Friends for life

Sara was one of my best friend growing up. She also happened to live directly across the street from me. Even though she was two years older, it never stopped us from playing barbies, talking about boys, or what our life would be like when we grew up and got married and started having kids of our own. Of course, it didn't help that she got married when I was 18 and she was 20. And it also didn't help that I moved 300+ miles away. I never thought in a million years (nor did she) that we would someday not only have one, but two little kiddos together. I will never forget that day in June when I called her up out of the blue from my summer dorm room to tell her I was pregnant. It was so funny, both of us had to tell each other the same news. So of course, we did what every person would have done in that situation. We counted to 3 and blurred it out at the same time. We laugh still about that day. Well here are some pictures I happened to find. And how much they have changed in almost 7 years. Time really has flown. So much has changed. I wonder what the next 7 will hold for us. Only time will tell.

Joshua 3 weeks Olivia 5 weeks March 2003

 

Joshua 9 1/2 months Olivia 10 Nov. 2003

 

Joshua 15 months Olivia 15 months May 2004

 

Joshua 19 months Olivia 19 months September 2004

 

The Expanded Gang Joshua 6 Olivia 6 Emma-James 3 and Austin 3 April 2009

 

Sadly, I have lost a lot of pictures from the kiddos between 2004 up to now. I am lucky to have her and her family still in my life. She is one terrific person and its hard to believe that we have known each other as long as we have. And now are kids will grow up to be friends. Even if it is long distance!

Jason and I when we first met

Gosh, I was looking through all of our old pictures and I came across this one of Jason and myself. Look how young we are. Better yet, look at all the hair Jason has!! We met by chance thanks to a mutual friend of ours (thank you Tanya) one evening in October. Ahhh, memories. Someday I will have to write how Jason and I met, fell in love, and had 5 children and a beautiful house. Gosh, time flies so fast.

Jason and Kiley Fall 1999

 

Thankgiving

Thanksgiving this year was at my sisters house. My mom was busy cooking Wednesday night and Thursday day to help prep some food for my sister. She baked a few pies and made mashed potatoes as well as my favorite, sweet and sour meatballs YUMMY! My sister did a great job making the Turkey as well as a few pies herself. The table was set beautifully and everything was terrific. I was hoping to get some pictures of the table and food, but everyone was too hungry and dove right in. We basically starved ourselves and the kiddos so we could make room for Thanksgiving supper. HeHe. I tried to take some pictures of the family and the kids, but you know how it goes. Starving people, and hungry munchkins, make for bad pictures. But here they are for your viewing pleasure!

From left to right: My Nana holding Ezme, Grampy, my Mom holding Emma-James, my Dad holding Tyson and Owen and Olivia in the middle

 

Emma-James, Olivia, Ezme, Tyson and Owen

 

It was really a fun evening. My Nana even suggested we do a YANKEE SWAP this year. Each of us gets a gift of $5 dollars or under. It was a lot of fun, and I was surprised that only two people did any amount of swapping. I traded my item for a Moose bell that I am going to hang out in the backyard to call the kids in during the summer! And my dad took my hubby's present of scratch tickets. LOL. The tickets in which we purchased. Everyone was stuffed and happy. And the kids were so tired that when we got home everyone fell fast asleep. YAH! HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE. I hope everyone was able to enjoy good food, great company and tons of wonderful memories.

The Morning Grumps

We managed to get all of the kids asleep with Olivia pulling up the last of everyone at midnight. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good night for anyone. Emma-James woke up a few times thinking that her daddy left her and went back to RI. She wants to go home so badly. I am hoping the fun activities of the day will change her mind. I was also up with Ezme all night as well. She too just couldn't get comfortable without the regular comforts from home. She managed to sleep, but fussed about every hour looking for a binky. Then comes Owen. Who I believe slept okie. The only bugger is all 4 kids felt that they needed to be up at 6am!! And if you know my kids, if they get by 8:30, then we are doing pretty good. I made the hubby get up and tend to the kids and Chloe while I attempted to sleep in with Ezme. No such luck, everyone was cranky, overtired, hungry and miserable. I was up by 9am. Fed the monkey got the older girls dressed, and changed Owen and Ezme. Now I have everyone down for a good nap, including the hubby! Hopefully we will be more happy and chipper come 4pm when we head over to my sisters for Dinner. I hope everyone is having a nice Thanksgiving morning so far. I'll post more later on.

Millinocket, safe and sound

Well, we made it here with pretty good timing I might add. We ended up going to bed at 11pm. I had finished all the laundry, packed, did some last minute cleaning and decided to just do the rest in the morning. The kids slept until 7:45am and by 8am we were showered, dressed, and ready for breakfast. Hubby extraordinaire ran out to grab milk and fill up the van with gas or "food" as the kiddos call it. We were planning on taking the kids out for breakfast along the way, but the refused. They said cold cereal was faster and didn't want to waste all there time eating. LOL. The car was packed, kitty's taken care of, doggy put in the van and we were out of the house by 9:20am!!!! Yup, you read correctly. We stopped off a few times along the way. We had to grab the camera from one of Jason's clients and the we got as far as Danvers and of course we had to have a potty break and since it was at a D & D's we needed a midday snack as well! The rest of the way was great. We managed to make it to the first rest area which is about 2 1/2 hours from our home in RI. Kiddos got to stretch and run around, took the doggy for a little walk and then went inside for food all around. Fed all 6 of us and then changed 2 bums, potty break for the daddy and myself and then a treat for us. STARBUCKS!! We were on the road again exactly at 2. From that stop until we reached my home in Millinocket is about 3 1/2 hours so I popped in a movie and prepared for the long hall. Took a little nap as well as everyone else. Except for daddy, he was driving. We pulled into the rents house at 5:20pm. The drive was great, the kids were excellent and now we are all pretty tired. Ezme has been sleeping since 8:45. Olivia is still up helping Nana cook and Emma and Owen are begging to go back home. So they are being a tad tough tonight. Overtired and not being in their own beds is stressing them out a bit. Hopefully for a better morning. Until then. Happy Thanksgiving Eve everyone!!
Night all.

Thanksgiving here we come...

We will be leaving this morning for our trip up to Maine. 7 wonderful hours with 4 kiddos and a dog. Should be very interesting. Thank you lord for 2 DVD players, lots of reading material, and my I POD. Luckily the kids are great in the car and really don't mind the trip. I am just worried about Ezme. Its her first time on a long distance trip. Wish us luck. I promise to post with pictures when I return!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Ezme's Eye Exam

For those of you who don't know, today we took Ezme to see a Pediatric Ophthalmologist. Both myself and our Pediatrician were concerned that she was unable to focus or track objects that were in front of her (especially the face or a bright object) when we took her last week for a well-baby visit, she was unable to even focus or track a flashlight. Nor did she blink or shun away when the flashlight was put directly in her eyes. This called for concern, so an appointment was made right away to get in to see the doctor. Our fear was she might be blind. Dr. Donahue's office was booked until March of 2010 but because he is good friends with Dr. Flynn, he was able to get us in today.

The Doctor was great. At first her report said she was 2 months old. Because of this, he wasn't as concerned. But when I corrected him and told him that she was 3 months old, his concern grew at that point. He did say that her eyes look great. No blockage, cataracts, or glaucoma. He said from what he could tell (now mind you, she is still quiet young) her eyes looked good for a 3 month old. However, she is definitely not focusing or tracking any type of object. He said that right now he is diagnosing her as "VISUALLY DELAYED" There is chance this all could correct itself and no need for worries. We made an appointment to see Dr. Donahue again in 3 months. If things have not gotten better and especially if things are getting worse and she is not reaching milestones at appropriate times, then we will go back earlier. Until then, its a wait and see. Which as every parent knows, IT SUCKS!
Until then, I will keep you posted on how she is doing.

Don't Forget to Vote

Voting is open for the poll DO YOU HOME-SCHOOL! Just look on the sidebar. I would love to find out how many people really do so! So vote vote vote.

And if you would like, I would love to hear comments. All are welcome.

Olivia and Mommy at the Beach

 

Picture of the kiddos

Mommy, Olivia, Emma-James, Owen and Ezme

 

Spring Cleaning Day 2

The Upstairs Portion of my house!

3 Bedrooms and 2 closets

Wash, fold,and organize all the laundry
Wash all bed sheets 6 beds
Wash windows
Clean out toys (time to donate!!)
Vacuum all 3 rooms

The upstairs should be easier as its not too too bad. Its just more time consuming. Hopefully it wont be too hard as Jason will be at work all day and we have to be at swim lessons at 5:30pm (leaving here at 5pm) So I plan on accomplishing everything on my list not only with all 4 kiddos, but with all 4 kiddos upstairs the entire day with no access to the downstairs as its already clean!
Hopefully this wont be so bad. I will just designate one room to their play and clean the rest and save the worst for last. We shall see. I'll keep everyone posted again on my accomplishments. Again, encouragement is always welcomed!

Spring Cleaning in NOVEMBER??

Yup, today I decided what better day to so-called SPRING CLEAN my house then today. We are heading out of town on Wednesday for Thanksgiving in Maine. And I wanted the house to be clean when I come home. It will be just about 3 weeks from the time we come back until we leave again to Maine for Christmas. Lets not mention the fact that I will be having Girl Scouts, Swim lessons and Christmas parties going on for the entire 3 1/2 weeks we will be home in December. So today is the day. I just hope I can actually finish it by tomorrow night!

So for fun I thought I would keep a tally of all the things I have done so far. Check back often to see what I have accomplished. Encouragement is always welcomed!

11-22-09

*I have actually finished

Downstairs Part of House

*Moved furniture in living room. swept and vacuumed.
*Washed Mirrors and windows
*Washed Floor
*Organized School cabinet
*Vacuumed floor
*Moved furniture
*Wash walls
*Wash windows
*Washed Floor
*Organized cabinets
Wash floor (this is last since our kitchen connects all the rooms up and down)
*Cleaned off counter-tops
*Washed toilet, tub, shower, sink
*Washed floor
*Washed and organized cabinets

Keep coming back to see what I have finished. This is just the downstairs part of the house. I still have 3 bedrooms and 2 closets to do upstairs.

COMPLETE!! COMPLETE!! COMPLETE!! COMPLETE!!

Done for the day. Night all.

It's A Girl

I just want to give a shout out to Seth and Janelle Pillips and the big sister Abby. They had A GIRL this afternoon. Rachel Marie Phillips 7lbs. 14 oz. and was 19 inches long. A peanut!! Hugs to all of you guys. Can't wait to see pictures of the new family of 4!!

Sweet Saturday Mornings

Happy Saturday Morning!! Daddy slept in until just now. The plan today is to get the house cleaned and organized before we leave next week for Maine. I am going to jet out later to get my hair cut. I look like I have a fur ball growing on my head. Hard to believe I just had it cute 5 weeks ago. Ugh, it grows too fast.

I am waiting for the arrival of my friend Seth and his wife Janelle's new litle baby. Since they live in Arizona, the time will affect when I find out. Hopefully he will text me as soon as he can. They have an adorable little girl Abby. I am sure she is just as excited to become a big sister. We can't wait to see pictures and find out if you are a little boy or little girl!

Emma-James holding Ezme

 

Nothing in particular

Dear fellow blog readers. Its about time I finally started my posting. I have taken so much free time its crazy. A lot of things are happening in our life. She is by far the biggest and tallest baby to date. She is a sweetheart though. Very lovable and loves to cuddle. Her favorite thing to do these days is to be carried around EVERYWHERE. Though she usually will settle and prefers her bed during her long afternoon nap and her bedtime. Speaking of bedtime, she is the best sleeper ever. She usually goes down between 8pm and 8:30pm and will sleep until the next morning usually waking up between 8am and 8:30am. Its awesome too, because the two little ones, Emma-James and Owen go to bed at 6pm. Olivia, being the oldest gets to stay up longer and enjoy some reading time or homework, and usually goes to bed when Ezme does.

The older girls are busy with there swimming lessons twice a week at the Cumberland High School. They swim for BLUE FISH SWIM CLUB and absolutely love it. Though if you had asked me last year, I would have told you there was no way we were going to get past the first class. But the girls are doing fantastic. Both of them now are able to swim on there own, float on there own, swim under water and even jump without fear. The girls are slowly started to swim from one end of the pool to the other without assistance. They need to grow stronger and continue to work hard, but I think in a few years they will be doing the competitive swim. Olivia and Emma-James are super excited for the day they get to swim with the BIG KIDS.

Owen is busy being the ham that he is. He just finished fighting off a nasty cold that I swear has been with him for more then a month. He hasn't felt that great at all. Cranky, miserable, unwilling to do anything. But his mood seems to be better today, so I am excited to say I might be getting my happy down to earth Owen back. FINALLY!!

Well that is all for now. I am sad that everyone has missed out on so much of the kids growing up, and even more sad that I haven't been able to write down all the stuff we do, just so the kids will have it for when they grow up. But at least I am starting now!!

Kiley

Anabelle's Memory

Here is the Memory card we put in each of the "A is for Annabelle" books. Hope you enjoy.

 

Anabelle's 5th Birthday!

Wow, I am still in shock that 5 years ago today Anabelle was born. So much has happened in 5 years. We got Chloe our dog, we bought a new home, we found Moose our kitty. Emma-James, Owen and Ezme were born. We remodeled the inside of our home. Made a beautiful waterfall in the backyard to bring the butterflies in memory of her. Purchased a new van. Traveling to Disneyworld. Jason and I got married!! Celebrated 5 birthday's without her. I truly could go on and on. It makes me sad sometimes knowing how much she has missed out being here with us. But I try to remember how happy she must be in Heaven with her Grandma and little brother or sister. We miss her terribly, but I know that someday I will get to hold her and love her again.

For her birthday this year I wanted to do something special to remember her 5th birthday. You know, 5 is special because you are now a WHOLE HAND. This year I donated books in Anabelle's name to our Pediatrician's office. "A is for Annabelle" by Tasha Tudor. I told the girls (aka the nurses) to hand out them out to children who would be visiting Dr. Flynn in her office today. Here is the snippet that we put in each book.

Pregnant with Anabelle Taken October 2004

 

Anabelle trying to sleep

 

Anabelle December 10th 2004

 

Christmas Family Photo 2004

 

It truly was a wonderful day. My heart still aches for her to be with us here. I never was truly sad about the diagnosis, the outcome or her passing. The fight for her is what kept me strong, and the time with her is what kept me alive. I cherish all the memories that we were able to make with her.

I LOVE YOU MY SWEET ANGEL ANABELLE! XOXO from your daddy, Olivia, Emma-James, Owen and Ezme too.

Well-Baby Visits for Owen and Ezme

I took the kiddos to see our Pediatrician today for their well-baby visits. Owen was suppose to have his last month, but due to the rising numbers of kiddos going in with the flu, our Pediatrician called and said it would be best to hold off. LOVE HER!! They did a great job, we were there for 3 hours because of the high number of sick kiddos, but I didn't mind. I enjoyed the time that I got to talk with the staff and just hang out quietly. So nice.

Here are their stats:

Owen at 2 years old.

Height 38 1/2 inches

Weight 28 lbs and 4 onces

He received just the regular non-chemical flu vaccine up the nose and we decided to hold off on other shots until next year. No rush. Since they don't go to public school I don't have to worry to have them done by Kindergarten. Owen is doing fantastic! evelop over the next couple of months. Here is a list of things my little man can do now at 2! She is amazed at his skills already. Here is some of the things my little man has mastered already.

* Can speak in 3 or 4 word sentences. Ex. "Mommy...I love you." or "Mommy, where is me pacie?"

* Can jump on both feet (3 years old)
* Can kick a ball
* Can climb on EVERYTHING with ease and keep up with big kids on the playground
* Loves to read and flip through books appropriately
* Has been sleeping in a BIG BOY BED (twin size) since he was 22 months.
* Feeds himself with appropriate utensils at every meal
* Eats EVERYTHING
* Will answer questions you ask him with correct answer. Ex. "Owen, do you want more cereal?" (Yes please)
* Uses please and thank you on his own
* Loves his big sisters and dots on his baby sister
* Is funny and loves to smile
* His favorite things in his life are his Nemo blanket (just a white fuzzy blanket) his duck and his penquin. Must sleep with them every night.
* Is complete boy. Loves his trucks, dirt and mud.
* Favorite show is "Peep in the big big world"
* Is a daddy's boy but loves his mommy too
* Can name everyone in our family and extended family
* Can name of all of his body parts, point to body parts on himself and others
* Can say animal names such as Moo for Cow, Oink for Pig, Meow for Cat etc.
* Can put pants and socks on himself
* Attempting the potty

It wasn't me in the sugar mommy!

 

Ezme also had an appointment today with our wonderful Pediatrician. She did great as well, and enjoyed the quiet at the office. She good a great nap, until we woke her for a quick weight and height check. And with this, we had to make her naked. Not so happy. Her stats today were:

Weight 11lbs. 2oz.

Height 22 1/2 inches.

She also needed a shot today (we are holding off on others for awhile) and had a liquid form of medicine as well. All in all the kids are doing great. We will not be recieving the H1N1. Since the kids aren't in public schools and we are keeping the kids safe when we go out in public, we decided against it. I had a long discussion with my doctor and I just don't feel comfortable enough or have enough reason to give it to my kiddos who are otherwise healthy. I rather save it for those who truly need it the most. I will share however Ezme's accomplishments at 2 months old:

* Can hold her head up when on her belly
* Is starting to smile and giggle
* Is able to grasp objects if put in her hands
* Is sleeping through the night from 8pm - 8am or later
* Loves the sound of daddy's voice
* Loves to listen to the T.V.

At the moment Ezme is only tracking objects that are a far distance from her face
(6 inches or more) so she will be visiting a pediatric ophthalmologist Tuesday the 24th just to be sure its not something more serious. At first we thought she might be completely blind, but we have noticed that she will try hard to focus with lots of light in the room. So we will see. I promise to keep everyone posted. Until then, enjoy a picture of the little princess.

Ezme 2 months old