Picture It...

New Year's Eve, 2008. We are sitting down to watch a movie before welcoming in the new year. Jayden--just 5 years old--sits on the couch next to Daddy. In a most irritated tone, he says to his darling sister who is just hanging about, "Ellie, I CAN'T SEE!" She--just 3 years of age--innocently and quite honestly says, "That's because I'm standing here."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Happy New Year everyone!

Dumb or Embarrassed...

Not sure which I am more. I am embarrassed because...well...here's the story:

We are celebrating Chanukkah at the synagogue. It's the first Chanukkah party at our new home, so there is quite a large turn-out. To celebrate, we of course sing songs. The most popular song is, of course, "I have a little dreidel". But, Rabbi Debbie makes it interesting by changing it up some. When we get to the part about "I made it out of clay", she lets someone choose what they would make it out of and then makes up a rhyme to go with it. Well, naturally this is a great place for children to participate. Jayden is excitedly raising his hand. He wants to be called on so bad! I asked him, "What would you say if she called on you?" He says, "I don't know. I'll have to make it up if she calls me." And, she called on him right then. He waits a bit, then shouts out "POOP!" OMG if I didn't die of embarrassment right then and there. Unfortunately, all I could do was laugh my ASS off! And, darned if she didn't roll with it!

Now, I am embarrassed about that, but I am stupid as shit for this:

We took the camera to Judy and Gary's house for Christmas Eve dinner with the family. I was consolidating our stuff. I could have SWORN I took the camera out of the "High School Musical" gift bag that I loaded with garbage and put it in the little blue gift bag that we brought home. But, as of today, we can't find the camera. :( Need I say more?

So, no pictures...sorry!

The fun never ends...

So last week was filled with excitement. Dave had "acupuncture" on Monday. That immediately led to sciatic pain that he did not previously have, but the rest of his back pain was much better. BUT, he was left with debilitating headaches and on Thursday, massively high blood pressure. So, he had a trip to the ER. After a WHOLE day of testing, he ended the day with a spinal tap. Some of the side effects of a spinal tap are headaches when in an upright position. However, if those headaches continue for more than 3-4 days or are accompanied by nausea, he needs to be seen again.

Today, we are off to the ER for a return visit for a blood patch to help clot the leakage of the spinal fluid from the tap site. I can't express how exciting this is going to be! GRRRRR! A bonus to this procedure is more back pain as a side-effect.

More later!

********UPDATE**************

Blood patch done. They made a mess of him with the betadine and the blood and the IVs and all that, but we left hopeful that the procedure was productive. On the plus side...we've been camera happy! :)


Jayden and Eliana show off their moves before a lesson at All Sport Mixed Martial Arts Studio. They LOVE it there. And, the owners/teachers are so nice.




One big happy family! We love to cuddle on the couch. Jayden and Eliana like making faces at Janea to keep her happy, too.


This the bruise Dave got from the ER intern on Thursday before his spinal tap. Apparently, IVs are not his forte!

Janea is ok...

after taking a tumble from the examining table in the doctor's office!! OMG! I am a bad parent! I took two steps away from her to put Eliana's sippy cup in the diaper bag. While I had my back turned, Janea managed to flip herself off the table! Dr A checked her out and she is totally fine, but it scared the crap out of me!

Eliana is going to be okay, too. She had her dentist appointment today and she was such a big girl! She brushed her teeth with some help from me and the hygenist. Then she let the hygenist take x-rays of her teeth--both front and back! Then, she got her teeth cleaned and was most cooperative! YAY! Lastly, she let the dentist himself have a peek at her mouth and look for those looming cavities that we knew were there. Turns out she has cavities in all four front uppers and also in the lowers. :( I am so upset! At least they will fill them with tooth colored fillings. I was worried about that! We also have a flouride gel that we are to apply every night right before bed. Our new routine will be floss, brush, flouride, bed! The flouride being the new part anyway.

FACEBOOK...

...is addictive! I joined because a friend asked me to so she could share in the pictures of my beautiful children (see previous post). I didn't think I would do much with FaceBook, but I got started on a couple of the games and I can't stop! I love the word games Scramble and Pathwords. I can play them endlessly (and really...who has the time for all that?!). I also got started on Pirates and Vampire Wars. Now, normally, that's not my cup of tea, but DUDE!!! I love these games. The biggest downfall (as I have had in EverQuest as well) is that you need friends to play too. I can NEVER get my friends to play these online games with me. Oh well...what can I say, I am not a charismatic person. I just love to play! :)

If you have a Facebook page, please join my Pirate Crew (you don't have to play unless you want to, but join me anyway...I get stuff for having crew members) and my Vampire Clan. If you don't have a Facebook page, please make one and join me! :)

I said I was addicted! :)

PS--Update on Ellie's teeth...thank you for the support! I still feel like crap about her teeth, but the support helps. We will be visiting a pediatric dentist to get those filled sometime this month. I better call about that...perhaps I can take time out of my busy Facebook game-play and make a phone call or two :-P

Shameful parenting

I feel HORRIBLE!! Not only did we find out in July that Jayden had a cavity in one of his teeth, but today I took Eliana to the dentist to determine if she had cavities and she does!!! I was suspicious of her lower front teeth since they looked like there was erosion between 3 teeth. Her teeth are really close together, but still, I thought they looked bad. So, I took her in today. The dentist determined that not only were there cavities between the lower fronts, but she suspects there is one or two in the back as well! I feel like a terrible mom!

We brush! Either Dave or I supervises or brushes the kids teeth morning and night. But, still, both of my kids have cavities before the age of 5! How horrible is that!?! I didn't have any cavities until I hit puberty! What's wrong with me?! Why am I so bad at this mothering thing that my kids' teeth are rotting out of their heads!?!? :(

Ain't they cute?!

Great Grossities of Childhood

Among the first great grossities (yep...made that word up, I think) of childhood is the umbilical cord. Even grosser than it's dried stuck-on existance, is the falling off of said cord. Today, Janea's cord fell off. Dave did not tell me this in so many words, but instead, offered something from his hand to me in that close-fisted sort of way that makes you stick your hand out to receive the gift even though you don't know what it is. I was totally grossed out when he handed me the cord. I was like "what am I supposed to do with it?" He said to toss it, but not before we take pictures of it. PICTURES!! Of the dead fallen off cord stump!!! GROSS!!!!! When he took pictures of Jayden's cord, it was a novelty (and I wasn't nearby). When he took pictures of Ellie's cord, I was not surprised, but still not around. This time, he did it right in front of me...while I was HOLDING the disgusting little thing!

Anyone want to see them? I thought not, but here's a picture of the cutie it came from! :)

A new era

opens up for us as we finally get that moron out of the White House and replace him with someone who has moderate views and a solid plan to get AMERICA back on track. I am so tired of all the foreign involvement of our out-going presidential agenda. It's about time that we start looking at our national needs. Sincerely, I hope (and expect) our president-elect to concern himself primarily with the needs of the people in the country that he serves.

GO OBAMA!

Oh yeah...and for the first time in my ENTIRE life...California SUCKS!

GO VOTE!

I love Election Day! I think exercising one's right to vote is the most important civic duty of every American (except obeying the laws of the country, of course). That said, Dave and I voted together today with Eliana and Janea in tow. It was a nice family outing. Jayden was sort of there, too, as his school was our polling place. :)

I am anxiously awaiting the results of the election, although I don't expect to like them much. I have been twice disappointed in the presidential elections of this century. Please don't let it happen again!

On the plus side, Wes and Katie were here this weekend. They left this morning so Wes could get home to vote. Apparently, he couldn't figure out how to do it from Korea. :) He will be training in Texas for the next 6 months or so, then he expects another tour in Iraq.

Go Vote!

Welcome Janea Louise!!!

Janea Louise Stahl was born on Thursday 10/23/08 at 1:56 PM. She weighed in at 7lbs 7.6 oz and measured a whopping 20 inches. Labor wasn't terrible; delivery SUCKED! ****update*****
So, Wednesday I declared I would be going into labor that day. I went to playgroup and then choir, but I left choir early. I was tired. Good thing though, I needed some sleep. I woke up around midnight with labor pains. They were not too strong, but consistent at 5 min apart until I called Labor and Delivery. They told me to drink some water and then take a shower. The contractions stopped in the shower. By that time, we had already called Judy and Gary to come down. They did and then they slept here in our bed until later when we finally called Judy from the hospital. About 3 AM I decided we needed to go in because they needed to give me antibiotics for the Group B Strep that I tested positive for. I wanted to make sure there was enough time. Apparently there was plenty!!

I had mild contractions both at regular and irregular intervals for hours! They put the IV in around 5 AM (it took 3 FRIGGING TRIES!!!!) and gave me the Penicillin and Pitocin. Pitocin is not as bad as I remember until they jack it way up AND my water broke. But, I got to go for a walk around 8:15 or so and met Judy and Gary in the waiting room. But, we needed to get back to the LDR room since I had to pee and the staff was cleaning the bathroom down the hall from the waiting room.

So, we sat around and chatted for a few HOURS until labor started to really progress. I think they checked me around noon and progress was slow. Around 1ish my water finally broke. About 1:30, Dave remembered that he had the cable guys coming to the house to set us up with Comcast and we are dropping our T1. Gary went over to the house to meet them. Good thing cause right about then, they checked my progress again and my water broke...that was the beginning of the real labor right there. I fortunately got the IV drug pretty quick because if they hadn't given it to me then, I wouldn't have gotten it at all. At 1:45, I felt an overwhelming need to push her out. I was not calm! I pushed and pushed and pushed and 11 minutes later, Janea Louise was welcomed into the world. YAY! :)

She had the cord looped around her neck. The midwife tried to untangle it and it broke. OOPS! That made delivering the placenta more difficult...she had to reach in and pull it out (SO GROSS!!).

*****end of update*******

About 2 hours after birth, Janea registered a temp of 101, so the pediatrician on call ordered her to the nursery for an IV and some antibiotics. She was given 3 rounds of antibiotics 12 hours apart and then released to go home. She never registered another temp out of the acceptable range, but they wanted to be cautious. My precious and I stayed 2 nights in the hospital and came home today. Of course, you all know me by now, before we came home, we needed to have an outing. We left the hospital and went to Babies R Us for some supplies (like newborn sized diapers...yep let that go 'til the last minute), and then to Erik's Delicafe for lunch. I was hungry (I know...big surprise!!).

Speaking of hungry...I need to find something to eat now, too. hmmmmm.....

OH!! I almost forgot the pictures!! Click the link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cybertech/JaneaLouiseBirth#

Still waiting...

No baby yet. Saw the doc today. Says I am fully effaced and 2 cm dialated, but not guarantees about delivery. Made a new appointment to see me on the 27th. Guess he's thinking if Baby holds out that long, he's gonna have to see me again.

Anyway, here's to hoping for a new addition soon!

Not much to say

But...I have 15 days until the baby's due date and I GOT A COLD!!!! grrrrr

I was trucking along with the late stages of pregnancy before, but now I have a sore throat, cough, and stuffy head to contend with as well! AND, the worst part is there is NOTHING to take to ease the symptoms until AFTER the baby is born. BUT, I am too tired to even think about labor and delivery right now. I hope she holds out until I feel better....and I hope I feel better TOMORROW!!!!!!!!

Other than that, all is well and we're doing fine. Got some Discovery Toys catalogs in today. Hope to make enough in sales to keep my consultant status without having to buy any toys myself. We are on a very tight budget these days!

Ever have a day like this?

L'Shana Tova---Happy New Year

To all those out there whom I have hurt or offended either intentionally or unintentionally, I ask your forgiveness. The Jewish new year is supposed to begin with asking for forgiveness of those you have caused harm to--to repent your transgressions--then a vow and honest effort to change those ways and do better. So, please forgive me, I am turning a new leaf.

Now...on to what you all want to hear about....I am still pregnant with 28 days to go (according to my new ticker at the top...did you see it?). I am hoping not to have to wait the full 28 days (or more!!) before meeting the newest member of our family, but we are in God's hands now.

Eliana's completely healed from her tonsillectomy. We got the A-OK from her surgeon on Monday. Her sty, however, still looks God-awful ugly. I think it is on the healing end of things, but still....ick!!

Jayden had a fever over the weekend which naturally produced a cold-sore on his lower lip. Then, he was wrestling with his friend Monday afternoon and scraped his upper lip on the wall and now has a swollen ugly scraped upper lip as well. He looks like an accident victim.

Progress on the house is still slow, but bits are happening. Dave put up the ceiling light/fan in the playroom this week. It looks very nice. I hope it doesn't end up broken! Now, if only we could get the front step, back steps, sprinkler systems, lawns, staircase railings, and electrical done...ok...maybe I'm asking too much? :)

How do I keep up with all this?

What a week we've had!

First off--Eliana's surgery went just fine. She was up and chatting away hours after recovery. She got some good sleep on Tuesday after the surgery, but was up at 4AM in hospital Wednesday morning. We got her some jello, pudding, and good strong dose of Cinderella. She was asleep again by 6; but only for 2 more hours. By then, she was content to be doted on by the hospital staff and more than willing to stay for another couple of days. Too bad she was discharged in just a few hours! :) She's done very well at home until last night. Not sure why suddenly, but she is having some very active dreams in the wee hours of the morning. Needless to say, I am back to less sleep than what makes me a happy mama! I think I will have her sleep in my bed for a couple more nights just to be sure she is not in physical pain or jeopardy.

Jayden had a FABULOUS week at Grandma and Papa's house last week. We dropped him off after a tasty dinner at Sweet Tomatoes on Monday. Grandma took him to school, picked him up, took him to Karate, made dinner, and purely pampered that boy. After school on Tuesday, Papa took him for a haircut (ok...so he needed it!). Then he had time to play with the boy next door--his very favorite treat at Grandma's and Papa's! He had quite a busy day wrapped up with a bath and a phone call from Ellie from her hospital bed. She had been missing him terribly.

He got to school late on Wednesday because Papa got confused about what time Jayden's class started, but he still seemed to have a pretty good day. Grandma and Papa picked him up from school (which was a really good thing because I was so tired, I flopped into bed and fell soundly asleep as soon as we got Ellie home from the hospital) and brought him home. The first thing he said was, "How come her voice sounds funny?" about Ellie's apparent voice change. I think she sounds louder and right now a bit strained because of the healing, but everyone else seems to think she definitely sounds different. Well, not too much longer after Jayden arrived home for the first time in 2 days, Anne shows up at the door to take him to the park! Eliana was extremely distressed that she couldn't also go. But, Jayden, in true form, was an angel and had a wonderful time playing. Then, came home and crashed. He turned into a cranky boy pretty darn quick. He was a bit sleep deprived after all his fun.

Needless to say, this was a very busy week and I only got to Wednesday! Thursday was a pretty mellow day for us, but Friday got crazy all over again. It was Shivam's birthday--yeah...the boy next door to my parents' house. Jayden and Ellie both got to go over to play (no sense in holding her back, she was ready). They played for a couple of hours; had cake; and rushed home for Shabbat services. Ellie fell asleep on my lap just minutes into the service. What a sleepy girl! Amazingly, she slept all night.

Saturday, we went to the Community Festival. We wanted to see the swordfighting demonstrations. It was rather disappointing. They needed more swordplay and less talky-talk. What we did see was fun, though. Again we ran into Anne, Matt, and the kids. We also saw much of our sit-n-play group there! But, we left to get pizza and eat in the parlor. Dave loves that and I have to admit, the pizza is way better when you eat it there!

Shortly thereafter, Andee and the kids came by for a visit. The 4 kids had a jolly good time playing in our playroom (which is now a declared disaster area!). Then off to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes again. Jayden and Eliana really do eat well there AND you can't beat the price of a kid's meal there...just $1.69 for kids ages 3-5!! Under 3 is free and 5+ is like $2 more. Pretty good deal!!!

Sunday was another teaching day for me and a fun day at religious school for Jayden. I was ready for some serious R&R at the end of my weekend. Today, I am working on the laundry and some cleaning up around here. Gotta seriously get ready for this baby!! Unfortunately, I am so overwhelmed by the stuff we have and the mess and the lack of energy in my body, I am really frustrated on how to prepare and make myself feel good about being here.

Suggestions????

Pamper ME!!!

So, I got a visit today from my Mary Kay consultant. She pampered me with a color consultation and I got some new colors and brush set! I've never had a brush application set before, but it was so nice to try on the make-up with real brushes that I just had to spoil myself! :D

After getting all made up nicely, I just had to get out. I took Ellie to lunch, the grocery store, and then to pick Jayden up from school. I'm pooped! Too bad there is no rest for the weary, though! I have to pack Jayden to go to my mom's for 3 days (just in case it takes that long). He'll be staying there tonight, tomorrow, and possibly Wednesday night until Ellie comes home from the hospital. Then, I have to lug in the juice, gatorade, and otter pops that Eliana and I picked up at the market. Time to chill that stuff so it's ready for MissE when she gets home. Lastly, I need to bathe the kids! They are WAY overdue for baths and I want Ellie to be clean before she goes in for surgery and Jayden just needs to be clean! :)

But, I think I'll take a nap first. I'm too tired to work.

Lazy weekend

Our first "school year" weekend has been very relaxing so far. In fact, yesterday's major accomplishment was a trip to the market! Yep!! That's it! We made it a family trip and spent (unbelievably) less than I normally do when I go by myself! Usually Dave is a major impulse shopper, but yesterday, he pretty well stuck to the list and not much else. I was surprised. No doubt, I'll have to go back in the next couple of days to pick up dinner things like veggies, etc. But, even still....it was nice not to have to do all that by myself.

The trip must have worn me out, because after lunch we all sat down to watch Mythbusters (yep...love that show) and I fell soundly asleep. Must have been an hour later, I woke dripping in sweat! TMI...I know. Pregnancy though....the good with the bad right?! So, fanning myself off with my T, Dave snaps a couple of shots like this:



Gotta just love these shots that show off the absolute ENORMITY of how I feel! He could have warned me to at least comb my hair first!


In the meantime, we bought a Wii last week and the kid were playing Mario driving games. Not too long after the picture above, we get a holler from Jayden, "Ellie's alseep!" And sure enough:
She fell asleep right there in the chair playing Wii with Jayden. Isn't she cute?

She dropped her controller on the floor and didn't even budge when Dave carried her off to bed for a little nap. Jayden however:
Continued right on playing. Isn't he a doll?

Jayden's first day of Kindergarten

went very smoothly. We had to rush a bit in the morning. For some unknown reason, he has been getting up between 6 and 8 all summer long. Yesterday, however, when he needed a little more time in the morning, he didn't wake up until 8:15!! It's not terrible since his school day doesn't begin until 9:00. BUT, we had a lot to get done before class started 45 minutes later. I rushed him through some Cheerios for breakfast and then he jumped in the shower with Dave for a quick once over. Then it was to the bedroom for dressing and shoes. We finally made it out of here and into the car at 8:52! I'm glad we chose the neighborhood school!

He was pretty excited all summer about starting kindergarten, but I think he was a little nervous when we first got there.When we got there Grandma Tess was there with her camera to take 'first day of school pictures'. Her's probably came out better than mine, I was in a rush to get us to where the kids are supposed to line up since we were so late. I didn't want us to be late getting into the room.

They let us into the room pretty quick after 9AM. We walked in (very slowly because there were parents with every kid) and Jayden found his cubby:

He dropped off his lunchbox into his cubby and retrieved his nametag.
Then we went to find him a seat. He ended up sitting at a table with 2 other boys and then a third joined them. The third boy was wearing the same shirt as Jayden. They thought that was kind of cool! :) On our way out, I saw this sign. We were, apparently, supposed to see this on our way in. His teacher should have put it outside the door instead of inside. Too many people were blocking the sign for us to see it. Good thing we can follow the crowd and deduce what to do.

Jelly Belly anyone??

We took a trip to Fairfield today to visit the Jelly Belly Factory! It was really cool to see how the candies are made. It takes WAY longer to make them than it does to eat them FOR SURE! But, we had a great time touring the factory and then visiting the store afterwards. I would suggest to anyone who is thinking about going to call ahead and see if you can reserve a tour time. We waited in line for an hour or so for the tour; then the tour itself was almost an hour; then we wandered the store area for some time. It was a lot of foot time and my dogs are BARKING! I also recommend that you plan to have lunch somewhere and locate the where and how to get there before you start out so you don't end up at Denny's just because it's the only place there is. They have a cafe at the factory. I might just eat there next time. We'll see.

Jayden posed in front of a coin-operated Jelly Belly dispenser for me. He's so cute!

The big stuffed Jelly Belly guy was just begging for a photo-op!

Eliana was sooooooo happy to have a cute little hat that we all had to wear on the tour. BTW, if you bring a hat of your own, you don't HAVE to wear theirs. But, the hat was half the fun, right?

Jayden's such a ham! Kind of looks like a pirate in this snap.

Ashley so did NOT want to wear the hat. Too bad, it looks good on her! :)

We went to the circus...

....but didn't bring the camera. Apparently, the battery has died and there has been a serious lack of motivation to plug it in. What a shame! But, the kids LOVED LOVED LOVED the circus. We got there quite a bit early because apparently, I can't read. I thought the show started at 7, but it was actually 7:30. So, I planned for us to get there around 6:30 so we would have plenty of time to get special souvenirs, programs, snacks, potty trips, and to our seats before the show started. But, we made record time getting there and arrived just after 6. Fortunately, there was a pre-show thing going on and they let us in the back door at 6:30. So, we did all our shopping and found our seats and watched the clowns and the acrobats perform for a while before the actual show.

The kids were totally fascinated by everything. Ellie loved the clowns the best. Although, being so young, she was a little concerned about them when they "fell" or "got hurt" and wasn't sure it was as funny as everyone else did. Once she got the idea that they were doing it on purpose to be funny, she was much more relaxed and laughed extra hard (like only a kid can) at the funny clowns. Jayden was awed by the motorcycle riders, but he absolutely LOVED the trapeze artists. He watched in wide-eyed fascination and exclaimed, "I want to try THAT!" Me, too! :)

Tomorrow is our last weekday before Jayden starts school. I'm a little sad about all that we will be missing out on. But, I am glad that he is excited to start school. We are going to celebrate by going up to Fairfield and visiting the Jelly Belly Factory. I hope it's as fun as it sounds! :)

New post

I figured it was time to post something new, but I am a loss as to what to say.

We had a nice visit with our original playgroup friends last week. After playing for a while, we all went to Taco Bell and met the Shuman gang for lunch. It was a little chaotic and then it got worse....Eliana peed on the bench. Then she looked at me all innocent and said, "Mama, I have to go potty." My response, "Clearly you already have."

Stupid me, though. I didn't bring her a change of clothes. She peed at the house right before we left. But, still...I soaked up the bench with a bunch of napkins and found some 6-9 mo pants in the trunk of my car. I had a change of underwear in my purse. (Underwear and no pants? That's odd...yeah...go figure!) We (Lori and I....thank you Lori) used wipes to clean the bench up after the pee-soaked napkins. Ellie has had a series of bad days after that. Several peeing-in-her-pants sessions that were completely lack of trying on her part. I am sure it will get better soon. After all, she isn't going to go to college still peeing in her pants.

After that the week went by very quickly. I couldn't recount for certain what we did, but I am sure it involved a lot of playing on the kids' part. This week we are looking forward to playing with Jayden's friend from preschool; Eliana's last dance class; and a trip to the aquarium with Grandma. Oh yeah....and Papa's 75th Birthday!

I thought I lost my mind...

I was visiting with my parents today while Jayden played with the little boy next door. But, 5:30 rolled around and I knew we had to get going home so I could make dinner.

We were ready to walk out the door, but I couldn't locate my keys. I usually dump them on the steps when I get there, but I had my hands full of lunch garbage. After a careful search of the logical places, I searched the garbage. I looked in the windows of my locked car; I hunted the grass....I looked and looked. I thought long and hard about the path I took into the house and all of the places I was while I was there. Pretty much, I came in, threw out the garbage, and camped on the couch. The keys were not obviously in any of those places. I went through the garbage 4 (YES..FOUR) times; I moved the couch, pulled off all the cushions; I looked in the bathroom, checked the sink, toilet...even the shower; I searched. I gave up. Figured, they had to be in the car. There was nowhere else for them to be.

I called Dave. Told him I needed him to get my spare keys and come get me. I called AAA and asked them to come open the car. AAA got there first. I hunted, cleaned, hunted some more. Dave arrived while I was finishing up in the car. He hunted. He moved the car with the spare keys just in case they were under the car. No luck. I asked my dad to look in the mailbox just in case someone found them and put them in there. I had to pee.

When I got back to the family room with despair, my mom was dangling my keys from her finger. Where??? IN HER PURSE!!!!!!! NO...It wasn't ME. She picked them up when she got home and dumped them there with her keys and glasses etc. TWO HOURS!! That's how long we searched. At least I didn't lose my mind. I knew I hadn't done anything stupid with them. :)

PIctures from Jayden's birthday

The lovely cake I managed to throw together.


Birthday Sprinkle Pancakes and chocolate milk on a birthday table cloth.


A present all wrapped up and taunting him all afternoon.


A super cool motorized solar system that lights up! WOW!

Yep....it's definitely hormones! I have been a crabby crank all weekend and bleeding into today. Nothing special going on except Jayden's birthday, but I can't figure why that would get my panties in a bunch.

Dave rented a cement mixer this weekend to work on the steps for the side of the house, out back, and in the front as well as filling in the holes the contractor dug out when they were working on the foundation. He didn't get nearly as much done as he wanted, but there is now a step out the side door and the hole is filled in over there. As soon as he cleans it up over there, that side of the house will be kid friendly.

He did a lot of work during the time he was working on it. I just wonder why he dilly-dallies so much when trying to accomplish a goal. He didn't get the cement or the mixer here until mid-day on Saturday. By the time they got the step poured, it was nearly 8 PM. That left the birthday-shopping we were planning for Saturday to become Sunday's task. But, Sunday was fine.

We started the day with special Birthday Sprinkle Pancakes (which I made WAY TOO DRY). The kids loved that. It may become a tradition! YIKES! Then we took the kids to Toys R Us. We stopped at the Customer Service desk so Jayden could tell them what a special day it was. They honored him with a paper crown, balloon, and a little Hulk toy. We then proceeded to spend 2 HOURS perusing the store for just the right toys. Jayden was allowed to pick out any one toy that he wanted as his special birthday surprise. Then he would get to pay for it--which is just as much fun for him as the shopping part. He ended up with a Transformer toy that was only $30. I was expecting something much bigger. I pushed him towards things like Hot Wheels tracks and the like, but he found his passion in the Transformers. He didn't even want to look at Power Rangers once he saw the Transformer of his choice. So....we made it out of there with out spending a fortune (YAY).

Next stop, Lucky's. I needed cake filling and frosting. It took Dave and I over 30 minutes to finally give up looking for cake filling, ask the girl behind the bakery counter about it, reject the Jello brand Oreo Cookie custard (which is all they had), and get an offer from the girl to put some bakery filling in a tub for us. If I had known that getting her to put some filling in a tub for 99 cents was all it took to get the filling Dave wanted, I would have gone there right from the beginning. But...oh well. We got that, went home, and I took a nap.

I woke up to cake disaster part 3. Let's catch up on this...I made the cake right after breakfast, but I didn't have any crisco to grease the pans with. I sprayed with Pam instead. But, I didn't get the sides well and the cake didn't rise on the sides. Part 2 of the disaster was the fiasco at the market. So...part 3. I now needed to put the jelly filling on one layer, put the second layer on, and frost the whole dang thing. Well....I've never done jelly filling. I used all of what the girl gave us. It was like 2 inches of filling!!!! Oops! When trying to disassemble the mess, I ended up breaking both cake rounds. GRRRR!!! But, eventually, I managed to scoop out enough of the jelly, put the two rounds together and frost the POS! Luckily, it looked decent when I was done.

From there, the day went smoothly (well it was almost over after all). Dinner and cake at my folks' and then one more gift for Jayden to open (from Grandma and Papa). Then home to bed. Ahhh....bliss!

Hormones SUCK!

So I am having the kind of morning that leaves much to be desired. I got up and made blueberry muffins; emptied the dishwasher; loaded the dirty dishes into it; washed the rest of the dishes; washed and dried the muffin pan; scrubbed the sink and surrounding countertop; threw out the crappy ol' toaster that kept burning my fingers and stealing my waffles; and started the laundry. Ordinarily, this would lead to a quite satisfying feeling of personal achievement. But, today, I sat down feeling empty and lacking. I called my mom. The ensuing conversation was a catalyst to my emotional breakdown. I assume that everything I am feeling is a hormonal response to being pregnant again, but none-the-less, I am a basket case. Perhaps a day of doing laundry and cleaning and vacuuming will make me feel a bit better about things.

Just a quickie!

I know I said I was going to do this more often, but then life got away from me again!!! Anyway, Monday we took the kids up to the houseboat to enjoy some quiet family time. The highlights....

Jayden LOVED fishing with Daddy and caught his very first fish. I'm not sure if the experience was quite what he expected, but he was thrilled to have caught the fish and just as thrilled that Dave released it back into the lake. Ellie was very curiou

s about the whole thing until the hooked fish flipped and splattered her with water. After that, she retreated to the stairs to wait for the fishy-release.

Eliana's highlight...she learned that she could float/swim in the lake with her life-vest on all by herself. Essentially, she didn't have to hang on to a grown-up with every fiber of her being. She loved her newfound freedom. At one point, she was so ready to hit the water, she was climbing down the ladder all by herself, no one in the water waiting for her, and no vest on!! ACK!!! Good thing we caught her!

Here's some pics from the trip.

Ok...really?? It's been a month and a half since I had anything to post?? Unbelieveable! The summer seems to be flying by. No one is missing us, but we are pretty busy these days. Not sure what that says, but, I'm going to guess that it means everyone else is busy, too.

Jayden is almost 5. We will have a birthday party to celebrate the weekend after his birthday. That just seems to be a more convenient time than his actual birthday. I can't believe he is almost 5 already! Wow! In fact, we went to a little celebration the other day for Kayleigh's 5th birthday and I just couldn't believe how big all the little ones are! Not only were Jayden and Kayleigh having a great time jumping in the bounce house together, but Eliana and Ryan were jumping in there having a great time, too! It amazes me to think about how much growing these little guys do right in front of our eyes and yet we don't really notice until we look back at all the pictures of them as babies! I am resolved to working on my photo albums. I really want to do the scrapbooking thing. I save all kinds of shit to put in them...maps, menus, pictures, tickets, etc. But, I am terrible about setting up a work space and actually sitting down to put the darn thing together. Maybe now that I am not working anymore, I will make the time.

Anyway, moving on....

Eliana is growing up so fast, I can hardly keep up. She is now potty trained (sort of)...Only with reminders does she actually make it to the potty before she wets herself. BUT, she is fully capable of handling all of her potty needs by herself. I am hoping she will soon, get the hang of it. Tomorrow we will go for another growth check on her. I am expecting to see some results tomorrow. I think she has sprouted a bit since her last check-up. However, I am still concerned about the sleep apnea. We'll get a decision on the tonsillectomy tomorrow.

Little sister seems to have just gone through a growth spurt also. I feel like a balloon. I will have a check-up tomorrow too, just to see how this little one is doing. I think Dave and I have also agreed to disagree on the name. I told him if we can't pick one before she is born, her name will be Strawberry. I actually kind of like it, but he is opposed. BIG SURPRISE! :)

Things are coming along on the house. We bought some bookshelves at Ikea this weekend for the upstairs...they are huge, but don't hold nearly enough. We are either going to have to get rid of some crap or buy more shelving...or both! Anyway, I am emptying boxes. I am thrilled to finally have someplace to put stuff! Dave, in the meantime, is working on the front yard. We picked out some great pavers and he is laying the walkway and a patio out front for me. We'll have to work on the 'tilling and the sod soon. I want it in before the rains (I hope) come.

Well....hopefully, I'll update again soon. Please leave me a comment if you read this so I know you are still out there. :)

Blue Sharpie, anyone?

March ended. April came and went. And, here we are into May already. Where does the time go? I'll tell you...it's days like these!Yes! That is blue Sharpie! My darling children found this lovely writing implement and this is what apparently happened...

All was calm at 3:55 pm that fateful Monday afternoon. The Sit-and-Play friends were due to arrive in five minutes or so, but all was well. The pregnant mommy decided she needed one more quick trip to pee before all the chaos ensued. "I am going to the bathroom, and then our friends should be here, " she announced to the children who were behaving so nicely.

When reappearing on the scene, the mother of these two adorable children was greeted with cheerful shouts, "Mommy look at Ellie's face!" With that, the weary woman glanced over to the spot where the little cherubs were and stared. There were no words for what she saw! The little girl was covered on every inch of her unclothed portions with BLUE!

Don't believe it? Have a look!Pay attention to the feet as well...as described...no portion of exposed skin was left untainted.

The mother, having a great sense of humor, could not pass up the opportunity to snap a few pictures before sending the colored child in for a bath. The older male child was designated door man to allow the expected guests inside upon their imminent arrival.

After 30 minutes in the bath with a bottle of liquid soap and washcloth, all the blue that could be washed off the child, was left in a ring on the edges of the freshly cleaned tub. The child was clearly still marked with the remnants of blue, but much cleaner.

"Oh well...it was bath day anyway," remarked the mother.

Busy Week!

The kids and I were on spring break this week! Good thing because it has been a crazy busy week!

Tomorrow we wrap up the craziness with Jayden's PreK dr appointment. He's going to get shots...Dave's going with! But the week started out last Saturday. Grandma Tess took us and the kids to the park for an Easter Egg Hunt that lasted about 2 mintues. It was like a swarm of locusts clearing out the crops...insane; Saturday night we went to the shul for our Purim Carnival--the kids had WAY more fun at this than they did the egg hunt. Sunday we went back to Grandma Tess's to hunt for Easter baskets. They had a great time with that. Then we went to see Horton Hears a Who...great movie. Kids both liked it. Monday it was Happy Hallow with Ina, Sasha and friends. That was interesting. Tuesday we went to see the Wiggles; Wednesday we went to a birthday party at Pump It Up--my favorite (insert roll eyes here) while my mom went in for an angiogram to check out her progress since the surgery in November. Today we were supposed to meet some friends, but thankfully they cancelled because we spent an inordinate amount of time grocery shopping since I forgot my wallet and had to rush home to get it then back to the store. All the while, my mom was being tested for a funny feeling in her hand...it was apparently the result of a mini-stroke...isn't that wonderful news!? (read the sarcasm here) and in the meantime I am still feeling like crap! I hope I can start feeling normal at least by the end of the first trimester. This sucks!

Anyway, been a busy week!

Tennis Anyone?

Jayden had his first tennis lesson today. One of the moms in my sit-n-play group is learning how to be a tennis coach and offered to take 6 kids for 6 weeks for free and teach them some tennis. It turns out to be a great experience for both the kids and the coach. Jayden LOVED it. He was having a great time (as were the others) and it seemed like he learned quite a bit. We'll see how much he remembers next week. I am hoping that he will start to listen to her more and understand what she is trying to teach, too. She was explaining what they were supposed to be learning with each game that they played, but I am not sure Jayden picked up on that much.

I forgot my camera. Hopefully I will remember next week.

Shabbat Shalom!

J: I had so much fun today!
D: Why's that?
J: Because today was SHABBAT!! I LOVE Shabbat!
D: You do? Why's that?
J: Because it is just so much FUN! :)

I love my kids! I'm so proud! :)

Well, That explains a lot!

Opposite Day..

You know how when you are feeling bad or down about something and you tell someone you magically feel better about it?

Then why is it that when you are feeling excited about something and you tell someone, you feel less excited about it?

Does the sharing of the emotion mean you divide the intensity of it between you and the ones you share it with so that everyone gets a piece of it? Sort of like sharing a candy bar or pizza...

Just a couple of new pics...

Nothing new to say since we are finally over last week's flu. Eliana's temperature returned to normal on Monday so we have had a pretty normal week this week. Ellie's big excitement is that we painted her toes. She was sooo cute holding her foot out in front of her face so she could admire my artistry.
Meanwhile, Jayden who managed to avoid being sick altogether, was having a great time at his new soccer class that he LOVES!You can see the big glowing smile across his face. Dave was also enjoying the sunshine during Jayden's class. But, Dave might have been having a little trouble figuring out what to do with himself. He brought himself a book to read, but he took about 45 pictures of this 30-minute class! Not terrible, but a little excessive if you ask me! :)

I HATE SCHOOL!! Ok...not really, but....

Who ever heard of "CHOOSING" a kindergarten? You buy a house in a decent neighborhood and you send your kid to the local school, right? NOT!!! I can't believe how much time I have invested into searching the schools, reading School Report Cards (SaRC's) and talking to other parents over KINDERGARTEN!! But, still...I have. I visited my school of choice this morning. I am still pleased with the general program of the school, the people, the report card, the approachability, and most of all the location. This school, while not my home school, is significantly closer to my house than my home school. It is 2 blocks from here. When the kids are older, I might even let them walk to school (or ride their bikes) if they went here.

My home school is so far away that they would need to leave home 45 minutes early just to walk there AND they would have to cross several side streets without a crossing guard before getting to a crosswalk with a guard to cross the main street. Walking there is clearly NOT an option. Additionally, my home school has lower test scores in EVERY area than my school of choice. While that alone is not really a deciding factor for me, the higher numbers of socioeconomically disadvantaged students and English Language Learners is a huge factor. It changes the way classroom teaching is done and generally can lower the level of mastery of all students in the classroom. I feel Jayden and Ellie are going to need to be challenged academically in order to keep their interest. (I hope I am not sounding like I think my kids are smarter than the average bear, but aren't they?)

Never more than now, do I wish I had considered all of this before we bought this house let alone remodeled it to the point that Dave will never leave it! I guess it's time to suck it up and assume that I will have to let Jayden go to a lesser school for kindergarten and hope that he gets into the better school for at least his upper elementary grades.

Let me know you are out there! Tell me if I am being stupid over this and they will be fine no matter where they go...or that it does matter and I am at least doing the right thing by hunting kindergartens. BTW, did I mention that the district site spells kindergarten with a d instead of a t? Kindergarden...yep...we are growing a garden of kinders! :)

PICTURES!!!!

Ok! Ok! Ok! Here! Pictures of the house!!


This is one view of our family room. This shows the entertainment unit and the big empty space that we filled in with my desk and our kitchen table for time being. We will be moving my desk soon and eventually the kitchen table will end up in the kitchen. I know...don't go into shock over it...kitchen tables are SUPPOSED to be in the kitchen!


This is the same room from a different view. You can see that Jayden and Eliana are still eating breakfast at the same table...well...I know we have 3 of them, but only one in this room! :)

The couches in here are the ones that USED to be in our living room (downstairs) but they fit WAY WAY better up here. This room is upstairs by the way.


Here are 3 different views of the kids room. They are sharing for the time being. I originally thought they would each have their own room, but during the last few months at my folks' house, they ended up sharing and loved it. Since they were enjoying each other's company so much, I decided they could share here for a while, too. I know they will outgrow it soon and want their own space, but for now...








Two different views of the playroom. You can kind of get a feel for it by the placement of the little princess table. I love having the couch in there because it allows for grown-up seating while playing. Some of you might remember the little jungle-gym/slide do-dad under the window. It's the same one we had in the downstairs playroom. We have room for a LOT more toys, now, but I still need to go through them and weed out the ones that don't ever get touched and put some away so they are not overwhelmed by choices.


This is our almost finished upstairs bathroom. Featured here are double-sink countertops on an extra tall vanity (no...I have no idea why we needed the kids bathroom to have an extra tall vanity...they can't even reach the sinks!! We need some extra tall step-stools now!), a brand-new toilet that is just a wee-bit too far out from the wall (they had some trouble!), and expert tiling in the shower by the Awesome, Amazing Gary.

Now on to the downstairs...


My kitchen is almost done. I think it will be the first room that is completely done. This view is the finished side. From where I stood to take the picture and beyond, it's a mess...filled with things that won't stay in the kitchen and really not clean either. But, the newest asset to the kitchen is the addition of the backsplash. I think it really gives a nice finished look to the space. We also need to add some draw-pulls and knobs to the cabinets...YEAH...we need knobs so we can remember which way the stupid things open!! I can't tell you how many times I tried to open a cabinet from the wrong side! You just can't tell by looking at it!


This is the mess that Dave made of our living room. Since we have very limited garage space, he moved in here. Someday, this will be a formal sitting space.


The hall bathroom downstairs is the most done room. It still needs some fixtures like a towel rod and toilet paper holder. But, it's usable.




The outside needs a lot of work on the landscaping, but the house is painted and the retaining wall is up in the front yard ready for the grass.

Back of house

Back yard with Shayna checking things out before her morning pee.


Here is the front of the house. You can see the retaining wall there...Thanks, Gary! You do great work! Apparently, Gary has been staying up at night planning the next phase of our project and he has some great ideas for our impending front walkway and porch. I can't wait! :)

Dave has posted pictures of the entire construction process here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cybertech


Enjoy!