I'm still going to the beach

I know, I know. Who the hell is this person and where has she been. Is what you are all saying...if there are any of you left here at all.


I think about blogging everyday and I do miss it. I am still here reading everyone and commenting when I can.

But I am peaking out of my crazy life for a moment to tell you that my Baby is almost 14 months old andwherethehelldidthetimego? He is walking and babbling and growing way too fast. The Kid is 5 and enjoying every minute of Kindergarten. (full day, bytheway) We are all doing well. Other than growing not much around here has changed. We did finish the construction upstairs and moved up there last May. My grandparents that live with us were here for the summer. My grandmother broke her hip, recovered beautifully and they have already gone back to Florida.

Oh, and the real reason I just had to blog tonight, I wanted to share..... It was such a beautiful day that we blew off TaeKwonDo and went to the beach. And guess who was there?

Bruce Springsteen!!!!

He was so nice and was taking pictures with anyone who asked. It was just a few scattered people, but hey, he didn't have to do that. It was my first real celebrity encounter and it was awesome....now I want to bump into Jack Nickelson or Bon Jovi...they are all local Jersey guys too. :)

Should be sleeping

Hi Hi!

I know I haven't been around, but here are a few shots of the boys that I have been taking.

Right now they are both sleeping.

In no particular order. We have some beautiful blue eyes, a tinkertoy snowman, a baby that can put both his big toes in his mouth at the same time, a Valentine's Day photo at the rehab my mom went to after her knee replacement (she is fine, thanks), and a couple kids playing in the tub.

These were all taken last Feb. and I will try to get some up from March....sometime before April!

I'm still here, a zombie, but here.

Hi.
Hey.
Anybody out there?

I know I have been a very bad bloggy friend. I have been trying to read every one's blogs, I just haven't had a chance to comment. I haven't had a chance to write.

I am exhausted.

Last month the Baby decided to start screaming. The ear piercing can't hear my self think want to cry with him screaming. He was in pain.

Every night we would push through his once a day screaming session. Then the next day he would be just fine, so we didn't call the doctor...right away. The screaming session slowly moved earlier and earlier until he had one at 2 in the afternoon. I called the doctor. It was 2 weeks later. He was on vacation so we went to his dr that was filling in. She heard the screams in all their glory since she did a strep test on him since his throat was all red. (It was negative.) She told me he had reflux and colic. She prescribed Zantac and told me to lay off the dairy and the chicken. Huh? What the hell am I supposed to eat?!!?

I started doing some online research (including reading the dairy chapter in Skinny Bitch <- don't do it...) And I decided myself that I was going to start with going completely dairy free to see if that helps with the pain. Well as of today the Baby has been on the Zantac for 15 days, I have been completely dairy-free for 11 days and he has been screaming in pain-free for the last 9 days. I don't know if it's the medication or the no dairy...but I'll take it and keep going until he is scream free for 2 full weeks. So cross your fingers for me.

He is still not sleeping very well. He is up anywhere between every half an hour to about an hour and a half. I don't think he has slept more than a 2 hour stretch in a month unless he was on my lap, including naps. I am this close -> <- to letting him in the bed. It would totally keep me sleeping a bit longer if I don't have to climb out of my warm bed, make the trek out to the living room to nurse, wait until he is in a deep sleep and then put him down, hope he stays and try to fall back asleep myself. The Kid co-slept with us from 6 months to 18 months and I haven't decided if I want to do that again. The Baby will be 5 months old this Monday!

As if lack of sleep wasn't enough, to top off my lack of computer time...we just got Fios installed last week and our main computer (with all my passwords/pictures/favorite places, etc) has been moved upstairs. We are still not living upstairs, but will hopefully be up there within the next 2 weeks or so. Until then, I go up there occasionally to use the main computer but I have been on my laptop downstairs slowly finding all my sites again on here. So please forgive me for being a bad commenter. I will be back in full swing soon. I am going to try to post some of the many pictures I have taken in the last month this week.

Tomorrow I sign up the Kid for soccer. On Tuesday I sign him up for KINDERGARTEN!! Holy crap!
Till next time....

It has been a long long week and just getting longer by the night.

The Baby has taken up a new hobby of ear piercing screaming. In the beginning it was longer than an hour. It was and still is only once at night, somewhere between 8pm-12am. It has since gotten shorter in the screaming and a bit longer in the sleeping. Probably because he tires himself out.

Last night I tried the gripe water that a friend had given me and it worked like a charm. I also tried some white noise. The fan above our stove is perfect for that. I am thinking of bringing the baby's bed into the kitchen.

Here is the Baby at 4 months old.

My 'Karate' Kid

OK, so it's not Karate. Karate is from Japan. My Kid has started Taekwondo. That is from Korea. According to one of the dittos that we got in the info packet from the school "Saying that Taekwondo is Karate is like saying our football is the same as England's rugby."

My cousin went to this school for years and started when he just older than my Kid. He achieved a black belt and went all over for competitions and won many trophy's. I am not sure that is a goal that the Kid understands right now or if one that he would want to pursue. He is just having so much fun . He has been really enjoying it and looks forward to it much more than he did when he went to the Little Gym. I thought that it was going to be so expensive, but it turns out it's no more per class than the Little Gym, and here he will be working toward real goals (belts) instead of just taking classes.

He was so proud of himself when he got his white belt during his second class. Three months from now, if he practices and does well in class, he will have his yellow belt. It's a Lil' Dragons program for 4-5 year olds. They don't really learn the whole form or get solid belts. They learn respect for themselves and others, discipline, self-confidence and self-esteem. Their belts have a color stripe going through them. They don't begin the solid belts until they are 6.

How cute is he in his uniform?!?!

4AM Freakout

While we are talking about sleeping arrangements. How many of you know the feeling of waking up refreshed and feeling wow, how long did I sleep? Only to realize as you look at the clock that you last looked at it over 7 hours ago? Not many? Me either, until this morning. And it freaked me the hell out!

I haven't been able to put 2 coherent sentences together these last 2 weeks, hence, no posts. The Baby has been up and down, up and down and up and down every 2 hours or so for a while. And oh my lord, why won't he nap?? I get about 15-20 min on my lap after nursing and when I try to put him down...eyeballs wide awake ready to eat again or play. I am assuming he was having a massive growth spurt. I can't wait to see what he weighs on his 4 month visit.

So anyway. picture it. 4AM. I wake up and realize I last looked at the clock at 9PM. Rushed out to the Baby's pack&play to make sure he was still breathing. Yes, that kind of freakout. He was fine and still sound asleep. Took another hour to calm myself down and then I hear the 'I'm hungry' fuss start around 5AM. He eats, goes back down and I don't hear from him again until 7:30. Nice. Cross fingers that we are now in a nice sleeping pattern.

The cats love the Baby. They let him pull their hair. They have always been great with babies. They have never once hissed, scratched (on purpose) or bit the Kid or the Baby.

Yes, that is freaky Bob the Builder PJs that have no head.

Left: Abby, Right: Zoe

And no, I didn't name them after Sesame Street characters. We had them before we had kids.

And just look at those eyes!

Christmas Loot

So Christmas morning has come and went. And I am WAY behind on my posting. Unfortunately the Baby got his first bad cold on Christmas Day. He started coughing and he was all congested. He was barely sleeping and had to go back in the swing to be upright. The Kid had it first and passed it on. Then I got it the weekend after Christmas and was miserable. But, we made it and are all better now.

The only think that the Kid asked for from Santa was the Diego Dino Mountain Play Set. Well, Santa had to come through with that one....even though the Kid already has a big Diego play set that he got last year and is taking up space in the toy area.

And what Diego Dino set would be complete without the Dino Rescue Jeep?

Mommy and Daddy got him a toy jackhammer...which he saw at Target and LOVES, although right now I have no clue where it is. We also got him a bunch of workbooks. He loves doing mazes and letter books, so I have a pile of about 10 books he can pick and work on at any given time. He also asked for treasure chest. I found a box and filled it with some pirate booty. Of, course I missed pictures of all this stuff.

Then it was breakfast time. Bacon and Mickey shaped chocolate pancakes are the favorite around here.


The Baby got this ball in his stocking and loves to hold it and try to bite it. It's so freaking cute.

Then we were off to the in-laws. Hubby's brother & sister got him the Smart Cycle. Grandma got him the Cool School keyboard with extra games. So far he is loving both and I would recommend them. Although, we need to get another game for the Smart Cycle, he is getting bored of the one that comes with it already.

And the Baby got mostly teething rings and savings bonds, and he was happy with that.

Oh, and 'Santa' found a few of the Kid's old toys and wrapped them up and stuck them under our tree.


Then we went to my Dad's side of the family over at my Grandfather's house. The Kid got Diego Crocs for the summer and a Handy Manny truck that turned into a work bench. It was nice the first 2 days when we didn't realize it had noise. hahaha.

So, now we are in a holding pattern until we can move upstairs. There are just a couple doors to hang and some trim to put up. Some paint to paint and we are DONE! When this happens I am cleaning out the toy area. It is horrendous! I want to donate it to some shelters and churches.

Look What The Kid Bought With His Christmas Money

It's his very first 2 wheeler. It's a 16" wheel! He skipped right over the 12" wheels. When we went to the beach path last week on a freak warm day we brought his tricycle to ride and realized he is just MUCH too big for that thing. We talked him into using the money he has saved in his bank and the money he got for Christmas to buy himself a big boy bike. I think he will take care of it more if it was just under the tree. He made sure he and Daddy put it away in the garage, in case it rains.

He is such a big boy, and sometime this month we will be signing him up for KINDERGARTEN! Oh.My.God.

Christmas Eve 2008

I guess now is as good as time as any to catch up on some Christmas cheer.

Every Christmas Eve we go to my mom's house for dinner. It makes it so much easier on Christmas to make one less stop. That was mostly because we used to live in North Jersey and didn't want to drive all over the state and have to mush in all our visits in one day. My best friend since 1st grade always comes over to spend some Christmas cheer with us. Her son is the Kid's buddy. Can you believe my Kid is a year older than hers? Well, 11 months. Seriously, His Buddy is an inch or 2 taller and they both look so grown up sitting there so nice. Yea, that lasted about 30 seconds. They were tearing up the place and wrestling most of the time they are together. They are going to be big trouble together when they are older.

The little devils, er, I mean angels

The Baby was very interested in the toys my mom had that make music, move and ring bells.

I love love love the Baby in his green Christmas diaper!

The Kid got lots of fun stuff at Grandma's house. (Thanks Mom!) She refused to buy him any toys, our house already looks like a toy store threw up after a bad night with Jose. No toys, except for the Hess truck that she gets him every year. That is one of his favorite things. But I missed a picture of that one because he got to open that before his buddy came over...and I neglected to pull the camera out. Anyway...here are a few cool things he got, and my polite little man said thank you after every one and was beyond patient to open them. I was pleasantly surprised.

Here is his new bank. It records all the money that goes in. He got it with a few bucks in it. He has since emptied out his piggy banks in there and has over $34 now!

Here is my world traveler brother. My mom got them both world maps so they could pin point all the places he has been...except, she accidentally got one world map and one US map. We took the US, he has to learn his states eventually anyway. He already can find about 8 states on a map and knows about 4 or 5 capitols. Thank goodness for his USA placemat. We'll get the world map too, eventually.

Just look at that face because grandma and mommy made him try on his new beach towel for a photo. 'just let me play with my Hess truck.'

And here is our tree after Santa visited at 1am. Photos of Christmas morning to come...

Hello 2009

Here is a clean new years baby...out with the dirty and in with the clean! hahahaha

Waiting nekked under that towel until I go get the soap I forgot, please don't pee...

Making sure the baby doesn't fall while mommy gets a picture
He is loving the bath, you wouldn't know it by his face, but he was watching his brother on the counter kicking and didn't cry a bit...this time

See Ya 2008

Wow. 2008 is just an inch away from being gone and 2009 is banging at the door. I have been around reading a bunch of blogs and almost every one has a nice recap of 2008 with some photos or an actual montage set to music. Well, I have barely had time to write any post this month, I can try to get around to that next year.

What I am thankful for in 2008 is my beautiful baby boy and the very cool big brother, the health of my family, the fact that Hubby has some pretty good job security, a new home, a new car. And here's to wishing some more plentiful thankfulness (is that a real sentence?) in 2009.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Yes, those are my socks he is wearing as gloves. hahaha

You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!

I'm so bummed. We were supposed to go up to a friend's house only 30 minutes north of us, but at her house, SNOW. At my house rain rain rain. So we have postponed for another day. Our kids make Christmas cookies each year and exchange little gifts. This year we decided to have the kids make gifts for each other. I can't tell you all what my Kid made for his girlfriend, yet. Her mom reads here, and it's a surprise. LOL!

So we will see them Monday and in the meantime...we made a kick ass gingerbread house in the non-Christmasy weather.

Very proud of his work.

Notice the sleeping Baby in the swing... the very rare nap. I don't think he has napped longer than an half an hour a day in a week... but the plus side, he only gets up 2 or 3 times at night and goes right back down after nursing for about 15 min.

How's the Weather?

This was us yesterday. I took this myself. Hubby was at work.

We were in the house most of the day in PJ's. I didn't want to go anywhere. It was too cold and cloudy and just looked crappy out there. But, after the 7th hour of Backyardigans I decided I HAD to get the Kid outside and get some energy out and get some fresh air. So I bundled us up.

He rode up and down the driveway about 20 times.

I sat them together for a cute brother's shot.
This was us TODAY!

It was freaking 64 degrees here in NJ! It's December FIFTEENTH! It was gorgeous. No coats, no hats. I got to see my Baby's chunky little arms today. And the Kid went across the monkey bars all by himself for the first time!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Last week we went to the mall. It was the first day Santa was there. Seriously, 2 weeks before Thanksgiving the big guy shows up at the mall. They are really trying to push the holiday aren't they?
The Kid wanted to let Santa know that he wants the Diego Dino Mountain Playset. It is the only thing he has been asking for for weeks. Has mommy bought it yet? No. Am I a bad procrastinator? Yes. I really need to get this thing now before it's all sold out. I haven't had a chance to shop without him...although, I should just get it online, duh. Anyway, the mall. yea. This mall had a great Santa AND a sassy little Mrs. Claus too. They got to sit and chat because there was absolutely not one kid in line. The mall was empty on a Friday afternoon.
But, now I really wish that I took the sleeping Baby out of the stroller to get in on the photo opportunity. Oh well, we'll try again after Thanksgiving with the adorable outfits I got them with a gift card I had from the Children's Place.

After the Santa visit, the Kid went over to the area that they created for Christmas for F.A.O. Schwartz. It's not there all year. Look at the $200+ stuffed animals. Who buys those? I can barely fit all the crap that the Kid plays with in the house.

I don't think that giraffe would even fit in my house!

Need some prayers, please

Whew. I haven't blogged in a week. Sorry guys. Time just kept getting away from me.



We really didn't do much all week. The Kid got a hair cut. I went to a baby shower on Saturday and a kid's birthday party on Sunday. We got a gas line hooked into our house because we are going to convert from oil. We went to the mall and saw Santa for the first time of the season. And that's about it.
Nursing is going well. Baby sleeping was going well, until we had about 3 nights of no sleep, but last night was good again. The Kid is doing great.
I have a ton of pictures on my camera that I need to download. I will try to get that done soon...but on to the prayers...

My dad was just in a car accident yesterday. He is ok, but has some head trauma. He was driving around a curve near his house (AA- near the municipal building in your town) and a car coming the other way took the curve too wide and my dad swerved to get out of the way and he hit a tree. His truck is totaled. He was doing ok last night. But he would be fine and laughing and talking and then zone out, but then be ok again. My step-mom and step-sis were there with him. They are talking about moving him to another hospital so I am waiting to see where he will be and try to go see him this afternoon. Unfortunately, this was the 2nd head trauma he had in a week. Last Wednesday he fell off a ladder at his house and went to the hospital and had a concussion.
Please keep him in your thoughts and if you pray, send up some prayers for him. Thanks.

Gator Time

Some afternoon fun last week. The Kid rode to the park. It was such a nice day. He loves his little John Deere Gator that my in-laws got him for Christmas last year. Hubby finally took the lock off the 2nd gear on this thing and I couldn't keep up with him. I had the baby in a front carrier while we walked around the neighborhood. I had to bring him to the empty parking lot around the corner so he could zoom around safely.

And of course, no post is complete without a picture of the Baby too.