random thoughts

One year ago this past Saturday, March 29th, was the last time I saw my mom alive. My sis-in-law keeps telling me to stop dwelling in the past. I try not to, but I really miss talking to my mom. I miss asking her questions about the girls, like did I do this or that, or telling her what they are up to these days. My girls turned 3 this past Wednesday, on my 3rd b-day we were camping in Tenn. & my mom ended up in the hospital having gall bladder surgery. Can I just tell you, that when we were cleaning out her house, she still had her gall stones saved in a jar!?!
I use to(still do?)talk in my sleep, my daughters have started this, I'm not exactly sure how to deal with this, as I keep wondering if something is wrong with them; especially since they've been sick of late & are still a bit under the weather. Speaking of sick: the girls had their 3 year check ups on Friday. They were both running temps of 101 at that time. The good news? The dr. said it was just viral, they had to ride it out, give them ibuprofen for the fever. She doesn't have to live with them being fussy, whiny & clingy. As far as the check up went, they are doing well. Weight wise they are in the 75th percentile & height wise there is 1/2 inch separating them which puts them in the 45th & 25th percentile respectively. I absolutely love my pediatrician. She is a mom of triplets, so she understands the multiple thing & she is incredibly attentive when you are there, addressing all of your concerns/questions.
So a little over a week ago on my bff Renae's b-day, the 1st day of spring arrived. And while the sun seems to be shining a bit more these days, I know it is here because my friends' crocus' are blooming! :) And I've been seeing a lot more motorcycles out on the road. In fact the hubs is very anxious to get our bike back on the road. If anyone out there in blogger land is feeling incredibly generous & wants to donate an additional motorcycle to our cause, please feel free to leave a comment w/contact info. I don't enjoy riding by myself, but with only 1 bike that is all we can do for now. And I don't have any female friends to go riding with. Oh yeah, & the other reason I know spring is here? Baseball, pre-season has started. Yes, folks it is Red Sox time again. Sing it with me: "Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd....." The husband actually taught the girls how to sing that song. It is too stinking cute to watch. Maybe I'll get a video of it & figure out how to post it.(don't hold your breath.)
I know I had other things I wanted to write about, but my mind is falling asleep.
G'night.

Birthday shout outs, happy labor day

So I'm a bit behind pretty much all the way around. So let me just start with the birthday shout outs. March 15th, our nephew Dylan turned 7; March 18th, my BFF's son(that I use to babysit)turned 31(WOW!); & March 20th, my BFF, Renae turned 29 again. We have been friends for over 20 years & besides Jesus, NO ONE knows more about me than her. Yep, not even the hubby, since we've only been together for 5 years. But yesterday was the best birthday of the month! My baby girls :( turned 3. The sad face is because they are just growing up way too fast. Rachel will tell you she turned 4 & Emily will tell you 3. Of course Rae counts 1,2,3,4,6,7... so to her maybe 4 is logical. It is amazing to me that 3 years ago they were less than 24 hours old. I love to watch how their little minds process things; one of the most obvious is their concept(or lack thereof)of time. Everything happened last night or is happening "after naps." But they certainly don't miss a trick.
Last week the stomach bug went through the entire house. The girls seemed better for the weekend, but starting yesterday afternoon Rae started running a low-grade temp. No symptoms, just the temp. & being clingy/whiny. Today Em sounded croupy & also had a low grade temp. Fortunately they have their 3 year check-up tomorrow.
Speaking of the weekend, we had the girls party at the children's museum here in Providence. Thank goodness for my BFFS' Renae, Dawn & Marsha(also my s-i-l). Dawn & I made the cake/cupcakes. Renae & Marsha did the veggies & fruit for the party. Look for a picture of Elmo soon. Renae & Marsha & their husbands drove 6 hours a piece to come to the girls b-day party. Can I tell you what that means to me???
I am truly blessed to have such wonderful friends & family.
So I took the girls to JCP to have pix taken yesterday- they did an awesome job(of course so did the photographer.) Look for those pix after the 9th of April.
If anyone who reads this has figured out a way to make your children stop growing, please feel free to share it with me.
Oh, in case you were wondering about the happy labor day (you were probably thinking that holiday is in Sept. so why is she posting on it now? weren't you?)Well, if you've ever had children you've been in labor, thus HAPPY labor day!(it is a happy occasion.)
Have a good evening & God Bless.

rants - some things are just not right!

So, I was out shopping tonite with my mommy's helper, Hannah. This young lady is almost 9 years old & my daughters absolutely adore her. We were looking at sunglasses for my girls' birthday. We walked through the Easter candy aisle & I saw something that just wasn't right. SUGAR FREE PEEPS! Yep, you read that right. SUGAR FREE! The things are pure sugar, how could they even taste good & be sugar free? Peeps are one of my absolute favorite treats. In fact, I love chocolate as much as the next female, along with caramel; so I was disappointed when I read on the web tonight that Cadbury's caramel eggs are the absolute worst, but peeps were one of the better things to eat. I think the best Easter candy to eat was jelly beans. I know weight watchers allows like 35 jelly belly jelly beans & it is only 1 point(I think, I know it is 3 or less.) I personally like peep bunnies the best. I need to dissect them when you eat them. So I eat the ears first, then the head, then the body. How do you like to eat your peeps?

LOOONNNNGGG week continues; but I'm back from the dead

So, my long week continued. I thought Emily was doing better on Sat. she ate a little bit, played a little bit & felt cool to the touch. Alas, it wasn't quite over. Went to church Sunday am, put the girls in nursery, the lady who was in there said to me, "Is she not feeling well? She isn't her usual chipper self & just wants me to hold her." Now if you know my daughter there are few people she wants to hold her. So, since we were in the baby nursery we took her in with us. (we only had 2 18mo. olds) Again she played a little bit, but didn't want to be far from mom & dad. Go home, try to rest, they were having none of it. So we needed to go to the mall to get a b-day present for my nephew. In the middle of the store she lets loose all over dad. Great! I wasn't so embarrassed for us, but more sympathetic for the other shoppers.
Monday morning dawns bright & early, get up to take care of a few things for the hubby to go to work. And about an hour later I'm stricken with the dreaded stomach bug. I never realized how difficult it is to parent when all you want to do is lay on the couch & sleep(& lick your wounds). Dad's job right now doesn't afford him the luxury of coming home to help out & to top it off he had a meeting at church last night. Thank goodness for wonderful friends & neighbors- Jen made us dinner last night.
Today I'm back from the dead, a bit worn out, but 100 times better than yesterday.
Praise God.
-Gail

LOOONNNNGGG week

Here it is Friday evening. What a long week. Why has it been such a long week you ask? Well, Mondays I babysit for a friend. She has a 2 1/2 year old & a 5 month old. So it is essentially like I have triplets & a new born. We made it through Monday relatively unscathed. Tuesday morning dawns bright & early at 5 am with my oldest daughter puking her guts out. This goes on all day. While I love my husband & he is an awesome daddy sometimes he can be a bit over protective about his daughters' health. (I don't really fault him for this, I just try to humor him.)I know it is just a stomach bug, but he wants me to call the pediatrician. So I do. They tell me the vomiting has been lasting about 12 hours & the other end, well, a couple of days or so. She still has the lower end.
Last night at 11:30pm the 2nd daughter starts with the vomiting. Needless to say I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night. Oh & she wants me to do everything she saw me doing with her sister in the last few days. So immediately after emptying her entire stomach contents she wants juice(actually as she is still vomiting she's asking for juice). How do I explain to an almost 3 year old that it will immediately come back up & she has to wait a little while. Not only that, but can I just tell you how much Veggie Tales & various other children's television I've watched this week.??? While I believe we should all have a daily dose of vegetables(aka veggie tales)I'm a bit vegetabled out.
Here's to a healthier weekend & a much healthier next week.
God Bless, -Gail