Talking, Talking, Talking, Tired, Tired, Tired

I know it's been quite a while since I've updated here but other than Tyler becoming such a big boy and talking up a storm there isnt much else to report. I've been tired, from the Anemia I'm sure and run out of energy very quickly.

So Tyler's favorite thing now is to echo everything we say and to say all the words he knows when he sees things. Today in the store I picked up Bananas he says "nanas", I picked up apples he says "awpulls", I picked up grapes he says "gapes". So he's pretty much learning a million new words a day and since he is in the echoing stage he echos our phrases as well now. It's cute and I love when he tells "stories" with his 2 or 3 word sentences. The other day he wanted to take off his boots and he told me, "me boot off" it was so awesome to hear him say that. He's starting to say "I love you" when you tell him to say it but soon enough it will be the "I love you mommy" all of us mothers wait to hear!!!

Jon has started cooking these crazy recipes and coming up with things on his own too. He's really good and I'm not sure if I mentioned it but he made a blog for it with his recipes and pictures chefhubby.blogspot.com if you care to take a look!! He's made some pretty yummy things over the past couple weeks and I look forward to his next challenge!!

Kaitlyn's Gym Show is this weekend for Dance! She will be doing a Baton Routine and the Gymnastics type stuff the little ones do. Hopefully she actually does it and doesnt stand there but even her just getting out there will be great and I will be proud of her! Hopefully I will be able to get some picture and video while keeping Tyler under control. Jon might not make it right on time so I'll have him by myself and trying to video her baton routine. We'll see how that works out!!

Hopefully Kaitlyn is feeling better by the weekend she has had a high fever since Monday and has been out of school. She needs to be on the mend here for the next couple days to be ready for the weekend!!

SAH-Wiiiiiiing and it's another Long Drive

Well things have been going here... going going going! Tyler has been talking up a storm and is now forming two word sentences. He is labeling everything and trying very hard to mimic the words we say to him. It's amazing to watch his progress since it is so different from Kaitlyns. She wasnt talking at all at this point so it's kinda crazy! :) He also LOVES to climb and jump and is still getting very fiesty when tired. He ASKS to go to bed when he is tired and if I need to push him a little longer he will start to get whiney and start hitting people or throwing things or doing anything that might get him some attention. It's really cute though that he WANTS to go to bed sometimes!!!

Kaitlyn has been Kaitlyn, it's been a little bit of a rough month but we take each day as it comes and pull through. She is getting better at going to school though sometimes I still have to carry her kicking through the door. She has been getting Social therapy, sort of, at school. She hasnt had much time to spend with the social worker and I dont see any sort of difference. She still just plays alone 90% of the time she is at school. We're hoping that they will be able to challenge Kaitlyn enough once she gets into Kindergarten. If they are unable to we're thinking of keeping her home and homeschooling her to give her the acedemic challenges she needs. She gets very bored at school sometimes because learning the ABC's and 1-10 is something she knew 2 years ago. She's doing math and early reading stuff at home right now in her 1st grade workbooks and enjoys it so much!

Now, Jon, he's been enjoying staying up way too late to play his new Mass Effect 2 game - which is a very cool game and yes I've been staying up late too!! I need to go to bed tonight though and so does Jon. He's working a double tomorrow and is working on Sat morning too. Then we will be heading down to visit with the in-laws and to see Ben join the world of the Lord at his Baptism! It should be a wonderful joyous day and I look forward to it!!

10 YEARS?!?! Really???

Lord Jesus, as we celebrate our wedding day, when two became one, we give You thanks for blessing us with love in all circumstances. Because You first loved us, we can love one another. For the love we have shared in the beautiful times and the love we have discovered in the painful trials, we praise You. For the love that You showed on the cross, for all Your people, we glorify Your holy name. Amen

10 years ago I hopped on a Greyhound bus to Long Island, NY, who would have thought that it would turn into a lifetime of love and commitment?!?!?! Happy 7th Wedding Anniversary to the my wonderful, loving, hardworking, devoted, amazing.... (you get it) Hubby, Jonathan!!! Our love and commitment to each other has grown as much as we have over the years! I'm happy to have laughed every laugh with you, cried every cry and built this wonderful life and family together with you!! :) You are my life, my heart and my soul!

New What?

Just wanted to say Happy New Year and I hope that somehow this year can be better than last. I'm not sure right now what to do differently to make it better since right now we're just going through the motions to get through each day with the different challenges that come our way. Feels like a waiting game but in time I hope we can work out a plan for th immediate future to get some things changed!

God Bless all of my friends and family with a wonderful new year of new experiences and second chances!

Good Old Fashioned (wtf?) Christmas

Well last night we went to Christmas Eve service at Church and I just loved it!!! :) My favorite!! The kids had a good time too - running all over while Pastor was trying to do his Sermon!! LOL I'm sure he loved it!!! It was a great time though and then we came home and got the creatures all snug in their beds with visions of who the hell knows what dancing in their heads - probably some kind of fluid since K woke up and peed herself hahahahaha. Jon worked midnights that night and got home at 7:30am Christmas morning. We opened gifts and had breakfast and then Jon went to sleep. The kids and I played with their stuff most of the day and then I made a lovely Chicken dinner with homemade (from scratch) stuffing and some twice baked mashed potatoes. It turned out great and I cant wait for leftovers!! All I got was a cut finger and a burned hand out of it and Jon even did the dinner dishes!! YAY!! :)

The kids loved their presents and cant wait to paint the little craft things they got in their stockings!

Jon is working a double shift today so we will hopefully get to spend some well needed time with daddy tomorrow! Also Jon's sister Michelle, her hubby and Ben should be stopping by today to exchange gifts and spend a few minutes before they head off to see someone else I'm sure.

Nothing too exciting going on... going to keep on my road to cleaning the house and trying to catch up on laundry. One day... one day I will be caught up and can TRY to stay that way! At least my kitchen is cleaned!

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas!!

Endoscopy & Early LI Christmas

Ok so yesterday I had my endoscopy done and the Dr did some biopsies and found an ulcer! YAY! Sounds weird to be excited about an ulcer but at least now I know where my pain is coming from and I can work to heal it and try to prevent them in the future.

I was all feeling blah and groggy all day yesterday afterwards and as soon as it was time to get going I got wicked terrible heartburn and it lasted all day. It was just like the other pain I was getting in my belly... oy! I fell sleep with the kids for nap and then ended up going to bed with them at night too. I took my nexium and was still popping Tums like Sweettarts!

At least thats over and we know why my little pouch was hurting. Hopefully thats the end of it and I can get on with life!

We had a good time visiting Jon's family last weekend. We went to Long Island to celebrate early Christmas and had a good time seeing everyone. We even got a chance to ride the train into the city and Kaitlyn and Tyler loved seeing the big tree in Rockerfeller Center. Tyler was infatuated with the train and the subway and kept saying over and over "choo choo" lol He LOVED it so much. Kaitlyn even got to take a picture of the tree with Daddy's phone by herself and then the tree started to sparkle after that and she said "it was thanking her for taking such a good picture" of it. She's got quite the imagination!!

This weekend Kaitlyn will be playing the part of an Angel in the Christmas Pageant at Church!! how exciting! I'll get some pictures, I hope to post! Should be fun! I can't wait to start singing Christmas Carols at Church either... I LOVE it!! :) Oooooo and Jon is working midnights Christmas Eve night into Christmas Day so he gets to go to Christmas Eve service with us!! YAY!!! So much fun!

A Long Island Christmas & a camera where?!?!?

Hahahahaha ok what a title!! :)

Well first of all I was/am still having stomach pains so I went back to the surgeon and asked for an Endoscopy. He said if I hadn't asked he was going to suggest it! So on 12/16 I get to go have a camera shoved down my throat to have a look and see if I have an ulcer or anything weird going on in there that would be causing the pain. Fun for me but it needs to be done!

I just have to say how awesome it is when a certain little man is watching TV and repeats things he hears!!! I LOVE IT! Tyler is talking so much, even if he isn't saying anything intelligible half of the time it's still so cool to hear him. Last night the kids and I were watching Rudolph and Mrs. Claus says to Santa "but Papa..." and Tyler turned to me and repeated JUST like her "Papa." I just exploded with joy! He's getting sooooooooo big now too, he looks like he's 2 1/2 and he's only 19months old!!! Anyway, he can now jump off the ground with two feet too! He's doing so much now it's crazy. Oh did I ever do a number on him too... we went and got out family Christmas photo (which I'll put in this post) and I decided since Tyler's hair was sticking up and he needed it cut that I would just buzz him. Well his hair looked a LOT darker when it was a little longer but when I shaved him it was very light and he looks bald!!! hahahahaha The good thing is his hair grows really fast and only after a few days it started looking better and you can see the hair growing back in now! Still funny and he will tell me what a dork I was when he is older, I'm sure!! :)

Also, we're headed to long Island this weekend to celebrate Christmas a little early since this is the only time we have to do it. It will be fun and we're also going into the City for the annual tree seeing trip! YAY! The kids are going to love it! Kaitlyn especially loves riding the train and going on the subway - thats where she learned to say "watch the gap" lol :)

Ok and here is the picture

Thanks for Thanksgiving

Well we went to Long Island to see the family for Thanksgiving. This year Jon's sister Michelle hosted and it worked out very well in their home and no one was on top of anyone and it was a nice day and good to see everyone. We stayed and visited Grandma for a few days and got home Sunday. Jon got some time to spend with his friends on Saturday night too by playing poker and taking their money!! :) Thanks guys!! hahahaha

Yesterday we ended up with a HUGE scrape down the side of our van from the front wheel well to the back bumper. I went today to have the estimate and it's $3200 in damage! So we're going to do all we can to get the $1000 we need for the deductible and then get the car fixed. So any money we get for Christmas or bonuses or anything is all going to that. Hopefully we can get it together soon or find a "loan shark."

We're hoping to get back down to the island to celebrate Christmas early... thinking of heading down on the 12th. Hopefully that will work out and we can see Grandma and Jon's sisters and the kids again. We're then possibly headed to the Island, yet again, in January for Ben's Baptism!

Might have a busy couple weeks here traveling but it'll all be worth it!

Two Weeks in Hell & Thankful for it all!

Well the last two weeks have been CRAZY! Kaitlyn got the flu which morphed into ear infections, bronchitis, asthma, dehydration (with ER visit) and a Urinary Tract infection. She has been on so many medications in the last two weeks her poor stomach has to be a mess! She is now on a nebulizer for the Asthma (which I will get into more on her site). As far as the family, we're lucky, I had the flu a few months back and Tyler and Jonathan both got a Flu shot! So we all stayed healthy while the poor girl battled these mean nasty non-stop illnesses. She is finally on the right drugs for the UTI and we're hoping it all ends here!

Thanksgiving is coming up and we will be heading down to Long Island, as always, to celebrate our Thankfulness with Jon's family. Kaitlyn has tomorrow left of school and then her and I are going to spend the day making fudge to take down with us. The kids did get some coupons and reward certificates so we were able to go to Build A Bear and Kaitlyn made Frosty the Snowman and Tyler chose his Turkey "Dobble Dobble." Though this year the world seems to be forgetting about Thanksgiving and being Thankful and skipping right to Christmas.

Not really a whole lot going on right now other than trying hard to get Kaitlyn (and me) healthy again. I'm doing terrible. My Iron is so low and I feel the infusions are making no difference. I'm getting depressed because I feel useless. I try hard to do things but within minutes I am so exhausted and out of breath I have to sit down because I feel nauseous. I'm not sure whether to hire someone to watch the kids so I can clean or hire someone to come clean for me just to get my house back together so I can TRY to keep it that way. I REALLY want my mom to come out for a week or so to visit and help me get this stuff together but I can't afford to fly her here.

The holidays, though I LOVE the thought of them... celebrations with family and the joy and happiness of the children. They depress me terribly because I'm so far from my family and havent celebrated with them in many years. I think a wonderful Christmas gift would be having my mom come... but I know thats impossible. Neither of us have the money.

Ok Jon will be home soon and it's time for him to get a haircut!

Tyler 18 Months Old

Tyler turned 18 months old last week actually but his Well Visit was today! :) Tyler is a big ol' healthy bag of bones! hahahaha He's 27 1/4 lbs and 34" tall and he's growing very well! Not too much else to talk about. He did get a regular Flu shot today and has been a crab butt ever since!

Today was Kaitlyn's Halloween party at school and we all went. It was black & orange day too so we all wore Halloween clothes! It's was an ok party... honestly, there were a lot of people in a not so big place and it made ME want to leave! lol Kaitlyn seems to be doing very well on her medicine though... it really does help to keep her calm, but only half the day. By late afternoon or evening (especially if we have to go somewhere) she has behavior issues. It's something that the Dr and I might look into, possibly adding a second dose in the evening. Kaitlyn can feel her medicine working too, she told me her little white pill makes her feel calm and good. She was having a "moment" the other night and she even said "Mama, can I just have another one of my little white pills, they make me feel good and calm." It's crazy that she is so in-tune with herself!!

Alright then... tomorrow is Halloween and Tyler and I will be dressing as Pumpkins, Kaitlyn as a Dinosaur and Jon is ................... [to be announced] lol Will be taking pictures tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

The Verdict Duh Duh Duhhhhhhhhh

Ok so I went to the Hematologist yesterday because my iron is extremely low and I'm pretty anemic. Which would explain why I'm extremely tired all the time and have no energy. So it comes down to this... next week I will be starting 6 weeks of Iron infusions again to build back up my stores. If I do not keep my stores this time they are thinking of going on an exploration mission to see if I have a GI bleed somewhere because I should not be using up my stores unless I'm bleeding somewhere!

So right now the Dr says my heart is working overtime because it thinks I'm suffocating. It's pumping harder and making more blood cells than it needs to so that it can get the oxygen to the places in my body that need it. It's also making the extra blood because it's confused as to why things are right and thinks I have a bleed somewhere too and body says bleeding? MORE CELLS STAT!!!! :) She says it's not a huge deal right now but with my heart working so hard that it could possibly cause heart problems in the future!

On a wonderful note, Tyler is starting to talk a lot more these last few days! He now says "uh, uh" for No, when he doesnt want something lol hahahahaha It's cute! AND he has a strong interest in the potty! I think it's because he wants potty candy for going!!! lol He's a little smart guy.

So the things we have coming up are Tylers 18mo appt Friday morning, Kaitlyn has a Halloween party in school Friday and then Saturday we're all going to Crossgates Mall to trick or treat... then Jon works halloween night so we'll see what the kids and I have planned for that night!

My Bloods

Ok so I'm not going to list everything here but wanted to say that my iron dropped more and I have no idea what the Hematologist is going to suggest Tues when I go. I'm sure they are going to want to do infusions again... bleh! The Dr now has me on 4000000000000 pills a day! LOL I now have to take my regular "head meds", the Procardia for my Raynauds, Nexium, Vit D, B12, Calcium & Multivitamin. Seriously it's like 14 freakin pills/Vitamins!!! Good lord, can they all even fit in my pouch? LoL Ok so anyway, not sure about the rest of my blood levels right now but the main thing is the iron for now.

Anyway, Kaitlyn and I drove down to Woodstock, NY today for her follow-up with the Developmental Pediatrician and it went well. She said she is going to have Kaitlyn's report written by the end of next week so I have it to go to the School District meeting with.

A Little Drop of Ketchup

Ok so I got my results from the CT Scan and don't have any kinks or twists or anything major to report, so the reason for my stomach pain is unknown but assumed to be a possible ulcer or idiopathic (i just had to use a big word there! hahaha). Anyway, the Dr out me on Nexium and we're going to see how that goes for a couple months. Since taking it I havent really had any pain so maybe thats what it was. I also saw the Nutritionist who keeps track of my Blood levels and she is sending me back to the Hematologist because my iron is so low. She sent me to get my blood drawn and I did it yesterday. The kids and I met Daddy at work (he was working both jobs yesterday) and we got to have a late lunch with Daddy and then I got 9 (YES I said 9!) tubes of blood drawn for all the tests! Geesh... you would think I'd be tapped out! LOL :) So we'll see how those go and how low my levels are as of now. The last time I had them done was April and my iron was 4 then.

Tyler started this week with the two sound words... he now says "Daa-Dee" and "nuh-mee" and has been saying "bay-bawh" and "boo-bawh" (Baseball & Football) for awhile and LOVES both. He just sees it on TV or a picture and goes crazy saying it over and over!! :) He's still quite the "Stunt Man" climbing on stuff (appropriate things at least!) and trying to jump off of everything and purposely falling down lol. He's got a sense of humor already... though living in this house, you'd better have one!!! :) He's actually 18 months old today and his appointment was supposed to be this morning but we had to reschedule it because I totally forgot about the Field trip to the Pumpkin patch with Kaitlyn's school today and they were at the same time!! So will update on that next week after his appt.

Thats the other thing, Kaitlyn had her first field trip today! We went with her class (and families) to the Pumpkin Patch where they got to pick a Gourd, Mini Pumpkin and an Indian Corn. They also got to run around and play and then have story time and roll down a hill, pet some animals, a hay maze and tunnel and even a Hay Ride!! :) It was great and Kaitlyn and Tyler both enjoyed it a lot. It did end up being FREEZING cold and, of course, I was NOT prepared and the three of us were about froze to death but at least it was a good time.

Meeting Baby Ben

Well we went down to Long Island this past weekend to meet Michelle, Jon's sisters, new baby! His name is Ben and he was born the beginning of Sept but we decided not to rush down and to give them some space and time to get used to being parents! He's a gorgeous little guy and I guess really liked me since he decided to fall asleep on me for about an hour!

I'm pretty tired and it has been an eventful week so far so I dont have much to write. I did go for my CT Scan yesterday but I wont know much about it until I see the Dr on Monday the 19th so I'll let you know more then.

One good thing is that Tyler is now saying "Baybee" perfectly! He was trying it yesterday but then today just keeps saying it. He has been babbling a lot of different sounds lately so I think we're going to be hearing a lot more English out of him rather than "Tylerese." So good for him! He's such a big boy and I know now that things are going to start going quickly for him developmentally! I'm excited!

Ok off to do some Laundry!!!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

So yesterday I decided to venture out for a "date" with the kids on my own. We went to the mall and grabbed a little bite to eat and then went to see Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs in 3D!!! We had a great time and the kids were wonderful! K was in awe and although she did cover her ears in the beginning she was able to finally take them off and enjoy the movie! Tyler made it about an hour in before running through the isle and climbing on th seats. He managed to only lose 1 shoe, which I did find at the end of the movie!

Today I decided to switch over the kids to their winter clothes and am going to pick up a few things they need for winter. Kaitlyn needs some size 5 long sleeve shirts (since her 4T's are too short on her belly!) and Tyler has no footie sleepers for winter since he is in 24m now.

Other than that I hope to get a bit done around the house and was hoping to mow, but of course, it's raining yet again on one of the only days we have to get it done! Lovely!

I wish everyone a good day! Apple Festival tomorrow!!! WOOOT!!!! :)

Tyler's Dentist Appt

Well Tyler went for his 6 month check up today. Everything was great, they said I was doing a good job with brushing his teeth and all that fun stuff. However we did get some not so great news about the future! The Dr said that Tyler has an underbite and a crossbite and that as soon as he is old enough to cooperate in the chair (around 3 or so) he would like to send us to an Orthodontist to get an appliance put in to stretch Tyler's upper jaw. Apparently it's not growing as fast as the rest of his head. Not the worst news and hopefully this will help us avoid bigger thing when he is older. So we'd rather get it fixed while he is young and it's easier to do these things! He also said his Upper Lip Frenectomy looks beautiful and it really does! :) Looks normal now like he never had anything done! Oh, and his little front teeth are coming together nicely too!

I also mentioned that Kaitlyn's teeth don't sit correctly in er mouth and so when she goes in for her visit in a couple months we're going to check her out and she may also need something for her mouth but that would be very soon since she is going to be 4 1/2 here soon!!

17 months - Thank you!

So I'm sitting here and Tyler dropped his car into the pack n play and was saying "Ut, Oh" over and over and then said his little version of help, "uhnuh." So I got his car for him. Well we always model correct sentences for our kids and try to model good behavior lol! :) Anyway, I said "Here you go Tyler" and "Thank you, Mama" and then HE SIGNED "thank you" to me!!! WOOOT!!!! LoL We only started using signing with him when he was about 4-6 months old... he never really took to it like K did (since he was actually using words I guess he did feel a need?) but I still use the thank you sign now and again... and he did it all on his own just now!!! Awesome!!! Took him almost a year to do a sign but hey, whatever!! He knows "thank you!"



BTW (highjacking my sons post lol) - my freakin' toes (Raynauds) has started up already... my toes have been frozen everyday for about a week now... grrrrr!!! I guess I should start taking my meds again already to see if it helps. BLEH!!!

Apple Festival YAY!!!

So every year since we moved back up here (yeah yeah it hasnt been that long I know!) Jon, the kids and I have been going to the Apple Festival at the Altamont Fairgrounds. It's coming up again this year this weekend WOOT!! I can't wait, I love all the crafts and there is stuff for the kids to do and we always paint pumpkins. This year Tyler will be old enough to actually do everything! It's going to be so fun spending such wonderful time with the family. We're hoping to go on Sunday after Church since Jon is working during the day on Saturday.

Kaitlyn is getting through school and likes it very much... we have our days & our nights and it's a roller coaster right right now but it'll all work out.

Tyler is getting huge! He is talking a lot now... still not TONs of real english but plenty of his own stuff and thats all great by us! He's just a handsome little man who keeps learning something new everyday!

We're all jus trying to get over being sick here for the past week. It's been terrible and just about knocked us all out! Just trying to clear everything out now that the actual illness seems to be gone.

Well here's to a wonderful week and an awesome weekend to come!!! YAY!!!

The Weekend after a Long Week!

Well this week has been nuts with PreK and Dr appts and Dance and everything all starting up. I hope soon to get back into a routine where things will be more the same everyday. Next week starts a week with no "interruptions" and will be a full week of PreK so we will see how K does after that! We have her Evaluations on 9/29 and 10/1 so we're lucky for that!

I've not been eating well and it seems that when I do eat my entire abdomen feels pressured and it feels like my ribs are crushing organs when I sit and my back and shoulder are killing me. I need to find myself a full on strick protein menu and follow it to the letter for a month to get myself back on track and maybe drop this last 15lbs. I think I will set my goal and work out a menu and start Oct 1st and give myself the month to get it gone and really stick to the diet as much as possible. I do think that I'm going to have to make an appt with either the Primary or the Surgeon (whom I havent seen in over a year now and he might be pissed lol). The the pain is jus getting annoying and its giving me headaches.

OMG did I mention my new tattoo??? I got it last week Thursday and it's the kids names on my right should blade area on my back... guess I should post a pic huh???

This was taken RIGHT after getting it done so it's still all red and puffy... once I'm fully healed and touched up I will take another pic where you can see how black and pretty and shaded it is! :)

Jon is still working his butt off but I think getting kinda used to it. I hope that maybe by mid year next year we can but him to one extra shift at the other job or figure something out with getting rid of some bills. Though I'm not going to get into talking about money... we are fine and paying our bills without issue so thats the important part!

Tyler is getting so big and is really showing his intelligence!! He's talking more and JUST started repeating some things!! I told him to say Bye Bye the other day and he did and it was sooooo cute and perfect! He says things like Baseball (his FAVORITE!!!), Door, Up, Nah nah (food), Nuh nuh (pacifier) and a lot of other Tylerisms but he is talking and we love it. He is still a very Black/White kid and is either crabby or happy... with no middle ground most of the time. He is having a hard time figuring out and responding to facial expressions unless we SCREAM at him LOUDly! I HATE doing that but if we dont he sits there with a smile not understanding at all that we are angry and what he is doing is wrong. It's got me a little worried but he is still only 17 months and maybe thats normal... who knows! Not going to stress over it!

Kaitlyn has been loving her video games, I gave her my old DS and got her a couple games for it and she has her Leapster 2 (which we take those when going shopping or around people to keep her anxiety level down. She also got a Game for the Wii called JumpStart and she loves it and it's so perfect for her and she can play it all by herself! She's having a LOT of trouble with transitioning and we're having tantrums lately but we will get it worked out.

This is one weekend where Jon is actually home all weekend so I have NO idea what's going to go on... I know I would love to get a LOT of cleaning done and see my living room floor again and the kitchen sink to be empty but if there is some time to spend together as a family, I'd like that too!!

Well see what happens this weekend and maybe I can update on Monday!! :)

Annual Apple Picking!

Yesterday we decided to try and get the kids some outdoor time as well as some unwind time so we headed out to the Farm and did our annual Apple Picking! :) We really had a great time and the kids loved it. We picked a ton of Macintosh apples and the kids ate a ton right off the tree while there too!