Attempt at more frequent posts

So in an attempt to post more often, I've downloaded "blogger" for my phone. Who thinks it'll work and who thinks I'll still post infrequently. We'll see I guess! = )

Nightmare of a Sunday

**TMI warning. If you don't want to read about it don't read this post. This is a journal for me as well as family to follow us.**

So last Sunday was the worst day of our lives. We never want to repeat that day if at all possible! We were expecting our sweet baby in September (not sure if I had blogged about it yet). Anyway, we were looking so forward to welcoming this new blessing into our lives.

Well, Friday started off normal until the evening. I started having some bleeding. This wasn't to concerning because I had a pocket of blood next to my amniotic sack. My doctor confirmed that and told me not to worry. Saturday the bleeding continued, and into Sunday. I woke up Sunday after sleeping in until 11:30am with some cramping. This is definitely something you DON'T want to experience while preggers. I texted my girlfriend and she urged me to go into the ER. I didn't want to of course because I would have to figure where to have my kids go, and I didn't want to come to grips just yet about what was actually happening.

John came in to discuss the grocery list and saw me leaning over our bed. I was hurting. John could tell. He came over and asked if I was ok, which of course I wasn't. He hugged me, told me we were going to the ER and it was non-negotiable. So John ran the kids to my friends, came home got me and headed to the ER. We got there and checked me in and got to our room. When we walked in, the nurse who was in the room asked, "so what's going on today?" I burst into tears. John told her we were thinking I was going through a miscarriage.

They got me into the gurney, I calmed down so I could answer questions and they did a fetal heart tones. Nothing. That was devastating. They kept saying that its hard to find and that they have a better machine. They were saying it could be a UTI. I knew it wasn't. While we were waiting for what came next (doctor's exam, pelvic etc.) I felt like I had to go to the bathroom, lots of pressure and cramps. I walked to the bathroom and as I walked in felt a gush. Luckily the nurse was already walking my way. She looked at me, I said help, she got me situated to get back to my room. As I walked into my room, the 2nd gush. My heart dropped. After the nurses got me cleaned up and into bed they had the doctor come in to do the pelvic. He confirmed that it was a complete miscarriage meaning I wouldn't need a D&C. Thankfully.

He was very sweet. John was amazing. I was a wreck. Once we were discharged and got home I stayed in bed for the rest of the night. John took off Monday and took care of me. My energy was zapped, I was mourning the loss of our baby, our future, our newest blessing and my kids were heartbroken, especially Brookie who kept saying; "I don't want the baby to leave." H.E.A.R.T.B.R.E.A.K.I.N.G.

It was an emotional week. For someone who doesn't cry, I sure cried A LOT. Now that we are a week out things seem a little more normal. I'm still sad and asking a million and ten questions but I know that this little one was only in my belly for 11 weeks 6 days for a reason. We will never forget our little peanut. We chose a name, Riley Vitus. We are getting tattoos for this baby. We never knew if it were a boy or a girl but we want to commemorate him/her. We will always have sweet Riley in our hearts. Thanks to everyone for listening (I'm a talker it helps me), for being there, your kind words, prayers, etc. They have meant the world to us!! We love you all!

Oops, its been WAY to long!

WOW, has it really been close to a year since I last posted? How embarrassing. I need to get back into the blogging world! I enjoy sharing and journal about our lives and knowing that I will have it to share with my family for years to come! A lot has happened but yet nothing that new and extraordinary.

Aidan is in 1st grade now and 6.5 years old! He loves school and is a natural born leader! He is constantly helping others and is "teaching" his sister how to do things. He is currently playing basketball and LOVES it!! Oh my word! He is quite the celebrator! He played soccer this fall and plays at every recess, or that's what he tells me. He'll play baseball (coach pitch) this year and he's excited to start again! Aidan is doing boy scouts as well and is enjoying it a lot as well!

Brooke is enjoying being a little mom and playing with her dolls all day. She is a fiery and moody little girl and very expressive! We love her little mood swings and are wondering what the teenage years will bring! We might be in trouble. She wants to do everything that her brother is doing. She plays at his basketball practice and wants to be out with him. She is our active little spitfire!! We just love it!

John is super busy as usual with UPS. Lay-offs have started and he has been laid off once so far this year (yesterday), and was then called in about 30 minutes later and asked to work. So I guess technically he wasn't laid off. I don't get it. He was out late and had a ton of work. They really needed him yet called him off?? I don't get it. He loves to play with our kids and is such a good daddy. I just wish we had more hours in our weekends because they fly by WAY to fast!!

As for me, I keep busy with the kids mostly, but also co-coordinating the Moppets program for our MOPS group. I also am still doing the childcare for the Womens bible study. I no longer am nannying which makes me sad because they were like family since I had been with them for 5 years, but kids grow-up and I am no longer needed. I am also keeping busy with my Arbonne business and growing and teaching others about how to keep themselves healthy and safe. I am striving to help educate others that what they are using is potentially causing them cancer! Scary thought.

Anyway, this was sort of an update on everything, and I am hoping to continue to update the blog but we shall see if that actually happens!! Hugs to you all! = )

Easter 2011

This year we had a different Easter. It was just what the doctor ordered though. As you know the night before Brookie broke her foot, so we decided to scrap attempting Church on Easter morning with both kiddos, one who wasn't exactly mobile anymore. Instead we decided to leisurely get up and find and open baskets with the kids and then have a nice breakfast before heading over to Nana's.

John and I decided on a yummy omelet station. Or rather we decided to do "Mexican" omelets with all sorts of things that you usually find in a typical Mexican meal (or at least for us). We had hamburger meat that was seasoned, avocado, sour cream, mushrooms, onions, olives, salsa and more! We made them to order!! John asked us each what we wanted on our omelet and then made them. The kids had a simple cheese and meat omelet while John and I had all the fixings. It was SO good and SO big!!! Each omelet was ginormous!! I couldn't finish mine! I also made my "monkey bread," my name for Paula Deen's recipe for coffee cake. The kids LOVED it, as did John and I. We even had juice for breakfast. We don't have juice in our house typically so it was a special treat!

After breakfast we got ready and headed to my moms. It was relaxing and laid back over there too!! We just hung out, had a yummy meal and then hung out some more! By the time we were ready to go it was 6pm!! We came home and relaxed the rest of the night and then back to the grind on Monday. It was the perfect way to have a holiday!! Low key, no stress, and not a lot of craziness!! We loved it!! We were disappointed to not be able to go to John's parents house though. With Brooke's foot we decided that being in one location was probably the best idea. We didn't feel it was in her best interest to go all over the day after breaking a bone. They were disappointed (as were we) but understood too. Hope your Easter was wonderful and you were able to celebrate with family!

Influenza Type A (Swine Flu)

We can officially say that we have had the swine flu now and are no worse for wear! I started feeling icky on April 2nd with a cold. You know the kind, sore throat, stuffy, stuffed ears, ect. Sunday I woke up with a low grade fever and by that night it was about 103+. John wasn't working on Monday so he called my doctor and got me in. The doc examined me and determined it was a cold that had to run its course. Right before she left she said worse case scenario would be the flu. She said it was up to me to take the flu test and would be surprised if it came out positive. I took it and it was positive for Influenza Type A. I didn't realize it was Swine flu until I researched it later that day. Yikes!!! I was on Tamiflu which helped TONS!!

I ended up sleeping all day (and I mean ALL day) on Monday and Tuesday I felt a ton better. Still a bit feverish but nothing like I was. So, John was on Tamiflu too since he has asthma. By Wednesday night Aidan had come down with it too. I took him to the doctor and sure enough. Aidan had it less than me but still not as mild as I would hope for him. Brooke was next and she was less than Aidan on symptoms. They both had it for about 24-48 hours. John was the last to have it and he barely had any symptoms. I was a bit jealous. It was a long week in our household but we were so glad when we had all recovered.

If I had to choose what type of flu to have I definitely would choose this type because even though I felt horrible I didn't have the barfyness that sometimes accompanies the flu. I really hope no one has to go through this but it was nice to know that it was very common as of late (according to our pediatrician) and he had seen a ton of cases in the last two weeks. We still are getting the typical colds but nothing like the flu!! Hope everyone has stayed healthy this year!

Brooke's broken bone part 2

So, the ongoing saga. The ER asked us to follow up in a week with our pediatrician. I called on Monday and they suggested that since the placement of her break was hard to break that I should go to Children's Hospital Ortho. I made an appointment with Children's Ortho for 3 days later. LONGEST 3 days of my life!!!!! We ended up there at Children's on a Thursday at 6:30pm. My mom went with me so that I had a second set of years. Our doctor was FABULOUS!!!!! She was thorough and warm and friendly. She worked well with my shy and cautious little girl (cautious around people she's unfamiliar with). We determined that Brooke did not have a fracture in her foot (the cuneiform bone) but instead had a toddler fracture.

She determined this by manipulation of the foot and shin/lower leg. Also pressure on the foot and shin/lower leg. Brooke was almost smiling while she was pressing and twisting and examining her foot but once she moved to her shin/lower leg Brooke's face turned to concern. I hardly noticed. The doctor said this was exactly what she was looking for. No x-rays were needed since this is hard to see on an x-ray. I researched later and learned more about this type of fracture. The term they gave the type of fracture was called a toddler fracture.

So we had options. We could cast her, put a walking boot on her or do nothing and let it just be like nothing had ever happened. I was leaning toward casting until I saw the top of her foot and heal. She was developing sores where her skin was breaking down, sort of like bed sores. I felt badly for her. We decided to do nothing. We had a follow up in a week. By the time we went in, Brooke had just started walking again although a bit unsteady. The doc saw her was VERY impressed and said that Brooke was healing beautifully! We made yet another follow-up appointment for 3 weeks out. The docs exact words were...."make the appointment, if she's doing ok, don't come, just don't show up, no need to call and cancel. BUT if she's not doing better, I want to see her again!" We kept the appointment and just canceled it this morning since the appointment is this Thursday.

Brookie is acting like nothing ever happened!! I'm so happy that this wasn't anything that would affect her long term! The only thing that has happened since the foot incident was that she was grabbing a jar of strawberry jam (a full jar) of the counter and it fell and landed on her big toe. Her toe is colorful but not broken or anything. Poor girl was accident prone that few weeks!! Let's hope we have a long time between broken bones!!!

Brooke's broken bone part 1

Over the Easter weekend we wanted to have an outdoor egg hunt with Katie and her family and my mom at mom's house. Needless to say the weather didn't appear to want to cooperate on Easter Sunday. So mom called me while we were watching Aidan's t-ball game and asked if we could come over after for an impromptu egg hunt. Of course we were up for it. So we headed over to Nana's house and enjoyed playing outside until Katie got there with her family.

Once the eggs were placed, we all hunted and found eggs. It was a wonderful and fun filled hunt! The kids had a blast and I think Brookie finally started to understand the concept.....kind of. We'll get there.

We all hung out after the actual hunt for a few hours and we were getting ready to leave but first mom and I were swinging on her wooden swing out back and chatting with Katie. Next thing we knew, was that Brookie (who was playing right in front of us) started crying. We couldn't figure it out. She walked inside and was looking for John. We decided that was our cue to go home. She hadn't napped yet and it was 5:30 at night.

She fell asleep on the way home and we put her in her bed. John ran to the store because I was baking a ton of food for the next day. I had to clean the kitchen, make dinner, start baking what I could, and overall just pick up our house. Brookie woke up while John was gone. She was crying and wouldn't calm down. Not unusual for her some days. We cuddled and watched some TV while she tried waking up. I turned on Caillou for her and went to work on dinner some more. She then tried to come to me.

She walked a few feet and then crawled the rest of the way. I tried to get her to walk but she freaked out. I knew then that we had a problem. So I frantically tried to call John to no avail. When he finally walked through the front door with his arms full of groceries I didn't even say hi, my first words were "something is wrong with Brooke's foot/leg and you need to take her to the ER right now!" He looked at me like what the heck. I explained further and he tried to get her to walk, again to lots of tears. So, he took her and I was a wreck at home waiting. I hate not knowing and having to wait for answers. He kept me up to speed with texts and picture messages but still it wasn't the same. I was antsy. I kept family and friends up to speed on Facebook but it still wasn't enough.

Aidan didn't want to go to bed until he was able to see Brooke so he stayed up. John finally texted saying it was a broken foot. AHHHHHH!!!! I couldn't believe it!! Doesn't surprise me that my daring child would have the first break but I felt awful!!! I felt like a bad mom even though it could happen to anyone. They came home and she had a wonderful pink splint and wrap on. That was a chore to keep on. She slept well and did fairly well with it. Stay tuned for the rest of the saga!

Swim Lessons!!

So the last night we were in our old apartment was the start of sign-ups for swim lessons. I got on my computer at midnight and saw that I could register. SO, of course I jumped on the chance of registering. I was beyond thrilled!! We have been meaning to sign Aidan up for ages and have just never gotten around to it.

We wanted both kids to have some water knowledge before summer so we signed Brooke up for some parent-baby class. She loved it but was to shy to do much of anything until the last class or so. She was more than capable of doing all the things the instructor asked of us, but her sweet shy self wouldn't do them. Oh well. We opted to keep her out of the second session and will try again next fall/winter.

Aidan on the other hand was 1) the biggest kid in the class (surprise surprise) 2) a complete fish and 3) I thought to advanced for the class. That is until it came to back float. He sunk like a ship. So one day while Brooke and I were in lessons, John swam with Aidan and worked on his back float. That night at his class, he surprised his instructor and was floating like a pro!!! Needless to say the level that you stay in the longest, was only one session worth! We are so proud of the little man!!! He's our little fish!!! He is doing so well in the next level although is complaining that its to hard. We try and explain that it will get easier but he still says its hard. He does so great and always has a smile during class. We are probably taking a break throughout the summer since we'll be swimming most every day at our pool anyway. I expect come fall when we get back into lessons he'll be swimming like a pro!

I'm so thankful that both my kids LOVE the water so much but at the same time its harder with Brookie because she has no fear and will jump in without a second thought if we don't watch her and she gets to excited. We can't wait to be more fish like throughout this summer!!

Aidan's first year in T-ball

Aidan is playing T-ball this year on a team called the Rockhounds!! He is having a ball. He amazes us each time he throws the ball at how good his little arm is. I think I have a future Mariners on our hands. He can hit the heck out of the ball as well. He constantly is asking when we can go to the next practice and wishes he still had practices twice a week. Before games started, they held practices 2 times a week but the league only allows T-ballers (as far as I know) to hold 1 practice and 1 game a week for a total of 2 events. I think its perfect for the little guys.


Aidan has made new friends on the team that are also at Einstein. It's fun! John has been home on Wednesday's for the most part so he leaves me home and he and the kids go to practice (at Aidan's school). It's a little time for me to decompress, start the crockpot if needed, prep dinner, or just veg. I usually feel badly vegging and do laundry or dishes or pick up. Something productive. I usually join the kids at practice about 40 min before its over. Brookie does really good at sitting on the side of the field and just hanging out having snacks or reading a book or watching the practice. Sometimes she even plays on the equipment. John has been helping with practice each week he has off and he is LOVING it!!


John said he would coach if he could be off by a certain time each day. But since he can't and it varies day to day that he works he helps when he can. We have definitely had a few "proud parent" moments. When Aidan does something that we have never shown him or throws the ball super accurately or whatever we are definitely proud. We have fun arguments over who he got that skill from.

We definitely have a little athlete on our hands!! Can't wait to see how much he improves between now and the end of the season! I will definitely be signing the little man up for T-ball camp this summer!! Go Rockhounds!

Catch up....

So, its been 2 1/2 months since the last post. So much for doign better blogging this year. Oh well. I can only do better I figure. This blog post is just an update for blogs that I will be writing in the next day or so. I think I will have a lot of down time coming up. So......here goes!!

-our big move!!!
-T-ball
-swim lessons for both kiddos
-UPS and lay-offs
-Easter weekend
-first broken bone in the family
-Influenza type A sweeping through the ENTIRE family...

SO, as you can tell on top of normal daily life things have been a bit busy here. Stay tuned over the course of the next few for more fun blogs!!

Life is C-R-A-Z-Y!!!

WOW, what a year we have been and its not even 1/3 over yet! The biggest news is we are moving. It's only 3 minutes up the street but it's still a move. I'm not going to get into it right now because it needs its own post. Let's just say we are beyond tired of the apartment complex's BS that its time to move on even if things are going to be stressful and tight financially speaking. We know we are doing the right thing for our family but its still sad to think that our first "home" we ever lived in together we are moving out of. Things come to an end.

Aidan is doing well, and making new friends at school and in our complex. I feel so guilty about moving away from his first "real" friends that he made on his own accord, but it's not like he won't see them at school. He is amazing when it comes to math. We are blown out of the water daily by his smarts when it comes to math. He also read his first book to me last night (or at least a few pages). I was so proud that I videotaped it and posted it to Facebook. So if you have FB check it out and if not let me know and I'll post it elsewhere. I am so anxious for him to read its not even funny. I know in due time but I LOVE reading and want him to feel the same way! We signed the little guy up for T-ball and applied for the scholarship since this is "lay-off's" for John and he got a full scholarship!!! We are so excited as is he!! Bring on T-ball!! Wahoo!!

Miss Brooke, is 2 and shows it and is a fiesty spirited little girl. She is showing interest in going potty on the potty and even TMI section-pooped on the potty today for the first time!! Hooray!! She is enjoying playing with her friends at the YMCA, MOPS, Gaurdians & Angels, and wherever else she can make friends. She always asks when she can play with "fends." She keeps us on our toes and loves to push our buttons and test the boundries.

John is doing well. He's "laid off" daily at this point but his boss' aren't following contract rules so John still goes in 100% ready to work. It's annoying that they can't follow how things are suppose to be done and now the union wants him to continue because their stand is that he needs more notice that he's laid off than what he is given. It's a whole can of worms, and really confusing. I'm SO proud of him for standing up for what he knows is the truth even when his boss tries to get his goat and get him to react. This morning when his boss saw him at work (after they gave him the 1 hour notice of being laid off) he wouldn't even look John in the eye. OH well. John is standing up for his contract and the union is backing him which is good.

As for me I'm keeping busy doing it all as usual. I am packing boxes and have many more to go. I wish I had a bit more help packing but I don't right now so I'll make do. I'm hoping that we can get everything packed so that last week we are in the current apartment we are just doing the last little bit and doing more cleaning than anything else. We'll see. I've lost my debit card and license more times than I can count in the last few weeks with all the craziness that I am beginning to loose my mind. I found the debit but not the license...hmmmm don't know where it is.

Anyhoo, its 12:15am adn I need sleep before I work in the AM. Hope you are all well and I really feel as if I wrote our Christmas letter all over again even though I haven't. I'll update more soon.....I hope. Life is just crazy in general and probably won't slow down until we get settled. Wish us luck!!

Going Private

Ok, everyone as of the first of the year I'm going private. I have had a lot of comments lately from people I don't know and most of it is jibberish, so if you read our blog and want to continue please let me know and I'll add you to my blog list!!

Megan

Wowzers!! Been awhile

Well, I did have a few blogs that I wanted to post but wasn't able to since I somehow couldn't get it from a Word document into blogger. Anyone know how to do that let me know because the blogs are already written and ready to be uploaded!!

We have had a year. I am currently in Ohio right now because my Grandpa just passed a week ago. It was a great thing to come out here with my mom and sibs and get to say good-bye to Grandpa and grieve with family, but at the same time its surreal because we just saw him in July.

I am really fortunate and blessed to have had all my grandparents alive until 4 years ago. I know that many friends have lost thier grandparents a long time ago or never even knew them for that matter. I am SO blessed.

School is going well for Aidan. He LOVES it and LOVES Miss Russell (John actually graduated HS with her and I believe they also went to Junior High as well). He can't wait to go each day and comes home sharing all he learned that day. He is also doing soccer through the YMCA (indoor) and Religious Education. I think he's enjoying both although I think he is pretty tired by the end of the day and those activities are both in the 4pm hour. He is also doing speech on Mondays through the school district and gets to ride the bus in the AM on Mondays to go to speech. This way I don't have to sit and wait for him and try to entertain a busy girl!! He is doing so well in speech, I'm so excited for him!!

Brookie is showing her almost 2 side!! She is such a spitfire and dramatic and emotional at times. Then again she has the sweetest and most loving demeanor about her as well! I just love this girl so much! She has been such a joy for John and I. After having a boy, she is so different to parent!! We are so blessed by 2 beautiful wonderful children!! Brooke LOVES her brother like nothing else. She is upset when we put Aidan on the bus because she doesn't understand where he is going and when she wakes up from naps she thinks its time to get him immediately. Not always the case. She throws tantrums over not getting to go get him when she wakes up. But the best is when we pick Aidan up, she squeals and gets so darn excited over seeing his bus!! It's very sweet and warms my heart knowing shes so excited to see him!! I just love it!!

John and I are well, we are headed to Disneyland next Saturday and then to San Diego in 2 weeks. It should be a great trip but spendy. I can't wait to make memories with my kiddos!! I will definitely post a blog and pics after that trip. Gotta scoot, going to spend some time with my cousins before we leave tomorrow AM.

Oopsy, has it been that long really!!!

April....yikes. That's just embarrassing. There are a few blogs that I have written and tried to copy and paste and haven't been able to. I don't want to have to just type it all out again, but just might so that I can catch everyone up!! In the meantime, I will update you on recent shenanigans!!

We went to Ohio from June 30-July 14. It was a miserable flight out and back and let's just say I will NEVER fly AirTran again in my life unless they give us free passes. It's awful. Anyhoo, we had an amazing time, but of course our time flew by way to quickly!!! I don't honestly remember the last time that Melanie (my cousins) and I were able to celebrate our birthdays together (she's July 4th for those who don't know and mine is July 11th) so it was very cool to actually do that this year!! My mom was so sweet to throw me a wonderfully yummy dinner on my birthday and we invited everyone who was local and who was able to make it. It was so fun because that was our last night being able to see our family before we headed home on Tuesday. Also, John came out the day before and he was able to see everyone!

We got home and spent the day unpacking and recouping and then John was back to the grind on Thursday. I was very thankful he was able to join us in Ohio for 2 days and then able to stay home the day we flew in. Considering we had a ton of delays and "weather" issues with AirTran we didn't get to our apartment until 4am. It SUCKED!!!! Anyhow, we had 3 days that week and he had a 2 day work week which was nice.

A week after we got home, Aidan had surgery. He had his adenoids and tonsils removed and was a trooper!! I will post pics and a full blog about that soon.

We participated in the Swedish SummeRun on July 25th (day after our anniversary!!). The SummeRun was to benefit Ovarian Cancer which my Aunt is fighting and doing a very impressive job at if I say so myself. We had issues getting there, such as Aidan had a hard night and woke up in A LOT of pain from his incisions and by the time we finally got him to sleep we had only 4 hours sleep before we had to get up. Not to mention we were exhausted because we had been dosing him with pain meds around the clock. We woke up at the time we were suppose to drop off the kids and dropped them off about 20 minutes late....ooops. As we were getting on 520 my sister calls and says shes stranded on the side of the freeway and her car is dead. We saved her and took her and the girls down to Seattle (actually her friend drove her and followed us). We got there at the time the 10K was finishing. We walked about 1/3 to 1/2 of the race with friends and family. After we went to my moms for yummy food and family!!

That brought us to this past week, Aidan had T-ball camp at 12 days post-op. I was so nervous and wanted him to do well but not to be in pain. He did GREAT!! I'll also post about this soon. It's been a busy week/summer for us. I wanted to just say hi and let y'all know I am still alive.

As I have been typing this John just booked us our first camping spot!! He and I have NEVER camped together. Surprising after 11 years together!! Obviously it will be the kiddos first trip ever too. So in about 2 weeks we will be experiencing 2 nights of camping!! Wish us luck!! Stay tuned for more updates and I promise I will be better at posting!!

In a rut much??

So, I have decided that I have been in a MAJOR rut on the blog front. Let's catch up on what is going on.....

John-been out of work since February 1st. He worked the first Thursday of February, but that's it. He still has his job but UPS doesn't have enough work for him. It is stressful, frustrating, annoying, hard, but it also brings us closer because we have to stay strong and not let the frustrations of this hard time get to us and affect our relationship not only as husband and wife but as parents.

We have been enjoying our time at home with Daddy though. We have taken a few trips.....once to visit my cousin in Oak Harbor, and then up to Birch Bay. So it has been fun. We have never really done impromptu trips so this has been a first and after both trips we realized that we need a bigger car. It's hard to pack us all in and all the stuff that goes along with traveling and a pack n play and everything else. We made it though.

John is keeping busy with the kids and enjoying them immensely.

Brookie and Aidan-they both have had ear infections, sinus infections, strep throat (Aidan), and cold after cold. It has been a busy last few months. Aidan is going to get a consult on his tonsils/adenoids for possible removal. We have that appointment in May and he has a hearing eval at the end of this month. I feel a bit guilty I didn't pick up on possible hearing issues with him but the only reason my pediatrician said anything was because of how he speaks. It was just a random thing that she caught when she walked in the room. Could have been because of the double ear infection but his speech is still hard to understand and i have a referral for speech therapy and I am holding off on it until I have the hearing eval done. I might schedule it for mid-May though.

Brookie is growing and busy as usual and is trying to talk like no other. It's lots of fun!!!! She is throwing tantrums though and that is stressful, but funny. John's patience is always tested when she is throwing a fit because he usually has Aidan poking his buttons at the same time. It's usually just a simple "Brookie" in an exasperated tone towards Brooke and I know exactly what he's thinking.....he walks away and usually sits and looks at me and smiles as if to say, 'here we go again!!!' It's rather funny. He is a wonderful dad to know that he needs to walk away from Aidan pushing his buttons and Brookie throwing herself on the ground because she can't sit on the counter in the kitchen. He's such a good dad and she is learning what she can get away with and what isn't ok.

Me-wow, sick off and on since February and working on my jobs that I have had to help out while John is not working. I have enjoyed my time with John but at the same time, I'm ready for him to be back at work. It's all good though.

Anyhoo, we had a great Easter, been busy getting things done around the apartment but not being as successful as we had hoped. Keeping our fingers crossed that we can get it done before he goes back to work. Off to bed now. Nighty night!!!

Hello, I'm still here!

Ok, I know I need to get better. I just get busy doing other things and tell myself that I will do this later. SO what's new. Not much.

John
-laid off since Feb. 1st, not working a second job this year....that's a good thing. Turned 30 at the end of January.
-he has been helping out at my mom's and his parents house doing odd jobs when needed.
-helping out IMMENSELY with the kids and letting me have a "break" from the kids.
-helping out at home....sort of. Ok he is but not like he says he would. He is making progress though.
-had a surprise birthday party

Aidan
-had strep throat
-has gotten more aggressive and thinks its a game
-he's talking back
-he's acting like a 14 year old instead of a 4 year old.
-this to shall pass

Brooke
-talking, talking, talking
-LOVES her baths
-LOVES going outside and to the park
-LOVES her brother
-helps out in her own way
-was on antibiotics because of a lingering cough
-had a birthday party with friends

Megan
-BUSY BUSY BUSY
-stressed out with John home, but yet less stressed at the same time (I do finances)
-cleaning up the MORE mess from having my hubby home. I always say that he makes 3X the mess of the kids. It's true too!!
-working 3 jobs instead of 4 now
-trying to get better after this horrible cough that I have that I got from the kids
-trying to figure out how to get a membership to the YMCA for not a lot of $$.....

So there is a quick overview of our last few months. I PROMISE to update more frequently. I hope to update weekly at minimum. As you can see, it might be a little less often. Hope you are all doing well.

Happy 1st birthday Brookie!!!!!

Just a year ago we had a sweet little baby and was able to hold her in our arms without our arms completely falling off after 10 minutes....now we have a big one year old and she is getting bigger every day!! We go tomorrow for her well-child checkup and to get Aidan his 5-year shots. Should be a fun day.

We started off her birthday by working at 6am....UGH!!! I was hoping that her birthday would fall on a day I didn't work but we still had a wonderful time seeing the kids!! Then the kids spent time with Grandma and Grandpa so that I could go to Physical Therapy for my wrist. We took Aidan to school, visited Nana, picked Aidan up from school after we napped for awhile, walked around the school for awhile. We then headed to Bellevue to Toys R Us. She freaked out in the baby aisle and didn't understand why I wouldn't take the baby out.

We went home and got home around 5pm. Brookie, Aidan and I all napped until sometime around 7-7:30pm. We got up and went got gas in the car, which killed just enough time for John to come home and change after work. We then headed to Red Robin for a family dinner with the 4 of us. After dinner (singing and all!!) we hit up Target for a few things that we needed. Then it was home for cuddle time and bedtime. It was a busy weekend ahead of us!

Saturday we went to a birthday party and then came home and got ready for Brookie's party with extended family on Sunday. Sunday we had a huge meal at my moms of spaghetti (thanks Andrea for the recipe!!! It was FABULOUS!!!) salad, bread, and cake!!! SO fun. It was a wonderful way to celebrate this little blessing in our lives!! Ok, I rambled on more than I thought so I'll stop now.....Enjoy all our pictures!!!

P-R-E-C-I-O-U-S!!!

family of 3...only missing Aidan...

fresh from the oven!! So tiny!!!

our sweet angel only a few hours old, this is when she met her big brother for the first time from outside of my belly!!

This pic is WAY out of order, but she was so done at this point...

big brother brought his pillow out so that her neck wouldn't hurt when she woke up from her nap...he put it on top of her face. It was sweet that he was trying to help but I wanted her to be able to breathe...

it was 'Cat in the Hat' day at school and they made hats....so fun

walking around big brothers school after we picked him up!

first a healthy dinner....at least she ate some of her broccoli...she really wanted Daddy's fries though and that was it....

she enjoyed everyone singing to her!!

she loves ice cream

YUM!!!!!!!

lucky boy got to finish the ice cream sundae for her!

"where did the ice cream go mom??"

birthday dinner at Red Robin....

cute birthday outfit

he was so excited!!

the only present she was really interested in opening...

He was so excited that she had her birthday...he's still telling people that she just turned 1!!

Such a neat, clean girl...

That's my girl!!!

She is becoming a lot more interested in her spoon lately! So fun!

She LOVES her babies!!

Crazy hair girl!!

We wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS in pictures!!!

Ok, so this is just pictures....we visited my dad on our way to Christmas eve with my FIL's side, spent Christmas morning at home, went to my mom's Christmas afternoon, spent the night at moms, went to the in-laws, spent the 26th with Ryan, his girlfriend Kim, Greg & Nina, went out with Kim and Ryan, spent the 27th at the in-laws and then back to "normal." That was Christmas weekend in a nutshell....oh and we went to the in-laws so that John could see his brother on Christmas eve at 10pm.....it was a LONG night every single night and I think we are all finally back on our sleep schedules.