October 2003 Moms and Kids - II

[jay&erinn]

Renrel: I think the listening is just a stage. A few weeks ago I wanted to go to the nearest zoo and see if one of the monkeys would adopt Mia. EVERYTHING was a battle. It lasted about 10 days or so and since she's been a much better listener and much more cooperative. It definately tested every bit of patience both DH and I had.

Alison: The story about A not wanting to go to his camp made me feel so bad for him. I have visions of having the same problems with Mia and preschool. Towards the end of the school year this year Mia started saying she did not want to go to Miss. Aubrey's (our babysitter) when she usually loves it. At the same time, I would go to pick her up and she wouldn't want to come home. The mind of a preschooler.

mittyrd: YEA for healthy kids. I hope they have a fun birthday party this weekend.

Ayla had her WBC today. She's 16 lbs 14 oz and 27.5 inches. Definately a pee wee. I don't think she's even on the weight chart anymore and only 10th percentile in length. The weight was a little on the high side too since I had to hold her on the scale- she tried to crawl off, roll off, walk off, anything to get off that scale- all the while she screamed her head off:rolleyes: Boy I wish she wasn't so petrified of anyone but me.

The ped suggested DH and I go away for a weekend. He thinks that Ayla won't learn to calm herself well until I'm out of the picture for a few days. She hasn't attached herself to any other comfort object other than me and nursing so it's getting tough. DH tried to get her out of her crib the other night and she screamed for 10 minutes while he tried to let me sleep- then I gave up and took her so she wouldn't wake Mia. She's still not sleeping longer than a few hours at a time and shows no sign of weaning. He said it's just a suggestion and only for when I'm ready to wean. I did hint at the fact that I'm ready to wean soon, but wasn't sure she was going to let me. He said if we try it that I can't give in and nurse her again when we get back or we'll be back where we started (nursing 5-7 times a day and on and off all night). It might be worth a shot in another month or so. I really could use a full night of sleep.

[AlisonCO]

For what it is worth, Gabe still has trouble with me leaving him in the morning at least half the week,
Renrel - Thank you - this makes me feel better that Aidan isn't abnormal, but also sad because it sounds like this might always be an issue.

Unfortunately last week at camp was even worse - Tuesday he was crying so hard I couldn't/wouldn't leave. Caitlin and I stayed and played in the park while he did his thing. I keep telling myself that this is going to take time because it is the first time that he is away from me and not with family. I talked with a friend that has a son 2 months younger than our kids - her son started preschool in February and is still struggling with drop offs. I think that preschool in Sept will be a bit easier because the routine will be the same everyday plus I think that the preschool teacher will be better at handling it - the collage age girls that run the summer campo are wonderful: enthusiastic, energetic and so sweet but they lack the authority and experience that a preschool teacher will have. I apparently deluded myself into thinking that the transition would be easier the older he was but I also know that alot of it is his personality. My mom tries to cheer me up by saying that Caitlin will be one of those kids that just waves as she runs to school:) - I sure hope so because I have surely grown several grey hairs this week and am probably on my way to getting an ulcer. It has torn me up seeing him so upset.

Otherwise we are doing well. Last Sunday we went to a small dinosaur museum here. Aidan had a blast and insisted we go to the library to check out dinosaur books - he especially seems to like the ones whose names I can't pronouce:) We went swimming today and he is putting his face in and blowing bubbles, but mostly he likes us to pull him around while he holds a noodle.

erinn - I hope that if you and Dh go away that it does help. Neither of my kids were attached to nursing the way Ayla is - I can't imagine how tired you are being up so much at night.

mittyrd - Happy 2nd Birthday to Matt and Sam (tomorrow)!!!

I hope that you all are having a wonderful evening.

[mittyrd]

Alison: My kids all just run away when they are dropped off at daycare, sometimes they don't even look back to say good-bye. (Then my feelings are hurt....)

Here's some pictures of the birthday party earlier today. We were blessed with perfect weather and boys who didn't get cranky despite missing their usual nap. Whew! Sorry to post so many but I had to share!!

At their b-day dinner last night:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pe69491e787a4d552aae5861a9a086cb6/e8cba508.jpg
I'm proud of their cake (I made it) so I have to show it off:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p518183f8e6f4ab162c02213de131d86d/e8cba50b.jpg
Sammy enjoying his cake:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p55d57e012f9dafb4a067c3a89c06f880/e8cba507.jpg
Matt enjoying his cake:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pa89de3cd39fe6ee5634678eac71fcd75/e8cba50a.jpg
Jake enjoying their cake, cupcake AND ice cream:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pfe99608f7bc4c0923f5885e0b41616c1/e8cba4be.jpg
Taking a break from their party hiding in their playhouse:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p636512efbdeb0637a6c1dc74a2ea4fb1/e8cba4aa.jpg

[AlisonCO]

mittyrd - Those pictures are so cute - everyone looks like they enjoyed the day! Nice job on the cake too.

[mittyrd]

Happy 4th! Just had to share the newest thing the kids find so funny - "sleeping" on the stairs. It takes FOREVER to get them up the stairs b/c they have to say "night-night" every step.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pd398a2e188f20034da3e2bf0f1b30ec7/e8bdb72f.jpg

[jay&erinn]

mittyrd: What gorgeous boys you have! I love the sleeping on the steps pic. They look like they all love playing together.
Very impressive job on the cake. I'm very artistically challenged- I could bake the cake but never decorate it.

It's a pretty quiet 4th around here. Both girls are asleep- Mia's never seen fireworks. I just can't imagine keeping her up that late and having to deal with the result of such a late bedtime the next day:o. Selfish, I know, but sleep is so precious in this house that I can't bring myself to mess with the one good sleeper I have.
Our neighbor called this afternoon to ask DH to go to a baseball game, so that's where he is. My school work is all caught up for the moment and I basically don't know what to do with myself. I could clean the house, but that would be no fun so I'll probably just head to bed. Happy 4th of July!

[Renrel]

Mittyrd - The pics are great. I love the t-shirts. So very cute. Glad the weather held and all the boys managed to be healthy.

Errin - Hope you enjoyed a nice breather on the 4th.

We had a nice day off. After work on the 3rd we headed over the the rehersal concert for the big 4th on the espland concert. It was a bear getting out of the house in the morning with everything we would need and all in one car so parking would not be an issue. DH was pissed that even though we were out earlier then usual it was not early enough given he expected to leave work early. Then when he dropped Gabe and I off he realized he had left the food sitting on the counter. ERRRR. He was not a happy camper. But he did decide to go back and get it and was in a good mood by the end of the day. The concert was fun and Gabe did well for most of it. I did have to feed him cookies to keep him quiet for one slower section of the program but he was very intent when they played the 1812 oveture since he knows and likes that piece from his Beethovens Wig CD. It was fun seeing him so engrossed in a piece of real music.

On the forth we were low key since the weather was bleh. We visited the friends who are adopting a child to drop off a parenting tool kit I made up for them and a few handme down clothes and toys. The husband is leaving on Friday to pick up their son and will bring him back one day next week, the exact date is uncertain. They are obviously getting very excited, scared and nervous.

We were going to take Gabe to a park to see fireworks but it started really raining so we went to DH's cousin house which is near the park and had a nice view from the porch. Gabe really enjoyed them. He has a theory that one type of fire cracker makes fire flys. Unfortunately DH was swinging Gabe around a bit to some music on tv and Gabe got sick. This was very unlike him. Gabe usually has an iron constitution. You can flip him over upside down after eating without a problem. He has only thrown up a hand full of times in his life. Even as a baby he barely spit up. So he was very upset and blaming daddy. He also complained of a headache, which was probably just a reaction to vomit getting in his nasal passages. We were very nervous because he had slipped and banged his ear/head rather hard earlier in the day and had been acting fine but the vomiting made us think maybe something was really wrong. We called the doctor and he said to go to the ER if Gabe kept vomitting or complaining of a headache. By the time DH came back with the doctors report Gabe had "cured" himself with pez candy I gave him to get the taste out of his mouth.

Then Gabe woke in the night, which was unlike him. When I went in he was crying and told me he was lonely. I asked if he had a bad dream, even though he always insists he does not dream. He got mad and told me his head hurt. which worried me but he did not seem focused on it as if it was a bad headache. I let him go back to sleep. This morning we were still worried but once he was really awake he seemed totally fine. He was playful and in a better mood then normal for the morning.

[Renrel]

We had a nice weekend. Saturday DH took Gabe to Home Depo and then to a water playground for a few hours and they had a great time. I got to do food shopping all by myself with a throughly enjoyed. Gabe was so tuckered out that he pretty much set up his own late nap. He asked for a story in bed and then went to sleep no fuss. We had hoped to go canueing in the late afternoon but when we woke Gabe he was super cranky so we just had some take out sandwichs in the yard.

This morning Gabe got up and instead of waking up up turned the TV on by himself, allowing us to sleep. I have mixed feeling about this change. I love that we can sleep but worry about his being able to and allowed to control when the tv is on or off. We spent the day looking at some very nice houses in a different town then the one we have been looking in. It is a bit further out but you get alot more house for your money. Though two house we looked at were still more money then we really are ready to pay right now.

My friends who are adopting got possession of their son this evening, based on an e-mail we recieved. Well the new dad did, since he made the trip alone. His first meal alone with his son was in the hotel resturant and went suprisingly well given what a big day it was for his son. First airplane trip, first time in a resturant, first time having a man feed him food. I am so excited for them. I can't wait to meet their son.

[AlisonCO]

mittyrd - I love the "sleeping on the stairs" - too funny!

erinn - Aidan has not seen fireworks either. He is up by 6:30 no matter what time he goes to bed so it is just not worth it.

Renrel - How old is the boy that your friends adopted? I am glad that the magical pez cured the yucky tummy:)

We are doing well. Aidan is starting to learn the days of the week and how they fall and what they mean. He knows that on Sat and Sun that Dad is home and that we often have a treat. Saturday we went out for ice cream and he picked out a sundae with pineapple and caramel. So tonight after dinner he asked what day it was and when I said Monday he asked how long until Saturday - I said 5 more days and he sighed and said "5 whole days before we have a treat! Maybe we can have a Monday treat." Funny kid:)

[Jenyfer9]

Well I'm sorry I've been absent from around here, but we have been BUSY! My brother was one of the thousands of people that got married on 7/7/7, and both the boys were ring bearers... in FULL TUXES. I'll be posting some pics here when I get some. I was also in the wedding, so I was surprised that they didn't try and come up and stand with me. They did VERY well for it being a full Catholic Mass.

TJ is in "dinosaur camp" this week through our park district. It's 2 hours in the morning 4 days this week. He did their "sport camp" earlier this summer.

Not much else to report here...

[Renrel]

AlisonCO - So cool about Aidan learning about the calendar. Communicating get a bit easier when yesterday does not mean anything that did not happen in the last hour. We call Saturday, Sunday and Holidays - Home days and they are certainly Gabe favorites. Are you doing any songs with Aidian? I think that was how Gabe picked his up, songs they sang at school. One the did was singing the days of the to "My darling Clemintine, starting with Sunday, and it worked pretty well as a tune. The boy is a little over 2, or so the believe.

Jen - Oh I have to see the Tuxs. I always oo and ah over them on websites and such though I am not sure I would be brave enough to really do one. How did the boys deal with the clothing? Hope he has fun in Dinasaur camp. Today Gabe and I were Triceratops, every day we must be some animal.

Well my male friend suceeded in his self assigned task of going to Kazakastan(sp) getting his son and bringing him home to his wife, also my friend. They arrive at the airport at about 1pm today and are now home recuperating. From e-mails it sounds like things went very well as far as Germany but all I know from Germany to the US is that they are safely home and tired. Too tired to post a lengthy e-mail. I am just sooo happy for them.

[kerrykate]

mittyrd~ Happy (belated) birthday to Matt and Sam! Love the pictures.

Last week went on our annual trip to Norris Lake in TN with Dh's family. We had so much fun! One day we rented a pontoon boat that had a slide off the back of it and I think Lauren had gone down it 3 times before anyone else had a chance. The only bad part was there were 140 steps from the dock at the lake up to the house. Thank goodness Lauren didn't complain about walking up them because there is no way I could have carried her. She's 43lbs now and I just realized the weight limit on her carseat is 40lbs. I can't believe she's ready for a booster...
She's been been such a stinker since we got home from vacation. She does not want to listen lately and it's a battle to get ther to do anything. I hope 4 is easier than 3.

[mittyrd]

I hope 4 is easier than 3

Amen to that!

Kerry: I can't believe Lauren is 43 pounds. I think Jake is only 34ish. I think he is on the small side.

The babies had their 2 yr WBV last week. They are 26.4 pounds (Matt) and 25 pounds (Sam) and 32.5 inches tall. They are going to be evaluated by Early Intervention again b/c of their prematurity but the doctor does not think they will qualify. That is excellent news b/c it means they are developmentally ok but my state will pay for preschool for kids needing EI after age 3 so that would save a ton of money. But, obviously, I want them developmentally ok before I want to save money.

We got the boys a little splash pool yesterday and we spent hours outside in it. It's perfect for them. Until they discovered the huge mud puddle it created in the yard. Then that was much better. :rolleyes:

We are still in potty training hell here. I talked to the doctor about it but she didn't really give us any advice that we haven't already tried yet. I put Sammy on the potty today and he went. Unfortunately it was all over my leg, the floor, etc. but he knew to go when he sat down. (don't tell the others but I think he'll be my smartest)

[Renrel]

Hi all,
Kerrykate- sounds like you had a fun vacation. What does Lauren where in the water for floatation?

Mittyrd - Oh, muddle puddles what fun! Did they enjoy getting hosed off afterward?

We had a very busy weekend. We met our new little friend from Kazakastan(sp) on Friday night after work and he seems to be a very happy little boy. He is shy of men but seemed to take to DH. He and Gabe did not really play much together. When they did the communication thing was hard on top of issues over possessions. Gabe wanted to play with E's toys and I don't think Eddie quite gets that they are his toys yet. But when E's took a toy from Gabe and Gabe asked in his most polite manner for him to give it back Eddie obviously understood nothing, which we explained to Gabe. And since it is important that E become secure about his toys and home and all we would not take the toy back. Gabe did not complain but I think it must have been confusing to him. He also did not understand why he could not climb and play on E's bed.

Saturday we went to the beach and Gabe had a great time destroying a huge sand castle thingy some kids had made earlier and abandoned. He was rolling around in the moat and slideing down the sides. A little girl came over for awhile and they played nicely together. Then there was a playground where we played "baseball" This consisted of catch with a mit. If you missed it was a strike, three stikes was an out. If you caught it you handed off your mit and the ball to the other two people and ran the bases, which meant you ran all over the playground equiptment being chased until you were tagged or stopped. If you stopped that was home base. Only Gabe made it to home base.

Sunday we went to my ILs for a visit which was nice.

[mittyrd]

Jake has been an absolute terror lately but tonight my sweet little boy came back. I made ravioli for dinner which he usually refuses. And to make matters worse, it was spinach and cheese ravioli. But...he started eating it and told me it was his favorite food and it was delicious and he couldn't stop raving about it and ate 2 bowls! He was hugging and kissing Sammy during dinner and was just the sweetest love in the world. I'm so glad he's back. Please, please let this Jake stay.......

Not much new here. The babies are sick again with colds/coughs. Lord knows we can't go 2 weeks without them being sick. And this time I caught it too which sucks.

Sunday, we are taking the kids to a sprinkler park/farm with a friend of mine who has 3 girls the same ages as my boys. It will be so much fun, I hope. Then Monday we are taking the boys to an amusement park. We are hoping that there won't be too many lines since it will be a weekday vs. weekend.

[AlisonCO]

Renrel - That is really neat about your friends adopting a 2 year old from Kazacstan - how is the adjustment going? Are you still house hunting?

kerrykate - I am hoping for the same for 4 because 3.5 has been hard! Glad that you all had fun at the lake.

mittyrd - Are you basically potty training all three boys? Caitlin is doing it right now too but only because she follows Aidan everywhere. I hear you about sweet kid vs terror kid - every morning I hope it is a sweet day.

jenyfer - That is very cool about dinosaur camp - Aidan would like that if I could ever get him to do something without me!

We had a nice weekend. Saturday DH took the kids hiking - apparently Aidan hiked for about 90 minutes plus he carried the backpack with the water because DH had Caitlin in the backpack carrier. He did so well and DH is so proud and happy to have a hiking buddy. It is also great because it is the one exercise that Aidan really enjoys - he gets bored with things like soccer but loves to hike and scramble up rocks.

Yesterday afternoon we went to the county fair. It is very small with animals, rides, music and food. It was so interesting because it was the type of activity that shows how different Aidan and Caitlin's personalities are - even a few strangers commented on it! Every new place we went in to Caitlin ran right in touched and held the animals, rode the rides, danced right up by the band and took food samples from the people while Aidan stood back and watched for a bit before he jumped in. He is so thoughtful and wants to make sure he is sure before he tries something but then once he is in there, he could walk and look forever. Then by that point Caitlin is ready to move on. There was a huge tank with 2 sharks - at first Aidan freaked out but once he got in there he sat for 15 minutes watching and asking the guy questions. He also didn't want to pet the llama at first but after DH and I did he did and then he and the girl who owned the llama talked and he asked her questions. It is so interesting, fun and sometimes frustrating!

[jay&erinn]

Hi Ladies!
The summer is absolutely flying by.

Not too much going on around here. My class this month has actually been easy- it's been a nice break from doing school work every waking moment. Of course it all changes Aug 1st when I start Pharmacology- YUK.

The girls are doing well. Mia finally started putting her face in the water. Of course the last time she did it yesturday she came up choking and refused to do it again. Hopefully next time we go to the pool she'll try again.
Ayla's a walking fool and getting into everything. This is my bad mom story for the month:o. I often would run upstairs to change the laundry and leave the girls downstairs. The easiest path to the stairs is blocked and the first floor is child proofed. There is a way to the stairs, but Ayla had yet to figure it out. Well, the other morning I ran upstairs to throw in a load of laundry (I wasn't folding anything, the laundry was already separated- in short, it took me 90 seconds). I turned around to go back downstairs and Ayla was standing behind me. I almost threw up on the spot thinking what would have happened if she fell down the 15 stairs onto the tile floor. Needless to say the stairs are now blocked. Now it's a pain to send Mia for anything upstairs since she can't get over the gait either.

Alison: Sounds like hiking was a blast. I wish there were more places around here to hike. We have to drive about 45 minutes to get to some of the good hiking trails.

mittyrd: The sprinkler park sounds great. Did you have a good time? I hope the boys are feeling better.

Renrel: The adoption sounds amazing. What a nice lesson for Gabe to be learning.

kerrykate: Your vacations have sounded really nice. I'm jealous. We finally get to go away the end of next week. I'm sort of dreading it though- too much stuff and schedules thrown way off. I think they're more work than play with kids.

Well, I should go to bed- Ayla still sleeps like crap. I think we've tried everything. I'm not sure where to go from here, but I'd really like more than 2 straight hours of sleep. The other night she was up at 12:30, 2:20 and 4:30, then up for the day at 5:45 (not that this is different from any other night). When I walked into the bedroom after getting up for the third time that night, DH rolled over and asked if that was the first time she had woken up all night. I really wanted to throw something heavy at him;)

[Jenyfer9]

Sorry I've been MIA lately. Things here have been pretty hectic. After the wedding, TJ got this strange fever that lasted 4 days, I took him to the doc, he had a raging double ear infection (that, of course, he never mentioned having his ears hurt). His fever lasted another 2 days after being on meds, then Will got the same exact thing. We went to the doctor with him yesterday and he's got a sinus infection. So we've been cooped up for waaaay too long. Tomorrow we'll be leaving to go visit DH's parents in Kentucky for a quick weekend visit, then next Friday we leave for vacation in Michigan for a week. I'm tired just thinking about all this.

That, and all of a sudden I have the baby bug again. Am I nuts???

btw, what site is it that we can post pics from these days? I have a great pic of my boys in their tuxes that I'd love to share with you all!

[jay&erinn]

jenyfer: I use photobucket now. It's worked so far.
Have fun on vacation. We're leaving Friday also for vacation.

Ayla has gotten a little better with sleeping lately (crossing my fingers and toes). The other night she was only up once all night and took 2 1.5 hour naps during the day. I was so excited. Of course the next night she was up every 1-2 hours. Last night was only twice. Is it sad that I'm excited when my 13 month old only wakes up twice during the night? At least it's some progress.
We leave Friday for peek n peak in NY- a small resort to have a mini family reunion. My grandfather will be there- it'll be the first I've seen him since my grandma's funeral. He's excited to see everyone but sad since my grandma was really looking forward to this vacation with everyone. It would have been to celebrate their 60th anniversary. I'm also going to meet my grandfather's sister for the first time and some of her children who are my age. My grandfather was raised by his grandfather (somewhat abandoned by his mother at a very young age). His sister would occasionally pop up in his life and then disappear again. For some reason she's recently wanted to make amends. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but he seems excited.
We were supposed to come home the following friday but DH's college roommate and his family are coming down from Canada to spend 3 days with us, so we won't come home until Saturday. I hate feeling like I dread vacation, but it just messes up schedules- especially Aylas.

Yesturday was a blast. There was a kids safety fair about 2 blocks away at the American Legion. We walked there (my neice is visiting so she was with us). There were military trucks and helicopters. The helicopter landed about 10 minutes before it started and had the whole neighborhood outside. It was huge, flying really low and was incredibly loud. It was almost scary until we realized it was landing for the fair. There were fire trucks from each of the local companies, a police car and an ambulance. The kids were able to try on all the outfits, climb through the vehicles, set off the sirens, etc. I also took Mia and my neice through a fire house that was set up. A fireman talked to them about fire safety in the kitchen. Then we went into the bedroom and they talked about how to escape a fire. They piped "smoke" into the room, the door heated up and they had to get the window open and yell for help. They were also instructed to throw toys out the window if they couldn't put their head out it so the firemen would know they were in the house. It was really interesting. The army tent was making dog tags for the kids (the line was too long) and they were fingerprinting kids and taking pictures for IDs. They also had carnival type games, food and a magician. Best part- it didn't cost me a dime. When we got there we were handed tickets for everything. Every time we tried to give someone a ticket to play a game they told us to keep it for something else. We played everything and came home with all of our tickets. They were giving away Rita's Italian Ice too- that was great.

Today will hopefully be a pool day- I'm getting sick of rain.

Welll, Ayla's throwing everything off her tray- I think she's done;)

[Renrel]

I took Gabe down to NY/NJ this weekend to spend the week with my parents. I already miss him. My way of thinking keeps including him. There was a thunder storm last night and I awoke concerned about him (though in general he likes thunderstorms). When I think about the week I keep forgetting that I don't need to allot time for stopping a preschool three times a day. Things like that.

Gabe enjoyed the adventure of going down. He was dressed with his back pack on standing at the door to the outside (we live on the second floor) at least 30 minutes before we were ready to go. Now that he can open the door to get out himself this is a bit more nerve wracking, especially since he can't get back in. He was good on the trip down though the last hour or two, when he should have been napping he was a bit fussy and would shreek briefly and push things roughly away when games or toys frustrated him. A minor issue if were were not on a train with everyone so close by and no place to remove him to, just like a plane. Somehow I was not thinking of it as being as much like a plane as it is.

It was very cute how my niece spotted us right away because Gabe was carrying his lovey and they immediately engaged in a detailed converstation about how the have almost the same lovely, but not quite the same. I really enjoyed listening to the two of them talk in the back seat. Real converstation being still a rather new "skill" amoung this age group.

The party for my uncle was nice. It is the first time that all 5 cousins have been together. Gabe seemed a bit out of his element since the other 3 older cousins are all girls and know each other better and the 5th is only 14 mths. Gabe seemed to often be playing on his own while I was there, not sad or anything, I was just looking forward to more interaction. Apparenty after I left my Mom took out more "boyish" toys which helped them play more together. Taking the girls out of their element a bit. She also had them do a treasure hunt outside even though it was raining. They each got an umbrella. She also did an art project with them. When I talked to her on the phone after I left she told me that my youngest nieces, age almost 3, was running around naked as my sister was getting her into some other clothes. Gabe hid behind my mom and the next thing anyone knew he poppped out buck naked to. He was not going to let his younger cousin have all the fun AND get all the attention. Oh, and when it was time to sing happy birthday Gabe refused to come into the dining room because he was going to "play" happy birthday on the piano. He banged away through out the song and when we finished signing he got off the bench and proudly told me he had played the whole thing. I think he his going really enjoy access to the piano all week.

Today I have a yucky fertitity test. X-rays of the fallopian tubes to make sure they are open. Fun, fun, fun. Then I am getting together with a friend, probably for dinner.

[Jenyfer9]

Ok, so here's a pic of the boys in their tuxes with DH. I don't know how to eliminate red eye on photobucket though... sorry. http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o183/Jenyfer9/wedding_day_020.jpg

[Renrel]

Jen - Great photo! They all look soooo handsome. Someday when they get married you will have to display those photos for a comparison of the boy to the man.

I had my test today. The doctor was an hour late due to a delivering a baby. The test was very unpleasant but the results were good. My uterus and fallopian tubes look perfectly normal. Now all I need to do is have DH go for his sperm count test and then wait to meet with the RE in late August.

Gabe is having fun with my parents. Mom bought a big inflatable pool and apparently he was trying to get into it all morning but she wanted to wait till the water warmed up. They took a walk instead and Gabe found some bark and decided that it needed to be glued to paper. But this is his invention and therefore he thinks my mom should be the one to do the glueing. Good thing she has 20 odd years of experience with 4yr olds.

I went back to work, where I am now. I will meet DH for a late dinner in town around 7:30. Plans for the rest of my mini vacation week, as of the moment, are:

Tomorrow- hair cut and color- big deal since I have not cut or colored it in 3 yrs and will cut off enough to donate to locks for love. I will come home a new woman. See The Simpsons Movie at the Drive In. I may do some shopping in between.
Wednesday - See the Hopper Exibit at the museum and have dinner with DH. I may go early and stroll he museum by myself.
Thursday - meet a friend for dinner and then DH will join us to listen to a Blue Band at a Hotel patio bar. The band played at our wedding and the keyboardist is DH's cousin.
Friday - see if we can get into a BandB in the Birkshires for one night, they usually require a 3 night stay, but if they are not booked by Thursday night/Friday morning they should let us in.
Saturday - meet my parents, their friends and Gabe in the Birkshires. Visit, do something fun out there (concert/hike/?) and drive home.

I will be at work from 10am to 2:30 everyday as well. In the mornings I will either sleep late or do some decluttering, in the afternoons I will either shop, catch up at work or declutter.

[AlisonCO]

Renrel - I hope that you had a nice and relaxing week while G was at your parents. I am glad that your test results were good!

jenyfer - OH the boys are all SO handsome!! I think that TJ looks like your DH.

erinn - Hope that you had a nice vacation and thay Ayla's sleep doesn't get more messed up.

We are doing well. Aidan starts school Sept 4th and we have checked out like 15 books from the library about going to school. We get to meet one on on with the two teachers the week before so hopefully we can get some insight from them about how to go about drop offs. DH is definetely doing the first few. Yesterday I asked him what he wanted me to pack in his lunch and he said "a sandwich, a whole apple, cookies and carrots - but Mommy, its not necessary because I am NOT going to school remember?!":)

He and DH went camping last night and had a ball. They had hot dogs, hot chocolate and marshmellows for dinner and went for a hike at 8pm to see the stars. Apparently A slept pretty well considering - he was way pooped today though and grumpy which is unusual for him. Tonight when he got into his bed he signed and said "bed, I missed you, you are much more comfy than the ground!"

A couple of new pictures:

http://www.allsam.com/200706/images/070407_24.jpg
http://www.allsam.com/200706/images/070407_26.jpg

Hope that you all are well!

[mittyrd]

Renrel: Your week sounds heavenly.
Alison: I can't believe how big the kids are. I keep thinking Caitlin is a little baby (like I think of mine) but she's a real girl!!
Jenyfer: How hadsome your boys are!

I've been so out of touch... I either don't have the time to read/post or can't muster up the energy. Jake is still in his "terrible 3s" and the twins have started the "terrible 2s" Oy - to have all 3 in the stage at once is very challenging! They all have multiple personalities - one minute they are so sweet and loving and the next minute they are rolling around on the floor on top of each other, taking toys, jumping head first off the couch, etc. I could go on and on........

We are heading out on our first family vacation next week. I can't wait. We rented a house in NH where there are a few amusement parks/parks that are geared to kids my kids' ages. We're bringing my mom and niece also. I can't wait. I think it will be so much fun. I'm a little worried about the sleeping arrangements for the babies since it will be the first time they will sleep in beds (vs. cribs). Should be interesting.

Jake still won't keep a diaper dry. He does it to spite me. My cousins stayed for the weekend and their 4 yr old son is potty trained. Jake decided to use the potty all weekend b/c his cousin did but the minute they left, he went back to peeing in his pull up. AAArrRGGGHHH. What does one do with a kid like this??

[Renrel]

Allison - I am sure Aidian will love school once he adjusts. After all it is all funs stuff. It may just take him a week or two to realize he his having fun. The camping sounds like fun. I love how Aidian talked to his bed. So sweet.

Mittyrd - Ugh, three kids being difficult at one time. I would we beside myself. You are one super mom just to hold it all together. I would guess that Jakes diaper use has something to do with wanted to make sure he is still your baby given the competion for attention with the twins. I don't know how to fix that though, unless you can find something else that makes him feel babied which you find less annoying. Sounds like it should be a fun vacation. The two extra sets of hands will be a blessing. 4 adults to 3 kids, you will finally outnumber them. I am assuming your niece is older and not another kid. Though even another kid Jakes age could make things easier. Someone to keep him occupied.

My week was wonderful. A great use of two days worth of vacation time. We will definately do it again since everyone had a good time, me, Gabe and my parents. DH had fun but since he did not take time off from work and went out with me every night he was rather pooped out by the end of the week. Gabe got to go to the beach, a sprinkler park, two different children's museums, the libary, and a beach side park as well as doing fun things in the house with my parents and slashing in the wading pool my parents set up. DH and I got to see a movie, go dancing under the stars, see an art exibit, have a breakfast picnic by a lake and eat out every night. I got to get my hair cut and colored, do a bit of me shopping, see a friend I have not seen in months, sleep late and get caught up a bit at work. I did not get any of the house cleaning I meant to do done. My parents got to bond more with Gabe and learn about who he is. They had a great time and plan to try this again sometime in the Fall.

DH had a friend from Grad school over for dinner last night. The friend was in town on business. It was a nice visit but DH was envyous of the friends sucessess in his field which led to a lousy night of sleep. This weekend I have passes for the Boston Children's Musuem Saturday and we plan to spend some time with our friends who just became an adoptive family, they may or may not join us at the musuem. Sunday we have a family gathering. Then Monday DH is flying out of town on business and Gabe and I will be on our own for a few days.

[Renrel]

Not much to report here. We had a nice weekend. Saturday we went with our friends who recently adopted to the Children's musuem in Boston. Both kids had a great time but played at totally seperate stuff. We were there from 1:30 to 4:30 and Gabe would have kept going till they closed if we let him. Today we had a family gathering at a cousins house and it was a joy to watch Gabe playing a silly game with a playground ball with his 19 year old and 8 yr old male cousins. I tried a recipes from the sneaky chef book and managed to hide at over a tablespoon of pureed caulflower/zuccuinee in Gabe's Mac and Cheese without decetion. I am excited to try hiding the spinach/broccoli in some meatballs or brownies. DH will be out of town a few nights this week and I am not looking forward to it. Tuesday Gabe is going to the aquarium with his preschool. That should be alot of fun.

Oh, DH was sleeping badly the other night, which woke me up. So we were talking abit about stuff on his mind and he was working on the computer. Gabe woke up came out of his room and complained that he was trying to sleep and EVERYTHING kept waking him up. He then said he was scared of the dark (not that we ever turn off the light in his room anyway) so DH had to sit with him till he fell asleep.

Time for me to get some sleep. Night all, hope you all had fun weekends and that everyone is well and happy and living with the sweet side of your preschooler at the moment.

[jay&erinn]

Hi Ladies- I feel like I've been gone forever.

Vacation was nice. Definately more relaxing than many of the trips we've had lately. It was great seeing so much of my family while we were away. There was a great outdoor pool with a huge water slide (Mia went down once and was crying by the time she reached the bottom- it moved pretty fast), an indoor pool with a baby pool and an indoor play area with 4 huge climbing structures. We walked around the mountain, going to the top a few different times to see the view. We also hiked with the kids in this area that used to be underwater thousands of years ago. The rocks and caves were amazing. Mia loved it. We rented a pontoon boat, while some of my cousins were in a canoe and a kayak, and others were in a speed boat. Ayla hated the life jacket, but dealt. While we were on the water we happened to see my cousins paddling away. Next thing we know one of them is yelling for us to come help them. The kayak tipped and was sinking fast. DH dove in the water to help and we had to drag the kayak onto our boat and take it back to shore. There were a few tense moments when my one cousin was flagging us down and we couldn't see the other 2 in the water. They're all strong swimmers, but you never know. We couldn't see the other 2 until we were right on top of them because they were trying to hold the kayak up to keep it from sinking completely. As we were speeding over to them, DH and I were stripping to our suits just in case someone really needed help. After everything was over I told DH he looked like he belonged on Baywatch diving into the water like he did- but not really;)

Since we've been back I've been trying to catch back up at work and with school. It's exhausting.

The girls are doing well. I can't believe Mia starts preschool next Thursday. I'm definately a little sad that she won't be home with me all day on tuesdays and thursdays anymore. Monday night I have to go to a parent meeting for preschool (I just have to find a way to get out of work on time to be there:rolleyes:). Next thursday I go to school with Mia and stay while she gets used to the environment, her teacher and the kids in her class. She talks about going- sometimes she can't wait and other times she tells me she just wants to stay home with me. My mom teaches in the middle school right next door so she took her over to see her preschool room the other night. Apparently Mia was looking around and talking to herself saying really softly, "This is great." I hope she feels that way the first day I have to leave her there or it's going to be really difficult for me.

Ayla is a walking fool and trying to run to keep up with Mia. She's into EVERYTHING. She also is talking much more than Mia at this age. She tries to repeat almost anything you ask her to, and probably has 10 words already that she uses independently. Mia only had 10 words at 20 months. Of course I haven't been able to shut her up since then, but still, what a difference. Ayla's still not sleeping well- big surprise, but is finally napping during the day in her crib. I'm working on weaning and hoping that will help with nightime sleep. She's still REALLY little for her age and, of course, I'm starting to worry a little. I've seen 6 month olds that are bigger than she is, and she's still wearing many 6-9 month clothes. I'm hoping she'll hit a small growth spurt soon.

Jenyfer: The boys are adorable. What little men the look like in their tuxes.

Alison: Those pics are great! I love A telling you about his lunch not being necessary. It's so cute and breaks my heart at the same time. I think they really want to go be big kids, but are still so afraid. I feel like a mommy bird pushing Mia out of the nest and hoping that she flies instead of falls.

mittyrd: I hope vacation goes well. Mia was so much easier on vacation this year- of course Ayla was a different story. Sounds like you'll have some backup help in your mom- that's always nice.

Renrel: What a nice, kid-free, time you seemed to have. I keep saying that DH and I'll get away for a weekend to enjoy some time alone soon. I just have to figure out how to detach Ayla from me.
I'm glad your test went well. Hopefully DH's will go as well. Good luck at the RE.

[AlisonCO]

It's so cute and breaks my heart at the same time. I think they really want to go be big kids, but are still so afraid. I feel like a mommy bird pushing Mia out of the nest and hoping that she flies instead of falls.


I know, me too and I feel the same way. Aidan seems to be warming up to the idea a bit everyday but for him it is mostly the fear of the unknown. He likes the idea of doing art/meeting other kids etc but does not want to be away from me - he said that he would be happy to go to school if I were there:). Mia sounds alot like Aidan - when he is in a new situation he will whisper to himself "it's OK, I'm OK."

Renrel - Sounds like you had a nice break while G was away!

[Renrel]

Errrin - Glad your vacation was relaxing. That boating experience sounds quite frightening. I am glad it all was fine in the end. I think Mia will do great at preschool but be prepared for the possiblity of a few days of tearful good byes. There are a few kids who just run off and start playing but it is rare. After a week or so of getting used to it the may still cry/fuss at drop off but recover and starting playing minutes after you leave. Gabe still throws a fit when I leave if he is not engaged in something but as soon as a teacher shows him something interesting to do he forgets all about me and starts to play.

I had a tough week last week. DH was away for three nights so I was on my own with Gabe. But this week will make up for it as my ILs realized that they will be headed back to FL shortly and have not had enough Gabe time, so we dropped him off by them Saturday night and they will drop him off Tuesday or Wednesday evening. But this time it is not all fun and games for me. We did catch a quick dinner and movie on Saturday but today was house hunting and cooking up sneaky chef recipes to keep in the freezer. Then tonight I have to start a push to finish up a ton of work before my vacation next week. I am supposed to have no backlog before I leave. So I will work late tonight, Monday and Tuesday. Then Thursday we have an RE appointment. Saturday we head done to my parent's home. Sunday morning is the unveiling of my grandmothers grave stone and we will have a family gathering afterward, then we drive to a resort to spend three night with DH's family to celebrate MIL's 75 and DH's 50th b-days. Sunday also happens to be my 6 yr wedding anniversary. What fun to spend it in a single hotel room with Gabe. :rolleyes: But it is great the Gabe will see every one of his first cousin's over one weekend and maybe even a few first cousins once removed. I am also taking off Thursday (my b-day) and Friday that week just because it seems silly to come in for two days between the family vacation stuff and Labor Day weekend.

[kerrykate]

Renrel~ Sounds like you guys are going to be busy! Enjoy your vacation and happy anniversary. Also, I'm glad everything turned out good at your HSG, I had one about a month ago and it was not fun... Everything turned out alright except some bloodwork they did and finally figured out I have a clotting disorder and I'll have to be on Heprin shots everyday the next time I get pg until I'm 36 weeks. Are you having anymore testing done?

Erinn~ I'm glad you had a nice vacation, the kayak incident sounds scary.

Mittyrd~ I hope you're enjoying your vacation!

Alison & Jenyfer~ Adorable pictures!

Lauren starts preschool on Tuesday she'll be going twice a week on T & Th. She seems excited about it now, a month a go she didn't want to go but we've been talking about it a lot so hopefully she'll be prepared (and me...). We went to meet her teacher a week a go but the school accidentally sent us the letter that was supposed to go to dh's cousins son who also goes to the preschool but is a year older and has the same last name as us, so we ended up in the wrong classroom meeting the wrong teacher on the wrong day:rolleyes: Luckily Lauren's teacher was there that day and we got to meet her and check out the classroom even though it wasn't her open house day. I asked dh how she can be starting school already when it seems like we just brought her home from the hospital.

Have you guys started thinking about birthdays yet? Any ideas for parties? Right now Lauren wants a Halloween Costume Party but that could change at any minute.

Have a nice week everyone:)

[Renrel]

Kerrykate - I am glad they were able to give you an answer and a possible solution. So much easier that way then infertity and/or miscarrages for unknow reason. Not that any of it is easy. We don't have any more tests set yet. I already had the 3 day and 7 day blood work done before the HSG. DH just did his test on Friday so we have not gotten back results. I was looking at my number again and it looks as though I barely passed the thyroid test. The high for normal is "5" according to the letter and I had a 4.981. My FSH was 7.2 which seem to be good from what I read, not great, but at my age good probably is as great as you are going to get. My Progesterone was 10.93, which sounded high for 3 day on a chart I saw but I don't really know what that means. And my Estradiol was 35, which I think is OK. I am just going to wait for the RE to tell me what it all means. AF is due any day now, so it is possible that we may not need RE advice. I can't say if I feel pg or not. I am just taking everything day by day.

[AlisonCO]

kerrykate - I love the costume party idea - what fun! I am sure that Aidan will want a Spiderman party - it is the current obsession. That is good news that they found out about your clotting disorder.

Renrel - Your August sounds like my April with all of your b-days as well as your anniversary all in one month! I bet G will have a blast with all of his cousins.

So we go next Tuesday to meet Aidan's teacher and see the classroom - he seems to be warming up a bit and even told me yesterday that he really wants to take blueberry yogurt in his lunch. He talks daily about what things he wants for his b-day and from who - drives DH crazy since he thinks that he is being sorta snotty about it. He will say "I really want a big Doc Occ from Momo(grandma) and a Big Spiderman from Caitlin and a webbing cake with ice cream". I think that it is just him talking and being a 3 year old, not a snotty spoiled little brat but I do think that it might be time to somehow introduce the topic of money, where it comes from, how we don't just buy everything we want when we want it, earning it - must go search on amazon for books about young kids and money.

[Renrel]

Alison - I have been thinking about starting an allowance this year. We already talk about money and how we have to earn it and pay for things. We have explained to Gabe that if we have to pay one in one place (like if we get a parking ticket since he asks all the time abour the rules of the road) then we will not have that money to do fun things like go out for ice cream. He gets it to some degree. I am also want to teach him just the very basics this year - to recognize coins and hopefully their amounts as well, since he is good with math. I have to think about how we will do it though. I know there are many different theories. Does he have to earn the money or is it a right of being in the family that he gets to share in the assets of the family? Will we force a certain amount into savings and into charity so that he can learn about those things. I like the idea but I have to decide if I am going to follow through with it, particularly at this age when I need to teach the whole concept of money, but it will be easier to make it a habit and natural things if we start from the beginning. So much to think about. Gabe is really not that materialist, yet. He does not usually have much to say about wanting this or that. If we are in the toy store he will try to take 6 things off the shelf saying we need them but when the item is not in front of his face he does not tend to remember that he wants "x". Actually annoys my mom who is used to my nieces being able to tell her exactly what they want. Gabe is not even obsessed by any particular licenced character or type of toy. Still I always have a list of stuff I want to buy him so it is not really a problem. I am pretty sure we will get him a leappad and some books for his b-day this year. I am on the fence about a leapster though. I think he will love it and it would be a great learning tool and maybe he could entertain himself on the potty or on a long car ride but I am scared of starting the slippery slope into video games and game boys. I am also thinking of getting him a real big boy bed. We still have a mattress on the floor, I am eying a loft bed - not has high as a bunk but with play space underneith. But I am a little worried about him falling out of it and about whether he would ever go to sleep if his bed was itself a toy. But since he sleeps all over the room now and plays till he falls a sleep anyway I was thinking this might actually get him to stay in his bed. Anyway, just stuff I am thinking about.


I am on day 29 of my cycle with no A/F but I tested this morning and it was negative. I recently had a 32 day cycle so who knows what is going on. Tomorrow is my RE appointment, so may be he will be able to give me some possible explaination.

Gabe returned from the grandparents last night while I was working late. He had a good time and was in a very good mood. Talking a mile a minute.

I was informed to day that Gabe will be moving up to the Pre-K class in September. They were on the line whether they would move him or not. So now he will be the youngest in the class instead of the oldest, but I think it will be better for him. He has more in common with the older kids and is friendlier with them. All of the kids he really intreacts with are moving up. And the class will be more challenging. Not much time to prepare him but since he is moving up with about 5 other kids and knows the teacher and other kids already I don't think it will be a hard transition. He has been asking since he started preschool when he would be in this class so I expect starting in September he will be asking when he can go go Kindergarden. He is in to big a hurry to grow up. Yet he constently wants me to baby him.

[AlisonCO]

Renrel - DH and I are also discussing how to do allowance. I think that I like the idea of the kids each having a few chores that they are respondsible for (age appropriate of course) but are not tied to receiving allowance but as they get older they can earn more money by doing other things. I think that chores should just be done because we all have to do things as a part of the family to keep the house up - if they don't do them, there will be consequences but not taking away their allowance. I also think that in the next couple of years I would like to start collecting our change and donating it to a charity that the kids choose so that they can start becoming more aware of some of the people and/or animals that are in need and how because we have some extra donating it is the "right" thing to do. I think that The Bearenstain Bears have a book about money and allowance where the sister gets an allowance and for the first few weeks goes rigth out and spends it on junk and candy but then she wants to buys something bigger so the parents show her how many weeks she has to save to buy the bigger toy. I looked around amazon last night but didn't see any books for the preschool age kid - must keep looking.

[Renrel]

Just back from the RE. Long story short. I am looking good, DH is not. We are looking at IVF if we want to go forward. I am supposed to do Day 3 blood work tomorrow for the Clomid challenge. I am in a daze and DH is as well. I am still living in a dream world, hoping my AF is really pg spotting. Would not be suprized if I took another pg test tonight or tomorrow. I have used several this year after AF showed and only one before. How that for crazy.

On top of this I am already feeling guilty for ignoring Gabe. Between visits to this grandparent, my trying to get caught up at work, DH being out of town for a few days and my just not feeling well he is noticing the lack of one on one mommy time. He is actually trying to get me to play instead of asking for tv when we get home.

[mittyrd]

I'm back...... Vacation was great but exhausting. We rented a huge house that was not very child friendly. We childproofed the best we could but it was hard to relax having to watch them constantly. DH's son & my 9 year old niece were a big help. The kids loved storyland and santa's village. Jake is a complete rollercoaster freak. He was so funny with his hands in the air the entire time. And he went 6 times in a row at one point. We lost Sammy at one point (my mom was watching him but she thought DH's son had him when he had Matt....) I came off a ride and my mom was standing there alone! Fortunately, Sam found a father of triplets to hang out with while his wife went to find DH. She had seen DH with Matt and realized Sam was a twin. Apparently, Sam was not too worried, he kept asking the guy "where momma go?" but didn't seem upset. Certainly not as upset as his momma! Besides that it was a lot of fun. They have had trouble adjusting to bedtime since we've been home but I'm sure it will return to normal soon. I hope.

I have been trying to decide on a birthday party idea also. I was thinking of a costume party too but we already have 2 other Halloween parties to go to. That's my project for next week. I'm leaning towards Cars.

Kerry: I'm glad they figured out what the issue was and hope to hear you are pg soon.

Renrel: I hope you guys figure everything out soon too.

Erinn & Alison: I hope the kids enjoy preschool! I'm regretting not putting Jake in preschool instead of keeping him in daycare b/c I think he needs to be with kids his own age vs. the younger kids (incl. his 2 brothers). And I know it would help with potty training. Oh well, next year.

[jay&erinn]

mittyrd: OMG- I would have absolutely paniced if one of my kiddos disappeared! That's a huge fear of mine. I'm glad you enjoyed vacation. I'm actually calling them trips now since I think vacation ended when we had kids;).
Don't worry about not starting preschool- there's more than enough school years left. I feel bad Mia's starting already, knowing how many years are ahead of her.

Renrel: I'm glad you have some sort of answer from the RE. Hopefully it's an easy fix and you can move on with your plans. When will the IVF be planned?

Birthday party- we're having a princess party. Mia wants all of the girls to dress up as princesses and the boys as princes or knights. She already has her sleeping beauty costume and Ayla has a snow white one. They will also be their halloween costumes this year.

Preschool- We went to the preschool meet and greet today. Mia got to meet her teacher and a few of the kids in her class. She completely clung to my leg. Ayla, on the other hand, practically trashed the room and could have cared less if I had left her there all day. Mia eventually warmed up and went and played. Unfortunately she would only play with the older girls that will be in the 4 year old room, instead of the 3 year old room with her. Tuesday we go and I leave her there. The rooms are great and her teacher seems really nice. Hopefully it'll go well. I was hoping that a good friend of mine's daughter would be in Mia's class, but it didn't happen. We had to walk down the hall to see where Seon's class would be. I think Seon's mom and I will hang out Tuesday at my house while Ayla naps and the girls are in school.

[Renrel]

Mittyrd- welcome back! Jake is braver than me. I hate rollercoasters and I don't know what I will do when Gabe wants to go on one someday.

Errin - Funny how the babies always want to be in the big kid class. It will be good to have another mom to comiserate with as you worry that first day.

Before we can do the IVF I have to pass a Clomid Challenge. I take Clomid for 5 days and then they test to see if my overies are working well enough to justify the huge amount of money each session of IVF would cost. If I fail then thats it. Insurance will not pay. I don't get to retest. But I did really well on the tests without Clomid so it is likely I would do well again with it. Then we have to decide if we really want to do this. It is a pretty big deal. Injections at home, farming the eggs under anthesisa, creating several embryos, placing them and then waiting to see if they take. At my age the chance of success is apparantly about 20%. Not great. And there is a risk of twins. I don't know how we would deal with that. I just feel to old to handle twins and Gabe and don't ask how we will save for college for three and retirement which will all come at the same time for us. I really need to research IVF more and think more and so does DH. I think he will find it hard to deal with the fact that it is his issue that is preventing pregnancy. And I also find it harder to deal with it being him. For him it is the sense of responsibity and for me it is the lack of control. Somehow if it were my body I would feel I could try and do something. And the doctor pretty much said that there is nothing you can do to make male infertility better. I get very sad when I think about not having another and terrified when I do think of having another which makes it so very hard to figure out if we should be doing this. At least this means I should be able to get my Mammiogram next month, it has been about 6 year since my last due to pg an nursing. And I can drink all the good wine DH and his brothers will bring to this family celebration this weekend. Not as good as being able to tell everyone in person on both sides of the family that we are pg, but I try to look on the bright side of everything.

Ok I have hours of work I need to try to get done before vacation and I am already falling on my face.

[kerrykate]

Renrel~ I'm so sorry to hear IVF is your only option. That's such a hard decision to make. Who would have ever thought that getting baby #2 would be so difficult.

Alison~ Lauren also talks about things she wants for her b-day all the time. We were out the other day and she told me she wanted something and I told her I didn't bring any money with me and she said, "just use your credit card":eek: She asks why we have to go to work and I try to explain that we have to work so we can earn money to pay for our house and so we can do fun things, but I don't think she really gets it yet.

Erinn~ Have fun doing the princess party, Lauren had one last year and it was so cute.

Mittyrd~ Glad you had a good vacation!

Lauren had her first day of preschool last week. She did great and didn't even look back when dh and I dropped her off in her classroom. She went again on Thursday and did fine again and seems to be eager to keep going back. She's got a terrible cold right now and her little voice is sooo raspy, so I don't know if she'll go tomorrow but I'd really like to keep her in the routine of going. I've heard that the first week is easy and the second week is when they start not wanting to go and the crying starts. I REALLY hope that doesn't happen.
Here are a couple pics:
Fresh from the bath:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p82901830b4267bd0f908bec4655b141c/e7f249f8.jpg
Little miss sassy pants on the first day of preschool, can you guess what her favorite color is;)
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p81209e12aa658ad14590f4906c1164f4/e7f249b7.jpg

[jay&erinn]

Well, Mia survived her first day of preschool without me:D:(
I definitely have mixed feelings about it. She clung to me for about a minute when I walked her into her classroom this morning. I walked her over to a table that had crayons and coloring pages set out. She sat down and 3 other girls came over to join her. She kissed me and Ayla and we left. It was really quick and easy. A friend of mine's little girl cried for 20 minutes. I felt bad for her, knowing how hard it would be to leave if Mia had done the same thing. The first week's emphasis is school rules. They walked up to the principal's office and met her and the other office staff, had a snack, played outside, had story time and sang songs. Not bad for a first day. They have a letter a week that most of the activities focus on starting next week- after they have a little transition time. She seemed to like everything, and will hopefully walk right in on Thursday. Only time will tell.

kerrykate: I love Lauren's outfit. Pink is a favorite around here too. I'm trying to keep Mia away from dresses and skirts until the weather is a little cooler- the school has requested no sandals because of playing outside- they've had kids slip and fall in them on the playground equipment. Boots are OK- so she'll wear a ton of tights and boots in the winter.

Renrel: I don't know what I'd do if I was in your situation. Why can't it just be easy? I know I questioned that a lot during the months and months in between Mia and Ayla. DH and I had started to consider other options (fertility, adoption) after my second miscarriage, but weren't sure how much financially we were prepared to spend at the expense of Mia's future. Such hard decisions. When is your Clomid challenge?

[AlisonCO]

erinn - YEAH for Mia - I am so glad that it went well and hope that it continues. I heard the same thing about the second week sometimes being harder than the first.

kerrykate - YEAH for Lauren - gosh she sounds like Caitlin - just walk right in without any hesitation. I am so glad that it went well! Cute pics.

Renrel- I'm sorry to hear your news - good luck with your decision.

mittyrd - Welcome back! Sounds like you had fun (except the almost losing the kid part:).)


We had our meet the teacher/see the classroom today and it went well. Aidan started playing right away and found his spot in circle time. He met another little boy and talked to the teacher for a bit. The teacher seems wonderful - very calm. She was very reassuring that he might cry but they are quick to distract them and would call us if he was really upset still after 15 minutes. If by week 3 he is still crying alot, they would encourage us to stay for a bit each morning and slowly start to leave earlier but she said that usually happens more often with the younger kids. I feel SO much better now. He is also the first b-day so he will have the first party at school so we can bring a small snack.


Mad at the aquarium because he could not pet the fish:)
http://www.allsam.com/200708/images/082607_20.jpg

Finger painting
http://www.allsam.com/200708/images/082607_13.jpg

[Renrel]

thanks for all the understanding thoughts. I am on the Clomid challenge right now. I go for a blood test again on Saturday. I am still thinking and thinking and thinking. I am sure that as scary as it is we could handle a second normal child but at my age and DH age the chances of problems increase and I just don't know how we would deal emotionally, physically and finanicaly with a special needs child given our age, lack of current upward moblity and of course Gabe's needs. And Gabe may himself have special needs depending on if he is just very bright or actually gifted. But I really want him to have a siblilng to share his life with. Such a special gift to give him, particularly when we can not expect to be a part of his life for as long as our parents were. Anyway, enough about that. I am not thinking about it today. It is my birthday and while I am not doing anything very special I am not going to do anything I don't want to today. I am at work because I want to get caught up, but I am officially on vaction so I came in late after picking up fresh cream puffs and ice coffee for my breakfast. I can leave when ever I want.

Vacation was great. Rocking horse ranch is a great place to go with kids. So much to do, very very little waiting on line, very very few extra charges. Gabe was occupied every waking hour. (and he complained intently everytime we said it was time to eat or sleep since those are not "fun") He played in the kiddie pool with a slide just the right size for preschools, he spent at least an hour in a bounce house of the course of three days, he tried the rock climbing wall, he road in a paddle boat and a kayak and took a banana boat ride (a moter boat pulls a big infatable platoon type boat around the lake, he played bocci, shuffle ball, Uno and miniture golf. He played in a fun cage filled with rubber balls and air guns that shot the balls and other things that dropped them out of ceil. It also had a slide and an obstical course thing in it (big hit). He had an ice sundea with every lunch and dinner. He saw a magic show. He road horses (around a ring like a pony ride). He mined for gems (shifting dirt and rocks in a seive to find the gems stones). Unfortuantely he missed the hayride and bonfire because, having refused to sleep at nap time, he fell asleep at dinner waiting for his hamburger and did not wake again for about 13 hours, regardless of three transfers to different sleeping locations. We ended up not using the nursury program, babysitting or daycamp. It was just not that hard most of the time to have him with us since so much was keeping him busy. He also had lots of fun with his cousins at my mom's house before the hotel and with his other cousins at the hotel.

[jay&erinn]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RENREL!!!!! Take the day off from all the stress and just enjoy yourself.
Your vacation sounds like it was a blast. Definitely somewhere fun for kids.

Mad at the aquarium because he could not pet the fish
That made me laugh out loud:D
We finger painted over the weekend too. I taped newspaper to the kitchen floor and rolled paper out over it, stripped both girls down and layed out paper plates with all different colors of paint on them. Ayla mostly painted herself, while Mia painted her feet, hands and belly to leave prints on the paper. They both went into the tub immediately afterwards.

[Renrel]

My birthday was quiet.

Gabe built me a "climber" with a three person "slide" out of his pillows and blankets and toys and mattress.

I treated myself to three fresh cream puffs and ice coffee for breakfast and a brownie for lunch.

My boss noticed at the end of day that I was at work and bought Whole Foods organic choclet covered ice cream bars for me and anyone still around at that point to celebrate my b-day.

DH and Gabe took me out for a nice alfesco dinner. Gabe tried really hard to be on his best behavior. His tummy started hurting during dinner and he wanted to go home and have a "DVD break." I let him crawl into my lap till my meal arrived. When it arrived and DH told Gabe that it would be much easier for me to enjoy my b-day meal if he got off my lap I was amazed and delighted that Gabe actually got off my lap without any further prompting or grousing and went to his seat. That was I think the highlight of my day, that Gabe was able to give me that thoughtful gift. He always always always fusses about having to get out of my lap or not being allowed in my lap while I eat. It seemed like a real showing of empathy and concideration and thinking of someone else's pleasure instead of his own. Gabe was however waiting all day for my "birthday" to happen. He expected a big party and we did not even do a cake.

My mom almost forgot my birthday as she was suddenly saddled with my niece and nephew for the week when my sister's nanny had a miscarrage and could not take them during home renevation. If NPR had not mentioned the date she would have completely forgotten. No one else in my family called but that was fine. I really did not want any fuss this year. I made a point of not reminding anyone it was my b-day.

We are having an issue in our apartment at the moment though. They have started painting the outside if the building which is very very hold and flakely so they are scraping the paint off. DH found dust all over the window sills and several feet into some of the rooms, including Gabe's playroom and the kitchen. We are pretty certain that there is lead in that old paint given how old the building is and DH is frantic about how to clean it up. Last night we had Gabe sleep on the couch in the living room because that room seemed the least contaminated. DH is calling his parents to see if they can take Gabe for a few days while we clean everything, but we don't know how to clean some if it, like rugs and book which can be wet wipes easily. Gabe also has a b-day party on Saturday which he will miss if he is at his Grandparent's which is lousy since he does not get invited to that many parties, though I think this year, as they turn 4, there will be more parties outside of school.

[mittyrd]

Happy Birthday, Renrel!

Where is Rocking Horse Ranch?

[Renrel]

Mittyrd - It is in peakeskill (sp) NY, about 4.5 hours from boston.

We have decided to take Gabe to my ILs tonight so that we can do our best to clean out the apartment. DH is putting plastic on all the window now to keep out any more dust which is going to make the apartment Oh so pleasant for us to be in as we work. And Gabe is going to miss a b-day party on Saturday which really stinks. Plus I thiink as much as he loves overnight at the grandparents at the moment he really wants his parents having spent much time over the last month with grandparents and other various relatives.

[Renrel]

Today I went to the hospital for my clomid challenge blood work. There was a lousy phebotamist (sp) and with two sticks, one in each arm she could not get enough blood. So I had to wait for another one to come down to do some newborns and she got it just fine in one shot, but I was there for about 2 hours for one vial of blood. The rest of the day was spent cleaning every single toy in
Gabe's playroom and bedroom to make sure there was no lead dust from the work being done on the windows before painting. We had to clean every surfact and to multiple loads of laundry at the laundrimat to get all the blankets and stuffed animals and other stuff clean. We still have so much to do. We have not touched any rooms other than Gabe's playroom, which was hit the worst because window were open and his bedroom.

[AlisonCO]

Renrel - Happy belated Birthday!!! Uggh - so sorry to hear about all of the cleaning that you have to do and that the blood draw was rough.

Hi to all - I am trying to catch up on house work and get some of Aidan's school stuff labeled and organized today so that we can spend the day having fun as a family tomorrow.

Happy weekend!

[Renrel]

We spent 10 hours a day Saturday and Sunday cleaning and there is still lots to do. Gabe did great at my ILs' home until my BIL who was visiting with his kids left on Sunday and then Gabe showed his grandparents his defiant side, which he never does with them. He really gave them a hard time and at one point told then he never wanted to come to their home again. I kind of expected this visit would be hard. It has just been too much for him. He has been away from home, with or without us sooo much this month. I think it was all fine until this weekend, which was supposed to be three home days with mom and dad got messed up. Gabe, being Gabe did get why he had to go and even asked first thing when he got home whether we were done cleaning his room so he could sleep in it. He still says he does not want to visit grandma and grandpa again but I think by next Summer he will be ok with it again and it will not be an issue again until then. This was so not how I wanted to spend our last weekend of summer though.

[AlisonCO]

Just wanted to let you all know that Aidan's first day went pretty well today. He cried for about 4 minutes after DH left but was all smiles and stories when he got home. They kept them very busy doing art, music and learning the routine so that helped. I think that the real test will be on Thursday when he realizes that he will be going back again and for the rest of the year.:) erinn, kerrykate - how did today go for Mia and Lauren? Any trouble with the second week?

Hope that you all had a nice weekend!

[Renrel]

Alison - I am so glad Aidain had a good first day. How did it go today.

Given the top to bottom cleaning we tried to do over the weekend our bi-weekly cleaning service could finally do a really good job cleaning and the apartment looks better than it has in 2 years, not counting our room where we have moved all the stuff we were not ready to deal with and gave instructions for the cleaners not to touch. Unfortunately there were things we had not gotten around to cleaning and damp mopping and the cleaners in their enthusiams move stuff we had in specific areas designated in our minds for "to be cleaned" to other places and probably vacumed which we were avoided so as not to stir up dust. Nothing we can do not but be aware.

Gabe is having there really annoying trantrums where if he does not get what he wants he starts to cry, lay on the floor etc. But when I walk away telling him I will talk to him when he is ready to be nice he starts screaming at the top of his lungs, he yell at me not to leave him, to never leave him, to never do that again, that this will be a lesson to me (don't know where he picked up that phrase, I never use it.) and so on. Very tiring and annoying. Then when I finally have to interact with him because he must brush his teeth or leave for school he calms down and a few minutes later he can be perfectly normal and happy, particularly if we engage him in any kind of activity. He is also waking up at night. It is easy to get him back down but not always easy for us to get back to sleep.

[AlisonCO]

Renrel - is there any way that someone can test to see if there is lead in the air? Ughh - tantrums, they are so frustrating. Aidan hasn't been doing it much lately but he does sometimes become so emotional over things that he briefly loses his mind.

Day 2 of school went better - he was holding back tears when we arrived, cried very hard for 15 seconds, cried softly for 1 minute and was fine. I was able to talk to his teacher for a minute after school and she said that once he stops crying he is totally involved and participates in all the activities. I do hope that at some point drop offs are not quite as hard - it is especially hard to hear him crying as I leave and have Caitlin upset too since she wants to stay.

FYI - I went to Target today and they have tons of kids clothes on sale - I got a bunch of good basics for layering this winter like short and long sleeve tees for $2.48-5 - I also picked up 2 shorts for next year for $3.

[Renrel]

Last night Gabe got very excited and in his excitement hit me in the face. DH and I immediately got stern and reprimanded him. He hid his face in my lap and would not say he was sorry. He would look up and give me a sad pouting face but would not say sorry. So I said I needed to go do something else and walked away. That I did not want to play with someone who hits and does not say sorry because if they don't say sorry I don't know that they won't hit me again. (or something like that). I told DH to stay with Gabe to keep him moving along with his bedtime stuff. DH tried to talk to Gabe about what happened. Something inspired him to ask if Gabe was afraid to say he was sorry and he said yes. So DH asked him what he was scared of. He said he was scared I would not forbid him. He also complained that he always has to say he is sorry, something we have heard before from him and we always respond that yes he does. This time DH heard it differently. Based on his conversation with Gabe he now thinks what Gabe has been upset about as far as saying "I'm sorry" is that he feels he is always doing "bad" thing and that this is what upsets him. He feelings of inadequacy because he makes mistakes, hits us in excitement, bumps into people, whatever. DH talked to him about how everyone makes mistakes and the magic of the word sorry to be able to put what ever it was behind us and move on. I thought this was an interesting insight into Gabe's head and something we have to pay alot of attention to. His fear of "owning" his mistakes and short comings. I always talk about how actions can be bad but people are not and that it is ok to make mistakes and try to focus on effort not result, but still he apparently feels he is supposed to be perfect and is afraid to say "sorry" because that make his mistake more real and tangible.

[Renrel]

We had a busy weekend. Major food shopping after not have Gabe home for two weekends and being away on vacation and the whole paint dust situation last weekend. I joined a gym and tried a power yoga class (I spent more than half the class in child pose, thats what happens when you don;t work out for 5 years. We took Gabe canueing and out for Dim Sum since he is suddenly into a book we got him awhile back about Dim Sum. I did a fair amount of cooking out of the sneaky chef book.

Tomorrow DH has his appointment with the urologist, when that appointment and any tests he wants are done we go back to the RE. Tuesday I have a mammiogram scheduled and I am hoping they will take it even though I could possibly be pg. Chances are slim but I should have O by now. Wensday night is Rosh Hashona and I am taking Thursday and Friday off for the holiday. We will visit with my ILs for the festival dinner.

[mittyrd]

Renrel: Good luck with the appointments tomorrow.

Alison & Erinn: How's school going this week?

Not much new around here. The boys are crazy as usual. I took Jake out of daycare Friday for a playdate. It was nice to have some Jake-Mama time. Jake told me he missed the babies though and was afraid we were never going to see them again. How sad. We're making progress on the potty training. Finally. As soon as I get Jake trained, I'm going to start on Matt. Then Sam. My goal is to have them all trained within 6 months. (dreaming, I know)

I have been very neglectful and haven't done anything about Jake's party yet. That is my goal this week.

[jay&erinn]

UGH- it's such a busy month. We were in Erie, PA (2.5 hours away) for a b-day party over the weekend. This weekend is Cleveland then Mia's party the weekend after, DH works the next weekend, and back to Erie the first weekend in Oct for another birthday party. It's exhausting. Sometime in there I have to find time to work on a final for my current class.

Mia so far likes school. She will occasionally say she wants to stay home with me, but once we go she's all smiles. She also has a big grin on her face when she comes out at the end of the morning. The other night we were looking at one of the art projects she made- a heart. I told her how nice it was. She said she didn't like Mrs. A's heart (the teacher). I asked her if she told that to Mrs. A (really hoping she didn't). Of course she did.:rolleyes:

For the most part Mia's been really good the past few weeks. I think there was some acting out from some anxiety with preschool starting. Now, except for bedtime, she's been great. If only I could keep her in her bed the first hour of the night. She must come downstairs to tell me "one more thing" a thousand times. It really starts to get irritating.

I was very impressed with her on Saturday. We were at a b-day party and when it was time to open presents it was a free-for-all. My cousin sat down with her son (he turned 2) to help him with his gifts. The other kids were climbing all over her, grabbing presents off the table and ripping them open. It was really horrible. Maybe I'm just a stick in the mud, but I think at a kids party, the birthday kid opens presents and the others sit and watch. When it's their birthday, they'll have the same opportunity. Are my expectations unreasonable? One of the kids told her mom she wanted to open presents too and the mom told her to go ahead. I was shocked. Mia looked at me and asked if she could go "help." I asked her if she wanted other kids opening her presents in a few weeks. She told me no, so I told her to go sit on the floor and watch. She did just that and I was so proud of her. The party was at the zoo and the zookeeper brought out a few little animals the kids could touch. She asked that they all sit down and she would bring them around. As soon as that first animal came out of the cage she was swarmed by kids and the parents said nothing. I told Ayla and Mia to sit and wait and they both did (Ayla didn't budge). However, if they had gotten up I would have sat them both back down to wait. I just don't understand a lot of parents anymore. It seems like they expect so little of their kids in the way of manners and patience. Am I wrong?

We had quite a scare with Ayla last week. She had yogurt for dinner and had made a huge mess. She insists on feeding herself with no help at all. She even eats corn on the cob on her own now. It's just not worth the fight. Well, I pulled her away from the counter because she was finger painting herself with her yogurt. I went to get her other clothes and DH went to start a bath (bathroom is right off the kitchen- about 3 steps from where she was). I heard a very loud crash upstairs and her start to scream. She had fallen out of her booster seat off of a bar stool (a little over 3 feet up) onto a wood floor. DH didn't see her fall and the seat was still buckled. We have no idea how it happened. I took her and she put her head on my shoulder and was silent for the next 15 minutes- which is totally unlike her. I would have rather her screamed for 15 minutes. We called the ped and they said to just keep an eye on her. We had to wake her every 4 hours for 2 days- no problem with her horrible sleeping habits. She's fine now, but it was really scary.

Well, I need to get Mia ready for school. Enjoy your week.

[Renrel]

I am in a lousy mood. Not enough sleep and DH is feeling kind of grouchy as well which puts me in a bad mood. There has been a string of bad luck around here lately. My 1 yr old nephew fractured his leg on a slide, my sister's cat has been missing for over a week, both my sister and BIL were sick in the midst of all that. My best friend's mother is having surgury to remove a kidney on Thursday. My reproductive issues and the paint fiasco. And today I had to cancel my mammiogram, which is years over due given pg and extended nursing, because there is the slightest chance that I might be pg, given clomid and BD timing. The next available appointment was in December and who knows if I will be in a state where I can take it then.

I need to take a deep breath, take my mind off of the negatives around me, and start focusing on making amends and changes in myself for the new year given Rosh Hoshona and Yom Kippor are this week and next.

[AlisonCO]

Renrel- I hope that you are having a better day today!

erinn - I am so glad that A was ok - how scary! I agree about the party - it is hard, but the birthday kiddo should not have to fight the other kids to open their own gifts. I have never had that happen at any party's that we have been at but I would have done the same thing as you.

mittyrd - Thanks for the reminder - I must get Aidan's party invites in the mail tomorrow. Good luck with the pt - no diapers would be great!

We had some anxiety this morning before school but no tears again - yeah!!! I did find out that Aidan's class was exposed to strep throat this week - ugg, please no! Caitlin's party is Sunday so I hope that they do not get sick - I am SO not ready for winter.

[mittyrd]

Erinn: Glad Ayla is ok.

Alison: I gave you the reminder but I need to remind myself again to send out Jake's invitations. It is unlike me to procrastinate like this. Normally I would have the party all planned out by now but I have nothing done. Happy Birthday to Caitlin!

Renrel: Happy Rosh Hashana.

I put Matt in a time out earlier in his crib since he wouldn't stay in his time out spot. Next thing, I hear a big thud. I ran in his room and he's standing in the middle of his room crying. I think he scared the crap out of himself. I think it may soon be time to make the switch to toddler beds. That is something I was hoping to avoid for a few more months (or years).

Jake has been having a hard time sleeping lately. In fact he's attached himself to my left arm and the left side of my body while I type this. He is so adorable although starting to get on my nerves. He's sitting here telling me he loves me over and over and that he wants to watch me on the "puter" and wants to know what I am doing. He's at such an enjoyable stage right now. He keeps hugging me and kissing me. And he's so loving with his brothers now too. More so than usual. I love it. But I want him to sleep.

I spent the entire day switching the boys' bureaus and closets over from summer stuff to fall stuff. I desparately need more bureau space. I'm not sure how to squeeze it into their space.

Jake is doing great on the potty. Yay! Finally after 9 months we are progressing. My next project will be to work on Matt.

[Renrel]

:oErrin - I too am glad Ayla is OK. Such a scare and all that mommy guilt on top of it as if it were possible to always be right there with them. It is wonderful that Mia has the self control to sit with you even when the other kids are going a bit crazy around her. Last year DS friends did help him unwrap his gifts but he was OK with that. This year I think they will be more able to contain themselves I hope, though I think he would still be OK with it.

AlisonCO - So glad that Aidan is learning to make the transition from you to school. That makes life so much easier. I hope he resists the step germs.

Mittyrd - La Shona Tova! I have noticed that Gabe is also recently very affectionate and attached. He was never a very huggy kid, now he asks for a hug in the middle of dinner or even while we are driving somewhere. It is sweet and/or annoying depending on the timing. He also has issues with being left alone in his room, or so he says - I am not always sure how much is a ploy and how much is real. I have taken to reading for a few minutes in his room after I finish all his bed time routine, so long as he is quiet. He can read to himself or lay in his bed. When I do leave I tell him I will check on him every few minutes and that seems to help, though if he falls asleep or does not see me when I peek in he will accuse me of not checking when he sees me in the morning. He does seem to take alot of comfort from my presence.

We had a really good, though busy weekend/Holiday. We went to my IL for Rosh Hoshona. Gabe enjoyed the holiday meals and found the service fairly interesting, especially the blowing of the Shofar. He got rather cranky outside of the services though since he needed sleep. I took him with me to to Tashlish (sp) a custom of going down to the water and throwing crumbs in as a symbolic way of throwing away your sins and starting clean. I talked to him about this custom a few times and when I told him I was going and asked if he wanted to come he did. He "got" the idea of it and wanted a way to start over. I have noticed him making a real effort since that day to do better on several of the things that we frequently talk to him about, like including daddy in our activies and not hurting his feeling or cooperating with us. He still has his moment but I can some how sense an effort or change that is real.

At dinner the second night my ILs had a friend over who is gaga over kids and it was like having a nanny there for a few hours. She was having a ball playing with Gabe and Gabe loved the attention. Friday Gabe enjoyed sharing honey cake, raisen Challah and pomagranates with is friends to teach them about his holiday. He also has a toy Shofar that he got to bring in and blow for them. I was able to come in at different times on Friday and see how he interacts with his friends. I was happy with what I saw. He seems to be well liked and able to hold his own even though most of the boys are bigger then him.

The weekend has also be very busy. Saturday we got Gabe a hair cut, bought new cell phones and I baked healthy breakfast cookies with Gabe, he is very excited about a cookie that can be eatten at a meal. Sunday I took him to the gym early before his swim lesson, he went to the daycare room to play and I got a half hour work out. Then I took him to his first swim lesson in the beginner class and he did well. Then we went to the park. Then home for lunch and nap. He fought falling asleep for an hour but did so quietly, coloring in his room. Then when he woke we all went back to the gym for family swim time and he had such a ball showing off what he could do. He was sooooo proud when he could, holding a noodle or kick board, swim "by himself." He kept saying "I am doing it! I am doing it" or "I'm swimming by myself!"

Today DH had a dentist apppointment and therefore took Gabe to school so that Gabe can show him his new classroom.

I have not done anything yet as far as a b-day party for Gabe. I don't even know what we are getting him for a present. So far he has latched on to a joke a made and is seriously asking for a box filled with 100 socks. I really think he would be excited to get this and may have to get him a box with a lot, in not 100 socks, along with some other real present. I also have nothing planned for DH's 50th b-day which is on Yom Kippor this week. He is not happy about the b-day which has caused me to refrain from making a big deal, but I need to do something.

[kerrykate]

Erinn~ Hope you had a good time in Cleveland. Dh was also up in cleveland this past weekend with his whole softball team for the Bengals/Browns game. He had a good time even though the bengals lost and he said the Browns fans and the town were brutal.
I hate those kinds of free for all b-day partys. I don't understand how parents can let their kids act like that. So sorry about Aylas fall, it must have so scary for the both of you.

Mittyrd~ Congrats on the potty progress! Ugh, I alos need to get started on switching out the summer clothes to fall/winter, it seems like I just did it!

Renrel~ Happy Belated Birthday! Sorry you were feeling down, I know how taxing all the TTC issues/testing can on top of everything else going on in life.

Alison~ How's Aiden doing at preschool, hopefully he didn't catch the strep going around.


Lauren's doing really well in preschool and her teacher said she has lots of friends especially a little girl named Ellie and her teacher said always behaves. I love going to pick her up and watching her play for a few minutes while she doesn't see me. It is strange though having 3 hours to myself while she's at school, I'm so use to having her around all the time. I love the stage she's in right now, she has been so good lately and she's so funny. I'm really hoping this is what the 4's will be like I'm ready to say goodbye to the 3's! She was very proud of herself the other day because she took a shower all by herself. I was in the bathroom with her and helped wash her hair, but otherwise she did it alone(besides turning the water off and on).
I was so sick last week with the flu, I was supposed to go out of town with my girlfriends for our girls getaway but we didn't end up going because one of my friends uncles suddenly past away so it turned out ok we didn't go. Amazingly dh and L didn't get sick. I felt like pure hell for about 4 days it was awful!
I'm getting L a new dresser today, right now she has a small amoir in her room and a couple weeks ago she was trying to get something off the top of it so she pulled out the bottem drawer and stood in it to try and reach what she wanted and it fell over... Her bed was right behind her and the amoir hit the end of the bed and stopped it from falling over all the way. She wasn't hurt but it was sooo scary, and I felt so guilty because it could have been so much worse. So if your kid has a chest of drawers or an amoir be sure it's anchored to the wall!

[mittyrd]

Kerry: That is scary! We anchored most of the furniture to the wall b/c I saw a show once where all these kids died from tv stands and bureaus falling on them and it freaked me out. Good thing b/c my boys are climbers.

Jake was allowed to go to daycare today with just underwear on (no pull up) and he stayed dry all day!! He was so proud of himself when I picked him up. He told me he is no longer a baby and he no longer needs pull ups. He wanted to go to bed in his underwear but then made the big boy decision to put a pull up on b/c he didn't want to get his CARS underwear wet just in case so he could wear them again tomorrow. (yuck). Good thing I bought more than 1 pair!

[jay&erinn]

kerrykate: How scary! Our dressers are not anchored, but they are antiques and so incredibly heavy. I don't think I could tip it by standing on the drawers. A desk that is in Mia's room is anchored since it has a high book shelf attached and is pretty narrow. I could just imagine her climbing it and it falling over.
Glad to hear Lauren's doing well in preschool. I also really like the stage Mia's in right now. She has spurts when she's uncooperative (like most of her 3 year old year), but I now see the light at the end of the tunnel most days, and have a pretty happy girl. I hope it continues.

mittyrd: LOL at Jake wanting to wear his underware again. Mia tries that too. Congrats on PTing success. Mia will be staying at preschool all day on Thursday for the first time. They have a rest period so I'm really hoping she doesn't have an accident.
I've given up on switching out my kids' clothes for the seasons. They grow so stinking slow that I end up changing them twice- once to put out the next size, and then when they don't grow into them I have to dig out the old clothes again. Mia is just now moving into 4T clothes. Her 3Ts still fit, but if she grows another inch she'll have floods on. I had put away Ayla's 6-9 and 9-12 mo fall and winter clothes and had to go find them again when the weather turned colder. My little shrimp still fits great in all of her 9-12 mo. I have so many cute 12-18 month clothes for her that she might not get to wear this winter. Oh well- my guess is she'll wear them next winter instead.

Renrel: I'm sorry things aren't going well with TTC. Have you and your DH come to a decision on what avenue you're going to pursue? Difficulty the second time around is really frustrating. I was so sick of people asking why we were waiting so long to have a second.

Mia's party is Saturday. She's so excited. I hope it goes well. Her party is on her actual birthday which has me a little bummed. I'm so selfish when it comes to my kids. I really like celebrating their actual birthday at home with just DH, me and the kids. This year I have to share Mia with everyone.

[AlisonCO]

School drop off went well again today - still a bit of a quivering lower lip but no tears and lots of fun stories when he gets home. I just cannot believe how much better it is going than I thought it would - I think him being older helps as well as the small class and wonderful calm teachers.

mittyrd - YEAH for dry undies!!!

erinn - I can't believe that we have our first 4th b-day this weekend - what did Mia ask for her b-day?

Renrel - glad that you had a nice weekend/holiday.

kerrykate - it is so weird to have Aidan gone for those 4 hours and I too love to see him play/interact when I pick him up before he see's me.

Caitlin's b-day party was this weekend and she had a blast. After everyone left the first thing Aidan said was "phew, now that her b-day is over it is going to be my turn next." I sent out the invites and plan to buy the spiderman plates etc this week since they are on sale. We are getting him a bike which I am so excited about - he went and test rode some last weekend and did so well even on the bigger one where the training wheels were not touching the ground.

Here are two recent pics:

Aidan after the Race/walk for the Cure a couple of weeks ago - notice how he is spraying spiderman webbing:):

http://www.allsam.com/20070917/images/091707_04.jpg

Aidan and Caitlin the second week of school - she wants to go so badly:

http://www.allsam.com/20070917/images/091707_05.jpg

[mittyrd]

Alison: Aidan and Caitlin have the same face! A beautiful face too!

Erinn: I can't believe it already Mia's birthday either. I still haven't filled out the invitations for Jake's party. I don't know why I keep procrastinating on this.

[jay&erinn]

Hi Ladies- we've been a quiet bunch lately- too busy planning birthday parties!

Mia's party was a lot of fun. Some day I'll find time to get some pics uploaded. The kids all looked so cute in their costumes. They all seemed to have fun too. Mia received a ton of stuff. I think we need a bigger house for all of these toys and clothes. It doesn't help that I have tiny kids that stay in the same size clothes forever. Her favorite things have been the arts and crafts, a lite brite and webkinz. She's a little young for the webkinz, but it's nice for us to do it together while Ayla naps.

Both girls had well child checks this week. Ayla was first for her 15 month appt. She has fallen off the growth chart completely now. It's a little frustrating. I was prepared for her to be low in percentage, but am worried now that she's not even on the chart for either height or weight. Mia fell off the growth chart for weight around 18 months, but has always been on it for height. I guess we just watch and wait. She was 28 inches and 18 pounds, 6 ounces. Still rear facing- UGH. Other than her growth, she great- has about 20 words already, running everywhere and climbing everything (that's the one time I'm glad she's short- can't climb out of her crib yet), uses a spoon fairly well (other than the mess) and can color all over Mia's art projects. I weaned her about 3 weeks ago because she was weaned during the day but still waking me up 2-6 times a night to nurse. I just couldn't handle it anymore. It took her 4 nights to start sleeping better. Now she gets up around 11:00 and then again for the day around 6:00. I definately miss taking her in my bed to sleep for another hour while she would nurse. I also hated weaning her so abruptly, but I couldn't handle the sleep deprivation any longer.
Mia's appt was Friday. She did great. She's 38 inches tall and 31 pounds (15th percentile for both) and her BMI is right in the 50th percentile. She got 3 shots. I think it was much harder on me this time than even when she was a baby. She hasn't cried since she was about 6 months old for her shots- but she's only had one at a time when she's needed them. They are supposed to have 4 of them between now and kindergarten. the doc said they don't like giving more than 3 at a time, so we waited on the chicken pox booster until next year. She sat there and told the nurse which arm to put each shot in. The first one she jumped and grabbed my hand. After the second she started to cry softly and climbed on my lap for me to hold her. She cried during the third- no screaming and I didn't have to hold her down. It was awful. I was teary by the end. She was trying to be so brave but just couldn't handle it any longer. Broke my heart. I'm going to hate taking her back next month for her flu shot. Maybe I'll wait until DH is around since both girls will get them. I can't imagine dealing with both of them upset on my own.

Alison: Caitlin looks so cute all dressed for "school." I think Ayla loves not having Mia around for a few hours a week- no competition for all the toys. She is excited though when I tell her it's time to go pick her up.

Mia's been asking for AquaDots. I looked around online and many of the reviews said that kids under 6 have some difficulty with them because they are so small. We decided not to get them for her. She was opening her birthday presents and saw the lite brite. She was really excited since she thought they were aquadots. I explained what it was and that when I looked on the computer it said the aquadots weren't really for her age. She looked at me and said, "Yes they are Mommy. On the TV it says for four and up."

[mittyrd]

Happy Birthday, Mia!

I am not looking forward to Jake's WBV either b/c of the shots. :(

The boys had a birthday party yesterday at an indoor playground. They had so much fun running around like crazy. Today we celebrated my grandmother's 96th birthday (her b-day is Thursday). She was in heaven with the boys hugging her and singing happy birthday.

Next weekend we are going to NY to celebrate Jake's birthday with his cousins. His party with his friends will be the following weekend. He is so excited. The following weekend we have 2 more birthday parties. Yikes. Lots of cake and lots of presents to buy.

When did you stop putting a pull up on at night time? Jake has been dry in the morning for 3 weeks now. I'm afraid to take away the security of a pull up though.

[kerrykate]

Erinn~ Happy Birthday Mia:D I'm glad her party went well.

Mittyrd~ I think it was 3-4 weeks of dry pull ups before we went to underwear. I think we ended up going back to pull ups once because she started wetting the bed again at night. She's been doing really well in undies at night since probably May with only a few accidents over the summer (knocking on wood). Congrats on him doing so well at night!

Alison~ The kids look so cute, I swear it seems like over night Caitlyn went from baby to looking like a little girl!

Lauren had her 4 year well check last week. She is 44 lbs and 43" tall, she's in the 95% for height and 90% for weight. The doctor told her she is definitly going to be taller than her mommy some day. She got a flu shot and was really worked up trying to think of reasons why she wouldn't need a shot. She started tearing up right when we got in the exam room. She did fine though and just softly said ouch when she got the shot.
I'm really excited, I found $40 round trip tickets to FL out of Columbus on Skybus, so me, dh, Lauren, my sister, and nephew are going to Disney in January. I haven't told Lauren yet and I think I'll wait until Christmas.

We've got a busy week, Thursday is Lauren's birthday, Friday is my birthday (31), Saturday is Lauren's b-day party, and Sunday we are taking her to Kings Island amusement park. My head is already spinning with all the things I need to get done.
Lauren got her ears pierced last week. She's been wanting to do it for awhile and did awesome and didn't even flinch when they did it, dh and I were WAY more nervous than she was. We took her to a place called Sweet and Sassy, it's a little girls salon and there were two people available so they did both ears at once.
Before:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p4b111be63777591952e924a5939400c1/e7a7cb35.jpg
During:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p058ad5960058cdb8aae41ea2c71f2d8a/e7a7cb33.jpg
After:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p43d5492ac1ae8161ef67be8c7c362c7e/e7a7cb34.jpg

[Renrel]

Errin - Glad Mia enjoyed her party. What a little smarty for knowing the age for the toy she wanted. I know it is hard not to worry but it sounds like you and DH just gave the girls petite genes and they are meant to be small. Given how active and happy Alya is I doubt there is anything wrong with how she is growing.

Mittyrd- We are still in pull ups at night but if Gabe was dry for three weeks in the mornings we would go to underwear, but he really wants to go to underwear at night.

Kerrykate - Lauren is looking so grown up it scares me. Where have our babies gone. Who the heck gave them all permission to grow up!

We had a very busy weekend over here. Saturday we spent the morning at TRU and Gabe practiced riding a two wheeler with training wheels with DH while I picked up some Leapfrog toys for birthday or chanuka presents during the sale they were having. We were considering getting him a bike but will probably wait till Spring, he really needs another inch in height to ride safely without training wheels and with his balance bike experience we are hoping not to use the training wheels, at least not for very long. We went right from TRU to a fair our town put on which was very well done. Gotta love free rides, even if the lines were long. Gabe was very upset about the lines and we came close to leaving a few times but over time he seemed to accept them as a necessary evil. He complained non-stop but was not stamping his feet and screaming. (He is not usually such a brat but it was nap time so we were stretching him, but we really wanted to experience this fair.) He did great on the blow up climber ride, the mini ferris wheel, the mini swinging pirate ship and the bounce house. He had fun meeting up with a friend from school who changed schools this year. Then he had a late nap at home waking up when his sitter arrived, who is is last teacher. DH and I went out to a movie and dinner as a delayed b-day celebration.

Then today Gabe and I went to the gym where I worked out of a half hour while he was in babysitting then he had his swim lesson, then it was straight to a b-day party at this indoor playground where he spend at least an hour and half climbing through one of those tube and slide structures. It is a huge one and I kept loosing track of him. At the end I could not get him out and the b-day girl and her parents wanted to leave and could not until all the guest were gone. Gabe kept climbing around the top of the structure where I could not easily get to him and then disappearing into long tunnels with multiple exits so I would loose track of where he was. Finally he came out and I grabbed him and made for the door. He fell asleep in the car but did not nap as long as I expected him to. Then he and DH pulled out a new puzzle I bought, a 100 piece human body floor puzzle, which, just to make things fun, has a different puzzle on each side. It was very challenging so we did it as a family and Gabe really enjoyed it.

I wanted to get the invites to Gabe's party done this weekend but I have not printed them out yet. They have to get done tomorrow.

DH did house hunting while I was with Gabe and there is a good possiblity that I need to look at tomorrow for a second showing. It is being sold by a professior from my law school, who is moving to a McMansion he is building right next door.

[AlisonCO]

Hi. It sounds like everyone is doing well. We are doing well, busy though with both kiddos b-days within a month. Aidan continues to do wonderfully at school - no tears at drop off and tons of great stories when I pick him up. I am so impressed with the activities; they keep them busy every minute of the 4 hours. He has really blossomed too - if I go early to pick him up I can see him playing with other kids which he really didn't do before. Today was his b-day celebration - he got to be the helper, bring a special treat and bring something to share - it took him an hour this morning to decide what to bring. His b-day party is this Sunday and he is having 4 friends over. His theme is spiderman and after I type this I need to go cut out spiderman masks for the kids to decorate and then make the spiderman face bean bag toss. We got him a bike and I am so excited - I think that he is really going to like it. I imagine that he will alsp be getting his fair share of spiderman "guys." We had a terrible sleep week last week - it was like having a newborn again. I have no idea why he goes thru these spurts but when he is 15 and wants to sleep all day, I am going to remember these times and get him back.:D He slept all night last night and he also napped yesterday for the first time in about 9 days - I just cannot figure it out.

kerrykate - Oh my goodness, I cannot believe how calm L looks before and after her ears were pierced! They look so cute and she looks so grown up.

renrel - Hope that the second showing went well. Were you able to find another day for G's party at the pumpkin farm?

erinn - You are brave to do both checkups at the same time - I chickened out and did them one month apart so I could have my mom watch the other one. Glad that M's party went well - can't wait to see pictures.

mittyrd - Have fun is NY. Yeah for J doing so well staying dry!!! Aidan has been day trained for 1 year and still wears a pull up at night - he doesn't care so I am not going to push it. He will have one dry morning and then one not so I would say that when he is dry more often we might try undies at night.

[Renrel]

Things are super busy around here too and I have a cold which makes me even more tired. We made an offer on the house, they counter offered and we will make a second offer tomorrow. DH is twitching at the monetary commitment. There are some major changes we need to make to make the house fit our needs and given that the house is over 100 years old we are worried about lead paint dust during renovations. We want to eliminate one set of stairs, switch another set and knock out of few walls. Someday we would put in a much nicer master bath and redo the kitchen but those would be backburner for awhile We have workmen coming to see the place tomorrow and Saturday, if we are still in negotiations by then, to give us est