I have been M.I.A. for the past few weeks and that was mainly because chemistry was kicking my butt. Wow! I don't think I would like chemistry in any situation, it's just not my thing, but cramming 15 weeks into 3 and doing it all online was a killer. Not to be corny or anything but there were moments when I just didn't think it was possible. It was also extra stressful knowing that I HAD to get an "A" for the nursing program. I am happy to report, though, that after lots of help from my sister-in-law (who's truly a genius!) and meeting with the professor, I got a 92!!! I'm over-the-moon happy and I sure worked my butt off. The class ended on Wednesday and all of my other classes start on Monday. I don't see life slowing down at all anytime soon....
Thankfully, John and I had a little breather this weekend. Our anniversary is this Monday so we went out of town last night and had a romantic dinner and did some shopping. We were only gone for 24 hours but it was so refreshing to just be a couple. Every now and then it's nice! I sure love that man and the life we've created together! :-)
That's about it for now! It seems like between school and my family, there is hardly anything else to write about. Such is life!
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Extended Breastfeeding
It's really amazing, this blogging app from my phone. Now I update it while putting Bailey to bed. It's so nice!!
Each night I sit in Bailey's room with her and hold her, love her and yes, nurse her. My 22-month-old princess still nurses before nap time and bedtime and I love that in the crazy world that she lives in, she still finds comfort and rest with me in this way. I keep reminding myself that she is my last baby and these last few months of breastfeeding will be it. I've been sharing my body for quite a few consecutive years now but I wouldn't trade the precious moments for anything. I am proud to say that I have nearly 6 years of breastfeeding between all of my children. I'm pretty sure that that's awesome breast cancer prevention so it's an added bonus!
Now that she's sleeping, it's all I can so to take my eyes off of her. There's something about a sleeping baby ( or toddler, in this case) that makes my heart melt! I'm so in love!!
Each night I sit in Bailey's room with her and hold her, love her and yes, nurse her. My 22-month-old princess still nurses before nap time and bedtime and I love that in the crazy world that she lives in, she still finds comfort and rest with me in this way. I keep reminding myself that she is my last baby and these last few months of breastfeeding will be it. I've been sharing my body for quite a few consecutive years now but I wouldn't trade the precious moments for anything. I am proud to say that I have nearly 6 years of breastfeeding between all of my children. I'm pretty sure that that's awesome breast cancer prevention so it's an added bonus!
Now that she's sleeping, it's all I can so to take my eyes off of her. There's something about a sleeping baby ( or toddler, in this case) that makes my heart melt! I'm so in love!!
Friday, January 4, 2013
Kindergarten Blues
Here we are in January and every single morning I ache as I send my oldest daughter to school. She loves school and has so many friends, not to mention how very much she's learning. There's just something hard about letting a major piece of my heart go away for 8 hours a day. I think if I could text message or call her teacher throughout the day I would be doing much better... But I don't think that's happening anytime soon! Lol
This morning I watched her walk down the long hallway to her classroom, like I do every morning. The principal said, "It's still tough saying goodbye, huh mom?" I couldn't help but laugh and agree with her wholeheartedly. Maybe she said that because most parents don't stand their quite so long or maybe she could see the look on my face?
The unfortunate thing about all of this is that this is par for the course as a parent. We nurture them and love them without end, only to say "goodbye" for increasingly longer lengths of time. While they're away, we simply have to trust that we've raised them well enough to fly on their own. I just love these children so much and only wish I could keep them little for a while longer. I'm sure every parent has yearned for this at one point or another.
All I can say is, thank goodness it's Friday! I plan on enjoying every second with my girl.
This morning I watched her walk down the long hallway to her classroom, like I do every morning. The principal said, "It's still tough saying goodbye, huh mom?" I couldn't help but laugh and agree with her wholeheartedly. Maybe she said that because most parents don't stand their quite so long or maybe she could see the look on my face?
The unfortunate thing about all of this is that this is par for the course as a parent. We nurture them and love them without end, only to say "goodbye" for increasingly longer lengths of time. While they're away, we simply have to trust that we've raised them well enough to fly on their own. I just love these children so much and only wish I could keep them little for a while longer. I'm sure every parent has yearned for this at one point or another.
All I can say is, thank goodness it's Friday! I plan on enjoying every second with my girl.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Goodbye, 2012!
This year was a great year! I can't look back on it and think of any awful times or extended periods of frustrations. It was a year of mostly awesome health for us all, if you exclude Bailey's constant ear issues. It was also a year of new beginnings with our family compete! This was the first year since '06 that I wasn't either pregnant or welcoming a new baby. It's been nice to have not have make any new adjustments or changes! I also think I fell more in love with my husband and daughters this year! I'm so blessed:)
Next year (wow, weird to say, since it's tomorrow!), I know we will have more adjustments. Adrienne will start Pre-K and I will most likely be starting the nursing program in the Fall... I applied and have the grades to get in but I'm not promised a spot. I just keep telling myself to take it one day at a time. My days of worrying about every little detail really, really need to end! :)
I'm looking forward to spending tonight with my husband, who surprisingly is OFF for the next 2 days! We'll be having a few family members over and John promised the girls they can stay up until midnight. It should be lots of fun!
Here's to making 2013 the best year yet!!
Next year (wow, weird to say, since it's tomorrow!), I know we will have more adjustments. Adrienne will start Pre-K and I will most likely be starting the nursing program in the Fall... I applied and have the grades to get in but I'm not promised a spot. I just keep telling myself to take it one day at a time. My days of worrying about every little detail really, really need to end! :)
I'm looking forward to spending tonight with my husband, who surprisingly is OFF for the next 2 days! We'll be having a few family members over and John promised the girls they can stay up until midnight. It should be lots of fun!
Here's to making 2013 the best year yet!!
Sunday, December 30, 2012
iPhone Ap for Blogger??!
Someone (Ashley, I think??) told me about the Blogger app a while back and I forgot about it! I'm so glad I finally checked it out! It makes uploading pictures and writing short updates a lot easier. Hooray! So, without further adieu, here is an updated picture of my beauties! :) Man, that was easy!
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Merry (Belated) Christmas!
The past month has been a whirlwind... When you combine my birthday (December 2nd), John's birthday (December 9th), finishing up classes (that ended on December 18th), school concerts and parties for Brooke and then everything that comes with Christmas, you have a hectic schedule. I love Christmas and am sad to see it go but it hasn't been so bad unwinding for these past few days!
So , what's new?? Let me think! I finished out the semester with 2 A+'s, an A and one B+, giving me a GPA of 3.7. I'm pretty gosh darn proud of myself! I really learned a lot and I enjoyed my classes. I will be starting my winter break chemistry class in a few days and I'm a little nervous about it. It's online and I have NO chemistry knowledge whatsoever so I'll have to figure a lot out on my own. It's also one semester worth of chemistry packed into 3 weeks. Wish me luck! I really need an A in that class so it ups the ante quite a bit.
The girls are all doing pretty well! I volunteered in Brooke's class before Christmas break and her teacher and I chatted for a while. She told me that Brooke is "absolutely perfect at school" and that she "wishes she had a classroom full of kids like her. " What mama wouldn't be beaming with pride?? Brooke has also become quite good at reading and spelling. She's actually better at spelling words out and writing them than reading them but she does well in both areas. As for Adrienne, she has been having constant urinary tract infections on and off for about a year now. The doctors have been testing her kidneys and tried all sorts of things but it just keeps happening. I feel bad for the poor girl! Other than that, she is doing great, though! She finally learned how to spell her name and she's proud. Then there's Bailey... She's hilarious and silly but if you make her mad, she will throw a temper tantrum like you've never seen. She's my moody girl, for sure. Her language has improved greatly since her ear surgery and she has started speaking in 2-3 word sentences. It's so exciting!
Christmas was really great this year! John had to work all night long on Christmas Eve so he came home on Christmas morning just in time for breakfast and to open presents. We then went to spend time with my parents, his grandma, and then his parents. He did this all on NO sleep and he didn't so much as complain about being tired once. My husband is an amazing man! I'm not even exaggerating:) The girls got piles and piles of clothes and toys and movies and activities. It was a sight to behold when we emptied the contents of our van in the house. We are so blessed to have so many that love us and want to do nice things for us.
The best part of Christmas, in my opinion, was the day after... We were hit with a big storm and got about a foot of snow. So the 5 of us spent 2 days cooped up in the house and we organized all the toys, watched some movies, played some new games, and just relaxed. It was very low key and just what we needed after being so incredibly busy. Speaking of snow, we got another 8 inches today. Blek! We were supposed to get a dusting at first, then they changed it to 1-3 inches and then, about an hour before it stopped snowing they changed it to 5-8. Lol. Gotta love it!
The horrible Sandy Hook tragedy has taken an incredible toll on me, as a mother. I have been a bit obsessed with it and I have become familiar with the names of the children who died, along with their parents and siblings. I can't get them out of my mind and I have felt this awful pit in my stomach since it happened. A pit for my own children and wondering how I'm ever supposed to feel secure letting them go ANYWHERE. And a pit for those families who lost such beautiful children. I have literally had to cut myself off from reading about it and looking at the pictures because I was saddened so deeply and in such a fog. How will those parents ever feel "normal" again?
I think that about sums the last month up! The next few months are my least favorite of the year.. The dark, freezing and gloomy months of winter where all you want is Spring. We will survive, right? We always do! Until next time...
So , what's new?? Let me think! I finished out the semester with 2 A+'s, an A and one B+, giving me a GPA of 3.7. I'm pretty gosh darn proud of myself! I really learned a lot and I enjoyed my classes. I will be starting my winter break chemistry class in a few days and I'm a little nervous about it. It's online and I have NO chemistry knowledge whatsoever so I'll have to figure a lot out on my own. It's also one semester worth of chemistry packed into 3 weeks. Wish me luck! I really need an A in that class so it ups the ante quite a bit.
The girls are all doing pretty well! I volunteered in Brooke's class before Christmas break and her teacher and I chatted for a while. She told me that Brooke is "absolutely perfect at school" and that she "wishes she had a classroom full of kids like her. " What mama wouldn't be beaming with pride?? Brooke has also become quite good at reading and spelling. She's actually better at spelling words out and writing them than reading them but she does well in both areas. As for Adrienne, she has been having constant urinary tract infections on and off for about a year now. The doctors have been testing her kidneys and tried all sorts of things but it just keeps happening. I feel bad for the poor girl! Other than that, she is doing great, though! She finally learned how to spell her name and she's proud. Then there's Bailey... She's hilarious and silly but if you make her mad, she will throw a temper tantrum like you've never seen. She's my moody girl, for sure. Her language has improved greatly since her ear surgery and she has started speaking in 2-3 word sentences. It's so exciting!
Christmas was really great this year! John had to work all night long on Christmas Eve so he came home on Christmas morning just in time for breakfast and to open presents. We then went to spend time with my parents, his grandma, and then his parents. He did this all on NO sleep and he didn't so much as complain about being tired once. My husband is an amazing man! I'm not even exaggerating:) The girls got piles and piles of clothes and toys and movies and activities. It was a sight to behold when we emptied the contents of our van in the house. We are so blessed to have so many that love us and want to do nice things for us.
The best part of Christmas, in my opinion, was the day after... We were hit with a big storm and got about a foot of snow. So the 5 of us spent 2 days cooped up in the house and we organized all the toys, watched some movies, played some new games, and just relaxed. It was very low key and just what we needed after being so incredibly busy. Speaking of snow, we got another 8 inches today. Blek! We were supposed to get a dusting at first, then they changed it to 1-3 inches and then, about an hour before it stopped snowing they changed it to 5-8. Lol. Gotta love it!
The horrible Sandy Hook tragedy has taken an incredible toll on me, as a mother. I have been a bit obsessed with it and I have become familiar with the names of the children who died, along with their parents and siblings. I can't get them out of my mind and I have felt this awful pit in my stomach since it happened. A pit for my own children and wondering how I'm ever supposed to feel secure letting them go ANYWHERE. And a pit for those families who lost such beautiful children. I have literally had to cut myself off from reading about it and looking at the pictures because I was saddened so deeply and in such a fog. How will those parents ever feel "normal" again?
I think that about sums the last month up! The next few months are my least favorite of the year.. The dark, freezing and gloomy months of winter where all you want is Spring. We will survive, right? We always do! Until next time...
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Bailey's Surgery
Bailey had her ear surgery early yesterday morning. It was absolutely awful, probably one of the worst mornings of parenting I've ever had in nearly 6 years. It was especially hard because she had been really sick with a bad cold and double ear infection, not to mention the 2 molars she's been cutting. When we got to the hospital she was running a fever and I just knew they wouldn't operate on her. However, the anaesthesiologist and the doctor were in agreement that the fever was most likely a result of the ear infections and because her lungs were clear, they determined that it was safe to do the surgery. That didn't change the fact that Bailey was a disaster, though.. She wouldn't let anyone touch her and even when they tried to put a hospital bracelet on her (the easiest part of the whole day), she just about had a heart attack.
It wasn't long before they took her from me and letting her go off with complete strangers as she was screaming hysterically was not easy. I held it together and lost it as soon as she was out of sight. We went into the waiting room and the whole time I was a nervous wreck. For this surgery they had to put in a breathing tube and IV, which had me anxious from the beginning, and with her nasty nose and cold, I was more worried about a complication. Her doctor is the most popular ENT doctor in this area and he had come highly recommended from several of my friends, along with Bailey's primary care doctor, so that did help ease my mind.
Before I knew it, the surgery was over and the doctor was out to see us. He told us that Bailey's ears were in horrible condition, some of the absolute worst he's ever seen. He took out her old ear tubes that were completely colonized with bacteria and thoroughly cleaned her ears. He also got cultures of all the crap in there so we can have a better understanding of what has been causing the never ending infections. In addition, he removed her adenoids, which were covering 75% of her nasal cavity. He said that that is huge and that they could be the culprit for a lot of the issues that she has.. As far as constant colds, infections, etc.. He then said that he couldn't make any promises or guarantees that this would even fix her because the last course of treatment "should have done the trick." He said that if this surgery doesn't work then we're going to start testing her for some type of immune deficiency, which scares me to death. So I'm hoping and praying that it was just the adenoids causing all of these severe problems and that she'll be completely better this time! I guess I have to take it one day at a time...
So that's the latest on Bailey. She's been a wreck and extremely out of sorts. I know that she has to be in some pain, plus she is still teething and still has a cold. I'm trying to be as patient with her as humanly possible! I can't wait for things to get back to normal!
It wasn't long before they took her from me and letting her go off with complete strangers as she was screaming hysterically was not easy. I held it together and lost it as soon as she was out of sight. We went into the waiting room and the whole time I was a nervous wreck. For this surgery they had to put in a breathing tube and IV, which had me anxious from the beginning, and with her nasty nose and cold, I was more worried about a complication. Her doctor is the most popular ENT doctor in this area and he had come highly recommended from several of my friends, along with Bailey's primary care doctor, so that did help ease my mind.
Before I knew it, the surgery was over and the doctor was out to see us. He told us that Bailey's ears were in horrible condition, some of the absolute worst he's ever seen. He took out her old ear tubes that were completely colonized with bacteria and thoroughly cleaned her ears. He also got cultures of all the crap in there so we can have a better understanding of what has been causing the never ending infections. In addition, he removed her adenoids, which were covering 75% of her nasal cavity. He said that that is huge and that they could be the culprit for a lot of the issues that she has.. As far as constant colds, infections, etc.. He then said that he couldn't make any promises or guarantees that this would even fix her because the last course of treatment "should have done the trick." He said that if this surgery doesn't work then we're going to start testing her for some type of immune deficiency, which scares me to death. So I'm hoping and praying that it was just the adenoids causing all of these severe problems and that she'll be completely better this time! I guess I have to take it one day at a time...
So that's the latest on Bailey. She's been a wreck and extremely out of sorts. I know that she has to be in some pain, plus she is still teething and still has a cold. I'm trying to be as patient with her as humanly possible! I can't wait for things to get back to normal!
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