The past almost 6 months...

"Welcome back!"
Alot has happened since the last post. In order to prevent this post from becoming a novel...I provide you with the highlights!

School ended for the kids back in June. Thomas officially graduated from Pre-K and was sent off with well wishes by his teachers for Kindergarten. Gabriella ended the year with her dance recital and bridged in Girl Scouts from Daisies to Brownies.

Throughout the summer both kids were busy and had the opportunity to spend some quality time with both sets of grandparents. They were of course spoiled and I think both kids & grandparents loved every minute of it! With the kids gone, it gave Tom (aka Mr. Mom) some alone time in hopes of finding a job and working on the deck (which by the way is still not completed despite my total lack of understanding why...he blames the rain!) I'm sure by now everyone is well aware that back in May, Tom lost his job. It was a day I'll never forget...the way he looked when he walked through the door at 11:35. His face, the words....
At 11:55 I called the hospital I have worked weekends at for the past 5 1/2 years and asked if I could come on board full time. They are usually understaffed and I was welcomed to work whatever I wanted! It has been a HUGE adjustment for all of us. Tom has been on a few interviews, has set out tons of resumes and has been offered a contract position with a company based out of Philly. They did mention to him the potential to become full time somewhere down the road...and I'm hoping that road is short! So far he has enjoyed the work he has done for & with them. Fingers crossed!

Soccer season started for both kids. Thomas is rocking this year and his coach has told me "he is an animal!". I'm gathering that is a good thing?!?! At Gabriella's second practice, she was running a cool down lap, didn't see a ball, stepped onto it as she was running and rolled off the front. Of course she cried and because she is high drama...I shrugged it off. Once we got home and removed her sock I was a bit shocked at the swelling in her ankle. After an hour of ice & elevation I brought her to the ER where we found out it was fractured. They splinted her, gave her crutches and sent her on her way. We met with Ortho the next day where she was casted, which of course was purple (her favorite color!). She was casted for 3 weeks and had the cast removed on August 28, just before school started.

On August 31, both kids started school.Gabriella is in 2nd grade and Thomas started Kindergarten. The morning was filled with excitment and tons of picture taking. The bus arrived at approximately 8:15 and with no apprehension Thomas stepped on the bus, excited to be going to the elementary school. I'm proud to report that even though I felt the tears swelling up, I did not cry! It's amazing how quickly 5 years go by and I have a hard time accepting the fact that both of my babies are in school! Thomas was dismissed at 2:48 and arrived home at 3:20. Gabriella was dismissed at 3:35 and arrived home 4:15 (the buses were running late). Both kids are enjoying school and like their teachers.





















































































































This past Tuesday Tom and I celebrated our 8th anniversary. I unfortunately had to work. The afternoon found us both busy. Tom bringing Thomas to gymnastics and soccer and me bringing Gabriella for a follow up ortho appointment and to get dance shoes. I guess that's what happens after eight years and two kids. Hopefully next year we'll get out together for alitte bit!

That's really about it for now. Hope you enjoy your Labor Day weekend and keep checking back for more updates!

Spring!

Hope everyone is enjoying the extra sunlight in the evening and the somewhat nicer weather. I recently realized that I have been a slacker in updating the blog, with the only excuse being that things have been hectic!

The semester started back in the beginning of February. I am teaching two sections of the same course. I have finally realized that I need to start to say "no" instead of "okay". I typically teach only one 3 hour course in the spring and the extra 3 hours is keeping me alittle bit more busy than I would like...but there's only a few more week! Home health visits picked up since the last post but with the nicer weather and fewer grandmas & grandpas falling and getting sick, my visits will start to taper off.

The kids are doing well. Both have kept us busy!

Gabriella came down with pneumonia back in November. Since then, she has been getting weekly fevers and still had a wet sounding cough even though her Xrays came back negative. A few weeks ago, she had 2 fevers in the same week. Frustrated, I called the pediatrician. Good news, I know what's been going on with her. Bad news, it's asthma and time to see an allergist who specializes in asthma too. The allergist was WONDERFUL! They did allergy testing (what joy that was) with the result: slight reaction to dust. So, what's her deal? Apparently her trigger is respiratory illnesses....ahhh...the light bulb goes off...so this all started in November with the pneumonia, the fevers were present because she still had the infection which was also effecting her airways (the reason for the cough!) She's been on medication (nebulizers & inhalers) for about a month now and has a follow up with the allergist in a few weeks. We still have to explore if she has other triggers but right now we know one culprit! And of course, the school doesn't have a nebulizer machine so I had to run to the school the first 2 weeks to give her a breathing treatment before physical activity (aka: recess & gym). Stupidity! Anyway...moving on....

Thomas already had his transition meeting for speech therapy from the NEIU to Kindergarten. The director of Special Ed. is awful and unfortunately I have had to keep a close eye on him and confront him regarding timeliness in completing Thomas speech evaluation & IEP. We got his eval and his IEP in place and he is all set for the fall. The official Kindergarten registration is in April and I can't believe I'm so close to tasting freedom during the day!!! All I want is to run my errands in one morning and be done! He is excited to start kindergarten and I will probably cry the first day he steps on the bus!

Thomas also has learned how to ride a bike with no training wheels. He is VERY proud of this big accomplishment and constantly wants to go for a bike ride. The past few weekends, Tom has brought the kids on a 3 mile bike ride....

Tom has a "saab" story...his baby croaked and I made him buy a new car! Yes, the time has come for the 13 year old convertible that has over 244,000 miles to be traded in. It was a rough day for Tom, honestly, it looked like he was the mourning the loss of a loved one. We ended up buying a Toyota Prius and he seems to enjoy his new car.

Girl Scouts is also keeping Gabriella and myself busy. We just finished up with our cookie sale and are getting ready to work on the girls bridging requirements to Brownies. Gabriella & Tom attended the annual Girl Scout "My Guy & Me Dance" and had a blast.

Well, I think that brings you up to date. Our calendar is starting to book up with fun things for the next few months so check back for updates!

Goodbye 2008...Hello 2009!

Isn't it insane how we spend SO much time preparing for Christmas and New Years and before you know it, it's over?!?! We hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and are settling back into their normal routine.

Here's what we've been up to.

My parents arrived on December 23rd and I dragged my mom to a cookie exchange that evening. December 24th we waved goodbye as Tom went to work and we all headed out to breakfast, despite all the ice that covered the car and the ground that morning! The afternoon was pretty quite...finishing a few odds and ends for Christmas Eve dinner and trying to find someone to replace 2 tires on my car. Let me tell you...if you ever need new tires (or any other sort of car repair) go Christmas Eve. Within 20 minutes we were in and out! We attended the 5:30 mass and afterwards enjoyed our traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Christmas Eve dinner is one of my most favorite parts of Christmas. The kids opened their pajamas and were quick to get changed (especially Thomas who had a 103.7 fever!). Gabriella passed out and Thomas put out the cookies for Santa. Off to bed in great anticipation of Santa!

Christmas morning came, and so did Santa! I guess my kids were on the "good list" again this year. We had a relaxing morning opening presents and playing with all our new "toys" (both young and old!) My parents headed home the morning of the 26th and we got our act together to head down to Tom's parents for the weekend. We left mid morning on Saturday and spent the afternoon with Tom's parents, siblings & their families. It was nice to have everyone together. Unfortunately, the stomach bug got hold of me and I spent most of Sunday sick. We made it home and to bed I went. In the middle of the night I was joined by Gabriella who also caught the stomach bug. We were doing great! Monday morning I found myself at the pediatrician with Thomas who still was running a fever (on and off) from Christmas. Since Thomas LOVES to sniffle and keep his boogies (instead of using a tissue) he developed a sinus infection. Tuesday came and Gabriella developed a 102 fever in the evening. I immediately called the pediatrician (as directed by the nurse since her repeat chest Xray came back that her alveoli were still closed from the pneumonia) and she was put on an antibiotic. Knock on wood...all's been quite since and I think our pediatrician is wondering where we disappeared to!

My Aunt Liz & Uncle Chuck and cousins, Whitney & Ryan from Oklahoma arrived Tuesday evening. Wednesday was a relaxing day. Thomas & Ryan played with the Wii and other toys/games while Gabriella & Whitney spent most of the morning crafting. With the little snow that fell overnight....all the kids (Uncle Chuck included) went outside and played for alittle bit. Liz and I opted to stay in as the wind was wicked and it was brutally cold. We ate an early dinner and headed down to Scranton for "First Night 2009". For those of you not from this area, different buildings in downtown Scranton host different events for New Years Eve. The evening starts at 6:00 pm and goes until midnight. There were tons of stuff and we had a blast. We enjoyed a puppet show, face painting, participated in Native American dancing, caught the end of an awesome magic show, attended storytime, played Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution. There was so much more but before we knew it, it was almost midnight. There was a bandstand with a band counting us down to midnight. Once 12:00 struck there was a 15 minute firework show. It was an awesome way to ring in the new year and was great to spend it with family that we don't get to see that often.

Thursday we found ourselves taking a self guided tour of Scranton (as I try to persuade my cousin it is the best school on the east coast!) followed by a game of bowling. Then the best part...I had 2 babysitters and you can bet I took full advantage of them! For those of you I have given directions to my house before, you know the landmark "Starlight Lounge". Well back in November I called my father's bluff about going there. At 9:00 or so, he got out of his pajamas and off we went to the bar. I know the owner and they never stop talking about how good their wings are. So, we gave them a try...and they are good. My mother, Aunt Kris and Uncle Rich were also in attendance. Well, my Aunt Kris and father have told their sister, my Aunt Liz, about this place and it was my duty to provide the same opportunity to my Aunt Liz...so at 9:00...Tom, myself, Aunt Liz & Uncle Chuck headed to the bar. The owner was curious as to how much family I have!?!?!? After a round of beer and a few wings...we headed home.

We said our goodbyes Friday morning as Aunt Liz & Co. headed back to OK. We had a rather lazy Friday playing games and crafting all day in our jammies. We took down our Christmas tree & decorations this past Sunday and are getting back into the school routine.
That's all for now...