Sunday, August 31, 2008

Taking a little break

I should be in deep cleaning mode but I'm taking a little break before I start back up. Yesterday afternoon Ellen called and said the girls were meeting up at the Marina for dinner and drinks at 8:00 and asked if I wanted to go. I told her no, I was going to hang out here and didn't feel like getting ready. Well, after a little nap and talk with Steve I decided to go and I'm glad I did. We met at 8:00 and headed to the Marina and sat outside on the deck and had a fabulous lite dinner and a couple drinks. I rolled in around 11:00 pm.

Steve decided to take the girls on a date last night - so they picked out "fancy" outfits and I did their hair extra special and sprayed them with perfume and a little lipgloss. He wore a shirt and tie and then he took them to Olive Garden - LOL. Ava's first love is bread so I knew she'd be all over their breadsticks and Isabella is a fan of pasta so I knew they'd be set. After dinner he took them to the mall and bought them cookies. It's so important to us that he does these dates with the girls. He talks to them about how boys should be treating them on a date and to not take anything less than the best from them. This was Ava's first date with Daddy and the little floozy gave him a kiss about 30 minutes into the date he said. Um, what happened to no kissing on the first date Ava????? LOL

So, after my spur of the moment gathering with friends last night, I invited Vicky and Dave and VPP Pam (there are two Pams in our neighborhood - I call Pam who lives the next house over "original Pam or OP - since we knew her first. The second Pam who lives down the road from us I call VPP Vice President Pam because she's VP of the homeowners association. LOL) over for our wine tasting. It's going to be so much fun! Steve's going to lead us through it and discuss each of the wines and what tastes/flavors we should be looking for. I can't wait!

Ok, break over - back to picking up, organizing and cleaning.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Open House

Well, we are all set for Ava to start school on Tuesday. I went to the parents meeting on Wednesday night and then Ava and I went to the open house Thursday morning. She is excited to start and she enjoyed playing and exploring at the open house.

Wednesday evening the girls went next door to hang with Ellen while I went to the parents meeting. It was a mini-celebration having them there. Jenny came over (she's living in an apartment now) to see them and Pam (lives between Mark/Amy and JD/Ellen) also came over to see the girls. I sound like a broken record I know, but I LOVE our neighbors so much. They are funny and they adore my girls - what more can you ask for? So, when I got back from the meeting they were eating pizza, drinking punch Ellen had made and then practicing their "model" walks and poses. It was cute.

Tomorrow we are having an organic wine tasting here at the house. Ellen, Pam, Mark and Amy and one other neighbor who just moved in a couple months ago (I see her every morning and afternoon at the bus stop so we've quickly become friends) are coming over. Steve has to write an organic menu to be paired with the organic wines. He came home with 7 bottles of various reds, 2 white wines, 1 bottle of champagne and 1 bottle of port. I knew there was no way in the world we'd be able to drink all of those by ourselves this weekend. LOL Then Monday we are having them all over for a Labor Day cookout. Should be fun!

The troops are wanting fed to off to figure out something for lunch.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

FINALLY!


It only took about 8 months for it to be wiggled free but today she lost her first tooth. She couldn't wait for Daddy to get home and as soon as he pulled in the driveway he noticed it! Mr. Scrooge and I have been discussing what the "tooth fairy" would bring her (well, Isabella doesn't believe in the tooth fairy so she knows it's us placing it under her pillow - she takes all the fun out of it for me. LOL) When discussing 1st tooth prices, Steve just about had a heart attack but finally agreed. He'll be hitting up the ATM later tonight. heehee

And for good measure, here is a picture of Miss Ava. My oh my, how she and I are having a great time during the day. She is sooooo lovey dovey with me, showers me with kisses all day. melts my heart. Walking into the gym today, I think she kissed my hand 5 times. Gosh, I love this little girl! (of course, I love them both to pieces but Ava is a STINKER so when she shows signs of having a heart - she melts mine!). JUST KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!






Monday, August 25, 2008

Trucking right along

Today was the start of week 3 of school for Isabella. She is still enjoying it. We have Parent Orientation and Open House this week for Ava's preschool. I need to ask Ellen if she can watch the girls Wednesday evening for parent orientation.

Last Thursday we had a girls night in the neighborhood. We went over to one of my friends houses and played this dice game. About 12 people showed up and we ate and laughed and had a fabulous time. We are going to try and get together once a month. There is a group of 5 of us that go and see movies and go out to dinner so the 5 of us average about once a month - now, it's just getting the rest of the ladies involved.

Steve and Isabella just finished playing Guitar Hero on the Wii. That game is sooo much fun. We all 3 have our own band. Steve is way ahead of Isabella and I. I just moved on from Easy to Medium - I did have to have Isabella play this one song for me for me to progress. I couldnt' beat the guy - some guy name Lou - I guess he's a famous guitar player - but I know zero about rock bands. Isabella is really good at it - better than me probably. Darn 6 1/2 year olds. heehee But, I enjoy it's something the three of us can do together and have fun at the same time.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Just Use God

Sometimes, I'd love to think like a child - to them, it's usually all so clear.

The other day after school Isabella and I were sitting around talking and she heard something on the TV about the election and becoming President. She out of the blue said " I dont think I ever want to be President". I asked her why? She told me they always get shot at and killed. I said, who are you talking about and she said Abraham Lincoln and "some other guy". I said, John F. Kennedy and she immediately said yes, him.

I told her they have Secret Servicemen to protect them and security is much greater than it was when those two were shot. She immediatly asked "well, why don't they just use God? He could stick his hand out in front of the bullet and they would be safe and protected." Ahh, gotta love a 6 1/2 year olds mind and thought process.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Change

Sometimes - I am great with change and can roll with whatever comes my way (Steve is probably falling off the chair as he reads this laughing - he probably disagrees. heehee).

I have my email account through yahoo. I decided to use yahoo several years ago after our 2nd move I believe. I knew there would be many more moves in our future and I didn't want to have to make everyone update their email accounts with each move. Well....yahoo is trying to change the format of the email/inbox. I'm not liking it and didn't click on anything to upgrade to 7.0 or 9.9 - whatever the latest, newest and greatest email account they have to offer. So, please - yahoo - quit messing with my email - I want to view it and read it like I always have.

Man, do I sound like my grandfather or what? LOL

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Oh the NOISE!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously - my kids are making me crazy. It is so quiet and nice from 8:15 until 4:00. At exactly 4:05 pm - the noise volume, screaming, yelling, fighting, crying goes up 100 notches. When am I going to get use to this? And what's worse - is that what it use to be like before school started? If so, how in the world did it not drive me to drinking?

Goodness.................

Monday, August 18, 2008

Week 2

So, today Isabella started week 2 of school. She's doing great and really enjoying 1st grade. She had a ton of papers in her backpack today and received 100%/A+'s on everything that was graded - yippee for her!

Last night we went to one of Steve's Sous Chef's house for a cookout/birthday party. It was so much fun. They had one of those huge blowup slides - like the bounce house thing - but it had a pool at the bottom and the kids had a blast. We ate, socialized and played volleyball. My junior high volley ball skills were not forgotten - I actually was pretty good considering I'm not what you would consider "athletic". Just typing athletic and me in the same sentence actually made me giggle a bit. LOL

Steve is going to start having lunch with Isabella once a week at school. The hardest adjustment for her is not being able to see him as much since school started - so he decided to eat lunch with her once a week to spend some time with her. On days that he works nights - he only sees her for about 30 minutes in the morning before she goes to school. She loves her Daddy something fierce so hopefully their lunch dates will help.

Steve's back is starting to give him trouble again. He swears yoga is doing it to him. He had surgery last Halloween on the disc but poor guy, is walking around half of the time like an 80 year old man, so he's going to have to go and see his back doctor again. Hopefully, this isn't an annual halloween affair - Steve loaded up on pain pills while the kids are trick or treating. heehee

Ava and I have enjoyed our one on one time - she's such a sweety pie one on one --but man, put the two of them together and that equals one crazy Mama!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

It has started

The door to door sales from the neighborhood kids selling for school fundraisers. We had our first one tonight. Of course, I bought from her - cookie dough. Isabella wanted the m&m cookies and I bought Snickerdoodles for me (my fave!). Steve and I don't send Isabella door to door. We just make a larger order from us and then let it be. I guess there is nothing wrong with knocking door to door, but we just don't do it (yet!).


We are starting to settle into a routine. Realizing bedtime needs to be moved up still. We have been getting her to bed between 9:00 and 9:30 but I have had to wake her up every morning and every morning she has been tired. Tonight, I'm shooting for 8:30 - so we'll see how that goes. I just had supper ready for her right at 5:00, baths at 6:30 for Ava, 7:00 for Isabella. Then homework at 7:30 and now they are watching a movie winding down for the evening. Still haven't figured out where homework should be put in the schedule. She's always so hungry when she first comes home from school I don't want to make her do it then, then after dinner she's always ready to go play - so I think it will fit either before bath or after bath. Right now, we have just been having math homework each night - soon, reading, writing and spelling will be added to the mix. She loves learning - she's nerdy like that (she did NOT get this from me - heehee) so she's enjoying doing it thus far. But, then again, we are on day 3.


I thought life would be a breeze with one kid only at home - but I've been quite busy. The gym in the am is a must, because otherwise, Ava wants me to play dolls with her the entire day. I can only do so much pretend play a day. Her Daddy is MUCH better at playing than I am. I'm a reader - so I read with her and do puzzles with her all day long - the pretend play - not my cup of tea - BUT I do it. She had given up naps for the most part this summer, but we are on day 3 of Isabella in school and day 3 of napping for Ava after lunch. That's, when the laundry folding gets done and ironing.

Today, we were all run down - I don't know if it's sinus/allergies or just my body adjusting to getting up at 6:30 am each day and going, going going - but after doing some cardio and then one of the hardest yoga classes I've taken in a long time, Steve and I both took a little nap. Hopefully, tomorrow is better.


So, that's our first few days of life with a 1st grader. She's loving it so far - and Mama is adjusting!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

I have a 1st Grader!!!




Here she is this morning before heading off to school. She was super excited to start the day. Last night we went to the Ice Cream Social at the school. She was a bit sad her best friend, Tess, wasn't in her class but accepted it pretty well when I reminded her she would see her at lunch and at recess.
Steve and I were VERY excited she was accepted into the SEEK room at school. You have to go through an application process and then be recommended for it by your kindergarten teacher. It is a combined 1st and 2nd grade class, there are 2 teachers - 1 for 1st grade, 1 for 2nd grade but they do some work as a whole group and some as individual grades (spelling and math). Reading is group on their reading level, spelling - they have tests on Thursdays and then on Fridays they have a "pre-test". If the 1st grader passes the pretest on Friday, then they are given TWENTY spelling words for the next week vs 10. They are buddied up with a 2nd grader on the 1st day - actually - the desks are arranged with 1st and 2nd graders grouped together in sets of 8 (so 4 1st graders and 4 2nd graders in a group). I highly doubt I will ever hear Isabella tell me she is bored this year! LOL Last year, she was very unchallanged and bored with the work they did and her teacher did give her advanced work to keep her interested. Now, I'm not saying she's the next Einstein by any measure! She was just in a great school in Cincy before we moved here and she learned tons there.
I'm sure it's going to get busy from here on out - well, in 2 weeks. 1st graders won't have much homeowork the first couple of weeks, but after that they will have homework every night except for Fridays - math, spelling and reading homework every night!! Oh, and writing.
Ava and I have had some fun time together today just us two. We went to the gym, then the grocery. I made us lunch and now she is down for the count in Isabella's room/bed.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Zoo Trip & Go USA!!!!!!

We had a family outing to the zoo today. Our last hooray before school starts on Tuesday. The weather again - fabulous! Actually, a tad chilly when we first got there. Right now, it's 77 degrees - and it's August 10 - crazy, but we love it!!!!!

Mommy and Daddy on the train - can you see my invisible braces??? They fit like a glove on my teeth. I only have one tooth on the top that is being moved really - the bottom teeth have some crowding - but it's the same price regardless so it made sense to get both upper and bottom trays. My teeth are shifting - I can notice it mainly when I floss.

Isabella and Ava hugging - becoming more and more a common thing lately. They are really loving each other the past couple of weeks. They actually sleep together everynight - in Isabella's twin bed.
Mommy and Ava in the flower gardens - gorgeous addition next to the zoo.
Isabella and Mommy
Daddy's little girls giving him some loving!
This was the start of *attempting* a family picture - we kept goofing around and after each silly shot the girls just giggled and wanted to do another and another and another. Good times!



The best we could get!
Last night the girls stayed up later and we watched the olympics. Go USA!!!! We cheered for the male gymnasts and Michael Phelps. The windows were open so I'm sure the neighbors could hear us chanting USA! USA! USA! and cheering for our Olympians!
I just downloaded from iTunes the new Third Day CD - Awesome!!! As well as the new Coldplay CD- LOVE it!!!!! Both are great albums!

Friday, August 8, 2008

Not much happening

Not much happening really here to blog about. Same thing, different day. Yoga, swimming, laundry, baths, bed ---repeat. The kids are doing great with me moving their bedtimes back 15 minutes each night. During the summer we basically had zero bedtime routine or bedtime period. Just kinda - when they fell asleep - they went to sleep. Spare me the nasty comments about how bad we are and how much kids need sleep....:)

This is the last weekend before Isabella starts 1st grade. She is beyond excited and each day gives me the countdown as to how many more days until she goes.

The weather - oh my gosh - has just been beyond amazing. Today it was 82 I think for the high. We went swimming with Amy and Jack and Jordan (Amy's step-daughter) and truthfully, it was quite chilly for the kids while they were swimming. We had the windows opened all day long and the light breeze felt great flowing through the house. It's suppose to be like this all weekend. Love it! Steve is off tomorrow all day so we will definetly cook out dinner on the grill!

The girls have been playing together so well the past week - it has been sooooooo nice! Very, very minimal fighting - I think we've turned a corner (fingers crossed!!).

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

The Last Days of Summer & Bee stings

Well, summer is coming to a quick halt here. Today we registered Isabella for 1st grade, paid her book rental fee ($105 for 1st grade), deposited some money into her lunch account. We still need to call the bus driver to find out what time she comes by the bus stop for our neighborhood. On Tuesdays, Isabella is going to have to ride the bus more than likely because Ava has to be dropped off at preschool at 9:00 am and Isabella has school drop off at 9:00 am.. I could have Amy (Jacks mom) take Ava to school on Tuesdays but I don't want to have to depend on someone every single Tuesday. Thursdays won't be a problem most times because Steve doesn't go in to work until the afternoon then so one of us will be able to take each kid to school. At this point in time, Isabellas says she wants to ride the bus (so she can visit with her friends from kindergarten - LOL).

Isabella has always been scared of bees - I would even venture to say terrified. Well, she has avoided them for 6 1/2 years UNTIL....last week while my niece was here Isabella got stung while getting ready to go down the slide at the pool. And wouldn't you know - yesterday, she got stung AGAIN. Same place - on the slide at the pool. Thankfully, she's not allergic - but goodness gracious - poor kid. The lifeguards were great and took her in the office and put some bee sting stuff on it - her hand swelled up a bit on the first sting but wasn't too bad yesterday.

I am so proud of her though. She is such a great swimmer now, is able to swim the entire length of the pool (close to a lap pool size) without stopping - and she swims - no doggie paddling going on. I guess I need to find out where the closest swim team is - that seems like something right up her alley. Ava, well - poor kid. I haven't put her in a swim lesson yet. Must do for next year - I'm sure that was part of Isabella's ability to be a strong swimmer was all the swim lessons she took.

Ava's backpack arrived today (Lands End pink backpack with her name embroidered on it). She hinted about a Princess backpack but I convinced her a Lands End one was way cooler. LOL Bad Mommy!!!

Steve and I went out to dinner with some friends Saturday evening. Another couple joined us as well and it was the first time meeting them. They moved here from Spain a couple years ago and were so sweet. Sergio and Anna - Steve is just excited we now know someone to go visit and stay with in Spain (they are moving back to Spain in 6 months). He longs to go to Spain something fierce. But, we had a great dinner and nice time out away from the kids - so it was a good time!

Friday, August 1, 2008

Labor of *Love*

Well, since I use this blog as somewhat of a journal for me (and I plan to print out certain posts that tell funny stories and such about the girls to put in their baby books)- I decided to do a post about my labor with Ava. As we were having Ava's birthday dinner Saturday evening Steve, my mom, my SIL and I all sat around and talked about the events that took place. Lots of laughs!!!!

So, here ya go........

A little history first. I had a miscarriage before I got pregnant with Isabella, got pregnant very easily with Isabella and had an uncomplicated pregnancy. Tried to grow our family when Isabella was around 9 months but over the course of 2 years had 4 more miscarriages - even more devasting was seeing heartbeats on 3 of them and finding out one pregnancy was a little girl. So, to say I wasn't scared when I was pregnant with Ava was an understatement. I had done lots and lots and lots of testing during all of my losses and I did have some things pop up that were not normal. Treatment protocol was a baby aspirin taken daily - until 36 weeks pregnant, progestorone supplements until 13 weeks of pregnancy and then daily (two times a day) shots of Heparin (blood thinner) in my stomach - given by none other than myself until delivery! So, because of all of this - I had weekly ultrasounds starting at 30 weeks (that was a VERY nice perk). So, at my 39 week appointment - we knew I would be induced if my body was "favorable" for induction (I'll spare everyone what "favorable" meant - LOL). I ended up being *somewhat* favorable but when I voiced my fear to my OB regarding my history of losses and I knew studies showed the chance of a stillbirth increased dramatically after 39 weeks for someone with my conditon - she agreed to induce me.

So, we waited while they scheduled the induction - Steve called my Mom to give her a heads up that we needed her to head over from Indiana (we were living in Ohio at the time) to stay with Isabella while we went to the hospital. After we were told I was going to be induced at 7:00 pm we headed home to finish packing my hospital bag (my appt was at 12:10 and it was around 1:00 pm at this time).

He and I arrive to the hospital - excited to get the show on the road. We get checked in, monitors in place and the Cervadil in place (gel placed on cervix to jump start labor). The gel was placed around 8:00 pm. By 11:00 pm I was having labor pains. Around midnight I asked for a shot of Stadol I think it was called - basically a drug to take the edge off of the contractions (really all it did was make me loopy and not care AFTER the contraction was over that another one was going to start back up in 4 minutes or so). Around 3:00 am I asked for another shot of Stadol because these ole contractions were starting to hurt. I do believe Steve was sleeping during all of this time, except when I would wake him to call the nurse to ask for some drugs for me. LOL

Well, come 4:30 am - I was in some freaking full force pain. Oh, yeah - Steve definetly was sleeping at this point. Also, at this point, my easy going attitude the Stadol had given me had worn off and I curtly beckoned Steve to my bedside so he could "understand" the pain I was experiencing - ie: let me squeeze his hand HARD during each contraction to possibly try and inflict the same amount of pain I was feeling in my abdomen. He really seemed put off by my "friendly" attitude I was displaying but I guess the remaining Stadol flowing through my veins allowed me to not be bothered by it. :) During a VERY, VERY painful and VERY, VERY long contraction I hear paper being rustled. Surely, my caring, compassionate husband wasn't READING was he while i was in intense pain???? Well, surely he was!!! I managed to muster "stop. reading." out of my mouth and then when the contraction finished asked him why he was being so mean to me? He really wasn't grasping the amount of pain I was feeling, despite how hard I squeezed his hand. LOL He proceeded to tell me he was reading the instruction label of the Cervadil to make sure it wasn't causing some adverse reaction. uummmm, hello..........- LABOR -????????????????????

Poor guy. I can look back on it 3 years later and laugh at how ridiculous I was to him at the time, but what did he expect? Finally around 5:30 am or 6:00 am I gave in and asked for an epidural - why I didn't do it sooner I don't know - but after what seemed like an eternity of chit chat between the anesthesiologist (spelling?) and my nurse, relief came.

Once I was pain free - I was made aware of how cold everyone felt the room was. Well, the one pregnant lady in labor felt the 60 degree room was quite nice. The nurse ended up having to wear a jacket when she came into the room, Steve walked around like an old man with a blanket wrapped around him - by this time, Steve (poor guy) knew not to ask to turn the a/c up to make it warmer. I apparently was sucking all the cold air in the building into our room because the rest of the labor rooms were super hot (it was exceptionally hot for Cincinnati - in the upper 90's). **another side note, even though it was around 98 degrees outside, Steve had to ask my mom to bring him jeans and a sweatshirt because it was that cold in the room. ROFL!!!!!!!!!!

So, around 8:00 am Ava decided to give her ole Mommy a scare. Every few contractions her heart rate would drop. You would hear beep, beep, beep (normal heart beeps) go beep.....beep....beep, beep, beep. So, they'd turn me over to one side or the other and she'd straighten up and go back to normal. Around 8:30 am - they began dropping beep............................beep.................................beep..................................beep..........................beep. I promptly had about 6 nurses in my room checking things, forcing oxygen into my face, flopping my beached whale of a self from my left side to my ride side, back to my left side - trying to get Ava to go back to normal heart beats. I instantly started crying and called Steve over and begged him to pray over me and Ava. The nurses *reassured me* (using that term loosely) that the operating room was right across the hall and they'd get her out if necessary. At this point, I was totally oblivious to what was going on around me and they must have just pushed me on their own. By this time my OB was in the room assessing things and she saw the horror and panic on my face and I just begged her to make it all right and don't let me lose Ava too. She told me that Ava was so close to being born that she could pull her out by her ears if I needed her to. LOL God did give me a sense of peace at this time, because I was calm the rest of the time when Ava's heart rate would drop.

A few short minutes later we realized why the heart was in distress - one, as mentioned the other day the cord was wrapped around her neck tightly twice and two, I dialated from a 4-5 to a 10 in a matter of 35-40 minutes. I delivered Ava at 9:15 am (around 7:30 am they told me they thought I would deliver her around 2:00 - 3:00 pm) and she was perfect and healthy as all could be.

Steve and I had always wanted 3 kids at least - but after all the pain of losing my other babies and the scare I had just experienced while delivering Ava - we at that moment I think threw in the towel to have more children. We were indeed - complete finally.