy with the way we did it. It's exactly as I always said I would get married actually.
He has no family at all and I really have nobody I would want to invite that could make it. So a big wedding really wasn't in the cards for us. We're talking about maybe doing a destination get away after his next deployment and taking a couple of our very good friends with us to celebrate that way. Course that will be awhile but still something to look forward too.
Thats the story though.....very short....but sweet!
Friday, December 4, 2009 at 3:51pm
Yesterday Mr. X and I were out looking at furniture for his new "man room". We stopped at Olive Garden for lunch and as we were leaving he asked me if I wanted to have my anniversary present early. We had an hour to kill and our dating anniversary is tomorrow. Of course I said sure cause I suck at waiting for anything. Well he drives to the jewelry store and tells me we're looking for my engagement ring! Course my 1st thought was FINALLY!! LOL We looked around and didn't find anything that we could really say was it and we needed to get to my doctors appointment. So we left and said we would discuss some more and then come back after.
On the way to my appointment he tells me "I've been thinking..." and goes on to say that he thought it would be really neat to get married on our dating anniversary but since the courthouse wasn't open on Saturdays how did I feel about Friday. I pretty much was stunned. My 1st response was "but thats tomorrow!" LOL And so the plan was hatched.
After my appointment we went to a different store where he said he had found a set he really liked previously but wasn't sure if I would. Of course it's the one I love and we ended up buying it. We bought his as well while we were there so we were all set. I posted about the engagement ring about 4pm last night and of course everyone was so excited about it. I think the common response was "It's about time!".
So this morning we got up, got Monkey dropped at school and took Toots to our previous sitters house. Went down to the courthosue and by 10:30am we were married! To which of course I posted "Yesterday he gave me my engagement ring...today he gave me his last name". So it's all official. Still seems a bit unreal but honestly, I'm happy with the way we did it. It's exactly as I always said I would get married actually.
He has no family at all and I really have nobody I would want to invite that could make it. So a big wedding really wasn't in the cards for us. We're talking about maybe doing a destination get away after his next deployment and taking a couple of our very good friends with us to celebrate that way. Course that will be awhile but still something to look forward too.
Thats the story though.....very short....but sweet!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Adding Another Title
Now you can call me teacher! We started talking last fall about the possibility of homeschooling monkey as of the 2010-2011 school year. We bought an amazing house at the end of October however it came with a not so amazing school zone. I found out recently that they are going to close that school after the current year ends however instead of rezoning and distributing the kids they are moving the entire student body to another local school. Then rezoning and distrubting those current kids. So, new school same problem which is really low test scores and a horrible crime rate. The crime rate baffles me though since the school sits right next to a police department but who knows.
We tried, and failed, to get her into the magnet program which would have sent her to a better school. The thing with those is after kindergarten its apparently impossible to get in because all existing kids and their siblings have priority. So that put us back to the homeschooling option.
I've been searching and searching trying to find something that would be a good fit for us. I mean, not only would I have Monkey, Toots, and Baby Girl home all day with me...I'd also have my daycare to run which will consist of 7-8 other kids! Yes, I have an assistant starting with me so that would help but I would still have to make time for Monkey's schooling too.
Then I found www.time4learning.com and it looks very promising. Actually I'm almost certain this is the program we will go with. The provide a complete curriculum based on grade level which we have to submit to the schools here. It's online activities, learning, testing for her based on her grade level. It can be customized to her needs as well which is nice since she is advanced in several areas. It provides online progress reports and completion reports which are needed to show the school system that she is in fact learning. I can even pull information from it to do home activities that tie into what she is learning and depending on what it is can incorporate it with the daycare kiddo's too for a fun activity. I'm actually considering signing up for it with 2 kids so I can get the preschool curriculum as well specifically for the daycare. We'll see on that part though.
So, I guess now I can add the teacher title to ever growing list. It should be a fun and interesting adventure. I've talked to Monkey about her staying home to do schooling and in some ways she seems excited but in others sad too. Mostly for the social aspect but with our local mom's group and all the people we now know we should have no problem keeping her busy and socialized.
We tried, and failed, to get her into the magnet program which would have sent her to a better school. The thing with those is after kindergarten its apparently impossible to get in because all existing kids and their siblings have priority. So that put us back to the homeschooling option.
I've been searching and searching trying to find something that would be a good fit for us. I mean, not only would I have Monkey, Toots, and Baby Girl home all day with me...I'd also have my daycare to run which will consist of 7-8 other kids! Yes, I have an assistant starting with me so that would help but I would still have to make time for Monkey's schooling too.
Then I found www.time4learning.com and it looks very promising. Actually I'm almost certain this is the program we will go with. The provide a complete curriculum based on grade level which we have to submit to the schools here. It's online activities, learning, testing for her based on her grade level. It can be customized to her needs as well which is nice since she is advanced in several areas. It provides online progress reports and completion reports which are needed to show the school system that she is in fact learning. I can even pull information from it to do home activities that tie into what she is learning and depending on what it is can incorporate it with the daycare kiddo's too for a fun activity. I'm actually considering signing up for it with 2 kids so I can get the preschool curriculum as well specifically for the daycare. We'll see on that part though.
So, I guess now I can add the teacher title to ever growing list. It should be a fun and interesting adventure. I've talked to Monkey about her staying home to do schooling and in some ways she seems excited but in others sad too. Mostly for the social aspect but with our local mom's group and all the people we now know we should have no problem keeping her busy and socialized.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Eight
Baby girl is now 8 weeks old!! Has it really been that long already? I swear with every baby we have the time just goes by faster. Course that could be because I have more to do as the day goes by.
Here she is, our pretty baby girl...
Here she is, our pretty baby girl...
And one to show her personality....her goofy face...
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Introducing Baby Girl
On April 7th we started the induction officially around 6:45am by the time they got all the check in stuff done. The nurse got me put on the GBS meds and started the pitocin at the lowest setting. I was at 3cm at that point, 90% effaced. By 9am the contractions had regulated to about 3-4mins apart and were fine for me to handle although I decided to stand up and just rock through them rather than sit or lay in the bed. About 10am I asked the nurse to checked me and we were at 5cm. Standing up through the contractions was amazing and I can was even laughing/talking through them. I remember telling our friend that it seemed like I should be hurting way more since I was on pitocin and no epidural. At about 11:45 the doctor decided to break my water which made me nervous because I've heard the pain is much worse at that point. Thankfully I was able to get back up out of bed and then it didn't take long for things to progress. By 12:15 I could no longer talk through the contractions and could feel her coming down. I felt it all in my hips and I told our friend every contraction made me have the bathroom feeling and it was getting worse with each one. I kept having the urge to squat down as well which really helped with the contractions. Doc came in checked me and said I was at 8cm. 15 mins later I had just barely a lip left and felt like I had to push. Needless to say it was a rush to set things up.
I don't know how many times I pushed but she came fast. She was born at 12:58pm weighing in at 9lbs 1oz and 21inches long. A little chunker for sure. I had no tearing and didn't need any pain meds at all. I was up pretty quick afterwards including getting a shower with in an hour or so after she was born. Even better since there was no epi the IV got taken out right away which was awesome.
I gotta say going natural was definetely an experience. Immediately afterwards I was like "never again!" LOL. I think I even said that to the doc right after she was born. Now, it doesn't seem so bad. Gotta love that memory loss. Our friend that came was a huge help. My biggest thing was really wanting to know where she was at. I wanted to know if you could see her head or if she was crowning and all that and the doc would just tell me to push. So my friend would just whisper to me I can see "xx" or "yy" and it helped me to know how far we were and had to go. I didn't want to watch with th emirror but her words gave me enough of the visual I needed.
Oh and I never in a million years thought she was going to be so big. The way I was carrying I really thought she would be smaller than Toots. Talk about a surprise but a pleasant one too. Her cheeks are just so plump and kissable!
I don't know how many times I pushed but she came fast. She was born at 12:58pm weighing in at 9lbs 1oz and 21inches long. A little chunker for sure. I had no tearing and didn't need any pain meds at all. I was up pretty quick afterwards including getting a shower with in an hour or so after she was born. Even better since there was no epi the IV got taken out right away which was awesome.
I gotta say going natural was definetely an experience. Immediately afterwards I was like "never again!" LOL. I think I even said that to the doc right after she was born. Now, it doesn't seem so bad. Gotta love that memory loss. Our friend that came was a huge help. My biggest thing was really wanting to know where she was at. I wanted to know if you could see her head or if she was crowning and all that and the doc would just tell me to push. So my friend would just whisper to me I can see "xx" or "yy" and it helped me to know how far we were and had to go. I didn't want to watch with th emirror but her words gave me enough of the visual I needed.
Oh and I never in a million years thought she was going to be so big. The way I was carrying I really thought she would be smaller than Toots. Talk about a surprise but a pleasant one too. Her cheeks are just so plump and kissable!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
I stink at this
I'm really not a good blogger. Or least I'm not as good as I used to be. Looking back at the history I was posting almost every day for awhile...sometimes more than once a day! Now....it's been like 4 months since my last one. And even that one was laminating over the fact that it had been 2 months since the one before that. What can I say....life gets away from you at times.
Blessings
Do you ever stop and take a momen to count your blessings?? Or do you just take for granted all the things you have whether it be your home, your job, even your kids?? Recently I've been lead to really be thankful for all that we have. Not necessarily the material things either. Yes, I love our home and all of our beautiful things in it. I'm thankful that Mr. X has a job that pays well even if it does take him away from us a lot.
What I'm really thankful for though is that we have been blessed with three beautiful, healthy children. In light of recent events involving a couple friends of ours it has made me realize just how lucky we are. Or maybe lucky is the wrong word because really...what does luck have to do with it??
What I'm really thankful for though is that we have been blessed with three beautiful, healthy children. In light of recent events involving a couple friends of ours it has made me realize just how lucky we are. Or maybe lucky is the wrong word because really...what does luck have to do with it??
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