the end of 2012

I'm glad to see this year come to an end.

It's been hard for me to blog the past two months. For one reason we've been uber busy and the other reason is that I find myself wanting to rant about things and people who have aggravated me and I really don't want to be "that" person.

Hannah's class took a field trip to Coleman's Christmas Tree farm and I got to be a chaperon (yay!). So fun and has prompted me to add this to the to-do list at some point for our family. The trees are gorgeous, by far the best I've seen in our itty bitty state.

We celebrated Carter's birthday with the Fam. I can't believe he is 3!!! He played with his birthday presents for a solid two weeks non-stop for hours at a time. I'm glad he is at the age where he really enjoyed his birthday.

This is the first Christmas in at least five years that Tom has not had to work! It was so nice. We did presents with the kids and presents with family and had a delicious dinner; it was overall an awesome day.

It even snowed a couple of days after Christmas which for Delaware is most often as close as you'll get to having a "White Christmas."

To cap off the adventures of 2012 I had the treat of meeting up with my oldest and best friends for a much needed night out. Love this bunch :)

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):

Equality, Unless You're a Christian

As usual, I'm late to the party with this whole Chick-fil-A hates the gays that I've seen cropping up on Facebook. After I saw the above image and hearing my husband declare he will never eat there again. I decided to check the news to see what in the heck is going on.

I read a few articles today and maybe it's just me but I didn't read once that they declared to hate gay people or that they were afraid to be around gay people.

The latest skirmish in the nation's culture wars began when Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy told the Baptist Press that the company was "guilty as charged" for backing "the biblical definition of a family." In a later radio interview, he ratcheted up the rhetoric: "I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, `We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage."'

Read more: http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/19124725/2012/07/26/chick-fil-a-controversy-turns-food-into-political-statement#ixzz21qEC9Ai9

I agree with what he said so am I now a hateful homophobe?

I think it rather funny that everyone is up in arms about this. Really, did we all not know Chick-fil-A is a Christian company? They close on Sundays for Pete's sake; spend a quarter, by a clue.

I for one applaud Chick-fil-A for sticking to what they believe regardless if it hurts their profits.I will continue to eat there and I will even force a chicken sandwich and waffle fry on my husband from time to time.

Leela

Carter dubbed Amelia "Leela" and it stuck. I find myself calling her that 90% of the time.

She has gotten so big in the past month. She sprouted two teeth and one on top looks as though it's working it's way down.

She started crawling and a week later is now walking the edges of the furniture. Amelia has also discovered the joy of grabbing a fist full of cat food and then placing it on the floor, repeat. When you tell her "No, Amelia!" she just looks at you like she is the sweetest angel.

Hannah and Amelia also started to share a room a month or two ago and I'm glad to say it went off without a hitch.

She is still just the happiest, go-with-the-flow baby that God has ever created; we just love her to pieces.

Thank you God for blessing us with a third awesome child.

CoCo

Our newest baby to join the family is a sweet little black kitten that Hannah named CoCo. I cringed a little when she named him. I like normal names for animals and was all set to name him Willy or Murphy. Like a good Mama I let Hannie name him, so we have CoCo. Adding to his special-ness he also shares the same birthday as Hannah, how fun is that to hear when you're four years old?

He had a little bit of a rough start, I noticed that his siblings were coughing and one had an eye that was oozing...oh no. When we first picked him out and put in our adoption application he was fine but four days later when we went to pick him up we could tell something had manifested within his litter. I kept an eye on him and he seemed to have a strange cough but that was it. A few days after we brought him home the group that we adopted him from called me and informed me that this litter of kittens had come up from Virginia and his litter mates have lung worms and one had pink eye. Eh.  They did give me medicine to treat him and thankfully his appointment was scheduled with the vet a day later. He ended up taking a super strong de-worming medicine for 10 days in addition to an antibiotic for 10 days. Thankfully, he is now healthy and doesn't show anymore signs of  parasites, phew! I was worried in the beginning because I'd never heard of lung worms but from what I read on the internet it appeared that the cat could develop pneumonia and make the cat so sick it would die. And really, worms inside your lungs is really never a good thing to hear! 

He is a super cute and friendly little guy and warmed up immediately to my other kitty boys. Here he is sleeping in the middle of  Simon (left) and Figaro (right):

I call him puss-puss and Carter calls him baby. Carter is attached to him the most, he looks for him all the time and will pick him up and carry him around when he finds him :) The cutest thing ever!

and with family like that...

I don't even know where to start. I'm sad. I'm not sad for myself, she's been calling me fat for the past 10 years. I'm sad for Hannah. I'm sad that she has an Aunt and Uncle who are so ungodly hateful that it is unfathomable. I'm sad that her Aunt tries to pin her cousins to dislike her. I'm sad that she won't be able to play with her cousins any more. I'm sad that my parents play the fence and further perpetuate an already rocky existence. I'm sad for Carter that because he is the only boy he is hated for it. I'm sad that I don't have a sibling that I want to be around and we've been like that for longer than I can remember. I'm sad for my nieces who have mommy dearest for a mother.

How did it get this way?

There will be no coming back from this fight. This was most definitely the end for me; what a sad relief.

Carter, Now Sugar-Free!

Ugh, that's where I'm at right now.

I've heard it all when it comes to my sweet boy and I'm beginning to think I should rename him Handful or Pistol or Something Else since that is how he's most often described. The descriptions annoy and frustrate me. My son is not bad or mean. And I don't appreciate grown adults saying that in front of him or about him in front of their children. He's a two-year old boy who is extremely active and entirely too smart for his own good.

I've been praying a lot more lately about my Buddy. Along with prayer I've been scouring the Internets and giving quite a bit of thought on how to help Carter with self-control, hyper-ness and occasionally hitting (hangs-head-in-shame).

I feel like I'm a reasonably intelligent and logical person and I see that discipline (we've tried every different way) does not seem to faze my boy in the slightest. I am also smart enough to realize that no one is perfect and I am speaking to myself when I say that. I've been reading about ADHD. It runs in Tom's family so I know there is a very strong chance that he may have it too. I also tell myself he's two years old, he's supposed to be hyper. Then I begin to wonder, when is it too much? At what point do you call the pediatrician in to have him evaluated?

My internal Mama Bear is telling me something might be "wrong." On the flip side the one thing I haven't tried is eliminating sugars. This has become my next step. I've taken down tons of notes, installed new child-proofing devices around the house and I'm ready to give this a good fight. I've been very deliberate and repetitive in my new discipline routine. I've also added a supplement of Omega-3 Fatty Acids. My fingers are crossed as we venture into discovering what triggers my sweet angel to seemingly go crazy.

Powers Boothe and Chuck

I'm pretty sure my Dad should have been an actor in the mini-series: Hatfields & McCoys. When Powers Boothe came on the screen Tom and I cracked up laughing and agreed he looks just like Chuck. What say you?

It's eerie the resemblance!

The Traveling Tank

Growing up we always seem to have a fish tank or three somewhere in our house. It was a common thread that tied us all together. We loved picking out new fish and all of their accessories. I remember staring at the fish tank watching the fish swim around, such a carefree life. My Grandpa decided that he wanted a fish tank for his house, he was going to try his hand at saltwater. He knew exactly the fish he wanted and took his fish tank very seriously. He really, truly enjoyed tending to his fishes. I really enjoyed helping him pick out super-pretty fish. I always thought salt water fish were much, much cooler than the freshwater fish we had at our house. Eventually my Grandpa moved back to Missouri and the fish tank moved to my parents shed, if memory serves me. Then it lived in my brother's living room for a while, empty. Then it eventually made its way back to my parent's house and not too long after my Mom set up the fish tank in the little girl's room. Since my Mom isn't home to tend to her fish and my Dad doesn't seem to want to put forth the effort. The fish tank was taken down, again. Only this time it was brought to my house.

I was out front weeding my flower beds when my Dad rolled up in the yard with Mom's Mercedes. I could tell he was dropping something off but couldn't make out just what that something was. My Dad starts to unload the fish tank and the stand and the accessories and gallons of water specifically for the fish. "Your Mom said you wanted the fish tank." While I don't remember saying that, my Mom assures me that I did. Before my Dad pulls off he adds that the "red fish" is at the house once I get the tank set back up. This fish is a trooper he's lived through Carter knocking him off the table not once but twice. The second time (as I picked the poor thing out of the Barbie doll's hair as it lied on the floor) I decided it was time to relocate him to Mammie's house. And there he's lived for the past year and a half.

I walk in the house and ask Tom, "Did you ever tell my parents you wanted the fish tank?" "Heather, there better not be a fish tank out front of this house!" I assured him that there was no fish tank out front but only because I had already moved it to the garage. A week had passed and I made it a point to get the fish tank back up this weekend. As I was cleaning it out I saw a sticker marking that it was made in 1992, it reminded me of my Grandpa and the fact that this was his fish tank. I can see it sitting in his living room and I can hear the excitement in his voice as he goes on about his fish.  Although the hood is now broken and one of the three little girls had put a sticker on the front, it's still Grandpa's fish tank.

The Week of Z

5/14-5/18

A Zebra with a Zipper and A Zebra in a Zoo:



Caterpillar and Butterfly:



Crazy Craft Collage:



Hannah's school had a picnic in the park for the Pre3 and Pre4 kids. The kids had a lot of fun playing at the "big" park:



Hannah started a bean plant a couple of weeks back at school and it finally started to develop:



So we planted it:



And then the cat(s) ate it. :( I tried to prop up Mr. Bean Plant with a pencil but I think it's beyond the point of saving:



Saturday we went to the mall to see Mickey Mouse OR Minnie Mouse. The characters alternated so there was no guarantee which one you would get to meet. Hannah wanted Minnie and I thought for sure Carter would love to see Mickey. Well, after a little over an hour waiting we get five minutes from the front and Minnie switches with Mickey. Hannah was devastated. Carter was completely TERRIFIED of Mickey. He was also terrified of the Easter Bunny which I didn't even think about until after the Mickey experience. I think I'll now remember that he hates costumed people.



Later on Saturday night we were all hanging out at my Parent's house. Tom was at work and my Brother and his wife just ran to the grocery so it was just my parents and I with all five kids. Hannah, Carter and my niece Jordan are playing in the yard. They are running from Carter who had the hose and just laughing and playing. When the girls wanted to out run Carter or take a break they would come in the screened in porch. I was sitting on the porch keeping an eye on them when my niece comes through the door. A little wind catcher thing (very light) falls off and bumps right next to her. We both look at each other and laugh since that seemed weird. Not two seconds later Hannah comes through the door and in an instant a kerosene lamp from the shelf above the door falls off and slams right on to her head. I screamed. Glass went everywhere and both girls started crying. We get them both out of the glass and start checking Hannah who by now has blood running past her ear and down her neck. I find the cut on her head and knew instantly that she needed some stitches. My niece is inconsolable and just keeps saying over and over again, "Hannah, Hannah, Hannah...."  Hannah is crying and telling me she is so scared to get stitches and that she doesn't want to leave her cousins. It was pandemonium. As I'm caring Hannah down the stairs to leave she tells me she needs to use the bathroom. We are heading to the powder room and Carter who is crouched on his knees is spraying water into the house! There was a good quarter-inch of water from what I could quickly see. I yell for my Dad to get Carter since I'm helping Hannah.

Mom and I rush out the door and proceed to spend the next five hours waiting and dragging the whole miserable experience out for Hannah. I got her to calm down by showing her my thumb scar where I had about four stitches put in when I was only 2. Ironically, I reminded her that Gampie had stitches that morning and now he is doing just fine. Finally the hospital finds 15 minutes of time to give us to slap three stitches on her head. Around 11:00 at night we finally make it home. We all ate dinner and not long after went to bed. Phew!

Thank God she is fine and nothing more serious happened. My family has the weirdest luck. Glass falls out of a clock and cuts my Dad's leg at the bed bath and beyond which resulted in four stitches and not four hours after he was stitched up Hannah has a kerosene lamp fall on her head and gets three stitches. Bizarre!

The Week of Y

May 7th-11th

The school year is closing in on us!

A Yak and his Yo-Yo:



Wednesday I took the girl's for their well check ups. They both received three shots each and did very well with it. Amelia now weighs 16 lbs 10 ozs and is 26" long. They are both doing excellent!

My Mother's Day "kaprise" from Hannah:



I had a lovely Mother's Day, probably the best one ever. I'm so blessed to have such an awesome family.