Baby Girl Slocum

So Darren caved in since he knows how well I can keep a secret! The ultrasound tech told me she was very certain she could tell if the baby was a boy or girl and whether I wanted to know....Yup! I want to know! It's a Girl! And then of course I couldn't keep it from Darren.

So here she is, folded in half! Her head is down and legs up in the air! The ultrasound tech and everyone else was so surprised at the strange positions the baby kept going into....she really liked being upside down with her head back and arm over her face with legs crossed. Not a great position for pictures. We did do the 3D pictures but I actually think they're a little tougher to make out. I will post one anyway because they are pretty cool.

This is one of the better pictures of her face. you can make out eyes, nose and open mouth. I think she looks a bit like a muppet!

So as you can guess Honor's very excited about not being out numbered any more! She didn't realize that we knew the baby was a girl until hours later. I asked her how excited she was knowing that she was going to have a baby sister? Her reaction...."Really, Mommy really? You know she really a girl? Can I dress her in my pretty dresses? She can share my room with me, it's ok!" Mikey's reaction...."No! The baby's a boy! You don't dress boys in dresses!" I think he'll be fine once she's really here! :)

Newest addition.....our Guinea Fowl

I forgot to mention lots of stuff in my previous post but one big thing is the addition of our Guinea Fowl! We were thinking about chickens for a long, long time but finally decided on Guineas. The main reason is you can let them roam on their own and they'll eat bugs, ticks, weeds, pretty much all the stuff you don't want and they won't scratch up the yard and garden like chickens do. Also they don't need a "chicken coop" so they're much easier to setup for and take care of in my opinion than chickens are.
We got our original 6 in July from a really nice guy in CT. I went just to look and ended up bringing home 6 adorable little "keets." We kept them upstairs in the guest bedroom until they were ready to go outside, well, as soon as they started to fly out of the box I figured it was time for them to move outside! Unfortunately I learned my lesson with leting them go out roaming alone too early since we lost a few and then lost more that were scared to death by Shadow. We still have 2 of the original 6 who I call the "Bosom Buddies." Now that they're grown up we know theres a male and female.
I went back to Dick, the guy in CT, in August to pick up 12 more keets and was excited to get 4 different colors! We now have pearl (which is the black and white speckled that you usually see), pied (blk and wht with white wings), lavendar (light blue/gray) and cream (white with a little brown). We've actually lost a few of the 12 also, they've flown off for some reason and never came back. So we now have 12 all together who have done great staying in a flock and cleaning up the stabels of spiders, ants and beetles! I'm really enjoying them coming into their "voices." You really can't tell the difference between males and females until they begin calling. That's how we're certain we have a female because she's always calling and making a ruckus....I'm pretty sure she's the leader of the group.
I'm hoping to have eggs soon and start my own breeding program so let me know if you want some guinea fowl to clean up your yard and supply endless entertainment!! :)

The shortest summer ever!

I don't even know where the summer went! How did we go from June straight to September in a blink of an eye? There's so, so much to catch up on! ...and I just have to note before I go any further that our wonderful neighbors the Bouviers just (as I'm typing this) brought over a basket of the most delicious cookies I've had in a while! I think we'll definitely have them do our taxes this year! :)

So now back to remembering what we did this summer.....

STORYLAND! and SANTA'S VILLIAGE!

This was the first time that we really went on a family vacation. We took a ton of videos and have them up on YouTube if anyone's interested. The kids had such a great time and we did too especially because it was a crappy weekend weather-wise. This ment there were much less people there and the kids didn't have to wait in line too long and could go around multiple times. Not a good lesson in patience but at least it made for a more enjoyable time I think....and it was fun to dash through the puddles and down pours too!

Honor's favorite: the rollercoaster (especially the one at Santa's Village that she and Sarah rode at least 2 dozen times and I'm not exaggerating!!)

Mikey's favorite: the pool at "Sarah's house" (he thought the hotel was Sarah's house!) and the ball place (Loopy Lab at Storyland)

Thorin's favorite: eating and the Loopy Lab

Mommy's favorite: going on vacation with her family and one of her oldest and best friends and her family....thanks Stacy and Lou, it was such a great time with you guys!

Daddy's favorite: Seeing Honor swim for the first time on her own (well, with a "floaty" suit but with no one holding on to her!)



Next on the list is THORIN'S 1st BIRTHDAY!!

It was a year ago on 7/8/08 that we rushed to St. V's just in time to enjoy Thorin Nova Alanson exploding into the world! And then our big surprise that he was a boy when I was so sure he was a girl! I had even brought dresses and pink things to the hospital with us and Mimie had to run out and get him an outfit to go home in!
His party was pretty low-key. We had relatives and close friends come celebrate and enjoy the nice weather with us outside. It's nice to have the house to celebrate in and I'll always remember how many years we've been in the house since we moved in just days before Thorin was born!
I love watching Thorin grow into his personality and watching all the kids interacting with each other. Yes, sometimes it's tough having kids who are 21months and 18months apart but I wouldn't change a thing. Thorin's huge smiles and big belly laughs light up our world. He's so observant of what everyone's doing, especially his big brother and sister. I love that he learns more from them than from me and Darren sometimes....even if it things he really shouldn't do yet, at least he has lots of teachers to show him the right way.

BABY NEWS

We found out in August that we're expecting again! This obviously has made me excited and nervous! We are again planning a home birth and things have been going great so far. I'm so happy that I bought a doppler last pregnancy so I'm able to keep a close "ear" on the baby and be reassured that everything is fine. We had an ultrasound at 11 weeks and saw a perfect, healthy little baby with a great heartbeat which made my nerves settle a bit. We also have sailed past the point where we lost Miriam so I'm again more at ease. I know we're not out of the woods until this little one makes it's entrance into the world but at 15 weeks I've actually been feeling little kicks and it's the best feeling in the world!! Honor's of course hoping this is a girl, she really, really, really wants a little sister! I hope so too and I'd like to find out but Darren wants it keep it a surprise. I'm hoping to convince him into doing a 3D ultrasound since this will be our last (yes, 4 is enough!) and it would be really cool since we've never had a 3D one done before! Or we'll just have to wait and meet him or her in person in March/April 2010.

Bootcamp catch up

So week 2 was much better than week 1 for me. I was wondering if I didn't push myself enough the second time around. After the first Saturday I was hurting until Wednesday but the second Saturday I was barely sore. So this past Saturday (#3) I pushed a bit more and really pushed myself on the hill sprints! I felt I really worked hard but I'm still didn't feel it the next day. Good or bad I'm not sure. There's been talk about adding another "bootcamp" day on Wednesdays. I really hope this works out for some of the ladies because I'd love to get together with them twice a week and really kick my butt into shape! I still need to get a bathroom scale because I have no idea if I've lost any weight. I do know that I feel much better! I'm not as stiff in the morning and don't feel winded going from the basement up to the top floor anymore! Also I'm pretty sure it's helping my back, but we'll have to see what the chiropractor says when I finally make an appointment!

Tiny Dancers

Honor had her first dance class today. I signed her up for 2 classes at the Y so she'd have something going on while school's out. Today was her first "Tiny Dancers" class which went very well! There are only 2 other girls in the class so no one's too overwhelmed. It was cute, they just worked on skipping and walking on tip toes, doing the hokey pokey and the YMCA! Honor did have a little issue with the "freestyle" dancing at the end....all the girls started jumping at first when the music started and I guess Honor thought that's what she was supposed to do and kept doing it while the other girls started doing their own thing. Well, after a few minutes of just jumping she started getting tired but didn't know what to do so she started crying. The teacher was great about it, she told Honor she was doing an awesome job and could dance how ever she wanted that she didn't have to only jump. Then the girls got some pictures to color for next week...a ballet dancer and Strawberry Shortcake. On Friday she gets to go to a different dance class with her friend, Kaitlyn. It'll be great to see them in class together...Honor thought Katie would be there today and was a bit disappointed but it'll make it even more exciting for her on Friday!
Luckily Mikey was enjoying watching the girls dancing and Thorin was happy with eating snacks during class. We did go out to the lobby for a bit and watched people swimming in the pool, the 45 minutes seemed to go by pretty fast! I wish they had something for Mikey to do but there isn't much for 2 year olds except play in the tunnels (which don't open until 10:30 and the class is at 10am)
I'm surprised Thorin was fine with sitting in the stroller since he's all about walking now! He's gotten pretty steady on his feet but his mind goes faster than his feet. It must be tough watching our brother and sister running past you and your little feet don't work together to get you there in time before Honor and Mikey turn in another direction and go past you again! I'm not sure though which he like more right now....walking or eating! We started calling him "Baby-zilla" this weekend since that's what he looks like holding food while trying to walk!

Bootcamp and other such things

First off I have to say I've been trying to finish this post and get it on the blog for about 4 days! Pathetic! I really need to take a little more time and finish a post sooner than that! Anyway....
YAY Bootcamp! I'm really excited that my friend Amy has started a boot camp on Saturday mornings. Nothing better than a friend who's lost a bunch of weight and gotten her life back on track whipping your butt into shape at 7:30am on Saturday for 12 weeks! I'm really going full speed into shaping up before getting pregnant again and also just to be healthier for myself and the kids. Of course moms always say I'm doing it for the kids, and of course I want to be more actively involved and be able to always run and play with them more. I'm also doing it for myself and feeling better about myself. My goal is to wear a size that doesn't have an "X" in it. It'll be very satisfying to be able to wak into almost any clothes store and fit into clothes there.
I'm also still having a conflict with myself as to what I want to do when I grow up. I recently started reading "Birthing from Within" by Pam English. I know all of you NCBers (natural child birthers) are wondering what took me so long but I just never make the time to read. It has yet again lit the flame inside of me that I need to reach out to women and help them to discover what they're capable of and that there are other choices for themselves and their babies. I'm just still trying to figure out what the best role is for me...doula? monitrice? child birth educator? go all the way and become a CPM? still not sure.....
I recently went to see an OBGYN after the miscarriage and was pleasantly surprised when he didn't treat me as a leper because I was planning and still planning on having a home birth. He checked everything out and said I'm pretty much back to normal. He wants us to wait at least 3 months before trying again to let my body and hormones regulate. I really liked him and actually felt like I was talking to a partner in my health and pregnancy rather than a dictator telling me how it is and how it's going to be.
So now I'm off to the bike trail with the kids to burn a few more calories. I really need to get a bathroom scale so I can track how much I've lost.

Planting the Plum Tree

Finding a place for a tree that needs full sun isn't that easy in our yard. We finally decided where the perfect place would be and we were actually thinking of taking out a big rock and putting the tree in it's place. Well....easier said than done! The rock was more like a glacier, there was a little bit sticking up above the grass but there was a heck of a lot more below the surface! I have no idea how long I was digging out the stupid rock and the hole kept getting wider and wider. I decided it would be nice to have a big rock NEXT to the tree instead.
I really didn't get too emotional digging the hole until I started thinking why I was digging it. It's a strange combination of emotions. What do you do when you're filled with sadness, remorse, doubt, disappointment, but then relief, hopefulness, peacefulness, thankfulness, and the feeling that we're blessed to have what we have and be able to learn and grow from all this? I'm still trying to sort it all out not that I think I ever will.
So now we have a pretty little plum tree with a rock next to it and lots of dirt surrounding both of them. I think I'll plant some flowers around it and just wait for the plums to start growing! I told Miriam that she needs to watch over the tree and us and she'll love seeing her brothers and sister picking the plums year after year. Thankfully the tree is self pollinating so we should have no problem getting lots of plums year after year.
I wanted to send out a big Thank You to everyone who has sent cards, well wishes and gifts to us. Honor and Mikey think it's my birthday, we'll go with that. Also a personal "Thank You" to all the women who have opened up to me about your losses, it's a sucky "club" to be in but I'm glad to know many of you have gone on to have perfectly healthy pregnancies and babies. Thank You.

Our new plum tree

** Warning, this post contains some information about my miscarriage that not everyone will want to read. If you'd like to skip through the explicit info and find out about the plum tree scroll to the section with the blue font.
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All weekend I've been telling my body it's ok to let go. We decided if we had to go through a procedure, either being induced or have a D & C, we both agreed that the best way for us was the D & C. I've been dreading Tuesday, knowing that it would be the day I'd have to make a call to an unfamiliar OB to schedule the procedure. My previous OB left the practice to just be a baby catcher and not see patients on a regular basis and since I had a midwife this time around (...Joyce, you're amazing!!) I was not affiliated with OB at all. So needless to say I was hoping all weekend that my body would listen and let go.
It all started at 4:00 am Monday morning. I went to get Thorin from his crib as usual and let him sleep the rest of the morning in our bed. After I gave him a little bit of milk and he fell back asleep I began to feel very crampy. I went downstairs to get some Motrin and drink some water as the pain kept increasing. I was afraid to go back up the stairs at this point so I stayed in the first floor bathroom. I'd say I was in "labor" for about 20 minutes. At about 4:30 am the amniotic sac, baby and placenta all passed together along with plenty of blood. It was a bit scary, I knew there would be blood but I never really thought of how everything would actually come out. After going through a few births you know the water breaks and the baby comes out (or in Thorin's case the bag of water explodes as he comes bursting out into the world) and then comes the placenta. I wasn't exactly imagining that it would all come together at once but after thinking about it and seeing it of course it makes sense. I'm so lucky things happened relatively normally and I have not had excessive bleeding or large blood clots. I was thinking at the end of it all that even though this ended in a miscarriage I still had a quiet, uneventful, peaceful home birth.
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I finally went back upstairs to tell Darren that my body had listened and the baby came around 4:30 am. We sat on the couch, cuddled and waited for my body to relax so I could finally go back to sleep. I slept amazingly well and felt better when I woke up than I did in the past few months. I guess my body really didn't agree with this pregnancy and of course things happen for a reason even if we don't agree with the outcome at the moment.
So the question is what do we do now? We decided the best and most sentimental thing was to plant a tree. Some people plant a placenta tree after the baby's born but in this case I'm sure I don't have to say. We agreed the baby's a girl (not that we could tell at this point but we didn't look either) and named her Miriam Daisy Breathe (everyone had a part in that, even Honor). We went out to Perrault's Nursey in Grafton and bought her (and us) a plum tree. She'll be an intregal part of this special tree and will watch over it and us. I really feel at peace with all that happened and like I said earlier....I'm glad that it ended the way it did and I still had a peaceful, quiet, uneventful home birth.

Trying to sort through the emotions

Most of you already know but I'm sure there are many out there who have not heard the news yet. We just found out on May 22 that we lost the baby. We went for the ultrasound at 1:40pm on Friday after meeting with our midwife the night before. She could not find the heart beat with her doppler just as I had been having a hard time for about 2-3 weeks so she scheduled an ultrasound for us. I had a feeling things weren't right but thought maybe the baby's hiding or it's measuring small and that's why I don't feel anything. I should have been 17 weeks at this point but found out at the ultrasound that the baby only measured 13 weeks 5 days.
There are so many questions that run through your head at this point...could I have done more? If I only scheduled an ultrasound when I first thought something might be wrong. Did I eat or drink something that caused some harm? Was I taking enough vitamins? Was I taking too many vitamins? Is the well water at the new house safe? Is there some underlying illness that caused it? When I had my kidney infection could that have done some damage?
Who knows. The fact that the baby was so perfect on the ultrasound, lying there so still with a perfect little head and tiny little hands and feet broke my heart and I know Darren felt the same way. Why after 3 perfect babies and relatively uncomplicated pregnancies and births did this happen?
I think Darren and I have accepted the outcome and are sort of glad that it happened at this point in the pregnancy. I'm not looking forward to the next step since my body has not taken care of things on it's own. I couldn't imagine what it would be like if I was further along.
All I can say at this point is we're going to try again and I'm going to take much better care of myself and family and not take anything for granted. Right now I feel like my body's been chewed up by a hippo (aches and cramps rather than sharp pains if it was a mountain lion) and hung up on a clothes line for days. But as soon as things regulate and I start to feel more normal I'm going to work to make things better for me and those around me. I never want to have to go through this again!
Thank you so much to all that have sent well wishes, thoughts and prayers to us. It means more than you know!

Fun in the yard

Finally getting around to posting some surprisingly good Blackberry pictures.  Go figure, it really helped when I cleaned all the pocket lint off the lens.  That first nice weekend we got out and gave the yard a workout.  Here's Thorinova showing everyone how to pump on the big swing.

This was a test shot for Twin Peaks when they were casting the Log Lady as a young girl.  What a tree hugger.

Honor put the log down long enough to make Thorinova squeal on the Octopus-a-round.  Thorin's baby super strength kept him nailed to the handlebar, and he never really got dizzy.

And one more of the big sister with the big love for her brother.  Lion headgear by Southwick's Zoo.

#4 is official!

Yesterday we had an ultrasound to find out how far along we are since I wasn't exactly "regular" when we conceived. So it's official now! We saw baby #4 in there, the heart beating nicely at 136 bpm. It measured at 7 weeks which is surprising but I guess since my cycle wasn't normal yet anything is possible. So the due date is October 29th but most of you know it'll be more like the beginning of October. I have no idea what it's like to go past 37 weeks and I'm sure I'd be hell to live with if I ever did! Lots of people are asking me what the party is that I'm planning. It's called a Mother's Blessing Celebration. I want to gather together all the moms and women who want to celebrate moms and babies and have fun! I'm thinking about early June and I'll be sending out save the dates and invites. I want all the women who I send invites to to pass the word along to other women they know who would love to celebrate with us! This is not a shower, it's a celebration of new life and a new journey. I am going to ask you to bring few minor things....food to share, a bead (glass, plastic, clay, doesn't matter), and positive thoughts. Like I said this is not a shower so please don't bring gifts, if you would like to help in any way we would appreciate donations for the home birth since insurance won't cover the cost. I'm really looking forward to this journey especially since we're hoping the destination to be a healthy baby born calmly and quietly at home!

One Worried Mommy

We just came back from the pediatric urologist today and got some news that's causing me to freak out a bit. Thorin was born with very minor hypospadia which Darren and I had agreed not to do anything about since it would mostly be a repair for cosmetic reasons. It basically means that he pees down and to the side a bit because of how his urethra developed. Today we found out that surgery is necessary because the opening is very narrow and will cause problems as he grows. Of course I agree with the surgeon and need to do the repair before he can remember it because who the heck wants to go through something like that and remember it? I hate to think about this whole thing since we are anti-circumcision but have no choice in this situation. Also the fact that my baby is going in for surgery! At least it's only an out-patient procedure so he won't have to stay overnight but those are going to be a few very long hours for me!

Storyland, Santa's Village and Mt. Washington

We're back from our vacation in NH. We had a great time with Sarah, Stacy and Lou....I was a little worried about a vacation with a 4, 3, 2.5 and 1 year old but things went better than I thought!! We got there Monday afternoon and headed right over to Storyland. We wanted to get the "After 3p" tickets so we could come back Tuesday for free and it worked beautifully. Even though it was raining we got a feel for the park, went on some rides and had a blast.  Video links...here

We like to give home-made gifts, which one of the kids would you like?

Funny huh? I'm serious. No, I'm not...I love my kids, I love having a large family but sometime it's tough day after day after day. And remember when I mentioned that it was ok to go to the hot tubs on Valentine's Day.....well, some of you already know that it probably wasn't a good idea. We found out a few days after that we're expecting #4 in October! It was a pretty big surprise to us too since we were taking preventative measures. I always say "Things Happen for a Reason!" but I do think we should look into some other ways for preventing after this round, people are going to think we're rabbits!!
Honor is very excited! Of course she's hoping for a girl! I think it's great that she's so interested in babies and where they come from. One of the midwives that we talked to said that's how she chose her path in life, being present when her mom had each one of her 6 siblings. This time around we are hoping to have a home birth and I think it will be great that the whole family will be able to celebrate together instead of abiding by hospital rules and regulations.
I've had my fill of hospitals and doctors and monitors and IVs and every possible reason to keep my baby one more hour, one more day, just to do another unnecessary test or procedure. Of course for women who have complicated pregnancies and have pre-existing conditions that make it difficult to give birth should be in a place that can help them. Hospitals have their place in this world and we are very fortunate to live some where that they are at our disposal when needed. But this time for me it will be a comfortable, quiet celebration that every one will be welcome to join with us.
I feel like this is where my journey in life has taken me. I want to help women have more confidence in their bodies and minds and take control of their pregnancies. When the kids are older and as long as it hasn't become foolishly and carelessly out-lawed, I would love to become a Certified Practicing Midwife and attend home births. For now I will be planning a Mother's Blessing party, hopefully with help from family and friends. ;) This will be a celebration in the place of a shower. It'll be a celebration of the journey into motherhood and I think will be fun and empowering for all involved!!

Happy Birthday Honor!!

Yesterday we celebrated Honor's 4th birthday at Hebert's Candy Mansion! It was really a great time for the kids and adults too! They do a good job at keeping the kids entertained enough but not too overwhelmed. We started out making a chocolate pop and decorating it with different color frosting and candies. Then we had pizza and juice and coffee for the adults and did some more chocolate crafts. This time we made a dragon fly out of pretzels and chocolate...very creative and cute! While we let our creations dry we attacked the sundae bar! We each got a scoop of our favorite ice cream and got to pour and sprinkle to our hearts desire! They had hot fudge, butterscotch, peanut butter, marshmallow, maple walnuts, strawberries, pineapple, sprinkles, cookie crumbles, candy crumbles, just to name a few!...they had just about anything you would want on top of your sundae!! Then it was time to open presents and Honor got a few good ones this year! From Rachel and Alison she got a Dora phone which she has not let out of her sight! From Mimi she got Felicity, an American Girl Doll, and some rain boots. From Mommy, Daddy, Mikey and Thorin she got a Littlest Pet shop carry case and the "round and round pet town." Before we left Hebert's gave each of the kids a favor bag full of lots of Hebert's goodies!
After we got home the kids weren't too wired! We finally sat down for dinner around 7p and then had some of the beautiful princess doll cake that I made....soon I'll get a picture of it up here. And we got to break open the pinata that Honor HAD to have for her birthday. Those thing are tough!! But we all had a great day, I would recommend Hebert's to any one looking for a place to have a party. I figure it's better to give your money to places like that than to some place like Chuck E. Cheeses like we did last year!

RIP Daisy and Batman

So remember a few post ago when I said I have bad luck with fish...well, I still do. Daisy 1 died about 2 days after getting her so I ran out and got another Daisy look alike so Honor wouldn't know and some drops for beta fish to make the water safe. Well, about another day went by and Daisy 2 and Batman were both hanging upside down and not moving. Honor was the one who found them and told me the fish were in a cocoon. Knowing enough about fish I knew they weren't in cocoons but went to check it out. Sure enough they were long gone and I couldn't cover it up this time. Honor and I brought the tank into the bathroom, told them they were nice fish while they were here and sent them down the toilet. Honor, as they were swirling down the bowl about to disappear told them to "have fun with the poop!" I thought that was a nice sentiment to her beloved fish Daisy. So I think lesson learned..... and we are not getting any more fish unless they're the feeders that cost $.20. I bet those things would live longer than any fish I ever had!!

Valentines Day 2009 (better late than never right?)

Oasis hot tubs, if you've never been I highly recommend it! We've gone probably 4 or 5 times since we moved to the area and have enjoyed every time. Anyway, we started the day off by dropping the kids at Mimi's to do lots of craft projects while Mommy and Daddy had a nice afternoon away. We went over to Circuit City since they're going out of business but didn't find anything we needed. Then we popped over to Target because who can resist being that close to Target and not go in? Just kidding....I broke the news to Darren that I was "late" and wanted to get an answer before jumping into the hot tubs since we wouldn't want to cook anything by mistake!! Anyways, the answer said it was ok to head on over to Oasis so we went and had a nice relaxing hour of warmth and bubbles. We then went over to Brew City on Shrewsbury St. We'd never been but kept hearing the commercials on the radio, we actually heard one on our way there! So I had a turkey burger with apples (the best Turkey burger I've ever had!) and Darren had "the King" burger with peanut butter, banana and bacon in honor of Elvis. It was actually pretty good but you couldn't taste the peanut butter much. We had some beers and headed to Mimi's to get the kids, don't worry...we were there at the restaurant long enough so we wouldn't get a DUI. Honor and Mikey had made some cute tote bag, Honor's had a butterfly and Mikey's had a rocket ship on it. They made some cookies for us and we all packed up into the car and headed home. So it was a nice day of good food, relaxation, cute crafts and no baby announcement! :)

Meet "Batman" and "Daisy"

So Honor's been bugging me for a fish for weeks! I used to love fish, I had a 20 gallon tank for years but never seemed to be able to keep the fish alive for too long. I'm suref my friends from high school have fond memories of me telling them how many fish I killed in a given month. So anyways.....I broke down and finally bought Honor and Mikey 2 betta fish. Honor's fish of course is red since that's her favorite color. She named her fish even before she picked it out. It's name is Daisy because according to Honor she's as pretty as a flower even though she's a he. Mikey's is blue and he named his Batman since that's all that Mikey names things now, even himself. If you ask Mikey who he is you might get several answers....Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Ironman, Superboy, a dragon, a rat, a monster, a dinosaur, a robot (Transformers are robots to him), and sometimes he will answer Mikey. It's funny because he's definitely all boy; loves sports, super heros, cars, wrestling, tools, but now that he's potty training he calls his pull-ups "his Diego panties". Also the fact that Mikey calls his clothes "dresses" drives Darren nuts but I think it's cute. Mikey doesn't know any better because that's what Honor calls them so it must be right, right? Big sisters are always right aren't they? :)

Honor's an artist!

Honor has been busy getting dirty today. She asked to do some crafts and we busted out the finger paints. What did she like the best? Honor said she loved mixing all the colors together! The piece she is displaying below is about painting the rainbow, its getting sunny but the rain is coming and the clouds are all over. See the rain coming down, she asks?

Right she is, couldn't be a better weekend! Sunny and warm at just the right time for us to enjoy. We went out and shot the snowman full of food coloring...

...but snowmen don't like being associated with hippies, so he just absorbed the color and went right back to snow colored. And since we have two of everything else we gave him a buddy snowman, modeled on Alfred E. Newman.

Finally, Honor's creativity didn't stop with the tangible media's, and she went to work with my camera and came up with this great self portrait...

Now were off to celebrate Stacy's birthday up in the dirty Burgh. We'll catch everyone on the flipside.

Thorin has been washed of all his sins

We had Thorin's baptism Sunday Feb. 1st, finally! At 7 months he almost didn't fit in the baptism outfit. This outfit is the one that all the kids have worn on my mom's side of the family, thankfully it's knitted and stretches a bit!
A huge thank you to Lindsey and Blaine for agreeing to be "Super Star"'s godparents. It's a tough job but he seems pretty easy going. ;)
We had a great brunch after church at Mimi's house which was so good (the ham was delicious as always!) and thank you to all who contributed! Honor, Mikey and Honor's friend Alison had fun playing with the dance cam on Mimi's new big screen tv upstairs while the adults had some nice time with friends and family. It was just a really nice day and I wish we could have visited with everyone longer.

Crazy Wartown kids!

Wow.  First, the background.  Kelly Sq. is infamously known as the nastiest, craziest, most miraculous intersection in Worcester.  A few seconds of this clip should give you a feel for it.

Now that you have an idea, this story about two kids, whom, I hope, lost control and went barrelling through during rush hour is one of those that boggles the mind at the luck they had getting as far as they did.

The comments are thick on this one.

Are you kidding me??

So I finally took Mikey back to the Dr.'s yesterday since he wasn't getting any better and was not eating or drinking a thing. We had to resort to feeding him baby food and forcing him to drink some Ensure. So....the diagnosis.....double ear infections! So yet again Mikey is on Amoxi for 10 days to clear up his ears. And then today was Thorin's 6 month check up and I wasn't expecting anything to really be wrong with him since he seems to be getting better but guess what.....double ear infections! Now Thorin is also on Amoxi for 10 days along with Darren! He went to the Dr.'s today also and found out he has pharyngitis. Great. Now all the boys in the house are on antibiotics, lets hope the girls luck out this time!

3 Sick Kids

This has been a very trying week for me and I'm sure for Darren as well. All 3 kids have been sick since Tuesday. Mikey was so bad that I took him to the Dr and confirmed what I thought they had....croup. I know it's really not that bad, it just means the cold settled in their throats instead of their sinuses or chest but it sounds so horrible! It scares the heck out of me when I hear them coughing and gasping for air in the middle of the night. Thankfully that only last 2-3 nights but those are very, very long nights especially when it goes through 3 bodies at different times. I hope we're nearing the end because there's 3 people who really need Mommy, there's only so much of Mommy and she's getting very, very tired. It would be great if Mommies were equipped with as many arms as she had children. God knows where they'd come out of but I would welcome them with no questions!

Geez, what a weekend!

So last week including the weekend are kind of a blur! Friday was calling hours for GG. It was really nice to see people I haven't seen in years, some might even be close to 20 years! I wish it was under better circumstances which every one always says but obviously it was GG's time to go. We're so glad we were all together December 27th and that she had a WONDERFUL time at Mimi's (Jan's) house with all her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Amazingly every one of was there on that day and like I said GG had a great time which isn't always the case. Anyways, it was nice to see so many people come out and pay their respects to our GG. The funeral was beautiful and a huge "Thank You" to Mary Alice from Grace Church in Attleboro for giving the eulogy. I don't think any one of us would have been able to stand up there and do it.
Later that night Darren, Holly, Stacy and Lou went out to celebrate my birthday. We crashed some one else's birthday party as a great way to celebrate mine! Actually it was a friend of Darren's from back in college. We had a great time and there was someone else there too that was celebrating her birthday so that was 3 of us with birthdays within days of each other! I don't think we got home much before 1am which is very rare these days! We paid for it though when we got home. Honor forgot to put her pull-up on and was sleeping in our bed so you can guess what happened. Also Mikey was sleeping next to her so he was all wet too. Honor was coming down with a cold so she was coughing constantly after being woken up by us coming home. Thorin also woke up but it was his normal time to wake up anyway it was just three times more complicated since everything else was going on. So he got upset too along with every body else and there was lots of crying and coughing and "Moooommmmyyyy"'s going on. Oh well.....if that's the price we have to pay for having a good time I'm fine with that.
At least we had a reasonably quiet Sunday and I was happy not to have a hang-over for my 30th birthday!

Rest in Peace G.G.

We just got the sad news today that my Grandmother, affectionately called GG (Great-Grandma) by the kids, has passed. She would have been 88 years old this Thursday and even though she made it this far it's still tough to hear that she's gone. She was always a huge part of our lives growing up even if we liked it or not. She was always a reliable source of Stelladoro breakfast treat cookies and a big kiss on the lips. She was tough to deal with at times but at the end of it all we just say "Well, that's Gramma for ya" She will be missed greatly, she was the true matriarch of our family. I'm glad we have many pictures of her with the kids and I hope Honor is old enough to have some fond memories of times with GG.

Changes for Honor

Honor changed preschools not too long ago and she went in with the 4 year olds at the new school. We decided this week to move her down to the older 3 year olds even though she'll be one of the oldest kids there. I hope she makes some good friendships, it doesn't seem like she's really made any strong bonds with any one so hopefully that will change in the coming months.
Thorin and Mikey both had ear and eye infections last week. It was the first time that both boys were sick at the same time. Thorin was the first to start showing signs of being sick but I thought it was just because he was teething! The bottom 2 front teeth finally broke through and he's been very miserable through the whole process. Anyway, he woke up the other day with his eyes glued shut and swollen...it looked like he got into a fight a definitely lost! Thankfully Stop and Shop is offering free antibiotics right now until March so I only had to pay to see the doctor and the meds were free!
Thorin's getting so big already! Like I said before he's got teeth now and gobbles down a stage 2 jar of food at lunch and almost finishes a stage 3 at dinner on top of about 32 oz of formula a day! He's definitely the biggest of the 3 kids, it'll be interesting to see when he and Mikey get older how that all plays out.

Where the heck did December go??

So December went by in a flash since there were so many things going on. Let me recount them for you in case you missed some of the details.....
Dec. 3rd we left for Philly for Chris and Megan's wedding which was on the 6th. We figured we'd make a vacation out of it and enjoy the time down there instead of being rushed. It was very nice that the Double Tree gave us the $99/night for our entire stay when they usually charge $199 or more per night! While down in Philly we took the kids to the Please Touch Museum. It was a lot of fun....kind of on the same idea as the Boston Museum for Children but I thought it was geared towards even younger kids so Mikey really had a good time too. My favorite was the very well done Alice in Wonderland exhibit in the basement. There was a maze and imbedded in the walls of the maze were different memorabilia of Alice in Wonderland like tea sets and dolls, etc from the past. There was also a maze of mirrors and a room that made you look taller as you walked into it....great for pictures! And of course there was a tea party with the Mad hatter and March Hare, very well done!
The wedding was beautiful and perfect (and short)! Honor did a great job walking down the isle with her new friend "Big Caitlin" We had to make the distinction between Kaitlyn and Caitlin and that's what Honor thought worked best LOL! Honor was a big hit on the dance floor at the reception....everyone kept asking me where she learned her moves! Half the time I didn't know what she was up to because everyone wanted to dance with her, I even lost her at one point and some one told me she had gone to the potty. Amazingly she made it there and back my herself!
The day after the wedding was Mikey's birthday so we had a cake for him. I guess it wasn't really a cake, more of a very large chocolate chip cookie. I figured if no one ate it it would transport better than a cake! Also since we were staying across from a Dave and Buster's (and those of you who know me well know that I can't help myself when it comes to D&B's) we took the kids over there to play a few games and win some prizes. And then it was time to head back home.
We had our Christmas/Mikey's birthday party with our friends on the 13th. I got pretty buzzed on wine but I guess that's what happens when you go over to Rachel's for a party ;) The girls always have a great time when they get together and now more than ever it's great to see them all together. Mikey got his first of many Imaginext toys which I have to say are great toys for boys who like dinos and dragons! Honor got her "prized" Christmas Carol Barbie and Thorin got lots of great baby toys that he's just starting to play with.
Christmas came and went so quickly I still can't believe it's over. (I guess I can't let it go since we still have our tree up). This was a great year because Honor really had a grasp on who Santa is and what he does. He did forget to leave one of her toys, the cupcake maker, under the tree and left it at Mimi's house by mistake. Mikey got all he asked for.....a green football and a dinosaur. Honor got her castle and cupcake maker and Thorin got his boy dolly with a smiley face. It was the cutest thing when I opened up Thorin's doll and handed it to him, he smiled and screeched, grabbed the doll and started gumming on it's face immediately. It was a hit, Santa!
We then had our traditional Tonge Family Christmas Party the Saturday after Christmas. This is when Mimi's side of the family gets together and exchanges presents. I was excited to get a juicer and Darren was very happy to get the bone conduction headphones he's been wanting forever. Mikey got more Imaginext Dinos and balls and trucks, Honor got more girly things and Thorin got clothes which was very much appreciated since he's already in 9-12 month clothes when we was barely 6 months old.
We didn't do anything for New Years again. Darren and I did stay up to watch the ball drop and to see Dick Clark's last broadcast on New Year's Eve. We had some wine to celebrate and then went to bed. Maybe some day we'll be more exciting :)