Catching up

Life has gotten the best of me and I am WAY behind on updating. First it was computer issues, we managed to lose a few months of pictures--sadly containing Kyle's Yellow belt ceremony and Julia's 1st Birthday the others we lost were just hanging around kids playing in the yard sort of pictures. I do have some pics of Kyle's ceremony and am hoping that my brother took enough pics of Julia's B-day. So onto the update: I'll start with Julia's B-day. IT was a bittersweet day for me I was excited because she is growing so fast-almost before my eyes and sad because I realized that it was our last "1st Birthday that would we would be having. Julia had a great time being the center of attention. Our whole family was together--It was even more special because my brother and sister-in-law were home to visit(they hadn't been back in 3 yrs and in that time my brother had done an additional tour in Iraq)it was the first time that they had seen Julia. Anjie decorated Julia's cake and cupcakes (which came out really cute). It was sad when they left a few days later:(. Once we got into May we were gearing up for Mackenzie's first Dance recital--talk about STRESSFUL! We (I guess I should say "I") didn't have the greatest experience with this school. Mackenzie's Teachers were wonderful it was the Studio owner I had issues with. We made it through and the recital was a success! Mackenzie had SO much fun and LOVED being on stage. I'm not sure that she will go back to dance (if we do it will be at a different school)some days she says that she wants to take Karate others she says she wants to dance. Shortly after the recital Julia decided that she would be my earliest walker, she was officially 14mths when she took her first steps (Kyle was 17.5mths and Mackenzie 15 mths) she is still very much a drunken sailor or even a Frankenstein if you will. Now that school is out we have been enjoying a laid back summer. We have been to the Sprinkler Park and took a day trip up to Hampton beach with a friend and her kids. They had o much fun (even Julia) and had sands in places that they probably didn't even know existed! Julia probably ate half of her weight in sand too. I also decide this year to start a garden. I thought the kids would have fun with it and it would cut my grocery bill down a bit. Here is what I planted (bear in mind I was accounting for some plants to not make it): 6 zucchini plants, 6 cucumber plants, 18 various tomato plants (6 Roma, 6 cherry and 6 grape), a whole envelope of green bean seeds, some strawberry plants (to go with the TONS of wild raspberries we have)and a package of Watermelon seeds. I think I over planted---Everything survived and I now have TONS of tomatoes growing Can anyone tell me how long it takes for them to turn red? The only thing that didn't work out was my watermelon :( I have one leaf pop up and the a day later it died. I have 3 strawberry plants that survived out of 10. I will post pictures soon--I just need to burn a disk and download Hope everyone is well.

Baby Steps and Small Victories

Over the past few months I have MORE than a few nagging thoughts about Kyle's attention span. I worry ALOT about what Kyle's future school years will hold for him. As a 28 week preemie Kyle is "at risk" for a whole host of issues one of them mainly is ADD. When Kyle started karate this past October I was keenly aware of his lack of an attention span (granted he is 4). When he would go through the obstacle course and come to the cones that he was supposed to weave through he would usually barrell through kicking them out of the way. This past week at Karate I saw the dreaded (in my mind) obstacle course being set up and thought to myself "Here we go"/ Kyle got to the cones (where he was supposed to turn around and walk backwards through)he stopped an studies the cones for a second and then turned around and started walking backwards. I watched with such pride that I almost let out and audible "Good for you!" The next thought that popped into my mind was "Baby steps and small victories".

Do preemies Feel Pain?

There was a article in last weeks New York Times Magazine entitled The First Ache. It opened a HUGE discussion on my preemie group that I am still a few days later trying to get my head around. The gist of the article is about *when* a fetus starts to feel pain. Countless NICU baby's undergo medical procedures with NO anesteshia and pain control. This past week alone I heard a story of a preemie having a chest tube inserted without anesthia or local anesthetic, this baby then retreated into herself and reacted to nobody for 3 days. To hear this makes me feel physically sick. I understand the Medical side of anesthesia being dangerous for these tiny babies, but there are studies out there proving that severe pain in these little babies can cause BRAIN DAMAGE. It makes me wonder how much Kyle felt during his *painful* procedures? I think back to the shots, COUNTLESS heel sticks,blood transfusions, eye exams& 2 PICC line insertions. Kyle's feet and hands are scarred with "dots" (as Kyle calls them) he has 2 scars on his leg from PICC lines. I can remembebeing told several times "Don't worry he wont feel it". Did he feel it? To this day he hates having his hands and feet touched unless it's on his own terms. Cutting his toenails is torture for him It usually starts with the anxiety of seeing the clippers and the cries of "that hurts!" PLEASE don't hurt me!" The more I learn the more scared I am for his future. I cringe when I hear parents of preemies say "Oh yeah they were born early but they have no problems". Prematurity will always be an issue Kyle is 4yrs old we are just at the beginning of the road--And we are one of the lucky ones. What bothers me most is that we are 4 YEARS into our journey and we are still constantly learning more. Why didn't we have this inforamtion 4 years ago--maybe I couldn't have handled it at that point.

To the Makers of Moon Sand

WTF were you thinking!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! (Obviously REAL moms had nothing to do with this product or the product testing.)

O.K A little background. Kyle got Moon Sand for Christmas, I was SO excited because he has talked about it a lot and I also have been dying to try it out too. It's been put away for the past couple of weeks so I figured I would take it out while I made dinner. HOLY CRAP!! Talk about a mess! IF I wanted the mess that the Moon Sand Made (OK that MY kids made WITH the Moon Sand) I would have driven to the beach got a bag full of sand, poured some water in and dumped it on my dining room table. This stuff is horrible, it stuck to their clothes, was all over the table, the floor, their socks! If something takes longer to clean up than how long it was played with, it's a NO GO in my book! It will NOT be coming out again--at least until summer where they can play with it outside.While it IS a cool concept, to me it fails miserably. NOT WELL THOUGHT OUT GUYS!!!!!!!!!

Some things just should not go in a blender

So yesterday was Julia's first Thanksgiving, She was less than interested and napped the afternoon away. Most of you who know me, know that I make my own baby food. I have been known to use a jar or two when I'm in a pinch :) I recalled seeing a recipe for "Baby's first Thanksgiving meal" Throw Turkey, Cranberry sauce and some water into the blender and blend until smooth. So today for lunch I was determined that Julia would have her "First Thanksgiving meal". Let me tell you I had reservations about it as soon as it plopped out into the bowl--The color and texture left much to be desired. Here are the results. BTW I promised Julia I would NEVER make it again.

Perfect......

This past week Kyle had his 6 month check up with the Orthopedist at Children's Hospital. Kyle has had issues with his ankles as a result of low muscle tone, his ankles tend to collapse inward causing the tendons on the outer part of his ankle to lengthen in effect giving him weak ankles. He has had inserts called "cookies" in his shoes for the past year and half supporting his feet in the right position so that all the tendons could shrink and stretch where needed. I was completely shocked when she looked at his feet, watched him walk and declared his feet.....Perfect. It was such a surprise that I almost cried right then and there. We have crossed a Doctor off the list!

How do you find yourself?

I was at a friends house today. As the kids were all playing we were chatting about kids, life and other that other good stuff. We came upon he subject of finding yourself. I don't know who I am anymore other than "Mom". Somewhere along the last 4 years I have "lost myself". I don't even remember what I used to like to do. We get so caught up in Mommy that I think we (as mother's) tend to ignore ourselves. I'm the first to admit my kids come before me (as I think they should). When we go out I don't care how I look as long as my kids look presentable (It does help if I don't have any spit up on my shoulder) So my question is..... How does one find themselves after they have been lost? Maybe and Manicure and pedicure will do the trick? :)