1ST ER TRIP

Ugh. Thursday night I got out of work early cuz I was so tired. I came home did a few things and went to pee before bed. The damn toilet starts over flowing. Its never happened before in all the time Ive lived here. Determined not to wake Steve up, Im trying to take care of this myself but even the plunger isnt working, and now I can hear it leaking to the basement. Great. So while Im cleaning up this mess, I hear Ryan gasping for air and hacking like a cat with a hairball. I go flying up to his room, and I pick him up. Im not even sure he was awake, but he was having trouble breathing. It was so scary. I woke up Steve and at this point Ryan was awake and acting his normal self, happy, playful, no fever, just his breathing was labored. I called the pediatrician and they said sounds like Croup. Give him a steam shower and she would call back in a half hour and check on how he's doing. We did that, and it didnt help. She called back and told us to bring him to the ER for a dose of steroids to open up his airways. So in we go to Hartford Childrens Hospital. We were there until about 4am. Ryan awake this whole time and in good spirits, flirting with all the staff. They diagnosed him with Croup and gave him a steroid. I say that as if it were that quick, we were there for 4 hours! The whole ordeal was just terrifying watching the poor kid have trouble breathing and nothing I can do to help him. It was also so out of the blue. He was fine leading up to this. No cold, flu, fever, runny nose, cough, NOTHING. Not even slugish. His regular normal self, then wakes up and cant breathe. Needless to say last night (Friday) he slept for 14 hours! From 630 pm-830am. Now he seems to have the cold following the Croup. My poor baby! Hopefully thats that last ER visit ever!

HO HO HO!

(Follow the pictures to the story from bottom to top)

Hope everyone had a great holiday! Ours was fabulous. The festivities started at Barbara's house on Sunday, where we celebrated with the Levine side. (See photo of Ryan with the Santa hat and the 2 before.) Then Monday we had Christmas in Somers with the Clark/Kelley/Tetro and Levines. We had a gift swap with the adults that was quite interesting. Im not sure that Ryan has ever been to Uncle Johns house but it tok him no time at all to learn to climb on the famous steps in the living room. I was worried about going over there and being sad, with 2 entire generations being wiped out, but I did ok. it kind of just felt like Uncle John was in the kitchen cooking and Auntie Bet and Aunt Lois we out on the porch having a smoke. It was good to be with my side of the family for a while. Christmas morning we got up just before 7am. Ryans normal time. I took a pic of their expressions seeing the presents for the first time, but I dont have any others of them opening Xmas morning. That's all on video. The kids were very excited. The reactions (mostly from Zachary) were priceless. Among Zacharys favorites were a new PSP, guitar hero 2 &3, a zillion gift cards and a new fancy schmancy watch. Steve got a new tool box, and he was in manly heaven with that. I got a Nintendo! The original that I used to play in jr high. Steve and I got talking about the old games we used to play and then it became like a pregnancy craving but without food. I had to play it NOW. Steve found one with the original games, duck hunt, super Mario Brothers 1,2, and 3. Way cool. Its amazing how it all came back. We haven't played in 20 years but yet we knew exactly where to go, and all the secret passages. Yup, we are dorks! But at least were dorks together! Ryan got a bunch of walking toys and some trucks. Even baby girl got a new dress! Notice it hanging from the tree.

After opening, it was time to start thinking birthday. I was stressing about how well (or disastrous) the cake was going to turn out. It took me all day to frost it and make the Shepards pie Zachary had requested for his birthday dinner. But in the end it was all worth it. It may have been the best cake Ive ever made!I had kept it a secret what kind of cake I was making, and when I finally showed him the end result he said "Mom, you did this?" I impressed myself but more importantly I impressed Zachary! My baby boy is now 12. Sniff sniff...

Oh the superintendent is soooo getting hate mail from me. They didn't cancel school like they did in every other town. They instead gave the kids an early dismissal to be dismissed at 12:50. This was announced on the news early this morning. It starts snowing early so I call the hot line just to make sure. Yup, early dismissal at 12:50. At 12:14 I get an automated call from the school saying the kids are being dismissed at 12:15! WTH? Zachary is a walker. So on good weather days he rides his bike and in bad weather we drive him. So now I have 1 minute, to pack the baby up and my pregnant self and trek out in the snow, the roads are terrible my SUV sliding all over my street, so he wont have to walk a mile home in this weather. So now Im fuming. Too add insult to injury, at 12:17 they call my cell phone and leave the same message.
They have NO regard for the kids who walk, or the parents who have made alternate arraignments in preparation for an early dismissal. 1 minutes notice! I understand they cant call everyone at the same time and there are a lot of parents to call, but geez, couldn't they have just cancelled for one lousy day just like the other schools? Nope, our superintendent isn't that smart apparently.

RYAN AT 11 MONTHS

Wow, time flies! Do I say that every month? Lets see, he's got 7 teeth now, and is eating mostly table foods. He's taken a few steps and seems to want to walk, but of course crawling is easier. Don't let the angelic face fool you, he has already developed a mischievous side to him. If he gets into something he knows he shouldn't, he's always looking over his shoulder to see if we are watching, and then gives us a sly grin as he knows he's trying to get away with something. He babbles a blue streak and he does say Mama, Dada and up.Still loves his big brother more than anything in the world. He's very attached to a stuffed kitty that Zachary gave him when he was born. Cant sleep without it. Its so cute, he hugs it and kisses it and when its time to sleep, he looks for it. The other day it was in the dryer and he was MAD AT ME! Godforbid kitty is not there with him!

THE CURSE CONTINUES

Why would I expect any different? With every baby that Suzie or I have brings a death in the same gender as the baby. I was pregnant with Zachary when my grandfather died (11 days before he was born). Suzie was pregnant with Paige when mom died (found out the day of her funeral). Suzie was pregnant with Joshua and Uncle Brian died, and then Ally when Aunt Lois died. While I already had Ryan, Uncle John died just a few short months after he was born. (The cancer diagnosis was while I was pregnant and he didn't even last 6 months).Now, pregnant with a girl, our aunt Joanne (Uncle Bobs wife) died in her sleep and no one has a clue even why. I dont know her exact age, but Im guessing she is in her late 50's or very early 60's. 4 out of 6 of these deaths are untimely. My mom and Uncle Brian being the youngest at 51. I swear aside from the Kennedy's, I don't know anyone else who has been to so many funerals in such a short time. (Not that I'm wishing this on anyone else.) And I'm only mentioning the ones who have passed during a pregnancy or a birth. Not to mention everyone else in between..Auntie Bet, and Juanita (my mother in law) are among the few, and those two women were very important presences in my life. Its gotten so common that whenever one of us gets pregnant were immediately wondering who is going to die. And its never like a distant cousin who's 100 and has lived a long life. Well, maybe Papa. Its always a close relative and either tragic, untimely or both. Even Aunt Lois who was old it was still completely unexpected and the circumstances surrounding it (me being the one to find her) made it tragic. Kim is now the oldest women on moms side of the family and she's in her 40's. And the oldest man? Moms cousin, whos in his 60's. Have I got that right Suz? I think I do. I just dont get it! Im a huge believer of "everything happens for a reason" but what the reason for us creating a life if someone else has to sacrifice theirs? Good thing this is the last pregnancy for both of us. Just let baby girl finish cooking and all will be well. We will probably all live to 100.

UNBELIEVEABLE

I know I have blogged many a times in the past 2 years about stupid comments people make to pregnant women. But this one by far takes the cake. This came from a young girl in the class I'm teaching. "Sally, you are my inspiration, (pause, long pause, and I start thinking, awww she's so sweet before I even know what she's going to say) for NEVER HAVING KIDS. DAMN YOU LOOK TIRED!"..Um thanks. Love it. Your so nice. Keep em coming.
I really should write a book on what not to say to a pregnant women. Maybe that's our ticket to millions. Lord knows, Ive got enough material! I told Steve this absurd comment and he got mad and said he is fully prepared for someone to say something like that in front of him. He's got my back. Thats why I love the guy!

I cant believe this. We have no delay today! 161 towns in the state and there are 140 delays due to the ice storm, and Windsors not one of them! UGH! I feel bad for Z.

EWWWWW

This is totally gross. If your a Greys Anatomy fan, watch this clip about Chyler Leigh, the actress who plays Lexi Grey. And its not fake. DISGUSTING. Now Im back to not liking her, just when I was starting to feel sorry for her character!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkRBqDwLpn4

Let me add that NO amount of money could make me do this.

HULKAMANIA

Im so bummed about Linda Hogan secretly filing for divorce! I love that show the Hogan family and thought as a family they had it pretty together for that of celebrities. The hulkster is my favorite. He seems like a pretty cool dad too, fun but making sure the kids know how to balance thier own checkbook and manage their own money. Sad, I hope they work it out.

TIS THE SEASON

Its not even December and Ive already gotten 2 Christmas cards!

WOOPS!

I read this story yesterday and I today I cant find it for the life of me, so I cant properly quote it. But it said that some chef was doing a phone interview with Angelina Jolie. He apparently had a Freudian slip when asking about her children. When it came to Shiloh Pitt, he said how is "Piloh Shit"...She was none too happy. OMG I laughed so hard! I bet she hadnt considered that aspect when naming the kid!. ..Not a big Angelina fan. Shes a husband stealer.

BABY NAMES

Check out the new baby name poll. Feel free to vote again. Im sure our names may change a few times. Weve edged out Jillian and Brooke. We mostly liked Jillian because the first 3 letters are that of my late mother in law, rather than liking the name itself. Brooke just doesnt feel right, although we like the name. Weve added Abby, which I really like and its growing on Steve. Not Abigail, just Abby. Many of you may know that Abby is the name of my childhood dog. The dogs been dead for like 15 years, I think by now its reusable! Grace is still our number one I think. I like Lindsey, but its more trendy than the others in my opinion. And I dont want "Lindsey Levine" compared to Lindsey Lohan. Steve says she wont be around when our daughter is growing up for sure. I like Megan, (although no one voted for it!) I think Megan is good for a little girl and Meg is good for an older girl. But then we would have a Meg and a Ryan ( as in the actress). I say who cares, and really we would have a Ryan and a Megan so no one would probably notice, but even still I like some of the other names better. Decisions, decisions!

GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you all had a good one. We went to Auntie Barbara's. She really out does herself every year. Fabulous cook. She made the best pumpkin pie I have ever eaten. Catch that? I said PIE not SLICE..LOL. Ok, I confess, I ate the whole damn thing, but not in one day. I think I may have shed a tear on that last bite...mmmmm. Missing from attendance (but not from out hearts) were my brothers in law and their kids. We have to share them with their relatives in N. Carolina. So we will be having a 2nd Thanksgiving dinner to celebrate with them. Everyone told what they were thankful for, Steve said he was thankful Kevin and Chris were 1000 miles away, and I am thankful I WILL NOT be pregnant next Thanksgiving as its been 2 in a row! So I brought the mashed potato's. And this year, I used a potato ricer. Has anyone ever tried one? Its my favorite new gadget. No lumps, no mashing, no beating. Just boil them as normal (or microwave) them put them through the ricer, add milk and butter and stir. THATS IT! It was only about $6.00, and its probably been around for century's, but its the first Ive heard of it. Anyone who makes real mashed potato's, has got to try this!

INTERESTING

I just read that Neil Diamond has confessed after 40 years of silence, that "Sweet Caroline" was written after Caroline Kennedy. Pretty cool huh? He said he once saw a picture of her as a little girl dressed to the nines in her riding gear looking very innocent. Years later, he remembered the picture and wrote the song within an hour. He said he hoped one day to hell her if if he ever met her. So he had the opportunity when he was invited to sing at her 50th birthday (holy cow, who can believe shes 50!) Neat huh?

MY BABY BOY

Heres my 7th grade honor roll kid! Sorry for the glare, I took a picture of a picture because my scanners being a pain the ass. Im so proud of him. Good grades and explorers, I love who he's becoming.

10 MONTHS OLD

Its getting harder and harder to take these monthly pictures. He just wants to eat the paper and grab it! Lets see, he is furniture cruising now but not walking yet. He has 6 teeth, and is starting eat real foods, he babbles a blue streak and gives mommy zurburts on my cheek. Too cute! He certainly is our ham, he likes to make us laugh!

THE LITTLEST LEVINE

Here she is! I cant seen to get this pic any bigger because I scanned it. Hope you can see it. She has her hand above her head and shes waving at us!

GOING TO THE CHAPEL....

The final countdown is on, in 11 days, Judy will become Mrs. John Kiang, married at the Chapel of Love (or the equivalent) by none other than Elvis himself. So happy for you Jude, wish I could be there. Take lots of pics!

WERE HAVING A BABY

GIRL!!!! Were so excited. Weve got a good trio now. Steve' s still in shock. He's already worried about how he will ever say no to a girl. At my ultrasound, they predicted she weighs about 10 oz already and they estimated my due date to be March 30th. I have placenta previa which means my placenta is partially covering my cervix. No danger to the baby, but its something that needs to be watched. Another ultrasound scheduled for December 3rd. Zacharys excited too. He came home from shcool after my appointment and said "So, what is it?" and Steve said "What do you think it is?" Zachary replied "I think its a boy, but I hope its a girl"...Very Cute. Im ready for pink and frilly, princesses, barbies and days of the week underwear. I look forward her big brothers protecting her! Zachary is already making plans to drive them to school so they dont have to take the bus! Id better get that in writing now!

HALLLOWEEN

Heres some pics of my inmate and my lion. You cant tell from these pics but Zachary had handcuffs, and a ball and chain. They were both so cute!

I had put Ryans makeup on while he was asleep..Note to self, make up does not belong on a baby. That didnt even last 10 seconds after he woke up! Check out the pumpkin, Zachary did that all by himself! He did 2 but you cant see the other one. He's very creative. Maybe he can teach me someday!

Happy Birthday Suzie!

MYSPACE

Zacharys been bugging me for a while now to get a myspace page. I finally caved, but told him he had to agree to my strict rules first. His message emails would go to my address (so anytime someone comments on his page, I see it first), I will have access to his password, and his account would be "private" so only the people on his friends list would be allowed to view it - no strangers. Jen came over and helped him set up his page. (Thanks Jen!). He's been really good following the rules and I have no complaints about his page or what he has posted etc..Everytime he adds a friend, I go onto the friends page and check them out. What is shocking to me is that other parents are not monitoring what their children are doing! Theres one in particular, who has numerous pictures posted of her drinking tequila, passed out with captions like "me totally wasted"...These kids are like 11 and 12! Then theres another who has a pic posted with her sister, and the sister (maybe all of 14 at most) is in her freaking bra! And the language is terrible. Everyones blog is F this or F that. Then there are the girls his age who are posing trying to look sexy and sultry. Its disgusting! And these kids are all from his school or explorers. Why wouldnt the parents be monitoring? They all seem to be an expert on love, which is pretty funny to read. "So and So broke up with me and he was the best boyfriend ever, im never going to get over him "...OK YOUR 12! Its no wonder that theres so much trouble with myspace and people stalking kids and killing or kidnapping them when the parents turn a blind eye. Especially at this age, preteen and teen, when there just going through puberty and discovering who they are. Seems like such a crucial time in a kids life to not have a clue what there doing. Im one of those parents who believes the kids has no privacy till their 18. Its not that I dont trust him. I do. But I also know what peer pressure at 12 feels like. Heck, I was smoking by 13. I check his text messages, and if I felt the need to go through his room or backpack with a fine tooth comb, Id have no problem doing it. (I havnt had to though). Im not going to be one of those clueless parents. Im not doing it to be nosy, Im doing it to be safe. This is also the age where you ask " Hows school today" and he says "fine". Or "Whats going on with your friends" and he says "nothin". One word answers if Im lucky. We all know Zachary is a super great kid. Its other kids I dont trust. Lord knows there were plenty of things I didnt tell my mother. Who knew tequila is all the rage in 7th gtade? I dont regret letting him get a myspace page. Im kinda glad he did, so I can keep on top of who his friends are and whats going on!

DREAMS

Apparently I have deeper seeded issues with Bob Barker being gone than I thought. I had a dream the other night that I was on the show (Bob was the host of course) and I won the showcase showdown. My bid was $22, 826. And that got me a houseboat and a small camper as my big prizes. After I was told I won, I was given the receipts for the items, and I went on my merry way floating down the river in my new houseboat with my family. Then we park it and get into our new camper. Ok, maybe its just a weird pregnancy dream. Not as weird as the one I had when I was pregnant with Zachary. The baby came out black, and I kept saying he's cute and all, but thats NOT POSSIBLE!
Ah, if only $22,826 would really buy us those items and Bob was still the host!

CMON DOWN!

Drew Carey SUCKS on the Price is Right. Its not a show I watch, but occasionally I will catch a few minutes of it. Today I saw about 5 minutes, and really that was all I needed to see. It was just at the point of the showcase showdown. Drew was so stiff, there was no hype in his voice it was all very monotone. He lacks the enthusiasm that that kind of show needs. He is no Bob Barker, that's for sure. Granted that means Drew will probably not be sued for sexual harassment from the Barker Beauties. I like Drew Cary. I think he's good for a funny sitcom, but who ever came up with him being the next Bob Barker was nuts. I get that Bob had to go, he's like 130 years old. Poor old chap deserves some retirement before he takes his long winters nap. Im not sure who I would have picked, but theres got to be somebody better. I just cant see Drew being there for another 50 years. I dont think he will last long at all. Seems to me they should have done what Regis did when Kathy Lee left. They should have had "guest" hosts and test them out before deciding who's to fill those big shoes. Obviously that worked, as Kelly Ripa is his perfect match for a cohost. Im so glad that when I went to LA and saw an episode of the Price is Right, it was with the real Bob, not the wanna be Bob.

My ultrasound is scheduled for Nov 5th. Stay tuned!

MORE PICS

PRICELESS

Ryan and Nana in Florida

9 MONTHS

Wow, does time fly? Ryan h as 5 (almost 6) teeth, pulls himself up on everything, and is as fast as ever. Yesterday he started the Indian War chant, you know the one, he screams while patting his mouth. Hysterical. He is very vocal, but he isnt saying any words. At his 9 month appt he was 28 inches and 21 lbs and change. 50th % in both height and weight. That surprised me, cuz he seems like such a big kid! Oh and he just quit the binki. If I can quit cold turkey, so can he. Fair is fair!

AUTHOR, COMEDIAN OR BOTH?

Zachary had to write a report on the first 99 pages of the book he is reading. He really is good at writing and expressing himself (check out his blog). Ive got to share with you a paragraph from his paper. It made me laugh so hard. He is such a character that Zachary!
"Alex Rider was an ordinary school boy but when his uncle was killed he decided to find this killer and then got hooked into the missions as a spy. Anyway, Alex is very athletic, smart and adventures boy. I know this because if he wasnt he wouldnt be working for M16. And last but not least, he's adventures because he likes to travel around the world and meet new people/places. This boy is different from me because I am not a spy, I do not get straight A's (which I am working on), I have parents, I have not killed anyone, and I have never been shot at before (Thank God!).
Needless to say, he got an A- (well deserved!) and the teacher commented "Good job Zach, I enjoyed reading this!"... Me too!

Happy Birthday Mom. I miss you every day. Theres a hole in my heart always. Love you.

PEOPLE SUCK

And the pregnancy fun begins. I know, I just blogged about this, but this is a new pregnancy, new hormones and new stupid people. These are all REAL conversations I had tonight at work. Complete with my responses.
Was it planned? (It was on my end, my husband was sleeping.) or (yes, my husbands so god damned good I cant take my hands off him, would you like MORE information?) Are you sure your not having twins? Or my personal favorite, are you sure theres not 3 in there? (And why would you think that would make me feel good? (Yes, Im sure, Im just fat. Maybe when Im a size 10 people will stop pointing that out). Then theres the ol' "you look huge today!" "(Again, thank you for making me feel like crap!) Usually then followed by a cover up, "its the shirt your wearing" or "I mean your baby belly, not you" or this was a good one "Its just the stripes" ( Nice try, but vertical stripes are supposed to make you look thinner".
Then there are the people who almost pity you, "I was going to ask you to do it, but I didnt want you to have to walk to the other side of the office". (Im pregnant, not handicapped, Im capable of walking.) Then we have the shock and awe"What? Your pregnant again? (as if you cant tell) Are you crazy? (followed by question one). My husband and I actually WANT children, what is so crazy about that?
It freaking drives me insane! Whatever happened to the old fashion "Congrats! Im so happy for you!" I started off the work day feeling pretty good. I wore a new maternity shirt and I was hesitant to wear it thinking it looked "too maternity". But 3 people told me I looked cute today so I started to feel pretty good. And suddenly, Ive lost my cuteness and pregnancy glow, and Im just this ginormous elephant. Yes, Im only 3 months, and yes Im already showing. Which, according to my doc, is perfectly normal from just having a baby earlier this year. Yes, the babys only 2 inches long now, but my innards (I.E. my uterus -must you make me say that word?- is already stretched out. I cant help it! I had a 9 lb baby!

8 MONTHS OLD

Here's my little man at 8 months. Crawling all over the place and pulling himself up on things. We often find him standing up in his crib when he wakes up from a nap. He's all over the place now and into everything. Cant take my eyes off him for a second! He loves his big brother more than anything in the world. He's a sweet little boy, giving mommy kisses, but he's a daddy's boy too. He loves to climb up on Mount Daddy and wrestle. Such a ham. He has 3 teeth and a 4th one coming any second. He's a very active baby, and a multitasker just like his mama! Ryan can usually be seen inspecting a toy in each hand and something in his mouth. He is so curious about everything, I love watching him learn! He's already growing up to fast!

NEW RULE

I dont know if this happens to anyone else, but people seem to pop in here unannounced all the damn time. And guaranteed, Ryan will be napping, and probably so will I, and we will be jolted out of dreamland to the sound of barking dogs. Poor little guy is now crying because he's now scared of the commotion and as for my beloved dogs, I want to rip their larynx out with my bare hands. Its just so rude. In this day and age of cell phones, how hard is it to call from even just a mile down the road, to say Im stopping by. That will give me time to put the dogs outside, so the baby doesn't get woken up and all will be well. And if I dont answer, then Im sleeping too, or perhaps too busy at the moment to answer your call. This means, dont come by. You would think this would be common sense, especially when theres a baby in the house, but it seems to happen atlease once a week. Doesn't matter if Ive locked the door or not because once you hit the driveway, the dogs are going banshee. I learned that lesson the hard way, when there would be people who let themselves in my house, standing in the living room bellowing my name while Im dead asleep or better yet, showering. Yes, these are true stories. Its not that I dont want to see you, really I do enjoy your company. Just call! So heres my new rule, the next time someone comes over unannounced, you will be leaving WITH the dog of your choice.

Went for my 10 week appointment yesterday. All is well. They changed my due date from April 3rd to April 7th based on my ultrasound I had a few weeks ago. My BP is back up again. Im very upset about that. I had been on BP meds since I was about 26ish and when I got pregnant with Ryan and quit smoking all my BP problems seemed to disappear. I was getting it checked every week all 9 months since I was off my meds. Every things been fine, and now all the sudden its creeping up again, so unfortunately I'm back on meds again. Kinda bummed, Id rather not take anything being pregnant. My sciatic nerve is killing me these days. Had this with Ryan too and it only lasted a few weeks or maybe a month from what I remember. I hope it goes away soon. Its painful! Tomorrow Im going to get all my blood work done. Fun, Fun Fun!

GIRLS NIGHT AT KENNY CHESNEY

All the girls in my family went to see Kenny Chesney Saturday night at the Meadows. Opening up for him was Sugarland and also Pat Greene. Concert was really awesome. My husband told me that If Im approached by Kenny, than Its ok for me not to come home. Now thats love!

Unfortunately Kenny musta missed me in crowd. Oh well, maybe next time around. Heres a pic

Standing, Kelly, Erika, Suzie, me, Betty. Bottom row Kim, Cari, Danielle and Sammi.

Pampered Chef and Adam Saada

Anyone need any Pampered Chef? My cousins 4 month old baby is in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant. He has SCID otherwise known as "bubble boy disease". To have the transplant done we need to raise about 50k. To read Adams story click on Suzies website and there is a picture of him along with some information and some links to local news websites that have run his story.
Pampered Chef has generously agreed to donate 20% of sales to Adam.
To order the Pampered Chef and have Adam receive the credit, follow these simple instructions:

http://www.pamperedchef.biz/melskitchen

To read Adams story click on NEWS
To order and make sure Adam receives the credit, click ORDER PRODUCTS
Then it will say this:
Already invited to a show and would like to place an order?
in that text box you will need to type this exactly
SHARON ARDREY TRUST FOR ADAM SAADA
Thanks for your support!

ROYAL TRIVIA

I was doing a crossword puzzle the other day and this was my clue:
"William and Harry's family name"
I drew a blank. So immediately I began searching my brain for the answer, because I feel like I should know this. I mull it over for 2 days and still I come up with nothing. Im now blaming "baby brain", cuz you know I can use that as an excuse again, when I ask Steve and he has no idea either. He says "Are we both just having a brain fart or what?" Seems like this should be common knowledge. I decide to cheat and look up the answer in the back of the book. When I look up the answer, I went "huh. Im not sure I ever knew that."
So, without cheating or googling, Does anyone know the answer? I will post in a few days.

Ryans crawling!

ZACHARY SINGS

When we were in Florida, Zachary was singing to Ryan. (Adorable isnt it?) And I broke out into laughter when I heard what he was singing.

To the tune of "The farmer and the Dell"

The farmer ate a dill (pickle)
The farmer ate a dill,
high ho the deli oh,
the farmer ate a dill.

Those arnt the words?
This is take 2. Same tune.

The farmers at the deli
The farmers at the deli
High ho the deli oh
the farmers at the deli.

Apparently he was hungry. Or it was close to lunch time. All this about pickles and the deli.

Then a while back, he was singing this:
To the tune of "Do your ears hang low"

Do your pants hang low, do they sag to the floor

I hope he does well in music class this year! LOL

GUESS WHAT??

Yup, thats right. Cats outta the bag. Im pregnant! Holy Moly! Before you ask (because everyone has) yes, we were trying, and no this was no oops. That said, we are still surprised it happened this quickly. Were very excited. Im due about April 3rd. Hoping for a scheduled C section on April 1st. I have my Christmas baby, maybe I can have an April Fools baby too! Im a little over 2 months now, still very early. We are going to find out the sex, should be able to do that the end of October. Ryan and this baby will be a whopping 14 1/2 months apart! It seems we go from one extreme to another, 11 years between the first 2 and 14 months between 2 and 3! Zachary will be 12 years apart from this baby, kinda cool cuz my mom and aunt were 12 years apart. This pregnancy seems to be different than the last 2. Im very moody and hormonal, and Im more sick than I have been before. With the boys I had virtually no morning sickness. I shouldn't complain, I dont have it that much, but its defiantly more apparent than it has been before. Sometimes nausea, sometimes dizziness and being woozy. I dont know if that means a girl, I dont really care as long as he/ she is healthy and happy. Im already starting to show, I know that sounds insane but I am. The baby is only the size of a strawberry but my innards are already stretched out from Ryan. So my uterus is already up to my damn elbows! Doc said that was going to happen with the pregnancies being so close together. Were just now telling our family's. I have told a few people at work but Im not going to announce it there till I hit 12 weeks. So keep that hush hush Mary Jo! The pic above is how we told my father in law. We had him over for spaghetti and this is the plate he got. Unfortunately, he didnt get it. So we had to spell it out (no pun intended!)

7th GRADE

OMG 7th grade? How is that possible? Isn't Zachary like 4? Well, to me he will always be 4.

But even if he's not really 4, I just cant believe he is in 7th grade! 7th grade for me, was a life changing year. Its where I met most of the friends I had all the way through high school and beyond and I first learned about cliques, Its when I started using make up. Its where I got my first pair of "hightops" (yes, I did wear them, I admit it was a fashion fopah), 7th grade is when I used a curling iron and cared about my appearance for the first time, owned my first pair of stretch jeans (bought from Dots, they were a size 18 I was a size 12, but I convinced my dad that they fit, swore I would wear a belt, and I absolutely HAD to have them. I was already babysitting, and staying home alone for long periods of time. I barely let Zachary stay home for more than an hour! Im not ready for high tops and curling irons! Ok so maybe we can skip the curling iron, and we can replace the hightops with $100 Michael Jordan basketball sneaks. But its all the same. When I think back to that time period, I feel like it was the start of my really growing up. I feel like I was much more mature then than Zachary is now. But in fact, its just the opposite. Im just having a hard time accepting him growing up so fast! Sniffle sniffle....

This is so funny. You must read it! Anyone who has ever grocery shopped with kids can relate!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130144061675#description

MEET MY NEW NIECE!!!

7 MONTHS

Wow, where does the time go? 7 months already! Ryan has cut his first tooth, gotten his first haircut, is about to take his first airplane ride, sits up by himself, and is almost crawling. He's growing up so fast!
Im on vacation this week I will try to post more later.

Ive lost 10 lbs already being on Weight Watchers! Go me! And Jen is almost up to 20 lbs lost! I cant wait to hit 20 lbs! My weight has fluctuated at times, but I think this is the first time Ive lost it the right way. Diet and exercise. Ive been walking a lot and I do feel better from that. Some days its really hard mustering up the energy, but I do the best I can. If I skip a day (or 3!) cuz its too hot, or Im too lazy, than so be it, i dont beat myself up over it.

ESTERO HERE WE COME

Yea! Were going to Florida in 3 weeks! Just me and the boys, unfortunately Steve has to work.
I didnt think we were going to be able to get there till October, but I found a really great fare and we jumped at it. So we will be off Aug 16-21st. A little shorter than I would have liked but beggers cant be choosers. I havnt been there since early last summer so I havnt seen my dads new house, and Im excited for Ryan to meet his great grandmother, his Auntie Heather and his cousins. Im excited to tour the town hes now in and get to know it a little. Im going to miss Naples, but this will be fun finding new spots in a new town. Its sad that we dont get to go as much as we used to. Before Z started school, we were going about every 2-3 months. Now its one or if were lucky 2x a year. Oh well we can always hope for more trips after we retire right? Zachary is pretty excited. Its been a long time since I traveled with an infant so this is gonna be interesting! At least I have Z to help! Dad has most of the baby gear there already so I dont have to lug a car seat, playpen, etc.

MORE PICS

NBA HERE THEY COME

Watch out Paul Pierce!

TIME FLIES!

Wow, time has flown by recently. I cant believe Ryan is already 6 months old. He is a very active baby, always has to be doing something. Cant ever sit still..just like his mother!

He gives hugs and kisses now its so adorable! He goes for his 6 month chech up tomorrow so I will post his height/ weight growth. And first haircut is on Friday already! Some lady at the mall the other day commented on his comb over. How nice. I already had his haircut scheduled so its not like that made me do it. But I thought that was so rude!