We are outnumbered !

Why does it always seem . . .

2009-08-29T15:40:00.003-04:00

that most things in my household are the EXCEPTION to the rules.

I was reading an article the other day about fertility. It stressed that 35 is not a magic number and a woman's fertility doesn't drop drastically, in reality it doesn't take a nosedive til age 38 --- hmmmm the year I got preggers with Cassidy and really falls off the charts at 40, HAHAHA when I got preggers with Jaxon!

The article got me thinking about other things my family seems to buck the trend on.

Boys are harder to potty-train than girls --- Well, Zac was trained at a little over 2 and never had an accident. We are finally starting to make progress with Cassidy at age 2 1/2 (after much stubbornness and "NOs") and a few accidents, but not too bad. We'll see where Jaxon falls on the spectrum in another year or so.

Formula fed babies are sicker than breastfed babies (DISCLAIMER!!!!! I am NOT suggesting that breastfeeding is not the best for your baby, it just never worked for me, I blame my boobs!) Zachary has been on antibiotics twice in his life -- age 4 for his first and only ear infection and at age 7 for a mild case of walking pneumonia where he actually threw a tantrum because he had to miss school for two days because he felt fine. Cassidy has had one sick appt in her 2 1/2 years and Jax has had 2 in his first year. I do believe (DISCLAIMER AGAIN!! this is my thoughts for my kids) that this has very little to do with how they were fed as babies and more to do with the heredity because Chuck and I are never sick either.

I know there are a couple more, but at the moment I hear that naptime is over, so I will stop here . . . . oh yeah --- I LOVE my in-laws! LOL

Oh and here is a scrapbook page I made earlier this week, I am becoming addicted to digital scrapping and having so much fun doing it. That is my mom, I look NOTHING like her! I was always jealous of her darker complexion and dark hair --- can you believe as a child I hated being BLONDE! :D

Where Did These Adorable Kids Come From ?

2009-08-08T14:06:00.004-04:00

Holy Crap! I can't believe Jaxon turned a year old. It honestly feels like yesterday when I was thinking possibly maybe I might be pg, but in reality after all those years of NEVER actually being pregnant who was I kidding.

I was a bit panicked when the reality of having two under two set in. But now that we are a year into it I can honestly say it was not nearly as hard as I thought. Cassidy is still a pretty happy and easy going child. She rarely gets annoyed with Jaxon is even more mellow than her. They both take nice naps in the afternoon to help with my sanity and the fact that Chuck works from home Wed & Fri also helps. Zac has helped this summer, not often, because I hate to ask him to help with the kids too much, I don't want him to resent them.

Today's picture sessions went incredibly well. The gal taking the photos was just wonderful. Cassidy was being a bit defiant about the idea of having her photo taken so we started with Jax. Of course that smiley boy was easy pickings for the photographer. Then the photographer asked Cassidy if she wanted to take the pictures, of course, this worked like a charm and a couple wonderful pictures of Cassidy followed. The most difficult picture, as I'm sure you can imagine, was getting the three of them together. The boys were easy, but getting Cassidy situated close enough to Zac was the trickiest, she kept moving off a little by herself. But in the end we got a beautiful family picture that we will cherish for years. It captures their personalities -- Cassidy, our little diva; Jaxon, our little clown; and Zac, our smartass! and I say that with love.

A FAN

2009-06-15T10:56:00.003-04:00

Anyone who really knows me, knows I'm a hockey nut. I'm a fan of the game as well as a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins. I believe a fan follows their team through thick and thin and accepts when heir team struggles and still proudly wears their team's apparrel. Then there are fans (I'm related to one) who come out of the woodwork when the playoffs roll around and their team is making a run for the championship. They couldn't name the coach of the team or name players that were traded during the season, etc. but gladly jump on the coat tails of the team.

Also being a fan means accepting defeat graciously. Maybe having watched my child play sports for over 10 years make you realize that calls get screwed up, any team can beat any team on any given day -- that's why you play 9 innings, 3 periods, 4 quarters. It's not over til it's over. AND as important as skill is, luck has more to do with winning then some people would care to admit. A lucky bounce this way or that, a rebound in the right direction, etc. may make the difference in a game.

I have a handful of very close friends who like me are Penguins faithful, through thick and thin wear our Pens gear, display our team on our vehicles, even when earlier this season things looked grim and there was a coaching change. It's a long season and while I certainly didn't get to see as many games as I would have liked, I often followed the games online.

After all these years I've learned it's best to do my talking when the game is OVER and not before, and not to whine, which makes this victory so much sweeter. I know I have enjoyed my team as a gracious fan.

So with that said, Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins, I am so very proud to be a fan.

When it rains it pours!!

2009-05-07T08:58:00.003-04:00

It's been an eventful week. Apparently we wanted to keep with the dreary weather with our dreary events. I would like to see the sun for more than an hour or two, maybe today, before the next rain system comes through. But on the bright side, the "unsettled" weather is supposed to be gone for Mother's day and next week looks brighter.

On Saturday we were rearended. It was quite a big hit, the guy must have totally been not paying attention. We were on our way to Zac's baseball game and it was a field we had never been too before, so we weren't driving all that fast as we were looking for a road (out in the boonies where the GPS didn't work). We saw the road and Chuck stopped to turn left . . . lots of oncoming traffic. We both looked behind because it was a quicker stop, but the car was about 2 blocks behind us, so neither of us continued to watch him and waited to make the left. All of a sudden we heard screaching, in that split second I was looking around thinking who is that? never thinking it was the guy behind us. And then BAM!! Of course, as soon as it was done I was screaming, are the kids ok, are the kids ok? Jaxon cried for about 20 seconds as I think he was startled out of a doze. Zac proudly announced that it was the "THIRD" accident he's been in (none were all fault). Zac was closest to impact as he was in the third row of the van, but he was fine and quickly crawled out. The guy did try to get around us, but didn't quite make it, so our major damage is the back passenger side of the van and his front driver side was a mess. He screwed up his axle and the car was not drivable.

The most important thing, of course, is that we are all fine. Zac's neck was sore a bit the next day, but we haven't heard any complaints since. And I've learned not to ask, if it bothers him he'll say something, if I say something it just reminds him to get some sympathy! ;)

We will be replacing two car seats and will need a rental for about a week (the adjuster figured we'd be out of the van for at least that long). Since fitting two car seats and a teenager in the back of Chuck's car would not be a pretty sight, we will have to get a rental. Which is all covered by insurance.

Then Sunday, Jaxon was especially cranky. He still tried to smile and be happy, but he just would cry all of a sudden. No fever, BUT an occasional tug on the ear. So since he wasn't sleeping well either, I decided on a Monday morning pediatrician visit. As all you moms know, calling the peds on a Monday morning is so much fun, NOT.

So Monday morning rolls around and I'm greeted by a smiling infant AND a feverish, snotty toddler, who was on her way to losing her voice. Normally, I wouldn't have taken Cassidy to the ped because she gets a cold like this every 6 months or so, but since I was already going I made an appt for both. I was only on hold about ten minutes and had an appt for 9:40. Chuck had emailed work to say he was going to work from home, so he could help me with the kids and get the van stuff squared away. So we both went to the docs. Cassidy was quickly confirmed as a cold and Jaxon was confirmed with a double ear infection and prescribed bubble gum medicine.

So a couple days later everyone is on the mend. Cassidy did lose her voice, but it's back in full force and Jaxon slept through the night last night and is back to normal.

Then yesterday when Zac came home from school he said his cell phone wasn't working (the screen would keep disappearing). Well it's only a couple months old and still under warranty, so I told him to get his butt outside and help dad with cutting the grass and we would probably have time to run to the AT&T store before his 8 o'clock game. So we head to the AT&T store, I stayed in the car with the munchkins for a while, until Jax was ready to get out. Then I ventured in with both kids. Luckily, things were moving quickly when I went in. They replaced Zac's phone without much fuss and we headed back to the van . . . buckled everyone in . . . and then CLICK CLICK CLICK -- the battery was dead. UGH!!! The lights and radio came on, so we knew it just needed a jump, but we didn't have cables. Now this wasn't the end of the world because across the street was an auto store, but we only needed a jump. Thankfully, our bestest friends were home and they only live about 5 minutes from where we were and Jim was there before we knew it giving us a jump. This is the 3rd or 4th time we've needed a jump in the last couple years (mostly due to Zac leaving something on in the van after we vacate it!) so Chuck is going for a new battery later today. We grabbed some Taco Bell and headed home and got Zac to his game on time -- HOWEVER, he was a whiney brat about it, because he likes to get there earlier than the coach asks so he can throw with one of his friends and proceeded to whine about it for the whole 2 minutes it takes to get to the field. I was in no mood and told him to stuff it because our household no longer only revolves around him!! I admit it did when he was the only one for 13 years, but gimme a break!

So after dropping him off I run to my mom's to let her pooch out because they are on vacation and head home to make myself presentable because I'm working the concession stand. Kiss everyone goodnight and am excited that I get to miss out of bedtime duties for the first time in . . . FOREVER? no not really but feels like it. I get to the field with Zac's hat, because Mr. Whiner who was complaining I didn't get him there earlier enough forgot his hat. And as I'm watching them warmup I feel PLOP PLOP PLOP . . . not a light drizzle, but BIG drops. Oh joy. At least I'd be in the stand if it rains. Suffice to say, at 7:55 it decides to POUR. With all the rain we've had recently it didn't take long for our field to look like a big old mud puddle.

After a 15 minute discussion with the umps (at least I was smart enough to grab an umbrella, since the parking lot is quite a distance) it was decided no game. So we headed home (first had to pick up my mom's dog cause he spends the night with Zac) and headed home. Everyone was asleep; Cassidy in her crib and Jaxon on Chuck's shoulder. Of course, about 90 minutes later our little fusspot woke up crying and didn't put himself back to sleep, so 15 minutes on my shoulder sent him off to dreamland and HE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!! So I'm taking that as a sign that things are going to be getting brighter.

And with that said, the sun has come out . . . even if it's just for the day.

Lil bit of this and that

2009-04-09T15:12:00.003-04:00

So here are some pictures of the "coloring of the eggs". Things went pretty well, Cassidy didn't want to share the colors (no surprise there) and she certainly didn't understand the concept of being gentle with the eggs, so there are several cracked color eggs in the box. We will probably give it another go on Friday with another half dozen or so eggs. Zac loves hard-boiled eggs, so there's no worry about getting sick of egg salad here.

On to other tidbits. Zac was actually ASKING for a haircut. I always promised myself that I would never whine about my kid getting a haircut. As long as he washes it on a regular basis and runs a brush through it, I swore I'd never be one of those parents who makes their kids get a haircut. So far I've been pretty good about it. So now that baseball started and he put a baseball hat on and got these cute little flippys under the hat, he has been bugging for a short haircut. Well if you can see above, it's not all that short, but he's happy with it, and that's fine with me. He had a gentleman cut his hair this time and gave him an edgier cut, so for now, he's content. Of course, I also noticed at dinner last night that he's sporting a hint of a mustache. Since he's so fair skinned and has blonde hair it isn't extremely noticeable, but it's there.

And since several of my mommy friends have made "poop" posts over the last month or so I thought I'd have to share one. I don't think I ever mentioned that Cassidy has been diagnosed with a type of chronic diarrhea. Now it's not as bad as it sounds, it has to do with the fact that her movements are never solid, which always makes for a very messy cleanup. Luckily, she only goes every other day (sometimes even a bit longer) but when she does go, break out the wipes! So I am looking forward to when she gets a bit more interested potty training. For now she'll sit on the potty with the diaper, she'll tell me right after she poops with a loud "I'm STINKY!"

This morning while cleaning up her toxic waste, it was so delightful to hear Jaxon behind me, grunting and pushing . . . . . Jaxon is a dainty pooper LOL. He prefers to leave me "little presents" several times a day.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter Weekend.

Da Easter Bunny!

2009-04-02T10:29:00.003-04:00

Here is the picture from the Easter Bunny visit. If you notice Cassidy is not looking especially thrilled. Luckily, once again her big brother came to her rescue and sat with her. Notice the hand on her face. This is her "if I put my hand here, you can't see me" gesture. She does this at home when she doesn't want her diaper changed, or when someone comes over and she doesn't want to talk to them, this is her way to "hide".

Jaxon was oblivious to da bunny and even tho Zac isn't smiling, he offered to be in the picture of his own free will because he knows teenage girls eat up these pics with him and his little brother and sister. He took a wallet picture and posted it on his facebook page. . . he is way "smoother" than his father ever was.

If you think babies are expensive . . .

2009-03-25T14:48:00.003-04:00

She may look petrified, but she LOVES this slide . . . there's a little bump and she goes airborne and flies down this slide.

Daddy and Jax take a slower side slide than little miss daredevil.

When I look back to when Zac joined the family, I really don't see how he added that big of an expense to our way of living. Yes, I became a SAHM and lost my income, but our lifestyle changed immensely. We would eat out 5 times a week, and that didn't include the 5 or 6 buck lunches we'd buy at the work cafeterias every day. We bowled in a couple leagues, we went to movies regularly, we went out dancing/drinking at least once if not twice a week. Now I never was into clothes or fashion, but I did need to maintain a work wardrobe, etc. So most of those activities diminished. And even tho I formula fed (not my choice, but it is what it is . . . or was) and used disposables, I guess I didn't see it as a huge monthly expense.

Now, these with these two little peanuts I realize that babies are INEXPENSIVE!! I can feed Jaxon for less than $3 a day and it costs about a $1 a day to diaper both kids. Jax eats about $1.50 of formula a day and I'd guess about a $1.50 in yogurt, cereal and baby food. Cassidy probably costs about $5 a day to feed. Most of their toys are presents or I found at yard sales or Craigslist. Not so easy to find an almost new iPod touch at a bargain basement price at a yard sale ;)

I don't get past NOON to feed Zac for $3 . . . every morning starts with a huge bowl of cereal and or a couple poptarts and a glass of milk . . . his school lunch is $2 and then there's the 10 a.m. break he gets from class and he goes to the store and gets a bag of Jalapeno kettle chips every day . . . I however, do not fund his snack, that comes from his money he earns by doing various chores. We are extremely lucky because he probably eats more like $5 in lunch, but my SIL is a cashier in the lunch line and no matter how much stuff my kid piles on his tray she charges him for the basic lunch. I'm sure we'll have huge sticker shock next year and he'll have to reel in his eating habits next year when he will have lunch at his home school (he eats lunch at the Tech school this year).

He comes home from school and heads straight to the pantry for a snack. Now, I remember why my parents always hid goodies, if you want to actually eat some of those chocolate covered pretzels you bought or hershey kisses or trail mix or cookies, you better hide them because they will vanish! You will open the pantry 4 days later and find ONE item left in whatever container you look in, because, Zac will never eat the LAST goodie. Dinner he eats as much as me or Chuck and of course there's that evening snack finished off with a HUGE glass of milk.

I can find second hand clothes for 25 cents for the peanuts, consignment shops, yard sales, and handme downs outfit the peanuts 90% of the time. One pair of jeans for Zac is easily $20 and sneaks are about $25, and I can be thankful that he doesn't care that his clothes doesn't come from Hollister (SERIOUSLY a joke, IMO) or Kmart. I do get his jeans at Old Navy when they have a sale and Aerospastle has wonderful sales. Even tho we don't buy expensive items for him, his wardrobe, which is considerably smaller, than the peanuts probably costs twice as much as their wardrobes put together.

Then there are the miscellaneous activities that pop up: $25 for a field trip, plus money for lunch, $100 to sign up for baseball, $35-40 for baseball cleets, $12 for baseball socks, $10 to repair a catcher's glove because a new one would cost $90. You try and convince him he doesn't need a new baseball bat (easily at least $100) and to use the one he has and use team bats, going to the movies with friends; hanging out at the hockey rink/baseball games (can I have money for a drink/snack?).

I won't go into how much hockey costs, because that is a very expensive sport that many do not participate in, so that wouldn't be fair to compare that to the peanuts . . . but all those extracurricular activities cost money, there are dues for girl scouts/boy scouts; there are fees for karate/dance/gymnastics . . . and some have quite the price tag.

So if you think babies are expensive . . . JUST WAIT!!

An early trip to the "Zoo"

2009-03-22T16:24:00.005-04:00

I have zoo in quotation marks because it's not really a zoo, I will never think of it as a zoo. It was called a game preserve for the better part of my 41 years, so I have a hard time thinking of it as anything other than that. It is very small, with a limited assortment of animals, that can be traversed leisurely in about 60-90 minutes.

When Zac was little we got a season pass every year and we would go at least once a week, it was wonderful, we knew all the animals names from talking to staff, we could identify which arctic wolf was which and knew their favorite hiding spots, we saw a llama being born, etc.

So now that we have two little munchkins I am glad to say we will be frequenting our little game preserve again. This is wonderful because earlier this year there was a debate from the county that it would be cheaper to close it. Which would have been a huge bummer.

I wish I was a more adventurous mom when it comes to driving, I'm a country bumpkin who prefers backroads to highways. I wish I would happily hop on the turnpike and travel 90 minutes to get to "The First Zoo in the USA" in Philly, but truth be told I am a complete wimp in heavy traffic ESPECIALLY when carrying such precious cargo as my children.

Anyway, we had a pretty warm day for early March and headed off to the game preserve. We were anxious to see the new animal exhibit! PENGUINS, we now have penguins, JACKASS penguins to be exact. And they did not disappoint. Unlike many of the animals, they didn't hide in their cave, hang back from the visitors. No sirree, these little guys were happy to swim and stand as close as the fence would allow.

Over the years of visiting the zoo, we have learned that the camels enjoy eating seed pods from the trees. Since half the pods land outside their enclosure we always are happy to treat them to the ones they can't get on their own.

When I was a toddler, my parents and grandparents have pictures of me feeding the animals in the petting zoo. Of course, in the day when parents weren't neurotic about a llama slobbering on their child or suing the zoo a deer nipping. So there are wonderful pictures of me feeding deer, llamas, sheep and goats. When Zac was little it had dwindled a couple llamas and goats.

And now, sadly, they just have goats. One of my most cherished pics of Zac is him sitting next to a baby llama and hugging his neck.

Stupid people ruin it for everyone, if you are worried your poor little angel

might get nipped or nudged or whatever, stay out!!

Cassidy and the Jackass Penguins!

This pic is too sweet for words.

Thank you, Jackie

2009-03-14T22:55:00.002-04:00

The rules of the award state that I must list seven things I love, and then to pass the award on to seven bloggers I love to read. Here we go!

7 things I love - aside from the obvious or previously mentioned...(my husband, kids, family...)

1. Well if I can't include family the first thing that pops to mind is BON JOVI, and along with him music in general. I have always loved music. I remember calling the radio station when I was about 10 and requesting Bad Bad Leroy Brown by Jim Croce. I always loved the radio and making mixed tapes. When I was 10 my cousin gave me my first cassette that wasn't a tape off the radio. It was Heart's Little Queen, I wore that tape out . . . in case you aren't aware that was the Heart album with Barracuda. I played that song over and over again, so much so apparently that my dad learned it, and a friend at work whose wife made ceramics made him a fish and a mermaid, each with a tag -- one read "Barracuda" and the other red "Bare-cutie". This began my love affair with rock and roll, and eventually, in the early 80s, my love affair with Bon Jovi. My room was plastered with posters and I played their songs over and over. I am thrilled that even almost 30 years later they are still rocking their fans. Zac has been to a concert and enjoys some of their songs. ME, I love EVERYTHING except songs from This Left Feels So Right . . . their acoustical attempt to rearrange their classic songs, I just couldn't get the concept. But everything else, I could listen to over and over again. Jon just turned 47 on March 3, and damn if he don't make 47 look absolutely gorgeous!

2. My iPod . . . This little gadget is so frikkin amazing, it has made me fall in love with music even more. I have a classic 20G ipod, it is just about full of my favorite tunes. I just made a playlist for Cassidy, so when she wants to dance, I just push a button. Zac has the iPod touch and that is even more amazing!!! Even Zac says, "what kind of gadgets will Cassidy and Jaxon have when they become teenagers".

3. My Computer/Internet -- I honestly think these things have helped keep me sane these last 15 plus years as a SAHM, it's probably been an important part of keeping my marriage pretty much bump-free. It allows me to connect to adults and talk about kids. For a long time (before the peanuts came along) I was a huge trivia player in chat rooms. I would play and host games, I started by asking trivia questions, but as I became more and more comfortable I would play my music and it was basically "name that tune & artist" . . . of course, everyone knew my games would have at least ONE Bon Jovi song if not more. I have made many friends online, those who don't frequent the internet will never understand. I even traveled to North Carolina for Snotfest ---- a beloved interned friend with the nickname Snotrokit, opened his home one weekend a year for anyone who was willing to make the trek. It has been going on for a few years now. We went in 2006 before I knew I was preggers and I haven't been able to get back since because of babies or pregnancy. I hope to get back in a couple years.

4. Sports -- Watching them. I also think this is a huge contributing factor to my happy marriage. I am perfectly happy to spend a Sunday watching football, hockey, or baseball (neither of us are basketball fans). I think when it comes to baseball I am a bit more obsessed than Chuck. Chuck runs a fantasy league and I take pride in being the only gal in it, I've won it a couple years and have always cashed in some winnings. I have a few rules for my fantasy teams -- NO YANKEES (booo hiss) and only cute guys . . . which isn't hard. My favorite players are catchers, probably has to do with Chuck being a catcher. I do miss him playing, he does get bugged to join an over 40 or over 45 league occasionally, but his knees are fragile and it's probably only a matter of time til he needs surgery so he's always leary . . . I would never tell him he couldn't. His baseball years were some of the best years of our lives and we made so many friends and had lots of great times.

5. My house -- although it has gotten quite a bit "smaller" since we moved in as a family of three, thinking we'd never have a child in the third bedroom . . . dubbed the "yellow room" for the first several years we lived here. Of course, now that's Cassidy's room now. I wouldn't be surprised if this girls favorite color is yellow, it is the first color she can consistently identify correctly. Of course when we found out about Jaxon it presented us with a dilemma . . . we gave Zac the option of the yellow room (the smaller of the kid's room) or moving into the basement . . . of course as most teenagers would choose, he picked the basement. It's his cave, he does usually come up in the evenings to watch tv with us. I also love my house because I am so close to my parents. Zac disappears to my parents often. We spend several nights a week in the warmer months sitting in their backyard (or my Aunt & Uncle's who live next door to my parents). My parents are so in love with these two little surprises it's ridiculous. I enjoy watching Zac go to the same schools I did, he's now in a newly built high school, but I'm so proud he plays Ice Hockey for my high school.

6. Sleep . . . this one really needs little explanation. Sleep is elusive for me many nights, I guess I have insomnia, I have never taken anything to help me sleep because of my dislike for most things medicinal. There are many nights I am looking at the clock 2 hrs later. So yes, I do like to sleep in when I get the chance.

7. Photos/scrapbooks . . . My house is filled with photographs, walls and shelves are cluttered with tons of frames. I also love to scrapbook. I have 8 scrapbooks for Zac and am working on books for the munchkins. Digital cameras make it so easy to take so many pictures and spend time picking the best ones to frame or tell the story of a day.

OK, I didn't nominate anyone for this award, because everyone's blog that I frequent has already got this reward. If I missed you, I'm sorry.

Why

2009-03-09T14:40:00.005-04:00

Why do the "holier than thous" insist that their God and their way is the only way. I have been told that I'm going to hell and quite honestly I'm fine with it, because if the God these people speak about is so nitpicky; my quirky, rebellious self doesn't belong behind the pearly gates.

For example, in conversation at a sporting event I was told I'm going to hell because I don't go to church every week. Now, I know the intended message behind this "threat" is to make me go to church every week. But if I truly believe that God is sitting up there with a scorecard and anyone that doesn't attend church regularly is going to hell, I don't want to go to heaven . . . . there won't be ANYONE I want to spend eternity with there.

My God doesn't care if I talk to him in a specific building at a specific time on a specific day. He's just as happy to listen to me while I lie in bed at night. There are lots of people who find something inside the walls of a church, I'm not one of them.

So as the saying goes, It's not God I have a problem with, it's his FAN CLUB!

In Desperate Times

2009-03-05T09:53:00.003-05:00

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Jaxon drools more than my first two combined. He goes through about 3 or 4 bibs a day, I mean they are drenched. AND on top of that if the soaked bib is accessible to are bratty dog, she will steal it and head to her crate to chew a nice hole in it. So one morning when I opened the bib drawer it was bare . . . except for some pink and purple bibs, so yes, Jax is doning his first pink wardrobe item.

MIA

2009-02-10T07:32:00.003-05:00

This is what I've been doing the last few weeks. I'm redoing all of Cassidy's scrapbook pages from last year and all of Jax's. I've barely made a dent. It took me a while to play with Photoshop Elements and figure out layers and all the other fun stuff.

I know many people prefer the paper scrapbook, and you know what, I did it for about 12 years and I enjoyed it immensely. Now trying to keep up with three kids and all my pictures are digital so it works out much better. I can find so much more elements (decorations) for my pages online than I could in a store. I can add the look of dimension without my books getting thicker. Plus it is SOOOOOO much cheaper. I can get a page printed out for about a dollar. There are many tutorials and freebies available. I'm hooked. Now all I have to do is catch up!!

Above are a couple of the layouts I made in the last couple days and yes, I LOVE Photoshop!

I'd like to thank the academy

2009-01-26T13:39:00.005-05:00

I have been given an award by MaryBeth over at Because I Said So. I recommend checking out her blog, she has a way with words.

It is the Honest Scrap award, sorry, but I can't help but wondering if it should be Honest Crap award? The recipient of this award to list 10 honest things about themselves -- make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep. Pay attention because at the end of my 10 things, I'll be awarding the "Honest Scrap" award to seven lucky friends.

Here we go:

1) It was made abundantly clear that we frequent McDs too much for two reasons 1) Cassidy was in her car seat, talking to her window . . . or should I say "placing an order" to her window, she was saying "chicken nuggets and french fries". Also when we see the golden arches she starts saying in a deep voice "CHICKEN NUGGETS".

2) I have always disliked my name "Danielle". When I was growing up it was a very odd name. I still have never met anyone that is older than me with my name. I spent many years in grade school correcting teachers on the first day of school that it wasn't "DANIEL". But I do love Dani, probably because I am and always have been a tomboy. Teachers used to confuse me and a boy in school, his name was Blaine. I always kept my hair short and despised girly clothes.

3) Even tho I love our darling little pup Corki, in hindsight, she was a BAD decision made in grief. When we found out her mom died after delivery her litter and the breeder offered us a pup, we should have thought about it longer. Training a pup and raising a toddler does not mix, plus after agreeing to take a pup we found out another little surprise was on the way. It is 100% my (and Chuck's) fault that she is a chewer, we never trained her properly.

4) I drink WAY WAY WAY too much Diet Coke. And for whatever reason, I prefer it from the fountain, so usually at least once a day one of us is making a "soda" run. Of course, while I will drink gallons of soda in a week; I have a cow if any passes Cassidy's lips. As a friend mentioned last week, if we mom's followed the "toddler diet" we be much fitter. Because we never let them eat the junk we do.

5) I don't wear jewelry. I don't even wear my engagement/wedding rings. I have holes in my ears which only get filled on the rare occasion. The only thing I wear regularly is a necklace. I have a necklace my father made for me when I was about 10, he made silver jewelry and it's my name "DANI" that hangs vertically. Amazing I never lost it. I did give it to my first boyfriend and after we broke up, I had to steal it back, so I learned to never give it to anyone ever again.

6) My favorite parts of the day include getting the peanuts dressed, for whatever reason, I totally enjoy picking out their clothes for their day. Of course, at that point, they are clean, stain-free, dry because they haven't drooled or spit up yet.

7) I am addicted to finding bargains on kids items. Yard sales, craigslist, e-bay, consignment sales and I LOVE LOVE LOVE and appreciate hand-me downs. I'm looking forward to spring and the start of yard saling season.

8) I get cabin fever, easily. After 15 years of being a SAHM, I have realized I need to get out of the house a couple times a week to stay sane and so the rest of the family can stand to be in the same room with me. Whether it's a trip to CVS, visiting family, or one of Zac's sporting events, it does the trick.

9) My kitchen theme is CHICKENS! LOL The wallpaper is . . . . wait for it . . . chicken wire! I don't have much wall in my kitchen so it's mainly the soffet above the cabinets and one wall. I have an open kitchen/dining room. I have a cast iron rooster bell, a chicken swag on the soffet and one above my stove. I have a chicken recipe box, bookends, statues and other knickknacks on my counter. It's been about 5 years now and I still like it, so that's a good thing.

10) I am an insomniac. It takes me on a good night, at least 20 minutes to fall asleep. I have always been like this. My way to deal with it is that I will lie in bed, eyes closed and "daydream". For years those dreams would be that I was pregnant or we had another child. Well, since that dream finally came true, I now think about what my dream house would be . . . or that Jon Bon Jovi moves in next door.

I hope you learned a little about me.

So now I pass this on to Seven Friends:

Loki at Random Insanity and Drunken Ramblings
Angela at "Thatch" the Journey Now in Progress
Kirsten at The Burkes
Jenn at Lacey
Keeling at Confessions of a Mommy Blogger
Emily at Cosmic Et Al
Kelly at A Goddess Rising

I hope I didn't hit anyone up that has already received this award, I tried to check.

Hope

2009-01-22T14:42:00.002-05:00

I watched the inauguration the other day as Cassidy dumped every mega block, peek a boo block, and every toy in Jaxon's bin on the floor. It gave me a feeling of hope. Don't get me wrong, I don't think everything is going to be magically "fixed"; I am not expecting a miracle. But one thing I have learned from my Mommy friends who live outside of the U.S.: the world already has a more positive perception of the U.S. One comment sticks in my head "the rest of us look to America to lead the way."

While we've had many wonderful blessings over the last eight years, it's not easy to forget the jobs that Chuck has lost due to outsourcing outside of the U.S. and the sense of uncertainty that comes from that. Then there was my typing job, which basically dwindled to next to nothing, and they only wanted me to do weekend work, so it was no longer worth it. Guess who's doing that typing now? Yup, someone over in India. It is actually cheaper for them to send it there to get typed, come back here to be edited, and send it back to be finalized. Now, I certainly wasn't making mega bucks from this typing job . . . the basic rate was 40 cents per 1000 keystrokes, with an average page being about 2,500 keystrokes -- so $1.20 a page. It was an interesting job, and most weeks paid for our groceries.

The job Chuck currently holds is the first job he lost, ironic. But he's now a contractor, working for an outsourcing company. Ninety percent of the support staff that he works with are in India. It is the way of the IT world. It always seems like you are waiting for that other shoe to drop.

All in all we have rode out those waves and are better for. We've realized that a dip in salary is worth it, because Chuck gets to work from home twice a week. He is gets to see so much more of the peanuts this time around, and realizes why some days I get NOTHING done. He is a valued resource at his job, and that's great, he was given a great raise this year . . . but in the end, if the hammer falls, often times it doesn't matter if you are the best employee in the world, the decisions are not made by anyone who even knows your name.

So yeah, I'm a sappy optimist who is looking forward some positive changes ahead, no matter how small. If nothing else, I know we will get a small increase in income at least once this year if not twice . . . when Jax comes off formula that will give us another $60 or so a month, AND if we get our stubborn little girl to use the potty that will be an increase of about $40 a month. LOL Hey, it's something to look forward to, right!

I'm so Proud

2009-01-13T19:08:00.003-05:00

I forgot to post this picture with the Christmas shots. This is Zac getting his Wii. As you can see he was very happy. Of course, as goes our life, it worked for two weeks and died. Thankfully, Best Buy refunded our money, but they were out of stock. Also the Wii ate a game and we were unale to retrieve it, so we did lose out on that. I am happy to report tho, that Zac was only without a Wii for a few days, when Walmart got them in stock. He called every store within a 20 mile radius, every day when he got home from school to see if anyone had them.

Here is my Junior Varsity hockey player. I need to find some pictures of him when he first started playing and scan them in. He's grown so much, he's taller than me now and his feet are HUGE!

And last, but not least, Zac brought home a certificate from his technical school today as he was selected as student of the month. Both the tech school and his home school make mention of this, so he was excited. I truly hope he can stay on this engineering course, he'll be able to earn quite a few college credits and even attend college a couple days a week as a high school senior. I have given him an incentive, I put it in his head that if he does stay on this course he would have to have a vehicle to be able to drive to the college, because school does not provide transportation back and forth between college and high school. Hey, whatever works, right!

Odds & Ends

2009-01-08T13:44:00.006-05:00

Well our big guy started cereal. I was going to wait a while longer because he didn't show much interest, but all of a sudden when he saw us eating he would get fussy and start drooling. Now, he's a big puddle of drool most of the time, I swear! I am seriously trying to figure out which is worse . . . a baby that spits up, or one that drools the entire time he is vertical. The drooly baby certainly goes through more bibs than my spitter-uppers ever did, AND he needs one on all the time, not just when eating, so it covers up his cute outfits.

As you can see by the "GRABBINESS" he already wants to feed himself. So we start each meal with two spoons, one for him and one for us. And he does does pretty darn good too. He's far less messy than Cassidy! LOL

So far we have only done oatmeal (more nutritional value than rice cereal in my opinion, and mine's the only one that counts!)

I did buy some squash this week, but I'm holding off, I'm not looking forward to even stinkier diapers.

Here we are, this was Christmas night at my parents' house

Here is Jax and his new giraffe, apparently, it's quite yummy. It's so soft and opens up into a pillow. I want one!

Here is Cassidy, tasting some of her cupcake. Her new kitchen was the BEST Christmas present. She loves it and plays with it every day, she loves to bring everybody something to eat.

Cassidy, Jaxon, and Grandma (my mom) She's not really grumpy, but it was the only picture where both kids were looking at the camera. Doesn't it always work that way, you get the kids looking like you want, but whatever adult is in the picture didn't cooperate! Go figure.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! May 2009 bring you lots of love and laughter!!

And yes I know I have to update my header, the holidays are over, maybe one day when Jax decides that he needs more than a 15 minute nap I'll get to it.

Way too close for comfort

2008-12-30T22:12:00.002-05:00

On Saturday, December 27, four boys from Zac's school and one graduate from his school were in a tragic accident. They were heading to the movies when they encountered terribly dense fog, and crashed head on into a pickup truck. One of the boys was killed, the other four were in critical condition; today two of the boys were upgraded to good condition. They are good kids, all in boy scouts together, working toward their eagle scout badges, good students. It's terribly sad.

Four of the boys are juniors at Zac's school (Zac is a freshman), he knew them to see them, but not close. The driver graduated from school last year, is attending college, and is the older brother of one of Zac's baseball teammates. We are friendly with his parents, and eerily enough, we have ran into them while out and about twice in the last week, including the day before the accident.

This is every parents' worst nightmare. Zac will be turning 15 in a month, his best bud will be turning 16 this summer and some of his friends are already driving. The days are approaching when he will be heading off with a friend, I don't think he'll be content staying home playing Wii with his mom and dad on Fri/Sat nights forever.

You'd think the 3rd kid would be a piece of cake

2008-12-22T16:22:00.002-05:00

Well, I have kinda figured since Jax's birth day that he was going to be our "oddball" after he spent his first night in the NICU. He is definitely a fussier baby than Zac or Cassidy were, but not so much so that he ever fit the definition of "colic", but there definitely was a slight resemblance to colic.

Jaxon never liked a pacifier, Zac & Cassidy both loved the pacifier for about 4 months, then they were done with it. Jaxon is a thumb sucker (finger and whole hand, also).

The biggest difference between Jax and his older siblings is the one I have the most trouble with. Zac and Cassidy would fall asleep while eating or in the bouncy seat or the blessed swing. They then became little rag dolls that could easily be transferred to the crib for naptime/bedtime.

Jaxon does not fall asleep with the bottle (which experts say is a good thing, pffffft), endures the bouncy seat and never took to the swing. But to fall asleep, Jax wants to be rocked . . . and rocked . . . and rocked. And then you have to gingerly take him back to his room, transfer him to his crib, all the while holding your breath and praying that the dogs don't bark or Cassidy doesn't follow you down the hall, yelling loudly (a favorite past time). I can't tell you how many times one of us has taken him back to bed and come back to the living room 5 second later holding a wide-eyed, giggling little boy that woke up on the way into the crib, mumbling under our breath.

I have always enjoyed having my babies fall asleep in my arms and holding and nuzzling their head, cheeks, and neck. But this little booger is driving me nuts. Not only is he difficult to get to sleep, he cat naps.

So today, I rocked him for a decent amount of time, he still wasn't asleep. I knew he was ready for a nap so I put him to bed awake (GASP! I never attempted this with the older two til they were close to a year). He fussed for a bit, then was quiet. Then he started crying. As he seemed to be getting louder I thought, oh well, I tried. Upon entering his room, he was crying, but his eyes were closed. So I went to the crib and patted his bum for about a minute. He calmed down, never lifted his head, just layed peacefully, his eyes heavy. I backed away from the crib, watching closely, I could tell he was going to doze off. Just then, my little shadow came barrelling into the room yelling MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY. I quickly darted to block her entry and closed the door. Jax never even budged. I didn't hear another peep for about 40 mins, he didn't settle, I got him, he ate a bottle, fell right back to sleep and has slept for a couple hours.

The one plus to having another needy child when you have an infant is that I can't always go running when he starts to fuss and I've realized that if I give him some time, many times he falls back to sleep. I don't know when I'll try and put him down awake again, but I certainly won't be waiting til he's a year old like I did with Cassidy.

God Help her, Cassidy has my sense of style

2008-12-19T10:55:00.002-05:00

Cassidy is always very quick to help me fold laundry, or more accurately WEAR laundry. For whatever reason she gravitates toward underwear, namely mine or Chuck's.

Today her ensemble consists of a lovely blue crocheted toilet paper cover (made by my Grandma and I just can't part with it, even tho it's cheesy) her "skirt" is a pair of Chuck's boxer briefs as is her chic scarf.

I imagine Jax is thinking "I'm never going to let my sister dress me!"

And here is just a picture of how we spend time in the morning. Jax loves his taggies, and here he is playing with his taggie ball and Cassidy is munching on her cereal and raisins.

So how do you decorate your tree?? (if you have one)

2008-12-13T18:50:00.007-05:00

So here is our tree, it's decorated a little more than halfway, the ornaments along the bottom are stuffed or wooden Disney characters that we find scattered around the house. When we find them we put them back on the tree for little hands to remove later.

My tree has changed over the years, currently most of the ornaments fit into one of four categories.

The first category: Baby's 1st Christmas, I think there are 10 ornaments of this type.

The second category: Hockey ornaments, Zac has been playing hockey for almost 10 years and we have accumulated quite a few ornaments over the years.

The third category: Eeyore. I've been an Eeyore freak forever and Chuck and my mom have given me quite a few ornaments over the years.

The fourth category: Ornaments with specific meaning to someone in the house, whether it be an special ornament for a love oned passed on (including the four-legged variety), favorite cartoon characters, favorite sports teams.

Over the years I have collected enough ornaments to fill three trees, and every year I get pickier and pickier about what I put on the tree. I have saved the ornaments Zac has made over the years, ones that haven't fallen apart. And I will give them to him one day, and I will do this with the little ones too.

Our tree is an artificial one, the critters in the house used to bring the live ones crashing to the floor, so we bagged that. It is prelit and fiber optic, so no need for garland and tinsel.

And if you noticed, I don't have the typical star or angel at the top of the tree, I have a teddy bear, he's holding a red and green balloon and a couple presents. My mom gave me this tree topper 19 years ago, for my first Christmas after Chuck & I bought our first house. I have been looking for a new tree topper, but I still want something unique, like a penguin.

SO, HOW DO YOU DECORATE YOUR TREE?

Chuck and the peanuts.

Our Holiday Family Photo Shoot

2008-12-10T13:09:00.009-05:00

And here we go!! Instead of traversing the mobs of shoppers on Black Friday, I decided to dress my kids in their Christmas outfits and attempt to get a couple good shots to use on our Christmas cards. I waited til Jaxon was fresh from his nap, dressed him and THEN wrestle with the toddler. As a typical toddler, you just never know what mood she will be in when you want to get her dressed. Some days she's sweet as pie and I get her dressed in a minute, other days she's a little Tasmanian Devil and it's a wrestling match.

Below are some of my favorite shots.

After getting Jax plopped in his box, Zac sat down next to him and then we just let Cassidy roam about a bit. I didn't want to rush it because she is not at all interested in "posing".

Here are my boys!!

Cassidy and her big brother, she absolutely worships him and loves when he takes the time to play (rough house) with her. She loves to listen to music, so Zac has been getting her to listen to his favorite music. Whenever she hears "Let it Rock" by Kevin Rudolf and Lil' Wayne she yells for Zac to come and dance with her.

Here are our little peanuts in the box together.

And here are the pictures I picked for our card.

Snow Fun

2008-12-08T13:02:00.004-05:00

Here's our little snowbunny. She was so excited to get out in the snow. We had been outside the previous evening when it was snowing. She was looking up at the lights in the parking lot and giggling as it was hitting her face. Notice in the above picture she had her mittens on.

This little girl is truly after her Daddy's heart. Shoveling already. Heck, we have to promise the moon for Zac to lift up a shovel (ok, not really, but it seems like it at times). Notice in the above pictures, the mittens have been TOSSED.

Of course, being my stubborn child, she was not interested in her "baby" sled (seen in the background) she wanted to ride on the big sled, with her big brother. Now we only had about half an inch of snow, so the only sledding was down the driveway.

Weeeeeee! So we were only outside about 15 minutes. It was too cold and windy, the windchill was in the single digits and since she refused to keep her mittens on, Cassidy and I went back inside while Daddy & Zac shoveled. Jax was snoozing in his nice, toasty warm crib the whole time.

Santa Plus my Three

2008-12-05T21:01:00.002-05:00

Thank Goodness for big brothers!!!
We've been chatting about Santa for a couple weeks with Cassidy, and she was all smiles and excited at the "thought" of Santa, but as many parents have found out over the years, the idea of Santa and Santa in books and on TV are all wonderfully joyful moments in a toddlers mind.

Then there is actually meeting Santa, touching Santa, and heaven forbid, sitting on Santa's lap.

As we stood in line, all smiles and talked about seeing Santa, sitting on his lap, Cassidy jibbered jabbered away, she saw him walking through the mall to his "living room", smiled and waved. She watched the family in front of us go visit Santa. The little girl (probably about 4) was giving Santa her pacifiers, she had a baggie full of them, in exchange for her Xmas presents. However, when it came time for that little boy and girl to sit on Santa's lap, they just about strangled their poor mom. Cassidy didn't seem to notice the terror in their eyes, luckily, they didn't scream or cry, just clung to their mom.

Then it was our turn, I had Jaxon, Zac had Cassidy. She was all smiles and waved to him, but at the first movement of Zac attempting to hand her off to the Jolly Old Guy, her hands wrapped around Zac's neck in a vice-like grip. We had planned for this problem and Zac happily sat next to Saint Nick and I handed Santa Jaxon. Jaxon was happy and content as he had a full belly and just woke from a short snooze.

I don't know how many teenage boys wouldn't think twice of sitting with Santa with his little sister and brother. But Zac never balked at the idea. I'm sure many teenagers would be mortified at the thought.

My two little peanuts

2008-12-04T19:16:00.003-05:00

For whatever reason, the expression on Cassidy's face just makes me giggle every time I look at this picture.

Here's out little guy, he likes to sit and watch everything that's going on. Of course, he lights up whenever Cassidy takes the time to pay attention to him.

Here are my two little peanuts with Cassidy's penguin, we are trying to get her to accept Penguin as her lovey because her other lovey is a crocheted blanket that is falling apart and is just gross cause she's chewed on the ends. It has started to unravel a couple times and I've knotted it, but I don't think it will last as long as a lovey should. So we've been lugging Penguin everywhere we go and take it out of the crib and leave the blankey in the crib. It's working a bit, so we'll have to wait and see if we have success. The reason we picked the Penguin is that it's from Build a Bear and I can go get another one (or two) made so we have backups.

A bit about Zac (ok, more than a bit)

2008-11-30T13:41:00.004-05:00

Other than his sports I don't post much about Zac, it may be because he's been rolling over, walking, talking and potty trained for years! So here's what he's been up to.

Zachary started high school this year. Last year he (and we) had to decide what he wanted to "major" in. Yes, already at 13 years old, he is supposed to start thinking about what he wants to do with his life. Since he's always done well in math & science, his counselors have always pushed in in the direction of engineering.

So, after looking at course offerings at the high school and our local technical institute, he started to lean to the tech school. Now, when I went to school back in the olden days, vo-tech was not the place where anyone who was interested in going to college went. It was mainly trade oriented (carpentry, masonry, plumbing, etc.). I'm not putting these jobs down, and it's a great start for many kids, BUT vo-tech also had the stigma that this is where kids who had no interest in school, the burnouts, went and unfortunately, the vo-tech's reputation was not stellar.

So when Zac wanted to do the pre-engineering course at the tech school, I was a bit apprehensive. We have a friend who teaches electrical there, so we went to him for some advice. He assured us that the course Zac was looking to take was only of the brightest and smartest and that he would be surrounded by kids who want to learn. Also, there were prerequisites in Algebra and it is mandatory for him to maintain good grades in his science and math. We toured LCTI (they no longer call it vo-tech) the other night, it has really become a state-of-the-art facility and has received awards from the state and is touted as the #1 technical institute in the state. The equipment and computer technology available is insane. Many of the instructors have been in the work force and then after a considerable about of years in their field, took up teaching as a 2nd career. (Zac's teacher was an engineer for AT&T for 30 years).

Zac is doing great in his engineering class, we had parent night last week and he showed up the robotic arm he programmed to do some tasks, he showed a suspension bridge he had to design using a computer aided drafting program, and helped build a robotic car. His teacher assures us that Zac has a lot of potential and is doing very well in his engineering class. Plus, Zac is enthusiastic about the course, which is huge! The other bonus is that there are only TEN kids in his class. That's an awesome teacher:student ratio especially since he's in that class 2 1/2 hours. He gets individualized attention. There are two other 9th grades in the class, the others are 10th & 11th grade students.

Zac goes to his homeschool first thing in the morning for attendance, then gets on a bus to go to LCTI, he is in class there for 2 1/2 hours, has lunch and then comes back to his homeschool for his core classes. He is doing exceptionally well in math and science which is to be expected, but then there are Language Arts (English for us old-timers) and Social Studies. He makes no extra effort in these classes and had a B- and C in those classes this marking period. Which are not bad grades, but when we go online and see all the ZEROS he gets on homework, we just want to smack him upside the head. He's smart enough to do well in class and on tests, so he slacks off on homework, it's infuriating at times. This has been our battle with him since 5th grade. He's become "immune" to groundings and such, uggggh.

And just one last brag on Zac, we got his state tests back from last year. Advanced for reading and comprehension is 1473, he scored 1650. Advanced for math is 1446, he scored 1722. I've been trying to find out the max score possible, someone said 1800, but I'm not sure. Then there is writing ... Advanced is 1748, he only scored 1426 which is proficient, definitely not his strong suit, but still higher than average.

Jaxon's first Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T16:05:00.003-05:00

Here he is, our big guy, who spends most of his waking moments trying to eat his hand(s) and slobbering all over his clothes. I got this cute little Thanksgiving outfit for $3 at a consignment sale, I'm too cheap to pay full price for an outfit for one day! It's still in perfect shape so I plan to resell it.

We spent most of Thanksgiving day at home, only visiting Grandma & Grandpa for our yummy meal of turkey and the trimmings around noon. But because not long after that we were hitting on Cassidy's nap time we headed back home (the whole 1 minute trip!). I think we all dozed, Cassidy and Chuck napped in bed, while I dozed on and off with Jaxon on the couch. Zac snoozed in the family room.

We did venture to the bank and grocery shopping on Black Friday, that was enough traffic. I did do some shopping online, some stores had the same deals online as in-store, so it worked out well. I also dressed the kids in their Christmas outfits and took my Christmas photos for our cards. We placed Jaxon in a box that I had nested with some bedding and then topped it off with some tissue paper, I figured the tissue paper would keep Cassidy interested enough to hang around for me to take pictures. The pictures turned out well and I will post them at a later date, but I don't want to ruin the surprise of my Xmas cards should you be on my list.

WOOHOO Eight Hours a Night

2008-11-24T23:09:00.003-05:00

Our little guy is sleeping about 8 hours a night!! WAHHOO.
Friday into Saturday he slept over 9 hours.
Hopefully, I won't jinx it by posting here.

Here's our silly, giggle box!

As you can tell by my blog and my music (did ya even know Bon Jovi had a couple Christmas songs!) I am getting ready for Xmas.
I have most presents for the kids bought/ordered. I would say I'm about
75 percent done. Chuck's always last on my list, I have one thing and need to figure what else to buy him.

I must say, I hate our Walmart, let's just say the location attracts an unsavory crowd that leaves the store in a mess. BUT! I have found a way to take advantage of their low prices without having to shop the cluttered aisles --- SHIP TO STORE!

I will be picking up Cassidy's kitchen ($20 less than anywhere else I could find it) and a couple little things for Jax, one of which was not available anywhere else. I just received an email that they are all in and ready for pickup! Very convenient and no shipping costs. Of course, now we just have to assemble the kitchen!

FUN FUN FUN

This Thursday :) . . . . and a Box of Diapers

2008-11-19T19:04:00.003-05:00

Well MaryBeth, Chuck and I had the same discussion. You and I are on the same page, and Dave and Chuck are on the same page. Zac agrees with Chuck, but I think it's because he just likes to argue with me.

This Thursday is November 20th, next Thursday is Thanksgiving. That's my story and I'm sticking too it!

Thanks for your responses!!

I think I found my Christmas Present box . . . . Can you tell Jaxon is fascinated by his big sister?

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

2008-11-17T22:48:00.002-05:00

I have a question for all my friends who read my blog.

Today is Monday, November 17th . . . how do you refer to Thursday, November 20th?

As "THIS" Thursday or as "NEXT" Thursday.

Now this is not anything earth-shattering or critical, but it's just a little dig that I have on an occasional basis with Chuck. So I am curious for your answers.

I'll let you know who says which phrase in a few days. Thanks!

Halloween . . . . a bit late

2008-11-17T19:15:00.004-05:00

Well now that I changed the background of my blog to Winter it's time to post Halloween pics. Now I wasn't even going to dress up Jax, but sometime during Halloween Day I decided to crawl up to the attic to see if I could find the pumpkin sleeper that Cassidy wore last year. I found it easily so I did dress him for a bit to take to a few of our closest neighbors.

Then there was Cassidy, she was excited and readily dressed in her cow costume, HOWEVER, she didn't want to have her picture taken. In fact, she made up a new game, HIDE from the camera while giggling.

So a few days ago put her cow coat on and gave her the mini pumpkins she's been bugging to play with and let her sit on the floor and snapped some pics. She doesn't have her matching cow pants on, but I didn't want to push it!

My Three at 3 Months

2008-11-15T16:18:00.003-05:00

Zac at 3 Months

Jax at 3 months

Cassidy at 3 months

So many people have told us since we had Jaxon that he looks like Cassidy, Chuck and I have always wondered exactly what they were looking at? I actually hugged a friend when she said "He looks nothing like Cassidy."

Now many of these people either didn't see Zac as a baby or couldn't remember what Zac looked like as a baby. BUT Chuck and I knew he resembled Zac much more than Cassidy.

Jaxon's Baptism

2008-11-10T14:42:00.004-05:00

Jaxon is now officially a member of our church. He made it through the ceremony much better than we anticipated, considering he can be a major fusspot. Jaxon was baptized alongside Maddi. Maddi is his cousin, Nikki's, baby. She is one month older than him.

Jax was starting to fuss right before we were about to go up to the font, the priest warned us that the water was very cold and that Jax would most likely not be happy, well, since this little guy has to be different, as soon as the water hit his head, he quieted down and was content. Cassidy was kept busy by her cousin, Shelby, until she got a little too bored and then Grandpa took her downstairs and kept her happy. Pictures are courtesy of our photographer for the event --- Zac. :)

And here we are, no family of five picture today, Cassidy wouldn't stay still long enough and I'd rather have no picture than a picture with a screaming kid squirming to get free. What do you think of the new glasses???

Under Construction

2008-11-09T13:03:00.002-05:00

I'm working on personalizing this blog a little more, so bear with the changes.

Well DUH, FINALLY!! I figured out how to put a personalized header on my blog, I was WAY overthinking it, dreading html and xml codes. I swear I was so aggravated last night trying to figure it out I dreamt about blogs, but alas, somewhere in the middle of the night it dawned on me how to do it.

And yes, I know the background is Halloween, but I didn't like any Thanksgiving ones and I know I'll be adding a Christmas background soon.

Thx. dani

Jaxon -- 3 months old

2008-11-06T15:29:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow Jaxon will be three months old, WOW, did that go fast. He is quite different from Cassidy and Zac. He has been dubbed our "fusspot" or "fussfart". Luckily, now that we are reaching the 3 month mark, there is a marked change in his fussiness and he is much easier to settle. His favorite thing is to lay under his mobile or play gym for 15-20 minutes. He prefers this to the swing and the bouncy seat, in fact, we have already packed the swing away and just use a travel swing occasionally.
This is SOOOOOOO different from Cassidy and Zac who would nap for hours in the swing.

Jax is starting to reach for things and hold on to them. He adores Cassidy and loves to watch her play and putter around. She likes to talk to him and says his name alot, but for Cassidy, big brother, Zachary! is the BOMB.

Jaxon has also found his thumb, I can't ever remember Zac sucking on his thumb even once. Cassidy found her thumb at about 3 months, but I only ever saw her suck on it twice. Jaxon is all about slobbering on his fist and thumb. I do cherish the quiet times when he's nuzzled in my neck, because I know this is it . . . well until grandkids! right :0)

I will be posting Halloween pictures shortly . . . . unfortunately, I was a BAD BAD MOMMY and for messed up and accidentally deleted the Halloween pictures. Luckily, Miss Cassidy was in her boycotting picture mood and there weren't any really great pictures and also luckily I can just pop their costumes on again and snap a few more pics.

An exersaucer built for TWO

2008-10-28T10:20:00.003-04:00

Oh Lord, I have a new addiction

2008-10-25T20:46:00.002-04:00

Cassidy loves playing in Jaxon's crib and loves his mobile. She's really starting to actually be interested in JAXON. He is certainly interested in her, his eyes follow her and he smiles at her constantly. She gives him kisses and likes to "pet" him.

My new addiction is Ebay. I know I'm a little late to the game, but I've been a bit leary of it over the years and decided to give it a go. My main reason for checking it out is that I'd like to sell a few things myself, and I figure what better way to see how this works than to BUY some goodies.

Who knew when I typed in "penguins" in the Infant/Toddler clothes I'd get so many choices. Or that when I looked for blanket sleepers for Jax, I'd get inundated with selections. My first couple purchases included Robeez-type crib shoes for Jax with Winnie the Pooh for $7 (incl. shipping), a lot of 7 blanket sleepers for $15 (incl. shipping).

After these purchases I realized I should look for some Xmas presents for Zac, he wanted a wireless mouse, well I got a wireless mouse and keyboard, Mario Party 8 for Wii, a new hockey bag at awesome prices even with paying for shipping.

So now I have to get some shipping supplies and start selling some clothes the little ones have outgrown. I have to be able to support my new little habit.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-15T08:22:00.004-04:00

Our annual trip to the pumpkin patch, Strawberry Acres. It's right up the road from us and we've been going there since Zac was little. I have fond memories of Strawberry Acres as it was where I had my first job as a teenager and worked with many of my friends.

Cassidy had a blast, she loved all the pumpkins and tried to pick them up, but they were "stuck". She was so interested in the pumpkins and the big slides that she was not cooperative when we wanted to take family pictures.

Here are my silly gooses, Zac and Cassidy with Shelby (their cousin).

Consignment Sale

2008-10-10T21:00:00.006-04:00

This is what $23.50 bought Jaxon today. A Xmas outfit with a onesie w/Santa that says Santa Loves Me, red/white pants and a santa hat that says My 1st Christmas; a 1st Thanksgiving onesie, orange pants, & a My little Turkey bib; a pair of overalls; and rompers -- one with a penguin, one with a moose in the snow, one with a racoon & turtle; a red/gray one with a car; and a romper for NEXT Christmas, missing from the picture is a pair of khakis with a dragon on them.

This is what 22.00 bought Cassidy: A pair of buster brown maryjanes, a halloween turtleneck with black pants with an orange spider on the pant leg (for next year); a Christmas shirt (since I tend to avoid dresses), a pair of Dora pjs, a fleece pair of PJs (next year), Blue & Magenta patchwork overalls w/matching shirt. I also pictured a pair of Pooh overalls I got at a yard sale last week for a dollar.

This consignment sale was awesome, it was extremely well organized and had over 170 vendors. The organizers make sure that the clothes is in excellent condition and I didn't see anything that wasn't perfect. They also had tons of strollers, bedding, toys, halloween costumes, exersaucers, pack n plays, etc.

Now if I wasn't so adverse to crowds and this sale was a bit closer to home, I'd head over on Sunday when alot of the items are half price (some vendors don't want to sell their stuff half price, so they pull their items off the racks); but it's only a two hour sale and I would imagine it gets PACKED. Also everything that doesn't sell Sunday gets marked to a dollar and that goes on sale Tuesday for a two-hour period. I'm sure it's a zoo that day too.

I signed up for their mailing list and am looking forward to their spring/summer sale.

A few random happenings

2008-10-02T15:52:00.006-04:00

Zac started high school last month, so far it's been going good. He decided to go to the technical institute for half the day in the hopes of figuring out what path he'd like to go on, he is in a rotation of 3 courses and at the end of this month he will decide what he likes best and hopefully he did well enough to be selected. His first rotation was CAD/Drafting, he loved it and the teacher, right now he is in his second rotation which is web design, he likes it and likes the teacher, but there are a few things that ruffle his feathers, so right now drafting is at the top of the list. In a week or so he will switch to engineering.

Back at the high school things are going extremely well, but it's the first marking period and Zac has a tendency to be very excited at the beginning of school and as the rest of the year progresses, the "I forgot" bug manages to nest in his brain. BUT, the best thing about the high school (and I think the middle schools instituted this year too) is that they have a website, I can log on to see attendance, which includes when he's tardy, when he leaves for an appt, etc. It posts all his grades ... including homework assignments, which is where he usually tends to falter. The only change has been he was doing too well in Language Arts (English for us old-timers), which is a HUGE shock, it is the subject he likes the least and struggles with. His teacher last year suggested he be put in an APPLIED class, which covers much of the same material as a regular College Prep class, but there's an extra teacher in the classroom to help, they read easier novels, vocab is easier, and they spend lots of times on parts of speech. Well, Zac did extremely well the first few weeks, so much so that he spent half the class reading a book because he finished his classwork so fast, so his teacher suggested bumping him up to a regular CP class, so we shall see. So far, so good. He brought ADVERB homework home one night this week for me to help with, yuck.

On to the little ones, I swear Cassidy has a switch in her head that as soon as Jaxon falls asleep it's time to make as much noise as possible. Whether it's tripping over thin air and falling into her toys or deciding to have the dogs chase her, which entails her screeching and the dogs barking, which then usually results with her crashing into something and then crying. Her vocabulary is growing every day and she's starting to ask questions, what doing? who dat? etc. Unless she wakes up earlier than her normal 7 a.m. she has dropped her morning nap and now just takes a long afternoon nap. Today I put her down at 1 and it's after 4. So this is when I get most things done, including LUNCH!

Sleeping Beauty

Jaxon, is getting more interactive, he is a very smiley boy. Loves when Daddy tickles his feet with his goatee. He's starting with the breathy coos and aahs and throaty giggles. He still is all over the map sleep wise, although his crankly/miserable nights are becoming less and less. If he's miserable it's because he is tired and doesn't relax enough to doze off.
He is an awful sleeper, compared to Zac and Cassidy. Even tho Cassidy hated to be swaddled, once she was swaddled, she'd fall asleep almost instantly. Not this little bugger. He fights being swaddled and doesn't sleep any better swaddled than not, he fights and grunts and cries til he is free, we were lucky to get a 3 hr stretch. So against, the recommendations he is now sleeping on his belly. Because we were so paranoid with all the studies about SIDS we went out and bought an Angel Care Monitor. It is amazing how that monitor can detect him breathing . . . but sure enough, when we forget to turn the monitor off when we pick him up it's a resounding, LOUD reminder of just how well it works. We had two false alarms, but those were when the little wiggle worm had scooched his way up into a corner and the monitor couldn't detect him. Stomach sleeping has led to 5-6 1/2 hr stretches of sleep at night. He is still a noisy/restless sleeper and we hear him pretty often throughout the night, but he can get himself back to sleep on his belly. He is a catnapper during the day some days and other days he takes longer naps. Another blessing is that he is finally starting to doze off in the swing and he loves to be in the bouncer, sometimes dozing off, other times just watching the fan or whatever is going on.

I have to admit that even tho I was the parent of two children before Jaxon was born, having two so close in age is ten times HARDER. The hardest thing right now is trying to spend some time with Cassidy, but it's getting better, and I know it is just a matter of time til Jax is on somewhat of a schedule and I can sit and color and read and play with her like she's used to. But I must admit she does pretty good at keeping herself busy without the TV, I only let her watch an hour or two of children's programs a day. And it's amazing how fast my living room turns into a disaster zone. Zac doesn't understand why every nite Chuck and I pick up every single book, little people, block, etc. and put them away .... because it's just gonna get messed up tomorrow . . . . I guess that's why the family room (his now bedroom) is always a mess and is something we hound him about constantly.

OK I'll shut up now . . . . but I had to take advantage of sleeping babies!

One Word Challenge

2008-10-01T21:24:00.004-04:00

Saw this on a friend's blog and I'm killing time til Jaxon needs his goodnite bottle, so here it goes.

One word challenge

I’m challenging all of my blogging friends to play along. This is not as easy as it looks!

Your hair? shaggy

Your mother? wonderful

Your father? strength

Your favorite thing (not including people)? sleep (I agree with ya Kelly!!)

Your dream last night? forgot

Your dream/goal? longevity

Your favorite drink? water

The room you're in? bedroom

Your ex? friend

Your hobby? sports

Your fear? abandonment

Where do you want to be in 6 year? healthier

Where were you last night? game

What you're not? skinny

Muffins? blueberry

One of your wish list items? ?

Time? short

Where you grew up? Laurys

The last thing you did? scrapbooked

Favorite weather? stormy

What are you wearing? PJs

Favorite book? The Stand

Your TV? huge

Your pet? bratty (ha ha, same as Kelly!)

Your computer? laptop

Your mood? exhausted

Missing someone? Grandma & Grandpa (couldn't just do one)

Your car? mini-van

Something you're not wearing? undies

Favorite store? Penneys

Love someone? totally

Favorite color/shade? purple

Last thing you ate? tacos

Your life? busy

Your friends? true

What are you thinking right now? sleep

What are you doing at this moment? Duh!

Your summer? Long!

Your relationship status? married

What do you do when you can't sleep? think

When is the last time you laughed? today

Last time you cried? today (I'm a sap!)

As if anyone needed proof I'm a KLUTZ

2008-09-27T22:15:00.003-04:00

Last week, Jaxon was starting to fuss for his bedtime bottle, he was in the swing. Chuck got up to get him out of the swing and I got up to go get him a bottle. As I stood up, with my laptop in hand, it just ever so slowly slipped out of my fingertips, falling about 6 inches to the floor. The worst thing was that it managed to flip in those 6 inches and land on the screen -- when I opened the laptop back up, the screen did not work and you could tell it had cracked in quite a few pieces.

Luckily, we have the accidental included in our warranty so it will get replaced for free, but I am now at the mercy of getting Chuck's work laptop on occasion or using our dinosaur of a desktop in our bedroom. So I'm patiently waiting for Best Buy to call to let me know I can have my laptop back.

Before I sign off, I want to leave you with a video clip that has two of my favorite things . . . . BON JOVI!!!! (YUM . . . DROOL . . . YUM!!) and baseball. I know most people find baseball boring, but after watching the love of your life play it for over 15 years (and I might add he was pretty damn good) and now our son is playing it, I have learned to love the sport immensely and am now an avid fantasy player also. Looking forward to my Dodgers in the post season. Go DODGERS!!!!!!!!!!

Cassidy's First Haircut

2008-09-11T12:25:00.004-04:00

Cassidy gets her first haircut, I had trimmed her bangs once, but it was time to tame the rest of her mop.

Trimming up the bangs. She sat on my lap and we used a lollipop to try to keep her as still as possible, but she was still a wiggle worm.

All done, not to bad. She wasn't upset or scared, but she did seem a bit intimidated, but hey, who can blame her, with some strange guy coming at her with a scissors.

One Month

2008-09-09T14:40:00.003-04:00

Here's our little man at one month old. He is still a fusspot at times, but seems to calm down quicker for us. He absolutely HATES being swaddles, but it's the only way we get him to sleep for more than 30 minutes. Cassidy would calm right down when we swaddled her, he screams bloody murder. During the day, I do put him on his belly and he is so content.

Here are my future rock stars. Goofing at Grandma & Grandpa's.

Rock on, Dude!

Even big brother gets in on the act!

Scrapbook of Cassidy's Summer

2008-09-03T15:39:00.003-04:00

Below are the scrapbook pages I made. I have about 7 scrapbooks for Zac, I have one for Cassidy, I used to do them all by hand, but now that I'm going to have to keep three scrapbooks up to date and digital pictures, I figured this would be easier.

I am changing formats from 12x12 to 8x11 because it will be much cheaper for me to print out the pages. I was worried about skimping on some elements, but in the day of digital pictures, I can crop and add as many pics to a page as I want and WITHOUT using scissors!!! Also, since it will be easier, I'll probably do more pages and keep up with it better, so I'm thinking it's a win-win for me.

2008-09-03T15:28:00.003-04:00

So why don't I take my own advice ???

2008-08-25T09:55:00.008-04:00

Our birth announcement, I made it using my scrapbooking program and printed them through Winkflash -- I usually use Shutterfly, but I found Winkflash and they are quite a bit cheaper for prints.

OK, so why must you torture me !!!!

My new favorite picture!!!

Even tho she's grinning here, she was not HAPPY that all we let her do at the pool was dip her feet. I can't swim for a few more weeks and Zac was off with the teenagers and Daddy had no intentions of getting in the pool, so poor CJ was not amused!!

So, the other day I made a comment that "The beauty of being the parent is that even if your child doesn't LIKE something, you know what's best!" Now, this was said about toddlers and bibs, and I know Cassidy would prefer to be bib-free, but seriously, who enjoys pre-treating every piece of laundry you throw in the wash, NO WAY. She wears a bib, unless it's a mess-free meal -- nuggets and fries (no ketchup!).

Anyway, here we are over two weeks since Jaxon has entered the picture and when I tried to swaddle him a couple times, he was NOT a happy camper (no surprise, Cassidy hated it too). Saturday was a rough night, he was up every 90 minutes, not hungry just fussy. So last night when he got up 30 mins after Chuck gave him a bottle I thought PHOOOOOOEY on this, I'm swaddling you. He basically slept through me swaddling him and settled immediately. I put him back in his crib before 2 a.m. and he slept til almost 5 a.m. WOOHOOO . . . . Chuck gave him a bottle and put him back to bed at 5:20 and he slept til 8:40 . . . . SO WHY!!! did it take me so long to remember how well swaddling worked with Cassidy. I know we have a ways to go til we get through the night, and that's OK, we expect that. But right now 3 hours of sleep sounds like HEAVEN.

There are plenty of things kids don't like, but we make them do it anyway, from swaddling, to bibs, to bike helmets and booster seats. . . . and since I'm the parent all I need to say is "BECAUSE I SAID SO!" hehehehe

One Week Old

2008-08-15T14:13:00.003-04:00

Zac and Jax, hanging out on the sofa. Zac loves to hold him, but it always takes him a bit to get comfortable. He needs a pillow under his arm. He also likes to lay on the sofa, with Jax sleeping between his legs.

Cassidy has her baby in the swing.

Jax's favorite place is in the bouncer. He takes his longest naps in there, so much so that at night we put the bouncer in his crib and he sleeps in that. I don't know how much of a bad habit this is going to be, but for now, he's happy and content and will sleep over 3 hrs in it, so it works for us!!!

Jaxon did have a follow-up with the pediatrician earlier this week to check on his jaundice. He got his heel pricked and the little bugger slept through the whole thing (better than he had slept the night before!). The bilirubin levels came back normal, so that was the end of the that.

While at the peds, they went to weigh him. After getting him naked, but the diaper, Chuck put him on the scale. I was sitting in the corner and saw Chuck shaking his head and looking at me. He mouths over to me "That can't be right" and the nurse says -- "Five pounds, three ounces" and I go, wait a minute. We left the hospital yesterday and he weighed 8 lbs, 6 oz. So she says batteries must be going, I'll get another scale, so Chuck picks Jaxon up as the nurse goes to the next room to get a scale. She comes back in the room just in time to hear Chuck going, "WOOOAH" as I look over and see Jaxon peeing all over Chuck (LMAO!!) and then heard a little splush as he poops on the floor. We all had a good laugh over that. Jaxon put on quite a show. And with a scale in working order, Jaxon weighed in at 8 lbs, 7 oz.

He is doing well and we are settling into a bit of a routine, but I'm spoiled right now because Chuck's been home. It'll be a bit more intimidating when next week rolls around and he goes back to work for a few days. At least I have another few weeks with Zac to help. For the most part Jaxon is a pretty content little guy, but he has no tolerance for diaper changes!!! And when he's hungry, we have about 60 seconds to get him a bottle. Luckily, just like his big brother and sister, he likes his formula right out of the fridge, so we keep bottles at the ready.

AND so far, he doesn't spit up . . . this is NOT at all like his siblings. I have a stash of burp clothes tho, just in case.

Jaxon James

2008-08-10T21:27:00.005-04:00

Jaxon in the NICU

Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 2:18 p.m. Jaxon James was born. He came into the world screaming his head off, and according to his daddy and his baby nurse there is no need for a baby monitor for this little guy and his healthy lungs!!! He had great apgar scores (8 & 9) but as he was being taken up to the nursery he started breathing fast. His respiration would vary between normal and fast most of the day and because of this, he was kept in the nursery and not allowed to come to the room with us. At about 9 pm they decided to send him to the NICU to be monitored.

At 5 a.m. the next morning I was told I could go visit Jax, so I headed over and finally got to hold him. For the most part he did pretty well over night with only a couple episodes of fast respiration. He was kept in the NICU til about 3 pm when he was finally allowed to come hang out in our room.

He was doing great, with no other signs of distress and spent that night in the regular nursery. He did have two episodes of fast resps, but he calmed down pretty quick and the peds felt it was just transitional from birth. Of course, he was given a few tests along the way because a heart murmur was also detected, so he had an ultrasound and an echo, which showed a tiny hole between his ventricles. The peds assured us that this had nothing to do with his breathing and was basically a non-issue. The hole would most likely repair itself, but even if it didn't it was so tiny that it wouldn't be an issue as Jaxon grows. We will follow up with a pediatric cardiologist in a few months just to make sure.

Big sister, Cassidy, is not all that impressed with her new baby brother. She wanted MOMMY!! She does say "baby" and will lay her head near him and saw "Awwww", but other than that, she doesn't bother. Although she is very much interested in the bouncy seat and swing, and likes putting stuffed animals in them.

Zac is enjoying his new "Bro". He's been a big help, whether it's getting things or keeping his little sister entertained.

Proud daddy, is hoping maybe this little guy will be a fan of one of his teams, although between the Pirates and the Dolphins, those are some slim pickings! We were informed that Jaxon shares his birthday with Sidney Crosby, so I'm thinking that means he'll be a Pens fan!

We are happy to be home and getting settled in. Cassidy is thrilled Mommy is home. Tomorrow we have to take Jax to the lab and get his heel pricked because he appears a bit jaundice, EVEN THO his blood levels are in the normal range, they just want to keep a close eye on that. After a couple days of sleepiness in the hospital, now that we are home he's eating every two hours (instead of the 3-4 at the hospital).

He Dropped

2008-07-28T15:56:00.005-04:00

Well, this is the first pregnancy I could actually tell if the baby dropped or not. I have a hard time remembering Zac, but I know Cassidy I carried completely different then this booger. I could have coasted through Cassidy's pregnancy without anyone really knowing I was preggers (just fat!) . Not this pregnancy, even tho I didn't gain much weight (14 lbs) it's all in front. Last night I had contractions on and off all night, and he was a-wiggling like mad. When I got up this morning I definitely noticed that he had dropped . . . and as if I didn't frequent the bathroom enough as it was, I'm in there even more!!!

To all my Feb 07 moms who visit, I have to say you guys rock. For whatever reason I just can't enjoy this new due date board. I will admit this has been the most physically challenging pregnancy, but I refuse to complain. If nothing else, those 13 years of infertility have taught me that every little twinge (or STABBING ;-) pain) is a reminder of the baby growing inside me.

Here are some pics of Cassidy in her room. She loves her big books, we have three of them. One is Richard Scary, the other two are dinosaur books with basic words/colors, etc. They are as big as her, Zac loved these books, so I guess that's why they were one of the few things I kept.

Odds & Ends

2008-07-18T21:50:00.003-04:00

Ain't I precious!!! Bathtime is always fun. Ask her if she wants a bath and she goes running to her room for you to get her NAKED! Then she comes bounding into the bathroom. You better have the tub ready because she's ready to jump in. Of course, then there's the fun of trying to get her out. She's also pretty good about washing her hair and pouring water on her head to rinse, she doesn't seem to mind.

Tonite, Mom asked Zac to bring up the Legos that have been sitting in the garage for YEARS. These were Zac's toys from when he was little. He was a big dinosaur fan, so there are some cool dinosaurs with the blocks. Cassidy didn't really get the hang of clicking the blocks together, but she enjoyed taking them apart and watching Zac build things.

Cassidy also liked the Legos with wheels and would push them around and go vroom vroom!! That's my girl!!!

On the bargain hunting end, I got two packs of Huggies diapers today for $2 thanks to $15.98 in CVS Extra Cash Bucks. Chuck looked at the receipt when I came home and asked, did you use your check card or did you have cash. I said it cost $2, I had cash and he said "WHAT? for two packs of diapers!" hehehe

Vacation

2008-07-11T13:18:00.009-04:00

Well, we finally got to get away for a few days. We were all looking forward to it. We went to Seaside Heights, NJ. Cassidy was on the beach and saw the ocean for the first time in February in Virginia. Of course, it was too cold to really enjoy, so this time she couldn't wait to get into the water. Her first impression "COLD!". She loved the sand and had to taste it.

She enjoyed playing with all her sand toys.

Much to the dismay of her big brother (and his best friend who we brought along), Cassidy's attention span at the beach is much like her mother's -- SHORT. After a couple hours of sand and sun, she was crawling back in her wagon and wanting to go.

Since she decided to boycott naps on this trip, trying to entice her to stay on the beach did not meet with much success. So the teens were NOT happy campers. I can't blame Ryan, because he's not used to having to plan around a toddler, and even tho Zac is used to it, it still was annoying.

So we headed back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. After dinner we walked the boardwalk, when Cassidy wanted out of the stroller, the boys took her down on the beach. She loved running around in the sand, and the boys tossed a ball around. But since there was she didn't nap well, it called for an early evening. She wouldn't settle, so Daddy had to take her for a ride to fall asleep. Our first attempt was unsuccessful, she apparently cried for "Mommy" while driving around, so Daddy came back for reinforcements and the 2nd snooze cruise was successful and she slept through the night. The boys enjoyed their evening in the pool.

Day 2, we went to the aquarium. It was a nice relaxing time. Even the boys had fun, apparently little boys never outgrow their obsession with SHARKS!! Cassidy enjoyed the fish.

Cassidy catnapped to and from the aquarium and after lunch she fell asleep on the way back to the hotel, so we were hopeful we could put her down and the boys and Chuck would head off to the beach while Mommy napped along with Cassidy. HA! Cassidy had other ideas, she popped right up when we got back to the hotel. The boys headed to the beach, and Mommy thought she'd get the stinker back to sleep -- HA! again. So after awhile Mommy & Cassidy headed to the beach.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!

So back at the beach, Cassidy had fun running around, chasing seagulls, and playing in the sand. Zac and Ryan did some boogie boarding, but it was still pretty cold. They collected tons of clam shells (thankfully, Ryan took those all home with him!)

When miss Cranky got going again, we appeased her for a bit with snacks and sandcastles. No surprise that the best part of the sandcastles was knocking them over.

Zac also spent a good part of the time looking for those little sand crabs, he had some luck. That night we went to a seafood place (YUM) and hung out on the boardwalk. The boys were obsessed with coral necklaces and shark teeth and they went into every jewelry store on the boardwalk. I told Zac more interested in jewelry than me! It was a very cool night. And since once again there were no naps, we went back to the hotel early, with the plan of getting her to sleep. It was fireworks night, so I was going to stay at the hotel with Cassidy and Chuck was going to go back up the boardwalk with the boys for the fireworks. Cassidy fell asleep quickly and was out like a light, but of course now Mother Nature had some tricks for the boys and it started to rain. So they decided to hang out by the pool, instead of going back up to the boardwalk. The rain was minimal, so the fireworks did go off, and the boy got to see them from the deck level of the hotel.

Zac's big find, a DEAD crab. ICK. The last day we went up to the beach early, spent a couple hours til lunch time. Dropped the boys at the hotel and did a McDs run, hoping someone would fall asleep. Well she did, but as soon as we went to put her down she popped up, what a STINKER. After lunch, Chuck and the boys went back to the beach for a couple hours. Got even more shells.

We did check out early, just because of sleeping issues Chuck & I didn't sleep well either because of her restlessness at night). And I'm sure Ryan thinks Zac's mom is the biggest b!tch, because they just didn't always get the concept that it was everyone's vacation, not just theirs, and we had to take Cassidy into consideration. It was still nice to get away. Next time we will definitely splurge for a bigger/divided room, we think just because it was such close quarters, Cassidy was too nosey to sleep, afraid she'd miss something.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE! I do wish Cassidy was happier in it, but I love how Zac looks, it also is a perfect example of how the beach was. One minute Cassidy was all smiles and happy, and then BAM.

We were pleasantly surprised tho, when we came home, that when we put her to bed, she happily went in her crib and didn't make a peep and was out for the count, and today she's gone down for both her naps without a fuss, so we obviously didn't RUIN her sleep schedule for those couple days, cause we were a bit worried.

I don't know when we'll head to the beach again, after a few hours there, I remember why we don't go to the beach often. I am not a beach person, SAND yuck. Especially when as the parent, you have the grand job of getting sand out of every knook and cranny.

Champions!

2008-06-27T21:13:00.004-04:00

It's hard to look at this picture of Zac and not realize how big he is. He is now as tall as me. I forget at times because he can still be such an immature brat, but when he takes the time to "clean up" it shocks me!

Here he is with his proud little sister who really wanted to grab (and I'm sure taste) his trophy. She adores Zac, he is so silly with her and she loves it. Sometimes he can be a bit rough, but it doesn't bother her a bit, the rougher the better!!!

Congrats Zac and the Laurys Knee-Hi Team

2008-06-18T15:00:00.002-04:00

Zac's baseball team won their season. It was close and came down to the last game, but his team did it. They will be playing an all-star team made up of the other teams on Sunday, and that will be it for the season. I'm hoping to get more pictures (with trophies!) at that game.

Zac had his best season, he really hit the ball well this year. He mostly caught, sharing duties behind the plate with another teammate. He occasionally would play in the outfield late in the game as a defensive move and had one pitching outing (much to my dismay, it makes me way too nervous when he pitches!! EGADS! He did ok, but I was happy when it was over.)

He is looking forward to a couple free baseball weeks, and then hopefully if all goes well, he'll be playing fall ball. Since he is not playing travel hockey this year, he has time to play fall ball. He's looking forward to it. The one thing that baseball has over hockey for him, is that it is more local, so he's with more school buddies, hockey is more obscure so the kids are from a wider area . . . another plus for this baseball team is that it is much more laid-back and no kids (or parents) have egos! It's a recreational league so there's a lot less pressure.

Well, It Figures

2008-06-06T20:37:00.003-04:00

. . . . It looks like we are going to be having a miserably hot summer. I mean, seriously, it's the first weekend of June and they are already talking about our first heatwave. We normally don't even get near the 90s til sometime in July. But since I'm pregnant, I guess we will have to have an obnoxiously hot summer. I was pregnant and had Zac in the worst winter here in PA. The most snow we ever had. The winter I had Cassidy was pretty mild, except 2 days before she was born when we had a terrible snow/ice storm, luckily most of the roads were cleared by the time we headed to the hospital.

So in preparation for the weather, we decided to go look for a kiddie pool for Cassidy. Well we found this cute play area that sprinkles water, there's one spot that gets a bit deeper (probably 2-3 inches) with a little cabana shelter, it has a shark to ride, an elephant slide, palm tree, and a cone with starfish to stack. It stays hooked up to the hose so the water continues to sprinkle.

Well, as everyone knows, water from the hose is cold. We set it up and took her outside, thinking she'd run for the hills, because we hadn't let the water warm up. No way, she was all for it. In the beginning, she was a bit timid, but then she must have gotten used to the water and started having a blast. Zac came out and splashed around with her. Cassidy bumped into him and gave him a bloody nose, with Zac it doesn't take much.

I'll probably regret not getting something deeper that I could at least put my feet in to cool off, but after watching her the two of them goofing off for about 40 minutes, I'll survive.

It's Baseball Season

2008-06-06T20:31:00.003-04:00

Well, Zac's baseball season has been pretty darn good. The sad thing is at this age level more and more kids drop out of baseball, so there are only four teams in his league. He plays each team 6 times. At the moment, Zac's team is in first place, they beat the 2nd place team last night in a nail-biter and play that same team again on Sunday. There will be no playoffs in this league so if his team wins the season, they win the championship. He's pretty psyched about it, his baseball teams have done well over the years and made it to the playoffs, but never past the second round.

I'm also enjoying watching Chuck chase Cassidy around at the games, while still trying to pay attention and yell at Zac (of course!). After playing baseball for 35 years and then coaching Zac, it's been hard on him to sit on the sidelines. But this is payback for the 9 years Chuck played baseball (36+ games a summer) while I spent the games entertaining/chasing Zac.

Yes, I'm still here!

2008-06-06T20:23:00.002-04:00

It has been quite a while since I posted anything. This is in part due to the fact that my old laptop died again, we took it back to Best Buy, which has been especially great at timely fixes. We did point out, however, that this was the FOURTH time with the same issue (power/power cord). Well, after two weeks of hearing nothing, Chuck called and asked what's up. . . . well sure enough, the issue fell under the lemon policy and I was entitled to a replacement laptop. It worked out quite well, I had my old laptop almost 3 years, the warranty was due to run out in 2 weeks, so the timing was perfect. So I now have a new laptop, which was free . . . we did shell out some $ for another 3 year warranty, but still a sweet deal. Of course, in 3 years even a low-end laptop is way faster and better than my old one, so woohoo for me. The only downside is that I lost a few pictures and all my music, 3,000 songs plus. I have most of my music on my ipod so I just have to figure out how to get the tunes off the ipod and on this pc. It is doable, I just have to sit down and DO it.

2008-04-18T13:29:00.006-04:00

Ohhh Bubbles!!!

Comet, he's my buddy!!!

Zac and Cassidy playing Nintendo DS

The Easter Bunny

2008-03-15T15:13:00.003-04:00

We decided to top by the Easter Bunny at the mall. I definitely didn't think she's take a liking to him considering her complete hysteria over Santa Claus. Luckily, there was no one in line for the bunny so she could take her time, so she looked at him for a few seconds and then waved at him. She seemed happy, I was sure the second I picked her up to set him on his lap she'd scream, but nope, she was happy sitting on that fuzzy bunny. So we got a wonderful pic and a couple little presents and then when I went to get her off the bunny's lap, THAT's when she started wailing, she didn't want to leave. LOL

Let there be Cake!

2008-03-15T15:02:00.008-04:00

C'mon!!!! Let me at it!!!

OK, Ummmm I'm not sure if I want to try this?

Well, ok, I'll touch it.

Hey, this isn't half bad.

Look, I ate the WHOLE thing!

1 Year Photo Session

2008-02-29T15:00:00.001-05:00

Ain't she too cute. Man, it's hard to go through and pick out what pictures to get, luckily the studio limits the shoot to 6 shots. I could have had more if I wanted to, but she was finished with those so fast and was so happy I wasn't going to push my luck.

I love her toes, I know most Moms dress up their girls in dresses for pix, but it's just not me, I wanted her in her faded overalls and her bare tootsies showing. In the meantime, I'll just keep dreading the day she turns into a girly-girly and wants bows in hair and dresses on (GAG!!!!)

I'd recommend Kiddie Kandids (inside Babies R Us) stores to anyone, but I think the biggest trick to good pictures is planning ahead. I made the appt for 45 mins after naptime so I had a few minutes to dress her, give her a snack, and head off to the store. There was no wait, I even got in a few minutes early. That all went smoothly, Chuck offered to go along and I said nah that's ok. But I forgot I had to sit down and pick out the package and the pictures/borders/effects. Well since Cassidy was nice and rested, she didn't want to sit in my lap while Mommy picked out pictures. LOL oh well it was ALMOST perfect.

I'll post some pictures with cake in a few days, we are having a belated b-day party for her on March 2. After I set it up I realized I probably picked that day subconsciously as a way to celebrate Jon Bon Jovi's 46th birthday!!! LOL

BIRTHDAYS

2008-02-26T11:08:00.008-05:00

Well, Zac is entering his second year of the teens. FOURTEEN. We sat down and picked out his high school schedule for next year. OMG where did the years go.

Cassidy turned one. She celebrated in Virginia with her big brother's hockey team for most of the day, then we went to a quiet dinner at TGIF with her godmother and one of her sons. The staff came out to sing to her and she had some fun playing with a piece of angel food cake with chocolate mousse swirled inside. I love her Eeyore outfit, it's Zac's outfit and he wore it when he turned one
.

We stayed in Chesapeake Bay and it was lovely. We visited the aquarium and stopped at the beach -- Cassidy's first visit to the beach. She would have went right in, she didn't seem to mind it was only 60 degrees

We got her a tickle me Elmo and a Backyardigans radio. We are having a little get together on the weekend (I know a couple weeks late) with few family and friends because we got some hassle that we didn't have a party -- like she'll remember! But I do want to get her a cake and watch her make a mess, so that will be fun.

Apparently I've been Slacking Off

2008-01-30T16:04:00.000-05:00

I was "gently" reminded to update my blog, so here's the latest! LOL

OK, the puppy is doing well, HOWEVER, she has giardia, which is an intestinal parasite that gave her diarrhea, once discovered it was cleared up quickly with just a couple doses of antibiotics, she still has a few more days to finish the prescription, but she's doing great. Of course, giardia, is also a parasite that humans can get and since we had the puppy almost 10 days before she showed symptoms, I took some diaper scrapings (Marybeth I know you can sympathize with this! -- and for the rest of you, yes, I know it's TMI) in to be tested yesterday and we are waiting results. Cassidy and Corki share their toys, so there was a small chance the parasite was passed on to Cassidy.

UPDATE: Received her results and the parasite test was NEGATIVE!!! So that's great, I've been disinfecting and sanitizing everything. I'm going to go through and sanitize all the chew toys once more.

On the pregnancy front I have to say today was the WORST day of any of my pregnancies. I had to go have blood drawn for a screening, they did do a draw last week, but unfortunately there it clotted, too much hemoglobin; and they needed to do another draw. Well anyone who knows me knows I have ONE phobia and it's needles. Well I went this morning after drinking copious amounts of water the last 24 hours and peeing every 15 minutes. Well, the girl couldn't find a vein, tried one arm, then the 2nd, I was in tears. It wasn't painful, she didn't hurt me, but OMG I hate this process so much I need someone quick and efficient. So she went me back to the waiting room, she refused to stick me again. They were going to see if they could send me to the lab upstairs. After a few minutes she came out with 3 options, reschedule when another girl was in the office to do the stick, go upstairs to the lab, or she could prick my finger now and get fill five circles on a card with my blood. Well this was a no brainer for me, prick my finger!!!!
It took a bit to get enough blood to fill the five circles but was way better than getting stuck. Now I will be in a panic the first week of March when I have to have the 2nd panel drawn by the same office.

A couple Xmas Pics

2008-01-18T15:39:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year

2008-01-18T15:24:00.000-05:00

I know I've been slacking in the blogging department. Sorry!!! I am getting over my morning sickness and starting to feel a bit like my old self. Of course, this is just in time for our new addition --- a puppy!!!

In November, our dear sweet Cricket went back to her breeder to have her second litter. She had some complications, her 6th puppy got terribly stuck and they had to do a c-section. Unfortunately, the 6th & 7th puppies didn't make it. Cricket and the 5 remaining pups were doing fine, however, a few days after the delivery Cricket got lethargic, wouldn't eat, they rushed her to the vet and within a few hours her heart stopped. They believe it was a delayed reaction to the anesthesia used for the c/s. They did an autopsy and couldn't find any other problems. So the breeder offered us a puppy if we wanted one. After the initial shock of losing Cricket, we decided on getting one of her pups. Of course, we had no clue I was preggers at the time. Luckily, Cricket's half sister, Sydney had a litter of pups a few days before Cricket and readily adopted Cricket's pups. The breeder was a bit worried as the pups weren't thriving. But Sydney did a wonderful job and all the pups survived. We got the runt of the litter, the only surviving female. She's just adorable. We already see some of Cricket's habits in her.

Hockey season is winding down, thank goodness, I've had enough. After 8 years, I've had enough. The new coach has decided to move Zac to offense and Zac's not happy. We decided that this will be his last year of travel, in a way it's good that Zac's not happy, it hasn't been hard to persuade him to just play school hockey next year. There is such a lack of commitment from the coaches this year, they show up for practices when it's convenient, there is no sense of responsibility, coaches kids miss the most practices and play the most minutes, while kids who never miss a practice are benched. Yes, I'm a whiney mom. If we were a team in the hunt for the playoffs I could understand sitting kids, but we suck, there are only 4 teams below us. Out of 16. The love of the game has been destroyed for Zac this year and that's what really pisses me off. I know he's not the best kid on the team, but attendance and behavior should count for something, oh gosh I better stop now I could continue rambling on and on about the inadequate leadership of the morons running the team!!!

Cassidy is doing great. She's running now. She's almost completely on real food, we still have some jarred food which she'll get til we run out. It's hard to believe she'll be a year old next month. Of course, we'll get to celebrate her one year birthday at the hockey tourney in Virginia! LOL. She loves the new puppy, but they both are rough on each other. Cassidy thinks a sleeping puppy is something to be stepped on or rolled on. And of course the puppy (named Corki) thinks Cassidy's hands are yummy.

Merry Christmas Santa

2007-12-01T09:32:00.000-05:00

Well Cassidy didn't like Santa one bit! Even when we enlisted big brother, Zac to help. She still wasn't happy sitting next to that guy!

The Mondschein Family gets ELFED!!!

2007-11-20T14:58:00.001-05:00

Check out our fun link!

Mondschein Elves

9 Months

2007-11-19T19:34:00.001-05:00

Here are some pictures: Cassidy enjoying some baked beans!! Cassidy, Zac & Pablo from the Backyardigans at Dan's Camera City, and our Silly Girl posing on my old rocking chair.

We are enjoying each stage as Cassidy grows. She's walking well now. She is still a bit wobbling and falls on her bum quite a bit, but it doesn't stop her.

We will be spending Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa and then stop over and visit Grammy later in the day. The weekend will be busy with Zac's hockey tournament in Aston, GO COMETS!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Cassidy's walking

2007-11-05T14:58:00.000-05:00

OMG, I can't believe it, she's walking and she's only 8 1/2 months old. She's been taking steps now for a couple weeks, but the last week she's really been putting those steps together.

The video above is only a few seconds (it's with my digital camera, not my video camera because I can't find the correct cable for the camcorder). It's a bit dark and grainy, but you can see her walking to me, then crashing into me, LOL.

She lets go and walks across the room. Of course she still falls, but usually on her bum, so it's not too bad. She stands for a long while too and can correct her balance. I'm in amazement, she has no fear, which is not necessarily a good thing.

I know I'm a bit behind on the blogging, I've been spending my spare time on doing a Xmas stocking. I will be getting up Halloween pics soon and some hockey pics.

Halloween

2007-11-05T09:33:00.001-05:00

Here are some pictures of our little pumpkin. Can you believe she's 8 months old already. Trick or Treat was a washout, but we took some pictures before. Also included a couple pics from Strawberry Acres with the two of them, so sweet!

PUMPKIN PATCH

2007-10-16T22:05:00.002-04:00

OK, we're ready to go pick out a couple PUMPKINS!!!!!!

There were so many pumpkins, it was very hard to pick a couple. Mommy always likes to pick out one round squatty pumpkin and one tall narrow pumpkin.

Here are the pumpkins we picked. I think Zac did a good job picking out our pumpkins.

Standing . . . for a few seconds

2007-10-09T21:15:00.001-04:00

Well she keeps getting braver and braver, she shows no fear of letting go and doesn't mind landing pretty hard on her tush. Luckily, she's only had one nose dive, poor baby.

She likes her Pablo (from the Backyardigans) and if she reaches for it, she'll let go and hold it with both hands before she realizes she's not holding on and then BOOM she drops on her bum.

She also loves her giraffe, she doesn't push the balls through yet, but she loves to pull up on him and bang his head to make music.

Look out Cricket

2007-10-06T21:24:00.001-04:00

Cassidy decide to check out Cricket's crate.

Autumn is here!

2007-10-01T22:10:00.000-04:00

Here is Miss Cassidy showing off part of our Fall display in the front yard. How about those snake gourds Zac grew. I love this time of year, it's cooler but still gorgeous enough to be outside.
Here's Cassidy and my crazy pumpkin lantern I got on clearance last year for $5.

She's crawling all over the place now and she's starting to cruise, she has no fear and will let go and land smack on her butt! Oh well, she doesn't seem to mind.

Catching Up

2007-10-01T21:56:00.001-04:00

Well we are all healthy and happy again. Here are some pics I've taken in the last couple weeks.

Here is Cassidy showing off her cute "cherry" hat another hockey mom made for her. Thank you, Robin, Cassidy will definitely be wearing it at the rinks.

Here is Cassidy asleep in her crib. She is starting to fall asleep on her on for naps. I give her her teddy bear blankie, her Winnie the Pooh and Tigger and she plays for a few minutes before she falls asleep. I don't know how this position is comfortable, but we have found her asleep like this several times.
Here is my girl in her Raiders jersey!!!! Go RAIDERS!!! I had to put the Raiders Jersey on her (it's a hand-me-down from Zac) since my Raiders played Daddy's Dolphins and the Raiders kicked butt!!! WOOHOOO. I don't care if they win another game all year, hehehehe.

YUCK

2007-09-22T14:17:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I updated, Chuck and I have both been sick, I am getting over a sinus infection and Chuck is recovering from a bronchial infection. Neither one of us have been to the dr for a "cold" in over 10 years, so I guess we were due. Luckily, both kids did much better than we did.

Cassidy had her 6 month well appt (yes, a month late). She's growing like a weed, 2 inches longer than last month -- 27 1/4 inches. She gained 2 lbs -- 18 lbs, 5 oz.

She also started to pull herself up to standing and takes a step or two while holding on but she's definitely not cruising around yet. Also she has figured out how to sit up from her belly, which is awesome, we don't have to keep sitting her up to play anymore.

She's a good traveler and such a happy girl, since we usually are traveling to at least one hockey game a weekend, it's great that she has such a laid-back temperament.

2007-09-06T16:08:00.001-04:00

First time in the big bathtub! Cassidy has been getting baths in the kitchen sink for all this time. Yesterday I went out and bought a seat for the bathtub. I must say at first she wasn't sure about this. But as soon as she saw me with the camera she turned into the true camera ham she is and started grinning. Then big bro joined her. She loves the water, but I will say that we will probably stick with the kitchen sink most nights. Filling the tub nightly takes to much water.

How time flies!

2007-09-06T16:05:00.000-04:00

First I have to say I "borrowed" this idea from another February baby and Mom (thanks Thatcher & Angela). Here is a picture of our "big" little girl. The first picture she is about 2 weeks old and the second picture is 6 months 2 weeks. Ohhhhhhh how time flies. They grow so fast.

Back to School

2007-09-05T14:32:00.001-04:00

Well Zac's gourd plant has been very productive, here is a picture of one of the snake gourds and this one isn't even one of the biggest ones. I have no idea what we are going to do with these monstrosities.

Zac was happy to start back up to school, he is happy with his team, a few of his buddies are in some of his classes. He says just one teacher (social studies) seems like she'll be really tough.

Other than that, things are moving along smoothly. Cassidy has FINALLY rolled from her back to her belly. She now likes to sleep on her sides and we even found her on her belly once. She rocks when she's on all fours and she scoots a bit, but no crawling.

Knoeble's Grove

2007-08-25T22:53:00.001-04:00

We went to Knoeble's Grove on Thursday, Zac took his best buddy along. They had a blast, as you can see, they also got soaked. they went on the "Skloosh" ride several times. And then would stand on the bridge to get completely drenched by the next boat down the hill.

This was the first time we ever went to this park, it's about 2 hrs from home. The nice thing is that there is no admittance fee to get into the park. You can buy all-day passes for the kids and then if we wanted to go on a ride or two we could just buy individual tickets. The boys had a blast and rode all the thrill rides. Dad went on a few, too.

Cassidy enjoyed the day, she slept through a good part of it, but she did get to go on a couple of carousels. The first one she liked (pic Mom & Cassidy), we had her on a stationary horse. But the second carousel the horse went up and down, she wasn't 100% sure of that. She didn't cry, but we couldn't get one of her precious smiles out of her either (pic Dad & Cassidy.

CHEESE!

2007-08-25T22:44:00.001-04:00

Here's a picture of my bottom teeth. Mommy had a hard time getting a good picture of my pearly whites, I would smile, but she'd either get a picture of my lip or my tongue.

Here's a little idea of what I can and can't do at 6 months.

I can sit by myself for quite a bit, I enjoy playing in my crib or on a blanket with toys.
I roll from belly to back, because I do NOT like to be on my belly.
I feed myself some finger foods -- Gerber Cartwheels and Teething Biscuits.
I babble quite a bit, say ada-da-da and do-do, the B and the P sounds too.
I am sleeping through the night (had a rough patch w/the teeth, but that's over)
I am eating solids a couple times a day.
I can pull myself up to standing, and like to "walk" when someone holds my hands.

I haven't rolled from my back to my belly. (why should I, I don't like being on my belly)
I don't say the M sound yet .... Mommy's waiting!
I don't crawl, but I do rock when I'm up on my hands and news.

So this is a bit of what's happening with me.

Grandma's B-day

2007-08-17T22:08:00.000-04:00

Happy birthday Grandma! We went to our local zoo (honestly, "zoo" is being generous, it used to be called a game preserve, but the powers that be decided to change the name, there are about 20 different types of animals, far from a zoo in my opinion).

It was Cassidy's first trip there and she enjoyed it just fine. Well at least half of it, she slept through the other half.

The Lorikeet Landing is a new addition to the zoo this year and was certainly a hit with the kids. It was so uch fun to see the kids' faces when the birds landed on them. This was a first for my niece and nephew (Zac fed the Lorikeets at the San Diego zoo years ago).

My Dad (Grandpa) and Me in the back.
My Mom (Grandma), Zac, and Cassidy middle.
Dylan and Shelby on the ground.

Grandma had a great birthday and was so happy to spend it with her grandkids.

We also got a great look at one of the wolves, they usually just lounge under the trees up on the hill. But one of them was thirsty and came down to the water and had himself a drink.

6 Months Old!

2007-08-17T22:02:00.001-04:00

I can't believe Cassidy is six months old. Wow that went quick.

She's been having a few restless nights, and the worst was the mornings of her 6 month b-day. She would fall asleep but as soon as we put her down in her crib she'd be up screaming. Took us almost two hours to get her settled, finally crawling back into bed after 3 a.m.

When she got up for the day around 7 a.m. and I was giving her her bottle I felt her gums, like I have been doing the last couple weeks and what did I find; not one but TWO PEARLY WHITES, no wonder she was so cranky.

Amateur Photo Hour !

2007-08-07T21:20:00.001-04:00

Monday afternoon, I decided to get creative. I got a sheet from Zac's bed and draped it over my sofa and then got my grandfather's old washtub with some other bath accessories and just added one happy baby.

She is a ham. Zac helped me by standing next to me with toys to get her to look and smile.

Digital cameras ROCK. I also love Shutterfly, they have a photo studio (editor) that allows you to make collages. I will still do some studio pictures because there is no way too match all the props they have, but I can save some
The picture of the two of them I love, I saw a shot like this in one of the rooms of the OBs office when I went a few times and I loved it.

I don't have enough wall and table-top space to put all these pictures!

Cassidy's "House"

2007-08-04T22:27:00.000-04:00

Here is Cassidy's "House". She has just started enjoying playing in it. She loves the mailbox because I'm always putting different toys in it and she reaches up and pulls then out (and then has to chew on them, OF COURSE). Also if you can see in the pictures there are some veggies in her garden behind her, she likes to pick those. She spins the birds a bit, but not too much. Last night, we ate dinner while she stayed in her room and played in her house all by herself.

I found this little house at a church yard sale for $10. I was absolutely thrilled. I saw a couple on Craigslist and they were posted for $30 or more and were missing pieces. This one has all the pieces (veggies and letter) and other than one little crayon mark is perfect.

If you look in the corner, you can see Cassidy has a visitor. Comet gets excited about the house because the doorbell and the little blue bird sticking out of the birdhouse above the veggies squeak like his balls. He's always ready for a game of fetch and is disappointed by all the squeaky toys Cassidy has.

Standing

2007-08-04T22:20:00.000-04:00

Here's our little peanut who always wants to be standing (notice the big grin, she's such a ham for the camera). She tries to pull up on anything she can reach. Here she is holding on to her crib.

We are trying to encourage crawling, but it's a struggle because she doesn't like to be on her belly, if we get her on all fours, she'll stay there for about 30 seconds before she pushes herself over onto her back.

Of course, she hasn't figured out how to get down yet. But that's what Mommy and Daddy are for!

Life is Rough!

2007-08-02T21:53:00.001-04:00

Wow is it hot! Luckily, Cassidy's godmother invited us over for a dip in the pool. Zac had spent the night, last night and enjoyed lots of pool time. I love this little float, it keeps her nice and shaded. She kicks her feet and enjoyed herself for quite a while, but all that swimming around works up a thirst. And about an hour later she drank a bottle and crashed for a while.

Visitors ?

2007-08-02T21:47:00.001-04:00

We have four stray kittens taking up residence under our trees that border our property. The neighbor behind us removed all his trees (they were huge and he had a big crane come and lift them out after they were cut). Well apparently that's where the kittens were living, and I guess they decided our tree line was move-in ready. The spooky thing is this is where we buried Marty. As cute as they are, I wish they'd move on, they tease the dogs because they know the dogs are behind a fence and they are near where I have my bird feeders. Oh well, hopefully they will move on. Of course, Zac wants to adopt all four! UGH!

Ready for the Ice

2007-07-30T22:26:00.001-04:00

Get me some skates!!!!!

Marty

2007-07-26T15:17:00.001-04:00

Marty was our second cat. He was a brat since we brought him home. I couldn't resist this scrawny looking cat at the pet store and decided to rescue him. Little did we know this scrawny cat would become our chubba-wubba cat weighing over 20 pounds.

Marty was not a people cat, he preferred the company of our other cat and even our dogs at the time (Malcolm and Annie, our dachshunds). But he tolerated Zachary better than we could have imagined. He let Zac sit on him and he would nap with him occasionally.

Over the years he would stay in the basement and rarely come up and visit, and when we got our second corgi, Cricket; well, apparently, that was the LAST STRAW. Both cats rarely came up and spent any time with the us humans anymore.

Well in the last week or so we noticed Marty was not doing well. He hasn't been a spunky cat for a long time now, but when he stopped eating, we knew it wouldn't be long. This chubba cat lived to eat. So he spent his last week or so visiting with us, RARE and even went outside when we were taking pics of the gourd plant.

Last night, I heard a strange growl while giving Cassidy her bedtime bottle. When Chuck and Zac came home from hockey I asked Chuck to check on Marty and he was gone, laying peacefully by the water dish.

He went so quietly and peacefully, he let go himself. So unlike our dogs who we have had to help cross the rainbow bridge. Tonite, we will bury another friend in our yard. We will miss his daily "raaaaaas".

Travis, seems to miss him already, heading upstairs to peek at us, still leery of the dogs, but hopefully they will learn to get along. Travis is much more a people cat.

Goodbye Marty, may you find Annie and Malcolm to play with as you cross the Rainbow Bridge.

Zac and the Gourd Plant

2007-07-23T15:57:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture of Zac's gourd plant. It has taken off like a WEED. Hopefully, it will produce some gourds. I told him next year he has to try a pumpkin plant and see if he has success with that.

We can hardly contain the vines from this plant, it would take over the sidewalk, driveway and front yard if we let it, we keep wrapping it around stakes.

We could lose Cassidy in the gourd plant!

BARGAINS and BITER BISCUITS

2007-07-20T16:52:00.000-04:00

Mommy got me these yummy biter biscuits. She says I'm still not quite ready for them on a regular basis, but she let me give try one yesterday. I thought it was pretty yummy, but I kept dropping it and wasn't interested in finding it. As you can see in the one picture, I did have an avid audience of one. He was certainly hoping I'd drop it on the floor, but he was polite, he didn't try to take it out of my hand. When I was finished, I was quite messy!

Mommy went yard saling this morning with Grandma. She stopped at two close to the house and they had nothing good. Grandma told Mommy about some in Schnecksville and boy oh boy was Mommy glad they did. There were two different houses and did they have LOTS of baby clothes. The first house had more boy stuff, but Mommy found a couple nice outfits. The second house had all girl clothing. Mommy filled a bag with clothes, a few winnie the pooh outfits and one is a purple velvet jumper with Eeyore, Pooh and Piglet with a Xmas tree and Snowmen.

She also bought me a pumpkin costume for Halloween. It's cute. When she came home she went to put the pumpkin hat on my head and it barely fit. So Grandma will need to make an alteration so it will fit my big head come Halloween.

Oh before I forget, Mommy has been giving me a sippy cup after I have my food. I'm finally starting to get the hang of it.

WARNING: NAKED BABY

2007-07-18T22:43:00.001-04:00

Cassidy has discovered her feet! She is such a camera ham like her big brother and Daddy. I swear the minute she hears me turn it on and hold it up she starts grinning.

She's such a happy baby! and she LOVES to be naked!

2007-07-17T21:26:00.001-04:00

Harry Potter and the gang, all grown up! We went to see the new movie. Zac has been a huge Harry Potter fan since the first book, which we read together as a family. He didn't read The Order of the Phoenix, at over 800 pages it was a bit of a daunting task. So now that he's seen the movie, he has started reading the book. I will be getting the 6th book, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (I think that's the title). I haven't read that one yet and I refuse to buy the hard cover book. YES! I'm cheap.

The Order of the Phoenix was was my least favorite book of the series, because it has a darker, more depressing plot. But as always the movie is enjoyable. We've seen these characters grow up on the screen. I look forward to the rest of the series! Harry Potter is awesome because it helped build the desire to read in Zac. These books, as well as The Series of Unfortunate Event series were just the thing to get him interested in reading.

5 Months

2007-07-16T19:22:00.001-04:00

Cassidy and Cricket

Five months old already! Wow I can't believe it. Seems like yesterday I was feeling her kick. She is growing like a weed, way too fast! She sits up by herself for a long time now. Although when she eventually falls, she doesn't want to sit anymore, she wants to STAND. C'mon little one! No growing up too soon!

Cassidy and Comet

Stats:

16 lbs, 5 oz.
25 inches
16.5 inches, head circumference

Her eyes are getting darker, I don't think they'll stay blue. We'll have to wait and see. Her dark hair is all gone, it has come in very light. And she has CHUNKY thighs, just like her mom!

Cassidy loves her puppies, they always make her smile. She likes watching them fetch the ball and bring it back. Comet is always licking her feet which makes her giggle. They are shedding, so Mommy is always swiffering and vacuuming so I don't get all full of hair when I play on the floor. Every once in a while when I'm sitting with Comet I pull his hair, he just gives me a look, but doesn't get too mad.

SUCKER!

2007-07-14T22:22:00.001-04:00

An innocent trip to Babies R Us turned into a not so innocent cha-ching on the credit card!! Our Babies R Us has just opened a Kiddies Kandid photo studio. Yesterday was the first day they were opened for business, so they didn't have many appointments scheduled. Well as we were meandering around the store looking for bargains, the manager came up and offered a free 8x10 if we'd like to have Cassidy's picture taken.

Well, as I'm sure you can imagine, one 8x10 turned into a package. I mean seriously, who can say NO to adorable pictures. Actually the first picture they took, the one with her on her belly with the apples was the best picture. She didn't want to cooperate too much with sitting in a chair, she wanted to STAND!! Then she started getting hungry so we stopped. I was impressed with the props they had and will probably have them do some pictures at Xmas time.

And on a final exciting note for the day, big brother Zac put Cassidy to sleep tonite. She was a bit fussier than usual, she had a late nap, so it threw things off a bit, she just didn't want to settle earlier, so Zac laid her in her crib with her aquarium on, but that only lasted a few minutes, he hates to hear her fuss even 30 seconds so we went and got her out of her crib and sat down on the glider. I gave him her bottle and within 2 minutes she was asleep, he rocked her about 5 more minutes and then carried her to her crib and put her down. He was very proud of himself!

Now, if we could just get the dogs to sleep in longer, we think Cassidy would sleep longer in the morning, but they want to get up and have breakfast and go outside at about 6 a.m. and usually the little ruckus they make is enough to wake her.

Friday the 13th!!!

2007-07-13T11:40:00.000-04:00

Cassidy loves her bath time. It's like an off switch tho, we have our bedtime routine down to a science, after her bath, she gets in her jammies and then we let her play in her jumper or under her play gym for about 10 minutes to wind down. Then Daddy (usually) gives her last bottle, she usually falls asleep within 5 minutes and is out for the night. She sleeps between 8 and 10 hrs (occasionally keeping us on our toes by waking at 3:30 or so, but not often).

Cassidy is loving sitting up. We sit her down with some toys and she's content for a little while. Her bedroom is at an angle from the kitchen, so I can do some chores in the kitchen while she's playing in the bedroom. She's rarely alone tho, as you can see by the picture, this particular day Cricket was keeping her company.

Another favorite thing at the moment, is her rainforest jumper. She really goes to town jumping in this thing. She giggles and loves all the toys. Especially the dragonfly, which she can pull to her mouth and chew on the wings. YUM!

Highs and Lows

2007-07-09T23:03:00.000-04:00

Well today was a busy day, first we headed off to do some shopping. Bought some formula at BRU which turned out to be harder than one would think. The scanners were down at the checkout, so they had run to the shelves and write down the scanner number and then run back to the register. Whew!

Then we headed to the mall, I was looking for some bargains. Well I found bargains at JC Penney, I picked up 6 outfits for next summer (18 month) and 1 for this year for $31. CHA CHING!

We then headed home and went about our day. Around 3 or so Cassidy didn't want to play or eat, so I decided to lay her in her crib under her mobile and turn on her aquarium (her white noise machine was still on from her earlier nap). She loves to lay there and is usually pretty content for a while. So I did a few chores, then about 10 minutes later I realized I no longer her babbling, so I peeked in her room and she was ASLEEP. WOOHOOO, that's the first time she fell asleep on her own in her crib.

Then came time to go for her 4 month checkup (yes we are behind, she is just about 5 months old). Everything went well, the pediatrician was happy to see her sitting by herself. After she was thoroughly given the once over, the nurse came in with those NASTY needles. I will admit she did much better this time. It didn't take long to calm her, and within 2 mins of leaving the office she was snoozing.

She was a bit fussier in the evening, but not too bad, enjoyed her bath as usual. But then when trying to give her last bottle she got really fussy. We are not used to a fussy baby at all, so after about 10-15 minutes, I laid her in her crib and once again turned on the aquarium, mobile and her white noise machine. For about a minute she cried hard, then all of a sudden silence. I peeked in because I was nervous something was wrong after all the fussing; but she was just quietly watching her mobile and when I went back in a couple minutes later she was OUT. She's been asleep a couple hours now, we'll see how she does through the night. AND we'll have to see if we can start putting her down awake, especially for naps that would be AWESOME!

I hope she has a peaceful night.

Miniature Golfing

2007-07-09T21:49:00.001-04:00

We went miniature golfing with Grandma, Grandpa, Dylan and Shelby. Dylan and Shelby are our cousins on Mommy's side. Dylan is autistic, he's a sweet kid who loves trains, Spongebob and chasing butterflies.

It was fun, it was the first time Dylan and Shelby ever went miniature golfing. Dylan had a lot of fun. It's always neat to watch him do something new, he didn't hold the golf club right, but it didn't matter to him.

But the most exciting thing for Dylan was the train ride. He couldn't wait to go on the train. Cassidy got her first train ride, too. We all had a great time.

Tennis Anyone?

2007-07-09T21:36:00.001-04:00

Well, the last two weeks Mommy spent most of the day with the TV on which is weird. But she likes to watch tennis. She's funny to watch as she watches the matches, she yells at players and shakes her head. She says right now she likes watching the women play better than the men. She likes Serena Williams best, but when she got hurt, she was pulling for her sister, Venus. So Mommy was really happy when she won Wimbledon.

She says the men aren't so much fun to watch anymore since some guy named Andre Agassi doesn't play anymore. She likes Andy Roddick and James Blake, but they always choke. She likes Rafael Nadal, but she's sick of some guy named Roger Federer, he's just too good.

Mommy dressed me in my purple Eeyore tennis outfit for this special occasion. She loves purple and Eeyore and my bedroom is decorated in lots of Eeyore knick knacks she's collected over the years.

July ?

2007-07-09T21:27:00.001-04:00

Way to chilly for July! It didn't even reach 80 degrees on the fourth. Plus it was damp and drizzling. I didn't even get to wear my All American Girl dress that mom bought just for the fourth. Oh well, Grandpa was happy cause I did wear my camouflage overalls.

Zac didn't mind the cold, him and his buddies still went swimming, brrrrrr.

Both kids are camera hogs like their daddy. I swear even Cassidy, when she sees that camera in my hand starts to grin. Zac is just like his dad and tries to sneak in every picture possible.