Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Happy Birthday Princess

  Sara is 3 today... whew!  that flew by!  Yesterday we celebrated her birthday at preschool.  It was my first time being a helper this year.  They decorate a birthday chair, let them throw confetti, be the leader, and have their mom their all day.  We had a blast and she was so well behaved.  She chose her friend Mandy to sit next to her during snack time.  Today we awoke to balloons on her chair, a musical birthday card, and one gift.  Evan had a very tough time with Evan having the attention.  He had a breakdown at the house and then at my moms before getting on the bus. At our sitters Sara had a gift of Princess squinkies awaiting her.  When Sara and I came to pick Evan up at my Moms, Sara received her presents from my parents, the coveted Cinderella mirror, she jumped up and down and was so excited.  Grandma also gave her some clothes and a $50 bill, and Sara clutched it and said now I can buy exactly what I want!  Where does she get this stuff?  We explained that the money has to go in the bank.  Well when we came home she managed to take the money out of the card and was crumbling it up to fit in her bank! 
      My Aunt came over and brought Sara some wonderful books and a leap frog Dog.  We bought Sara the Little Mommy Doctor Doll and a pack and play set and some doll clothes.  Evan and Sara had a blast playing with the doll and making her better.  She talks and her head turns red when she has a fever.  Hopefully we will play with this often and it won't just be a novelty.  The kids love to play with the Fisher Price Doctor set so I hope this works the same way.  Marc tried so hard to be home.  Yesterday he woke up at 3am to go to Staten Island he made it home at 8pm, and planned to be home tonight.  At dispatch this morning he had to go to Philly, so I videotaped and took lots of pictures. 
     Sara has come a long way the past few weeks, she says her alphabet, identifies 8 letters, counts to 10, and sings lots of songs.  She is a great problem solver and has a incredible memory.  When she talks on the phone she always ends her calls with I love you so much!  She does tell Marc I love you the mostest!  Dad is preferred over Mom by a long shot.  She is a easy child to feed.  She loves raw vegetables, especially cauliflower, peas (in the shell I buy at Wegmans), carrots, celery, and broccoli.  She would prefer vegetables raw rather than cooked.  She will also eat chicken, steak, and loves roast  beef.  She will not eat any ground beef. 
     Sara is still in her crib, we have tried the toddler bed and she climbs out over and over again and tells us she needs to check on us.  She has never climbed out of her crib.  Naps seldom happen, if she falls asleep in the car or in front of the tv she may take one, but then doesn't fall asleep until 9:30, or 10:00 pm.  She has been completely potty trained since June.  We still use a sippy cup only out of convenience but she is completely capable of using a drinking cup. 
     Sara is my child I have to watch.  I never know what she will get into.  Evan has always been the complete opposite and I never had to worry.  Now I need to worry when she disappears or it quiet for to long.  Last week it became very quiet as I was getting ready in the morning.  She had went in her room and climbed behind her chair and I found her unwrapping a tampon.  I keep waiting for the day she gets into makeup or nail polish.  I try to be vigilant but she is very resourceful in getting what she wants.  She will dump the clothes basket and use it to climb up on.  My parents laugh because I was always climbing up on the counters.  My mom used to tell me she was going to come to my house some day and walk on my counters.  When we were little we were playing hide and go seek and I climbed on top of the fridge!  Sara has acquired my climbing abilities. 

      Marcs mom is flying in on Thursday and staying 10 days.  Saturday we will have Sara's birthday party. 

Monday, November 19, 2012

3rd month of school already??

The weeks fly by, as much as I like my school year to go by quickly, I hate the idea of my babies growing up.  Sara is getting so big and verbalizing everything.  Although she has amazing verbal skills she is very stubborn about learning.  She can finally count to ten, recognize her colors, she is not catching on to numbers and letters.  She can identify a few letters and numbers but has not interest in them.  I have tried flash cards, foam letters, reading, magnets, writing, a letter a day, and still she will tease and tell me everything is "S" or "X, Y, Z".  I guess its so frustrating because by 2 1/2  Evan could identify all letters and numbers.  Her problem solving skills, balance, and fine motor skills exceed Evan.  She can completely dress herself correctly.  Evan still wants me to put his shirt on. 
  Oops I started this post a few weeks ago and never finished.  Well Sara can tell me whose name in her class goes with the letter but she doesn't name the letter if I show her B - she tells me Brett, M- Mandy.  I guess she learns very differently from Evan!

Surprise!

No, I'm not pregnant.  As much as I love my children, 4 pregnancies have been enough.  Today Evan had a half day and I picked him up during my lunch.  When we opened his backpack he had a letter addressed to Marc and I.  Well he was chosen for Student of the Month for the character of behavior.  I am such a proud Mommy today, out of the 21 students in his class he was chosen for this.  Evan is very well behaved in school, unfortunately if he is tired or hungry this doesn't carry over to home. 
     I also had his parent teacher conference this afternoon.  His teacher had nothing but positive things as far as his academics go they only negatives were that he had a hard time identifying lowercase q, and a hexagon.  Other than that he is exceeding all the goals for pre-k.  Last week he asked us how to write I love you, and then wrote us each a note with it on it.  He also wrote I love you Santa Claus this weekend after I had written it for him to copy.  He is a little sponge at school.  I had some concerns about his socialization because he tells me he doesn't always play with the other kids.  His teacher told me he will often ask the kids that are to shy to play with him.  He avoids the loud obnoxious kids.  Evan will often complain to me that the kids are very loud, and I'm glad he avoids this group.  I know that there are a few kids that should have IEP's and the parents refuse to have them tested.  I'm sure one is on the autism spectrum and the other is very defiant.  Hopefully they won't continue at our school next year. 
    Evan has a half day again tomorrow so I'll pick him up and take him to Sara's sitter for the afternoon.  I made the mistake of promising happy meals, something that is no longer a cheap lunch.  Tonight I said lets go for pizza, thinking we would just get two slices.  The kids asked if we could get french fries and then Sara decided she didn't want pizza.  So our cheap date turned into $18 for chicken fingers, fries, a slice of pizza, and two drinks, I knew I should have just popped a frozen pizza in the oven!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Saturday, October 13, 2012

The love of school

     I hope I can always say that my children love school.  This year started a bit rough.  Evan cried multiple times during the school day.  Now he is sad when he doesn't have school.  He had last Friday and Monday off and then stayed home sick on Tuesday.  He told me multiple times he loves school and wants to go.  On Wednesday the first thing he told me after school was that his friends missed him! 
     Evan had always hated to color.  He would quickly scribble a bit and call it done.  Well there has been a tremendous turn around, maybe a little competition in the classroom.  Now Evan is determined to be an expert at coloring.  He wakes up in the morning asking to color and will spend over an hour doing school work at home.  We practice writing, coloring, and doing worksheet activities.  This weekend we will practice using scissors.  He is a little perfectionist, I think this exists with  his lego building and puzzle making as well.  He certainly didn't pick this up from Mom! 
     He is still very particular about what he eats and whether or not it will make his hands dirty.  He has stopped eating certain foods because he deems them messy.  This week he suffered from diarrhea and I told him he needed to eat a banana, which he has refused the past few weeks.  Well we now need to leave the peel on and once he reached the part in which he would have to peel it more he told me he was done.  I have considered battling this but if this is some OCD with his hands I don't want to intensify it. 
     Sara and Evan were coloring with markers on Wednesday while I battled out a change in service with Verizon.  A side note never change your telephone/tv/Internet online, it was a nightmare!  So much for attempting to save money.  While I was on the phone they colored themselves with marker.  This is so out of character for Evan.  I sent them to the bathroom to cleanup, when Evan discovered it didn't come off easy he became very upset. In anger and frustration I told him he would have to go to school like that.  He became hysterical and I put them in the tub.  The verizon rep probably thought I was a nutcase!  Well we finally scrubbed up but he was tormented by the idea that he would not be clean.  Needless to say the markers have been put a way.  Evan was crying that he never wanted to use markers again. 
      Sara has entered full princess mode.  She wet our bed this morning so we started watching Cinderella at 5:30.  We have the Disney costume for Halloween, unfortunately it leaves a trail of glitter throughout the house.  She wants a Cinderella birthday party.  Evan is often her prince.  Yesterday we picked up a ballet DVD from the library and Sara was mesmerized.  Its funny to see how she is all girl and he is all boy.  Although I did catch him trying on the Cinderella dress last week! 
   I have been terrible about taking pictures since school started to we need to take some this weekend. 

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

In the swing

We have made it to week three.  Sara has survived going to preschool, Evan has finally adjusted to school, and I am still working on learning student names.  My school day schedule is crazy, I teach in 3 classrooms, and non of the are consecutively.  I run from one side of the building to the other, I guess I can consider this exercise!
     Sara loves school and has been tear free.  I surprised her and picked her up the first day.  She received her first WOW, a small piece of paper stamped WOW, as an incentive for sitting and listening attentively during story time.  Evan received one each week last year so hopefully Sara will too. 
Sara discovered the dress up clothes at school
     Evan told me today that he loves school and then thought for a moment and said but not as much as I love home.  The first few days were complete tears so after a rough start we are finally happy and exhausted.  Bedtime has been moved up to 7:30-8:00 pm and I wake him around 6:45.  They do have a rest time at school but he says he never naps. 
     Sara is a complete Daddy's girl and was so upset this morning that he had left for work that she fell to her knees and put her head down on the floor.  Did I mention she is a drama queen?  Tonight she asked him to come home and he told her he had to work and make money.  She ran and took some money off the kitchen counter and told him "you have this money so you don't have to work anymore".  She has it all figured out at two, if only it was that easy. 

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Back to School


     It has been a crazy week, I'm exhausted.  I started back with students on Tuesday.  My classes are bigger than ever due to all the budget cuts.  My Finance Academy accounting class is 30 students.  I have never had more than 25.  On a positive note they all want to be in the class and are adorable.  My schedule is nuts I'm in 3 classrooms, have 3 preps and am bouncing back and forth all over the building. 
     Evan had a half day on Thursday and a full day on Friday.  He woke up very excited to go on Thursday and was all smiled getting on the bus.  I came home at lunch to get him off and he was hysterical when he came off the bus.  Poor baby he told me he hated school and all the teacher did was have him sit on a rug all day.  He said she went blah, blah, blah, all morning long.  I had to hide my smile for this one as I explained all teachers have lots to tell you on the first day. 
     So as I was getting ready on Friday morning he woke up furious he told me he wasn't going and demanded to know why I signed him up for school.  Finally I calmed him down and he climbed on the bus with tears in his eyes.  Luckily his best friend took control (a kindergartner) and told him to come and sit with him.  He wasn't crying when he came home but he was exhausted and gave my mom a hard time.  She ended up sending him to his room.  I opened his backpack when I came home figured out what they did and started praising him.  He told me about playing, gym, and then told me he had bacon in his pocket at school. 
    My kids love bacon and they had has a few pieces for breakfast.  Evan had a t-shirt on with a pocket and a piece must have fallen in there.  I asked him if he took it out and he said he as afraid his teacher would get mad!  He told me he ate it when he came home.  Too funny... we had lots of giggles about the bacon. 
    Last night we celebrated Marc's dads 70th birthday and took the kids to a Japanese restaurant.  Evan told everyone he liked school.  So the saga continues. 

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Goodnight Batman



Tonight as Evan and I were headed up the stairs and Sara was lying on the couch, I heard her yell to him goodnight Batman.  For all the fighting they do during the day its the sweet moments like this that make my heart melt! 

Sara has not been napping since giving up her pacifier.  Evan is so frustrated by not having some time without her around.  He tells her she needs to take a nap and the other day told her Daddy wouldn't come home if she didn't take a nap.  Yes, he is the master manipulator.  Unfortunately his attempts do not work any better than mine.  I tried telling her she had 15 minutes of quiet time and setting a timer.  She started yelling my name at 3 minutes and was hysterical by 7, when I went up stairs she was gagging and holding her mouth.  She threw up her lunch, and luckily we made it to the bathroom. 

Sara and Evan are night and day.  He is cautious and she is daring, he is very tidy and she is messy, he will only eat things he is familiar with and she will try almost anything.  Yesterday she at two whole peaches and then had yellow beans that she dipped in vegetable dip.   She ate a bowl of plain lettuce and tried some Kalmata olives.  The only thing she disliked was the olives.  Evan decided he no longer likes hot dogs or macaroni and cheese.  He is still big on pizza, raspberries, corn, and broccoli.  Raspberries are the tough ones we either have too many or not enough and they don't keep long enough.  The recently opened a Save A Lot near us and they have great inexpensive produce.

Last weekend we went for family pictures.  Each of the kids needed them for school and we hadn't had them done in so long that we went to JCP.  The family ones were cute but the kids were horrible for the individual shots.  We even made another attempt after seeing the pictures and it was a flop.  Oh well, sometimes they turn out cuter when I do a photo shoot in the yard. 

Last night I had new parent orientation at Evan's school.  There are a ton of social events for families and parents.  We start the year with meet the teachers on a Friday night.  My neighbors told me its 10 minutes with each teacher and then an amazing happy hour with appetizers.  Its all catered.  One of my high school friends is sending her 3 children there so I look forward to seeing her more often.  I'm excited to make new adult friends.  We belong to a huge parish but there are not a ton of social activities and we never get involved.  So this will be our forced way of getting involved.  Evan's class has 20 kids in in and 15 are boys!  I think I'm more nervous than he is.  His first day I have open house at night, its going to be a crazy week.  My dad will also be admitted to Roswell for his chemo and stem cell transfer.  So juggling the kids and sitters will be crazy.  Tomorrow the kids and I are going to the beach with a former computer aide from my school.  She retired in June and has offered to watch the kids when I'm in a pinch.  We went to the playground and to her house a few weeks ago and the kids instantly warmed up to her.  I'm still hesitant to leave them since they don't know her that well although I adore her.  I'm sure after the first day my thoughts will change! 

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Big Girl

Wow what a summer its been, Sara started out by getting potty trained and this week she gave up her binky (almost effortlessly) and transitioned to a toddler bed.  Its a mixed feeling knowing she is independent and not my baby anymore! 

The calendar is quickly filling up with open houses, meet the principal, meet the teacher, first days, I'm exhausted thinking about it.  We have all of our supplies ready to drop off this week.  The only unknown is Sara's first day of school and when my Dad will be admitted for his stem cell transfer. 

Marc's mom cancelled her visit this week her Doctor thinks she is having gall bladder issues and is having more tests done at the end of the month.  Hopefully Grandma can come up this fall for a visit.  Otherwise we will head down to SC over Easter break. 

Evan and Sara have started doing puzzles each day.  Sara has mastered the 24 piece puzzles and is working on a 40 piece and 48 piece puzzle.  She is so determined to do everything "myself".  She has even figured out how to buckle her own car seat and Evan has not! 

Today I had a picture frame delivered and the kids took the bubble wrap and made paths across the floor to run through

Today I had my yearly OBGYN appointment.  My OB had a nurse practitioner that managed most of my infertility treatments.  I'm sure we kept her other patients waiting because we chatted forever.  Afterwards I told her I think we need to do lunch and catch up!  The Dr I went to in Syracuse is opening an office in Buffalo.  There is currently one clinic in Buffalo and it is awful, so it will be a great asset to our surrounding area to have a new clinic.  She told me each time a difficult cases comes up they bring up my name.  Every time there is a question of who to see in Philadelphia my Dr.  says call Sheila.  Too funny, I told her they can call anytime, I'm just thankful for the children they helped me conceive and safety deliver. 

Friday, August 3, 2012

Binky Fairy

Crossing my fingers that our pacifiers are off to the Binky Fairy.  We have been talking about it the past few weeks and I cut the ends off a few.  Sara keeps telling everyone no more binkys and no more diapers.  She equates getting rid of the two things to being a big girl.  We have promised her the Jake and the Neverland Pirates ship if she gets rid of her Binkys.  Today she told me no more binkys so we decorated a lunch bag with stickers and filled it with all the binky's.  She put it in the mailbox after the mailman had delivered todays mail.  She had me double check the mailbox twice to see if they were gone.  They were Grandma hid them in my car.  She didn't nap tonight and after a complete meltdown has fallen asleep on the couch. 

Hopefully we can make it through the night.  Marc doesn't agree with my cold turkey approach, but Evan streched his out until 3.5 years old and I can't let her keep it that long.  Hoping she is so exhausted she will survive night one, she does look for it first thing in the AM.  So we will see how early she awakes. 

Slowly working on my list of summer projects, I ordered a new refrigerator this week and its getting delivered on Monday.  Our fridge is still running strong and its almost 14 years old.  It is to small and the only non stainless steel appliance in our kitchen.  I though when we built this house in 2006 it wouldn't survive the move but it has kept on ticking.  Next big purchase is a new car and I'm still undecided between the Accord and Oddysey.  The huge difference in price has me torn, we really don't travel except once a year to my MIL's.  It would be nice to be able to put someone else in the backseat of the car.  Both kids are so light we will be in carseats for a while still.  Evan is 32 pounds and Sara is 26.  Booster seats recommend 40 pounds.  At the rate Evan is gaining that could be years!  We do have the Britax seats so they can stay in them for quite some time, unfortuantely they are very bulky. 

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Halfway Point...

Where does the time go?  Summer vacation is half over.  I love being home with the kids and love being lazy without a schedule.  Evan was called to model at Fisher Price this week, a Mavis the train from the Thomas Line.  He has been waiting to be called because he wanted to buy the Gotham City Jail for batman.  My nephew gave him the batcave and I purchased the small batcave on the right after his allergy appointment.  Sara chose Princess and the Potty.  Its hilarious, the doll sits on a potty and when she does it looks like there is #1 and #2 in the potty, there is a lever to flush and it turns back to blue water.  The neighborhood kids were enthralled with it.

My Dad is back at Roswell he was running a fever on Saturday and was admitted and has had to receive a transfusion and platelets each day.  He ran out of clean pajamas this evening and I offered to deliver them if my Mom would watch the kids, instead she said why don't we all go.  It takes about 25 minutes to get there.  So we brought the kids into the hospital.  They have never been there before.  Evan was very sad.  Hopefully next time my Dad calls to talk to him he will spend a little more time speaking to him now that he has seen how lonely Grandpa is.       Sara wanted to know how Grandpa would get home.  She was very happy to see him.  The kids usually see my parents every day.  Its been difficult because they haven't been able to have any physical contact with him since April.  Sara loves to sit on Grandpas lap and hasn't been able too. 
     We purchased Evan's backpack from Lands End via Sears today.  His school supply list is almost complete.  I can't believe my baby will be at school everyday.  They grow up way to fast.  Today we had gymnastics and Sara only cried once.  She burst into tears and I took her to the bathroom and she told me she wanted to go home but luckily after that she stayed for the rest of the class. During the previous classes it happened multiple times and  I had to sit out in the gym with her several times.  Its surprising because she is so independent.  Last Friday my high school girlfriend came over and brought her Freshman daughter.  Her daughter babysat while we went for dinner.  It was fantastic we will have to do it more often.   A whole new meaning to BYOB - Bring your own babysitter!  I guess having our kids years after all our friends will have some perks.  Another couple that was in our wedding had their son graduate from high school this year.  They always offer to bring there daughter to babysit when we go out.  I think I'll take them up on it next time. 

     The last picture is from our blueberry picking trip.  We picked 16 pounds in less than an hour.  Sara and I have been eating lots of blueberries.    I gave away lots of blueberries to my parents, my aunt, and our neighbors.  I froze enough for blueberry muffins but surprisingly we are almost out of the fresh ones and I considered going picking again.  Maybe if it cools off this week.   


Friday, July 13, 2012

Swimming

     The last week of school we had an incident and Evan fell in the neighbors pool.  It was a huge wake up call for all of us.  He has always been very hesitant about the pool and this reinforced it.  He is comfortable if he can touch the bottom but fights us to wear swimmies, life jacket, and puddle jumper.  At our cottage  last week we were able to convince him to swim of the boat although he wouldn't let go of me.  Sara swims independently if she has a life jacket or puddle jumper on.  Yesterday we started private swimming lessons at a neighbors pool.  The kids have a one on one lesson for a half hour for $5.  Evan was the last lesson and he told me I need to come in.  So I fully expected that he would last about a minute.  He lasted the entire half hour.  Our friends had super heroes that were in the pool and as long as Evan could play with them and look for them he was fine.  Marc came home at 2pm, and asked Evan about his lesson he told him it was awesome. 
      We took a ride to our cottage and I rode the tube with the kids.  Evan had a blast and didn't want to get off.  He kept telling Marc faster and we even went in and out of the wake.  Last night in bed I asked him what the best part of his day was and he say his swimming lesson.  What a relief! 
     Sara is completely potty trained she runs to the bathroom herself to go.  She tells me to leave and shut the door if she goes #2, and has woken up dry every morning.  Twice she has woken me up around 6am to tell me Mommy I need to go potty.  Now to conquer the pacifier.  It will not be as easy as potty training. 
     My Dad is heading in for his 4th chemo treatment today.  He has to go not because he needs it but because there is no bed to put him in in the transfer unit.  My Dad has non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and is undergoing a stem cell transplant (with his own cells) and will be in the unit for 2-4 weeks.  They will completely kill his immunization system and extract his cells, grow them, and then return the cells to him.  It has a 50% success rate of curing the cancer at his age.  The unfortunate thing is there is no test at the end to know if it worked.  He will have to continue being monitored to see if the Cancer is gone.  My mom is so stressed and disappointed that this 4th treatment is happening.  My Dad is completely dependant on her and has no idea how much pressure and stress he puts on her.  She told me this week I would much rather be watching the kids everyday than running to Roswell each day.  I have offered to take him but she wants to be in control of the care and some days he is there 4-9 hours.  He has undergone weekly plasma and blood transfusions it is so difficult to see him go through it. 

Monday, July 2, 2012

Potty trained!!!

We did it after a slow start and lots of candy treats, Sara took off like a champ.  We had 3 days of accidents and 5 days of success.  Sara was very hesitant to go #2 on the potty and held it for 2 days, once she went she decided it was fun to go "Poooooh- Poo" as she says.  She doesn't even want to wear her diaper at nights.  Yesterday we were at our cottage and she told me I need to go poop, we tried twice and didn't have luck.  A few minutes later she came running out without pants on and told me she went.  Great job Sara you did it! 

     We have had a great first week of vacation.  We made it to the village pool twice, the beach, the village playground, accomplished some shopping and errands.  I love being home with the kids and they love playing with the neighborhood children.  We usually walk to my parents before bed and while we walk home Evan is on the lookout for any kids he can play with. 
     Last night both the kids were asleep by 6:30, it was heaven.  Sara can skip a nap without getting cranky and then fall asleep early and sleep all night.  We now try to give her a shower at the cottage and put her in jammies, knowing she will be asleep within minutes in the car. 
     Marc has Wednesday-Sunday off and so far we have no plans.  I would love to go car shopping at some point, not that I want to deal with a car salesman but its time to get a new car.  I'm debating between waiting for the 2013 Honda Accord or getting the Honda Oddysey now.  My car is 7 years old and although I love now having a payment it is starting to look  a little rough.  My car is my last priority and luckily we have not had to put any money into it in 7 years other than gas, a set of tires, and a set of brakes. 



    This morning I finished the kids 4th of July pictures.  After the 12 hour night of sleep they cooperated for some pictures.  Last week he had to go for Allergy tests.  He has severe seasonal allergies.  The Allergist warned me in advance that sometimes on children it takes 2 years to show up on the test.  Well he was correct the only allergy that showed was an allergy to cats, funny since I can only recall one time Evan has petted a cat or been near one.  His back looked horrible and is still healing.  He has itched it non stop, I wish I would have taken a picture.  He had 25 pin pricks, that swelled beyond belief as well as additional rashes from them on his back.  So the Dr. told us we could continue using the allergy meds we have been using (Rx eye drops, nasal spray and Allegra) or he could try Singulair.  He wants to see Evan in April when his allergies are full blown.  He said he could order blood testing but wanted to wait until April.  Hopefully next year will be a mild allergy season.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Funny Quotes

Yesterday we sat at our cottage eating dinner with my parents.  Out of the blue Evan looks at Marc and says did you forget something?  Marc was puzzled.  Did you remember to tell me thank you for your shirt today?  Evan and Sara had given Marc a batman shirt (Evan chose this gift) for fathers day before breakfast.  It was too funny because everyone heard it and it sounded like something we would say to him.

Sara is obsessed with dogs, the neighbors across the street have a small dog "Barney", and we call them Miss Toni and Mr. Gary.  Last week we went to visit and Toni gave Sara a popsicle.  Well she won Sara over all I hear is Miss Toni home, go see Miss Toni, when I tell her she is busy or sleeping or not home, she tells me go knock on door.  At two she has it all figured out.

Tonight we came home and Sara asked for Apple juice and chips, when I gave them to her she told me your a good, good Mamma.  Too funny!  We hung a potty sticker chart on the fridge today.  Sara went on the potty 2x since we came home around 3pm, I think she went in the tub too.  She was very proud to wear underwear and put a sticker up.  Evan asked if he could have a sticker chart for taking naps.  He has napped the past 3 days.  Although the naps start around 3-4 pm.  Today he fell asleep in his bed at 4 and I woke him at 5:30, hopefully he is sleeping now.



Friday, June 8, 2012

We can write!

     It is amazing what a bribe will do with Evan.  I bought a box of Lego's a few weeks ago and told Evan he could have them when he learned to write his name.  Well we started on the side of the tub with tub crayons.  He was a bit frustrated but with his puzzle making mind told me if we took the wall and flipped it the V would look like an A.  He continued to give me examples of things we could flip over to look the same.  I swear I have an engineer or architect in training.  So the first night he mastered the E.  The next night we tried on paper and he know how to write it but is struggling with holding a writing utensil. Yesterday when I came home he was begging me to let him practice his name 2x so he could have the henchman (a lego figurine from the box).  He has progressed well this week, we still need practice but I'm very happy with his progress.

      Sara is talking up a storm, she tries to get out so much that she often stutters the first few words.  I remember Evan doing this too.  She is trying to learn the ABC's and is very proud each time she finds an S. 

      Tonight is ou 3rd night of soccer for Evan.  So far he has not become a sports star.  Although we have a Fisher Price pitching machine that is very popular with the neighborhood kids.  This week Evan decided it was his turn and he "knocked em out of the park" as the toy says. 

     Today is the last day with students.  It is always bittersweet.  Last night we had the Finance Academy Graduation.  We spend 3 years with the same class for this program so it is sad to see them go.  This years junior class that I have in accounting is my favorite so far.  Yesterday I received a text at 7am, telling me not to stop at Tim Hortons they had it covered.  One of my students told me I knew today would be a long day for you so I figurerd you would need a pick me up.  I ended up giving her the money for the drink she picked up but that small act of kindness brightened my day. 

     Hopefully the weather will hold out and we can hit the cottage this weekend.  I still need to clean up from the garage sale.  The maternity clothes were not a big seller, I think I will end up taking the tax deduction and donating them.  The only baby item remaining is a pack and play.  Maybe 4th of July week I'll put it outside the cottage and it will sell.  I am in no hurry to ever do a garage sale again. Last Saturday it was low 50's, I made $166 and my mom made $100.  Giving up 6 hours on a precious Saturday is not worth the hassle to me.  I would much rather do the consignment sale and have someone else do it and earn more money.  The next sale is in September, time to clean out this summer.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Summer Goals

Its almost time for our summer goals, here they are:
  1. Potty train Sara - once school is out I'm quitting the diapers, I think I'm going to bribe with nail polish, she loves to have her nails done and I keep telling her only big girls have them done.
  2. Good bye pacifer this is my mid summer goal for her.  She only uses it to fall asleep but I am not letting this go until next summer.
  3. Evan needs to learn to write his name.  He can do the E, but hates to color and write.  I purchased a new Lego to give him when he masters his name.  There will be a Lego/bribe theme this summer!
  4. We are ditching the baby potty for Evan, he prefers to go #2 on the baby potty.
  5. Goodbye sippy cup!
  6. Evan and Sara need some sleep training.  Evan likes me in his bed when he falls asleep which turns into an hour plus some nights, and Sara falls asleep on  the couch each night.  We have some major work to do with this.
  7. Clean.... organize... and purge, I'm starting this with a garage sale at our cottage today.  I'm getting rid of all the things that are not nice enough for the consignment sale.  I'm selling all of my maternity clothes, some are from 2004... its time to kiss them goodbye.
  8. Exercise!! I bought some new dvd's and its time to get my butt moving.  No more excuses, as I sat on the couch alone at 6am and started to watch a Pilates program on TV and still wasn't motivated to join in. 
  9. Clean the kitchen each night before bed..my counters are not always empty/cleared off due to falling asleep with Ev.
3 more weeks of school to go.  On another note I received my proctor schedule for Exam week and I have 6 duties.  I checked a half dozen other teachers and they have 3-4, I debated emailing the Assistant Principal and decided to.  I told him I didn't mean to complain but it seems awfully unequitable.  I asked if there was any rhyme or reason to it.  So far no response.... hope it was a mistake!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Two and a half

The princess and the prince were married tonight
The sealed there vows with a kiss



  1.     This weekend Sara turns 2 and a half.  She is such a little princess. 
  2. Sara is very easy going and can skip a nap and still not be miserable
  3. She still uses a pacifier to sleep and I plan on getting rid of it this summer
  4. Sara will not fall asleep at nighttime on her own, but will for naps.  At night she lays on the couch and falls asleep or lays in our bed to fall asleep and we move her to her crib.
  5. She is a fantastic eater and will ask to try something new.
  6. Each time I take her grocery shopping and we walk through the produce she asks for new cauliflower.  She loves to dip cauliflower.
  7. Last week she was eating raw beans and peas.
  8. Her favorite foods are any fruit, she has been know to eat 3 oranges in a sitting, fruit snacks, pretzels, popsicles, chicken, triscuits, cheese, and apple juice.
  9. She rarely drinks milk and that is probably my fault I rarely offer it since I never drink it.  She will have it in cereal, which Evan will not. But Evan will drink it.
  10. When Sara doesn't know what to say when talking to Daddy on the phone she tells him, Daddy come home, Daddy have big bummy (butt, far from true, Mommy's is bigger than Daddys :-( , Daddy have pick up, and me have polly wogs.
  11. Sara loves Dogs and calls Max the dog across the street, my dog Max, she also loves Max's owner Kim and will tell us when Miss Kim is home or gone based on when the minvan is there.
  12. We still haven't mastered colors, for some reason she knows pink, yellow, and purple, but confuses red, green, and blue.  I'm not sure if she really confuses them or just doesn't want to be bothered.  Shen seems to know them when its time to choose a freezy pop.
  13. Tylenol is not our friend.  Sara is a very healthy little girl.  Antibiotics have only been needed once in her life so far.  Other than a cold and a recent virus, she has been healthy.  Last week a virus struck and she gags each time I give her Tylenol.  I even attempted the chewable and she told me not tasty Momma, after two violent puking episodes after trying to force it down, my mom, a pharmacist, recommended the suppositories.  The first few doses were fine until she told me no touch my butt.  Poor baby, luckily we recovered but I'll keep some very expensive $8/6 doses, on hand. 
  14. We are beginning to learn letters and Sara loves to point out S's, she found some in a novel I'm reading and was proud to show me.
  15. Sara has mastered a few 24 piece puzzles.
  16. Each day we play with the loving family dollhouse for a few minutes.  She doesn't have a favorite toy.  At this age Evan was obsessed with Gordon a Thomas train. 
  17. Today Sara was happy to play in a baby pool with a tea set.  She set everything up as if she was setting the table.
  18. Blocks and legos are very popular and Sara loves to set things in rows.  The other morning she matched and filled the doorway with our shoes.
  19. Dance skills and agility are very strong skills for Sara, she can watch a movement and follow it very quickly.  On our trip home from Charleston I was making up arm movements to keep her occupied and she could always mimic them. 
  20. Potty training is still a work in process, as soon as school ends diapers are disappearing.  Most mornings Sara wakes up dry and will go on the potty with a little encouragment.
  21. School ended Wednesday and Sara will really miss is, althought the kids at that age don't interact a great deal.  Sara loved her teacher and the activities.  She was always very proud of the projects she brought home.  Next year as long as she is potty trained she will go two mornings a week.
  22. Cinderella is our favorite movie.  She loves her Cinderella pj's and t shirts.  We have a barbie and some small dolls but there is no obsession yet!
  23. We love to read books, she doesn't have a favorite, but that is my fault, because she often falls asleep on the couch we don't always read before bed.  My parents have the kids 3 days a week and they read to Sara each day.
  24. Evan and Sara play very well together at times, Evan creates the activity and Sara usually follows along.  They have been playing hide and seek on their own while I fix dinner.  Sara's idea of countingis one, two.... and she is off!
  25. Shopping is a favorite activity.  Sara was very upset with my Mom last week.  They usually run errands while Evan is at school and my mom stayed home instead.  Sara is very well behaved in the cart or stroller.  We traveled to the outlet in Niagara Falls on mothers day together, and had a girls morning of shopping.  When we are finished shopping she asks me more shop??
  26. Sara's memory amazes me.  She remembers things from months ago that I wouldn't expect her too, of course while I'm racking my brains for an example none are coming to mind!
  27. Picking flowers is a popular spring activity each time we go outside.  One day she filled an entire bucket with dandelion heads.  There must have been hundreds in the bucket.  Marc said it kept her busy while he cleaned up outside.  Wish I would have had my camera out for that.
  28. Sara is very brave and attempts many things Evan wouldn't dream of.  We have a open foyer and a hallway with a railing on one side in our upstairs.  I caught Sara attempting to walk accross it on the wrong side.  I almost had a heartattack, as she was about 6 spindles out on the ledge with a 14 stair drop to hardwood! 
  29. Vocabulary is not an issue she knows so much more and surprises us each day.  At the cottage she told us go on boat - no turn power on.  Clarity still needs work,  little is yittle, and many words sound similar. 
  30. Sara's memory is amazing, we picked up flowers last week at a nursery and when we drove by it again she told me buy flowers there.  Sometimes it is things that happened last fall

Monday, May 7, 2012

One of those moments


Today was one of the moments that struck me as the entire journey to this point has been worth it.  Over the years I've had envy of those who have easy pregnancies, easy conception, sleeping babies, etc.  After the struggle to conceive, losing Rachel, and then our twin sons, being on bedrest, having abdominal surgery during pregnancy, followed by two c-sections, life was never a walk in the park.  Today as I sat with Evan at his Mothers day tea, it was worth every tear, scar, sleepless night, and struggle. 

He was so proud to have me next to him.  We shared our snack of sundaes, and then his class sang for us.  It was adorable!  He was so proud to have everyone clap after each song.  Priceless!  They answered questions about their mom, well Evan told them his mom is 83... well 38 is more accurate.  Evan has always been Mommy's boy and I love it!!  I had to leave school and then return after lunch.  I felt like I floated in I was so happy today.  I'm so proud and happy to be a Mom.

So glad we persevered and tried every available option for parenthood.  What a fantastic day.  While we were trying to start a family and after our losses, I always loved the word Believe, for so many reasons.  I had a bracelet with a Believe charm, and we have a wooden cut out of the word on our dresser.  Through my losses and grief that word meant so much, belive in God, belive it will happen, believe in afterlife, believe we will see our babies again, and believe we will be parents some day, believe my babies will be delivered safetly, believe in the abdominal cerclage, believe in my intuition.  Such a simple word and such peace it has brought to me.  Today it really felt like that belief has brought me such joy!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Talking up a storm!

Sara has turned into a chatterbox.  I was a bit concerned in February her preschool teacher suggested we have her speech evaluated.  I hesitated but said I would make the call.  The more I spoke to neighbors, our sitter, and friends, they all thought it was a complete waste of time to call.  Sara talks non-stop its not always clear but she has 7-8 word sentances at times.  Yesterday she asked my Mom after shopping at Wegmans, "Why that boy take our cart?"  Yesterday she asked for a dink(drink) and I asked he what she wanted, I had a hard time making out lemonade.  She has a very broad vocabulary and can usually get across her point.

I had to pick the kids up from preschool this week and I was able to speak with her teacher.  Sara barely talks in class, so she is just busy observing.  The funny thing is once she gets around us she never stops talking.  This morning at 4am, I heard "Mom", I ignored her and then I heard "Mom come to my room". 

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Big Brother



My mom picks my kids up from preschool and told me Evan always runs out and hugs Sara, holds her hand and gives her a kiss.  I see them do this occassionally when they are playing.  Sometimes they play very well together.  Our basement is finished off and the two played an hour the other night without fighting.  Friday my Mom took them to a new playground.  The kids were playing chase with lots of other kids and one of the kids was hitting Evan.  My Mom thought he may have been autisitc.  Evan told the boy to stop that because your scaring my sister.  The boy continued and he told him to leave my sister Sara alone.  So proud of him.

Today we went to a birthday party at a childrens museaum.  He took her hand when it was time to transition to another activity.  It is so sweet to see him look out for her.  They have been playing on our playset in the backyard while I clean up after dinner.  Our slide is very fast and Evan catches Sara at the bottom. 
Evan has been suffering terribly with allergies.  He is actually excited when it rains because he knows he'll feel better.  This morning his eyes were almost swollen shut.  It was obvious he felt terrible during the birthday party.  He sat with his arms crossed and a miserable look on his face while his good friend was opening presents.  At first I thought it was jealousy but he told me the kids were so loud especially the little boy next to him and I think he felt awful.  He took a 2.5 hour nap and Sara took a 3 hour nap, it was a fantasitic afternoon. 

We survived our trip to Charleston to see Grandma.  Evan threw up in the first two hours and there was no way we could have traveled 10 more hours smelling his car seat.  We ended up stopping at Target when it opened and picking one up.  I'm so bad, I returned it when we arrived in Charleston.  He is so skinny and the seat was as hard as a rock.  We have the Britax Marathon carseats and they are so overly padded that the kids don't ever complain.  We stopped in Charlotte and I purposely chose a hotel with a indoor pool.  Well the pool was freezing and looked very cloudy, the kids in it were very loud. So we ended up skipping the pool.  The next morning we went to the outlet mall and hit the Lego store and Disney store as promised. 

Evan loved the Lego store although it was the same stuff I could have ordered on Amazon.  He sat in his carseat putting together Lego's for a good part of the trip.  I bought them both soft trays for their carseats and brought Evan some tupperware containers and he worked on Lego's.  Its not a cheap hobby but I bought all the $3-5 dollar sets I could find and then Grandma gave him a few sets so he was happy.  Sara was my big concern and she was fantastic.  She colored, did stickers, magantic paperdolls, and had candy buttons. 

We had a great trip the weather was a bit chilly but the kids were happy to be with Grandma all week.  The Easter bunny came to Grandma's, we went downtown a few times, the pool, playground, and just relaxed.  We ended up driving straight through on the way home.  Fifteen hours in the car and no tears! 

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Our other Fisher Price Boxes




Thought I would include out other Fisher Price pictures, the first one is Evan in a Jumperoo. Next is all of us in a Japnese parenting magazine, and finally Sara in a swing. Wow those cheeks on Sara she looks like a different kid. We have probably had a dozen pictures that have never mde it to a box or the product never made it to the shelf.
Marc and I have a funeral on Friday so I want to stop by the FP store and pick up a few Easter gifts for the kids.
Marc is out of town tonight and Sara is lying on the couch next to me saying "make Daddy come home". She has designated her left cheek as Daddy's cheek and her right cheek at Mommy's cheek. When I kiss her she always reminds me whose cheek is whoses.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Fisher Price Surprises


The kids model a few times a year for Fisher Price and they love it because they get to pick out a toy afterwards. I think its fun and they need to follow someone elses directions, we get a $50 gift card each time, and the "chance" to be on a box. The downside is we never know if or when the toy will come out and we don't know where the pictures will be used, ads, displays, boxes, or magazines.

Tonight we went to the mall and browsed in Barnes and Noble and I just happened to see a toy I thouoght Evan may have modeled and to my surprise he was on the box. Of course I was excited and Evan could have cared less. He didn't like that there was another boy in the picture, and then he wanted to know if he was on the Cars box too. I'll call the FP store tomorrow to see if they have it, we certainly have a pile of gift cards to purchase it with. Sara was on a swing box when she was a baby, unfortunatly I could never find the box and couldn't spend $150 plus on a box.

Today I renewed Saras modeling permit, so we are good for another year. Hopefully we will get some calls over the summer.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Summertime fun.... in March




We had 75+ degrees this entire weekend and its forecasted for the entire week. I must say I'm loving global warming if this is what it is. Living in the snowbelt of NY and having a snowless winter, a great lake that never froze, and no wearing shorts in March we are experiencing complete bliss. The only downsize is Evan has very bad seasonal allergies and he started taking Allegra already. We make sure to have him shower each night and I'm constantly washing his jackets. Now if the lawn would dry up it would be perfect.

The kids are so funny Sara will tell Evan "no get away", the other morning my mom asked Sara how she was and she responded "pretty good". Evan is full of imagination and talks and plays nonstop. The other day he asked Marc how come your old and mom isn't? Love him!

Marc has had the stomache flu all weekend, but at least we have been able to get out of the house. The kids and I did some shopping for spring clothes at Old Navy, Children's Place and Gymboree. I always thought Gymboree was expensive until I experienced the sale deals. I have found I can buy things on sale there cheaper than at a consignment sale. This weekend they had 30% off everything and had brought out boxes of past season clothes, I had a 20% coupon they combined and then earned $50 gymbucks to use on a later purchase (Gymbucks will take $50 off a $100 purchase) I haven't had great luck with Evans clothes there as he becomes pickier but can buy lots of adorable outfits for Sara.

The Mothertime Marketplace sale ended and I only had 11 items left over, there were probably 10 that weren't accepted for stains I missed, and another 5 or so that the kids had pulled out or I forgot. So overall we ended up making $490, and I forgot to bring the highchair that I can sell on Craigslist now and make more money. It feels really good to have it out of our basement.

Friday, March 16, 2012

March is marching by!






Its been awhile since I've had a moment to sit down and write. The weather has improved, its been a quick jump to spring in WNY. We really never had snow and now its March and my Daffodils are blooming.
We have had a fantastic month so far. Last week our sitter called early in the am and said her daughter who is school aged had the stomach flu and she couldn't watch the kids. So at the last minute I called in sick and took the kids to Rochester to the Strong Memorial of Play Museum. It is fantastic and the kids had a blast. The hour and twenty minute ride was so worth it. The kids were able to work in a kid sized Wegmans (Wegmans is based in Rochester, NY), play in the Bernstein bears village, drive an airplane, Visit Sesame street, be on TV with Elmo, and visit a butterfly garden. We played, ate pizza hut for lunch, played some more and made the drive home with both of them napping. We even stopped at Target for a new toy to celebrate our play day! We spent the babysitters pay on our day of fun. Thursday our sitter called again and I was able to have my mom watch for the afternoon. When I told Ev he said can we go back to Wegmans and play! I told him its an hour and a half to get there and he said that's okay we'll just stay for 5 minutes. If we purchase a membership to Explore and More, the Fisher Price museum we can go back to Strong for free next time. I think it'll be worth it.

We have one week of ice skating left and I don't think I have to worry about becoming a hockey Mom yet, a sigh of relief for now. Evan wants to take swimming and tennis lessons this summer and I think I'll have Sara do a gymnastics class. We finally made a decision and are sending Evan to our Church for preK. Our district cut 7 teachers in the high school this month, an entire middle school team, and 10 elementary teachers. The district and the directions it is taking is frightening. Luckily our department has a strong Finance Academy presence in the community and lot of community support and involvement. The other members of my department are very hard workers and very good marketers.


Easter break is 3 weeks away and we are driving to Charleston, SC. Evan will be fine but I'm sure Sara will be telling us fine. They are both excited to see Grandma and hit the beach. We bought groupons for Carriage rides, and a harbour tour, and hopefully will hit the beach in Mt. Pleasant. Evan is hoping we can stop at the Lego store in Charlotte. I'd love to do this but we'll be driving on Good Friday and I'm worried about traffic in Charlotte.
Speaking of Lego's he has come so far since the love affair with them began at Christmas time. He can put a 100+ piece together on his own. The downside is they are very expensive. I've been leaving them in my cart on Amazon and picking them up when the price drops. Before Christmas I picked up one for 19.99 and I see it in the stores for $75. Sara is completing 24 piece puzzles and dressing up each day

This weekend is the consignment sale at the fairgrounds. It is my 3rd year participating and hopefully the most profitable. I tagged my allotted 200 items and dropped them off on Tuesday. As of tonight I sold 119 items and all but 2 of the larger items. The sale ends on Sunday and I have to pick up any left over items and they will mail me a check for 55% of the total sold in two weeks. I could have increased it to 70% if I had volunteered 4 hours, but finding those 4 hours was impossible. I tagged almost $1,200 worth of items. I love this sale, its a lot of work organizing, pricing (they have an inventory system that prints tags, hanging all the clothes up, packaging the toys, but so worth it not to have a garage sale. This must be such a money maker for the 2 organizers.