My sister Mallory has a pretty cool blog. She is young and artistic, a great sister, awesome photographer, and a super aunt to her 2 nephews and 5 nieces...she's only 24. Although Mal is usually quiet she comes through loud and clear in her writing, especially on her blog, it's artsy like her. Oh yeah, by the way, she got the awesome hair genes...so NOT fair :)
Moving on...
Mallory's boyfriend, Dustin, is a cinematographer and he made a contest audition video for his brother who could be a real life Spiderman :) Click here to go to Mal's blog and check out this video...I'm going to show it to Max and Abby, they'll think it is the coolest thing!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Happy 89th Birthday Papa Joe!
Today is my Papa Joe's 89th birthday. This is a bittersweet day because it is the first birthday that his children and grandchildren can not call him to wish him a Happy Birthday, but, it is his first birthday in Heaven and I would venture a guess that it is probably the happiest one he's had in at least 8 years. He can celebrate once again with my Grandma, his sweetheart :) Her birthday is Friday so they will be celebrating another first for them in Heaven.
Happy Birthday Papa Joe...you are missed so much by so many. I hope you have a wonderful day and I can just imagine the smile on your face and the happiness you must feel. We love you and think of you often. Give Grandma a kiss for us :)
Happy Birthday Papa Joe...you are missed so much by so many. I hope you have a wonderful day and I can just imagine the smile on your face and the happiness you must feel. We love you and think of you often. Give Grandma a kiss for us :)
Monday, February 23, 2009
ENT Update...
Went back for another ENT checkup for Max today. Just what we expected...he'll be getting his 4th set of tubes. He will have the surgery on Tuesday the 3rd. Upon recommendation of the ER doctor from his last late night visit with the croup, as well as his pediatrician, the ENT is also going to do a scope while he's under (Max...not the doctor :) ) and check out his air passage to make sure there isn't anything in there that could be causing the recurring croup.
While we hate that our child has to have even a simple surgery such as this, John and I are also VERY aware of how blessed we are that it is JUST a simple surgery and nothing else. As we pray that Max does okay and the doctors take care of our baby boy, we are also saying prayers for our friends children who are battling MUCH MORE SERIOUS medical situations than we are. If you have a moment, please pray for little Logan and little Hunter who are too small to have to bear the burdens they do...(I wish no one of any size or age had to). Please pray for their parents as they do their best for their sick children as well as the healthy siblings. Pray for their doctors as they do their best to determine the best course of treatment for each of these boys. Pray that whatever happens, that they know they can lean on God for support and that He will never leave them.
If you could also say a prayer for our Max we would be forever grateful as well.
While we hate that our child has to have even a simple surgery such as this, John and I are also VERY aware of how blessed we are that it is JUST a simple surgery and nothing else. As we pray that Max does okay and the doctors take care of our baby boy, we are also saying prayers for our friends children who are battling MUCH MORE SERIOUS medical situations than we are. If you have a moment, please pray for little Logan and little Hunter who are too small to have to bear the burdens they do...(I wish no one of any size or age had to). Please pray for their parents as they do their best for their sick children as well as the healthy siblings. Pray for their doctors as they do their best to determine the best course of treatment for each of these boys. Pray that whatever happens, that they know they can lean on God for support and that He will never leave them.
If you could also say a prayer for our Max we would be forever grateful as well.
Not Me! Monday
Don't you just love Mondays? :) Since MckMama started Not Me! Mondays I have looked forward to Mondays as a day where I can wipe the slate clean and start over...gotta make room for all the other stuff I'm NOT going to do this week! Hey, the kids are fed (donuts are a food group right?), clean (at least they were when they went to bed), healthy (depending on when you ask), and happy (yeah, even when they're screaming at each other and throwing fits I know they are bursting with joy...on the inside :) ) so I don't have anything to worry about. So, just read about what I DID NOT do this week and then click on over to MckMama's to see what other people didn't do.
This week...
~I DID NOT spend about 10 minutes searching for my cell phone, all over the house. I DID NOT accuse Lucy of taking it. Upon giving up, I DID NOT sit down to change Lucy's diaper and find it...in my back pocket. Nope, Not Me...I would NEVER accuse my sweet baby doll of taking something and hiding it from her mommy...especially when she can't defend herself!
~ Upon asking Lucy if she had a stinky diaper, she DID NOT turn around, pick up her Bobby, hold him out to me, and proceed to say, clear as a bell, "Bobby toot"! Seriously, where would she learn to pass off her stinkiness by making someone else the culprit?
~After having an on-again, off-again relationship (since about November) with runny noses, sneezes and coughs in the face, and sweet kisses all from my children...I DID NOT finally succumb to the germs and get a sinus infection. I DID NOT let John take all 3 kids to church yesterday (I seriously couldn't believe he offered!) and I DID NOT use that time wisely...to SLEEP! Who takes a 2 hour nap when they have piles of laundry and dirty dishes screaming out to be washed? GEESH!
~I DID NOT spill an entire travel mug of coffee on the counter the other day, right after I had warned Abby to be careful with her cup! I WAS NOT so upset by not having my coffee in the car that I had to console myself with a Caramel Latte from Dunkin Donuts!
~Okay, if I HAD done this it would be sooooo gross but I didn't so it's okay...While holding Lucy the other day, I DID NOT notice a big green (well, something) in her nose that needed to come out. Since we were out of tissue downstairs I absolutely DID NOT use the sleeve of my robe to wipe her nasty nose! Please know that if I had done that, I certainly would have immediately put my robe in the dirty clothes to be washed :)
~Finally, I DID NOT send Max to school this morning in a sweater that was NOT uniform colors! I DID NOT do this because it took me until this morning to realize that Max's coat was missing and that he had more than likely left it in my mom's car on Saturday. I am more together than that of course! If I had sent Max in a non-uniform sweater, then I certainly would not have sent a note of apology and explanation...because I am NOT a rules follower! Now they know that I wasn't trying to break the rules...I'm just a scatterbrain...much better don't ya think :)
Well, enough about me...go check out someone else's Not Me's and ask yourself, "What didn't I do this week?"
Friday, February 20, 2009
A Girl and Her Bobby
You've had one haven't you? You might have called it by another name though. Blankie, Lovey, Binky,snuggly, etc. I had two blankets that my Grandma Hedinger made for me...an elephant blanket and a Raggedy Ann blanket...I still have them. Max has a blanket that my Grandma Hedinger made as well. Our girls, ont he other hand, have their Bobbies. Abby has two and Lucy has one. My girls and their Bobbies are inseparable.
It all started when I got a pink and green elephant one as a shower gift for Abby. Once she was a couple of months old I learned that "lovey" (at the time) HAD to be around, especially in the car! By the time she was 1 I couldn't even get it away from her anymore to wash the thing! Around the time she started talking we were driving in the car one day and she was holding him and talking to him. All of a sudden she looked straight into his pink thread eyes and said, clear as a bell, "Bobby". That was his name from then on.
Since a fight would ensue everytime Bobby needed a "bath" in the washing machine I decided to find a twin that I could change out. Just my luck, Carter's stopped making that one. I found one on ebay (see how desperate I was) but they wanted $60 and counting for it...I wasn't THAT desperate! My mom got a different one, a light brown bear that rattled a little. I REALLY didn't think she would take to it but boy did she prove me wrong! Okay, so now I was excited that I had something to give her when Bobby had to be washed...uh uh. She now had to carry BOTH Bobbies (yes, they are Brown Bobby and Pink Bobby...before she knew her colors they were Bobby and Two Bobby...yes I know, original).
Now that she has matured...somewhat (grin)...she has decided that I can wash one at a time. She decides who I get first and upon the return of the first, now clean, Bobby, she will hand over the other one. She gets upset when either Bobby gets something on him and I have to assure her that it can be washed. The Bobbies went to preschool with her last year and Abby's teachers were soooo understanding about her attachment to them and would just place them in her school bag if they got put down somewhere. I was afraid she would want to take them this year as well but Abby surprised me once again and decided that she would take them in the car on the ride and then LEAVE THEM in the car. I let them sit in her car seat until it is time to pick her up and then she has them right there. Bobbies sleep with her at night and travel with us wherever we go. The Bobbies have also been able to soothe all hurt feelings and booboo's...even better than a kiss and hug from Mommy sometimes. Of course, along with the Bobbies comes the thumb :) Out of my 3, Abby is my only thumb sucker. It is interesting to see that the only time she sucks her thumb is when she has her Bobbies. If the Bobbies aren't around and she wants to suck her thumb she goes looking for them. Hopefully that means that once she doesn't need the Bobbies anymore she will stop sucking her thumb...a mom can hope can't she?
It seemed only fitting that when Lucy was born, Abby would present her new baby sister with a Bobby of her very own. A yellow and green giraffe! It has been with Lucy since she came home from the hospital and she has developed a strong attachment to hers as well. When Lucy doesn't want to sleep she starts throwing things out of her crib. Bobby is always the last one "out of the pool" and I can tell when he's out because she starts screaming like someone was threatening to shred him to pieces! I'll walk in her room and she is standing up with her arms reaching down to Bobby. It's not as easy to get Lucy's away from her to wash and you'd think I would have been smart enough to buy two at the same time...well, I wasn't but I'll chalk it up to pregnancy brain :) Abby is kind enough to share one of hers with Lucy but that baby girl knows the difference and a substitute is not going to cut it! She has recently started noticing when Bobby gets something on him and I will hear her say, "Bobby yuck".
A friend of John's joked once (and now it is our running joke) than one or both of the girls is going to end up dating and/or marrying a guy named Bobby :) It wouldn't be too far fetched because my sister and I both married guys named John. As long as the future "Bobbies" treat my girls as well as the current Bobbies...I don't think it will be a problem.
Meet the Bobbies...
It all started when I got a pink and green elephant one as a shower gift for Abby. Once she was a couple of months old I learned that "lovey" (at the time) HAD to be around, especially in the car! By the time she was 1 I couldn't even get it away from her anymore to wash the thing! Around the time she started talking we were driving in the car one day and she was holding him and talking to him. All of a sudden she looked straight into his pink thread eyes and said, clear as a bell, "Bobby". That was his name from then on.
Since a fight would ensue everytime Bobby needed a "bath" in the washing machine I decided to find a twin that I could change out. Just my luck, Carter's stopped making that one. I found one on ebay (see how desperate I was) but they wanted $60 and counting for it...I wasn't THAT desperate! My mom got a different one, a light brown bear that rattled a little. I REALLY didn't think she would take to it but boy did she prove me wrong! Okay, so now I was excited that I had something to give her when Bobby had to be washed...uh uh. She now had to carry BOTH Bobbies (yes, they are Brown Bobby and Pink Bobby...before she knew her colors they were Bobby and Two Bobby...yes I know, original).
Now that she has matured...somewhat (grin)...she has decided that I can wash one at a time. She decides who I get first and upon the return of the first, now clean, Bobby, she will hand over the other one. She gets upset when either Bobby gets something on him and I have to assure her that it can be washed. The Bobbies went to preschool with her last year and Abby's teachers were soooo understanding about her attachment to them and would just place them in her school bag if they got put down somewhere. I was afraid she would want to take them this year as well but Abby surprised me once again and decided that she would take them in the car on the ride and then LEAVE THEM in the car. I let them sit in her car seat until it is time to pick her up and then she has them right there. Bobbies sleep with her at night and travel with us wherever we go. The Bobbies have also been able to soothe all hurt feelings and booboo's...even better than a kiss and hug from Mommy sometimes. Of course, along with the Bobbies comes the thumb :) Out of my 3, Abby is my only thumb sucker. It is interesting to see that the only time she sucks her thumb is when she has her Bobbies. If the Bobbies aren't around and she wants to suck her thumb she goes looking for them. Hopefully that means that once she doesn't need the Bobbies anymore she will stop sucking her thumb...a mom can hope can't she?
It seemed only fitting that when Lucy was born, Abby would present her new baby sister with a Bobby of her very own. A yellow and green giraffe! It has been with Lucy since she came home from the hospital and she has developed a strong attachment to hers as well. When Lucy doesn't want to sleep she starts throwing things out of her crib. Bobby is always the last one "out of the pool" and I can tell when he's out because she starts screaming like someone was threatening to shred him to pieces! I'll walk in her room and she is standing up with her arms reaching down to Bobby. It's not as easy to get Lucy's away from her to wash and you'd think I would have been smart enough to buy two at the same time...well, I wasn't but I'll chalk it up to pregnancy brain :) Abby is kind enough to share one of hers with Lucy but that baby girl knows the difference and a substitute is not going to cut it! She has recently started noticing when Bobby gets something on him and I will hear her say, "Bobby yuck".
A friend of John's joked once (and now it is our running joke) than one or both of the girls is going to end up dating and/or marrying a guy named Bobby :) It wouldn't be too far fetched because my sister and I both married guys named John. As long as the future "Bobbies" treat my girls as well as the current Bobbies...I don't think it will be a problem.
Meet the Bobbies...
Abby and "Pink Bobby" and "Brown Bobby"
Lucy and "Yellow Bobby"
Lucy givin' Bobby some kisses...she'd kiss him all day :)
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Noodles in Her Hair!
Abby's got noodles in her hair! Well, not REAL noodles but the fun kind :) When my sister Shea and I were little we had stick straight long hair and every once in a while, especially the night before school pictures, my mom would give our hair a little bounce with some noodles. No, they weren't rods, they were braids! After we got our hair washed she would braid our hair into tiny braids and we would sleep in them. The next morning we take them out and VOILA!!! instant noodles (hmmmm...reminds me I need to make the girls their lunch).
Back to the present...Abby's hair has gotten longer and last night I asked her if I could give her noodle hair (of course I had to explain I wasn't putting food in her hair). Although she isn't the most patient 3 year old in the world...ahem...she agreed and sat on my bed while I proceeded to braid my little heart out! I was so excited to be able to play with her hair :) Towards the end she was getting antsy so I turned on Food Network and we watched a cake decorating competition while I finished. We had to take a picture...OF COURSE!
Back to the present...Abby's hair has gotten longer and last night I asked her if I could give her noodle hair (of course I had to explain I wasn't putting food in her hair). Although she isn't the most patient 3 year old in the world...ahem...she agreed and sat on my bed while I proceeded to braid my little heart out! I was so excited to be able to play with her hair :) Towards the end she was getting antsy so I turned on Food Network and we watched a cake decorating competition while I finished. We had to take a picture...OF COURSE!
Her daddy loved her braids and thought she should leave them in.
Max and Abby...ready for bed now.
This morning we took the braids out...much to daddy's disappointment...and here we have it ladies and gentleman...Abby's first case of NOODLE HAIR!!!!!
It took her some time to get used to it but now she keeps checking it out in the mirror to make sure it hasn't disappeared!
The girls and I decided to take a walk this morning...well, I was walking, Lucy in the stroller, Abby riding her bike. Abby had to pose by her bike sporting her pink sunglasses. I don't know she looks at least 4 1/2 don't you think :)
Ready to ride!
And just because she is so cute...here's Lucy!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Not Me Monday...Finally
This week...
~ I DID NOT have a bad morning and actually CRY over spilled milk. I was also most certainly NOT the person who spilled it...nope, NOT ME! If I HAD cried about it then I would NOT have laughed at myself later for being so cliche :)
~ I DID NOT allow Max and Abby to stay up late on Thursday night to help me make chocolate chip cookies. I wouldn't do that because they had school the next day and I know...being a teacher and all...how important a good full night's rest is for learning!
~I DID NOT get excited on Saturday night when Lucy really liked the garbanzo bean I gave her out of my chili. I then DID NOT proceed to give her about 20-30 more because she kept asking for them. I also DID NOT also give her a few kidney beans to see if she would like those.
~ Since I DID NOT do this then Lucy most certainly DID NOT wake up every hour screaming during the night. I DID NOT think it was because her eyes were goopy and she was still congested. She DID NOT have four horrendous diapers yesterday. Since I am a good mom, it DID NOT take me until Sunday night, with her waking up crying again and having a NASTY diaper, to realize that is was the BEANS!
~ I DID NOT wonder if I could give the poor baby some BEAN-O (don't worry, I didn't give her any) and I DID NOT think I should go back and reread MckMama's post on Mommy Guilt :) THAT thought DID NOT come to my mind twice this week...the other time when I DID NOT feel guilty about Max's feet being squished into a size 1 shoe when he now needs (and now has) a size 3!
~ I DID NOT resort to bribery to get Abby to eat her food this week. She is a great eater and would never tell me she didn't want to eat and therefore I wouldn't have to tell her that I would take her to target to buy a new pair of shoes if she ate without arguing for 5 days! I would NOT stoop to that level and play on my daughter's LOVE for shoes :)
~I DID NOT witness Lucy vomit for the first time last week...all over her car seat and Abby's...right after we home from picking Abby up from school...20 minutes before we had to leave to get Max!
~ I DID NOT spend 2 1/2 hours working on my checkbook...I AM NOT missing 14 cents and I WOULD NOT try to find it if I was! I AM NOT anal about the checkbook being balanced to the penny and I WILL NOT keep looking until it is found. Besides, it isn't even an issue because I NEVER make "accounting" errors :)
WOW! That felt great...if I HAD done any of those things I would feel so free now...okay, NOW WHERE IS THAT 14 CENTS!!!!!
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