Uncategorized on Scrumpy Daddy

Great Grandma Byerly

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:52:22 -0400

On Friday April 5th Dave's Grandmother Carmella Byerly passed away. It was sudden in how fast her body quit on her, but not sudden in that we knew she had been declining for several months now. For the past 6 months or so his Grandma had been in and out of the hospital for various problems and had problems maintaining a body weight. She had been down to 76 lbs at one point. Abby weighs almost as much as she did. On Wednesday April 3rd she went to the hospital due to a bloody nose she could not get stopped. They got it stopped and were going to send her home, but she insisted she didn't feel right. By the end of that day she was in ICU and her body seemed to be shutting down. My father-in-law then received a call at 4 am Friday morning saying he should come be with her and later that morning she passed.

It is really too bad we can't save the mind when the body stops working. Her mind was sharp as a tack and she was herself all the way to the end. I remember when my Grandmother was in her final months she was not all there. I can remember sitting with her and all she would do was moan and sing for God to take her home. Her body didn't want to give up even though her mind was not with us any longer.

She moved back to this area several years ago so we have been able to spend birthdays and holidays with her. It was so wonderful that my children and I were given the opportunity to get to know her. She was an amazing person. She had so much love to give.

I'm not sure how much Zach really understands what is going on, but Abby has been very curious about death. This was the first person she has really known that has died. She has been asking many questions about death; where our body goes and where are spirit goes. She is comforted by knowing that Great Grandma is with God. She has said that she believes in God and will get to be in heaven with her too. She was also very curious about the viewing and seeing Great Grandma's body. She did not seem afraid by it at all and I think it was good for her to see and have closure. Zach said that she looked like Sleeping Beauty.

Here are some pictures of her from the past several years of the many family times we had with her. Love you and miss you.

Easter Time Fun

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 17:41:52 -0400

It has been quite a week leading up to Easter. Dave was on call this week and had lots to do at night. Matt starting teething so the wonderful sleeping through the night he had been doing for almost 2 weeks was over. Despite being tired we have had lots of fun as a family getting ready for Easter.

On Tuesday Zach and I got out the Easter decorations and put them out. Zach was very interested in playing with his basket, but didn't understand the mess the Easter grass would make. Ugh! Had to follow him around for a bit picking it all up so the cats wouldn't eat it and get sick. Finally found his Easter bucket he was given several years ago and filled it with the plastic eggs so he would stop playing with his basket. Not looking forward to the mess Easter morning will bring. The Easter Bunny will have to make sure to hide the baskets where the cats can't get into them.

Arts and Crafts

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 10:00:42 -0400

Here is a nice spring time/Easter/belated St. Patrick's Day craft that is easy and fairly mess free, coffee filter rainbows. If Zach was able to do this mess free your kid can too.

Take a white coffee filter and cut it in half. Then take food dye and combine it with some water in cups. You don't need too much water, just enough that it will run on the coffee filter and let the colors mix. Lastly, you will need a medicine dropper.

All About Matt

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:08:03 -0400

It has been so amazing to watch and see how much Matt has changed since the summer and especially in the last 2 months. Matt is now 17 months, but still small for his age. I think the last time he was at the doctor he was a little over 17 lbs and 27 1/2 inches long. He finally moved up to 12 month clothes. We are definitely making good use of Zach's hand me downs with Matt.

Photo Fun

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 20:29:58 -0400

In January Dave and I went to a local casino for some fun on my birthday. I had some free play there since it was my birthday month. We only ever play the penny slots and never win very much, but this time it was different. We were playing the penny slots and every so often we would hit the max bet button, which bet $2.00. Luck was with us, one time Dave did it and he got free spins. Then it just started racking up the points. Overall Dave ended up winning $400.00. We finally decided what to do with the money. We got some new lenses for our SLR camera. We had been desiring something other than the kit lens for a while. Here are some pics we took last night and today with our new lenses. All I have to say is loving them so much!

All About Zach

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 10:00:16 -0400

Zach is now 3 1/2 years old and just like his sister he is growing like a weed. My mom and I recently went to the thrift shop (best place for kids clothes since they grow so fast) and got Zach all new pants and shirts. I can't believe he needs 4T clothes and could probably fit into 5T shirts very comfortably. He is now 3 feet 5 1/2 inches, which just seems crazy to me because he is only a 6 inches shorter than Abby and she is 3 years older than him.

All About Abby

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 10:00:23 -0500

So much has changed since the summer with all three kids so I would like to highlight each one in their own post.

Abby is now 6 1/2 years old and growing like a weed both physically and mentally. She is 3ft 11 1/2 in and very muscular. She has way more core and upper body strength than I do. I completely attribute that to gymnastics. She started gymnastics last spring and has progressed well. She moved up in the fall from their pre-school program (which is 3-6 yr old) to level 1. Gymnastics goes from level 1 to 10 with 10 being like Olympic level for those of you with no gymnastics background. I would say she is the strongest at the uneven bars and needs the most work on the balance beam. Even though they work hard and focus on specific skills she still smiles through the Thursday night hour long practice and looks forward to it each week. She even just chose gymnastics over an ice cream social at her school. She told me she would rather go to gymnastics and she gets a snack afterward anyways.

A Beautiful Day

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 19:35:10 -0500

I was ready for winter to be over and the snow to be over. When I woke this morning the landscape was covered in it. I thought oh great more snow and cold. I dreaded walking Abby to the bus stop with the boys expecting it to be a mess and cold, but actually it is really beautiful out there. Enjoy!

Thank You to My Sister Becky

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:49:09 -0400

Some of you may or may not know, but my sister spent the summer with us. I failed to mention this in my last post with the summary of the summer. She became such a part of the family that I didn't even think about the fact that I didn't mention it. She came down when she was done with school at the end of June, she is a teacher's aide at a school for special needs children, and stayed until labor day. It was so great having her here to help since I had all 3 kids everyday. I don't know how some stay at home parents do it. I think I would have gone completely insane having all 3 kids every day all day long with no break. Luckily, I have a sister who was able to forgo work for the summer and come keep me sane.

Images of Summer 2012

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 15:24:24 -0400

We had a wonderful and busy summer. It started off with a sad note as our neighbors and good friends left and moved to TN. Caleb started his surgical residency in June and we wish him all the best. Their moving away though, did inspire us to revamp the backyard. We acquired from Craig's list and awesome wooden swing set with 2 slides and a tree house type area. Abby had really wanted a tree house, but we don't have great trees for putting one in. Also, Dave built an awesome sandbox big enough for both kids to play in. Zach has spent most of his summer in it. It is wonderful to see all the creative play with the tree house and the sand box.

Matt is almost 1

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 14:15:10 -0400

Wow, looking back at the blog I see just how long it has been since anything was posted here. So much has happened to Matt since the last post in March.

In the last post it stated Matt was going to have spinal surgery to release his tethered cord. He did have the surgery and oh what an ordeal. The initial surgery went well and everything appeared to be healing well when we left the hospital, though we did have some concerns regarding how the surgical site was looking. They had used the surgical glue to close his incision instead of sewing it shut. By the time we were leaving the hospital the glue was already pulling away from the skin. About a week after being sent home he had a very high fever. Since we didn't know what was causing it we called the doctor and they said take him into the hospital. The surgical site was infected. They had to take Matt back into surgery to clean out all of the infection. This time when they closed him they sewed him shut. He was so miserable and in so much pain. They had him on morphine to try and keep him happy, but that caused its own problems. They ended up putting what was called a trumpet in his nose to keep his nasal passages open and clear so he could breath. Apparently since he was being kept fairly sedated with the morphine his soft tissue was kind of collapsing and making it hard to breath. When Dave was with him they had to call a code blue because he just wasn't breathing right and his stats were so low. During this whole ordeal they were working on figuring out what kind of infection it was to decide on what antibiotics to use. The plan was to place a PICC line to administer antibiotics from home. Since this was the plan they were not allowing Matt to eat since they would have to sedate him again to place the PICC line. It ended up that Matt had not eating anything in more than 48 hours. I can't even begin to imagine how uncomfortable Matt was. He was in pain, hungry, and back in the hospital.

Unexpected Sunday evening

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:37:35 -0400

We had some out of town family come visit us today to see the kids and had some fresh baked chocolate chip cookies I made earlier in the day. It was a good visit and everyone was having a great day. We realized that someone needed to head out to the store to pick up a few essentials for the next few days, and decided to make it a family trip to get everyone out of the house for a bit before dinner.

Matt is home!!! (Take two or three?)

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:47:13 -0500

Matt was in the hospital since the Saturday after Thanksgiving until last Thursday, December 15th. He successfully had the stents removed on Wednesday, the 14th, and was like a completely different kid without the stents than with the stents. He was back to the way we knew him. He was clearly happier, and was eating well right away, which amazed the PICU doctors. (I don't understand why they wouldn't trust us, the parents, after telling them the same thing every day for more than two weeks, but that is a post of it's own.)

It's been a while . . . and Matt's back in the ICU . . .

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 11:59:34 -0500

It's been a while since I posted last. Matt was at home and doing very well for two weeks. (After we got home from the hospital trip referenced in my last post.) He was breathing fine, eating great, and just being a pretty easy-going baby. (Unless he was mad about being hungry; then he was prone to occasionally holding his breath . . . but it wasn't too bad.)

We had a great Thanksgiving and had family over to our house on Friday after Turkey Day, which was awesome, as well. We got to visit with my brother & SIL, and the kids got to play with their cousins all day. We all had a wonderful time! Matt seemed to keep clogging up his nose that day, though; we had to keep working on him to keep him breathing OK. At Matt's midnight feeding, he was having some breathing issues and due to that, wouldn't eat much. It was bad enough that we thought we should take him into the hospital, so I got ready to go, packed him up, and headed to Children's. We checked in at 1:52AM on Saturday, November 26th. :-)

Regressions and progressions

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 09:52:19 -0500

On Thursday, it sounded like Matt was a bit congested. We sucked out his nose a few times, and got out a large volume of very sticky gunk once or twice. After those times, he was breathing easy. But then it would get worse again. By Thursday evening, he was laboring a little bit to breathe freely, and it was affecting his eating - sucking on a bottle, a baby needs to be able to breathe through his nose, but Matt's was a bit closed off, making it very difficult for him to eat. Breathing takes priority over food. :-)

Matt is Home!!!

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:46:10 -0500

To those of you who aren't on Facebook, Matt is home. Children's Hospital released Matt on Monday afternoon after having a very good weekend of feeding and weight gain. That was the criteria for Matt coming home. He needed to be taking his thickened feeds via a bottle, gaining weight, and not having any respiratory distress. He had done well all weekend taking between 40 and 60 mL of his thickened formula. Both occupational therapy and speech therapy watched him take a feed on Monday and they both said his suck is getting much better and he is doing so well. He will have to follow up with the eating clinic to have them watch his progress, but otherwise he is good to go. The eating clinic is where they will determine if he can reduce the amount of thickness of his feeds.

Feeling of Futility

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 22:50:57 -0400

Yesterday and today were hard days for me. They felt like days of futility.

They started Matt on his thickened feeds, which was very exciting to hear they were going to start. When I arrived at the hospital yesterday I came in and saw he still had the feeding tube and was receiving his full feed via it for his noon feeding and there were bottles of formula in the room. When we received the news that he would be starting bottle feeding with thickened feeds Monday afternoon it was not well explained that it would not be breast milk and that it would take him a while to get to his full feeds via the bottle. I guess my expectations of him feeding were too high. Since Matt had not been nursing or bottle feeding from the start due to his nasal issues and then when they did begin feeds it was via a feeding tube due to him aspirating he would now have to learn how to feed at 22 days old. For a baby sucking is a natural thing and normally they quickly learn how to make that get them food. Matt has been getting food and not having to work for it since it was through the feeding tube. This means he doesn't quite understand that he actually has to do something to get food.

Update on Matt and Halloween

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 09:37:02 -0400

First the update on Matt. Matt had his cookie swallow test yesterday to see if he is still aspirating his food since getting his stents out. He passed his test with a thickened feed. They are starting to feed by bottle with additional rice cereal in his milk to help him swallow it properly this morning. The feeding tube will no longer be needed if he does well. That is great news! Now we wait to see how he does and then there may be a plan for him coming home.

Tribute to Crazy Weather

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 17:48:53 -0400

So, weather is just crazy around here this week. It has been mildly cold all this week. We had to get out the warmer coats, but never did I expect what happened on Saturday.

Let me start with Friday. Friday was Abby's Halloween parade and party at her school. She got to dress up in her Halloween costume and march around her school with her other classmates. Then they had a party in their classroom. Abby got tons of candy already from her party and there is still trick or treating tomorrow night. The weather for the parade was cool, but not terrible. The kids were still able to march outside and not completely freeze, depending on your costume of course. There were some that looked pretty cold in their costumes.

Matt's stents are gone!

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 13:09:20 -0400

Well, Matt's stent removal procedure was scheduled for Friday, October 28th, then changed to Thursday, then changed back to Friday. :-) It was scheduled for 5:30 PM on Friday, and when I got there Friday morning, they said they had an opening at 2:30PM, but right after I got there, the OR called up and said they had an opening soon (about 10:30AM.) So, Matt was prepped and sent down to the OR to have his stents removed, and got in there about 11:00AM. I got to see him again around 12:20PM.

Matt's stent removal date change

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 09:44:32 -0400

Just a quick update on a date change.

The doctors have now scheduled Matt's stent removal for this Thursday, October 27, 2011. Once that is done, they will perform another swallow test with him on Friday, October 28.

After that, the key things we are all looking for are:

Eating by mouth without trouble
Gaining weight appropriately
No respiratory distress

Once those goals are met several days in a row, he should be cleared to come home. Anything can happen in the coming days, of course, but those are the key goals.

A Beautiful Monday in Fall

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:34:44 -0400

Today was my first day home again with just Zach since Matt was born. My Mom went home yesterday. It was a great morning with him. We spent most of it outside playing in the leaves.

Update on Matt 2011-10-20

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:41:29 -0400

Thanks to all who have been praying for Matt. He is doing well, though we still have some obstacles to overcome. The big issue right now is his feedings. He started to try to bottle feed, but he was choking on the milk and it was squirting out of his nose. They had Matt go for what is called a cookie swallow, which is also called a barium swallow. They then watched the barium to see if the milk went to his belly or anywhere else. They found that Matt was aspirating, which means milk was getting into his lungs. This is potentially very dangerous as it can lead to pneumonia. Since this was the result of the cookie swallow, Matt can no longer have milk by mouth via a bottle.

Matt Took a Bottle

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:33:22 -0400

Today they started "feeds" with Matt. They started giving Matt the breast milk I have been pumping via a bottle. They are starting with 10mL every 3 hours. His first feeding today went wonderful. He was wide awake this morning at 9 for his feeding, which made it better. Though, the only problem he was having was that milk kept coming out his nose. We think because the stents are there they are holding parts of his nose too open that when he tries to eat sometimes it goes in his nose instead of down his throat. We discussed this with the nurse and doctors as we weren't sure if we should do a feeding tube instead until the stents come out and we are just going to continue to try the bottle and expect this will just be something he will need to learn how to work around. The next feeding he had at noon, which Dave started to try and give to him. They want to start having us do more of his care since we will be the most consistent people giving him care. The noon feeding didn't go as well because he had been sleeping and we had to wake him to feed. He was never fully awake so it took more work to get him to eat. Then I tried to do his 3pm feeding, which again only went ok. He was still a little sleepy for this and just didn't feel like sucking. I can't wait to try again tomorrow.

Photo History of Matt

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 07:25:45 -0400

Here is Matt in the first NICU at the hospital where he was born before he was transported to Children's Hospital.

Transporting Matt to Children's NICU.

Matt at Children's NICU.

Update on Matthew 10/15/11

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 20:58:02 -0400

There has been many things that have happened with Matt in the past couple days since we posted. We have been posting updates on Facebook for those of you who are friends with us, but we wanted to do another blog update for those of you who are not on Facebook.

Surgery:

Matt had his surgery at 3pm on 10/13 to open his blocked nasal passages. The surgery went very well, though it took longer than they anticipated. They took Matt down a little after 3 to the OR and he didn't come back up for several hours. They did keep sending someone up to inform me of where they were in the surgery. I received and update when the surgeon began the 2nd side and then again when the surgeon decided to make the openings bigger than he originally did. The surgeon had to open his nasal passages more than he initially thought in order for the stents to fit properly. Matt will have the stents in for 2 weeks to make sure everything drains properly while the opened passages heal. He has a followup appointment in 2 weeks to have the stents removed.

Update on Matthew - 2011-10-13

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 08:07:02 -0400

This is just a quick update on Matt's status. They completed the CT scan of his nasal passages and the ENT doctors have concluded that he has a condition called "Choanal Atresia" which basically means that there is a blockage in his nasal passages. It is on both sides of his nose. When babies are born, they are wired to breathe through their noses, which is why Matt had problems breathing, and ultimately, stopped breathing.

Welcome Matthew Connor, 10/11/2011

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:05:48 -0400

** Edited on 2011-10-12 around 10:30PM to include additional details, fix up a few details, clean up grammar, and correct Oxycontin to be Oxytocin (auto correct had modified it to Oxycontin...)

Matthew Connor entered the world at 7:50pm Oct. 11, 2011. Weight - 5lbs. 10.5oz, length 19 inches.

The last couple weeks have been quite interesting, which led up to a very interesting labor and delivery. In the last couple weeks I experienced false labor a few times before going into actual labor. I had never experienced this with either of my other children. The first time was on a Tuesday morning when I began having contractions every 10 minutes for a good hour, but
then all of a sudden they stopped. I felt bad because I had Dave work from home that day thinking we might be going in later to have a baby. I went to my doctor appointment that Thursday and found out I was only 1.5cm dilated and 50% effaced, which is where I had been the week before. No progress was very disheartening. When you get it in your head that today is the day to have the baby and you don't it really makes you not want to do anything the next day. The next time was a Monday evening where I had contractions every 10 minutes for over 2 hours before they fizzled out. Then again on Sunday after that, again for about two to three hours. Then finally yesterday, Oct. 11th I began having contractions at 6:40am and they continued throughout the day and increased in intensity.

Abby's First Soccer Game

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 14:32:36 -0400

Yesterday Abby had her first soccer game. She was so excited before going that she could hardly contain herself. She was jumping all around and kept asking if it was time to get Zach up from his nap and go. In some ways I can't wait until she can tell time so maybe she will stop asking if it is time yet. Anyways...Abby got into her soccer stuff (cleats and shin guards), we got her team shirt when we arrived at the game, and we were off.

Abby's 5th Birthday and her 1st Day of Kindergarten

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:28:56 -0400

Today was a very momentous day for Abby. Not only did she turn 5 today, but it was also her first day of Kindergarten. I can't believe my little girl isn't so little any more. I know everyone says it and I know it is true, but time really does fly. I remember at her birthday party last year she kept talking about how next year she was going to turn 5 and go to Kindergarten. Not it is true.

Water Scooter

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 09:00:22 -0400

Here are just a couple more fun things that happened while we were in the Outer Banks to wrap up our trip.

Abby saw jet skis on the bay side and got very excited. She called them water scooters. I thought it was a perfect name that Abby came up with. I told her when she gets older we can take a ride on one. I personally love riding them. Not sure if I will be able to get Dave on one. Maybe if he has his own to drive and doesn't ride with me. I can get kind of crazy on them.

Outer Banks Nature

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 09:00:49 -0400

The kids loved seeing the animals at the Outer Banks. On the first day as Abby and I were moving the deck chairs into place a frog jumped out and landed on Abby's shirt. I was able to catch it for Abby to see up close. She was so excited. It was a bright green frog. She wanted to hold the frog. She held it for a little bit, but then it jumped away and off the deck. We saw many more frogs and toads through the week around the beach house.

Outer Banks, 2011 Touristy Stuff

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 09:00:52 -0400

Each day we were at the Outer Banks we tried to do some touristy stuff in the area. My parents had never been to the Outer banks before.

Jockey's Ridge

Wright Brothers' Memorial

Outer Banks Vacation June, 2011

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 20:08:52 -0400

This year we went on a family vacation with both sets of Grandparents, Aunt Edie, and Uncle Pat. We went to South Nags Head, Outer Banks, NC. We had been to Kill Devil Hills, OB almost 2 years ago just us for a couple days. We loved it then and had been wanting to go back ever since. Zach had only been a month old when we went last time. Abby had been almost 3 and it made quite the impression on her. She had been talking about the beach ever since that trip. This year we were able to make it happen.

Abby's Pre-K Graduation

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 09:00:09 -0400

In the fall Abby will be starting Kindergarten. I can't believe how big she is getting. Sometimes it feels like she was just born and yet she has a 2 year old brother and another one on the way. She is getting to be quite the little lady.

At the beginning of June her school had graduation day for the Pre-K class. All the classes participated in the ceremonies except for the babies. They even had Zach's class sing a song. Mostly it was the teachers signing with the kids trying to play with all the decorations that were around the stage. It got better as the classes got older.

Memorial Weekend, 2011

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:01:20 -0400

Each year we go to my brother-in-laws to celebrate our niece and nephew's birthday over Memorial Weekend. This year our nephew Dorian was just finishing up his first year of school. He was a big Kindergartener. Lydia is doing great. She doesn't show any signs of after effects of being a preemie. Way to go both of you!

It was an interesting start to the party this year. Rob went to move the basketball hoop and as he did he found black snake curled up on his driveway. Luckily, one of his neighbors was willing to pick the snake up and take it back to the woods. No further signs of snakes were reported that day.

Life from Abby's Eyes

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 08:30:36 -0400

Abby got a camera for her 4th birthday and loves to take it out whenever someone else has their camera out. We just cleared her memory card as it was full since we hadn't emptied it since November. Here are some pictures from Abby's eyes.

A Morning at the Park

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 20:21:36 -0400

Oh how I love that is it finally getting to be sorta spring like. At least the snow is gone (hopefully not to return until next winter) and the ground has dried up from all the rain. Not sure how long that will last (April showers bring May flowers). Anyways, we were playing out back in the 41 degree whether yesterday when I got bored of chasing Abby around the swing set playing tag. To the park!

Zach's cognitive leaps

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:02:28 -0400

Zach's cognitive development has just exploded lately. He is twenty months old now, and he is saying and doing so many things. He LOVES to play with Abby and has been saying, "Abby! Abby! Abby!" constantly for about a month now. He likes to hand her cup to her, and when he gets a snack, he INSISTS on you giving one to Abby as well, saying, "Abby?", and pointing to the snack and into the other room, then "Abby!", and will have a fit if you don't get some for her. When he heads upstairs to get changed or brush his teeth or anything, he'll start climbing up the steps, then stop and say, "Abby!" and scoot back down and go get her to go with him. He really loves being with her right now.

Wordless Wednesday

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 08:30:14 -0500

Zach 18 months

Sun, 30 Jan 2011 21:09:41 -0500

So Zach is now 18 months old almost 19 months on February 1st. Sorry for the late post on this. He is turning into such a little boy. I love watching his physical changes as he loses the baby look and gets the toddler boy look; he is 27.4 lbs and 32 3/4". I also love watching his personality come out. He's definitely like his father. Always wants to try everything, get into everything, and figure out how everything works. Maybe it's a guy thing.

Mommy and Me Night

Sat, 08 Jan 2011 17:00:31 -0500

On Wednesday Dave ended up having to work late and I mean real late. I don't think he left his office until after midnight. Unfortunately, with him being the IT guy at his company if a critical system fails he has to fix it no matter how long it takes. Because of that the kids and I had a night to ourselves.

We made pancakes and sausage for dinner and then had play time. I found out that night that Zach was getting very good at the zoo puzzle we have. Zach is now 18 months old. He is able to identify where the pieces go even if he doesn't always turn the animals exactly right to fit in the spot. He did the puzzle about 3 or 4 times in a row. I think he was just showing off for me.

New Years Weekend

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 23:06:14 -0500

We had a great New Years weekend in New York with my side of the family. We arrived late Thursday night and of course the kids wanted to play for a bit when they got there. After being stuck in the car for 5 1/2 hours how could I say no. This meant a very late night for all since we didn't get there until 9:30pm.

New Years Eve day:

Christmas Day

Sun, 26 Dec 2010 19:31:14 -0500

Merry Christmas! Abby woke up at around 6am and joined us in bed until about 6:30. She got up and went down stairs to see if Santa had come. He had! She said that he had eaten the cookies she left him, drank the milk, and the reindeer ate the carrot. Zach heard the noise and got up.

We all headed downstairs. Dave got the coffee started and Abby began to look at the presents. She was reading all the names on them and played Santa handing out the presents. She needed a little help understanding the to and from part of the tag in order to know who it should be given to. She was very excited to start opening gifts and didn't want to wait. I just love the excitement, though a little patience would have been nice. We wanted to put Christmas music on and didn't get to before she started opening gifts.

Christmas Eve

Sat, 25 Dec 2010 22:09:08 -0500

Here is what you don't do and I will hope to never do again on Christmas Eve. Go to the grocery store. Ugh! Oh the lines, the cars, and the people. Unfortunately, there were a couple of things we needed for the weekend.

Here is what you do on Christmas Eve...spend time with family and friends. After some stress in the afternoon (couldn't find 3 gift cards we had gotten a couple weeks ago - found them after tearing apart the house) and a slightly rushed dinner to make it to church (got there 5 min. late) we had a very nice evening. The church services was wonderful. Lots of great Christmas music for the whole family to enjoy. Zach loved running around the sanctuary. We have been attending a church called The Hills for the past month, which has its services at a local high school. Not formal, which is great for the kids.

My Christmas Goal Met

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 22:27:36 -0500

I know this may not seem like a very large accomplishment, especially when their are awesome bloggers out there raising all kinds of money for the needy and collecting toys for kids (Christmas Crazy), but to me, this year anyways, it is enough.

I got my Christmas cards mailed out. People will receive a Christmas card from us and before Christmas even. For the past 2 years we have bought Christmas cards (the kind with the pictures of the kids on it) and for the past 2 years the only people that have received cards are the ones lucky enough to have seen us. Everyone else, well...you were not forgotten just time sped by and ran out. It seemed stupid by mid January to still be sending out Christmas cards so we just didn't.

Cookie Mania

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 23:42:05 -0500

Yes, yes I know. This is the first official blog in months. Funny how something breaks and takes a little time to fix and then you get out of the habit of doing it. Well, for me that was the blog. I have been meaning to do this for weeks, well actually I guess months now. Here it is folks, I'm back. My goal is a post a week to start and we can go from there.

Wordless Wednesday

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:24:06 -0500

Cabin in the woods Day 1

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 13:08:53 -0400

This is going to be a sad post for me. For my entire life since I was 18 months old I have been going to my father's hunting cabin for mini vacations in the Adirondack mountains (NY state). My father and a group of other guys own the cabin and would go hunting for deer every fall. I loved going there during non-hunting times. We would go fishing off a dock or row boat at a local lake, Lake Adirondack. We would go exploring in the woods around camp and have camp fires. At night we would listen to the radio and play the card game hearts. It was one of my most favorite places to go. Well...this was my last year that I was able to go. I have not been there since my daughter was born 4 years ago. It is a 10 hour trip and with kids that is a little much for a long weekend. We found out this year that the owners, including my father, have decided to sell the place. They have not been there in several years to go hunting and the costs are not justifiable for the amount of time the men and their families use the cabin.

Mr. Potato Head

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 20:55:03 -0400

Abby had gotten as a present last year a giant Mr. Potato Head with smaller ones inside the belly. Tonight we discovered other fun we could have with the pieces of the larger Mr Potato Head. Abby saw the pieces lying on the ground, picked them up and came in the living room with a laugh. Look at me! See the pictures and enjoy.

Our trip to Kentucky

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 12:00:23 -0400

In July we went down to Kentucky to spend a long weekend with our best friends from college. They built a new house and they were finally done and moved in. It is beautiful and tons of space. It is great to have to much space for the 4 kids and have a guest room to stay in. In their previous space they only had 3 bedrooms instead of 4 and a smaller dinning/living room space. Not much space for the kids to run around in. They also have a larger yard, but unfortunately at the time of our trip it was unusable.

Zach's Birthday Party

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:00:58 -0400

Wow...I can't believe it has been 2 months since Zach's birthday party and I never posted anything about it. Oh well! Now to help all of you catch up with what has been happening around here for the past 2 months.

On July 3rd Zach has his 1 year birthday party. Of course since it was so close to the 4th we went with a patriotic theme. We had flags and red, white, and blue stuff every where. I also made a red, white, and blue cake from scratch. It was a rocket with USA on it. I have fallen in love with doing cut out cakes. My mom always did them for my sister and I growing up. They are a lot of work, but they turn out so cool.

Zach has Asthma

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 14:13:40 -0400

Today we went a saw a Pulmonologist at Children's Hospital. Last week Zach went to Children's Hospital ER for I believe it is now the 4th or 5th time since he was born. This poor boy! Anyways, they took an x-ray and diagnosed him with pneumonia. With his history of breathing problems every time he gets sick the pediatrician suggested we take him to a specialist thinking it might be asthma.

The 4th of July

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:00:18 -0400

We had a great 4th of July this year. It was very relaxing after spending so much time getting ready for Zach's party, that was the day before (July 3rd). We spent most of the day just playing with the kids around the house and then went to the fireworks. Zach fell asleep during the fireworks. Even the finale only made him stir slightly. He is definitely like his daddy. He can fall asleep anywhere!

Abby's week with Grammy

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:00:40 -0400

Grammy came down with Aunt Becky and Gramps for Zach's birthday. Grammy stayed for an extra week. It was her birthday too (July 6th)! She stayed because we took her to the DCI (Drum Corp International) show. It was an amazing show. The bands were awesome and it made me miss marching band.

While Grammy was here for the extra week Abby got to stay home with her all week and have some fun mini trips with Grammy. They went to the library, mall, and pet store. They also had fun at home playing with Abby's toys, watching movies, and making pictures. Thanks for the great week Grammy!

Zach 1 year

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:17:57 -0400

Zach turned 1 on July 1st. I can't believe it has been over a year now since he came into our life. Wow! Time really does fly. Abby will be 4 this August and then next year off to school. Crazy!

Anyways, Zach had his 1 year appointment last night with the pediatrician. He is doing great. He is 24 lbs and 31 inches. It is nice to see him lengthening out now. He is still to remain doing his breathing treatments once a day with the Pulmacort. Don't know how long he will need to continue this. He will also be moving to no bottles soon and just using sippy cups and drinking whole milk and water. I am going to finish the can of formula we have and then move him to whole milk.

Abbyisms of the Day

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:23:35 -0400

There were 2 things about today that really stood out in my mind that I want to share about Abby.

This morning after we got in the car to go to daycare I said to Dave, "I got my eye on you". Abby then said, "Give daddy back his eye." I was so confused at first, but she said it again. So I rolled my window down and said, "Here's your eye daddy". This made Abby happy. She then proceeded to say, "I got your eye mommy". I told her she has to give it back so mommy can drive. She did.

The Lilac Festival

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:46:37 -0400

I know this post is late and out of order, but we just got the pictures to go with it from my mom. We had forgotten our camera at my parent's house. Every year, for as long as I can remember, my home town celebrates a Lilac festival. It has a craft show, tons of food, music, a parade, and of course lilacs. Though, because of the warmer weather the peak of the lilacs was a the week before the festival. Many of the lilacs were already gone.

The Start of Summer 2010

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 18:00:26 -0400

I love that it is warm enough out already for a sprinkler. We got Abby a sprinkler last year at the end of the year. She was very excited to use it. Her friends from the neighborhood came over to join in the fun.

Memorial Day Gathering

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:00:19 -0400

Every year over memorial day weekend since the birth of my nephew we have gone to my brother-in law's place to celebrate his birthday. Also, my niece was born around that time as well (brother and sister) so for the past 2 years we have celebrated both. This was the first year in 2 years I have been able to go. Two years ago Abby was sick and then last year I was 36 weeks pregnant with Zach. Doctor said I couldn't go more than an hour away and my brother-in laws is 3 1/2 hours away.

Zach 11 Months

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 20:00:55 -0400

Well...I am finally getting back to blogging. Took about a month hiatus. Not that I really wanted to, but it has been crazy busy with traveling and daily life. Zach is now 11 months old. I missed his 10 month post so I am going to integrate everything he has done on the past 2 months in this post.

That's right people. I can crawl now. I still go back and forth between crawling on my hands and knees and doing the army crawl, but I am getting better and better each day. I really started to crawl on my hands and knees in a more consistent manner about 2 days ago. Mom and dad are so proud.

I am also starting to try to pull myself up to standing. I can get on my knees by myself and if someone stands me up I can stay standing holding on to something. I will keep trying. Can't move into the toddler classroom until I can walk.

Abby is a butterfly

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:00:22 -0400

It has been so beautiful here that we took out the outside toys including the badminton rackets. I tried to show Abby how to use them with the birdies, but she does not quite have the coordination yet to play very well. Instead Abby decided to play with the rackets in her own way. "I'm a butterfly." She then proceeded to request both Mommy and Daddy be butterflies with her at times. So creative, now look at her fly.

Zach 9 months

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 11:00:00 -0400

Zach is now 9 months old. He is 23 lbs. 12 oz. He has not had his well baby visit yet so I am not sure how long he is yet. He was sick again with an ear infection, which is why I know his weight. That's right folks another ear infection. Of course the talk of tubes in the ears came up. I am hoping spring will help him and he will not get another infection for a long while. I don't want him to have tubes and all the issues (baths and pools) that go along with that.

Abby's First Movie Theater Movie

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 07:06:43 -0400

Yesterday we took Abby to her first movie in the movie theater. It was quite a hectic at times disappointing experience for Mom and Dad, but the best time for Abby. It is amazing how as adults how we have these expectations for ourselves and events and children just see the fun and joy.

Let me tell you the story from Abby's perspective first:

Abby was so excited all day. We had told her the night before what the plan was for the day so she was prepared. We didn't tell her what movie we were going to see yet. In the morning we had breakfast, played barbies, drew a little bit, and went outside for a while. We then had lunch early and went down for an early nap. At first I was nervous she was not going to fall asleep, but she did. I got her up around 2pm and asked her if she was ready to go see her movie. Her eyes lit up and she immediately got up from her nap. We went potty and then off to the movie. By this time we had told her what movie we were going to see, "How To Train Your Dragon." She said, "I like that one."
http://www.howtotrainyourdragon.com/

Dying Easter Eggs

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 11:00:34 -0400

Easter Weekend

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:58:01 -0400

Easter weekend was wonderful. We had 2 celebrations. We spent Saturday at Grandma and Pap's with Aunt Erin, Uncle Rob, Dorian, Lydia, and Great-Grandma. It is so great having family around. Abby loves playing with her cousins. Abby and Dorian ran around the house trying not to run over Zach and Lydia. Though, Lydia can walk now so there was no fear of her getting run over. Zach is still trying to crawl.

The Bunny Trail

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:36:04 -0400

Growing up the Easter Bunny (my Mom) would leave both my sister I a trail each year to find our Easter baskets. It was known as the bunny trail. Each clue would have a small gift or candy with it and directions on where to go for the next clue. We loved it and kept it up all through high school.

Last year, when Abby was 2, was the first year we started doing it with Abby. It went fairly well and she seemed to like it. Though, with each clue she would get distracted by whatever was there and we would have to redirect her to keep going on the bunny trail. Today I have just finished making the clues for the bunny trail. We still need to go out and get the candy and whatever we want to put in her basket. We aren't extravagant with this holiday, but just do some candy and maybe some small gifts like art supplies.

I Love My Kids

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:00:44 -0400

Zach at 8 1/2 months

Check out my baby blues.

I have 2 teeth on the bottom. Check them out.

Abby with Anna in Kentucky.

Daddy ended up carrying the bike instead of Abby riding it. Though, I love them all holding hands.

Spring

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:08:04 -0400

I can't wait for spring to officially start. This past weekend (even though it rained) and the past 2 days have felt like spring is finally coming. Over the weekend we saw are first robin of the season eating worms out of our backyard. Abby is starting to learn and remember names of birds so we showed her the robin and made sure she learned its name. She already knows cardinal (Grammy's favorite).

To the man in my life...

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:33:06 -0500

I typically write about my 2 children Abby and Zach, but today I wanted to give tribute to the other love of my life, my husband Dave. He has been my other (better) half for over 10 years now. We started dating when I was a freshman in college in 1999 and were married in June of 2003. These past 10 years have been wonderful. Sure they have had there ups and downs. What relationship hasn't? This past year has really made me appreciate all he does and how much he means to me.

Sibling love

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:00:58 -0500

I hope my children continue to love and adore each other as much as they do now.

Zach at 8 months

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:00:47 -0500

Zach is now 8 months old. He is 22lbs. 12 oz. One nice thing about Zach being sick so often (daycare...yuck) is we always know his weight within a few ounces. Anyways...

Zach seems to have grown up so much this past month. He now has 2 teeth, which are the bottom 2 teeth. He has now had rice cereal, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, peas, pears,and peaches. We will be giving him apple sauce and bananas in the next week. Zach also had some "real" food. He had a waffle. He loved gumming and sucking on it. He ate the whole piece we gave him. We will probably start giving him other finger food like puffs.

Why I love Sundays...

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:08:34 -0500

Why I love Sundays...mainly my two cuties below and being able to spend time with my family.

Most mornings we get up and rush, rush, rush in order to get both kids up and dressed and get Zach fed (Abby eats breakfast at school) and then mom and dad off to work. The weekends are different and I love it!

We let the kids dictate when we get up. We let either Zach, when he is hungry, or Abby when she wakes up come in our room and get us up. It is usually Zach, but today it was Abby. She loves coming in our room and jumping into bed with us and lounging for bit. It usually doesn't last more than 10 minutes, but we cherish them. She then wants to get up and moving for the day. There is no such thing as really sleeping in at this house. Maybe when the kids get older.

Love of Reading

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:00:03 -0500

Dave is an avid reader and our hope is to instill that in our children. I also love to read, but I have to admit not as much as Dave. If I have to chose I usually don't pick reading. I have been trying to get through a series for the past 4 years. I have been reading Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. It's a great series and I recommend it, but they are very long books and with 2 kids I find it hard to have time to read.

Ho Hum

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 21:15:56 -0500

Haven't blogged much this past week. Have been spending every night trying to watch the Olympics unsuccessfully. Basically I have started watching them every night at 8pm and was asleep by 9pm.

Now everything here is just so stressful I don't really have the desire to blog. My mom and sister left yesterday after spending the week here. That part was great. The kids stayed home with Grammy and Aunt Becky and had a blast. The stressful part started yesterday. Zach was getting yet another cold and that is when I noticed it. He was playing and tugging at both ears. Oh no! He spent the night in our room, which meant Mommy did not get a lot of sleep. He kept waking up crying and I had to settle him back down. Mommy was very tired and cranky today. Sorry if I took any of that tiredness and crankiness out on Daddy and Abby.

Zach loves trees

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:59:57 -0500

Not a long post, but I wanted to record this to make sure we remember it.

Zach LOVES trees! From when he was very little (a few weeks old), leaves blowing in the wind would always catch his eye, and he would just stare & stare at them, and smile at them as they blew in the wind. He loves looking out the window of the car at trees we are passing.

Zach 7 months

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:26:50 -0500

Zach is now 7 months old and 22 lbs. I cannot believe how time is flying. We had to move Zach out of his infant car seat into a convertible one, still facing backwards.

Zach is now rolling all over the place. We have to be careful what toys Abby is bringing into the living room. Can't have Zach getting a hold of Abby's small toys for her Barbies. Zach is also starting to get up on his knees and hands in the I want to crawl position. Soon enough we will have to put up the baby gates to confine him.

The Cool House

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:43:34 -0500

It's official, a friend of my daughters this morning said, "Our house isn't this much fun." Yes! We've done it. We've become that cool house that the kids want to come visit and never leave.

Today we had neighbors of ours over for play time and lunch. They have 3 children. Their oldest is a year older than Abby, middle child is Abby's age, and the youngest is a couple months older than Zach.

Bah, Bah, Bah. La, la, la. Da, da, da

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:26:50 -0500

That's right folks, Zach's vocabulary is growing. When I picked him up tonight from day care Zach started going la, la, la to me. Then while Dave and Zach were playing we swear he was saying Da da to Dave. The other day Dave was looking at pictures on his computer with Zach sitting on his lap and Dave pulled up a picture of Abby and Zach said Abba. We are waiting to see if he does it again to see if he is trying to say Abby.

Abby

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:00:28 -0500

Today I wanted to take some time after writing so much about what Zach is doing to write an update on Abby. She is growing so much and becoming so independent and yet loves to play with Daddy and I. She can take out her own toys and play with what she wants while Dave and I are doing our own thing. Like right now she is getting out her cars while Dave is browsing the internet and I am writing this blog post.

Valentines Day

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:27:15 -0500

I know you are probably wondering how I am posting on this when Valentines Day is not for another couple weeks. Well, I am posting about decorating for Valentines Day. Dave and I don't really celebrate the holiday, at least not more than saying to each other happy Valentines Day. We just figure why spend the money when everything is over priced and we can show each other how much we love each other on any other day that is not over commercialized. Anyways, it is still fun to decorate for all holidays especially with a 3 year old.

Abbyisms

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:08:10 -0500

Here is a collection and some of Abby's favorite sayings at 3 years old.

"You can be Ariel and I will be flounder."

"Sing like Ariel."

When Abby is mad she says, "You're not being my friend." or "I won't be your friend if you are doing...."

"I can't do it!"

"I want to watch a movie."

If Mommy or Daddy tells her no to something she will often say, depending on who told her no, "Daddy said I could." I love it when she says, "Zach said I could." Mind you Zach is 6 1/2 months old and can't say anything more than, "Uh", "Bah, bah, bah", "Mmmm", and other little sounds or screams.

Zach is 6 months old

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:42:11 -0500

Zach turned 6 months old on January 1st. I can't believe it has been 6 months since Zach came into our lives. It feels like our little family is now complete.

Zach has grown so much over the past month both in weight and skills. He is now 20lbs 8 oz. and had to move into 12 month clothes. Carters 12 month clothes start at 20.5 lbs. I can't believe how fast he is growing. It has to stop soon, right? The only problem with the clothes is the fact that they are a little bit long on him. Hopefully he will start to grow in length instead of girth.

Christmas Day

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:23:15 -0500

Well...I am finally getting to blogging about Christmas Day. Christmas Day was wonderful. We just lounged around all day and didn't have to go anywhere. This year we stayed home for the day and had another Christmas the next day at my in-laws house.

We stayed in our PJs all day long and just got to enjoy being together and trying out our new toys. If you have seen the movie A Christmas Story you will get this reference, but when Abby came down and saw all the gifts under the tree she went over and started to pull all of them. She was saying everyone was hers. It reminded me of Randy from Christmas Story as he pulled all his gifts and said, "Oooh, that's mine."

Back to Normal Life

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 03:15:57 -0500

I loved the long weekend with the kids. It was great! We had so much fun and got to spend lots of time with family. Now apparently at 2:15am Monday, December 28th we are back to normal life. Zach won't sleep in his crib and wants held. He felt quite warm so we decided to take his temperature. That's right folks, you got it. He is running a fever of 102.5. I guess we will be calling my mother-in-law in a couple of hours and hope she can watch him for the day. I don't have anymore time off at work and it would be another unexcused for me and Dave's work requires a doctors note if you are sick after a holiday weekend. Oh why can't we just win the Powerball so both Dave and I can stay home with the kids whenever we want. Come on Powerball!

Christmas Eve

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 23:37:21 -0500

My company has progressed since last year. This year they gave us a 1/2 day for Christmas Eve. I would love to see them give a whole day Christmas Eve next year, but we will see. Personally, I don't understand why companies just don't give the entire week before Christmas off (with the exception of retailers and emergency crews). I work for an asset management company and this time of year is very slow. We don't really accomplish much during this time.

Zach was sick

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:04:26 -0500

Zach had been breathing hard with a cough for about 3 weeks. He has been to the pediatrician twice for it. The first time he went they said they heard the wheezing and the cough. They didn't really diagnosed him with anything, but wanted us to give him nebulizer treatments every 4 to 6 hours as the cough persists. The 2nd time he went for the follow up they found he has his first ear infection. He has been on antibiotics since a week ago Tuesday. He of course hates the antibiotics. I wish they made a stronger concentration for infants. He has to take 1 and a 1/2 teaspoons twice a day. That is just so much liquid for him to swallow, especially when he hates the taste of it. The nebulizer treatments started to go better, but he was not a big fan of them either. Poor baby sick already at 5 months.

First Day of Snow

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:53:11 -0500

On Saturday December, 19th we had a first day of snow. It snowed all day long. When we got up in the morning I would say we had at least 2 inches on the ground. I told Abby to go look out the window. She looked out our bedroom window and said, "There's snow out there." We went down had breakfast and then all got ready, except for Zach, to go out and play in the snow. Zach took his morning nap, which worked out great because then both Dave and I could go outside. Zach is 5 months old and not quite old enough to be outside for an extended period of time even with his snow suite.

Zach 5 months

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:04:23 -0500

Zach is now 5 months old. He is growing leaps and bounds. I had to change out all his clothes right before Thanksgiving to his 6 to 9 month clothes. Zach you have to stop growing so that we have enough clothes for you, LOL! Zach is now 19 lbs 13 oz.

Zach is getting much better at his fine motor control. You can see him concentrating on controlling his hand to pick up specific toys. Then once he has them he can now hold onto to them and put them in his mouth (which he does most of the time) or shake them to make noise. He loves one rattle in particular. Whenever he moves it and it makes its rattle noise he smiles. We keep that one at the dinner table with us. We have been putting Zach in his high chair at the dinner table with some toys whenever we are eating. He seems to like that better than the bouncy chair or on the floor. He likes to be up with the rest of us at the table. We will probably be starting him on solids soon. He seems to be getting interested in watching us eat, typically a sign they want to start solids.

The best part of the Thanksgiving Weekend

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:00:35 -0500

Every year there is, of course, a favorite part of the weekend. Usually it is going to Linda and Andy's for their special meal after Thanksgiving Day. I love Andy's cooking. This year it was still the same, though different. Usually all the family goes to Linda and Andy's. This year the meal at Linda and Andy's was very small and intimate. Since Becky had gotten sick no one really wanted to be around us. They didn't want to take the chance of their kids getting sick, like Becky, since we didn't know exactly what she had (turned out she had just a 48 hour bug of some kind). The family is being very cautious this year with the loss of Maddie. Since we only go to NJ once a year for Thanksgiving, so we got the priority to go to Linda and Andy's.

Willow Run

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:59:37 -0500

It has now become a tradition since we started going to my Uncle's for Thanksgiving that either Friday or Saturday morning we head over to a local nursery to look at their Christmas display. It is a wonderful place called Willow Run. They have live animals that you can feed, a Christmas display of various Christmas scenes, and of course Christmas trees all wonderfully decorated. Each year we pick out several things to buy from Willow Run. Mainly window clings of some sort. This year we did end up getting couple other things. We let Abby pick out LED lights for a small tree we had for her bedroom. She also picked out a small gold star for the top of her tree. She was so excited to get to pick these out. We also got a Christmas door mat and some window clings. We are trying the gel ones this year. We will see how they go.

Thanksgiving

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:54:36 -0500

I know it has been almost 2 weeks since Thanksgiving, but I still wanted to post about our Thanksgiving time. Sometimes it seems so hard to get on the computer and post things. I have intentions of doing it every night and every night something comes up or the day has just warn me out. I am home today from work with Zach so I figured now would be a great time to catch up.

In Memory of Maddie Tremper

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:59:55 -0500

These past couple weeks have been very hard on my family, especially for my cousin Linda and her husband Andy. Their only child, Maddie, who had just turned 1, passed away on Nov. 10th due to complications from the swine flu. She had just celebrated her first birthday on Tuesday the 3rd and was supposed to have her birthday party on Saturday the 7th. She went into the the NICU that Saturday morning and passed away on Tuesday the 10th. You hear in the news all the people getting sick from the swine flu and that there have been deaths, but you never expect it to happen to your family and to someone so young. It has been so heartbreaking!

Traditions

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:39:45 -0500

We have started a Sunday night tradition. To those who remember and love, The Wonderful World of Disney, you would appreciate our new tradition. I really miss family oriented stuff on regular TV. You have to have cable or digital cable to get any family oriented stuff to watch during peak hours. Anyways, enough with my rant, for about a month now, since Abby has fully gotten into the princesses, we have been having our own wonderful world of Disney night. Each Sunday night while either Dave or I are making dinner we let Abby pick out a movie to watch. We then sit down with her to eat dinner and watch the movie of her choice. Tonight was Aladdin. It has been a great way to wrap up our weekends together and Abby seems to really calm down for a while when we have a movie on. Can't wait to see what she will pick next week.

Car Rides to and from daycare

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:37:18 -0500

I love my daily car rides with my children. Mostly Zach just coos or sleeps, but Abby can be so much fun. The other day we were driving to preschool and Abby said to me there's the moon for you mommy. Abby loves to point out the moon to whoever she is with. Abby then said, "somebody cut it. Somebody cut the moon in half." I couldn't see the moon because I was driving, but when we got to preschool I had to check it out. Sure enough it was not a full moon, part of the moon was shaded and to Abby that meant someone had cut the moon.

Zach @ 4 months

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:13:00 -0500

Zach is now 4 months old. Time really does fly. Zach is now 18 lbs, 25 inches.

Zach has had a very busy month. We went to Trax Farms twice (read previous blog) for their fall festival and had his first Halloween. He dressed up as a dalmatian puppy. We went around as a whole family all dressed up. Abby was a pink bunny, Daddy a pirate, Mommy a dalmatian, and Zach a dalmatian. Aunt Becky had come for the weekend so she handed out the candy while we walked around trick or treating.

3 Year Old Quotes

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:18:42 -0500

I have two wonderful little stories that I wanted to share about my 3 year old Abby.

The first one happened while I was putting her to bed the other night. We were reading a Thomas the train book when Abby said, "When there's a hole in the book I will jump in. I will be Thomas and he will be my friend." I think she got this idea from the couples times she has seen Blue's Clues. There is a part where Steve jumps into a picture after Blue.

Scrumpy Abby

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:37:43 -0400

Tonight we made a trip to Wally World (otherwise known as Walmart) to get candy for Halloween and try to get me stuff for my Halloween costume. My co-workers and I are doing 101 Dalmatians. I was looking for a white hoodie and white sweat pants. No luck on either. Grrr! Anyways, on the way over to Wally World Abby said, "I'm scrumpy Abby." She then took her bulldozer car and started to scrape her face with the shovel end like it was a razor and said, "I scrape it." Sorry about the quality of the pictures they were taken with a cell phone while Dave was trying to drive.

Embracing the Princesses

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:04:28 -0400

At first I was reluctant. I didn't want Abby becoming too commercialized and only wanting items with Disney Princesses on them. I wanted her to accept things that were just generic, but alas I have succumbed to it. She loves it. She has been watching the movies and now has a Cinderella doll, princess jammies, and a princess bedding set. She is still willing to play with anything that looks like a princess, it doesn't have to be only Disney princesses. She also loves to sing like Ariel. She will walk around singing, "Aaaah, aaaah," just like Ariel does when the sea witch takes her voice. She will tell you, "I am Ariel and you are flounder." Or she will say, "Sing like Ariel," and you must sing. She also knows all the main princesses by name and sight (Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, and Belle.) She also knows Tinkerbell, but I don't consider her to be princess. She is a pixie.

It only takes 88 keys to unlock the world

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:59:36 -0400

Growing up attending public school in America, when I was in fourth grade, I was given the grand opportunity to try out various musical instruments (of the wind variety; you had the option of trying stringed instruments starting in third grade, but I was not interested in those at the time.) I headed to the elementary school library where the local music teacher, and some assistants, had an array of instruments lined up around the room. I remember my mom being there, and I believe it may have been after school or on a weekend.

Trax Farms

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:13:28 -0400

We have now been to Trax Farms 2 weekends in row and can't get enough. Yes it is insanely crowded, but it is also so much fun for the kids. I can't believe it is Oct. 18th and we have all our Halloween decorations up and our pumpkins bought. We are usually those people who are decorating for Halloween, and definitely carving the pumpkin, the day of Halloween. This year I strive to do better. So far so good with the decorations and since Halloween is a Saturday this year I think we will wait until the day of to carve the pumpkin. Nothing like fresh baked pumpkin seeds to munch on while handing out candy. I just hope the weather gets a little warmer for trick or treating.

Grandma, Great Grandma, and coffee cake

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:05:30 -0400

Great Grandma (my grandmother) and Grandma (my mom) visited us this evening. GG lives in Arizona and has been in Pittsburgh for a few weeks visiting family. She is heading back to AZ on Wednesday, and she wanted to see the kids again, so my mom brought her over to spend an hour or so with us before the kids went to sleep. In preparation for this, I whipped up a coffee cake using a yellow cake mix I had in the cupboard and some cinnamon & sugar. It was quite a hit; everyone loved it. I'm really glad I had the makings for it handy. (Granted, I only had two eggs, and no pudding mix that would work, but the cake mix already had pudding in it, so I just used a little water to substitute for the missing eggs, and a tablespoon or so of flour to add to the texture. See the recipe I linked for more info.)

Zach at 3 months

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 12:03:30 -0400

Zach is growing so quickly. I can't believe he is 3 months old already. It really feels like just yesterday we were in the hospital with him. He has changed so much already in 3 months. Here is the update.

Zach can now hold his head up all the way when he is on his belly and doesn't need his head supported when on our shoulders or being sat up. He can also grab toys and bring them to his mouth. Time to start watching where we lay him and what is around him. We have to be careful that Abby isn't putting her fingers in his mouth or any of her toys. She loves to touch his face and is always trying to put her fingers in his mouth, probably because whenever she puts her hands near his face his mouth opens. Too much of a temptation. He is also very vocal. He loves to coo and the daycare says he talks to them all day long. He is such a happy baby that is very laid back.

Another Beautiful Sunday at South Park

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:37:25 -0400

It was another wonderful Sunday we just had to take advantage of. We packed up a picnic lunch and headed over to South Park for the day.

We started off the day with going on the slides and the swings. Abby always loves doing that. We even went on a big slide that Abby had never been on before. She loved it!

We then tried to have our picnic lunch. We went over to the picnic benches and started to set everything up. We got Abby all set up with her lunch when the wasps showed up. The most unwanted thing at your picnic: 4 yellow jackets swarming around your 3 year old daughter's jelly sandwich. Ugh! We packed everything back up while shooing the yellow jackets away from our kids. We then tried going to the other side of the playground to another picnic bench. The annoying things just followed us. We decided to eat in our car. Not exactly what we intended, but it worked. We cooled down a bit with the A/C on and just relaxed away from the pests.

Shoe Shopping

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:53:17 -0400

As Abby was putting on a pair of her shoes yesterday I noticed that she was struggling to get the shoe on her foot. I hadn't noticed it before because she has been wearing her pretend Crocs for most of the summer and other sandals. It was time to get Abby new shoes.

We went this morning to buy Abby new shoes. It is always an adventure to go shopping, especially with a 3 year old who wants everything and wants to touch everything. We headed over to Burlington to find new shoes. Why is it so hard to find shoes that don't have a logo on them anymore. Everything is either Disney princesses or Dora. Of course Abby wanted the princess or Dora shoes, which of course they didn't have in her size. They were either too big or too small. Try and convince a 3 year old that the shoes are too big or too small with out a major melt down is a challenge.

Old Technology

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:20:38 -0400

Today my daughter woke up from her nap and wanted to watch Jasmine. Of course I only have that movie on VHS. We really need to invest is getting the classic Disney movies, especially the princess ones, on DVD. Well...we get about 30 minutes into the movie and my daughter says, "It turns off." Of course the VCR is trying to eat my tape. Right now my husband is taking the VCR apart and cleaning it to try and make it work again.

Our local Park

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:31:33 -0400

Today was a beautiful day that we could not resist. We took the kids for a walk around our block. As we were walking Abby saw the entrance to our local park. There is a town park in the middle of our neighborhood. It is a great little park and so convenient. It has swings, three different kinds of slides, climbers, basketball court, baseball diamond, and a pavilion.

When Abby saw the entrance she said she wanted to go on the slides. Since we were having such a great morning and it was so wonderful out I couldn't resist letting her go to the park. It was still about an hour until lunch so we had time and Zach wasn't due to feed for another hour as well. Zach loved looking up at all the leaves blowing in the wind. The park is surrounded by trees. Dave and I relaxed on the swings and Abby had a great time going down the slides and playing on the swings. She is getting so good a climbing and playing on her own. She doesn't need Dave or I there the entire time to help her and encourage her to have fun. She is really getting so big and confident.

Zach at 2 months

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 13:25:43 -0400

Zach is now 2 1/2 months old. Time seems to be really flying. He is getting so big and changes everyday.

Zach and Abby went for the well baby visit together, Abby for her 3 year check up and Zach for his 2 month check up. They did a great job and are growing well. There are no concerns with their health. Abby is now 31 lbs and 36.5 in. and Zach is 15 lbs 1 oz and 23.5 in. Abby was able to skip getting any shots. She did get a flu vaccine, but she is old enough now to get the flu mist, which is a spray up each nostril. Zach unfortunately had to get 2 shots in his legs. He only cried for a minute and then was ok.

Caleb lost his Froggy

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:57:33 -0400

You would think the title of this blog is self explanatory, but no. Here's what happened.

I was asking Dave if he had listened to the new radio station K Love (new christian station in Pittsburgh). He said no and asked what station it was. I told him it was 98.3 the old Froggy station. Dave then said, "I was wondering why I didn't hear country music on there the other day." We then continued on in the conversation how Froggy had changed channels.

Abby's 3rd Birthday

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:58:44 -0400

Yesterday Abby turned 3 years old. I can't believe how time has flown by that my little baby girl is not a little baby anymore, but a big sister. She is growing into quite the little girl.

During this past year she moved from the toddlers room at her daycare to the twaddlers room. She has done great in there. She is learning how to write and can write her letter A for Abby. She is also learning to recognize her letters. Every time she sees a letter A she says A for Abby. She also is getting better at coloring and painting. She loves art projects. She is making great friends at daycare. Her bff is a girl named Cassie. She is always talking about how she played with Cassie and when she takes a stuffed animal or toy into school she says she want to share it with Cassie. She is so much more social than before going to daycare. Now when she sees people she says hi and will answer simple questions like how old she is and her name without hiding behind me or wanting to be picked up. She also loves to show off her baby brother and tell them he is Zach. Abby can even play on her and is becoming more creative with her toys when she plays with them. It is wonderful to see creativity blossoming in her.

Recap Zach's first month

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:30:23 -0400

Well, Zach was 7 weeks old when I first wrote this post. It was never posted because I was waiting to get pictures off the camera. Zach is now 9 weeks old. He was born July 1st, 2009. When he was born he was 7lbs 13oz after a month of momma's milk he is now 12lbs 1oz. Mother nature is amazing!

During his first month Zach has been quite busy growing and visiting with people. Zach went to visit my co-workers at Single Source Property Solutions and went to Daddy's work at Elliance. Each group of people loved holding him and said he was soooo cute. With our first child Abby we have been discussing how cautious we were. We didn't go anywhere with her until she was over 6 weeks old. Knock on wood, he has not caught any germs from either work or big sister Abby. It is so interesting how much changes with your 2nd child. You don't want to stop your life for the second child. You want to get out and do things. You want to continue to have your older child explore and not be confined to the house as Mommy and Daddy were the first time around. "Damn the torpedos full speed ahead."

Zach's First trip to the ER

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:23:14 -0400

Zach is now 2 months old and has just had his first trip to the ER. Unfortunately, I'm sure it won't be his last, after all he is a boy. It all started at 3am Sunday morning. He woke up to nurse as usual and he was very fussy. Normally when he is done he goes right back to bed and lets mommy and daddy sleep a little longer. Not that morning! He would not go back to sleep unless one of us were holding him. We noticed he was feeling quite warm to the touch also. We wanted to take his temp because we believed he was running a temperature, but of course could not find the thermometer in the middle of the night. Well, Dave and I took turns holding Zach so we each could get a little bit more sleep. Then when our daughter awoke we began the search for the thermometer again. We finally found it and Zach had a temperature of 101.2. Dave called the doctor.

Making Decisions

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:27:29 -0400

It is so wonderful when a person decides to do something and sticks to it. I believe it is this way with potty training. From the beginning, we hardly had any trouble getting Abby to pee on the potty. We had waited until she really started to show interest in the potty. We began potty training when Abby was over 2 1/2 years old. She loved being a big girl and peeing on the potty. Every time she did, she received two stickers. One to put on her chart, and one to put on her shirt. It worked great. She eventually just went potty and didn't need to receive the stickers anymore. Pooping, on the other hand, was a different story.

Night at South Park

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:09:25 -0400

We decided to take a picnic to South Park to let Abby play at the park. We stopped at KFC and got fried chicken to go to eat at the park. We found a great spot that wasn't being used. The playground with pavilion we usually go to was being used by a party. We didn't really think about the fact it was Saturday in the summer and there would be parties at most of the pavilions. We were able to find a pavilion with a playground surrounded by trees. It was great because it was wonderfully shaded so both kids to be out and enjoy the weather without getting over heated. We had so much fun and Zach enjoyed looking at the trees and being outside. There were three memorable things that happened while at the park that I want to go into more detail about.

Mini-golfing with a 3 year old and a 1 month old.

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:09:41 -0400

It is a tradition in the Outer Banks to go mini-golfing. There is a place on just about every corner that are elaborate and busy (as well as a "Wings" on just about every corner). "Hey kids look, Big Ben and Parliament." We decided to take the plunge and try mini-golfing with our 3 year old daughter and our 1 month old son. What an adventure!

The place was great. We rode a train to the top of the hill where we started our mini-golf adventure. It was a treasure hunt adventure kind of place (seeking gold). Abby loved the train and wanted to go on it again at the end, which of course caused a problem since you can only ride it once (needless to say a full blown tantrum erupted when she couldn't ride it again). But back to the actual golfing. The place had small plastic clubs for the little ones. Great idea! Abby loved hitting the ball.

The Outer Banks...What you think would never happen always happens on vacation at the most inconvenient time.

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 23:59:53 -0400

The four of us are here at Kill Devil Hills, NC which, if you don't know, is part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We arrived yesterday later in the day. It is so beautiful here and the weather thus far has cooperated with our short trip. Let's hope that continues tomorrow for our last day here. After our arrival at the hotel, we set out to get dinner at Mako Mikes. I had crab legs that were excellent. The only thing I would complain about the place was the amount of noise. It is a large place with many tables which in itself would make it loud, but then add a gift shop in the middle of the restaurant and very loud music and you have overload. After dinner, we came back and said we are not missing time at the beach even though the sun was setting already and we could see a honey moon rising. We put our swim stuff on and headed down to the water. We didn't do much other than enjoy the warmth of the air and beautiful view. We tried to go in the water, but without the sun out it was too cold. After a while we went back to our room, which by the way is right next to the beach and we can see the ocean from our room window (true the hotels pool section is between our room and the ocean, but you can still see it).

Singing in the Rain.

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:19:02 -0400

Have you ever just gone outside in the rain and played? Usually you would not encourage your young child to go out into the rain and play, but today was different. Daddy was in a rare mood.

It began to rain while we were watching Shrek. Usually when Abby asks to go outside if it is raining we of course say no because we would get all wet. Today we said yes! The 4 of us then went out on the back patio and played in the rain. Well...Daddy and Abby played in the rain. Mommy and Zach stayed on the porch because Zach is too little for playing in the rain yet (3.5 weeks old). Maybe next time buddy.

Laughter is good for the soul.

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:09:05 -0400

I love it when kids laugh just because you're laughing and have no idea what's funny and why it's funny. They just love pure joy and enjoy sharing the experience with those around them.

For example: This morning while watching Shrek for the first time (Mommy and Daddy were sick of watching Nemo and Cars) we laughed at some of the "adult" jokes and of course Abby had to laugh along with us. She had no idea why we were laughing and didn't start laughing until we did. It is so wonderful to hear her laugh and know she is enjoying life.

Elevator! Alligator! ... Dinosaur?

Sun, 31 May 2009 15:30:53 -0400

In the car on the way to J.C. Penny on Friday night, Rachel said something about parking in a certain area so we could take the elevator. Abby perked up and said something along the lines of, "I like the alligator."

Us: "No, not 'alligator,' Abby, 'elevator.'"
Abby: "Alligator"
Us: "ELEvator"
Abby: "Alligator!"
Us: "ELEvator!"
Abby: ...
Abby: "Dinosaur."

A parent's greatest fear: A tribute to two Maddies...

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 22:43:29 -0400

The loss of your child. I cannot fathom such a thing, yet it consumes me entirely sometimes. Often, these times are just moments; sometimes, they are nightmares. To even think such a thing can quicken your pulse and give pause to your breath.

To think on it for more than a moment can make you lightheaded . . . woozy . . . fearful. Your senses become hyper sensitive as you verify the life of your child..."Where is she?" "Breathing ok?" "Napping ok?" "Still playing in the backyard without incident?"

Firetruck in Abby's room

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 09:31:13 -0400

We had a wake up alarm at 6 am today, March 29th, 2009. Abby came into our room and said to me, "Mommy there's a firetruck in my room." At first I thought she just had a dream or was playing pretend. Abby then got in bed with us and there was a flash outside again. Again, Abby said, "A firetruck!"

That is when I was awake enough to figure out what she was talking about. There was a thunder and lightning storm going on outside. When she saw the lightning flash she thought it was a firetruck's lights. We explained to her that it wasn't a firetruck, but lightning outside.

Baby Alfalfa and Big Sister

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:22:29 -0400

The other day Abby was talking about her new baby brother who is in Mommy's tummy. Whenever you ask her where her baby brother is she says, "My baby brother in Mommy's tummy." She loves to give him hugs and kisses on mommy's belly, but the funniest thing happened the other day. I was sitting on the couch and we were talking about her baby brother. She lifted up my shirt to say he was in my belly. She then said she wanted to see her baby brother and kept trying to look into my belly button to see him. I just had to laugh. It was the cutest thing ever. We then showed her the ultra sound pictures again so she could see her baby brother.