Pictures from the weekend

Presents for my Anniversary. Prizes from the circus. Darth Vader in Toys R Us.

Wanna win a prize?

I have a Give-Away going on at my Scrap Blog. I changed the deadline because I was bad a promoting it. Enter your comment by Friday 4/4/08. I'll choose a winner at random.
Good luck!
Oh yeah, pass this info on to your friends...

We made it to the circus...

but we probably should have stayed home. David told us he felt fine, but he ended up with a belly ache. Ava felt ok, but was not ready for a train ride or the circus. We left the circus at intermission and walked to Toys R Us in Times Square. I had promised him we'd go there. Ava fell asleep in the stroller on the walk over and missed the big toy store. David had a grand ole time in the Lego section. Last time we were there it was so crowded we just walked past the display. This time he got to go in and really check everything out. He loved it and was so good. We had planned on grabbing dinner, but there was a wait at all the restaurants worth going to. Instead, we headed home. I did have a good time, but I am not so sure about the rest of the family.

Still sick

Not much to report...the kids are still sick. We have tickets to the Ringling Bros. circus at MSG in NYC tomorrow. Probably not be able to go. :sigh: I hope to have a better post tomorrow.

Victim #2

At 2:30 am this morning I heard the words "Mommy, I threw up in your bed". My thought -OH CRAP! - luckily however I did not react that way and was calm as I got out of bed. Steve turned on the light to find that he had in fact puked, but it was not all that much/bad. Steve cleaned David and the bed as I found clean sheets for my bed and David's sleeping bag. Just as Steve was getting up for work, he puked again on our rug and his pillow. David got back in my bed with a towel under him and Steve cleaned up the mess. When I was brushing my teeth for work, David came into the bathroom to get sick. My poor Mom was left to deal with two very sick kids. Ava's diarrhea was really bad, but at least she was not puking. Well, that was true when I left for work. When I called my Mom after lunch, Ava and David were puking and crapping. I could not leave this all to my Mom, so I left my office and worked the rest of the day from home. Ava was really really sick when I got home, so I called the Dr. and was able to get an appt for 5:15 pm. According to the Dr., she has a really bad virus. No food today. Just Pedialyte for both kids. Poor little things. Oh, yeah, and in case you did not know...today is Steve and my 9th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary babe!

Father knows best

I do not make that statement often when referring to my dearest husband, but last night it was SO true. I arrived home from work to find my baby girl feeling 95% better. Her fever was gone and she was back to her party girl self. Steve let me know that she still had the diarrhea and it did not take long for me to figure that out for myself. Aside from that she was all good. I made her rice cereal for dinner and she ate the whole bowl. She and David played for a while and by 8 pm she was exhausted. I decided that she could have 'a little' milk in her bottle before bed. Steve told me I shouldn't, but I figured 1/2 a bottle would be OK. Well, at 12:30 am, I found out Steve was right. I woke up to him shouting 'Oh Shit' and he meant it. My poor baby girl. She was COVERED in diarrhea. I tried my best to get her clothes off without making a bigger mess - it was almost impossible. I quickly filled the tub with water to wash her down while Steve put the sheets and her blankets in the wash. Just as I was about to put the soap on her, she goes in the tub! I quickly removed her from the bath tub and washed out the tub. She still needed to be cleaned up so Steve helped me shower her down. As Steve was remaking her crib, I got her redressed. She was so tired - along with Steve and I - that we let her sleep with us. We did not want her to crap all over our bed, so we laid a towel under her. She slept like a log and when I left this morning, she was still sleeping with no sign of a mess. It was not too smart of me to give her that milk...I should have listened to the hubs. :sigh:

Who does this?

It seems as though Ava came down with a virus on Sunday after we left my Aunt's in Lavalette. However, I was not having it and made it worse. Here is a recap:

3:00 pm - Ava drinks 7 oz of milk
3:05pm - Ava pukes & craps
3:15 pm - Ava is cleaned up and has new outfit on
3:30 pm - All 4 of us leave for Easter dinner
3:55 pm - Ava pukes all over herself and car seat on way to restaurant
4:00 pm - Arrive in restaurant parking lot, remove Ava and car seat
4:05 pm - Ava is cleaned up and has new outfit on
4:10 pm - Sit down to dinner with Cara's parents;Cara asks restaurant for HUGE garbage bag
4:15 pm - Dinner is ordered;Steve goes outside to put nasty car seat in HUGE garbage bag
4:45 pm - Dinner is served
5:05 pm - Ava pukes
5:06 pm - Steve and Ava (shirtless) leave restaurant
5:08 pm - Cara tries to clean up puke - tells waitress;Cara and David leave restaurant
5:12 pm - Ava (in onzie) sits in David's car seat, David sits without a car seat, Cara sits in backseat for ride home
5:45 pm - Ava gets bath
6:30 pm - Dessert guests arrive
7:30 pm - Ava pukes
7:45 pm - Ava goes to bed

Question #1: Why did I take my child out of the house after she puked and had explosive poop?

Question #2: Why did I entertain 12 dessert guests after she threw up the 3rd time?

Answer to all: I am friggin CRAZY and need to see a counselor.

My poor baby girl is still under the weather, although I am happy to report she has not puked again since that final episode Sunday night at 7:30 pm. She had diarea yesterday and a fever today and yesterday. My wonderful Mom called the pediatrician today and this is going around. Surprisingly enough, we are treating it correctly. Gatorade, rice cereal and cheerios. No milk. I am hoping she kicks this soon. It is so sad to see her so blah. She is usually the life of the party!

Happy Easter!

The Easter bunny made a stop at our house...

Waiting for the Bunny!

Some photos of the kids dying Easter eggs earlier this week. They came out very nice. The kids are all excited about Easter. Of course, Ava is not sure why she is excited...but David sure knows why. He actually asked me if the Easter Bunny will be bringing him Xbox 360. I firmly told him 'no friggin way'. Is he crazy or what? This was after I had ran around in the afternoon trying to find him the Turtle webkinz he wanted. I was not able to get the Turtle, but I did get a retired Racoon and was invited to the Webkinz party at the end of April. So looking forward to that!

Before I went Webkinz hunting, I got my nails done. They were LONG over due. I made an appt for 10:30 am at the place where I ALWAYS go. To my surprise the salon was under new ownership and remodeled. However, that was not the biggest surprise. The fact that I was there for 2+ hours and paid $45 for a fill was the ultimate SURPRISE. I could not believe it. I bet you can tell I won't be making another appt with them. My nails do look nice, but I do not have the time or the money to keep that up.

Good Friday = Day Off!

Steve and I both had today off. That is according our work calendars. I did not go to work today. Steve did. He was asked to put in some overtime and we could always use some extra cash, so he went to work. I will admit I was pissed at first but when I thought about it more, he did the right thing. After a screaming match with the kids - we took a ride out to bring Steve some lunch. I picked up Wendy's and we ate with him in the school cafeteria. Steve was glad we decided to surprise him. There were some things I wanted shop for so we hit up the Bridgewater mall which is practically across the street from Steve's school. The kids were pretty well behaved. We visited the Lego store, Build a Bear, Gymboree, NY & Co., The Disney Store, Bath and Body Works and Victoria Secret. I bought David a box of Star Wars legos and a Giants outfit for one of his bears as a gift for his good report at the Parent Teacher conference. For myself I got an outfit for Easter and for both the kids got something to wear on Easter as well. The day flew by and before I knew it, Steve was home from work.
Hope you enjoyed your day!

Stopped the meds

When I got home from work on Tuesday my box of vitamins had been delivered. I took all 8 pills with my dinner. Some of them need to be take with food, so I figured I'd take them all that way. I did not take the Depakote that night. So far, so good. No headaches Wed or today. Not that you want to know this, but my pee is neon yellow! I hope this vitamin thing works...I'll keep you posted.

Parent Teacher Conference

This morning I attended David's Spring Parent Teacher conference. I was unable to attend his fall one, so his teacher and I did a phone one. I felt so out of touch that I knew I needed to attend the Spring one in person. I am SO glad I did. His teacher was very sweet and had nothing but nice things to say about David. He has improved so much since the fall. His areas that still need work are penmenship and coloring. Those came as no surprise to me. He NEVER wants to color and I can tell his handwriting is bad. My Mom and I both work with him on it, but like any kid...it's not what he wants to be doing at ANY time. The teacher did mention that he and Patrick often act silly, but not disruptive. I am glad he and Patrick are friends. He is a sweet boy and has very nice parents. As we were finishing up, I asked if I could come in and do a scrapbooking project with the kids and she was thrilled. I am going in to the class in late April and we're going to create a Mother's Day project! I can not wait! I knew I would be happy I attended in person.

Great movie

Over the weekend I watched 2 movies. That is VERY rare for me - I either do not have the time or the patience. I recently signed up for Netflix - which I was surprised I did. I know a few people that use it and love it, so I thought I'd try it. It sounded easy to use and there are many movies that I want to see. The first movie we got was Bourne Ultimatum. I LOVED it. It was SO good and entertaining. I am not a huge Matt Damon fan, but he is fantastic in these movies. I highly recommend it. I also watched Hannibal Rising. Steve bought it for me for Christmas. The movie was good, but the book was MUCH better and informative. I thought the movie was too short and if you did not read the book - you would have been lost - like Steve was. The 'Hannibal' books and movies are my VERY favorite storyline - but I was a little disappointed in Hannibal Rising the movie.

Happy St. Pat's!

I hope you enjoy this day o' green! I like this holiday much better when it is on the weekend. I do not eat corned beef or cabbage, but I do like having a cocktail or two! I am WAY past the stage of getting drunk during the week, so I guess having 1 wine cooler before bed will be my St. Pat's Day celebration - WOO HOO!!

An early Easter

Yes, Easter is VERY early as it is this year, but we celebrated even earlier. We spent the weekend with Tracey, Rich and the kids in PA and did our Easter thing this morning. Rich made reservations at Brickside Grill for brunch. The food there is VERY good. They made omeletes and pancakes to order and there are tons of other things on the buffet. I had a crab, tomato, cheese and bacon omelete and plain pancakes. Not to mention sausage, hash browns and LOTS of sweet treats. Ava sure enjoyed the sausage. I think she had 3 links! After brunch we went back to their house. I had bought the kids scrapbook kits for Xmas and Ty really wanted my help getting started. This was the perfect afternoon to do that. He picked out the photos he wanted to use and I helped him decorate his pages. We brainstormed to come up with his journaling. He did a really cool job. He did half the book before I left. I am looking forward to seeing the final result.

Happy Scrappin'!

Today I held my National Scrapbooking Event from 9 to 5 in my home. I did not have a ton of people, but I did have GREAT people. All the scrappers that attended did very well - I think a total of 40 pages got completed. I gave away 3 exclusive CM prizes. Lunch was delicious - although my poor Mom had to take a trip back to Panera Bread for the missing pickles and cookies. Thanks Mom! It was a very nice day. I am looking forward to the next one.

Vitamins? Really?

Yesterday was my check up appointment with the Neurologist. Now, back in the beginning of February at my first appointment, he switched me from Topamax to Depakote and fore-warned me that a side effect is weight gain. I did not like hearing that, but thought, I'll just eat right and exercise. YEAH RIGHT! I learned that my FAT ASS gained 7 lbs in 5 weeks! OH MY GOD! I am not going to pretend that I had no idea...I mean my pants are SO tight I am surprised I have not split them or popped a button. I just did not think my appetite had changed that much. The good news is he has taken me off the Depakote and put me on a vitamin regimen. Yes, that is right - vitamins. Now - if you know me - you know that I do not eat veggies and do not take vitamins. So, this a a very new concept for me. I hope they do not taste bad, because this regimen will stop immediately. I ordered the vitamins I need from vitacost.com - they were VERY reasonably priced. Especially the CoQ10. That is so damn expensive! I will stop the Depakote and start the vitamin once I get them in the mail. Wish me luck!

Small amount of blog hopping

I so wanted to do more, but I only got to read a few new blogs last night. The ones I read were very cute and interesting. There are SO many great prizes to be one during this party - WOW! I entered one last night for a framed photo. So cool. My plan is to read a little more tonight. Now let's just see if the rest of the house allows this to occur.

We're in the money! Well, not really, but we did get our federal rebate today. I paid the State their damn money (not happy about that as you can tell). I also paid off our new kitchen furniture from Crate and Barrel and most of my Gap card. I kept a few dollars in the checking account so we are not completely broke ;)

Wanna party?

I am a tad late, but I have decided to PARTY! There is a Blog Party going on and you are invited. 5 minutes for Mom is hosting this party and it looks like a lot of fun. If you've landed here from the party, allow me to introduce myself and family.
I am a working mother of 2 - Ava, 16 months and David, 4 years. I am married to a fabulous man, Steve and we'll celebrate our 9th wedding Anniversary on 3/27. We live in central NJ, but are rarely at home. My Mom takes care of my tots while I am out making some dough. I am a program analyst from 8 am to 4 pm, M-F. I am also a Creative Memories consultant which obviously means I love t0 scrap and take photos. We are a HUGE sports family with our favorites being the NY Yankees and the Superbowl Champion NY Giants. We also follow Rutgers University college sports. I began blogging after my cousin Mike started. I thought it was a great way to keep my huge family up to date on the goings on in our lives. I have made a few friends here in blogland and I do enjoy reading about the lives of others. Especially those from outside the NY/NJ area.
Hope you enjoy the party!

Pile on more guilt

I have been a working Mother since September of 2003. I am very lucky to have my Mom take care of the kids while I am at work. As most of you already know, I still have TONS of guilt about being a working Mom. There are days when I feel less guilty than others, but over all I feel like crap. Well, just the other night, my darling 4 year old son says the following during dinner:
"Mommy, I want you to be home all the time and not work."
UGH! My verbal response was something like "Mommy has to work so we can have nice things and do fun things, blah, blah, blah." Inside I was DYING! I was screaming "Mommy does not WANT to work. Mommy WANTS to be home taking care of you and Ava - doing all the FUN things that she misses out on." I knew that I could not tell him this, however sometimes I wish I could. Just so he knows that I'd rather be with him and Ava than at work. Hopefully, deep down he already knows. This September when he starts kindergarten - gasp - he'll probably miss me less. However, I'll still feel like crap.