my sweet October

My favorite month has come and gone. Bittersweet. Last October was spent on bed rest so this October I had planned to live it up as much as possible.

I got to take Hannie on her second field trip with school. This year it was to Milburn Orchards. It was really cool to see a "behind the scenes" view of the orchard we frequent often. I also discovered that Rome apples are pretty tasty!

The next day was my birthday so we decided to take the kids to Fifer Orchards, a little bit farther away and see what that was all about. Picking apples was a lot of fun and the first time any of us had done so. We will definitely be doing that every year. The apples at this orchard were not very tasty, not sure if that was a fluke or if that is the norm. The "Harvest Festival" was pretty fun and the kids really enjoyed all the activities.

After the orchard we dropped the kids with my mom and headed to Philly. We stayed midtown so we were able to walk the city and had a lot of fun. While there we visited Reading Terminal Market and Old City among other places. It was so nice to get away for a couple weekend.

We finally bought a new van, hooray!

The girls (baby boys) and I then drove said van to Lancaster and enjoyed the day at Shady Maple and the Outlets. Always a good time and we some how managed to pack an epic amount of pumpkins in the trunk, it was comical to say the least.

We had another hurricane this year, last year it was Irene and I think was in August. This time it was Sandy and it did not hit Delaware as bad as originally suggested; New York and New Jersey are a different story. We made out nearly unscathed, as with the last hurricane our ceiling leaked in the entry. Not sure if what we did to fix it was undone by this storm or if it was not fixed like we had thought. What can you do, it could have always been worse.

Tonight trick or treating is still on despite the storm and I'm looking forward to taking my Minnie's and Mickey out to collect their treats. A nice way to end being cooped up in the house the past four days.

the september run-down

Amelia is walking and has nearly seven teeth!

Hannah enjoyed her first day of Pre4 and really enjoys going to school every day. We've even had some homework this year as preparation for Kindergarten and she thinks that is awesome. I can see now Hannah is going to be just like me in school...good.

I'm in the process of switching our house over to organic/whole/natural foods as much as possible. It will be a little bit of a slow process since somethings are easy to switch like milk and eggs and other things with a longer pantry life will be switched later when it finally runs out. The kids haven't seemed to notice which is a good thing in my book!

September proved to be quite the month of medical treatments which spilled into October.  I had my nose cauterized for the second time due to excessive nose bleeds. Carter had his face looked at and allergy testing done. I had my blood work done and found out my thryroid is off and my meds needed adjusting. Then to cap it all off I finally got my elbow looked at by my primary doctor who was plumb useless. Finally saw an orthopaedic doctor and was diagnosed with severe tennis elbow (tendinitis) and received a cortisone shot.

A few more fun things included a trip to the circus, it was the first time for Hannah and I. Hannah loved it so much she still talks about it:

And a night out with my favorite ladies to celebrate Emily's birthday:

I am looking foward to all that October holds :)

A Distant Memory

Way back in 2007 not long before I found out I was pregnant with Hannah I wrote a blog entry. It was back during a time when I was really, really, really struggling with infertility and I needed answers. I had switched to a new reproductive endocrinologist. On staff he had a nutritionist named Rhonda and she was so sweet and so smart and her insight led me to change my eating habits, lose a bit over thirty pounds and become pregnant with my Hannie.

I still to this day look back on Rhonda and just love that woman for all that she did to help educate me. At one point she took me and another woman suffering with PCOS to the grocery store and we took a food tour of what to eat and what not to eat. It was insanely insightful and incredibly awesome of her to spend her Saturday morning walking the grocery aisles educating me.

Somewhere along the way I stopped doing what she taught me and have definitely paid the price for it. So friends I will bestow some knowledge (copied from the blog entry five years ago) on you that i have put on the back burner but am ready to try anew.

• Only eat wild caught fish, do not eat farm raised fish
• Eat only organic meats, other meat has too many hormones
• Eat organic fruits and vegetables
• No lunch meat it has too much sodium
• Nothing that comes from a bag or a box
• If ”it” can be prepared at home you should do that instead of buying all ready prepared from the store
• Eat pasta and rice sparingly
• She recommended eating shredded wheat for a snack
• She also recommended Kashi Pilaf as a side item for lunch or dinner
• Essentially if it is organic that is what I should buy
• Do not eat anything sugar free

I have really been struggling with losing weight since the birth of Amelia and my confidence in myself is mostly to blame. I think it's about time to pick myself up by the boot straps and start over. By God if this doesn't work I'm giving up and doing gastric bypass ;)

Little Boy Red

The nearly summer long "rash" has turned out to be eczema. The doctor said that it may go away on it's own with time. I really hope it's something that he grows out of since it is directly on his face and looks more like rosacea to me. The doctor we visited today did two allergy panels on him for both environmental and food allergens and he came back negative for all of them. He never scratches or picks at his face so that will be helpful in the long run with any potential scarring.

The doctor advised us to use plain dove soap and a cream called Formula II and not to take hot baths. He also said we should give him 1/2 tsp of Zyrtec everyday which I didn't understand since it's not from an allergen. Along with the skin care products we'll be switching to fragrance/dye free laundry detergents as well. Wish us luck in this new transition!

My poor boys face:

 

Hello Lover...

I foolishly perused the coach online outlet and discovered this:

I am now smitten and wishing I had some reason to justify it's purchase. Well a reason and some extra money ;)

Christmas?

It's that time of year again, the kids are back in school and the weather is feeling cooler by the second.

This morning when I left for work I felt a hint of chill in the air and wished I was going to pick apples instead of going to work. My mind is now wandering to Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yes, Christmas will be here in FOUR months. I've been trying all year to be ahead of the rush and have successfully ordered all the Halloween costumes and accessories. Along with completing Christmas shopping for both Hannah and Carter. Phew!

I always thought it was the cutest thing when I found out Mama Smith (my BF's mom) had everyone (she has 5 kids) write down there entire Christmas list and they still do that to this day. I'm thinking of making Tom do the same thing as he is the WORST person to shop for. You'd think after 14 years this aspect of life would be easier but every year I find that I don't recall him asking for anything in particular and anything I do buy him is not what he wanted. Sigh. So this year homeboy will be forced, at gun point if necessary, to write me a list.

I don't have very many wants but can always scrape up a few ideas for the old Christmas list ;) :

• Sperry Angelfish in a size 10:

•   Purse:

• Citrine Ring:

 

• Kindle Sleeve:

While I'm Dreaming:

• VW Passat: (Hahahaha)

• New Home in Missouri:

VW Love

Or envy as the case may be.

I've been dreaming of the VW Passat since I drove it in June when my parents and I visited family in Missouri. Mom and I were talking again about it this weekend which prompted me to go online and see what was out there (in my price range) to accommodate my family of FIVE!

In a perfect world where money was no object I would buy myself a Passat and of course Tom would buy whatever he wanted for himself. Since we live on a tight budget and there is no room for two car payments I will most likely continue to just be dreaming of the Passat ;)

That being said and with only looking online and not at the actual dealership. I'm left wondering if the Jetta SportWagen or the Tiguan might accommodate our families needs?

Having three kids and finding a car that accommodates two car seats and one booster seat has felt very much like a nightmare. Chrysler has recently asked us to sign a release agreement in return for a check in the amount of $1000. Since I was not born yesterday Tom and I have decided not to sign that document and will most likely hire an attorney to straighten things out with Chrysler. Our van spontaneously com-busting has been the biggest headache that will just not seem to go away. God forbid Chrysler do what is right and pay us for our personal belongings and the money that I used to pay off my Van, at the very least.

This whole van fire debacle has made me never want to buy a Chrysler ever again. (Which is kind of sad since my Dad is a Chrysler Retiree) I say that not because I think the next van will catch fire but because the customer service is horrendous. With that said how is the VW experience from any VW owners or previous owners out there?

Jetta SportWagen:

Tiguan:

Passat (My heart's desire):