A couple of Firsts for Molly

So yesterday was a milestone for Molly....good and bad!

She got her first timeout and she also peed on the potty for the first time!!

First....her timeout experience......

She has always been a good listener. At this age, Brody was already starting to get timeouts because he heard me when I told him to do something, but would do it on his terms. Well....guess who is starting to the same. Normally, we have been able to tell her something, maybe twice, and she ends up doing it. Lately, it is with her and the DVDs that we are having an issue. In our TV stand, she likes to open the cabinets and take the DVDs out. She got in trouble for that a couple of times this weekend. Well, last night, she wasn't listening when we asked her to get out of the kitchen while we were cooking. So after telling her for the third time, Ted took her to timeout. Whew! That was an experience. She wouldn't sit and would not stop crying! After about 5 minutes of Ted sitting there with her, I finally went over there and poor thing had the "yuckas" (when you can't catch your breath after crying so hard). She sat there for me and I told her why she was in timeout and she calmed right down. After about a minute, I finally let her get out and she was much better. Ted said that she reminded him a little of Ethan when he was younger because he was so stubborn sometimes when you tried to discipline him. We both said that Brody was never like that. Now when he goes into timeout, the first thing he says is "I want to listen....can I listen Mommy?" even when he may not have had an issue with listening to put him there in the first place! Anyway, that was our timeout experience.

Now for the more exciting part! She peed on the potty!! She has been obsessed with sitting on the potty for a while and constantly says she has to pee, but when we put her on the potty, nothing happens. Last night, before her bath, she said she needed to pee, like always, so we put her on there! Well....lo and behold, she tinkled.....just a little bit, but still.....she tinkled! We were so excited and she started to get a shy look on her face. I don't think she knew what to think. Even Brody was cheering for her. It was pretty cute! Hopefully, this is the start of something because I can tell you that I am tired of buying diapers for her!!! I am hoping she will be just as easy as Brody to potty train. Once he got, he really got it!!

Here are a couple of cute pictures of my little princess!! I can't believe she will be 2 years old on Sunday!!!

My girlfriend Connie watched the kiddies for me one day so I could work and she bought her a dress up kit, with a skirt, tiara, jewlery, purse, and furry little heels! She loved it. Here she is sporting her bling!!!

I love how she is looking up at Connie's son Jack......her prince! :)

And finally, here is a picture (of a picture) of the kid's school picture. They turned out great. I had a hard time picking the ones I wanted. They had a couple poses of each of them separately and two of them together!!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Day After Halloween!

Last night was a lot of fun. Ted is out of town for the week hunting in Charlottesville and his Mom has been here for the past couple of weeks. She was gracious enough to stay another week while Ted was gone in case something came up at work and I had issues getting the kids. She is so sweet!!

We had a house full of people last night. My parents came over to go trick-or-treating with us and my sister, brother-in-law and my niece and nephew came over too. My neighborhood is nice to trick-or-treat in because there are plenty of houses and lots of candy!!

I got some great pictures of all the kids, and my sister did too. Unfortunately, I left my camera at home so I only have the few I took with my phone. Brody went as Spiderman and Molly was Minnie Mouse. Luckily, the weather was pretty nice and not too cold. I only took Molly to a few houses and then she went back home with my Mom for her bath and bed. I let Brody stay out later and he got lots of candy! It was great to see him get excited. While he was excited last year, he was a little scared to go up to some of the houses, but not this year. He is such a big boy. And, during school yesterday, his teacher talked to all the kids about the importance of staying with your Mom and Dad and not running off. He told me "I have to stay with you or someone can take me. Mommy, they are not nice people if they take me!" He is so smart!!

I didn't get any pictures of Anthony and Ashleigh on my phone, but Anthony was the guy from Scream, with the scary mask that has blood on it. Molly wanted NOTHING to do with him. Everytime he got near her, she freaked out, and kept saying "I scared!" Poor Anthony.....he would take the mask off and try and reassure her that it was just him, but she was having nothing to do with him!

Here are a few pics.......

Tab sent me the picture below of Mallory! ADORABLE! I love how she is standing in this picture.

New Post

Well, things are starting to heat up again at work. As much as I love my job for the most part, this is going to be a pretty stressful Fall/Winter. Plus, next week we are supposed to find out if we won the big project I was working on a couple of months ago. To say I am nervous is an understatement! But, what will be will be!

On the home front, things are good. Hunting season officially opens up this weekend so Ted is happy. He has really started getting into fishing since he got a kayak so between that and hunting, I am hoping to see him a little bit for the next three months! HA!

Kiddies are doing great! Brody is doing really good in his class and he is growing up too fast. His vocabulary is crazy and sometimes it is hard to believe he is only 3½. I bought Ted and iPad for our anniversary and right now, Brody is getting more use out of it than he is. When Hurricane Irene was preparing to hit our area, Ted downloaded some shows on it to occupy the kids if the power went out. Well, the power did go out and stayed out for 5 days. Luckily, our neighbors have a generator that is hooked to the gas line so they pretty much had all their power so we stayed over there a majority of the time. Well, now all Brody wants to do is watch his shows on Ted’s iPad. We bought him a few games on it the other night and he loves playing them. It is crazy how much he is able to pick up the first couple of times he plays it. I hate to admit that sometimes it is nice for him to be able to occupy himself for a little bit at night so I am able to do things when I get home from work. :)

Molly is growing up way to fast. Her 2nd birthday is right around the corner and I can’t believe my baby will be 2 years old!! She has started showing some interest in the potty so we put her on it right before her bath each night, but of course, we have had no luck so far. I am glad she is showing interest in it though. The next class up from hers at school is the potty training class so similar to Brody, once she moves up, we will start concentrating more on that. I know she is still young, but hopefully she will be just as easy as Brody was to potty train. She is also starting to become picky about her clothes, or I should just say her shoes! I went shopping for her last weekend to get some winter clothes and I bought her a couple pair of shoes. She wore one of her new pair to school yesterday and when we got home, she refused to take them off. Of course, Ted walks in and tells her to sit so he can take them off and of course, she does it! I swear……I think she is going to listen to her father more than me, which will be a problem! She also has the best sense of humor. She laughs at everything and has the greatest smile! I think our next transition will be transitioning her from her crib to a toddler bed. The only problem I have is that she has not even showed the slightest bit of interest to climb out yet. She LOVES her sleep and I think she is in love with the crib so it will be interesting to see what she does when the time comes to transition her.

We got Ethan last weekend for the first time since the summer. He stayed with us for a month and ½ over the summer and it was great having him with us. The kids love him and constantly ask where he is when he isn’t home. He is in 8th grade going on 18. I can’t believe how grown up he looks and sounds! I know I say that all the time, but it still amazes me how much more grown up he looks every time I see him!

I have been horrible with the camera but I did take some cute pics of the kids yesterday. I will try and remember to post them this weekend!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Okay...I know I need to post some more recent pictures, but unfortunately, I don't have my camera with me. But I wanted to post a funny story so later in life, I won't forget this.

Last week, I was getting ready for work and Brody was up. Ted got his clothes out and he was getting dressed. Ted left and Brody had headed downstairs to get a drink from him and say bye before he left. I knew he was down there and figured he would come up after Ted left. After a few minutes, I realized he hadn't come up so I went out to the hallway and here is how the conversation went:

Me: "Brody, where are you?"
Brody: "Right here Mommy?"
(I still can't see him so I am not sure what he is doing)

Me: "Come up here while I finished getting ready"
Brody" "Okay....coming!"
(a couple minutes pass and no Brody....)

Me: "Brody, I said come up here!"
Brody: "Okay....I am coming. Jesus!"
Me: "What did you just say?"
Brody: "Chuck-E-Cheese's?"

Okay...first of all, I couldn't believe he said that. Secondly, I can't believe he is already smart enough to try and cover for himself when he knows he did or said something wrong! Crazy!

But....gotta love him! :) He is just too darn cute!

Random Pictures

Here are some random pictures of the kids that I have on my computer at work. I need to download the ones from my camera and post them. I haven't done that in a while. I really am starting to stink with the picture taking! :(

This picture cracks me up. Tab sent it to me. It was taken during Mallory's birthday party. Not sure what the expression was about, but he looks a hot mess!

This is a better representation of my little man. This sums him up perfectly! He is always happy! :) Love it!

See? Another day, another great smile!

Here is my sassy little girl. Sarah - in this picture, I think she resembles Joseph a little!

Daddy and his little girl. She is going to give him way more gray hair as she grows up!

Here she was coloring at the Children's Museum. I am pretty sure we have a lefty on our hands!

Whew! Time for a Breather

So my monster project finally went out the door. It is now in the hands of Massachusetts and we now wait to find out what happens next. I am keeping my fingers, toes, legs, arms….everything crossed in hopes we win. I think we definitely have a high chance of winning and retaining this piece of business, but we never know what is going to happen. I will be on pins and needles until they announce the winner.

I took off a couple of days this week to catch up on things. My intention was to clean the house and do stuff that I have neglected over the past 2 months….but guess what? It didn’t happen! I ended up being pretty lazy and sleeping. I told Ted that I can’t believe how tired I have been the last week or so. He told me to just relax and it was probably my body trying to catch up from all the late work nights, the travel and the stress. I am definitely feeling a bit better now that I had a few days to rest up.

The kids are all doing great. Ethan went back to his Mom’s this past weekend and will be there for the remainder of the summer. Loved having him at home! Like I said in a previous post, it feels like we are complete when he is there. The kids have been asking about him a lot because he was with us for over a month. I love that they do that! :)

Brody and Molly both moved up in their classes at school. I had a brief meeting with Brody’s new teacher last week, since I didn’t know who she was and wanted to introduce myself to her. I LOVE HER! She is awesome and we had a great meeting. She said that she is a pretty strict disciplinarian (yay!) and that whatever Ted and I have done with Brody, we need to keep it up because he is so well behaved. That made this Momma smile! It totally warms my heart to hear that. It makes me realize that when we have to get on him for things and punish, the results are paying off! In his new class, they go on a field trip to the movies down the street every Tuesday. She said she was impressed with Brody considering it was his first time. I have always been hesitant about taking him because I am not sure how he will act. He watches movies at home, but normally he gets ¼ or ½ through and then wants to do something else. The only time he will watch the whole thing is when he is in his room. But, she said he did great and Brody loves going!

As for Molly, she has the same main teacher that Brody did when he was in her class so I know her pretty well. A couple weeks ago, I asked them how she was in the class with the other kids. The reason I asked is because my little girl has a TUDE! Yes, a big fat attitude! She is the sweetest thing one minute and then the next, she is throwing a look at you and if looks could kill you would be dead. She definitely bosses Brody around when we are at home. (He will be my sensitive one….she will be the more strong-willed one!) They said she is the leader of the pack, but not in an aggressive way. They said she gets along great with all the other kids. They love her there! All the teachers love to love up on her. I am thinking that she is holding it all inside until she gets home at night. Don’t get me wrong….she is a sweet little girl, but she can be mean. And like I said, when she doesn’t want to eat something, or she doesn’t want to do something, she lets you know! Sometimes, we laugh because it is pretty funny and other times, we aren’t sure what to do with her. She is too cute to get mad at, that’s for sure.

She has started to say love you (although it comes out “low-you”) and it makes me melt. Last night, after we read our books before bed, I asked her if I could rock her before I put her to bed. Initially, she said no, but when I get her paci, she came right up and just laid on me. I rocked her for a little bit. I could have stayed like that forever. I told her “Molly – don’t grow up…..just stay this small forever!” She said “Yes!” If only that could happen!

I am in such a baby mood lately and can’t believe my babies are growing up. I could have 4 more, but unfortunately, I need a man to do that and Ted said he is done. I definitely respect his decision….we do have 3, but I could have many more Brody’s and Molly’s. Knowing our luck, we would hope for good babies like they were and getting the holy terror!! We thought that would happen with Molly but she turned out better than Brody. But, I am not complaining. I have the 3 best kids in the world and could never ask for anything more! :)

Not funny....but I had to post

Okay...the parent in me does not think this is funny, but the other part of me is in disbelief and had to post this. Brody is a very precocious child. I think the child has been cursed with my smart mouth and it really scares the crap out of me. Here are two conversations we had this weekend: 1 on Friday after school, and 1 on Saturday.

Friday
I picked up Brody and Molly from school. Brody had a note in his cubby from his teacher that said that he had a rough day on Friday. He wasn't listening and she asked that we speak to him about hitting his friends. Brody never hits his friends so I was definitely taken a back.

Me: Brody - what happened today? Ms. Kendra said you weren't listening and you hit your friends.
Brody: Well, Alex pinched me.
Me: You know you aren't supposed to hit your friends. You know better than that. Why did you get in trouble for not listening?
Brody: I did listen to my teachers.
Me: Well, apparently you weren't listening or else I wouldn't have gotten this note.
Brody: Well, apparently I was!

Yesterday
We took the kids to my girlfriend's daughters party at the local children's museum. When we passed the park at the front of our neighborhood, Brody asked if we could got to the park.

Brody: Mommy, can we go play at the park?
Me: Not right now, we need to get home and start dinner. Maybe another day.
Brody: Why Mommy?
Ted: Because we said not right now.....
Brody: Daddy, I wasn't talking to you....I was talking to Mommy. Mommy why?

Both Ted and I sat there with our mouths wide open. We were in shock that he actually said that. I am not sure what we are going to do with him..........He has been so good for so long, but this week, he has had a hard time listening at both school and home. I am hoping this is a short-term thing and he straightens up soon.

It has been too long....

I can't believe I haven't posted anything in over 2 months! Crazy. Life is crazy. Work is crazy.....


I would say that in the last 2 months, I have been on the road traveling more than I have been home. I am working on a very large project at work right now (a $500 million contract in MA) and have been traveling back and forth to Boston alot. I also had to travel to Connecticut a couple of times. Luckily, I don't mind traveling to either one of those places, so it hasn't been too bad. And Ted has been doing really good with the kids. I just find it funny that when I have to travel, sooooo many people come up to me and ask "Since you are traveling, who is taking care of the kids?" I look at them like they are stupid, I am sure, and say "Uh......their Dad!" It is almost like it is totally not expected that their dad would be taking care of them while I am gone. What is wrong with that picture. I actually get offended by the question because it almost makes me feel like people think I shouldn't be traveling when I have small children. I am a very career-driven person and I don't think that having small children should hold me back from opportunities at work. UGH! Sorry for the ranting, but sometimes it really frustrates me. My good friend, who is much higher up in the company as me, said the next time someone asks that, I should respond with "Would you ask a man that question?" Of course, I am not that quick on the draw like that, but still. I can have both, right? A career and family? I think it is possible and I think I am doing a pretty darn good job at it. I am not saying it is easy all the time, but luckily I have an extremely supportive husband who never complains when I have to stay late or when I have to travel and I have a supportive family who can help. Anyway, I don't know who I am trying to convince....maybe myself, but I intend to stay at it so I can have both.


On the kiddie front, I posted new pictures of the kids on the right of the blog. Ethan is growing up way to fast. He turned 13 last month and has sprouted a moustache and is now my height! His voice is deeper than his Dad's and I would like to know where the little, blonde headed boy went..........oh, that's right. That is now Brody! The other day, I was looking at Brody sitting in his car seat on the way home from school and had flash backs to Ethan at that age. I think Brody resembles Ethan at that age so much sometimes. Of course, Ethan doesn't agree, but what does he know? :) We have Ethan for the summer, or atleast a good part of it, so it makes me happy when he is here. I feel like we are one complete unit and all the pieces are finally all together when he is here!


Of course, Brody is growing like a weed too. He is start to get skinny too. I know that when others look at him, they don't see that, but I definitely do. A couple of weeks ago, I was getting him dressed and had the hardest time finding him some shorts to wear.....all of his shorts were too big in the waste. Pretty crazy. He has changed sooooo much over the last couple of months it is hard for me to believe that is still just 3 years old. He is definitely becoming more of a lovebug with Molly too, which makes me soo happy. For the most part, he is so sweet with her, calling her sweet names and hugging her alot. Of course, she is not always digging it which I will get to later. But, I have to share this moment I had with him the other day because I never want to forget the feeling I had.


Last week, I left on Tuesday to go to Connecticut for work for a couple of days. I ended up getting home really late Thursday night and Ted ended up taking Brody to school Friday morning since Molly had a doctor's appointment that I was taking her to. So, I didn't really get a chance to see Brody since before I left so I definitely wanted to peek in and see him when I dropped Molly off at school after her doctor's appointment. Ted told me that they were having a little parade at school right around the time that I would be dropping her off so I figured I would see him anyway. I walked into the school and all the kids were in the main area singing and chanting. There were other parents standing around and when Brody looked around, I could tell he was looking for me. I peeked around from the parent standing in front of me and the look on Brody's face when he spotted me literally took my breath away. He broke out in a huge smile that lit up his entire face and as he was running to me, he started to tear up! I am actually tearing up right now as I type this because it was a moment I will NEVER forget. I could just tell how excited he was to see me and I was only gone for a few days. I swear.......these kids are the best thing I have ever done and they make me so proud to be their Mom every day!!!


Anyway, now that that sappy moment is over, let me get to little, miss attitude. Yes, attitude. Whew....Ted and I are going to have our hands full. Brody is going to be our sensitive one, "momma's boy" is what Ted calls him sometimes, but we are definitely going to have our hands full with lil' miss Molly. The looks she gives sometimes are to die for and like the saying "if looks could kill" we would have been dead more times than I can count. In saying that, she is also the most laidback, funny, cuddly girl I have ever met. That sounds so weird to say, but it is true. When Ted and I went on our vacation, which was the best time EVER, my Dad said it was so strange because Molly could be running around one minute, playing, and then when it was time to go to bed, you tell her it is "night-night" time and she is up the stairs and asleep in 5 minutes. I can't remember when Brody started climbing out of his crib, but she is now 19 months old and I don't think she has ever stood up in her crib when we weren't in there. At this point, I might keep her in her crib until she is 5! HA! She loves her sleep and her crib....I have never seen another child like that. And funny......man she is funny. The faces she makes, the way she imitates us, she is pretty hilarious! But when she has a 'tude, you better watch out. My parents keep saying she gets that from me. I guess they got their wish. They used to tell me that they can't wait until I have a kid just like me. I think it finally came true.

She had her 18 month check up the other day (she was actually closer to 19 months) and here are her stats:


Height - 31.1 inches (25%)
Head - 18.1 inches (25%)
Weight - 27.1 lbs. (75%)


So, she is short and stocky, just like her Dad and brother. But, she of course, looks more petite to me.


She had to back to the ENT after our last appointment for a check-up, but she ended up going back earlier because she got a double ear infection. They checked her out a couple weeks after she stopped the antibiotic and said that they would go ahead and do the tubes. They said I did have some time to decide because we are going into the summer months when ear infections are supposed to be rare. But they said if she continues to have issues, we need to go ahead and do it. It has been almost 3 weeks since she was seen and the other day at her check-up, her regular doctor said her ears look fine so I think we will wait. I really don't want her to have to have tubes, but of course, if she does need them, I won't wait. But I think right now, we will see what happens.


I will post some recent pictures I have taken of the kiddies later this evening. Sometimes, it takes a long time to post them and I am not a very patient person when it comes to that. :)

Molly Info - 16 1/2 months

This is more for my benefit later one when I look back and wonder what Molly was doing at 16 1/2 months!

Yesterday, during Molly’s ENT appointment, they asked me how we felt her hearing and speech development was. I said “everything seems to be going well!” He said “does she say about 6-10 words?” I said “Oh yeah!” Ted looked at me shocked. He didn’t think so but I started to rattle off everything she is saying now and I started to realize that she is saying a lot:

Mommy
Daddy
Bobo (for Brody)
E-tan (for Ethan)
Book
Apple
Eat-eat
Night-night
Pop-Pop
Mamee (instead of MeeMaw)
Go
Shoe
Juice
Papi (for paci)
Baby
Elmo
Fishy

In addition to her expansive vocabulary :) she now has 7 teeth! Four on the top (including the two middle ones with a big gap in between) and three on the bottom. Unfortunately, her teeth look a little jacked up right now, but it just adds to her beauty! :)

A little more about her right now. She was fully clothed yesterday (including shoes and jeans) and she was 26 lbs. and 30 inches tall. She is growing up too fast!! She climbs on everything, including stairs, and her Grandma taught her to go down the stairs on her behind rather than try and walk down. She still loves her bath and gets really excited about brushing her teeth. Of course, she is still an amazing sleeper (even now when she is sick!) I am so thankful for her every day!

Cooties!

Okay…it has been almost a month since my last post and there is lots going on.

First, the good news. Ted and I are going on vacation! We are heading to Cancun for about a week at the end of this month for our anniversary and I can not wait! We will be celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary on May 28th! It seems like we have been married longer than that! My parents are going to watch the kids that week for us. Ted and I have both said we are not planning anything except relaxing, beaching and pooling it, drinking, and sleeping! Ahhh………sounds so nice. I know I will miss the kiddies though, but they will be in good hands. In 18 days, we will be here!!


Now on to the bad news. We are all sick! That is everyone except Ted. Not sure how he escaped that one. Last week, Brody was coughing, mostly at night, and I thought it was just his allergies acting up. He is like his Daddy in that respect. When the pollen gets bad around here, which it has been the last month, their allergies are real bad. On Saturday morning, he was laying with me and I could hear him wheezing so I decided to take him to the doctor. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get in with my doctor’s office so they told me considering his symptoms to take him the urgent care. We got there, they did a chest x-ray, said that looked good and gave him an overall check up. They said they couldn’t see anything that would be causing it so they said he might have just picked up a virus and it would have to run its course. Then Sunday morning, I got a call from them and they said the radiologist ended up looking at his chest x-ray and said he had the beginnings of pneumonia. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that the doctor at the urgent care missed it. I thought something else might have been wrong and should have trusted my “Mommy instinct” They told me they were going to call in an antibiotic and that he needed to start using his inhaler again. So we did that and he seemed to be better on Monday morning.

I got the kids ready on Monday morning for school, dropped them off and headed to work. Got to work around 8:00 and sure enough, at 9:02, I got a call from the kids’ school. It was Molly’s teacher asking me to give her a call. I wasn’t sure what was up…figured she had just gotten hurt or fell or something. Nope! When I called, they said Molly was running a 101 fever and she was fussy ever since I left. I thought that was strange because she was absolutely fine that morning! She didn’t give me any inclination that she wasn’t feeling good. My mom went and picked her up and kept her for the day. When I headed home from work, I left a little late and told Ted to keep her up because I wanted to see her. My mom said she was fine in the morning, but in the afternoon, she was running a fever again and was real clingy. When I got home, I almost cried. She looked horrible. When my little girl doesn’t feel good, it is written all over her face. She gets dark circles under her eyes and she just looks beat down. I swooped her up and she was burning up. I took her temp and sure enough…it was 102. She was breathing real funky and I was worried about her getting pneumonia since the last time, she got it right after Brody. So I decided to take her to the doc. Since I was still pissed with our urgent care, I took her to the ER at Children’s Hospital for them to check her out. When we got there, she was running a 104 fever and they immediately gave her a Tylenol suppository. Poor thing! When we got back to the room, all she did was lay on me, sweating up a storm. The doc checked her out and said her lungs sounded fine and that she was probably just fighting a virus. Luckily we were in and out of there by 8:00. On the way home, I was joking with my Mom, who was so gracious to come with me, that Molly has never been in the car and not home in her bed after 7:00-7:30 in her life! Crazy! Anyway, she ended up staying home all week and today was her first day back at school. Considering it is now 3:00 and I haven’t gotten a call, I consider it a success.

Yesterday, she had her ENT appointment scheduled because her pediatrician said she needed to be seen since she was having recurring ear infections and persistent fluid in her ear. When we were at the ER the other night, the doctor did say something to me about her right ER and when I mentioned that we had the ENT appointment this week, he decided not to do anything about it. The first part of her appointment was a hearing test. The first thing they do is a tympanogram, which I wrote about in a previous blog. This test assesses the movement of her ear drum. She failed both ears at her pediatrician’s office, but luckily, this time she only failed on the right side. The next thing they did was the actual hearing test. They had her sit on my lap and made noises in speakers to her left and right. She did really good with that, but they said that they think she is hearing more out of her left than her right. She might have minor hearing loss in her right ear, which is caused from the fluid sitting behind her ear drum. Once we got called back to see the doctor, a resident came in first to assess her situation. He took a peek at her ears and then decided he needed to clean them out. My poor baby was screaming her little heart out the entire time. I felt so bad for her. I finally had to have Ted hold her because I couldn’t do it anymore. Not only was I emotional, but she was making me sweat! The doc came in and said that considering we are going into the summer months, which means it is not ear infection “season” he wanted to give her a little bit of time to see if the fluid goes away on its own. He said it generally happens in 9 out of 10 children. She has a follow-up appointment on June 30th to see what has gone on and if the fluid hasn’t gone away, she will probably need tubes. UGH! We avoided this bullet with Brody and I was hoping the same thing would happen with Molly, but not sure. Hopefully the fluid will disappear and all will be good. We shall see.

Now, I am not feeling so hot. I stayed home with Molly on Tuesday and on Wednesday, I started to have a sore throat and a cough. It has stayed around and while it doesn’t seem to be getting worse, it isn’t getting better. If it is not gone by next week, I will be heading to the doctor to get some meds so I can be good and healthy for our trip.

I really need to blog more......

Yet again, I totally suck at blogging. I swear…I say I am going to be better about it and I totally cherish the fact that I blogged so often the last couple of years because I look back on what I posted all the time. Especially looking to see what Brody did at certain ages and (dare I say) compare him to Molly. There definitely is no comparison. Other then the fact that they were both easy, they are 2 totally different children!

The biggest news right now is that Ted will possibly not be working next week if the Government shuts down, which according to what I have been reading, is inevitable. As of right now, they have about 12 hours to come to some agreement or Ted will be getting on Monday, heading to work to get his furlough papers, and then heading back home! UGH! We were planning to go on a vacation at the end of May for our anniversary, but of course, that has been put on hold because we don’t know what will happen. I am hoping some miracle happens in the next 12 hours and he will still get paid next week.

Other news….Molly has another ear infection. When I took her for her 15 month check-up when I took Brody for his 3 year check up, unbeknownst to me, she had an ear infection in her left ear. Of course, like Brody, she gave me no indication that she was having issues so I had no clue. Well, when the doctor looked back at her other appointments, she has either had an infection or fluid in her ear since January. She prescribed an antibiotic to try and knock it out and said we needed to come back in 2 weeks for a re-check. Well, her re-check was on Tuesday and guess what – the ear that had an infection still had yellow fluid and her right ear was the same way. The other issue is that when we first went back, the nurse did a tympanogram test on her. I don’t remember Brody ever having that done, at least not in the pediatrician’s office, so I was surprised when they did it. The tympanogram tests the middle ear the mobility of the eardrum. It doesn’t assess her hearing, but it measures the eardrum’s response to sound at different pressures. Well, both of her ears came back abnormal which means we are headed to the ENT. I was able to schedule an appointment with the same practice Brody went to on May 5th so we will wait to see what happens. I am hoping that they are able to solve the issue without having to do tubes, which is what happened with Brody. I know that I shouldn’t be freaked out, but anytime someone says a test came back abnormal with my kids, I get a little scared. Then of course, I thought back and remembered that in the hospital, she failed her first hearing test, but passed the second. Of course, in my warped brain, I am already associating the 2 and they probably have nothing to do with each other. So, now we wait. Of course, you take one look at her and have no clue that anything is wrong. She is still her happy go lucky self. Such a lovebug. The following list is just for me because I want to document some of the funny things the kids are doing now:

Brody

• The other night, I was getting Brody ready for his bath. I told him to take his clothes off and he looked at me and said, “Okay little girl…..little girl named Mommy!” Of course, it is not as funny as I am typing it because the funniest part was the look on his face and the way he said it! It cracked me up.


• Brody is doing so awesome at school. I definitely think he was more than ready to move up to the next class. When my parents picked him up from school the other day, my Mom asked how he was and his teacher said “Brody is always good!” Makes this Mommy smile. He has been so good the last couple of weeks with listening and doing what he is told. His time-outs have been few and far between and he just seems to have matured so much recently. Crazy to think of him as mature at 3, but I don’t know another way to describe it.


• I have started to relax a little about his schedule. Anyone that knows me well might be falling out of their chair right now as they are reading this, but yes, it is true. The nap times are limited on the weekend and he is able to fully function with no nap so if he misses it, I am not that worried. We still send him upstairs in his room at his normal nap time, but we let him watch tv and have now referred to it as “rest time.” At night, same thing, but he has been hanging out with us a little more at night and the other night, I actually let him stay downstairs and we watched cartoons and it was 8:00 pm! I know…..sometimes I shock myself. But he is a well-adjusted kid and I have learned that we can modify the schedule a little bit and guess what? The world doesn’t fall apart like I thought! Of course, I can’t say the same thing about Molly’s schedule. She is still too young.

Molly

• Similar to Brody, Molly is doing really well at school. She has definitely adjusted to going there every morning and I can’t honestly remember the last time she cried when I dropped her off. That used to just be a staple in our morning routine, but not now. I can’t tell that she is picking up more and more language. She can pretty much imitate most words we say to her and has come to call Brody bo-bo. It is pretty cute.


• At night, for a while, we would bathe her, put her jammies on, and then I would rock her for a few minutes before I put her down at night. She would just lay on me with her head on my chest and those were one of my favorite moments of the day. Well now, or atleast for the past couple of nights, we do the same thing and I will go to sit in the rocker and she will fight to get off of me. Once she is down, she will walk right over to her crib, grab the railing, look at me and say something in her Chinese, and hike a leg up like she wants to get in the crib. The first time it happened, I couldn’t believe it. It was like she was trying to tell me that she was ready for bed. Well, she has started doing it more and more. I guess our rocker time has slowly faded away! That is like a knife to the heart for me because it is yet another sign my little baby girl is growing up! :(


• Molly definitely loves her brothers. She and Brody play together pretty well, but of course there are those times where they fight. It is crazy to think about a 16 month old and a 3 year old fighting, but trust me it happens. Molly started this new thing last week where she would break out in a high-pitch scream when Brody would take something from her. She is a little feisty……….I think it is pre-cursor of what is to come. She is definitely my more laid back baby, but she has a mean streak in her and as she gets older, I am sure we would find it as cute as we do now at this age.


• Last weekend, Molly was out in the kitchen while Ethan was emptying the dishwasher. She fell and started crying and I was getting ready to get up and go in there, but Ethan had scooped her up and she immediately stopped crying. It was probably one of the sweetest things ever. She was just staring up at him, with this look on her face that said “Thank you so much for saving my life!” It was adorable! I love those moments….they definitely can not be re-created!

I think that is it for now. I am going to get back to work. I just wanted to take a little brain break and post something since I haven’t posted in a while! Ciao for now! :)

A Few Pictures

I don't have many pictures with me here at work, but wanted to post the few that I had! This first one cracks me up because Brody was so excited to eat his Shrek cake!! I just wish the spoon wasn't in the way!

15-Month Comparison

Okay...as the kiddies get older, they are starting to look more and more different. Here is a comparison of both of them around 15 months! Crazy how they both can look so different! Sorry they are both so blurry. They were taken on my phone and then of course I wanted to make it big enough to see. Such cuties!

My Baby Boy is 3

Holy crap people! My baby boy is 3 years old! When did that happen? I have been pretty slack with the blogging lately. Work is absolutely crazy and I am just so tired when I get home that all I want to do is relax and read before I go to bed. But anyway, enough about me!

Brody’s birthday was last Saturday and we decided to do something small at the house. We had my parents, Chris and Rick and the kids, Tab and Mallory, Nana and Grandma Cappy (Tab’s grandma and Mom), and my neighbors and their kids over. I originally wasn’t going to do a theme or anything, but at the last minute, decided I would do Shrek. He LOVES Shrek and has watched it so many times that he recites pieces of the movie. Sad, I know! But anyway, it was a pretty nice day so he was outside playing with the kids and overall, it was a great day! I love the fact that he is growing up, but in the same vein, I hate the fact that he is growing up! One day, my baby boy will be bigger than me, but I can’t think about that stuff right now. I am just going to enjoy these moments and cherish that fact that when he hurts himself or he is sad, Mommy is the one to make him feel better. A bandaid has nothing on Mommy’s kisses! The other night, I was doing some work at home and Ted and I went up to tuck Brody in for bed. I was going to head back downstairs and Ted was going to lay with him for a few minutes. When I said I was going downstairs, Brody clung to me and said “No Mommy. You stay here!” I said “Daddy is going to stay with you!” He said “No, Daddy can go downstairs…..you stay with me!” It definitely made me feel good (although it did upset Ted). Ted headed downstairs and Brody ran and got him and brought him back in the room. It was pretty sweet!

A couple of weeks ago, Brody moved up into the next class at school. I had my parent-teacher conference with his teacher and she said she knew Brody was ready to move up. She said he had mastered everything in her class and he would get bored quickly. Right before they transitioned him, he was acting up too, even at home, so I think he was ready for the challenge. He has been SOOO much better since transitioning and his teachers have said he is doing awesome. Puts a smile on my face, that’s for sure.

So, he had his 3-year check up on Monday. They did his weight and height and then checked his vision. He did so great. They gave him the black cover to put over his one eye and I said “Look Brody. You are a pirate!” He just turned to me, looked up and said, “Arggghhhh!” It was pretty funny. So here are his 3-year stats:

Height – 39 ½ inches (85%)
Weight – 43.8 lbs (<95%) (he did have his shoes and jeans on that day, so I just wanted to make that known) BMI – you ready for this Sarah? 19.7! As I am with all of his appointments, I want to make sure weight isn’t an issue. His pediatrician is the same he has had since he was born so she knows how big he was when he was born. She has always told me that I can’t just go by his weight. He has his Daddy’s body type…….short and stocky. She said that although he is above the curve on the BMI chart, she is not worried about his weight at all. She said he is not overweight because she is considering his body type. She asked what he drank to which I replied “the only thing he drinks is 2% milk, water, and watered-down crystal light. She said that is good. I said he has fruits and veggies with every meal and he NEVER gets sweets. I have always been worried about giving him sweets and since my parents were with me at this appointment, my Dad piped in and said “Yeah, she is a really strict Mommy when it comes to sweets. She is mean and won’t let him have any” I really don’t want to start him down the path of eating that junk so he hardly ever gets any sweets. Call me what you want to call me, but he started off as a big baby and I do not want to be having conversations with his doctor down the road where I have to put my 6 or 7 year old on a diet because he is too heavy. I just feel like he doesn’t necessarily know what he is missing. It also makes it a better surprise when he actually gets to eat some sweets so that is what I focus on! The last thing before we left the doctor was his shot. He needed to get one shot and they decided to do it in his upper arm. They had him sit in my lap and I held him while they did it. She did the shot and Brody tensed up, looked down and just said “Oww!” He didn’t cry and did awesome. They put a bandaid on and sent us on our way.

I am posting this at work while I am taking a break so I will try and post some pictures from Brody’s birthday this weekend. In the mean time, I will leave you with this for a Friday. Brody doesn’t really like for me to take pictures of him anymore, but my Molly is a cheeser. She says “Cheese” when you take her picture and loves the camera. Hopefully that will stick. I will fill you in on her checkup in another post. Hope everyone has a happy Friday!

A Picture Says 1,000 Words!

Work is crazy busy, kids were sick last week, and this is how I have been feeling lately.......

Deja Vu!

Okay...I am starting to think that there is a method to Brody's madness! So, last year at this time (which happens to be my Birthday week), Brody got the norovirus and passed it on to the rest of our household (with the exception of Molly). Remember this? Well, yesterday morning, Brody came into our room around 5:00 am saying his tummy hurt and he needed something to drink. Ted got him something and went back to bed. A little later, he came in our room again and said he had pooped in the potty and he needed help. I helped him with that and sent him back to bed. Well, around 7:45, he was yelling from his room "Mommy, I need to froke (his way of saying throw) up!" I ran in there and he said he felt sick and needed to "froke" up. He didn't get sick, but when I gave him his breakfast, he wouldn't eat much. I gave him some ginger ale, hoping it would settle his stomach, but after his second glass of it, he told me he didn't want the "green juice" anymore. All morning, he would go from telling me he was going to get sick to running around and planning. Initially, I thought he must just have a sour stomach because he has had a runny nose and thought the drainage was making his stomach hurt.


Well, for lunch, he didn't eat much, if anything. I took him up to his room after that to lay down in his bed and watch some TV. He called me up there twice telling me he was going to sick, but nothing. I told him he needed to lay down and take a nap and that he would feel better. He ended up falling asleep for about an hour and he told me he felt better when he got up. But, the same thing happened in the afternoon - one minute he was telling me he was going to get sick and the other minute he was playing and having a good time. I was stumped.


I also forgot to mention that he ended up peeing in his pants 3 times yesterday. He hasn't had an accident in forever, especially during the day. This was not like him. I kind of thought that since I was pushing alot of liquids, he couldn't get to the bathroom fast enough.


So, last night, we gave him a bath and put him in bed a little early. He was asleep by 7:15 and I had to wake him up this morning for school. He seemed okay this morning (just a little grumpy, which sometimes happens) and Ted took the kids to school so I could drop Ethan off at his Mom's house for school. Well, I was on my way to work and Ted called to tell me that Brody had an accident at school. He had pooped his pants! I mean really? I am totally thinking something is up now. But, Ted said he was fine when he left. I was waiting for the call from daycare, because I figured it was just a matter of time.

Well, that call came at 9:00 this morning. I was in a meeting so they called Ted. Brody got sick twice at school and had another accident. Ted picked him up (I absolutely could not leave work today because I have a deadline of today on a big project I am working on). I have called Ted twice now and he said Brody seems to be okay. He hasn't gotten sick again and he has had no accidents. We shall see what the night brings. I am probably going to be home with him tomorrow just to let him relax one more day.


I am really hoping this isn't deja vu and the same thing happens last year. Ted and I are playing to go out for my birthday Saturday night and I am hoping we won't have to cancel. It seems like everytime we try and plan something, it either gets cancelled or it doesn't work out because one or both of us is sick! I am keeping my fingers (and toes) crossed that this doesn't happen!

Stop the Presses..........Molly Now has 3 Teeth!

Holy crap! I never thought this day would come. At almost 15 months, Molly finally got her 3rd tooth. I mean.....I thought she was going to go to Kindergarten with just her 2 bottom teeth! I checked her mouth out, like I always do at night, and lo and behold....there it was! She cut her top left I-tooth, the one right next to where her 2 front teeth go! They have not shown any sign of coming in soon, but this one is about half way through! YAY Molly! I got so excited and she was clapping for herself! It was real cute!

Of course, just like her brother, her 3rd tooth was not the top front ones, but the one on the side. Weird! Just for comparison's sake, I looked back to see when Brody got his third tooth. He was 8 months old!! By this age, Brody had almost a mouth full of teeth. But Molly walked at 10 months and Brody was just over a year. I guess it just goes to show how different kids are.

Now.....we wait for the others to arrive......

Pictures

Here a few pictures from this weekend. My parents came over yesterday for dinner and my mom was in the playroom playing with the kiddies and reading them a book. In the one picture, it looks like she is popping Brody in the head, which she was. She was ready the book about the monkey jumping on the bed and every time she got to the part where it says "one fell off and bumped his head" my mother would tap Brody on the head and he would just laugh and laugh. It was pretty cute! (Please excuse my playroom. I feel like as soon as I clean it up, they trash it again!)

When I was getting the pictures off my camera, I found a few cute pictures below that I took a couple of weeks ago. Molly loves sitting at the table and chairs Brody got for his birthday last year. There are sometimes that she just walks over and sits there for a while, on her own. It is pretty cute.

I love these next two pictures. Brody had brought his lovie and blanket down stairs one day and wanted to lay on the floor and watch some TV. Molly loves pillows and will just plop down on them. Well, Brody was asking her to lay with him and I wanted to get a good picture of it because it was so cute. Brody was even rubbing her back at one point! I love the fact that they are interacting more and more, but sometimes, Brody is just too rough with her. I know he doesn't realize it and most of the time, she just goes with it. There have been a few times that she just wants nothing to do with him and he doesn't quite understand it. I remember being worried that Brody would never take to her, but I can now say that is definitely not the case. I am excited to see the type of relationship they will develop over the years. Brody is definitely the big brother, but I think she is going to give him a run for his money. I think there might be a mean streak within her little body that Brody will witness sooner rather than later! :)

Nice Family Day

Today was a holiday (President's Day) and both Ted and I had off work. The kids were out of school too because it was a staff training day. So, we decided that we would try and do something to get the kids out of the house. The past couple of days, Molly has had a runny nose and she did have a slight fever, but the fever seems to be gone now (fingers crossed). The runny nose is still there, but I am hoping it is just from the weather change. Last week, we had a few days in the 70s and then some in the 50s. Today was a beautiful 73. So after the kids naps', we decided to go to a bounce house for Brody to play (wasn't sure how Molly would do). Well, when we got there, of course, Brody started crying because the man at the front door wanted to put a wrist band on him. Molly cried too, but they both stopped pretty quickly. Well, it took Brody a little while to convince him to go in one of the bounce houses, but once he did, he had a blast. After about 20-30 minutes, he was done and said he was ready to go. When we got in the car, I asked him if he had a good time. He said "no." I said you didn't and he said "no" again. So, I asked if he wanted to go to the park. Of course, he was super excited about that and started talking about going on the swings.

A few of the parks we went to first were pretty crowded so we found one that had no one on it. The kids decided to swing first and then after that, Brody went to slides. He was climbing up this one ladder and got to the top and couldn't figure out how to get off and onto the platform. He said "Mommy, help! Help me!" I said I was coming and the next thing he said was, "Mommy, ayudeme, ayudeme!" Now, my many years of Spanish knew what he said but I couldn't believe it! I asked Ted if he heard him and he said "Yes, what does that mean" I said, "He just said Help Me in Spanish!" We both busted out laughing! I couldn't believe he said it, much less the fact that he used it in the right context! Now, this made me feel a little better about the fact that he watches Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go because now I really feel like he is learning something! Anyway, it was pretty hilarious!

So, we ended up getting something to eat on the way home and I actually broke down and let Brody get ice cream! Now, for anyone who knows me well, they know that I do not give my children sweets! I would much rather they eat fruit or sugar free treats, but I thought "What the heck!" I really think it was frozen yogurt anyway. Well, Brody got some and I gave Molly some too! She was like a little birdie, constantly with her mouth wide open ready for a spoonful! Now, both kids are bathed and in bed......Molly already asleep and Brody watching some TV.

I am just going to relax now until bed time because I have been having a hard time waking up the past few days. I have been waking up to Brody in my face saying "Mommy, I have to pee!" Don't get me wrong......I am super excited that he is coming to tell me rather than going in his pants because I can now officially say that he is potty trained! He has done an awesome job of not going in his pants at night and of course, we have had no accidents during the day for a while now. Whew, it is such a relief not to have to buy two big boxes of diapers when we go to the store.

I am going to upload some pictures tomorrow from my work computer. I tried here and it is just too slow. Not sure what that is about! Off to do some cleaning up and I might read a little before it is time to ready Brody a book and head to bed! Hope everyone has a great week!

Busy, Busy....Again!

Well, I am really stinking at posting lately. This have been pretty busy at work. The week before last I was in New York for 3 days for a big presentation. Then last week, my boss and I had to go to Florida for a meeting. Unfortunately, the meeting ended up getting cancelled but the announcement didn’t come until after we were already in flight. Once the plan landed, my boss checked her e-mail and just busted out laughing. So, we ended up getting a free trip to Tampa for the night! It was great weather and we ended up staying at a hotel in Clearwater, which was right on the water. All in all, it wasn’t a bad trip.

However, Ted called me that afternoon and said that daycare called and Molly had a fever (103). I was shocked because she was completely fine when I dropped her off. Ted ended up staying home with her on Thursday and I stayed home with her on Friday. She was still running a fever, with no other symptoms, on Friday so I scheduled a doctor’s appointment. I was sure she had an ear infection or something since she had a fever, but our doc checked her out and everything was fine. They checked her ears (no ear infection) and they did a flu test (which came back negative). The doc said she must have some type of virus that her body was trying to fight off. She still had a fever on Saturday, but by Sunday, it was gone. Then Sunday afternoon, she started getting a rash on her belly. I had heard that sometimes when kids get a fever, a rash develops after, but I never had experience with that with Brody. She went to school on Monday and that night, when we were eating dinner, she lifted her shirt and the rash was all over! I freaked out and called the after-hours number for her pediatrician. When the nurse called back, she asked me a bunch of questions and then said that she was pretty sure it was something called roseola. I had never heard of it but when she described it, it was exactly what Molly had. It starts with a sudden onset of fever, then once the fever goes away, a rash develops, which can last a couple hours or a couple days. Well, by yesterday morning, the rash was gone. Pretty crazy, but she is all good now!

We ended up not doing much for Valentine’s day. We typically never do anything, but this year, Ted was home sick. He ended up getting what I am assuming is what I had a couple of weeks ago. He did get me a gift certificate for a couple of massages, which I am excited about using! So thoughtful!

Anyway, that’s really all that is going on with us. I have been pretty horrible about taking pictures lately, but I will try and get some pictures of the kiddies this weekend and post them.

Almost Forgot.....

I can't believe I almost forgot to post this. This should have been the first thing I posted in my previous blog post. Drum roll please....................................................................................

Brody is officially potty trained! Even at night! He has not had an accident during the day in over a month and he has gone a little over a week without an accident at night! YEAH! We are so proud of him. He will even get up and go on his own, which is mind boggling to me! We are now leaving his door open at night, which has always frightened me because I was afraid he would wonder around the house at night. But we now have a gate in our hallway which will hopefully help with that. Although, he loves to close it. Not sure he can open it though. But I wouldn't put anything past him!

Brody, we are so proud of you. You have done an amazing job and you can stop growing up at any time now! :)

Busy Bee

Geez....where do I start? Since the last time I posted, alot has gone on. Let me start from the beginning.

A couple weekends ago, I went out of town for a girls weekend! My fabulous neighbor, Michelle, and I went with three other girls down to North Carolina for the weekend. Our one friend arranged to get her in-law's condo for the weekend so we decided to head down a little early and make it a long weekend. There were 5 of us in total, and between the 5 of us, we have 14 kids! Needless to say, we all needed a weekend to get away. I took off Thursday and Friday of that week and we headed down Thursday afternoon. We took a picture of the back of my truck once we were all packed up and ready to go and it was ridiculous!! We all brought so much stuff and ended up not using/eating/drinking half of it. We got down there Thursday night, had dinner, and grocery/liquor store shopped. Then Friday, we walked around one of the little towns near by and had a fabulous lunch. Then, on Saturday, we weren't planning on doing anything, and thank goodness because we got 6 inches of snow! Yes, snow at the beach! It was crazy! We headed back on Sunday and a good time was had by all.

Well, when we were there, two of the ladies were checking in at home and a couple of their kids were sick. One of our friends, Erin, ended up not feeling that great, but she was a trooper and hung in there. On Monday, I woke up for work and didn't feel that great. My throat was scratchy and I was coughing. Since I had been out, I really couldn't afford to take more days off so I thought I could head the sickness off at the path and go to the doctor. I was also worried about pneumonia since my grandmother, mom, Brody, and Molly had it recently. They did a chest x-ray, tested for the flu and strep and that all came back negative. The doc said I had an upper respiratory infection/bronchitis and prescribed antibiotics. I went back to work after that and when I got home that night, I felt awful. I ended up not sleeping much/if at all Monday night and felt horrible Tuesday morning. I could not even get out of bed I felt so bad! I ended up being home Tuesday and Wednesday sick. I have to say that this was probably the worst upper respiratory infection I have ever had! I have been sick with it before, but this one really whopped my butt! I ended up getting back to work on Thursday and thank goodness I was feeling better because I had no idea what was in store for me when I got back.

So, on Thursday, I was assigned to work on a presentation for a $100 million dollar deal we are going after in New York. Typically, our department has only been responsible for responding to proposals, but since we now have a new CEO, we are taking on more responsibility. So, I get pulled into a meeting on Thursday afternoon, and Friday morning to discuss our strategy. One of the big issues is that the presentation was scheduled for today, so we had a week to pull it all together. On Friday, they decided that we needed to get all of our Chiefs together on Tuesday (this past Tuesday) in my office for an all day face-to-face meeting to work on this thing. On Friday when I left work, that was the plan. Well, on Friday night, I was checking my work e-mail and saw that they changed the meeting to New York. At this point, I assumed I was going to be going, but wasn't 100% sure. My boss' boss called me on my cell on Sunday and said we had a conference call Sunday night (yes, Sunday night) at 8:00 to discuss all the details. I attended that call, which ended up lasting 2 hours, and the decision was for all of us to meet in New York on Tuesday morning because they were expecting snow there and everyone was worried about travel. So I headed to work Monday morning and attended our scheduled call at 11:00 am. Well, during this call, the weather situation was brought up again and our CEO decided we needed to head to NYC that night! So, there I was, scrambling around, heading home to pack, and then heading back to work to fly to New York that night!

Needless to say, the past 3 days have been pretty hectic. I have worked until 12:00 each night, but the upside was that I was able to enjoy New York (a little bit) and our hotel was freaking fabulous! The coolest part is that the bar/club downstairs was hosting Brooke Shields for 2 weeks. Apparently, she does a cabaret show! Unfortunately, I didn't get to see her (which is okay because I have never been a huge fan) but it was pretty cool. Then, this morning, when I was at the aiport, stripping down to go through security, freaking Philicia Rashad was in front of us. Funny story about that.....

So, my colleague and I are standing in line, organizing all of our stuff to go through security. There were 2 younger guys behind us and as we are getting our stuff together, he jumps in front of us and the lady in front of us. She turns to him and asks him if he is from New York. He says yes, and she says "I figured that!" After she says that, she turns around and looks at us. At that moment, I thought she looked familiar, but I wasn't 100% sure. Well, I ended up sneaking a peek at her boarding pass and sure enough, it said Philicia Rashad! One of the guys ended up staying behind us and after we made it through security, I turned to him and said "Hey, your buddy just cut in front of Claire Huxtable!" He didn't believe me, but once he looked at her, he started laughing! It was pretty hilarious!

Anyway, I am now home, safe and sound, and was sooooo happy to see my kiddies! They were pretty excited too, which of course, made my week! Ted left today to go to Florida for the weekend, so we basically just did a switch-a-roo. While I was in NYC, he took care of the kids, and now he left, and I am here. I haven't seen him since Monday morning and won't see him until late Sunday night! Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? I do miss seeing his face. But he will be home before I know it.

I am off to read Brody a story and tuck him in for bed!

Random Pictures and a Video of Ms. Dancing Queen

Here are some random pictures from this past weekend.


And here is a video of my tiny dancer. She must have picked this up at school and I am assuming they must be doing some kind of dance. Everytime music comes on, no matter what she is doing, she gets up and dances! I love it!

Molly's 1 Year Stats

So, I am doing this now just so I don't forget. This is really just for me so I can look back and see her 1 year stats

Height - 30 inches (65th percentile)
Weight - 22.3 lbs (60th percentile)
Head - 18 inches (60th percentile)

So, she is a little above average on all fronts. I am not sure how correct her head measurement was though. She was crying when they were doing it so I don't think the nurse was able to get a good measurement. Also, I can't imagine that her head grew enough to go from the 20th percentile at 9 months to the 60th in three months.

I was actually surprised at her length too. She looks so short to me, but again, the only comparison I really have is Brody. At 1 year, Brody was 1.25 inches taller than Molly and 6 lbs. heavier. When I went back and looked at pictures of him from then, he was much bigger than her. I never really noticed his size until now! Pretty funny!

On a side note: Daycare is getting better. She has napped the last couple of days and her crying is a bit less when I leave her in the morning. The ladies there have been really great helping me walk out the door in the morning. I know she is well taken care of! :)

Molly's First Day at School

Well.....the day finally came. Molly started school yesterday. I have dreaded this day for many months, but I knew it would eventually come. First and foremost, I was worried about how she would react. Of course, having experienced this was Brody, I was more prepared, but I wasn't fully prepared for the feelings that came. She has always been such a good baby and I knew she would do just fine, but I never want to feel like I am not there for my kids. Since family members having been watching her up until this point, I always knew that was somewhat of an extension of me. This was going to be a different experience for both of us. With that said, I knew that Brody has thrived at this school and I tried to stay positive. And, of course the cost of having two in daycare was a shock! Whew.....we could own another house for what we are paying for both! But, I know it is a good school and they have a very structured program so it is worth it.

So, I got both kids ready yesterday morning and figured it would be best to drop Brody off in his class first. That of course went fine. (Side note: he has been so good with the potty. He has not had an accident at school yet! I am so proud!) I then went into Molly's class, dropped her stuff off and hung around for a bit. I had an eye doctor appointment after that and knew I had some time to stick around. She immediately went for the toys and I thought, "Wow......this may be easier than I thought!" Well, I went to leave and she turned to watch me and immediately stuck her lip out and started to cry. Of course, that pulled at my heart strings and I picked her up and started to play a little bit more with her. I thought, "maybe she just needs a little more time." Well, that happened a couple more times and eventually, I started running out of time and knew I had to go. I bit the bullet and left her with the teacher. I heard her cry and as I was signing her out, I just lost it! I tried to hold it together until I got into the car, but I couldn't help it!

Now, of course, I called a couple of times throughout the day. The first time I called it was about 9:30. They said she stopped crying about two minutes after I left. She ate her breakfast well (which I was worried about because she still only has two teeth!) and they said she was getting along well. I knew nap time was around 11:00 so I wanted to wait until she was up before I called again. Well, I called at 3:00 and her teacher said she did well at lunch, but she never napped. Huh? What? That's not my kid. She loves sleep and never misses her nap! They said that she just laid there but never fell asleep. (Another side note: When I dropped her off, I asked the teacher where the cribs in the class were. She said they didn't sleep in cribs anymore; they slept on cots on the floor. When Brody was in the same class, they still had cribs. I remember thinking, "How in the heck will that work. She tends to curl up in the corner of her crib when she sleeps.") Anyway, they said she didn't fuss....she just laid there and never fell asleep. They said she had a good rest of the day. I was totally expected to see a fussy baby when I got home from work, but she was just fine! She looked tired, but didn't act like it. She was my normal, happy baby!

So, in conclusion, her first day was great! And her second day was even better! She still cried when I left but they said she was fine soon after I left and even took a nap today! I knew this first week would be hard and even though Brody has been going to school for almost two years, he still has his moments where he doesn't want me to leave! Of course, as a Momma, you hate to see that, but a part of me feels pretty good about it! I would probably wonder about him if he didn't do that sometimes.

On another note, Brody has really started to bond with Molly and I love it! Like tonight.....after I gave them both a bath (separately, because together is extremely difficult), after I got them both dressed, Brody was walking with Molly and he just stopped and started tickling her. She was giggling up a storm and so was he! Ahhh........a pretty good end to the day! Then he gave Molly a kiss before she went to bed. These are the moments that melt my heart! I have so much love for my kiddies that I can't even put it into words!

These are a Few of My Favorite Things..........

These are a few of my favorite things right now.......

• the look on Brody and Molly's face when they see me at the end of the day,
• the sound of Brody's laughter,
• the sound of Molly's giggle,
• the smell of the kiddies fresh out of the bath,
• the way Molly snuggles into the nape of my neck right before I put her in her crib,
• the way Brody says "we will read it tomorrow" once we are done with his book at night,
• everytime Ethan comes to visit,
• the way Ethan pats Brody on the head when he comes home,
• the way Molly kisses right now (open mouthed),
• the fact that Brody puts an "s" on underwear,
• the way Brody says "lithen" instead of "listen,"
• the look on Brody's face when Ted comes home after a long weekend away from home,
• when Brody says "I love you Mommy" out of the blue,
• the way Molly shakes her head "no" when you tell her no,
• looking at the monitor and seeing my babies sleeping at night (Brody with his arms wide open and Molly on her belly with her butt in the air),
• the fact that Brody was all about Molly tonight, wanting to be around her, hug her, and feed her,
• when Brody asks me to sit right next to him in the chair to watch a movie,
• the way Brody soothed Ashleigh after she chipped her tooth, rubbing her back and telling her it was going to be okay, and
• that no matter what time they wake up, either by themselves or when we have to wake them up, my kiddies always wake up with a smile!

Oh, there are many more, but these are just a few things I can think of right now!

A New Year

Happy 2011!! I can't believe it is already the new year. This last year has gone by sooooo fast! Today was Brody's first day back at school and I know he was ready. I was home all last week and was able to spend a lot of time with all the kiddies (or as Ethan has corrected me, he is a "smallish" man, not a kiddie) and we had a good time. We were couped up in this house for most of it because the weather was not that great, but the kids had plenty of new toys to keep them occupied.

One good thing to come out of last week is that Brody is pretty much potty-trained during the day! YAY! Since Christmas morning, he had only one accident and wore big boy underwear all day long. We even went out a couple of times and he was so good. I can't even tell you how proud I am of him. I know that everyone said it would happen when he was ready, but I am impatient and of course wasn't so sure. But he has proven me wrong! Today is his first day at school and he has his big boy pants on so I am keeping my fingers crossed that he does good!

Another funny story about Brody last week. After his nap (or what he calls, his "rest time") I went up to go get him and bring him down stairs. When I went into his room, he told me that his lovey was in the corner. I looked over and this is what I saw:

I asked him what happened and he said "I don't think lovey was listening so she is in time out!" It was hilarious! He was so matter of fact about it. He has such a great imagination! Here are a couple of pictures of him playing around with Molly and his cousins over the past week:

I love Brody's look in this picture. Molly was crying because Anthony and Ashleigh were trying to hold her back so we could get a picture of them. Brody looks like "I am not doing anything!"

Molly finally goes for her 12 week check up this week. She had an appointment scheduled last week, but since she still seemed sick, we decided to postpone her well check and get her checked out. Luckily, the antibiotics they had her on for the pneumonia seemed to knock that out, but she was still snotty and coughing. Well, she ended up having an ear infection so they put her on another antiobiotic to knock that out. Luckily, she is feeling much better. The only bad thing is that she hates this new medicine. The video below is how she reacts when she takes her medicine. Ted's mom was trying to feed it to her and take a look at her reaction once she gets some........

The last thing is today is my Dad's birthday. Unfortunately, he is spending it taking care of my Mom, who has gotten the stomach flu from all the rest of us who have been sick. It has gone through our family like crazy. Happy Birthday Dad! We will definitely celebrate this weekend when everyone is better!