Happy New Year Eve :)

Right now the girls are running around the living room yelling "Clean up Clean up" but they aren't doing much cleaning .. It's pretty darn cute :)

Girls are going to bring in the New Years their happy goofy-selves. Love.

I'm never happy to see a year gone. I think everyone enjoyed themselves. We had a lot of fun, nothing too bad happened. We had a great vacation home and took a trip to AC (which we enjoyed). We celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary and the girls turned 2. I know next year has a ton of new things for us to enjoy and to celebrate and I'm excited.

Katie was approved for OT and PT. She'll get each for 45/minutes, once a week. They were going to add a behavioral therapist but she doesn't have any behavorial issues. They just wanted to stay on top of it because some children who have these issues tend to act out and misbehave but we decided that Katie may become overwhelmed if she's pulled out of her classroom 3 times a week and with 3 different people every week when one isnt really needed but if she does end up needing it, they'll bring him/her in.

A very busy day ..

All my days are exhausting but some seem busier than others.

Today my assistant left early so I was basically on my own. I had a helper but she isn't into our routine so everything was go with the flow. The children were so hyped up. Class counts have been low due to the Holiday but we had 10 out of 14 today.

This afternoon it was evident that the kids needed some big time physical activity so we broke out the dancing scarves and some fun dance tunes (hokey pokey, cotton eye joe, crazy bus etc) and we just had some good ole fun. I really enjoyed dancing silly with the children. I think I get caught up in all the other parts of my job (running the room and making sure everything is going to plans) that I forget to just relax and have fun.

I left half an hour early so I could take the girls to the dr. They needed a follow up to the Christmas ER visit and I didn't make it yesterday so we went tonight. I took me an hour and 15 minutes to get there (usually it's 1/2 an hour). This snow is terrible! They are taking it out in dump trucks but it's still everywhere.

Katie is fine. Her coughing is caused by post nasal drip. She will continue Pulmicort for 3 more weeks and will get benedryl to help with PND while she sleeps. Her cough sounds phegmy but dr said her lungs are clear. No wheezing and whistling so that's good news.

Karlys ear is still red on the inside. The membrane is ruptured and we aren't sure if it will heal of if she needs to see an ENT. They said she may need a hearing test to see if her hearing was affected by the rupture. I wish the dr would of listened to me and would of given her antibiotics when I asked for them. She seems so much better though. She's happy and eating and having fun at school.

We are really looking forward to another three day weekend but this one is going to be a healthy one :)

Happy New Year!

The Month of December..

December has been crazy but we got it done.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas. We did, even though Karly wasn't feeling well.

Katie was evaluated by Early Intervention and we found out that she is delayed in many areas. She is advanced in Cognitive and Fine Motor. Her Receptive and Emotional Communication is delayed, her Gross Motor is delayed and her Self Care is seriously delayed. She can do it, she just doesn't. She wants to go to school but fights getting ready.

The good news is, is that is totally fixable. After a few months, we should see improvements so we are in very high spirits. I teared up but I'm an emotional sap of a person haha.

We are very happy with all she is learning. She knows all her colors, shapes, numbers and letters by sight. She can sort shapes and colors and has a great memory. The therapists told us that they believe her to be a very bright child. However, if she can't communicate it, nobody will know so we are going to work on communication.

Karly has been sick for what seems like forever. She vomited on Sunday morning then started running a fever. She had a fever the weekend before and the week before that but dr said it was just a virus. I felt like this was going to be the same. I called the dr on Monday because her temp was almost 104 and she said to bring her in. I brought her in and she was dx with an ear infection and a throat infection. Dr said throat was probably viral so didn't prescribe anything. Her fever was low monday night and Tuesday but Tuesday night it went back to 104. I called dr back and she said to bring her in. Her ear was full of red/yellow/green/white fluid. Dr said ear infection was bacterial and she needed antibiotics. We started them on wednesday afternoon and her fever started to go down. During Christmas dinner, her fever went back up t 103.7. I called the pedi again and she said to go to the ER. So we did. They found a signifcant amount of blood in her ear and said the membrane had ruptured. He gave Karly a shot and said she needed to come back the next day for another. She's recieved both shots and seems so much better. She doesn't scream when I try to clean her ear so that's a good sign. They said because she's young her ear should heal all the way and the dr apologized for not listening to me.

They are both going to school tomorrow. I didn't want to take them out being that we just had a blizzard and there is over 2 feet of snow outside but Katie has been crying to go to school since Friday and Karly hasn't been to school in 10 days and really wants to go so we will go. It's a short week, only three days then we'll be home again for 3.

Work is the same. Still working 45 hours/week. It's very tiring but I love that the girls are there and that they are getting a good education while I work.

Overall things are going good. I'm hoping for a few weeks of good health, though :)

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas and a very Happy New Year to all.

Tina

Happy Holidays ..

Is this life mine?

Sure we don't get to take as many vacations, see as many movies, go out on dinner dates or get enough sleep, but do you know what my morning consisted of? Making scrambled eggs and toast with my daughters helping, eating together and then sitting on the couch with my coffee as my kids ran around playing, one of which had her wonder woman costume over her pjs. Now my husband as them both on his lap reading to them.

Had to take a break for wonder woman. What was I saying..

Oh yeah so this life is pretty stinkin' awesome.

Today I made them little baby beds out of brown boxes (can't wait for Christmas so they can have the real thing) so they are pushing their boxes around the house with their babies inside.

Three years ago we found out that after 47 months of trying, we were going to be parents of a beautiful baby. Little did we know...

It's been a fun couple of weeks .....

The girls have been sick, sick, sick. Nothing serious but everytime I think they are well ore are getting better, we go to the dr to get their flu shot just to find out that they have something else. I am very thankful that other than Katies severe Respitory Infection, we haven't had anything serious..

They have been learning a lot. Their new favorite book is "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" which is great because it happens to be one of my all time favorite books.

Work is going good. I still feel really busy but I have a GREAT bunch of kids this year. They are a delight to spend each day with. I'm back to feeling more in control and I like that.

It's been 3 years..

It's been three years, wanna catch up, read here.

We know how it ended up. I love my little miracles.

Pumpkin Picking, etc :)

We went pumpkin picking :) The girls had a great time. We got a very cute pumpkin.

Look! A photo of me :) Enjoy! haha

The girls have been doing well in school, when they haven't been sick. Two weeks ago, Karly had 105 fever for 5 days, turned out to be Roseola. Since then she has been very cranky, irritable and throws about 22 tantrums a day. However, when I drop her off at school, she has a good time. We think she's spoiled :)

Katies speech has been getting better but I'm still on the fence for early intervention. I have to decide soon. She does so well at school. She has a good time, plays with her friends and loves her teachers. She goes in, hangs up her jacket, kisses my goodbye and runs off to play.

Karly is the same way but she isn't playing much with other kids. However, she loves her teachers and has her favorite areas to play in. She is learning so much.

I get to see them when they are outside and I love watching them run around. When it's time to go in, they come up to me, give me a hug and kiss and go in with their teachers. My heart swells with pride at how far they've come along. I love them so much.

This weekend I am at a NAECY Convention and Expo. We go every year. My boss pays for it, the trip and hotel stay. It's in Atlantic City. My husband used to go along and spend his time in the casino and malls while I sat in conferencs. Now he takes the girls on walks, spends some time on the beach and they spend the day togethr. We arrived tonight, registerd and hung around the room. I have to be up at 530 to get ready and meet my boss in the lobby by 8. Conferences last all day and I always have something great to take back to my kids at the center. Should be fun.

this and that

It's been awhile.
We've been surviving. The girls had an awful bout of illness. It seemed like they were going to be sick forever. Karly had an ear infection, Katie had a cold then Katie had a double ear infection and Karly had a bad cold then they were both being watched for croup... BUT we are all better. Just a hint of a runny nose.

We were able to catch a weekend where the girls seemed to feel well enough to spend the day picking apples. It helped that we chose a day that was 80 degrees out. You can tell by the way they are dressed that I didn't realize it was going to be so warm out but we had a great day.

Karly ate so many apples. She wasn't wasting them. She was chowing down but would drop it in the dirt. We'd find another small one, rinse it off and give it to her and she'd start chowing down again.

Katie wouldn't eat any of the apples until we picked a green one called a greening. That one was so tart but oh so good. She ate the whole thing.

They loved picking the apples. Most of the ones we have are the ones the girls picked.

Katie had some trouble trying to get them off the vines and she fell a few times but she never gave up.

School is going great. The girls have learned so much in the short time they've been there. They want to go and they want to learn. It makes me so proud to say that. They grasp what they are learning and they tell me about it on the way home from school. We continue the theme they are learning when we are at home. Tonight we went over C words. I am going to put up the alphabet in their room along with numbers and colors.

They have a terrific time on the playground and it is the only part of the day where I really get to see them.

2 sick monkeys :(

My monkeys are sick.

Katie has a respitory infection or a virus. She is very congested, has a yucky cough and a constantly running nose. She needs her nebulizer, benedryl, prednisone and if not better by Saturday, she'll be getting an antibiotic.

Karly has a cold and an ear infection. She has been started on an antibiotic.

I feel bad for my little ones but you wouldn't know they are sick.

Katie is a bit irritable and crabby when she gets sleeping but Karly is happy as can be. She wakes up crying, I'm guessing it's from pain. Tonight I gave her tylenol to ease any pain.

We have all fingers and toes crossed for a good nights sleep ( haven't had one of those for awhile).

(those of you that are used to getting comments on your blogs from me, if you haven't been getting them, it's not letting me. I keep getting "service unavailable" messages. Am I the only one?)

Oh Boy..

The girls are sick.

The other day Katies nose started running, she was coughing and didn't feel well.

Today, Karlys teacher said she didn't eat any lunch and woke up screaming at naptime. When we were on our way home from school, she vomited..twice.. I was disgusting :(
She kept crying "momma cween, cween" . If you know NJ traffic, then you know there was no where for me to stop or pull over until we got home. I had nothing to clean her with but a few wipes but I called Donald and told him to meet me outside with a roll of wet paper towels.

I had to take the entire carseat apart, wash it and put it back together so I can take them to the dr tomorrow night.

Katies cough is worse and both of their noses are running pretty constant.

I don't know what the dr will do but I cannot miss any days in september so It's important for them to be well and at school so what harm could a trip to the dr do?

Well that didn't take long..

Katie is sick :(. Her nose is running, she's coughing and not sleeping well. I gave her some cough and cold (it's homepathic, no medicine in it) and rubbed vicks on her feet with socks and sent her to bed.

Driving home tonight (they had another great day at school) they were in the back seat singing a song they learned today in school. It was so cute. They were even counting to 10. They've been counting for a few weeks now but they mess it up. Not today. It was perfect.

I love how the teachers at school "love" them. All I hear is how cute they are and that they are so good. It makes a mommy feel pretty darn good.

I wuve you too mom ..

Sweeter words have never been spoken.

Last weekend we decided to go to the park. It was late, 730 ish and it was getting dark but there is this beautiful park in our town right on the Hudson with a magnificant few of Manhattan. We love it there. The girls played with the other children while Donald and I watched the girls and enjoyed the views.

When it was time to leave, Katie was tired and wanted me to carry her to the car. She wrapped herself around and squeezed so I squeezed her back and said "I love you, Katie". She replied "I wuve you too, mama". Tears ..

Since that weekend, she tells me everyday. Karly has started saying it too, It's great. I love them so much and I know they love me but I love hearing it.

I also love how big they are getting. Just one week of school and Donald and I are amazed by how much more they communicate with us. Karly has started using sentences. She says "Read this, mommy", "Another one, pease", "There it is!", "Here I am", "Here ya gooo" and so on. It is really cute.

Katie speech is a little concerning to ME but not to her teacher, my director, friends or family. She talks non stop. You can make out what she says most of the time but it's not right. Karly talks like a toddler but Katie more babbles out her words. "Play" is "way", "Eat" is "eee" but "Pony D" is "Pony D", so I don't know.. We are going to wait until October to make the call.

The girls named their "lovies". Karly has called her duck "D" since she could talk. We were calling him "ducky" but she just started calling him "Dee". Katie just recently started calling hers "Pony Dee". It was cute.

They've also just started coming up to me and lounging on me. I love this most of all. When I'm sitting on the couch, they come sit next to me, drape their legs over mine and lay their head on my shoulder and look up at me. We will just sit and talk for many minutes. I rub their hair, they name all my facial parts, such a precious time for me and I love each second they sit there before they are up and off again.

9-11-01

I had gotten up and walked to the phone to answer it. My boyfriend was on the other line telling me not to panic, he'll be home soon. He asked me if I was afraid. I had no idea what he was talking about. He told me that two plans had just crashed in to the WTC and that NYC was under attack.

I had just moved here two months before. My grandpa had just died on the 28th of August and now here I was, living right across the river from Manhattan, a city that was under terroist attack.

When Donald got home, we walked up the block and the tower had already collapsed. There was smoke, so much smoke. People were trying to get home. People were standing around us, some crying, some just staring in disbelief. I was one of them.

We were JUST there. We took a trip to Manhattan to go to the Seaport and when we were done, Donald said "lets go see the towers" . We walked FOREVER. I remember once we got there I was overwhelmed. They were beautiful. I grew up in a small town. NYC is an amazing city. I sat on a bench and I leaned back to stare up at them. I had to use that restroom so we went inside. The building was beautiful. Simply beautiful and there we stood, by the river, watching in horror as the scene went on.

We took pictures thinking it was a piece of history we wanted to capture. I developed them but haven't looked at them.

The smell that blanketed our area was that of burnt metal and decay. You could only imagine what you were breathing in. So many people were killed. Nobody knew what was going to happen.

I will always remember that day.

The first week .. check!

The first week is done.



The girls did so well. They cried on Thursday when I dropped them off and Katie cried off and on throughout the day but Friday they were over the crying and had a good day.



I was sure that Karly would have trouble in school. At home, she doesn't really like to follow the rules but at school she's a perfect angel. She sits when shes told to sit, she eats all of her lunch, she holds the walking rope, she washes her hands...Katie, on the other hand, is giving the teachers a "run for their money". She is so good at home, so quiet, does what we ask but at school she refuses to hold the walking rope, talks during naptime, plays during circle .. Its normal behavior and I'm not concerned, I just think it's funny how opposite they are between home and school.



I had a pretty good day yesterday. Thursday was rough but a little better and Friday was very good. I had an occassional crier but for the most part they were well behaved and we had fun.



We have to go find winter coats for the kids. Last year I waited until it was already cold outside and we couldnt find anything we like. Donald found some cute ones at Marshalls on Tuesday so we are going today to try them on (if they are still there) and get them.

Ugh

Today was exhausting. Physically, emotionally and mentally. Today just sucked. I had 6 teachers in my room trying to calm down all of the screaming children. A was screaming and it was setting all the others off. Once again, he leaves and the class goes calm.



I have raging PMS. It's awful. I don't mean to be bitchy but I am. I have been keeping it in and this it lashes out quickly. It's like an ugly monster that tries to get out and I'm stuck in a classroom with 13 children, half of which are screaming. My assistant said "are you okay? your patience seems to be on a very short string" Great. It's obvious.



I'm feeling a little better and I have a game plan for tomorrow.



The issue is with my schedule and the childrens. My director wants me to start morning circle time at 9 am. I have 10 children that are schedule to show up no earlier than 9. By the time they get dropped off and are ready to start circle, its snack time. So for the last 2 days, I haven't done circle.



Well today I tried. I sat down to start and A came over and vomited on me. It was a great start to the day.



~~~~



The girls had a day too. Apparently, they try to kick the teacher when she tries to change their diaper. They have never kicked us so I don't understand why but also I heard the teacher yelling at Katie to get on the walking rope. I've known the girls teacher for 9 years so it's not a trust issue and I understand being frustrated but today I was having a very rough day and I didn't yell at any of my kids so I'm not getting it. I just don't want to think of my babies being yelled at at school. they are supposed to be

The first day of school..

I told you I would blog about the girls first day of school and well .. here it is. In pictures and words :) Here we are outside our front door. Lovin' the garage pails behind them.

Here Katie is pouting because she wants to walk to the park, not get in the car ..

When we got to school, we went to my classroom because we were early and their class wasn't open yet. They hung out until 810, then we went to their room.

Katie loved playing with the barn doors. She was so thrilled just being able to walk around and look at all the toys.

They had so much fun and didn't even notice I had left. Daddy stayed with them for another 20 minutes. He said Katie told him to go lol.

I got to see them when we all went to the playground. Katie was playing in the sandbox and Karly was running around.

The girls had a fantastic day. There was no crying and they are learning the letter A. Of course everything we asked them tonight was "No" but I know they had a good time as they didn't want to leave.

I feel like I've raised secure, indepedent children and it feels pretty darn good. (although I'm worried tomorrow will go differently being that they already told us "no" to going back lol)

My day at work was not as great. I have a lot of kids new to school. What I got was 12 screaming children who didn't want to calm down. The screamed and screamed and screamed. I thought I was going to lose it, then it was naptime. My assistant and I managed to get all of them to sleep. After about 20 minutes, one of them woke up screaming again. Not crying, screaming. His mother called and I asked her to pick him up. He wasn't eating, drinking or playing. He was just crying. He had been crying for 5 hours and although I believe he needed to be there, he was past the point of calming down so he needed his mom.

Once he was gone, everyone was happy. It was one child, one screaming child, that caused all the other children to cry. The afternoon was beautiful. Except for one adorable little boy (who had just flown in from bulgaria the night before, was jet lagged .. on his birthday .. ), he cried everytime someone came in the room, everyone was happy. We did some painting, some story times, some learning centers... just perfect :) This is going to be a great year (once A stops screaming, making everyone else in the room scream).

"Last" day of summer..

My first and only thought today is that the girls start school tomorrow. I spent all weekend cleaning purging everything we didn't need. This is going to be a good year. I have a great list of children (16 2 year olds) but I know half of them and they are all good, really good kids. So my blog will now consist of the girls day at school (In their own room) and my day.

It's amazing the transitioin this blog has made. When I started it back in April 07, I had already felt so much heartache with my attempt to become a mom, a heartache I continued to feel until November of that year and now I sit here with my beautiful daughters as they watch Dora and I blog.

Last night we tried on their first day of school outfits and it seemed that they lost all baby with one outfit. When we changed them into pjs, they still had the big girl look. We always see them as babies. They are our babies. However, they have grown up into beautiful toddlers.

So they start tomorrow. Donald is going with me to help out. I need him to be there. I'm not sure how the morning is going to go. I need to go in and open my classroom and drop the girls off in the same half hour. I'm thinking of leaving early and letting the girls hang out in my room while i set it up then bringing them to their classroom. My children don't arrive until 830, the girls go to their room at 820, so I will get 10 minutes of quiet time before the day starts. Not too bad.

I have to close right now, going over to a coworkers house for lesson plan writing and the girls can play with her kids. I'll get so much more accomplished.

Until tomorrow night...if I have the energy to blog that is :)

I'm done :)

It only took 3-12 hour days but the transformation from Preschool-storage-Toddler Room has happened. I wish I took before pictures but picture a bunch of boxes, files, posters that littered the tables, floors and every other surface (including cubbies). There was also a crib and assorted infant equipment. It was a mess. (not to mention the dust and there were spiders! I don't do well with spiders) Here is the finished product. I am very pleased.

This is the front door. You can see part of the block area and the art area and cubbies, also the back of the library area.

This is the dramatic play area. Dress up, babies and a kitchette with tons of dishes and food.

The back of the Math area and the tables.

The block area, writing area and tables.

The learning wall. I am excited to introduce "Froggy" the weather Frog and my "All About The Alphabet" Chart.

I am very proud of this room. It was a lot of work but it's done and I can spend the next 5 days with my family.

Zoo sans Stroller

Katie on the duck

Our adorable little tour guide, Karly

Daddy and his girls

The girls were looking at the "guins".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today we did the unthinkable..at least to parents of twin toddlers. We went to the zoo and left the stroller in the car. We felt that we would be making a trip back to the car for the stroller but the girls hate sitting so much and they love to walk around so we went with it. We packed up our rarely used eddie bauer diaper backpack ( a gift to donald before the girls were born) and headed out.

The girls did so great. They didn't run off, they loved walking up to the attractions at free will, it was just great. They are really well behaved, which if anyone knows me, knew that I was ready to never take them out in public again.

They would run off, in opposite directions, laugh, lay on the floor, crawl around, run through ppls legs .. just awful. However, we continued to take them out, made constant apologies and it worked out. They were very well behaved.

Anyway, we walked around for 2.5 hours. It was hot so we took breaks (there were few toddler play areas between attractions) so they could have some running time and we sat and had a snack of water and animal crackers (what better, right?).

It was a great day. I forgot to add the pictures before typing so they were all up top, I hope you enjoyed. They are getting so big and of course I think they are beautiful.

The last day of school..

Today was the last day with my kids. I've been with them for a year and it's time for them to move on to a new classroom. I spent the day cleaning up the classroom, trying to close it out for the new teacher that will take over the room in Sept, spending time with the kids, talking to parents, a pizza and snack party and getting gifts. One parent gave me a $75 GC to Starbucks lol. Guess she knows I like my green tea fraps. I didn't enjoy the day as much as one would because last night, at 745, I had my broken wisdom tooth pulled :(

Yep, I finally had the broken tooth pulled and darn it, it hurt. My face hurts, my jaw hurts and I'm hungry for food and something cold to drink. I hope it heals quickly.

On Monday, I get to move into my new classroom. Theres a history with this room. In October 2001, I was hired by my present employer. From that time until Sept 2002, I worked in a variety of age groups and different rooms. In Sept 2002, I was told I would be an assistant in Room 8. I spent the year in Room 8. In is a small room in the back of the buildings with the windows (floor to ceiling) facing the playgrounds. It is painted yellow and white ( a very nice soft yellow) and is not square, it has a unique shape. I spent a year assistanting the teacher the next two Septs I was placed as an assistant in another room so I missed the room. The I recieved a promotion and was told to set up in room 8. Spent the next 2 years there. In 2007, I was moved to a horrible small middle room, blue with no windows. I ended up pregnant and went out on maternity. This year I worked as lead teacher in new room but This Sept, I'm back in room 8 and could not be happier. I can't wait to set it up. Right now it's a storage room so I have to clean it out but I'm so ready :)

Girls start school in one week!!!

It's late but I haven't posted so here is a useless one :)

Girls start school very soon! I'm super excited.

I have two more days with the children in my class then they move on. I have mixed feelings. They were a tough group BUT I've had them since the were 2 and they are now 4 turning 5 so It's time. Still, it's hard. After a few months, without realizing it, they become MY kids that leave to sleep then come back. I have them during most of their wakeful periods. Anyway, it's good they are moving on but I will miss them.

I am going back to Toddlers. So exciting! I love working with Toddlers. I get to set up my new classroom..yes my NEW classroom starting Monday. I can't wait.

A few days ago, a piece of my top wisdom tooth broke off and now a lot of it broke off. I went to the dentist today and she used words like "difficult extraction" and "oral surgery". So tomorrow at 630 (pm) I willl arrive at the dentist and we will begin getting this tooth out. In the meantime I've been given motrin and an antibiotic. It's cutting up my mouth so I'm thankful it's soon.

The girls are counting to 10. 10!! They are so eager to learn. They know their colors, shapes and now their numbers. I am still worried about Katies speech. The more she learns to talk, the more words she learns, the more I see she is going to need therapy. I keep waiting though, not sure why. I may call them tomorrow.

Beach Babies :)

We have had a terrific summer. We had a two week vacation in June and the rest of the weekends we've been at the beach. Every Sunday. New Jersey has its downs but an up is all you have to do is drive half an hour and you are at a beach. We drive a little farther to Seven Presidents and we have a blast. The girls didn't like it at first but I think you can see by todays pictures that they are definately starting to enjoy the beach. When we were unloading the car today, Karly yelled out "Beach! Beach!" It as too cute. Enjoy the pics.

To teach or to pour coffee?

I was judged today by a Starbucks employee. She said "Do you work at the Daycare around the corner?" -- Lets start there. First, a Daycare is where you send your child when you have to work. The childcare providers play with your child and care for him/her until you are done working and you pick them up.

I have to spend my week writing lesson plans to match a curriculum that my boss provides. I have to teach letters, numbers, math, reading, writing and science. We go over transportation and community helpers, ocean and the ocean life. We explore Space-the planets, constellations and galaxies. I spend my nights surfing the web looking for idea after idea.

"Yes, I work at the Learning Center around the corner." "Can I go in and pick up an application?" "To apply for a job or to enroll your child into the center?" **scoff** "To enroll my child."

Umm.. You're judging me? I may not have some big shot job, but I teach children and you pour coffee. My coffee. Okay, vent over.

Life..

As I type, My beautiful girls are take a much needed nap. Today has been a wonderful day, just the three of us. Mommy/daughters Saturdays are very addicting and today was our third "adventure". Today is gorgeous so we spent some time at the park, had lunch together and then we bought daddy lunch and brought it to him at work. I know it's not a lot but it's a start. It's not that I'm an insecure mother ( I think I'm awesome, btw, haha) it's that my anxiety/panic issues cause me to hold back a bit. My fear of the "what ifs" can be a handicap. I tend to worry about things that could not possibly happen but in my head they can. I wasn't always this bad, I used to take medications for it, but I stopped to have a healthy baby and decided not to start them again. For the most part, I do okay. Anyway, today I was told that I have very well behaved daughters. I smiled and thanked her then laughed to myself.


We took Katie to the Audiologist and had her hearing tested. She's having issues with sounding out her words. She talks non stop so that's not the issue but you can't understand much of what she says. When I listen, as a teacher, to her talk I know she needs speech therapy. When I listen as a mother, I don't. I let everyone talk me out of it but my boss and a fellow teacher. They both said I already know in my gut and my head that she needs Speech but I'm letting my heart over rule.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think there is anything wrong or embarrassing about speech. It's just that everyone knows their child is perfect and nothing will ever be wrong.

Anyway, she passed her hearing test in normal ranges and the ENT said to call Early Intervention before she gets any older. I plan to call this week and set up an appointment to have her tested. To qualify, she has to have a 33% delay. We'll see how it goes.

Karly has been learning so much. She loves to sing and run and talk. She loves to have fun. Her life is pretty uneventful and we like it that way. She gets more and more like her daddy everyday. Today she was awake and just layed there unwilling to get up. Katie is like me. Shes up when her eyes open.

The only negitive thought in my head is this one..

You know how when you love something and you give it all you've got and then you realize it's all for nothing? You lose the joy you had for it and it becomes a chore. I feel this way about one part of my life. I try and try but in the end it's the same result. There's only a short amount of time until this is over and hopefully all will be well.

We'll just leave it at that.

Girls start school in 4 weeks. I'm so excited!

The last few days :(

Monday, Katie got 6 misquito bites. Tuesday she had a fever, was sneezing and coughing and just miserable. After a screaming fit well into the AM we realized she may be constipated as well. How does all of this happen to a little girl in two days?

We ended up having to take her to the dr for the bites. They are infected. She has to take an antibiotic orally and one to rub on the skin. She also has a cold and we treated the other. How awful is this?


She is feeling much better tonight. Still congested and a slight fever but overall she seems happier.

New Jersey Childrens Museum

This weekend we chose another location to take the girls to. We chose this childrens museum. The only downside is that adults had to pay as well. There is nothing for adults to do. This place was completely child-friendly. Everything is at their level, everything is childproofed and safe for them to touch. There were about 20 different "rooms" for children to explore. There was a drs office, ambulance, dinosaur cave, castle, living room, pizzeria, grocery store, construction site, dance studio and it goes on and on. What I was saying before is, the adults job is to follow their child, sit in assigned areas to view your child while they play (you are able to interact if you wish but my girls had so much fun being on their 'own') and then you cleaned up. I had to pay to get in to watch and clean up after my kids. I don't mind watching them or cleaning up after them but to pay for it? It was only $42/family of 4 but still.

They had an awesome time.

5 weeks from tomorrow, the girls start school. I'm very excited to open this door for them and watch them learn so much.

A vent..

This is probably going to turn into some long rant but I need to get this out and where better, right?

6:30
I wake up. I'm late getting up. I have to leave at 7 to drive 45 minutes to the dealership to pick up my car before heading to work. Throwing my hair into a ponytail, I get dressed in capri sweats and my work t-shirt. I'm stylin' (we can dress down from time to time, no biggie). I kiss the girls and the hubby and get into the rental car. Drive to Jersey City, 40 minutes.

7:40
I am notified that the mechanics are not there and cannot let me take my car until they have tested another thing. I'm annoyed but it's got to be fixed right (my car has trouble backing up).

8:28
I walk into work with 2 minutes to spare. I grabbed breakfast on the way in and am settling into work.

9:00
I start circle time and we are reviewing our letters A-F and we talking about moving up in Sept. Snack is served and I start preparing for art.

10:00
Preparing art, I get paged. Tina, line one. I answer the phone. My husband is on the other line. "We have a problem" "Hello? Donald?" "Yes it's Donald. We have a huge problem." "Oookay, what?" "Karly swallowed my fathers xanax." "Oh no!" I left my room (don't worry, there is an assistant) and go to the nurses office. "My daughter swallowed a xanax. I need to go." I grab my stuff and run out the door. On the way, I call Donald and tell him to call poison control. He says that he found some tiny pieces of the pill. It had been chewed up and spit out. I call peditrician and she tells me to head to emergency room.

12:00
I leave the emergency room. They tell me that Karly needs to sleep it off. She's passed out in the car. I'm supposed to watch her and make sure she's still alert and reacts and that her breathing is regular. I take her home. She doesn't move when I carry her in, put her in bed and her sister went over to lay on her and kiss her. Not a good feeling. Then I have to listen to my husband and his family fight. Basically all wants sympathy. I only care that Karly is going to be okay. I don't care about whos mad at who. Should they have been more careful? Hell yes. Should this of happened? Hell no. However, when you've worked with kids as long as I have, you learn that sometimes Shit. Just. Happens. In hindsight you find 100 ways for it not to happen but it does. I just Thank God that what happened wasn't serious and my baby girl is okay.

1:30
Donald stays home from work to watch her, I drive to drop off rental and pick up our car. It cost $130. Go to pick up my car, they tell me nothing is wrong. I paid 130 bucks so they could fix my car and they can't find anything wrong. Gave me a few suggestions but didn't fix anything. Drove home because what can I do.

3:00
Get home. The package I ordered 3 weeks ago still hasn't arrived. I go and check it and call them. It's lost. They can't find it. I call UPS. I call JCP. JCP cancells my order and refunds my money then reorders it for express delivery, no charge.

4:30
Take the girls outside in the backyard and let them play for hours. It's 5:30 now, there is a breeze, very comfortable and I have no plans in moving from my patio chair unless the girls need me.

A day at the beach..

Was just what this family needed.

We left around 7, met some friends and headed to the beach. We arrived around 8 and paid the $21 for parking and entrance. The beach look brand new even though it's been around since the 1800's. It was very clean. This beach was very family friendly. There were moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas and of course, lots of children. No teens with their radios, cursing, walking around nearly naked. It was very nice.

The sand was white and clean. The water was warm. The girls sat on the sand under the umbrella and played with the sand all morning. They walked around a bit, we tried the water but they didn't want anything to do with that. The day was very relaxing for us because we just got to relax. Usually when we go anywhere, Donald is chasing one and I am chasing the other. We sat in our beach chairs and watched the girls. Just sat there relaxing. We needed that in a huge way.

Birthdays and stuff..

Katherine and Karly .. 2 years old..

On the 14th, I left work early, ended up having to take my stupid car in to have service and that took two hours. The girls didn't mind, they have fun everywhere. It rained so we had to change their party to Thursday.

On the 15th, I worked until 430 is then left early again. My check is going to suck lol. Anyway, I got home and we started getting everything ready. Guests started showing up and all was well. My In-Laws don't like anyone coming over so they didn't join in on the celebrations. Didn't even come outside for cake or buy the girls anything. I don't know.. We had a great time. They girls were running around and playing with the other children. We had a great time. Girls didn't get in bed until 1130 and slept until 8 this morning. I didn't take many pictures but below are some..

Today I left work really early. Tomorrow is Donalds last day of vacation and since I couldn't take another vacation, I tried to leave early every day so I could spend extra time. Today we went shopping for a beach umbrella. We tried 5 and below because a friend said to check there. They didn't have one so we tried another. Then we tried the Christmas Tree shoppe, nothing. We got some chair umbrellas and called it a day. When we went into a liquidation store, we told the girls they needed to sit in the cart. Karly said no no but I explained she had to. In the store, she started screaming "down down". With twins, when you let one down, you let the other down. Then they run..in opposite directions. the liquidation store is not the place for this. Karly got so upset we had to take her to the car to calm her down. She was convulsing, couldn't breathe, it was all just silly. Donald got upset. I brought Katie to the car and we left.

While in the car, I gave the girls their markers and coloring books because there was traffic. They love to color. Karly started saying "daddy, I color" "daddy, I color green" Donald turned around and choked. I asked him what and he hid his face and was laughing. He told me not to look. Karly started laughing and said "Momma I color green!" When we got to the store, I got out of the car and opened the back door. OMGoodness! She did color green. All over her legs, feet, arms and hands. Her carseat and was starting on her neck. She was green. Not lines or drawings, she covered herself. She colored in the parts of her feet showing out of her sandal. I wanted to laugh, I wanted to cry. I took her marker, put the cap on and while I listened to Karly say "Green" over and over (i'm happy she knows the color) I took out wet wipes and started wiping all the marker off. She had a green tint to her skin but what could we do. We decided to go home and order dinner since our daughter was green.

When I got home, my neighbor was outside. Our daughters like to play together so we chatted while they ran around. She looked at me and said "Why is she green?" I told her the story and she laughed. After they each ate and entire slice of pizza and a cup of milk, they were dunked in the tub. Karly is back to her normal color..Not Green!

2 years ago..

Two years ago, my husband and I were celebrating his birthday at home. Not going anywhere. Why? Well, we were expecting our twins arrival the next morning. We couldn't wait to get them out so we could meet them.

Tomorrow they turn 2. I just can't believe they are 2. Where did the time go?

They have started 'reading' books to me. They open the book and point to all pictures and tell me whats there. I'm actually figuring out what they say haha. Katie says the first sounds of some words but we are getting there.

We are having a small bbq for the girls tomorrow, around 14 guests, nothing huge. The theme was ladybugs and butterflies (our theme for the girls since they were born) but they have become obsessed with Dora. So far their gifts all include Dora haha. We bought them Dora guitars because the girls are very muscial and love to dance.

I want to enroll the girls in some extra curricular activities but my work schedule makes it impossible. I'm hoping to look up some dance classes and gymnastics for the weekends but I know that these two classes are a bit pricey. In the town next to us, an 8-week gymnastic program is $300. Multiply that by 2 and it's no longer affordable at all. I'm hoping there are some in our town that aren't as high.

Today I started cleaning out the extra room to get it ready for next year. It's fun building a new classroom. I got to spend two hours going through magazines picking out stuff for the new room. I'll only be there for this coming school year then I'll go back to preschool. Exciting!

The girls are watching Dora and I need to run their bath .. I'll post birthday photos in a few days!

My Journey through Motherhood

Lets try this to see how it works..

 

My new netbook has something called Live Writer.  You click on it and type in your thoughts and it blogs it for you.  I know going to my blog doesn’t take all that much time but it’s kind of neat just the same. 

 

Work has slowed down.  The number of children in my class room has gone from 20 to 12.  Today I had 8.  When you have so few children, there are more things to do.  Today was so laid back.  We even poured sand on the tables and mixed it with water to make sand castles.  We had a lot of fun and I didn’t even mind spending the 45 minutes they were eating, cleaning up.   This year we had a tough class and spent more of the time just getting down to work and I forgot to loosen up and just have fun.  Working full time with children then coming home to my children can be a little much.  I love them all, well in different ways, but it became so demanding.  I think I need the summer to try and get back LOVING what I do again. 

 

Next year, I am going back to Toddlers.  I don’t mind because that is my favorite age group.  2-3 is the best age group.  However, that means I will have 14 – 2 year olds at work for 9 hours then picking up MY 2 year olds from the other toddler and going home with them haha.  It should be interesting and fun but i can see the stresses coming. 

 

The other thing I wanted to blog about was the girls routine.  We were really strict about the 730 bedtime this year.  No matter what, they were in bed at 730.  At 7, we would start reading to them.  Now that they are older and it’s light out longer, we’ve pushed bedtime back about 45 minutes.  In fact, we’ve changed their entire schedule to fit school.  I still want their bedtime to be 730 but I’m just not ready to say goodnight to them when I don’t get to see them until 6 and most nights an hour and a half a day isn’t enough time.  So their schedule is

630-wake up

7-breakfast

745-drop off with grandma

930-snack

1130-lunch

1215-nap

215-wake up

300-snack

630-dinner

730-bedtime

They’ve been doing so well with this schedule the last few weeks.  Some things that haven’t gone as smooth are teeth brushing and book time.  They’ve learned to talk..a lot (more on Katie and speech below) so when we read they laugh and scream out the words.  This is fantastic as repeating stories that have been read is the first step of reading, however, when you are trying to get them into relax mode and they can’t because they get so excited, it backfires and they start giggling and playing.  I am not going to stop bedtime story time because it’s just an all around fun time but I wish I knew how to calm them down.  We’ve started playing calming music during storytime.  Toothbrushing… the most hated activity in our house right now.  I hate brushing their teeth, they hate having their teeth brushed it’s just wonderful :(.  We have had to hold Karly while the other brushes her teeth while she screams.  My mother in law says I shouldn’t force it but hygiene is NOT a choice.  You will take a bath, you will change your clothes, you will change your diaper, you will get your hair brushed, your face washed and you will brush your teeth.  Tonight, she let me do a quick job because I promised her I’d read her her favorite story and I kept telling her how proud I was that she was letting me brush her teeth.  Then I gave her the toothbrush and she practiced while I read the book.  A light at the end of the tunnel?  I hope so. 

 

I wanted to call early intervention because I didn’t feel Katies speech was where it should be.  I spoke to my director and told her that if Katie were a child in my class, I would recommend the parent call EI but she’s not a child in my class, she’s MY child.  My baby girl.  My perfect baby girl.  I put if off and asked some of my friends that know Katie if it was just me being overly worried or if they thought there was an issue.  Everyone, even my friend that teaches special education, says that there is nothing wrong with her speech.  I think the problem is is that Katie and Karly are so completely different in everything they do.  Karly has very clear speech, repeats everything you say, knows what you are saying and and respomds.  Katie on the other had, doesn’t answer yes or no, doesn’t tell you what she wants and most of the time I don’t understand what she’s saying.  Everyone says that Karly is advanced and Katie is exactly where she should be.  My gut is still telling me to have her evaluated but we decided that she will start school and give her a few months and see if that helps her because more vocal.  I know my mother in law doesn’t work with her and they do so few things that I know school will be the best thing for both of them.

 

Terrible twos..Karly is at this stage.  I was hoping I’d be the parent that says “No, we never went through the terrible twos” but I’m not.  She is your typical toddler.  Everything is hers, everything she wants is hers, everything that is yours is..you guessed it, hers.  And the tantrums…my goodness the tantrums.  They are so loud and she doesn’t care where she is.  People stare at me like I’m killing her.  We’ve started doing time-outs, they work some of the time.   She is also taken to kicking and hitting, sometimes biting when she doesn’t get her way.  All I can is thank goodness Katie has decided there is no fun in being terrible lol. 

 

Bon Jovi is tomorrow!!!  I won’t see my kids until Saturday which sucks..A LOT.. but I need this and will enjoy it immensely. 

My Journey through Motherhood

Another week down..

So tonight I had to make myself sit and work on the yearbook. I like the yearbook but I don't. Its a pain in the butt but it's nice to give it to the kids at the end of the year. It's just a lot of extra work that I don't really have time for but it's almost done.

The girls birthday is coming up :) Will write about more details another night.

I was talking to my aunt tonight and she suggested that next year when I go to MO, I should come see her and we could all do something. Sounds like a great plan if I can just implement it. I do so much driving that another 10 or so hours sounds like a lot but I really want to go.

It's a three day weekend! Other than the yearbook and lesson plans, I really don't have anything planned. May do some yardwork for the girls party and have a bbq for the fourth but thats about it. We are going down the block to watch the Macys Fireworks on the Hudson. They are blocking off all the streets where I live for the crowds so I won't be able to move my car anyway.

Next Friday, some friends and I are going to see Bon Jovi. Never been a "fan" but it was a birthday gift so I might as well have a blast with some really great friends. Donald will stay home with the girls. I will miss them like crazy but hey this mama never gets out. Might do me some good :).

Happy 4th of July!

I should just post while watching the girls finish dinner..

I was going to blog while they finished dinner BUT then Katie wanted to skip dinner and get snuggles instead. Now it's time to give them a bath so here's hoping I actually blog tonight. If not, I'll just post this. ..

Okay so they are laying peacefully in their beds (hopefully falling peacefully asleep) so I can now write out my thoughts.

Tonight was for the memory books. During dinner, they were yelling out their colors. "Boo Geen" it was A-dorable! They have two shapes down-Circle and Star and I'm pretty sure Karly is saying Square and Triangle but she says it really fast and it's hard to make out. When the girls got out of the tub, I dried them off and they ran off into the living room. It was cute (as usual) but when I was brushing out their hair they actually let me braid it. So they each have the cutest braid. When they got up, they were dancing to some music and it was such a happy time but it just kind of hit me that although they will always be MY babies, they aren't babies anymore.

We are planning their birthday party. We weren't going to do anything but the thought of not celebrating their birthday was kind of getting to me. Nothing huge, 8 adults-6 children, BBQ in the backyard, some water play etc. We had a small budget that I blew with spending $50 just on decorations and plates/cups and napkins. Oh well, they only turn 2 once right? haha

We are thinking of getting a year membership to Liberty Science Center. I think the girls would enjoy it and there are so many hands on exhibits that they can participate in. It's around $60 for a family of 4 to go so I'm thinking that we will want to go more than once (more in the fall, winter and spring) and a membership is the way to go.

The last thing on my mind is my car. We had to take it in January for the recall on the control arm (mine broke the week it was due in) No cost to me but it did cost me $150 to tow it in as it was undriveable. Then in Feb, we had the blizzard and my battery exploded causing lots of a damage. It cost me $800 to fix it and $895 for a rental for 2 weeks. Then yesteray, it died backing up. I brought it in and today they told me there was nothing wrong with it but it needed around $800 in maintenance on it. I'm annoyed. I've bought new tired for it 2 times in 8 years, I change the oil when it's due, I've had the belts changed..even the expensive timing belt..when the manufactureer says to and we try to just keep it in good condition because we can' afford another car right now. Well today we had to get new breaks on the front, clean the back breaks, change the air filter and do something with the emergency break. What does this all add up to? Over $400. I'm stressed out at spending large amounts of money on this car. We were told all the spark plugs and wires need to be replaced too because it's time but we'll look someone else that isn't going to charge $300 for it.

I think I've rambled on enough. I have to make the girls lunches for tomorrow and get stuff ready. I've been doing it all on my own this week as Donald as to leave very early in the morning (which sucks).

The three pictures below: the girls napping at the Martin family reunion, Katie at GGs house with the chickens and Karly NOT using her table manners (we thought it was cute).

Bad blogger yet again!

I've missed two pregnancy announcements! Congrats Teri and Kristen!

Things have been very busy around here. We went on vacation and ended up spending two weeks in Missouri. It was nice, very very hot and sticky, but it was nice. The girls enjoyed themselves so much. Now we are working on their second birthday party.

Being away from the house 745-6 everyday is becoming more difficult as the work at home builds up. I need to go through the girls toys and start weeding them out, I need to clean out closets, this whole place needs a scrub down from top to bottom but when? I'm hoping Donald can get a weekend off one day and he can take the girls out while I clean. Cleaning with them here is pointless, they want to "help" and that makes more work for mommy.

The girls are doing just awesome! They are both starting to talk like crazy. I was going to call Early Intervention for Katies speach but Donald decided that we should just start school first and see what she picks up. He thinks I'm being a worry-wort. I can't help it. It's just the way I am. Watching them grow has been the single most amazing thing I've ever been a part of. They are both just so beautiful and smart. I miss them so much during the day but as Donald keeps reminding me, in 2 short months they will be with me, at my school all day. I can't wait. I just picked up the forms today and I need to pay the deposit.

Speaking of work, it's pretty hectic there too. Before I had the girls, everything was organized and handed in before it was due. Now I'm rushing it in the minute it's due and I'm okay with that. I've gotten a messy with my organization but hey, my boss doesn't notice and it drives me crazy sometimes, I'm still getting everything done and more importantly, done right.

We've been talking about moving. Moving where? I don't know. We don't know where we want to live. We have established that we will move in 2013 and we will go where there are great jobs and where we feel we can settle down and raise our children, maybe even try for another (the odds of that are not good lol) but that's a few years down the road.