June 21

Well, Isaac's surgery is scheduled. He will be having a tonsilectomy, adenoidectomy and an extensive ear exam while he is under.

A bit of an update

Let's see what I can get posted before the babies wake up. Reid woke up at 7:30, chowed down and went back to sleep. Marin is peacefully sleeping in the swing and ripping some nasty farts. She's such a lady that one! LOL! Isaac is playing with his new Hot Wheels race track that he didn't need. I am a little tired of hearing HOT WHEELS! BEAT THAT!! He says it all the time

Things are good here. Friday is our 5 year anniversary. 5 years....it went fast. We aren't celebrating until Saturday though. Are there any GOOD movies out there?? Please don't say Spiderman 3. We are not interested. Seen one, seen em all. Friday will be a busy day. I broke down and said I would babysit until noon, Mike has an eye appointment in the morning and then after lunch Isaac has an appointment with the ENT. Hopefully we get some answers on his apnea issues. I just hope they don't take a "wait and see" approach. We have waited long enough. The poor kid is exhausted and is actually getting to the point that he physically holds his mouth open to breathe.

For those of you asking me when I am coming "home". I have no definitive answer yet. It all depends on what happens in the next few days. I was hoping to make it for the family reunion/my 10 year reunion. Taking it a day at a time for now though. All I know is that IF I do it will be sometime after June 21. Could be later than that though depending on what happens Friday. It also depends on gas prices. A trip north can get a bit pricey.

So, aside from his breathing issues, Isaac is doing well. Hoping that this fall he will go to pre-k. We are kind of dragging our feet on that one. He hasn't been without us since he was born. I think it will be good for him though. Good for me too ;)

Reid amazes me everyday. He is cruising...only a matter of time before he walks. He is a little nervous about letting go of things. He has started holding onto things with one hand and going from something like the couch to another big object. Isaac has a little chair that he loves to get up into and sit down. It scares me though. He mastered the getting up and sitting down part but hasn't figured out how to get out of the chair without doing a faceplant.

I guess that is all of my update for now. Will post some new pictures soon and will probably update again on the weekend.

Love
G

Reid's newest accomplishment.

Reid is sick of crawling so this is his new way of getting around. It might take a while for this video to work...sorry. As usual there is no sound. Still have to learn how to hook up the video camera!

I suck at this blog thing

Crap....blogger isn't playing nice. The pictures were supposed to come at the end but it won't let me move them and I am too lazy to copy and paste the codes so this will have to do. You get to see cute pictures first and then read a boring post!

The boys are both sleeping and Mike is watching the news (it's horrible as usual) so I figured I would sit down and update. I'm a little hooked on that little thing called facebook (Thanks a lot Alison!!) Actually I don't mind too much. I have chatted with people that I haven't seen in YEARS!! The fact that I can upload a ton of pictures in a matter of seconds is cool too.

So what has happened since February. Reid is crawling. Started with the army crawl and now he does the hand and knees thing. He started crawling 2 months ago. He is also pulling up...last week he was just getting on his knees...this week he is pulling up to standing and attempting to cruise furniture. I think he wants to keep up with the kids. He also sits up and can get to the sitting position on his own. I will get some more video on youtube in the very near future. We now have 4 teeth with 2 more ready to break skin. We have also had 7 ear infections. Isaac had 4 (both ears....2 separate occasions...obviously) and Reid had 3.....2 in Jan/beginning of Feb and then it came back. It was a nasty month. Guess that is what I get watching 1 kid that goes to pre-k. Isaac has also been referred to an ENT for his sleep issues. Last night was really bad...worse than I think I have ever heard him. I was putting Reid in his crib and in the minute that it took me to get him settled Isaac stopped breathing 3 times. It is scary and I want it taken care of!

Speaking of Pre-k we are looking into sending Isaac this fall. I don't know if I am ready for that. We have quite a few options. It's hard to decide. We can send him to a Catholic school, a "nursery" type school, or a day care/preschool. Keeping up with those last two?? All three are totally different atmospheres. All have great reviews and we know kids who go to or have attended all three. He is definitely ready for school.....and some days I think I am ready for him to go.....but it just seems like he should still be my baby. Enough of that.....gets me all teary eyed knowing he is growing so fast.

Let's see what else I can ramble about. Next month Mike and I will celebrate our 5 year anniversary. I am trying to think of a traditional 5 year gift. It's wood and silverware. I could grab a branch off the tree by our balcony and tie a bow around it. Actually...I think I will. That would be typical of me...being a smartass and all. I'm doing it!!! Don't tell him though...I want it to be a surprise!

Well...I think that is all the fun stuff that is happening here! Oh wait...Isaac would be disappointed if I didn't tell you what he got last month!!! He got a new set of bunkbeds. They are cherry and gorgeous. he picked the colour. He also got a cars bedspread. I have a bunch of pictures on the camera that I need to put on the computer. I have a few I think that I can share now.

I'm too tired to edit that last paragraph....just some extra reading!

Love Me

Update

Imagine that. i actually have some time to update. Mike is home early tonight. Jason had to get an early ride into work so he said he would cover the rest of the evening. So, since Mike is home I get some unexpected downtime. Which is good because I wasn't feeling so great.

So where do I start?? Lot's has happened in the past few weeks. Mike and I were blessed with another beautiful niece. She is absolutely adorable!! I got notice to be in the Bronx for biometrics. More immigration stuff. We were not impressed.....that's a 3 hour drive on a good day with minimal traffic. On a whim I decided to call immigration because it was storming. After calling 4 times I got 2 people that gave me the same answer and went with it. I skipped my Bronx appointment and yesterday we drove 1 HOUR....yes only 1 hour.....to Latham and had them done. We were there by 8 am and back by 10 am. Think someone screwed up my appointment??? I think they did! I have also made the decision to go for citizenship. I think in the long run it will be easier and I am comfortable with this decision.

Isaac is doing well. He turned 4 on January 27. 4 YEARS OLD!?!?!?! Where did that time go??? I will post some new pics from his party and stuff later. I need resize them. We have to take him back to his pediatrician soon to be referred to an ENT. We (Mike, the ped and myself) think he may have obstructive sleep apnea. That could mean surgery soon to take his adenoids and tonsils.

Reid is 5 and a half months old. It is incredible how fast this kid is growing. At his last appointment he was 17 lbs 10 oz and a whopping 27.5 " long. He is almost off the charts. He is definitely going to be tall like his mama. He has 2 teeth through with one more (maybe 2) close to poking out. He is sitting up and has started the army crawl. I have some video that I need to put on you tube. Today he was on his hands and knees. Before I know it he will be walking. He absolutely adores his big brother. He is the happiest baby I have ever seen. ALWAYS smiling and giggling. I love it!!

I guess that is really all of the updates I have for now. I would like you all to know that the pool opens up in May so we are taking reservations now for visitors. Don't worry...we will feed you ;) So who wants to come visit New York????

I am off to watch American Idol and pray that Antonella goes home tonight (highly doubtful if dialidol is right)

My boys

Until I have time to do a real update this will have to do. There is no sound. I was going to embed it but unfortunately it doesn't show the whole video.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWeDDwpZoqY

:(

I'm sad.....the Patriots gave the game to the Colts.

Off to sulk.........

"Strongest Dad in the World"

*Grab a tissue and turn up your volume*

I am a self proclaimed "Daddy's Girl"....anyone that knows me (even a little) knows that my father is my Hero. They know that I always speak highly of him and love him a whole bunch. Maybe that is why this following article and video brings me to tears everytime I read/watch it. I can say, without any doubt in my mind, that my Dad would be the Dad in this article if I needed him to be. How many people can honestly say that?? My Dad is the strongest man I know. If I wasn't BLESSED with the father God gave me then I would want the one in the article. Read the article and then watch the video.



[From Sports Illustrated, By Rick Reilly]
I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay For their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.
But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.
Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in Marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a Wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and Pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.
Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back Mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. On a bike. Makes Taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?
And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life.This love story began in Winchester , Mass. , 43 years ago, when Rick Was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him Brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.
"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors told him And his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. ``Put him in an Institution.''
But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes Followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the Engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was Anything to help the boy communicate. ``No way,'' Dick says he was told. ``There's nothing going on in his brain.''
"Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a Lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed Him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his Head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? ``Go Bruins!'' And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the School organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, ``Dad, I want To do that.''
Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described ``porker'' who never ran More than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he Tried. ``Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. ``I was sore For two weeks.''
That day changed Rick's life. ``Dad,'' he typed, ``when we were running, It felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''
And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly Shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.
``No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a Single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few Years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then They found a way to get into the race Officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the Qualifying time for Boston the following year.
Then somebody said, ``Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''
How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he Was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick Tried.
Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii . It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud Getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you Think?
Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? ``No way,'' he says. Dick does it purely for ``the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with A cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.
This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best Time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world Record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to Be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the Time.
``No question about it,'' Rick types. ``My dad is the Father of the Century.''
And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a Mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries Was 95% clogged. ``If you hadn't been in such great shape,'' One doctor told him, ``you probably would've died 15 years ago.'' So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.
Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass. , always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.
That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.
``The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, ``is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.''
And the video is below....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4B-r8KJhlE

Another year gone

Well it's my birthday. Just another day really. We celebrated last night since Mike had to work today. Got some great gifts. My favourite is a framed picture of my boys. Enough about that though.

Christmas was a blast. Everyone, including us, went overboard on the gifts. Isaac got his kitchen so he was a happy boy Christmas day. Reid just sat in his exersaucer and took everything in. He was awake the whole time. Isaac would unwrap a gift for him and show it to him. It was cute. I will post some pics soon. Just need to resize them.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and wishing you all a happy and healthy 2007!!