Fastfoward

Some how a whole year has gone by since I've posted anything. I'm not sure how that really happened. I love to blog. I've meant to keep up but life just got in the way so here I am fastfowarding just in case anyone is still checking this silly little blog.

Madison

(picture courtesy of Viki Reed Photography)

Some how I ended up with a real live grade schooler in my house. We're not talking kindergarten anymore here people she is going to be starting first grade in September! She is officially a reading, math problem solving, bike riding, tooth loosing kid! Best of all I really like this kid! As a mom I'm pretty sure I'm contractually obligated to love her but that doesn't necessarily mean I have to like her as a person. Lucky for me she is funny, outgoing and usually pretty easy to be around. She has also learned to recently whip my butt in Mario Bros 3 which I find pretty amazing because I was playing the game long before she was ever around. Even so whipping my butt is exaclty what she does!

Stella

(picture courtesy of Viki Reed Photography)

My baby is turing 3 in just two short weeks! She is such a little kid now. No more crib (although she tells me on a daily basis that the man can come take her bunk bed away at any day now and bring back her crib), no more diapers and that means for the first time in 6 years I am actually carrying a purse instead of a diaper bag!!! Stella has such a strong personality. She has opinions on just about everything and has no problem sharing them with anybody. Her vocabulary also blows me away just about every day. Some of her favorite things to say are "Well, actually (followed by her opinion)" or "Tell me about your day. Was it stressfull" or "Mom I think I've aggravated Madison".

As for me I'm about to begin my fourth and final semester of nursing school this September. The thought of being finished with this leg of school so soon is super exciting. Unfortunately the thought of the long nights of studying and all the time away from my family tends to make me dread the upcoming semester.

Sadly last October our sweet Newfi Kai that we had adopted the prevoius June became very ill. The vet diagnosed her with kidney failure due to a genetic issue that was undetectable until it was too late. By the following morning she had passed away. We missed having a giant hairy beast in our family and not long after adopted Max. He is a 3 year old landseer Newfoundland that instantly worked his way into all of our hearts and overnight became one of the family!

I have grand intentions of posting daily and hope to stick to it. If anyne reading knows myself or my family in real life you know we are always seeking out different ways to enjoy life that inevitably leave a great story to tell. I can't wait to start telling those stories here again!

A Girl and Her BIG Dog.....

Yes the dog weighs 4 times as much as her but that doesn't seem to matter to either of them!

My Baby Turned Two!

Wow, wow, wow! I can't beleive how long it has been since I've blogged (6 months, 19 days to be exact). So many times ideas have popped into my head or the girls have done/said something that I thought "I need to share" but just never got around to doing it.

I'm going to do my best to fast foward through all the big stuff from the last six months....

Nursing School- Yep I started, it has kicked my behind and I am loving every minute of it! Second semester starts September 7th and I am expected to graduate in December 2012.

Madison - Her nose is still healing but looking better and we are all still healing from the psychological effects of the dog bite. Amazingly she seems to be the most healed and I'm by far the least. She has absolutely zero fear of dogs (her anxiety manifested in other ways) while I am pretty much terrified but we have taken steps to resolve that issue (more to come on that topic). Ms. Madison also graduated from preschool and is super excited to start kindergarten where she won't have to take naps. You know 'cause that is what is most important about going to kindergarten!

Stella- Can you beleive it she just turned two! Okay maybe not a big deal for you but it is HUGE for me. My baby is becoming such a big girl! She is such a little spit fire who is always making us laugh.

Kai- What is a Kai you ask. Well in Hawain it means ocean but in our house it is the name of our latest addition. Kai is our adopted 3 1/2 year old newfoundland. At first I was completely against ever having another dog (besides Tucker) but after much begging and pleading by the hubs I caved. She has been AMAZING! Kai is the sweetest, calmest most lovable dog we have ever had. She has helped this family heal more than any amount of therapy ever could have!

Now for the pics (you didn't think I would leave them out did you?)....

Madison Update and Holiday Review

I can't believe I let a week go by without updating on Madison's status. Her nose is healing very well. Thankfully there has been no sign of infection. The sutures will be coming out next week and for the next year we will be focusing on minimizing the scar.

During the day she seems to be the same carefree, lovable kid but there have been quite a few nightmares at bedtime. She has also seen a few dogs that she has known this past week. She has had no problem petting them or being near them unless they start getting playful. Twice she began to cry in situations that would have never bothered her before. When I pick her up from school today I will be talking to the directors to see if they can recommend anyone for her to talk to.

I just realized that I don't have any updated pictures of her and she is at school right now so I will have to post them later.In spite of the dog bite we had a very nice holiday season. Christmas Eve was spent at Justin's grandparent's house with lots of extended family. Christmas day started at exactly 5:05 am. It was so much fun experiencing childhood through Stella and Madison's eyes! We spent the rest of the day with my parents. New Years Eve was spent with our friends Jess and Kal but somehow I forgot my camera. I'm blaming it on the "incident" 'cause I've kind of been out of it ever since it happened. Here are some of my favorite pics. Enjoy

"But I Don't Want To Wear This Stupid Bow"

Take Two

Christmas MorningA New baby doll and a pork roll sammy. Does Life get any better?Madison with our Christmas guest. Thankfully we found him a home other than ours.Daddy and Stella Christmas day.Tired and Tubbied (is that a word? It is in our house.)

The Unthinkable

Just like most of you the past couple of week have been crazy here in our house. My first post back from "Christmas" was going to be all about how much fun we had, the hysterical pictures of Stella throwing a tantrum while I was trying to take pictures of her and Madison all dolled up and how we found an adorable kitten 2 days before Christmas and were able to make one little boy very happy by giving it to his family on Christmas day. Life had different plans though.

Two days after Christmas we were visiting some family members when one of my greatest fears happened. A dog owned by someone in my husband's family was allowed near Madison and it bit her. At this time I am not up for sharing all of the exact details of the incident but what I can share is that her nose was badly bitten but thankfully able to be stitched back together by a plastic surgeon.

Right now the biggest concern is that the wound may get infected. So far it is doing well but the risk is still there. If this were to happen the sutures in Madison's nose would have to be removed. The nose would have to heal on its own and she would most certainly require reconstructive surgery later on. If the wound stays healthy we are hoping scarring will be at a minimum and no future surgery will be required.

Madison is doing great. Other than being a little more sleepy than usual she is playing and acting like her normal bubbly self. Keeping her low key and protecting her nose from being bumped by Stella has proven to be a challenge but one that we are thankfully willing to take on. For as bad as the situation is Justin and I are all too aware of how much worse this could have been.

If you could please pray that our little girl's nose and spirit (which includes and absolute adoration for all critters )heal and stay healthy we would really appreciate it. Thanks so much!

An Email From Santa

At this time a year children all over the world are writing letters to Santa. Some will even receive a letter back. This is something Madison has been hoping and checking the mail for every day for a week. This year she won't be getting a letter though because she will be getting this email Madison's email from Santa!
Portable North Pole can help parents help Santa create this awesome message from him complete with their name, detail about them and a picture! Best yet it is for FREE! For those looking to tease an adult in their life you can also send a Naughty List message with more adult type material in it. For example I sent one to my brother saying that he has been naughty this year and really needs to stop cursing and listen to his wife more often! So much fun!

How Many More Days 'TIl Christmas?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Christmas Checklist

It is December 9th. Some how over a month has gone by since my last blog. More on reasons for that at another time. My current checklist looks something like this....

• Put lights on the house
• Cut down and decorate tree
• order Christmas cards
• Shop for Christmas Presents
• Play outside with no jackets on in 65 F weather

Yep that's correct it is spring like weather here in NJ just 2 1/2 weeks shy of Christmas. Not that I am complaining or anything (well maybe a little since it was too warm to kill off any bugs in our Christmas tree and now I am convinced we need to fumigate the house). I mean seriously how often do you get to have fun like this in NJ this close the Christmas?

Looks like we'll just have to save Christmas cookie baking for another day!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Just a few pictures from our Halloween. The weather was unseasonably warm but super windy. We trick-or-treated over my Justin's grandparent's house so that they could see the girls. Madison had a blast and Stella had no clue what was go on but went with the flow anyway.

Stella loved her first lollipop and when it got down to the stick she was not very willing to give it up!

The smile on Madiosn's face pretty much sums up the sugar high she was on!

DVD Winner!

Congrats to Cindy for winning my dvd giveaway!

Great Deal From Fisher Price!

Stella was recently the lucky recipient of two awesome toys from Fischer Price. She got to check out the Go Baby Go!™ Stride-to-Ride® Lion. She absolutely loves to push the lion's nose and dance along to the music. It was amazing to see how quickly she figured out what needed to be done in order to make him sing. I've been trying for a week now to catch it on video but as most of you moms with toddlers know nothing ever seems to happen when the camera is rolling! I love that this toy can convert from walker to ride on because it will last that much longer. Right now she mostly pushes/pulls the lion through the house. She occasionally tries to ride on it like her silly big sister but her legs need to be just a little longer.

The second toy that we received was the Laugh & Learn™ Learning Farm . I have to admit that I haven't taken it out yet because we are in the midst of painting just about every room in our house so a new, large toy needs to be held onto for a bit. I know this will be a toy in our home for years to come though because we still have the Laugh & Learn™ Learning Home from when Madison was a baby. These toys have so many different activities that they keep babies entertained for longer than many of the other toys scattered around our home. The Laugh & Learn™ Learning House is still in such great shape after 4 years of use that I will be donating it to a local daycare where the children there can continue to enjoy it. The age range for both the Laugh & Learn™ Learning Farm and Laugh & Learn™ Learning House is 6-36 months but now even at 4 1/2 I catch Madison playing with the house with Stella. If you are willing to spend a little extra to get a toy that will last these

definately check out the Laugh and Learn Learnign Farm and House from Fischer Price.

For a limited time Fisher Price is offering my readers a coupon $20 off a $100 purchase of Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn™ and/or Go Baby Go!™ Infant Toys on their website. Here is the link for the coupon http://clk.atdmt.com/ECH/go/178001898/direct/01/ . Be sure and act quickly though because I've heard that the coupon code has almost reached its limit and will not be availabe much longer. Happy shopping!

Where the Wild Things Are

Have you seen it yet?

If you don't know what I am talking about I am referring to the movie version of Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" that was released in theaters yesterday. I have not had a chance to take Madison yet but I don't think she will stop reminding me that her "favoritest" book is in the movies until I take her.

In the meantime I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of "Where the Wild Things Are And 5 More Stories By Maurice Sendak" from Scholastic's Storybook Treasures. This video was an instant hit in our home. Maurice Sendak's stories "Where The Wild Things Are", "Pierre", "One Was Johnny","Alligators All Around","Chicken Soup with Rice" and "In the Night Kitchen" have all been animated and given a read along function on the dvd. The dvd also comes with "Where The Wild Things Are" stickers. I don't know if it is the same in your house but in my home everything is better when it comes with stickers!

The Scholastic Storybook Treasures lone comes from Weston Woods Studios,"world-renowned for their acclaimed, unabridged film and audio adaptations of best selling children's storybooks." Each dvd is $14.95 and features at least one hour of storytime along with the read along function. The videos can be purchased at http://www.newkideo.com/. The site also features information on new releases, product reviews, activites for children and more.

Although $14.95 is a great price for these awesome videos isn't it always better to get something for free? Yep, I thought so. I have another copy of "Where the Wild Things Are...And 5 Mores Stories By Maurice Sendak" to give away.

Just comment on your favorite childhood book for a chance to win the video. For a second chance to win post about this giveaway on your blog with a link back. Just be sure to let me know if you have a link.

The winner will be randomly selected Wednesday, October 21st. Please make sure you leave me a way to contact you in case you win. Winner must live within the U.S. and must contact me within 3 days of me announcing the winner. If the winner does not contact me within 3 days I will randomly select another winner.

Good luck to all!

A New Found MeMe

I just came across this meme over at Adventures in Babywearing. It has been such a long time since I've done one of these and this one looked like fun so I've decided to play long.

It's about our children's names.
1. Do you have any cultural or religious naming traditions?
Nope no traditions. I like the boys to have at least a middle name of an older male in our family but Justin thinks they should have their own names. Good thing we haven't had any boys.
2. Did you or your partner come to the marriage with pre-selected names?
Again with the no. We both had names we have always liked but I don't think we've used any of them.
3. Did you consider the sound of the first and middle and last names together? Did this make any sad eliminations?
Yes. I loved the name Hannah (before Montana was popular) and Hailey but that would be way to many H's with our last name.
4. Did you have veto powers?
Oh yeah and they were used quite often. I mean really who names a kid Mako? Yes after the shark.
5. Did the baby naming cause arguments?
Not really but when Stella was born I think Justin realized I was not giving in on the name and just gave in. Now he admits that he didn't like it at first but loves it now and couldn't imagine her with any other name.
6. Do you think it is easier to name boys or girls?
For us we always had more boys names but never a boy to give one to. Isn't that always the way?

7. Did you eliminate names because of people from your past or present who you don’t like or because a certain image comes to mind.
Being a teacher has eliminated many names over the years. I loved the name Ayden until I head a student by that name who was quite the handful!
8. Did you / would you survey your children to get their thoughts on the name?
Unfortunately yes. Madison was origianlly going to be named Shaelynn but so many people turned up their noses that we caved and named her Madison. If I'm ever brave enough to have a third and it is a girl the name will be back on the table and I won;t be telling anyone until the baby is born!
9. Did you tell people the name or possible names before the baby was born or were they “in the vault”?
Again unfortunately yes. Several people couldn't beleive we would name a baby Stella. After all why would you want people to shout out S-T-E-L-L-A? If there is a third the name will remain in the vault!
10. Did you use baby name books?
Oh yeah. Each time the pee stick came out positive out came the baby name books!
Drumroll Please…What did you name your kids?

Madison Elizabeth
Stella Mackenzie (btw my grandmother's name was Antonia Estella (Stella for short) so she is kind of named after her but I really happened to like the name too)

I tag anyone who feels like playing along! Just let me know so I can read your post!

Yellow is yellow is yellow.

It seems that 6 months rarely go by without me getting the itch to paint a room in our house. This time around it looks like it is going to be the dining/living room's turn and more than likely the kitchen too. Our living room is due and I never really liked the kitchen color so I might as well do it all at once.
Unfortunately Justin cringes everytime I decide to paint. It is not because he ever has to paint or that our home gets turned upside down when I paint. Once I set my mind to painting it gets done very neatly and quickly. So why is it that DH can't stand me painting? Decision making. Choosing colors to me is a very slow, carefully thought out process. Once I decide on a color scheme it can still take me days to decide on the exact perfect shade/hue of any given color. The options then get taped to a wall and I slowly remove colors over several days and sometimes even weeks until I have that perfect one. This time around I think I want a yellow in the living room, a blue in the kitchen and either a grey or brown on the wall that goes between the two rooms. Oh decisions, decisions!
To Justin he would just run to Lowe's and get a gallon of yellow, a gallon of blue and a gallon of brown. He is just incapable of seeing the slight variations in the 15 yellow, 12 blue and 20 brownish/greys paint chips covering the wall. To him the 16 pack of Crayola crayons gives great variety where as for me the 120 pack just doesn't seem to have enough choices! Is this true for all men? I have heard that men see a much more limited variety of color than woman. I've never researched this statement to find if there is scientific fact to it but based on the man in my home I would go with it being true.
Who does the paint selecting and painting in your home? Do you have a method of selection? How long does it take you to decide on a color? Any paint experiences that you feel like sharing? I would love to hear.

Summer Wrap Up

Wow what a summer! Now that fall is officially here, my brother's wedding is over, Madison is back in school and I am officially unemployed (but looking) I've decided to take the time to edit our 700+ photos. Doing so has made me realize just how much fun we have had this summer as a family and given me proof that there has been good reason for my blog neglect. We have thrown a bridal shower, celebrated a very special first birthday, gone on the best vacation ever to Lake Powell, Utah, taught a certain someone learn to ride a two wheeler (with training wheels but they'll be off soon), gone fishing, to the circus and so much more! Here are just a few of my favorites that I wanted to share with you. Enjoy!

Next up for this very busy family of four? Apple picking in upstate New York, finally getting to meet new baby Jude and training for a marathon (yeah seriously a marathon and no that isn't a metaphor for something else). Stay tuned!

My Baby Brother's Wedding!

What better way to end the summer than with a wedding? Especially when that wedding is your baby brother's! Last Friday my brother became a husband when he married his beautiful bride Michelle. The wedding was awesome abd the bride and groom could not have been happier. Here are a couple of pictures from the day and not that I am biased or anything but that had the MOST ADORABLE flower girl that I have ever seen!

A Chance To Go Cloth!

I know I have been MIA for quite awhile now and there is good reason for that. This summer has been awesome and filled with non stop activity. I have lots of catching up to do and intend on getting to it shortly. For now though I just want to fill you in with a great giveaway that you have to check out.

Pacing the Panic Room is a blog that I've been reading for awhile ever since I got hooked on the Maternity Series. Seriously people you NEED to check it out. I wish I had an ounce of the creativity and skill that this guy has. Anyway over on Pacing the Panic Room they are giving away a supply of FuzziBunz cloth diapers.

I'll admit the thought of cloth diapering even six months ago scared the crap out of me and I would have never given it a second thought. Within the past couple of months I have given it much more consideration and was ready to take the plunge until my husband was like "You are gonna spend how much to get started on something the baby is gonna do what in?" Sure I tried to rationalize and show that although there is a large initial expense ultimately we would save money especially if we have a third baby and can reuse the diapers but he is just not buying the cloth diapering deal. Now if I were to say win them he would have to give in!

So what's the deal with Fuzzibunz?

• They are adjustable, one size which means I can use them on our 1 year old and eventually on our next child (no one in the making yet but I'm sure he/she will be here some day)


• They have snaps which I've heard is WAAAAAAAAY better than velcro 'cause it doesn't wear out like velcro.


• For the fashion savvy babies the colors choices are much more exciting than disposables


• They have pockets for absorbent inserts so nothing shifts to the wrong place.


• Oh and a fleece linign to help baby stay rash free!

From a disposable only mom's point of view these FuzziBunz seem like such a great way to pop my cloth diapering cherry!

Wordless Wednesday

Answers Anyone?

I was just about to begin a blog on my teary eyed nostalgic mode that I'm in and how I can't beleive my tiny little baby is about to turn one in less than three days when blood curdling screams came blaring out of Madison's room!
I rushed to see what was wrong with my 4 year old and found her standing on her bed, screaming about spiders and trying to brush off what I can only imagine are spiders that she is dreaming about.
I wish I could say this is the only time something like this has ever happened but lately it seems like she is having much more vivid dreams than usual.\
I guess I should start at the beginning. We have been trying to permanantly evict Madison from our bed for some time now but she seems to find her way in every night. SHe goes to sleep in her own bed without any problems but somehow finds her way upstairs EVERY night!

We have tried incentives bribery, discussions, you name it but nothing seems to work. There are mornings where she gets upset saying that she really wants to stay in her own bed but that the really strong fairy picks her up and carries her to our room. Um, okay. This led me to beleive that besides vivid dreams she is also sleep walking. I haven't done any research yet but I beleive it is an inherited trait because lucky for my girls both my father and I used to sleep walk when we were children. Last week my suspicions were confirmed when I heard her crying but realized the crying was coming from under my window in our driveway! That's right people Madison unlocked the front door and walked right outside. I can't even imagine what may have happened if I didn't hear her cry! Needless to say we have since installed latch locks up high until we are able to put some kind of major alarm system in our home (probably the only people more concerned with keeping people in than keeping people out).

I've tried to go through recent events to see what might be triggering these situations but I haven't pin pointed anything yet (not sure if there is something specific). Her diet hasn't changed although I plan to write down what she eats everyday to see if I can find a common theme. We have been much busier this summer than usual with company, parties and swimschool four days a week. Maybe there is a link between her dreams/sleep walking and activity level (this also interferes with her nap schedule). If I had to guess I would say that latter makes more sense but I guess only time, research and help from an expert (if this continues) will help. If anyone has any information or experience with vivid dreams and/or sleep walking your input would be appreciated. Thanks!

When A Four Year Old Goes Wild.....

with her mother's camera you may end up with pictures like this!