Testing my iphone
I've set up to text to my blog from my phone. Here's hoping it works.

They. Are. With. Me. All. The. Time.

Ok, so my stay-at-home, or work-from-home mommy friends will have no sympathy, but these summer vacations aren't what I expected. Don't get me wrong, I love the extra time with the girls, but I can't pay bills, take out the trash, or wipe my own ass without them underfoot. "Mommy, whatcha doin'?" "Where are you?" "Come here." "I need you." God forbid I want to indulge in a little treat... a candy bar for breakfast, an extra cookie after lunch... I'm standing in the kitchen sneaking it like a kid, eating so fast I don't enjoy it. Not that I can buy a candy bar anymore, they are with me at EVERY store. "I want one, too!"
And what's more, I'll get no reprieve once the school year starts. Used to be, I'd wake before the family and be out the door to work before anyone woke. Foolish me used to miss the kids in the a.m.! And I'd have a little time, even just a half hour, when I got home from work before I'd go pick them up from school. Even a half hour makes a difference! I'd use the time to do dishes, or check email... whatever. When school starts this September, however, It'll be me getting them both up, dressed and driven to school. Boo will go to school at CCS with me, and TT at a preschool on the way. It'll be me that picks them both up on the way home. There goes my mornings and my 1/2 hour in the afternoons.
I used to have a little reprieve in the evenings, too, as Craig would handle bath time. Granted, it wasn't much, but it was a few minutes sans kids. With school starting earlier in the day, we've decided bedtime needs to be earlier as well. Meaning, if I want us all to sit down to the table together for dinner every night (and to me, that's imperative), then bath has to happen before dinner... before Craig gets home. Who does bath now? Me, of course.
This is what I have to look forward to once school starts: Wake up with TT at 6. Wake up Boo at 7. Two cups of warm milk (each) with a little TV in the morning while I get dressed. Breakfast. I dress TT while Boo dresses and feeds the animals... me nagging her all the way to do it faster. Out the door by 8. Drop off TT. Take Boo to class and teach a room of 25 6-7 year olds all day. Get Boo from class. Pick up TT. Home for a snack, and two cups of warm milk (each). Entertain the kids until bath. Bath. Pack lunches for the next day. Dinner. Bedtime. Girls are down by 8:30, I hope. Dishes, lesson planning, falling asleep on the couch at 10 while Craig watches TV, etc.
So, I know it's not as dreary as all that... but right now, at this juncture, it's how I see it. I don't see "me" time in there ANYWHERE!

On the Move!

Finally!!!! We've got our new house, we've moved in, we're in the midst of unpacking, and we have internet up and running!!!! :-D

No complaints about going from under 1000 sq ft to almost 2800, but it is an adjustment. Still working on getting the kids (and myself) out of the habit of yelling for one another (how COOL that the house is too big to hear anything!). Kids are sleeping pretty well in their new rooms... and wait until I post pics of Boo's Rock N Roll room, set with chalk board walls and everything. And TT will have a Little Mermaid room. Craig was unsure of the idea, until I told him my collection either goes in T's room, or in the office. He opted for the former. I'm so glad this happened over my summer break... don't know how anything would have gotten done otherwise. Already feeling overwhelmed with the boxes.

We've got a lease signed and tenants all set up to move into the old house. Weird to be a landlord. For the moment, all's right in the world. Am I jinxing myself?

Boo's Tap Recital

Can you tell which one is Boo? (second from left)They tapped to Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." One of these days, I'll get around to uploading the digital video file, until then, these pics tell a pretty good story.

Boo's 5th birthday!!!

I can't believe she's 5!!!!! We had a Rock and Roll party this year, and it was a blast. We started "backstage" in the house, and glammed up our rockstars. They could get tattoos, funky colored hair, crazy nailpolish, and of course, lots of bling (sunglasses, bracelets, necklaces, bandanas). Then we introduced them "on stage" outside. They posed for the paparazzi and took turns rocking out on the karaoke machine... Boo managed to hog the mic most of the time. She's not shy, let's leave it at that.

Picture Time for TT!

This is my NEW favorite picture of TT...

Here are some more yummy pics of T...

A running account of TT's words

Like all mothers, I think my child is the cutest and smartest and most talented child in creation... that being said, TT, at 15 months, is talking up a storm. Here are the words she uses consistently and correctly, in no particular order, as of January 30th. In parenthesis is her pronunciation of the word.

more (moe), up, sissy (seesee), mommy, dada, eat, tree (tee), pumpkin (bobby), open (o-pee), walk, no, yeah, please (peas), cereal(seawall), cracker(cacuh), Cheerio(teer-o), help, apple, banana (nana), Elmo, kitty, doggy, rat, book, read, {25 words} bear, froggie (foggy), hi, bye, water (wawee), mix (mehmeh), paci (pahkee), yummy (nummy), eye, nose, ear, shoe, hair, head, sock, pants, spoon, strawberry (stawbear), T.V., cheese, bowl, all done (ah duh), wash, fish (pish), thank you (tee too), {50 words} chicken (chee chin), duck, sit, down, where, bath (bat), step, phone (bone), keys, ball, baby, juice (deuce), yucky, uh oh, pillow (wee woh), blanket (bay bet), outside (ow sigh), bubble, buttons (butts), grandpa (ba ba), Angelica (jell kah), Nicholas (nih nih), jacket (da ket), milk (meh){75 words}, flower (bough burr), belly button(bell bow), noodle (new no), potato (taytoe), there, dip it (her name for ranch dressing), ouch, owie, clap (ap)

My lord! I feel like there's more! She is starting to put her words together to make little sentences, like "pahkee where?," "o-pee butts" and "moe seesee cacuh peas." Get out your secret decoder rings!

Anyone know what the 'experts' say they should be saying at this age?

My best Disneyland Day EVER!

I just got back from taking Boo to Disneyland again. This time, it was just me and her. And did we have a fantastic day! Our news is that she's finally tall enough to ride the "big rides."

We went on Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, Matterhorn and Star Tours. The weather was gorgeous, the crowds were few, and I got some quality time alone with my oldest child.

Just for my sis...

I got the girls each a Monchhichi for Hanukkah! TT's looks like the one we had as kids, Boo's is wearing a dress. Walk down memory lane much? As long as nobody throws up on this one, we'll be good!

Doing our part to help the economy!

Santa is bringing us some family fun this year (don't tell the kiddies)! We've ordered this tandem bike with an attachment for Boo on the back and a seat for TT in the front. After a TON of web-searching and visiting actual bike shops, we still found it cheapest on Amazon. The thing for Boo's bike, call a Trail Gator, is the coolest, because it hooks up her existing bike (the one she got last year and never rides cuz she can't petal well on her own yet). The family that exercises together...

Belated Halloween Pic

Boo was a Fairy and TT was a pumpkin. TT to this day (and it causes C much destress) calls herself "pumpkin", only it comes out more like "bobby." She says it while patting her chest. C thinks she has identity issues... I think it's so cute I can't correct her!

TTs Hospital Stay

Now that we're a few weeks out, and things are (almost) back to normal at the homestead, I thought I'd share the experience we went through.

TT was under the weather starting that Tuesday. School sent her home on Wednesday, and that evening she had a low-grade fever. She stayed home again on Thursday, but wasn't too sick. Until that evening. She had a high fever, and I gave her some tylonal, then she napped for 3 hours (not typical of TT, at all). When she woke at about 8, she was at a temp of 103.8. We gave Tylonal again, but after an hour, the temp was still high. That's when we called the 24 hour nurse line, and the nurse said we should take her to the ER. We gave the meds another 1/2 hour to work, but when her fever didn't break, we decided it was time to take her in.

C stayed home with a sleeping Boo, and TT and I were off to Kaiser Sunset's ER at 10 pm. They took us into Triage right away, and gave her motrin which she proceeded to spit out. They took us to a room, where an ER nurse started wiping her down with cold cloths. TT just wanted to sleep at this point, and wasn't upset unless being poked, prodded, examined or wiped. The ER doc came in, and ordered a chest xray. All of this happened really quickly. Then the waiting began. I sat for 4 hours sideways in a gurney with my back against the railing and a 25 lb. TT in my arms. Every 10 minutes, the nurse came in to wipe TT down and check her temp. After about 1 hour, the doc ordered tylonal sepositories and an ice bath. Poor TT did not like either of these! The first speaks for itself, as far as the ice bath... imagine being wiped down with a freezing cold, stiff, scratchy hospital washcloth. BLAH! I don't blame her for crying. After a few hours of this, her fever was under control. She was hooked up to monitors, and when they found that her pulsox was low I had to hold a oxygen mask near her face as she slept. After about 3 hours waiting, the doc came back and said that the xray showed either RSV or pnuemonia, and that we were being admitted to the Pediatric ICU. A team of nurses came in to put in an IV. Now, I have to say, I understand that ER nurses are about getting the job done, not the comfort of the patient, but after 10 minutes of them holding TT down and trying 4 times to find a vein, I was crying more than poor TT. I finally asked if the PICU could do it, since they have more experience with babies. I don't know how long it would have gone on if I hadn't spoken up. The even more frustrating part is that the nurse said to me later that he knew he wouldn't be able to find a vein, but had to try or the PICU would get upset (a PICU nurse debunked this). That was the first of my many "breakdowns." I was so scared for poor T, and didn't know what was to come. It took T maybe 5 minutes to calm down, it took me a 1/2 hour.

So once paperwork was handled, they wheeled us (yes, I had to sit in the wheelchair so TT could travel, since she wouldn't let me put her down, and hospital policy says I couldn't just walk with her) up to an ISOLATION ROOM in the PICU. Nurses, doctors and visitors had to wear masks and gowns when entering our room. Talk about making you fear the worst! It was about 4 in the morning. The nursing staff was so nice and understanding. The Pediatric docs, too.
While waiting for the docs to rule out RSV, TT had to be administered oxygen through those little tubes that go up her nostrils and behind her ears. She didn't like that much, and pulled them out. The nurse suggested swaddling her, which many of you know was how she preferred to sleep well past 6 months old. Once swaddled and hooked up to oxygen, she fell asleep in my arms and I was able to set her down in the crib for the first time in about 7 hours. It only lasted 1/2 hour, as they needed to try for an IV again. The PICU nurses were way better, but still couldn't find a vein. They tried once, gave her a break in mommy's arms then tried a second time. Between the ER and the PICU, they tried her inner elbow, both her wrists, and two different spots on her ankles. They were going to get a nurse up from the NICU to try, but the doc said if she stays hydrated and keeps peeing, we wouldn't need it. It was a viral infection, so she wouldn't need IV antibiotics. My singluar goal became getting that child to nurse so she wouldn't need to be hooked up to an IV. I didn't sleep at all that night. C got Boo off to school, arranged for her to be picked up after school, and came straight to the hospital. By this time, we had a diagnosis of brochialitis, but didn't know if it was caused by RSV. The docs said we had to stay until she could get enough oxygen on her own. There were no meds that could be given short of tylonal for the pain/fever. We were there until Sunday, with me staying the night in the room, and C heading home each night to stay with Boo. TT did not let you put her down for very long, and she slept so much of the time. On Friday, C got her to smile and that reasurred me a bit. On Saturday, her FIRST BIRTHDAY, she spent a bit more time alert and awake. We started seeing glimses of the TT we knew. By Sunday, she was breathing enough oxygen on her own, but still had a mild fever. We were told this was normal, as she's still fighting the infection.
At her followup appointment the next day, the doc found not one, but two ear infections, so it was on to the antibiotics she went! She was prescribed amoxicillin, which I happen to be very allergic to. I didn't know just touching my skin would set off a reaction, however, and when TT wouldn't take the meds, I helped C hold her down. She proceeded to throw it back up on me, and I had a rash that covered my right arm. Since she wouldn't take the oral antibiotics, we had to take her for a shot every day for 3 days. When her ears still didn't clear, we went onto another oral antibiotic and now she's at about 75%. She has another appointment in a few weeks, but I think we've made it out of the woods.

A week after we first took her in, her personality was back. She was smiling more, not sleeping as much, and doing pretty well. But she was still so super-clingy. I was worried that she had lost that independent, adventurous spirit I had admired in her. Now, 2 weeks later, and with her feeling so much better, her independence has returned. She still needs to touch base a bit more often, but is off and chasing after her sister, or the cat, or a rouge Cheerio that she sees on the floor.

All I can say is that we survived our scare, and it truly could have been so much worse. It really makes me feel grateful for the good health my girls have had so far. I have an even deeper respect for families with cronically ill children. I know that you do what you have to do, and I know I'd step up if it were necessary, but I can't imagine a month, a year, a child's lifetime, spent as we spent just one week. Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and wishes. We are so happy our little TT is okay!

uncanny similarities

A year ago Friday night, we were heading into the hospital after feeling the first contractions. This Friday, we were sitting in the ER at the same hospital with TT having a fever of 103.8.

A year ago Saturday, we welcomed TT into the world. This Saturday, she spent her first birthday hooked up to oxygen in the Pediatric ICU, in isolation, because they feared RSV.

A year ago Sunday, we were bringing our baby home for the first time. This Sunday we brought a very sick, very tired, very scared TT home after spending 3 nights in the PICU.

So, we're not out of the woods yet, but we're doing so much better. TT has brochiatitis. Her lungs are now pretty clear, and she's getting enough oxygen on her own. She's still battling a fever and isn't eating or drinking too much, which puts her at risk of dehydration. But she's much more alert. And she's home. Two tired parents and one worried sister are very happy that she's home.

Thanks to all for their thoughts and well-wishes throughout this. Love you all!

A BIG CHANGE

Boo got a haircut! Not just a trim, mind you. And I love my little Boo, because she's donating her chopped hair to Locks of Love, where they use it to make wigs for children who have no hair. It inspired me to do it, too. And doesn't she look just adorable in her little bob??

My favorite picture of TT ... so far

My sis got married

And we got some great pics of the family all dolled up. We clean up nicely, don't you think?

Were in trouble, now!

Watch our TT go!!!

More photos

Some recent pics of the family

Weigh in on Boo's Chores

We decided, now that Boo is 4 years old, she's old enough to have some "official" chores around the house. So I made her a list of daily chores. It's very basic... feeding the pets 2x a day, brushing her teeth 2x a day, and picking up her toys before bed. She has been amazingly responsible about it so far, and finds great joy in remembering, even when it slips our minds. She's awefully cute, too, when feeding the pets and talking to them ("Wait, Chucky...wait, here you go... good boy!")

My question to you is on the allowance issue. Part of me believes that you do chores in a family BECAUSE it's your responsibility to help out the family... money shouldn't be the incentive. But I also want her to learn the value of money and how hard work helps her "earn" rewards. Thoughts? What do you / will you do with yours? Is she too young to worry about it yet? Thanks for weighing in, and I'll let you know what we decide.

Boo's Dance Recital

Boo was in her first dance recital 6/7/08. They danced to "Put on a Happy Face." She's to the left of the boy. It was the cutest, most expensive 1.5 minutes of Boo's life so far. What with the $58 costume, the $30 recital fee, and the $16 tickets (x5), it cost a small fortune to do. But my god, was she every DELICIOUS!!! Here are a few pics, I'll try to figure out how to upload the video soon, too.

TT is growing up!

She's 8 months old now, and has two bottom teeth. She's very close to crawling. She's a happy, smiley little darling. She only gets grumpy when sleepy, and wants to nuzzle into someone's neck in order to fall asleep. She grunts and groans until she finally dozes off. She wants to hold, touch, and taste everything she comes in contact with.

TT is growing up just way to fast. I can't believe how close it's getting to her first birthday. Time flies...

Boo's Party Pics