Ho Ho Ho

Christmas is only 3 days away!

I'm finally done with all my shopping! Yippie! Wayne said he still needs to get my stocking stuffers. Oh and I have to get the stuff for the cranberry jello. I have everything bought for Christmas eve dinner. except plates and silverware, but I think I might just pull out the good dishes. :) I can also just use our silverware and not have to spend the extra money on plastic. :)

I'm also excited because Wayne and I actually get to go see Twilight tonight...finally!! Ugh. My mom is going to watch the kids so we can go. So excited about going.

All Shook up!

Now I remember why I hate living in NW Indiana! Winter.

I was taking Sophia to school this morning. Since we were running a little late, I decided to take the freeway there. No biggie usually. Get on and take the next exit. I don't even have to actually get ON the freeway. So we're driving, almost to the exit. The car in front of me(about 3 car lengths) slows down to almost a stop. As I apply my brake, BAM I hit a patch of ice that sends the car spinning!!! OMG. I know I said OMG and Oh shit about a million times. Thank God we were at the low part of the exit and just spun into the grass. Also thankful that the car behind me was several car lengths back as well. So we didn't hit anything or get hit by anyone. Once we stopped spinning, I put the car in park for a few minutes. Calmed myself and Sophia down. Then waited for the cars to pass and proceeded to take Sophia to school.

Can you believe with all the traffic behind me, NO ONE STOPPED!!! Not a single F'n person!

I got Sophia to school, told her teacher's aide what happened. I nearly in tears while talking to her. She gave me a big hug and said that she would keep an extra eye on Sophia. :) I love Mrs Sherry. She's soo sweet.

I was also supposed to go to my chiro appt today but called and cancelled. I know I would have been way too tense for an adjustment today.

So now I'm too scared to drive anywhere. Mom wants me and Sophia to meet her for lunch, but I don't know. We'll see how I feel after Sophia gets home from school.

I'm done.....sorta!

Went Christmas shoppig today! I got everything I wanted to get for Connor. I had to order his basketball hoop online though. The good thing is that I had a free shipping code from Toys r us so even with getting it shipped I still paid the same as I would in the store. I just couldn't find it ANYWHERE!!!

So now all I have left is Sabrina, Bill, my parents and Wayne! Yippie!! I even got stocking stuffers today. go me!

okay off to cook dinner.

It's been a long time....

Nothing really exciting to write about lately I guess. Just been busy trying to get shopping done, getting ready for thanksgiving(which was great, more later) and working.

I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. For Sophia at least. I have a few things I still need to get Connor and then I have our respective grab bags. I also have my parents and my grandmother to buy for. I should have it all done by this time next week. Hopefully.

I've also started working on my Christmas cards. I had photo cards made from snapfish. I took the picture of the kids. They came out great!! I can't wait for everyone to get one. :)

Thanksgiving was great! We went out to my mom's on Wed night. Thurs morning we got up and started getting everything ready. Sophia was so excited that she was at up 6:30 with Grandma making the turkey. Grandma even let her have ICE CREAM for breakfast. I swear my mom does not know the word no with that girl!

We all had a great time. The guys did some skeet shooting. We played pool and hung out with my brother and my nephews. My sister, Michelle, had brought stuff for the kids to make ornaments. Sophia had a blast with that. Connor could care less. He was more interested in the dinosaurs Grandma got him.

Friday was nice because everyone that was there on Thurs were gone. So we just hung out and played cards and watched tv. We were supposed to go home Fri night but we started playing a game and next thing we knew, it was 9pm!! So we stayed another night.

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. We put our Christmas tree up Sunday afternoon. It looks nice. We're going to put the other tree up downstairs and let the kids decorate it how they want to! :) That should be interesting. Sophia and I made ornaments for it. She wants to put multi colored lights on it and multicolored ball ornaments. Then we are going to string popcorn and cranberries to put on it! It will be nice because we're having Christmas eve here so we'll have a tree to decorate the basement during the party!

Well Sophia is waiting on me to watch a Christmas movie.

Yay! Finally!

So I have been waiting forever(or what seems like) for my boss from the tax place to call about coming in for training. We have to go in every year around this time to learn the new tax rules/laws and the new software. Finally he called today!! I'm so damn excited. Now I can stop panicking that he's not going to call.

So I go back Tues and Wed from noon til I decide to go home! Normally I'd have to leave by 2:15pm but Wayne is off those 2 days next week. Then the following week, Wayne is on vacation on Tues and Wed so I can work as long as I want on those days too! :) So freaking excited. yay me!

"Hook these 2 little kids up"

That is the phrase I heard over and over again from my nephew last night. It pays to have a kid who's popular in school. :)

Last night we went to Billy's high school for their safe trick or treat! It was nice. The kids either paid $2 or brought 6 canned goods(which we did) and they got to walk along 2 hallways of classrooms and trick or treat. Sophia wore her Dorothy costume and Connor wore his foorball player costume. Of course last night, he was "George". You see, on his costume is #7. One of the starters on the high school team, George, is #7. So as we're walking along with Billy he would say, "Hook these 2 little kids up. They are my cousins. He's dressed as George". And the girls would put handfuls of candy in their bags!! It was pretty funny until we got to where the real George was sitting!! He thought it was funny and I wish we had brought the camera so we could have taken their picture together. Of course, he gave them a handful of candy as well! LOL

After trick or treating in the hallways, they had a little haunted house that was 50 cents. So the 5 of us(billy, sophia, connor, wayne and i) went. Mom and Michelle stayed and guarded the candy and our coats. It was okay for a 50cent haunted house. LOL Sophia said she wasn't afraid of the monsters, but the dark. Silly girl. Connor didn't seemed phased either.

Oh and I can't end this without mentioning Billy's costume. Yes, he wore one. He had on a red ribbon bow on his head and 2 pieces of cardboard wrapped in Christmas paper. Each one hung on the front and back of him. There was a tag on each side that read, "God's Gift to Women"! Funny kid. :)

Sophia and Mommy

Sophia and I had a "date" today. It started with lunch at Applebees. We both ordered mini cheeseburgers. Hers was the kids meal. She had broccoli with hers, I had broccoli cheese soup. It sucked. But over all the meal was good. Then we had dessert shooters. Sophia had chocolate mousse. I had key lime pie. wish I had ordered the chocolate mousse too.

After lunch, we went to the movies. We saw High School Musical 3. It was really good! The best part? Being the only 2 people in the theatre watching it! Good call going while all the other kids were in school. (sophia doesn't go to school on tues and thurs in case you're wondering why she wasn't in school) As Sophia said after the movie. That was awesome!!

After the movie, we went to Starbucks. I got a cafe mocha, she got a kids hot chocolate. The lady who made ours was great. She gave Sophia hers and said it was at a drinkable temp because they like to keep the little ones lips intact. LOL I thought that was funny. Then we went to the mattress store to get an idea of how much Sophia's mattress set will cost us. Oh yeah and we went to the evil once upon a child. We bought books.

Then we came home. Made dinner. Carved out 2 of the 4 pumpkins. We'll do the other 2 tomorrow. Sophia didn't get to see hers when it was done because she had to go to bed. School tomorrow. :) I carved Ariel into hers. Tomorrow I think we're either doing Cinderella or the castle. We're not sure yet.

Tomorrow night we're going to the safe trick or treat!! That should be fun!

Getting ready for Halloween!

We took the kids for their halloween costumes today. Originally I had gone to Toys R Us in hopes of finding a cheap football helmet for Connor to wear with the costume we were going to make out of Billy's jersey. As we walked into the store I saw the costumes. Right there in front of me was a football player costume!! I couldn't believe! We had looked everywhere and here it was! I snatched it right up. It was only $10. Oh but wait!!! They had all the halloween stuff 40% off! So it was only $6!! Bonus! So I decided that since the costumes were on sale that Sophia could be Sharpay from HSM. Had the costume in the cart and we see the Dorothy from Wizard of Oz costume. She wanted that instead! I was shocked! For weeks now she's been asking to be Sharpay. Now she wants Dorothy??? Fine. Plus it was cheaper. Regularly $19.99...got it for $11.99 on sale! Woo! So I got both costumes for less than what I would have paid regular price for hers.

Wednesday night we're going to Billy's high school for their safe trick or treat. The kids pay $2 or bring 6 canned goods and get to trick or treat from class room to class room. A lot better than going from car to car for trunk or treat. At least they will be inside a warm building.

Friday we are going to Uncle Todd's neighborhood to T or T. I grew up on the street he lives on and we go there every year. I can't wait to take my little football player and Dorothy. :) Oh and Sophia has a little toy yorkie(no it's not real) that is going to be Toto. :) She takes that thing EVERYWHERE. Aunt Michelle got it for her birthday. She named it Princess and we even bought a pink and rhinestone collar for it. She sleeps with it every night too. :) If only we could have a real one. maybe when she's older.

Looking forward to halloween but at the same time, I'm ready for it to be over.

Field Trip!

Today was Sophia's class field trip! We went to the pumpkin patch! Even Connor and Daddy got to go.

It was a lot of fun. When we first got there, they split the class in half. So half went to the petting zoo and the other half went to the bouncehouse. It was shaped like a pumpkin. They were all in the same area, just divided by the fence. I got lots of pics of the kids feeding the goats and some of the kid in the bounce "pumpkin". After that, we took a hayride to the pumpkin patch. Wayne managed to NOT fall off this time! It was fun. All 4 of us got a pumpkin. Good times had by all. Now we're home and the kids and Wayne are playing in the backyard. I'm uploading pics from today and then getting my coffee and heading outside as well!! :)

I'll be back later with pics. I even got one of Sophia's "boyfriend", Noah. :)

Whole lotta nothing.

So the kids party went really well! They got a lot of nice gifts. I've actually managed to keep them from opening ALL of them at once. just most of them lol. Everyone seemed to have a good time. The mommy was exhausted, but that's okay.

Today the kids had their annual check ups. We saw a new doctor today. Same practice, different doctor. Loved him! He was soo nice and was awesome with the kids. My only concern is that he's older than I expected so I hope he doesn't retire anytime soon. I hate finding a doctor I like and then they move or retire. The thing I liked best is that he is okay with me delaying Sophia's MMR and chicken pox vax until next year. Both kids did get flu shots today. The nurse who did them was AWESOME! She was so fast and neither kid even made a peep. Sophia only got mad because she told her to turn her and well, Sophia likes to watch! So she was mad that she couldnt watch. Weird kid. but she got to watch Connor get his so that made it okay i guess.

So as the title says, whole lotta nothing going on. The rest of the week I have nothing planned but chiro appts. Friday night is the big football game for the boys. Send positive game winning vibes to them. This is a really HUGE game and I really hope they win. Saturday we are going to a cookout and Sunday I'm not sure yet. All depends on if Kim goes to the game on Friday.

oh...one other piece of news. My mom and dad had a friend of theirs ask if they knew anyone who needed a twin bed. Mom called and asked if we wanted it. I said yes!!! So now Connor will have a twin bed and Sophia will have a full bed. The twin has a mattress they are including. We will get Sophia's mattress and boxspring when we get our tax refund. No more baby beds!!!! wow.

Happy Birthday Connor!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby boy!! Today he turns 2 yrs old!! Where has the time gone?

Nothing too exciting planned for his bday. Saturday is their party so just like Sophia, we're not really doing anything today. Maybe we'll get McDonalds or something like we did on Sophia's birthday.

It's hard to believe it's been 2 yrs since I gave birth to that sweet little boy. I just hope he keeps his sweet, laid back temperament and doesn't go all monster toddler on me! lol

And now for pics!!

Connor at 1 day old


Connor at 2 yrs old!

What a day!

So today we went to Buckley Homestead for their fall festival! It's a living history farm where people dress in late 1700's- early 1800's attire and all the stuff that goes with it. It's really neat. We all had fun...well after Wayne's little mishap on the hay ride that scared the crap out of Sophia and I.

So we get our tickets for the hayride and head over to the wagon. Connor is excited because it's being pulled by a tractor, Sophia's just excited to be on a hayride. So we're the last ones on. The driver starts to go and the girl who takes the tickets notices that the steps to get onto the wagon are hung up on the side of the wagon. Wayne, being the nice guy he is, gets up to help her unhook them. In the meantime, she tells the driver to stop. When he does, the wagon lurches and sends Wayne over the front of wagon, headfirst. Some how he managed to miss the wheels of the wagon and came out the other side. Scary. He only has a bruise under his thumbnail and his hand is a litle sore. Another few inches either way and he would have been seriously hurt. I don't even want to think what would have happened if he had been ran over by the wheels. :( Sophia freaked out and started crying. I was close to tears. Connor had no idea what was going on as he was facing the opposite way!! Everyone on the wagon was very concerned that he was hurt bad, but when he came up laughing, we all breathed a sigh of relief. The tractor driver was shook up pretty bad. He didn't hear us yelling for him to stop after Wayne fell off (he had kept going for some reason after stopping the first time).

So after that, everything was fine and we enjoyed the day. It didn't even matter that it started a light mist of rain at one point. Sophia had a blast! She got to make a piece of rope, dip a candle and "wash" clothes on an old fashioned washboard and ringer. Then her and Connor got to paint a picture at the old school house. We had fun.

I wish we could have stayed later but Wayne had to work today so we headed home. Connor was asleep I think before we left the parking lot. He was wiped out.

They have another big thing in December for Christmas and I hope we can go to that!! Shouldn't be bad if we dress warm. :)

The Boys' Write in Today's paper!

Ballentine runs Warriors to win over Whiting

By HILLARY SMITH
hsmith@nwitimes.com
219.933.3233 | Saturday, October 04, 2008 | No comments posted.

CALUMET TWP. | Darcell Ballentine told his fullback to make a hole just big enough for the 6-foot, 190-pound running back to slip through.

"I told my fullback if he opened up the hole, I'd keep my feet moving," Ballentine said.

His feet, and the football, found the end zone, good enough for a two-point conversion, the difference in Calumet's 14-13 win over Whiting in Greater South Shore Conference play on Friday night.

Ballentine also picked up the Times No. 8 Warriors' other two big offensive plays -- a 43-yard touchdown run and a 36-yard scamper to set up Calumet's second score.

"He's a powerful runner, he's an elusive runner and he wanted the football," Calumet coach Ivan Zimmer said. "You could just tell the determination in his body posture and he's a tremendous runner."

Calumet had lost seven straight in the series and been outscored 292-56 in those losses, but a late turnover helped stop the streak.

Nate Fowler, the Warriors' quarterback who doubles as a linebacker, recovered a Whiting fumble with 1:40 remaining in the game to set up Ballentine's long run to the 1-yard line. Fowler then plunged into the end zone to make the score 13-12.

"After we got that fumble, I knew I had to make a run for it," Ballentine said. "I told my line to step it up and I put my faith in my line."

Whiting's defense held the Warriors (6-1, 5-0) to seven first downs and 143 yards overall, and kept top Calumet threat George Ezell to minus-27 yards rushing.

"Calumet's been noted for big plays," Whiting coach Jeff Cain said. "These guys you're not going to stop, you're going to hopefully contain them. ... I thought our guys did a good job. If you had told me we were going to give up 14 points, I'd have been a happy guy."

Prior to the last 1:40, the Oilers (5-2, 4-2) had dominated the game offensively. With 136 yards from quarterback Dan Macon in the air and another 57 on the ground, Whiting picked up 16 first downs. Alex Leddesma led the Oilers' ground game with 76 yards and a touchdown.

Whiting scored its last touchdown on a 1-yard Leddesma run at 7:23 of the third quarter, but Ezell blocked the extra-point kick.

No. 8 Calumet 14, Whiting 13
Darcell Ballentine plunged into the end zone for the winning two-point conversion with 32 seconds left.

More potty training goodness!

Connor used the potty again this morning! He was laying in bed with us and he said he had to go potty. So Wayne took him in the bathroom, put him on the potty chair and before he could tuck his peepee in, Connor peed a little on the floor. Wayne managed to get him pointed in the right direction(lol) and he went on the potty instead of the floor!! YAY!!! I'm so proud of him. He's definitely doing better than Sophia at this age which is awesome!!!

Woot!! Warriors Win!!

After trailing by 7 with less than a minute left in the game, the Calumet Warriors pulled it out in the end. Final score - 14-13!!! Woohoo! It was an awesome game. What made it even more exciting is that this is the first time they have beat Whiting since 2000!!! I'm soooo happy for the boys!!

Go Warriors!!

Here's an article about Billy's football team helping out the flood victims. The bolded Red parts are about Billy. Dykhuizen is Billy's best friend, Matt.

Calumet players help out without being asked

BY STEVE HANLON
shanlon@nwitimes.com
219.933.4198 | Friday, October 03, 2008 | No comments posted.

Homes, tears and lives were floating down the street in the aftermath of the destructive storms that hammered the Region a few weeks ago. Northern neighborhoods in Munster were under water. Families nervously looked to the sky to see if the sun was ever going to shine again.

Around noon on the post-storm Monday, seven Calumet football players arrived to move sandbags and help in any way they could. This compassionate outreach touched many who saw it.

The players -- Darcell Ballentine, Chuck Carter, Billy Doup, Matt Dykhuizen, George Ezell, Tyler Vanlul and Montrez Wade -- went there on their own. Coach Ivan Zimmer never called them or persuaded them to volunteer.

"Here we have kids who don't have much and they went into an affluent community because those people needed help," Zimmer said. "It almost made the old man cry. I was very happy, pleased and proud of my kids."

For seven hours the Warriors lifted sandbags and put them down, in different areas. Doup was at the staging area, where he said he lifted and moved about 8,000 bags of sand onto payloaders, which were taken to neighborhoods under duress. The bags weighed between 25 and 100 pounds each.

"It was a good workout," Doup joked. "Hey, those people needed help, so what else could we do?"

Zimmer, in his 25th year as a varsity coach, said he preaches "right and wrong" to his players every day. For example, one of his players came into the office to call home for a ride. He said, "Hey, pick me up." Zimmer pointed out that the proper exclamation was, "Please, could you come and pick me up. Thank you."

Being on time is paramount to the program. Zimmer's saying -- "If you're early you're on time. If you're on time then you're late and if you're late, you're fired" -- has been tested this year and he's backed it up. Five players missed the first half of the North Newton game because of tardiness.

"Kids have to know that they're held to a standard," he said.

Last Saturday the Warriors washed cars for a fundraiser for eight hours. This week, with the homecoming game against Whiting coming and the team set to ride on fire trucks in the parade, the players went to the Lake Ridge Fire Department and washed and waxed two trucks.

"It's sort of a higher calling," Zimmer said. "In today's world rules were made to be broken. Look at the music and movies and videos. But we're trying to teach kids that even if you don't get caught you've got to know that you did something wrong. Life is a lot simpler when you do the right things."

That's what drove the Warriors to Munster. Dykhuizen spent most of his day in waist-deep floodwater. Still, he picked up the bags and put them down.

"I just thought it was the right thing to do," Dykhuizen said. "Coach is always trying to teach character and I guess it's working. The people were very thankful. A lady named Karen gave us food and something to drink and was nice enough to give us hugs. That meant a lot."

He did it!!!

Connor went poopy on the potty!!!!

I can't believe it!!! I was in the kitchen making dinner and he was in there "helping" me. I turned and he had that look on his face. You know the one. The "okay I gotta poop really bad" look.

Me: Connor, do you have to poop?
Connor: go poopoo
Me: okay go to the potty.
C: Go potty

He then runs to the potty, is trying to open the door before I get there. I take off his pull up, put him on the toilet and VOILA!!!! Poopy in the potty!! I'm so amazed! Yesterday I put him on the potty after he said he had to go pee. Sure enough he went pee, but he forgot to keep his peepee(happy now aunt kimi?) pointing in the toilet, so he went on the floor. That's okay. At least he was in the bathroom and not on the carpet.

So after I get him off the toilet and wipe him, he runs to get a diaper. He refused to let me put it on him. He had to do it himself!!! Of course then he was getting frustrated because he couldn't get his foot in it. So I had to help him a little bit with his feet getting in the holes.

All this before he's even 2!!!! I plan on really working with him. If I can get him even somewhat trained by Christmas, I will be a happy mom!!! I see batman underwear in my future. No not for me!!

wow. just wow.

Sophia loves her Uncle Don

So I was going through some pictures today and came across 2 pics of Sophia and my brother, Don. The first is from my sister, Kim's wedding 3 yrs ago. The 2nd is from Jen's wedding on Saturday! wow what a difference 3 yrs can make!!!!

That stubborn streak is gonna be the death of me!

The day went pretty well! I'm so proud of myself because I did NOT cry at all! :) I made her breakfast and got her favorite(mcdonalds) for lunch. In the evening we went to my mom's for dinner and a mini party for Sophia. My stepsister and her family was in town from CA so we went and got cupcakes and celebrated Soph's bday with them. :) All in all it was a good day. :)

Today however, started out as a bad day. I got a call about 9:45 from her teacher. Sophia was being stubborn and didn't want to do her worksheet. So Mrs E. put her at a table by herself away from the other kids. So her teacher called for input. Was wondering how I handled things like this at home. I said well, I do what you are doing now and if that doesn't work, I take things away. She said so you're okay with me removing her from the rest of the class. I said, Mrs. E. It is YOUR classroom. You do what you need to in order for her to listen and cooperate. What ever you decide I will support that decision. So she says to me. Well she's a stubborn girl, but I'm sure that's what helped her when she was in the hospital as a baby. :) Great teacher to remember something that was told to her last school year. :)

The funny thing is that I had a friend warn me that this teacher was bitchy and tried to convince me to put Sophia in a different preschool because of the teacher. I said no, she's going there. I have never had any problems with this teacher. She taught the 3yr old class last year for a short time while Mrs Amy was out after surgery. I think she's nice. She didn't have to call me this morning about the situation, but she did and I appreciate it. :)

8 days til my baby boy turns 2. I can't believe it. Where has the time gone. It seems like yesterday I was getting ready to give birth and now he's almost 2 and potty training!! Yep, he's started showing an interest so I ran with it! Today he told me he had to go peepee, took off his diaper and headed for the bathroom. I helped him on the toilet, went to answer the phone and I hear Sophia yelling that Connor went pee on the floor!! LOL Sure enough. He had gone on the floor but he was still sitting on the toilet. He just forgot to hold his penis down. But hey, he went in the bathroom and not in his diaper!! :) It's a step in the right direction. How cool would it be if he was PT by Christmas!!!

Okay, I'm gonna take my stuffy/runny nose and go read for a bit. I'll post more about Connor tomorrow. i hope.

Happy Birthday Sophia!!

Happy Birthday to my baby girl!

I can't believe my little girl is 5 yrs old today! Where has the time gone. It seems just like yesterday that I was watching her fight in the NICU and now I'm fighting with her over getting up for school, getting dressed, ect. It's been a long 5 yrs but I wouldn't give them up for anything!

Of course like I do every year on her birthday, I woke up at 12:30am and 3:45am. It just happens on its own. It's weird. But why those 2 times you might ask? 12:30am is when I went into labor and at 3:45am, I was getting ready to push. Sophia was born at 3:48am after 3hrs 18 minutes of labor and 1 push. She was 1 lb 12oz, 13.5 inches long. My miracle girl.

Here is my miracle girl at 1 day old!

and at 5 yrs old!!!

Happy birthday to my sweet girl.

What a weekend!

What a weekend we had. It was soo long!!

Friday night we went to Billy's football game at Bishop Noll. It was a great game! I nearly lost my voice with all the screaming!!! BNI's announcer is the most biased announcer I have ever heard at a high school football game. He would get super excited everytime BNI would score or do something good. He even made a comment about what a good block one of the BNI players made. The refs called so many bullshit calls and our boys played hard. Of course I have to talk about the touchdown that had to be redone 4 times!!!! because of the stupid refs. Finally the 4th time the refs called it as a touchdown. um yeah. In the end, we won 42-39. We were all so proud of the boys. Billy was especially fired up and had the crowd really going. :) He kept yelling Warrior Pride, Do or Die and he stomped back and forth on the sidelines pumping his fists! It was a great night.

Saturday morning we got up early, packed the car and headed to Culver for Jen's wedding. We had SOOO much fun. Sophia and Connor danced all night long. We stayed in a really nice condo with mom and dad. It was 2 bedrooms, but the 2nd bedroom was more of a loft area but had its own bathroom and tub. It was really nice. Sophia was sad that we had to come home today, but she has school and Connor has therapy. We just got home a little while ago and I'm exhausted.

My stepsister and her family are in town from CA for the wedding and we're hoping to get to spend some time with them before they leave to go back. :) We barely got to talk to them at the reception.

Tuesday is Sophia's birthday!! I can't believe it's so close! We told her we might take her to the NICU to visit that day. The nurses at the one she was born at haven't seen her since her first birthday. Quite a difference between then and now. :)

well gonna finish uploading the pics from the wedding. I'll post some tomorrow hopefully. I'm too tired to do it tonight.

A happier Post

Sophia is so happy to be back to school now. She goes to bed so easy on the nights before school. She gets up before I do. She doesn't fight me to get ready or eat breakfast. She loves it! Today she was telling about how they did an apple tasting challenge. They had to try red apples and yellow apples and say which they liked more. Then Mrs E put it on the board like a graph. :)

Connor's doing pretty well with therapy. His speech therapist is just amazed by him! I just wish he would do the same things in OT that he does in speech ie doing the puzzles, stacking blocks, ect. He'll do it for Elaine the ST but not Elona the OT. LOL Oh well. At least he's doing it.

I can't believe their birthdays are almost here! Sophia's going to be 5 in 6 days! 6 DAYS!!!!! I can't believe that 5 yrs ago, I was in the hospital praying that I could hold her in a little longer. Oh and I realized today that she was born on a Tues and her birthday falls on a Tues again this year!! :) weird. So be warned dear blog readers. Tuesday will be filled with Sophia pictures. Birth to present. :) Same goes for Connor's birthday!

well i guess i better go cook dinner or something. I'm hungry. The kids keep sneaking marshmellows out of the pantry. Think I'm gonna have to put a lock on it! LOL

Update to the last post....

Wayne spoke to the friend who called us and made the comment to him. She apologized and said it just didn't come out how she planned it. He is still upset about it, but we both understand why it was said. He said that even though he understands why it was said, it doesn't excuse her for saying it. This is going to be a very difficult time for our friends and they are going to need support from everyone.

Of course, I am still upset over the fact that I am being singled out just because my preemie survived. I'm sorry that her baby didn't make it to viability, but I'm not going to allow people to make me feel bad because mine did. If anything, Wayne and i should be living proof that just because you went through what we did doesn't mean you can't have a healthy baby. Maybe next time, if there is a next time and I hope there is, her doctor will be more proactive and aggressive with monitoring her and giving her a way to make it at least to viability if not beyond. I have a lot of thoughts on the situation but I won't discuss them as I have a feeling this has been read by people I hadnt intended to read it. (yet another reason i wish people who read my blog would comment so I know who is in fact reading)

I promise the next post will be more positive and about MY children.

I have to put this somewhere...

This is not going to be a normal "oh the kids are great, here's what's going on in my life" post. I'm really angry right now so I have to get this out and put it where certain people are not likely to read it.

Wayne and I have some "friends". Well he does I should say. We will call them G and K. Wayne met G while in high school. I met K while in high school as well. Wayne considers G one of his best friends and like a brother. K and I were best friends for 9 yrs. Wayne and I were in G and K's wedding. Something happened(i don't know what) and K stopped being friends with me. Wayne and I got married. Things have slowly gotten worse with the friendship between Wayne and G. K doesn't even acknowledge my existence if we're in the same room.

Fast forward to the past few months.

After a couple of miscarriages, K got pregnant again. Everything was going great until about 2-3 weeks ago. She was put on bedrest at home. Things started to go wrong and she was put in the hospital. Wayne and I told them that since we had gone through the same thing, we would be there for them. No matter how bad the friendships got, they were family to us.

Today we get a call from a mutual friend. K had the baby today at 21weeks. The baby did not survive. It was too early. While my heart grieves for them, I am also very very angry. This mutual friend went on to tell Wayne that while she hopes Wayne will be there to support G, it would probably be best if he kept me away from K for at least 6 months! Why? Because I represent what should have happened with K.

I am so very angry because I feel like I am being made to be the bad guy because my child survived and hers didn't. It doesn't matter that I had Sophia at the very cusp of viability(24 wks) or that I struggled every day with the fact that my child may die and I wouldn't be there. Or even that Sophia struggled every day to survive. I'm sorry their child didn't make it. I'm sorry that they have to bury a child and a part of their heart. But why make me the villian?

Wayne is very upset about this as well. He said it isn't fair that they are going to tell me to stay away but not him. His child survived as well and they aren't telling him to stay away because he represents what they should have had as well. He said that while this is a hard time for him, he is sick of them treating me so poorly. He would never think to treat K like that.

So like I said, while my heart grieves for them, I can't get over this immense anger I have right now. And the anger isn't even aimed at them, but the mutual friend who called to give us the sad news. Maybe she should just keep her opinions to herself and keep her fucking mouth shut! Let G and K decide if they want me around. If they decide that, then they need to call Wayne and tell him. Will it make it any less hurtful? Will I be any less angry about it? No, but at least Wayne can give them a piece of his mind when they do.

Like I said I wouldn't normally put this here, but I can't put it at my other blog because they read that one. I'm not aware of them reading this one and if they do, they can just suck it up and move on.

I will NOT apologize for my child surviving and continuing to thrive despite being born so very early. I shouldn't have to.

It's All Valerie's Fault!

I got tagged by Valerie so now I guess I have to do it.

The Rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Mention the rules on your blog.
Tell 6 unspectacular quirks about you.
Tag 6 following bloggers by linking to them.
Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.


1. I am *almost* painfully shy. I am getting better about it.

2. I hate getting my hands wet or dirty. A trait I have passed on to my son, who freaks out when his hands get dirty. :(

3. I can't sit in the backseat of any car. I get horribly ill if I do.

4. I like to be the one doing the driving. I think it's a control thing or something.

5. I'm really good with numbers and spelling.

6. I encourage Sophia's obsession with learning about the human body because I am obsessed with learning about it too.

So now I have to tag people. UGH.. I'm going going to Tag 2 people instead of 6 because I know only 2 other people read my blog lol So I tag Elaina and Sherri

Not again!

School was cancelled AGAIN!

This time it is because Calumet Ave and River Rd are closed. Also, because the school isn't connected to the city, they need to have their septic tank pumped out. ARGH! They are hoping school will be back in session on Monday. It better! Sophia's going nuts here.

My Tupperware party wasn't much of a party. I feel sorry for the girl who did it because almost everything she pulled out, we either all had or had seen before. However, she did make some killer popcorn stuff and Sophia said the salsa she made was good. :) So that's a plus. The only people who showed up was my mom and my 2 sisters. One friend cancelled at last minute. I can't hold against her because she's about 8 months pg. So we'll see what kind of orders I can bring in. *sigh*

Now I'm tired. All I did today was clean. Except when we went to Kmart. Wayne said one of his coworkers got cargo pants for $10 a pair so we went to see if we could get some. They didn't have them at this Kmart. Oh well. I almost bought Connor some new bedding. They had this great crib bedding set that was a sports theme. It was regularly $70, on clearance for $24. The only reason I didn't buy it was because I didn't need the bumper and I can't use the dust ruffle on the toddler bed because of the rails on it. So we're gonna look for a toddler bedding set that is sports themed instead. :)

Okay. I'm gonna go watch some tv and veg. :)

Cancelled again!

School has been cancelled for Sophia again. I spoke to her teacher tonight. She said the building is fine, but the parking lot is still flooded. Also getting to the school is hard because the main road is closed. We could go around the back way but the road next to the school is flooded as well. They are hoping to resume school on Friday.

The cool thing is that her teacher's son set up a "blind" email account for her to contact us in the event of school closings. It was supposed to be for the winter and snowstorms. Who knew we'd have to put it into effect the 2nd week of school!! They've only gone to school 2 days!!

When I told Sophia tonight that there was no school tomorrow, she sat at the table and cried. Poor thing. She loves going to school so much and it breaks my heart to see her so sad. Daddy made her feel better by sharing his milkshake with her during dinner. lol

Oh and both kids have colds now. Connor was running a fever yesterday and this morning. They both have runny noses and congestion. So maybe it's a good thing she didn't go to school.

Tomorrow is my Tupperware party and Connor will have therapy with both therapists. Elona cancelled on Monday because she is slightly affected by all the flooding as well. She was able to get out of her neighborhood but didn't know how she would get back in. Several roads are open now so it won't be an issue tomorrow.

better get my butt to bed. Therapy is at 9am and that comes earlier than you think when you stay up late.

Momma's Boy

While I will admit that I love that my little boy is a momma's boy, it is also a bit of a pain in the butt. Like when I have to "sneak" out of the house to go anywhere by myself otherwise he screams bloody murder. Or like when it's 10pm and he wakes up crying and wants Mommy to lay with him and if I so much as change positions he checks to be sure I'm still there. Or when you finally have had enough and you let him lay on your bed for a little while and watch football because it's the only way you can go to the bathroom without him screaming. Or when you finally put him back in his own bed, still awake, and he cries Momma for a while and finally gets quiet.

But then there are the times when he will run up to me and throw his arms around my head and kiss me and run off. Or that he told me "i lulu" first. Yes that is supposed to be I love you. lol Or that he loves to cuddle with me and watch tv. Even if it is as his sister calls it "mom tv". Or when he falls down and the only person he wants is momma.

Those times far outweigh the crabby, clingy momma's boy times, but I will take both and enjoy every minute because he is my baby.

poor daddy though because we have a momma's boy AND a momma's GIRL! lol

She is NOT going to be happy!

Sophia is not going to be happy. They cancelled school for tomorrow. ALL day today she kept asking if she could go to school. Then, her teacher calls and leaves a voicemail telling us that school has been cancelled for tomorrow but they should be okay for Wed.

So I guess we will do something school related. Maybe paint, draw, something. We worked on her alphabet flashcards earlier. I even did them out of order and she knew all but 2 of them. :) I think she just didn't want to tell me what they were. She even knew some of the lowercase letters. :) She's a smarty that one. :)

Tomorrow is our anniversary. 7 yrs! Yippie. Hoping to go out to lunch or something since Wayne has to work. Depends on if mom will watch the kids or not. I hope so.

Okay. off to look up a recipe to make for dinner tonight. :)

The first week

We made it through the first week of school! YAY!

Sophia is enjoying it so far. I'm very impressed because today she brought home her worksheet and they are working on the letter A. She actually wrote one all by herself! Go Sophia! She's also happy because one of the boys she liked from last year (her "boyfriend") is in her class again this year. His name is Noah and he's such a cutie. The first day he walked over to where she was sitting and said hi to her. :)

Now she's saying she doesn't want to do cheerleading. I'm not going to push it. It will be easier if she does it next year anyways because then we will have 2 cars again and I won't have to depend on anyone to give her rides.

Looking forward to my tupperware party on Wednesday. Should be fun. I hope I have a decent amount of people show up. :)

Sophia video

So I had made this video of Sophia a couple years ago. I really need to update it but I can't seem to get through it when I watch it close to her bday without crying. Enjoy!

First(actual) day of School!

Today is the first real day of school!

Sophia is so excited! She was awake before I walked in her room. She ate her breakfast without argument and then went in her room and got dressed in the outfit I had laid out. Without being told to!!! WOOHOO!!!! She's been walking around with her backpack on all morning. Silly girl!

So here she is on her first day of PreK!

One down, a whole year to go!

Sophia was so excited to go to school today! So much so that when it was time to come home after we met with her teacher, she didn't want to go home! :) I just hope she continues with this excitement!

We're almost 100% sure she's going to start cheerleading lessons next week. It will all be decided if my mom can help take her to classes. If not, then we'll have to figure something out. I'm not keen on the idea of having to take Wayne to work and pick him up at midnight just to have the car but if I have to, I guess I will. ONLY if she likes it!

so for those of you who are not football fans or were living under a rock if you live in the chicago/northwest indiana area, then you know that the Colts lost last night to the bears. :( I was soo upset. I won't make up excuses, but I know there's a reason(or 5) of why they didn't play so well. They'll win next time!

Okay. I'm not feeling well so I'm going to take my butt to bed.

One more day!!

The time has come.

Sophia starts school tomorrow! She's excited about it so that makes me happy.

She is also going to be starting cheerleading classes next week hopefully. I need to call and find out more information and then we will register her. My mom said she would help out with giving her rides if she can when Wayne has to work. I HATE having only one car. It sucks big time!

Tonight is the first Colts game of the season. Naturally Sophia is wearing her Manning jersey. Quite the brave girl since she's over at Uncle Todd's with my mom and he's a Bears fan. Billy is over there too and he's a Bears fan as well. GO COLTS! LOL I told Sophia she can stay up and watch the game til 8pm then it was off to bed. Hopefully Wayne will watch the game with me too. :)

One more week!

Yes it's been a while, but I've been trying to enjoy the end of summer with the kids.

Sophia starts her 2nd year of preschool on the 8th. The first day is actually a meet the teacher/ review the rules/ information day. We'll only be there for an hour. She'll get to meet her new classmates, see if any of the kids from last year have returned, and see the classroom again. It's the same place as last year so that's a plus. Meanwhile, the parents(that's me!) will go in another room and talk to the teacher. Well mostly listen as the teacher talks.

Wednesday, the 10th will be the first actual day of class. She has to be there at 8:55 and will go until 11:30. This will be every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I hope she enjoys it as much this year as she did last year! :)

I'm dreading how Connor reacts to this and how long it takes him to adjust. Sophia spent the night at Grandma's yesterday and all night long he walked around the house asking "where sissy?" He adores his sissy and is so sad when she's not here. Hopefully by having his OT on mon and speech on Wed while she's in school it won't be so bad. The really hard part will come when I go back to work. Then he won't have Mommy or Sissy home with him. :( My poor little boy. At least it will give him and Daddy a chance to hang out without us girl!

So that's what's going on here. :)

One Step Closer

We are now one step closer to Connor being a big boy. We converted the crib to the daybed and put up the safety rail. We did the same thing with Sophia at this age to get her ready for the toddler bed. We'll try it out for his nap first today. Hopefully he will do good. We had no problems with Sophia so *fingers crossed* that Connor does just as well! Of course I do have visions of the 2 kids sleeping in the same bed together, either the toddler bed or the daybed since Connor can now climb out of bed on his own. Plus he loves laying with his sissy! :)

Here he is trying it out!

Busy

Things are finally getting back to normal after the storms we had this week. They have confirmed that a tornado(f2) did touchdown and blow through the area. It touched down about 5 minutes from where my sister, Michelle, lives. I'll post a link to the pictures I took on the way to her house as well as Sophia's preschool which is 5 minutes west of us. Trees everywhere!!!

Link to the storm pictures. Password is tornado Storm Pics

Today I went for my first Chiro consultation and therapy session. It was nice. Dr spoke me, took an xray and then had me lay on the massage table and let the rollers work on me and then the massage therapist did a little massage on the part that hurts most(lower back). Dr thinks I might have a pinched disc and/or nerve. I go back on Monday to go over my xray and discuss treatment.

After the chiro, I went and picked Sophia up. We went and picked up her new glasses and then walked around Walmart for a while. I got her 3 shirts for school and only paid $7 total! I saved like $7! Score for me. I can't wait til Wayne gets paid next week so I can go get some clothes for her for school. :) She's so excited about school starting! 1 month from today!! YIPPIE!

Now we are just hanging out. Wayne is going to be leaving for work soon so then it will be just the kids and I. I wish we still had 2 cars so I could go over to my mom's. oh well.

Damage Report

And now for the damage report.

Our gazebo took a big hit last night :( Poles are broken. Need to assess the damage this morning. Wayne and I went out at midnight to look and I took some pics. Need some pics in the daylight now.

My sister, Michelle, has a tree ready to land on her house and has been without power all night and this morning. She said there are powerlines down. She is supposed to be bringing food here to put in our big freezer.

Over at Dusty Acres aka my brother Todd's house, the yard is underwater. Don't know if he got water in the basement or not. btw, it's called dusty acres because that's where my parents park their rv when they are out this way. lol

So that's all I have for now. Mom is due back from Monticello today and will probably go to Michelle's and park the RV there. At least until the water goes down at Todd's house. Wish we had room here for them to park. :(

Yeah that was fun!

Yes that is sarcasm you are reading in that title!

Tonight we had one helluva storm! Knocked the power out a few times. Connor freaked out. Sophia was then upset because he was upset. Aww sibling love. Neither wanted to sleep. Brought them in my room for a "campout". Neither wanted to sleep. Sophia kept talking about the angels bowling. Yes sweetie, they are bowling now go to sleep. Of course I had our flashlights out because the stupid battery run lantern wouldn't work despite changing the batteries. grr.

Now the storm is over, kids in their beds, mommy cranky. I think I need some ice cream.

Walmart diapers suck!

FYI, Walmart brand diapers do not stay on well!!! LOL

This is the 5 time in less than a week that Connor has come into my room diaperless! LOL Geez! You'd think they'd make them a little harder to get off when they are that size! LOL Oh well. At least only one has been a poopy diaper and he came straight to me instead of playing in it like a certain little girly girl used to do. eww.

Going to go order her new glasses today! Should be fun. :) She wants High School Musical ones. We'll see about that! Also have to go grocery shopping and Wayne needs boots!

Off to get the kiddos dressed!

Girly Girls and GoGo's

It's finally happened. My daughter has become a girly girl. She's now all about makeup, lip balm, dress up clothes, baby dolls and barbies. I love it! She's also taken to singing songs from her movies now. Earlier she was singing a song from Cinderella 3. I was amazed to hear her singing it. She's got such a pretty little voice.

Connor is also starting to enjoy the more boyish toys. THANKGOD! He's all about his gogo's aka cars and trucks. I don't think we have left a store that he hasn't gotten a little hot wheel car. I don't mind because they are only 97 cents. He's got probably about 5 or 6 of them right now. Of course they are all over the house. He also loves his little fisherprice ones. you know the little chunky ones. :)

At least now I can start getting christmas stuff and not have to worry about them not wanting to play with it when the time comes! :) YAY!

Oh the Drama!

So I was a naughty girl and got kicked off one of my yahoo groups. LOL It's not my fault the group owner is an uptight twit who takes things far to seriously and needs to pull the stick out of her butt. argh. and that's being nice.

I know there are a couple of you from that group who read this blog and if you have issues with me talking about it here or disagree with my views, too bad. It's my blog not yours.

When a group of adult women are getting "yelled" at for cursing in a discussion or being told that we can't express our feelings, then something is wrong. I just hope The Warden doesn't cause the whole group to crumble because of her rules.

With that being said, I guess Connor was a big hit with his cousins this weekend. Josh has put the picture of him and Connor up as his profile pic on myspace. :) That's love. I just hope we can spend more time with them now. Unfortunately, we live 2 hrs or so away. :(

Pictures Part 4

yes, more pictures.

Connor and Uncle Paul playing Baggo


Connor and Zach


Connor and Sophia helping Aunt Shann clean corn


Connor in Grandpa's hat


Connor and Josh


Family dinner



Sophia and Aunt Annie by the fire


Uncle Don by the fire


Fire at night


Don again. love how the fire looked


Our last day...

Sophia and Connor in the tent wile I pack up


Pretty girl


Handsome boy


Silly girl

Pictures Part 3

Connor and Momma relaxing


Connor, Momma and Daddy


Sophia pool pics




Where did she go?






Oh there she is!!!

Pictures Part 2

Grandpa at the RV


Sophia and Connor playing at the RV


Our fire on Friday morning. Notice the frying pan and coffee pot. :)


Sophia getting ready to go tubing!


Get ready....


get set....


GO!!!!

Pictures Part 1

I'm back with pictures!!!

Connor in the car on our way to the lake


After setting up the tent...

Josh


Zach


The Tent


Connor on the boat


Connor and Aunt Lori on the boat


Sophia at boaters beach



with daddy @ BB


with Zach @ BB


Connor driving the boat w/ Grandma(mamom as he calls her)