I'm Blessed...

that these kids call me mama...

I'm in fact SO blessed by these kids, that when I'm asked the dreaded question:  "What are you going to do with three kids under three?" 

I can, with confidence say, "Have a lot of fun!"

how silly.

this would mark my THIRD blog post in one day. Funny because I went about two weeks with no blogging. I guess I have spurts of blogginess or something.

Or it could be that I can't sleep.

I wonder how many blog posts have been written all because of my insomnia. I bet a handful... probably two handfulls.

Anywho... its closing in on midnight. I'm in the bedroom... typing/facebooking/jack johnson stalking/editing all with LOLA snoring next to me.

Where's Ryan??? He's on his hands and knees- scrubbing the floors. He's been scrubbing them for close to 4 hours. FOUR HOURS. All I can say is that I'm pretty lucky that I have a husband who takes his stress out by cleaning rather than say, drinking... or some other bad habit.

I'm having a really hard time sleeping lately (what's new?)- but I think the recent bouts of insomnia are due to the craziness that is my life. I haven't gone a day in the past hmmm... MONTH?!?! without shedding at least one tear. This can't be healthy.

So... in an attempt to get myself to sleep, I'm going to count sheep/my blessings with you...


.I have 2 beautiful, healthy children
.I have 1 adoring, faithful husband
.I have strong family... distance won't untie us
.I have 2 talented sisters, who may be far away, but are always on my mind.
.I have a roof over my head
.I have like 3 boxes of k cups in my cupboard
.I have a big cookout/luau party on Friday with good friends
.I have an 80.00 check on my fridge written out to ME for MY PHOTOGRAPHY :)
.I have "Florida windows" in my bedroom- which open out perfectly for me to hear the rain
.I picked my first cucumber today (out of my own garden of course)
.Ryan is starting his job at U of M soon
.We're "showing" our house on Sunday (just to friends... who ARE interested- but its not a REAL showing)
.I was told that I was loved by my daughter, my husband, mom, dad and grandma today.
.I have the ability to control how something is going to affect me... I might not have control over the situation- but I can control how I respond to it
.I have a bottle of tosti asti that is screaming at me from the fridge (maybe this weekend?)
.I found a painting from 1984 (the year I was born) at St.Vincent Paul Thriftstore- of sailboats. It reminds me of St. Augustine... I bought it :)
.I got a text from a good friend today, just asking how I was doing
.I have acupuncture tomorrow
.I have two healthy legs that took me on a nice, long walk tonight.
.my scale now reads in the 120s. HALLELUJAH.
.I cashed in loose coins today at a coinstar and got 32 bucks.
.it rained today. I took my camera out, sat down and watched it. There is something very refreshing about crying with the rain
.I have an engagement shoot tomorrow with a sickengly adorable couple :)
.It's cookies and cream custard day at Culvers. (cancel out the walk, mentioned above)
.I have a God that lets me start each day new.
.I have a God that lets me mess up, say stupid stuff, do dumb things and still gives me a second, third, fourth, etc. etc. etc. chance
.I have a God that will pick me up and get me through this cloudy fog.
.I have sleepy eyes that are finally starting to burn and shut.


Good night. :)

Can I Turn to You?

Taking a quick break from Disney posts... I have insomnia again. My husband has resorted to sleeping out on the couch because I can't turn off the computer/TV/blackberry. Not because I'm addicted to anything in particular or talking with anyone but because I CANNOT SLEEP. I have waves of thought streaming through my brain... I wish I had an "off" button. But sadly, I don't. So, I am turning to the blog, to you to get some thoughts out and perhaps, just maybe I can type myself to sleep. Highly doubtful but worth a try.

-Yesterday afternoon I DVR'd an episode of Dr.Phil- normally he drives me nuts and I avoid his shows at all costs but I was running out of DVRd shows and I needed to make sure I had SOMETHING to watch at 3 AM. Anywho, back to the show. I ended up watching it around midnight or so- Ryan was once again on the couch- but this time it was because Henry was up and making noise and he felt like he could sleep better out in the living room...hmmm :) The show was about animal abuse- normally its not a title that would grab my attention- not that I'm NOT interested in animal abuse or rather, the prevention of animal abuse, its just not a HUGE interest of mine... like if the show would've been on anorexia or cancer or cheating scandals (haha-trashy I know) I would've been more excited to watch it. So where am I going with all of this? I was GLUED to the dang TV. Like fast forwarding through the commercials at lightening speed to get to the next segment- I was so appalled and taken aback by the way some people out there treat animals. I guess I had no clue how much abuse was really going on. I still obviously think child abuse takes precedence to animal abuse, however, its nonetheless pretty sickening. SO sickening, that I went out to the living room and dragged my 50 lb sleeping boxer back to the bedroom and made her snuggle with me. I scratched her ears and gave her a little head rub... and then I fell asleep dreaming about living on a farm (yes, this is a common dream) and adopting a few dogs. Hmmm... we shall see.

-I am photographing a birth tomorrow morning/afternoon/?evening? And I'm scared out of my brain. It's a good friend (ANGIE :) and I know she's going to do great but I'm nervous about seeing her in pain- seeing too much!?!? and missing PRIME-NEVER-GET-BACK moments. I love, love, love photography and I am loving all the practice I'm getting in with friends and family and I LOVE that Angie has entrusted me to capture these precious moments- but I am so intimidated! I am by NO MEANS a pro- but I'm going to give it my best shot. (hey- no pun intended! :) Not sure if Angie's going to post any of the pics or not... but if she does, I will make sure to post a few here... and I'm also planning on putting together a slide show for her- again, if she decides to share it, I will be sure to share it with you all also...

-Ryan got me a memory foam pillow for mothers day. To be fair, I asked for it (not for mothers day) but just randomly said "I want that." To be honest- its giving me a terrible neck ache. But I feel too bad to tell him :)

-I am beaming- BURSTING with pride. Maeve had her ballet pictures today and though she didn't POSE per say, she DID do her dances! And that's the really important part, right?? She is getting to be so big... I can hardly take it. I find myself listening to super sappy songs in the car and bawling my eyes out thinking about how my BABIES are growing too fast. Along with an "off" button for my brain, I'd also like a "pause" button on my kids :)

-speaking of my kids- here are some quick updates on both of them:
Maeve- boo boo queen. I've even started calling her "boo boo." Maybe its because she's been outside more and therefore, more active? I have no clue- but this past week she has managed to get a black eye (stick fighting with Sammie), a bruised back (falling off the side of the couch) and a bent back toe nail (stubbed it on Lord knows what). She kind of looks like she's been through a battle.
Mr. Man isn't doing too hot- well his roseola IS better- but his skin continues to be a problem. We aren't controlling it with the steroid creams which isn't good... we take him back in a couple of weeks to have his trunk looked at again (the eczema has spread to over 90% of his body) and if its still bad, we'll be referred up to the U. Half of me wants to go up there so maybe we can get SOME sort of help- I really had no clue how big of a deal eczema was- I think I've said it a thousand times before, that I thought it was just dry skin... but apparently when its covering such a large surface area, the risk of infections goes way up. And of course there's the whole scarring issue. He has 2 really bad spots on his hands that are literally pussing and blistering as we speak- they're AWFUL looking. We put a glove on him at night ( a baby glove, mind you:) but it always comes off in the morning and he's sucking on those spots again. Ughhh I know there are many, MANY worse things in life... I'm just sleep deprived and complaining.

-I miss Disney. I miss FL. I want another vacation. I asked Ryan if we could go on a Disney cruise. He said if I could find one for 50 bucks we're in. Guess its not happening anytime soon.

-I feel so blessed- my life has really rounded out lately. I have my two beautiful, healthy children, my wonderful husband, my amazing family, my house is in order (for the most part...), and what's really rounded out my world are my new girlfriends. They're not really NEW- I've known them for awhile now, but I guess we've just recently started hanging out (occasionally!) without the kids- and we've started talking about deeper issues than who's kid had the biggest poo. I treasure their friendship- I swear, some days just getting a phone call or a message from one of them, keeps me sane for the day! :) Jess, Les, Angie, Angela, Suz you guys rock :)

-Someone needs to ban me from watching "Monsters Inside Me" and "River Monsters." Really.



Alright... I think that about does it for my random ramblings. I am actually tired now... maybe just maybe... I....can...sleeeeeep....

Mr.Man's WCC

Henry had his "well child check" yesterday morning (preceded by my Michigan heart appointment... more on that later).

He was a happy babe through the whole appointment... we got the go-ahead for SOLIDS- not just rice cereal (which I started a couple of weeks ago) but SOLIDS- WOW! I was shocked and happy! :) When Dr.Williams asked how much food he's taking and I replied with "ohhh, about 30-35 oz." She looked a little surprised and said it was time to start him on some stage one foods :)

This kid means business when he eats and I had this feeling he needed more than just his bottle. We're on day 2 of peas and he's loving them. And I mean, LOVING THEM. He attacks the spoon and has the strength of 10 babies as he tries to shove the goods in. And here's what shocked me most- he eats the peas like he's been eating for years. He, on his first day of eating solids, did better than Maeve ever really did with baby food. He knows just how to take it in, gum it, and swallow it. He's definitely a foodie.

He got 1 out of 2 shots yesterday and he took 'em like the manly man he is. Just a few quick tears and then was settled as soon as a paci was stuck in his mouth. We didn't get the prevnar because apparently its been recalled. Scary. But Dr. Williams told me that it was recalled because of the color of the caps. Hmmm... anyways glad we avoided that one for now because as the nurse put it, "prevnar is the 'bad' one." I am all for vaccinating, but it still scares the heebie jeebies out of me that one of these days the vaccinations will be proven to cause something in kids.

ANYWHO, onto big boy's stats:

at 4 months (and a week) Henry is weighing in at 15 lbs. 2 oz. (50th percentile in weight)

he is 26 inches long (75th percentile in height)

and... totally forgot his head circumference. I DID ask for the doc to make sure it looked okay because to me, it looks a little bulgy but she said it was on track and all babies have a little bit of head distortion. She said the more he's on his tummy the more it will "even out."


Milestones:
rolling from front to back
rolling from back to front
cooing/laughing/"talking"


His skin is looking AWESOME! YEA!!!!!!! Dr.Williams thinks its a combo of the 5% cream and the weather. She told me to continue using the cream ONLY on the "bad spots" as needed. She also told us to continue with the zantac.

...and that about sums it up right now :) Again, we're thankful and feeling incredibly blessed to have 2 healthy & happy kids.

Update on the KIDS :)

This past week has been spent playing with and organizing all the toys Maeve & Henry got for Christmas. By far, Maeve's favorite "toy" was given to her by my grandma, her "Gigi." It's this light up jewelry box that is FULL of "pretty-fulls." Maeve takes each and every bracelet on and off, one by one. It's adorable to watch... and again, makes me feel so blessed to have a girl- and a girly girl at that! :)



My BOY is doing some new things lately too- check out Henry's latest and greatest accomplishments:
Here's Henry mastering the art of screaming for more milk.


Here's the dude working so hard to lift up that big noggin of his.


Henry threatening his first punch... and thinking "Maeve if you take my nuk one more time..." :)



And he's of course, practicing the art of lounging on the couch & watching football.


I am having such a blast with these two- even on the hardest days, I go to bed feeling like I am the luckiest woman alive. :)

birthdays.

I LOVE birthdays! Love, love, love them! I know I already talked about plans for this weekend, but I thought for memories sake I'd blog about my half a century birthday :)

Unfortunately, I've caught whatever every other kid/mother has in Jackson county- a sore throat, runny nose and headache... UGH. I thought it was allergies but with all the facebook status updates about sick kiddos and parents, I'm thinking I've got a virus. Maeve also woke up yesterday from her nap with a runny nose- but she seems to be fully recovered today- weird a bad runny nose that lasted for 1 night... Anyways, Ryan knew I wasn't feeling great so he woke up early this morning to do a coffee/breakfast run... the best part about it was that he took Maeve with him, so I got to sleep for an extra 30 minutes or so. When they got back, the two of them joined me in bed for some spongebob & breakfast. It was a really nice start to my day :) After breakfast, Ryan had to get to work and I had to get Maeve ready for a morning with Nana... My mom had gotten me 3 gift certificates for my bday- one to get my hair done (YEA!), another to get a pedi and another for a MOBY WRAP!!! WAHOOO!!! I had a great time at the salon and left feeling half way decent looking... I met my mom, Maeve and my dad for lunch at Darryls (which is usually my fave. place in Jackson to eat, but the service was so terrible today that Darryl- the big guy :) COMPED our entire lunch- but yeah, the service was BAD- I didn't even get my entree- EVER! I ended up coming home and eating a bowl of cereal for lunch...
After lunch, it was naptime and Maeve must've known it was my bday because she slept for a solid 3 hours- it was heaven :)
After nap, the doorbell rang & my grandma had balloons, flowers and candy delivered- what a great surprise! And Maeve was thrilled- she loves visitors of anysort, but especially visitors who bring balloons and candy :)
Ryan got home around 5:30 with flowers in hand (WOW more flowers!: ) And we decided to just do a simple meal at home- I wasn't feeling the greatest and after our 2 hour lunch I didn't want to make Maeve sit in a high chair in a restaurant. Dinner was great, but the best part was the coca cola cake from cracker barrel- AHHHH!! Awesome :)
Overall, it was a terrific day- like I said, I wish I had been feeling better... but I have the best friends & family :) Super blessed... and now I'm looking forward to a weekend of just me, RYAN & MAEVE- cannot wait!!!!!!