Joys In My Life

Here's Phoebe's 5th Grade School Picture.  I really like her in red or bright colors.  She's definitely becoming quite the little lady.

Yesterday was Phoebe's first day of 3rd grade!!! And in our school district that is in a different school, they call it the Intermediate School and it goes from 3rd to 6th. 7th and 8th is the Middle School. Such a big girl. I miss having her here with me all day, but I go back to work next Tuesday. My SIL is going to be at the house taking care of the boys. She's watched a lot of the kids in the family and has experience with twin babies when she was a nanny for a friend of the family. Blogger (or my Internet connection, I'm not sure which) has been giving me a hard time uploading pictures today. Of course it is on the day that I have lots of pics to post.

Tommy and Liam are doing very well. I was starting to get frustrated for a few days as it didn't seem like anything was getting any better. But they turned a corner and both are starting to regulate their own temperature better and are beginning to gain more weight. After that one night that Tommy nursed so well, we hadn't had a repeat of that until last night. Now I need to see if I can get it to continue, but I think it will. Next I need to work with Liam, but he's still been very sleepy the past few days and I think it's because he's working hard to gain weight and regulate his temperature. Liam is now off the pulse-oximeter and the temperature lead to the isolette, so he now has the same number of wires that Tommy has. I'm thinking it still might be another two weeks at least before they come home since they haven't transitioned yet to an open crib. I'm also feeling pretty good as I got "back to the mat" yesterday. I was very kind ...

I'm going to get caught up - hopefully very quickly - on posting of new pics. Here are the ones from Phoebe's First Communion, which was the weekend of May 3rd. You'll have to excuse Phoebe if she looks tired in any of the photos. We go to 8 AM mass, so the pics at the house were done at 7AM!!!! Please note that her First Communion dress and veil have been in Leo's family for 35 years. His mom made it for their first daughter's communion and then all 5 of their girls have ended up wearing it. Phoebe is the 4th grand-daughter to wear it on their side of the family. It's really neat for me since I've been to all the cousin's First Communions (except 1 in Wisconsin) so I've seen it worn many times and then pics of all his sisters. The last pic here is with her Aunt Nicole, who is her godmother as well as the SIL that is coming to stay with us and help with "the boys". She was also the main conspirator with my friends to throw my baby ...

Everything is going great! We've been super busy nesting (more on that in a later post!), so here's some pics to help you all forgive me for my infrequent posting as of late. First off - here's Phoebe at her ice skating competition!!! I'm so proud of all the hard work she put into learning her program and how she performed on ice for the first time by herself. The fact that she got second place in her age group and level is just icing on the cake. She's so much more graceful than I ever was at this age. Then again, she works so hard at at it. Next up - Easter family photos! We clean up good! I especially love Phoebe's dress we bought this year. And you'll get to see my belly without a big black trench coat hiding it, although I'm realizing now that the print really hides what I look like. At work I call that shirt my "shock and awe" shirt, meaning I distract people from my pregnancy with the "shock and awe" from t...

So Sunday was the official twenty-four weeks mark (the four key still doesn't work - someday I'll get that fixed and I'm too tired to go find one to copy and paste). And yes, I said I'm tired and it's the morning. I just woke up about 15 minutes ago. I think I slept over 9 hours last night and I'm still tired. It does continue that some days are good and some are bad. Saturday was bad. I felt good during Phoebe's ice skating competition, but then when we went to run errands, I thought I was going to die (or go into labor). My lower back hurt, my lower stomach hurt, and I felt like I wanted to cry. I was able to get through Costco OK by holding onto the cart like a little old lady and then I felt fine. Sunday was a good day, but we just lied around and caught up on movies, which was great. I even got to see "The Good Shepard" which Leo has been saying is such a good movie, but it's 3 hours long, so watching without me falling asleep ha...

One of my friends invited us at the last minute to come down to Dewey Beach, DE on Saturday and stay overnight to Sunday. I've never been there, so it was great fun even in the off season. It's also really close to Ocean City, MD and we have good friends there that had triplets a little over a year ago. Since these friends moved there right before the triplets were born, we hadn't seen the babies yet. So we visited with them Saturday afternoon and then met our other friends in Dewey at dinnertime. The next day, we went to the beach and took these pictures. I know I haven't posted any official "belly pics" yet, but these can give you an idea of how big I am these days. BTW, Phoebe took this pic. Isn't she a great photographer? Here's a some cute pics of Phoebe on the beach too! She loves the beach (just like her Daddy!). She had to put her feet into the freezing water and take long walks on the beach with her Dad and pick up rocks along the way...

I'm sorry I disappeared for so long again. I've been crazy busy at work and then when I'm not busy doing that, I've been very tired this week. To sum up the past few weeks: two weeks ago I felt horrible physically (big and pressure everywhere), last week I felt great, this week I'm tired and feel like I could keep sleeping for the rest of this pregnancy and still not have enough. My birthday was Monday the 16th! I turned 38. Birthday's don't really bother me, but I think it's because mentally I forget I've aged. Sometimes I look at Leo, Phoebe and my belly and think, "I'm married? I have an 8-year-old? I'm having two boys? When did this all happen?" Even though "this has been all happening" over the past 15 years, it feels funny to look back. Life moves so quickly that it's odd to stop and look at what you've been doing. I had a great birthday weekend though. Saturday we all cleaned the house, which was ...

Nothing exciting to report. This is the first Monday since I was 6 weeks pregnant that I haven't had an ultrasound. I won't have another one until 2/23, so I'll be wondering until then what we're having. Thankfully, since I feel them move every now and then - it is still too early to be consistent - I feel that everything is OK. Everything else is completely busy though. I never really seem to have any time for any quiet time for me - unless I'm comatose sleeping. I'm busy at work - Friday was horrible I felt terrible at the end of the day it was so horrible. I'm busy at home - keeping up with laundry and bills. Thankfully Leo has been doing most of the cooking. I like to eat, but I'm too tired to cook. We bought Phoebe new ice skates on Saturday. They are a size 5. Yes, a women's size 5!!!! She's only 8 years old!!! She really measures as a size 4, but in order to keep her in her skates longer, they always let you go up a size. It ...

I can't wait for my next appointment on Monday to take a peak at the twins. I've been keeping myself busy trying to keep my to do list up-to-date (both work and personal) and knocking things off it quickly. I know once I feel comfortable with a pregnancy I can do amazing things and get more done than ever. It's like a weight was lifted from my shoulders and I can start living again. But then when I feel like that, I feel guilty realizing I've put so much off while trying to conceive. But then I try to remind myself not to ever live with regret (which is one of my mottos) and that I can't help what life handed to me and what I had to do to get through it. It's great though, some of the things I've gotten done. Last night I put new handles on Phoebe's CYFF bag. CYFF is her Catholic education classes she has every Tuesday evening. The program gave them these canvas bags to keep their book, notepad and pencil case in when they go to class. They want...

Wow! Two posts in one day!!! I just had to blog about this. Indigo Girl had posted about her daughter having bad dreams and looking for advice. I had to post what we do in our house to keep away bad dreams. I have to admit it was one of my most brilliant mommy moments as I pulled this one out of my a$$ when I came up with it. When Phoebe was about 3 or 4 years old, she started complaining about nightmares. I knew it was half true and half stalling for bedtime. She has always been very into witches, wizards and spells (heck she was named after the character on Charmed and my due date was Halloween), so I came up with a magic spell on the spot to keep away bad dreams. I figured all it had to do was rhyme. I will share it with you all and feel free to try it if you need it: Bad dreams, bad dreams go away In Phoebe's dreams she must play She should dream of ice cream and cake Until the morning when she wakes She loves it! She still asks for it sometimes if she's had a ni...

I have one week and counting to my pregnancy test!!! Next Tuesday here I come! Phoebe went to the orthodontist today and had the appliance installed. Her talking is a little odd until she gets used to it. She has a follow up visit the week of Christmas and will probably wear this for 10 to 12 months. It's serving two purposes. One is to keep her from sucking her thumb. The second is to train her tongue not to be at the bottom of her mouth when she's swallowing. I'm really happy at least that the appliance is keeping me from being the bad guy telling her to stop sucking her thumb. Hope this works!

AF showed up on Sunday, so tomorrow is my baseline ultrasound and bloodwork for IVF#2. I'm really excited and trying to be as positive as possible. I still need to give up my one cup of coffee at work, I had my last glass of wine last night at Phoebe's birthday party, and I'll be working hard to eat healthy and take all my vitamins. Phoebe's birthday party went great yesterday! It was total chaos and I loved it. It was a costume party and all the kids looked great. We dressed in costume too and had a great time. The kids played a pass the pumpkin game kind of like playing Hot Potato and they loved playing freeze dancing to Halloween music. Leo got them silly string and let them play with it until it ran out. My SIL helped clean it all up from the floor, LOL! Leo is the best cook. He made hot roast beef sandwiches and a sausage, bean and hominy soup that was to die for. The kids had pizza and breadsticks that I ordered. Some of the parents of the friends from...

Woo hoo! It's felt like it's been a long time coming. Today was my last of the 14 day birth control pill part of the IVF preparation. I should get AF within the next few days. On Monday I will probably have my baseline ultrasound. Unless it comes real early, then I might need to go in on Saturday morning. I'm really excited to have this one stick! Phoebe is very lucky. She will be able to have whatever sticky candy she wants for Halloween. They took the spacers off this week and did a mold of her upper jaw so they can make the hardware. She goes back on Election Day for the spacers to be put back in and then the following week they will put the hardware in. The timing for this is working out great, since I don't know how this is going to impact her speech and she has a show with OperaDelaware on November 8th. I would hate for her to have to try to not just talk, but sing with this thing in. I hope she gets used to it quickly, as they will start their next sh...

I don't know if I've ever mentioned that Phoebe still sucks her thumb. She started when she was 6 months old and still does it today at bedtime and when she's bored such as watching TV, in the car, etc. Well, she went to her first orthodontist consult at the recommendation of the dentist and soon she won't be able to suck her thumb even if she tried! The doctor first showed me all the bad things that are happening to her mouth because of her thumb sucking. I knew about the way it was elongating her top jaw and pushing her top teeth forward, but I had no idea it was causing a crossbite on her molars and for her tongue to push her bottom teeth forward when she swallows - every time she swallows, not just when sucking her thumb. We then discussed the next steps. He's going to fit her for a device that will attach to her back molars and have a piece of metal sticking down that will not allow her to suck her thumb. She won't be able to close her mouth if her t...

Today is Phoebe's birthday. I can't believe at 7:36 AM this morning, she turned 8 years old. I feel like I just blinked and we're here. I'm sure the next time I blink she'll be 18 years old! I just can't gush enough about how loving, sweet, smart and beautiful our little girl is. She's in second grade now and she's improving daily on her reading, math and handwriting. Her hobbies are figure skating, playing the guitar, and anything artsy - painting, drawing, sewing. She even has her own fabric stash already! She's been ice skating since she was four years old. Her cross overs are wonderful and she's starting to do waltz jumps with her coach. She started playing guitar in January this year and she really loves it. She can't wait to get a piano and loves to play around with one whenever she's near one. Phoebe really loves music and her singing with OperaDelaware's Artist Training program has come a long way this year. She ev...

I don't know looking back if last week kicked my butt or if I managed to still kick butt back. All three of us were fighting off different kind of bugs, but no one was sick enough to stay home sick. So Leo was traveling, I got Phoebe on and off the bus, we did all after-school activities and managed to keep moving. I made chicken soup on Friday night to help us all get rid of our different sicknesses. Some people were asking how to get to the "corner turning" we seem to have achieved in Phoebe's focus. I think it has to do with Flylady routines. For those of you who have never checked her out - DO IT! I've been flying off and on since Phoebe was born and it's always helped us keep our heads above water. And with this school year it seems to have helped Phoebe too. She has her own list of things that have to be done after school. We started this last year, but she still fought doing it on her own. I think now that it's a whole new year and she's...

Phoebe has seemed so much different in the last week or two and in such a good way that my brain is amazed at her transformation. Firstly, she seems to have a lot more focus. Both her ice skating coach and guitar teacher have made this comment last Thursday. All of a sudden she is much less talk and more doing what she needs to do. They both made comments at what a difference there seems to be. And let me tell you, my heart swelled triple-size to hear her praised like this. The other thing that I've noticed is that I don't need to nag her to do the things that she needs to do as much as I used to. Last week, if I came home after her (DH was working from home a lot last week, so I could do this) I'd find her sitting on the couch, no TV on, reading a book, which is part of her homework to read for 15 minutes. It was such an odd thing to see! And then Saturday I took her grocery shopping with me. Usually when we get back from grocery shopping, she makes a beeline for ...

As Alli mentioned, I need to get back to posting every day! I'm going to work on that truly I am. I think between the miscarriage and the back-to-school stuff, I needed to step away for a bit. All of Phoebe's afterschool and weekend activities are in full swing now. Her schedule, other than school is the following: - Monday - off - Tuesday - CYFF (aka CCD - Catholic education) - 6:30 - 8:00 PM - Wednesday - ice skating group class - 7:00 - 8:00 PM - Thursday - ice skating private lesson 5:00 - 5:40 PM - Thursday - guitar lesson - 7:30 - 8:00 PM - Friday - off - Family Night - Saturday - Opera Delaware play - 11 AM - 2 PM - Sunday - Opera Delaware play - 11 AM - 2 PM Busy girl, eh? We have no more room for anything else. I don't think she's overloaded. We still get homework done and she has plenty of time to play with her friends, so I think this is the right balance. Last night was "Back To School" night at her elementary school, ...

My week off was wonderful, but now it's time to get to the back to school/work routines. Phoebe had her first day of 2nd Grade today. Hopefully, I'll have time tonight to post the pic Leo took of her on the front step in her "Back to School" clothes and new backpack. She looked so cute!!!! I can't wait to get home today to find out how the first day of school went. She kept telling me she didn't want to go to school today and that she doesn't like school. But when we went to visit her new teacher last week, she didn't want to leave the library!!! And she gave the librarian a big hug. It was so sweet. I hope she has a good time this year. She does very well in school, so that's not an issue. So now we'll be getting back to after school activities. Ice skating starts tomorrow!!! She's in Gamma 1 for those that out there that know about ISI levels. She went up a level over the summer, she worked so hard. CYFF (Catholic education ...