The Inlaws

Well this inlaw crap sucks as usual. So far we've only ate 1 dinner with them because they are constantly AGAIN taking off in our vehicle and out doing their own thing. Alex actually said tonight "when is grandma going to get here." Well it's 10 PM and she's STILL gone and has been gone since 3:30. All we're here for is a free hotel room, free showers, free coffee, and a free vehicle, oh and don't forget the free use of my washer and dryer to wash all their clothes bofore returning back to AZ. Yeah. I think Alex is picking up that they are taking off an awful lot and she's not seeing much of them. Every night I've put them to bed, they've been gone out with his Aunt or her friend. His mom has done the dishes once and hasn't offered to help. Well she has changed 2 diapers I guess in the last 4 days. His dad though has mowed our lawn, cut out some brush and hauled it to the dump. He's trying to help and keep busy.

Thursday I got majorly pissed because of his mom making the comment of "what are you doing to these kids!!!" Because they were standing at the gate blocking the kitchen crying. Then she said "how can you stand to listen to that?" Uhhhh because I don't have a choice?? They hate it when I clean or cook and they can't come in so they cry at the gate. Yes I'm used to the crying so it doesn't bother me but to act totally disgusted that I wouldn't shut them up, it just really got me pissed. Thursday they also took off with Dominic when I told them not to because I had 2 kids coming at 2 PM and I wanted him there to play with them. They didn't show up till 2:45 with him. I was so pissed but I kept my mouth shut. To me it just looks bad when a parent is dropping off their kid and expects someone to be there to play with them and there's no one there. Then they're poor kid is bored because it's just me and keeps constantly asking me what to do, where they are, etc.

Friday we had Alex's Cheer Performance at the football game and so Dave brought home Pizza. They though, took off and went to Montana Mike's with D's Aunt and husband even though we ordered 2 large pizzas for all of us to eat real quick so we could get to the game. Yeah. We were both a bit pissed. We told them 7:45 was the performance and they never showed. They didn't get to do it till 8 PM because overtime didn't hit till that time but they finally ended up getting there just intime to see the performance. As soon as we got home I got the kids straight to bed. I haven't broke the bedtime schedule at all since they've been here and Dave and I have been getting to bed by 10 PM sharp because the quicker I can get the day over with, the better I feel!! LOL

Anyways, I have more to share but I'll do it maybe tomorrow. I need to get some laundry done that she shoved in a basket so she could wash all their jeans. Nice.

New Daycare Kiddos This Week

Tuesday better hurry up or I'm bound to chop some outlaws heads off, we'll go there later.

I figured I'd show some pictures today, that's if Blogger lets me. Daycare this week has been crazy, fun, and slightly a headache but that's ok. I have 3 new kiddos now during the day so the kids have some new friends. The one baby Kennedy is slightly clingy but hopefully this will pass. I haven't been able to get her to take a nap yet but she's getting picked up by 3. The other two Zayne (3)and Brinley(5) are regular little kids so Dominic's excited to have them here. Lexi(6) is coming afterschool so Alex has someone to play with for awhile even too. I've had Lexi, K and K now for over 2 years. Today I made the kids Biscut faces which they loved and laughed at since their ears and noses seemed to come right off when played with.

Here's Dominic and Kelsey holding their biscut faces up for a picture.

Here's a group shot today at lunch. Kennedy (10mths) Dominic (3) Kelsey (4) Kayla (20 mths) and Damien (15 mths)

Bailey even enjoyed a yummy biscut face.

Here's Dominic and Kelsey playing with Dom's new train.

I needed to go look for a playpen for Kennedy to sleep in so when we went out, we ran into this family of wild turkeys out near our house. You usually have to stop for a flock of these a few times a week.

And last here's Dominic sporting one of his Halloween shirts.

Help

Someone PLEASE rescue me.

Our 6 Year Old Has a Job in Sales and Marketing!!

Not really a long job, but it is a J O B. Alex is doing 3 fundraisers right now. 3!!! I HATE fundraisers, asking people if they want to buy (especially when you have to throw 3 in their face at once!) and with Girl Scouts they give QUOTAS on how much they'd like them to sell. We are currently selling Muffin Mixes, Magazine subscriptions, and Nuts/Chocolates. After these 3 are done guess what comes in a few more months?? Girl Scout Cookies!!!! UGH UGH UGH!

So who ends up buying the most of this to help out? Us. Because we don't want her not to get a prize and to feel left out ya know. I'm buying $20 in Chocolate, $20 in Muffins, and atleast 3 magazine subscriptions. There's some parents that just don't even try and don't buy anything which we do because we know it goes to a good cause for the Girl Scout troop she's in and for items for the school. I probably wouldn't have much of a problem with this but 3 at one time, this is a bit much especially since we won't be going door to door with her and she's not going to ask anyone to buy anything, she's too shy so I get to do all the leg work. Fun Fun. I just can't even imagine how this is going to go with 4 kids down the road. How many will I be doing at one time then?? 6? 8??

And now I'll leave a few pictures........

Here we have Damien in his Halloween Costume. He's a Monkey if you can't guess.

Here's Dominic playing with some of his trains.

Alexzandra and Dominic on Nick Jr instead of watching crap on Cartoon network.

I'd post more but of course Blogger won't let me. I always have this problem.

What Happened to GOOD Cartoons!?!?!? Ya know the ones that TEACH?

Perhaps the biggest annoying thing on TV to me lately is what cartoons have become. Have I missed something? When did all this Japanimation crap become the "cool" thing to watch and is this ALL they play after 3 PM???? Alexzandra and Dominic are totally skipping the good kiddie cartoons and started enjoying new CRAP cartoons and I talk all kinds of smack when I see them turn it on around 4 PM. First is Avatar on Nickelodeon. What the hell is this? Nickelodeon I'm so disappointed in you. You got these great Nick Jr cartoons in the morning but by midafternoon you play mainly crap. Next is Cartoon Network. You can't expect much from Cartoon Network, the channel that after 10 PM plays ADULT cartoons calling it Adult Swim which Dave is totally addicted to. So not only do I have the kids watching this crap, I have Dave watching it too. The stuff on this channel has no real meaning or content which just annoys the living crap out of me. Yu-Gi-Oh, Teen Titans, Code Name: Kids Next Door, Hi Hi Puffy, AmiYumi, Pokemon, etc. The list of crap cartoons goes on just go to Cartoon Networks site! lol

Here's what I want. Blues Clues, Dora and Diego Wonder Pets, Sesame Street, Little Einsteins, and Jo Jo's Circus to be played in the afternoons, not just in the morning. I want Dominic and Alex to actually get SOMETHING from what they are watching instead of watching some stupid cartoons shooting balls of flames at each other and jumping around karate chopping the bad guys. If I don't get what I want, (which we know I won't) I'm going to make it mandatory now that the kids watch my prerecorded Nick Jr, PBS, and Disney Cartoons whenever they turn that junk on. Maybe I'm just losing it. Shall we all dress our kids up as Power Rangers this year or Pokemon characters and let them beat the crap out of other kids at people's doors?? And how many times did I say CRAP in this post?? lol

A New Hiding Place

I could not find Damien for the life of me the other day! He had disappeared. I checked the closets, under his crib, behind our bed and downstairs thinking maybe he fell down the stairs but nothing. Finally after yelling for him forever I heard giggling. I followed it and found this going on.

Seek and Destroy is Back

Everyone probably remembers how I started a blog about Dominic about a year ago on his little adventures for the day. Well I decided to start it back up but it's mainly just going to be a journal of what I'm dealing with at home of his good and bad times so I'll have this for his Ped or the child psychologist I was referred to, to see. I'm going to ask his teacher after she gets back from having surgery if she has or will do the same that way we both can have our own stories. I know alot of them from school already but in writing would be so much better.

Reseaching ADHD, PDD's, ODD and BiPolar Disease. It's Gotta be One of Those or Maybe Two.

I spoke to Dominic's teacher a 2nd time yesterday after she talked to the school child psychologist that has been monitoring his progress there. The list of what could be going on is so vague and wide right now. They are thinking ADHD with ODD, possibly BiPolar, and PDD's (Pervasive Developmental Disorders) which are forms of Autism. Dominic acts NOTHING like my Autistic cousin but I think he has a more severe type. So after reading articles on the internet my own self diagnosis would be ADHD with ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) It makes so much more sense than the Autism signs because I really don't feel he's displayed enough to say that is an issue.

These are the PDDs of Autism (I don't think he has this)
Communication problems- we can pretty much understand now what he wants
Language difficulty- it's getting there, still not at a 3 yr old level but better.
Impaired social interaction- he tries to play with other kids but usually is too aggressive
Difficulty relating to people- he loves people and talks up a storm to them
Unusual play-all he plays with is Thomas Trains 24/7. That's it nothing else. But it's his fave toys
Difficulty adapting to changes- He hates change and this is why i didn't want to sell the house now.
Repetitive body movements- none
Repetitive behavior patterns- well yeah his behavior is bad ALOT same things over and over

It's funny because I found this on an article... Research has shown that parents are usually correct about noticing developmental problems, although they may not realize the specific nature or degree of the problem. I've been noticing that he was different ever since he was about 2 but didn't know what the deal was. I'd constantly get out the DVD's of when Alex was a baby and watch her actions compared to him. We had his first Early Intervention appointment 2 days after Damien's birth where they tested him on Speech, OT, Motor, and Hearing. At that time they said they had some concerns but didn't put kids in the program till they were 3 and he was 28 months so we needed to wait and test him again before he turned 3. The 2nd appointment he failed every catagory (except hearing) and they stuck him in about a month and a half before his third birthday. Things had been going pretty good, a few outbursts here and there, some kicking at the teachers or refusing to do things, or wandering off but otherwise really good. I had told his teachers at enrollment that this summer was really hard, actually a nightmare and that I had a hard time with the aggressive behavior and jumping off the walls with energy. She said after about a month she'd come out and observe him if the school routine didn't knock him back into a halfway manageable kid.

It's been a month now and things according to her had just went from ok the first few weeks to rebelling, being agressive, laughing at the teachers when in trouble, wandering off from activities, etc.

These are Traits of an ADHD child. I can relate Dominic on every one of these with how he acts here and at school.

• 
  The principal characteristics of ADHD are inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
  
  Hyperactive children always seem to be "on the go" or constantly in motion. They dash around touching or playing with whatever is in sight, or talk incessantly. Sitting still at dinner or during a school lesson or story can be a difficult task.
  
  Impulsive children seem unable to curb their immediate reactions or think before they act. They will often blurt out inappropriate comments, display their emotions without restraint, and act without regard for the later consequences of their conduct. Their impulsivity may make it hard for them to wait for things they want or to take their turn in games. They may grab a toy from another child or hit when they're upset.
  
  Children who are inattentive have a hard time keeping their minds on any one thing and may get bored with a task after only a few minutes. If they are doing something they really enjoy, they have no trouble paying attention.
  
  Oppositional Defiant Disorder.
  As many as one-third to one-half of all children with ADHD—mostly boys—have another condition, known as oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). These children are often defiant, stubborn, non-compliant, have outbursts of temper, or become belligerent. They argue with adults and refuse to obey.
  
  Bipolar Disorder. - maybe this is where the PMS and freakouts are coming from. Who knows.
  There are no accurate statistics on how many children with ADHD also have bipolar disorder. In its classic form, bipolar disorder is characterized by mood cycling between periods of intense highs and lows. But in children, bipolar disorder often seems to be a rather chronic mood dysregulation with a mixture of elation, depression, and irritability. Furthermore, there are some symptoms that can be present both in ADHD and bipolar disorder, such as a high level of energy and a reduced need for sleep. Of the symptoms differentiating children with ADHD from those with bipolar disorder, elated mood and grandiosity of the bipolar child are distinguishing characteristics.

Our appointment with his Ped that is really reluctant and hesitant with the term ADHD has a consultation set for us on the 27th so we'll see then what he says, then I'll make the appointment with a child psychologist for a 2nd opinion most likely. I think that would be the appropriate thing to do wouldn't it? Get 2 opinions? I just want to know more, get him figured out and move on. I'm also all freaked out that Damien is going to have this happen down the road. If so I'm screwed.

Watching The Kids Laugh To This Made My Day Better

Click Here If for the direct link if the player doesn't work.

I Didn't Expect THAT Phone Call

Well after my last post, it's a bit ironic that Dominic's teacher called me today. I guess they are noticing Dominic backsliding as well. She said that he's refusing to do the things he's told to do, pooping his pants on the playground, laughing when he gets introuble, yelling, hitting and being aggressive towards the teachers. She doesn't think their techniques are helping at that he needs more help. She knows our Ped. does not believe in ADHD and meds so she's rounding up some referrals for us. Most likely we'll start with a Child Psychologist and then probably end up having to switch Ped's I guess if he gives me flack over it. I'm just sad by this. I thought things were getting worse just here, not both places. She told me it's like he can't control his emotions at all. I told her he's been like the biggest drama queen here. He's either happy, pissed off and ready to kick your ass, or crying over something stupid like me opening his bedroom window to let fresh air in. And the crying isn't just crying, it's like straight meltdown/freakout crying with running around, falling on the floor, and bashing his head into the wall. I don't know anything about the meds except from my good friend who's son was has been on them for 2 years. I don't even know if I want to give him meds but I'm feeling so beat by this right now I might try anything at this moment. It's sad when the preschool teacher calls and says "how has Dominic been acting?" and your response back is "I'm about ready to kill him." That was her first question to me and my answer. I should feel horrible about saying that but somedays it's the truth. It was hard holding back tears on that call.

Daycare, Itchy Butt, I Throw, and Get Him

Today has been busy. I feel like I'm the only person in this town doing daycare. I'm actually getting so overwhelmed with all the phone calls that I asked the referral agency I do business with on the food program to PLEASE take me OFF the referral list. I did that Sept 1st. I'm still getting calls. Sometimes it's word of mouth I get a ton of referrals that way but I think some of these gals called before September 1st and they have my name and number.

Anyways I had a meeting with a Mom on Sept 18th who got back to me last night and said she found someone closer to her home. Figures because she had a perfect little 16 month old. So then today 7:30 AM and I've got a woman who'd like to come over because she needs care starting tomorrow. She came over at 11:30 and said she wanted me to watch him, I said yes because he looks like such a good little guy. Her 3 yr old Zane will only be here for 1.5 hrs a day but it's in the afternoon so Dominic and Zane will have a ball together. Then 1:00 another Mom who called me 6 times in a day yesterday came by with her 10 mth old Kennedy. She is so so cute! Well I go through everything with her and then she says she wants to check with a friend f hers that does daycare also and she lives closer to her. Grrrrr! She's going to get back to me on Monday but I'm a bit pissed that she made a big deal about needing care only to tell me she's going to wait to talk to her friend. Whatever. If she does pick me to do it which she sounds like she will most likely, my schedule will be screwy as ever but will be something like this

• Monday-Friday= Kayla 7:30-5:00/Dominic home at 12:00/Zane 2:00-3:30/Alex home at 3:30 and Lexi 3:30 to 5:30. I'll have Damien all day of course.
• Thursday-Friday-- Kennedy from 10:30-2:30
• Friday- Kelsey all day
• Days out of school- All plus Savannah.

That's one screwy schedule but I'm ok with it.

I've been getting a bit frustrated with Dominic lately. He's now 3 1/2 and could care less about potty training. He doesn't even try, I fight him to go to the toilet. Usually I have to give him candy to get him to do it and he's poopin his pants all the time and won't tell me after he's doing it and will just let it sit there as long as I let him. Last night I got the biggest laugh because after I changed him and wiped his butt, he jumped up and started screaming "itchy butt!!!! itchy butt momma!" Then he started crying because it itched and burned. All I could do was laugh and we told him if he'd poop on the toilet he wouldn't HAVE poop on his butt making it itch. He was so upset crying and yelling about his itchy butt and looking at me for guidance. Well sorry boy! Not gonna itch it for ya! I get on him all the time about not scratching or itching is butt after a diaper change so what's he do instead???? Crying his heart out he sits on the floor and starts draggin his butt around letting my carpet get a nice whiff of what as just on there. By this time I'm about to cry from laughing so hard because it's his own fault! He knows to go poop on the toilet, he's done it before, he just won't. Same with peeing. To end this, we got him in the tub where I let him soak, came back in about 10 minutes and he said "itchy butt all better."

Something else that's really gettin me about his kid is his aggression. Anymore if he's out of control, we send him to his room to cool off where he beats the door with his feet or throws things at the door and flips over anything he can in his room. Well lately when he's really upset at someone for something, he's running off and finding something large and coming back to that person and screams "I throw you!!!!" in a low voice. Then he'll take the car, electronic toy or whatever and chuck it at the person. He's so angry when he says it and I'm not sure where he's picked it up that when he's mad he can just throw something at them and make himself feel better. His behavior is just out of control here. He's got a Jeckyl and Hyde personality. He'll be sweet and good for awhile but then totally turn on me, daddy or the kids and try to get physical. I pray he's not going to be like this as he gets older.

The last thing that is really getting to be a problem is "mine" with him. I think I had said that I just can't put Damien in a bedroom with him which is sad. You'd think your boys, 2 years apart would be able to share a room but Dominic is so possessive with his toys and mean to Damien because he doesn't want him playing with them that I'm afraid it's going to be a bad idea. When we do start looking into buying a house in April in Wichita, it will have to be a 5 bedroom most likely unless Damien and the baby could share a room since they'll be around 17-18 mths apart. I have had Damien pushed down onto the ceramic tile, pulled across the floor by his legs, hit in the head, dragged and locked in his bedroom all as deterents to keep him from toys that Dominic may have in the front room. I know as soon as I hear "mine" or "get him!" there's going to be trouble and usually I'm not quick enough and Dominic takes care of it himself by hurting his brother.

I'm getting burnt out. Running out of options here. Need help.

Opinions Please.......

It has come to my attention that we desperately need a 2nd refrigerator. The problem is we really have no room! Ours is completely jam packed with leftovers, tons of Alex's sack lunch stuff, milk, pop, and a ton of condiment bottles. The main issue here is I have no room for milk. We're going through 6-7 Gallons of milk a week and I'm having to go to the store every couple days because I can't fit more than 2 gallons in there at a time. I could if I didn't have a pitcher of Apple Juice, Grape Juice, and Pineapple Juice made at one time. I already bought a slimline gallon container with a pour spout so the Kool Aid takes less room. Unless I go after the kids go to bed, I really have no time in the evening to go to the store. With it now getting into fall though, I hate the roads at night out here because of the deer and the possibility I might take one or several out because sometimes a whole posse of them run across the road right infront of ya.


This is what I'd like to get but in like white or almond and stick the other in the garage. I think a side by side would make a world of difference here because the kids could get their own drinks of water whenever instead of asking all the time and I would have an extra fridge for all the milk. I've heard though that with side by sides you actually lose room which I guess wouldn't be that big of a deal if you had a 2nd one but still you'd like to get as much as you could in it. Mainly I've heard the freezer is the issue, it's small. Ive never owned a side by side, actually the one we have is from our first house so we've owned it for over 10 years now. Has anyone owned both and which did you prefer?? I know they make a regular one with water on the front too. By buying another and keeping the other, I'm probably preparing myself for a massacre on my electric bill since we also have a refrigerator sized deep freeze and a 8 person hot tub on the back porch. If we do buy one, the garage is in for a remodel. We've done so much cleaning out and remodeling the way the house looks on the inside for the sale, I guess it was only time till we had to do the garage too. I would need to move some metal shelving next to the back door so I could put the fridge there for easy access.

I tried once again to get a good pic of the boys together. My kids are AWFUL getting their pictures taken. Sucks really. I have no good pictures. I think part of the problem is the delay that my digital camera has. By the time it clicks the kids turn around or something. Sometimes I believe digitals aren't as special as we make them out to be because of the delay and how many times I have to delete just to get the perfect pictures.


Damien though can be caught off guard so I can push the button, then say something in my high pitched baby talk voice and he'll look and smile.

Here's a pic of Damien sporting his shirt for the Grandparents. I had to buy it since the kids are Italian and the one thing everyone always tells me about Dave's Gpa from Italy is how he used to do the whole "ah" at the end of his words. If you can't tell it says You Pincha My Cheeks, I Pulla Your Hair. I think his dad will get a kick out of it.

QUIT IT You Spam Artists!!

Do you remember this post? Well I guess they must have got more BRILLIANT in their techniques of spamming because now anything I talk about on here is ending up in my email inbox. What the heck?!?! Anything I mentioned in the posts below, I've gotten a stupid email about it. Buy a new Toshiba laptop, Vericose Vein Cream, Poison Ivy remedies, etc.

I spent ALOT of money this weekend. Starting Friday night till Sunday evening. I haven't added up the receipts yet but I bet it was a ton. After the girls that I watch left Friday, Dominic and I went to Sears since they were having a sale. I bought 4 outfits for the baby, some shirts for Alex and Dominic. Saturday we spent 6.5 hrs at the Kansas State Fair. We didn't spend that much because we're cheap like that. We never play games, never buy food since we take a cooler with us. The rides cost the most with our discounted before fair rate of $30 for 44 tickets. Each kiddie ride took 2 and Alex was burned out after about 8 rides so Dave had to ride quite a few rides with Dominic. We left then made a special trip back to watch Sheltered Reality, a percussion band that was playing. I'd seen them before and since they are so awesome we had to see them again. Sunday we spent shopping all day in Wichita and Dave didn't say a word! Quite a miracle since he gets really mad when I spend money. We went to one of the Malls, Babies R Us, Kohls, and Sams Club. The kids got some new PJ's and a toy, poor Damien just ended up with a few shirts from Gap. The baby ended up with more clothes, and such cute ones! This is so much fun!

I think because Dave is so excited about this little girl, he is totally ok with buying her all the cute clothes. It's weird to as it feels like she's already here but she's not because she's still in my belly. We talk about her like maybe she's down for a nap and not with us at the moment. I'm sure when she does come it'll feel like she's been here forever. This pregnancy with her is going so well that I've already asked Dave if we can try for another in a few years. I really thought I'd be done with 4, I always wanted the whole 2 boy 2 girl thing but now my heart has changed. I know D has pretty much said laughing at me "I'm done, this is enough!" but when he talks about the kids he gets so excited, he loves being a Dad and so I could see him possibly changing his mind later on. We'll see I suppose. He worries mainly about money with having more but we can afford our kids, never been on any assistance ever so not having kids due to money isn't an issue. I think his deal is that he wants more money to spend on himself! LOL We do spoil our kids, I admit but I could cut back on the buying of Scholastic books, toys, V Smiles games and clothes.

Our house will be coming off the market in 2 weeks. I just wish it'd hurry up and get here. I am DONE. We'll do this again in April and then get moved during the Summer. I know Dave would rather do it all now but I just want to wait. We tried, (not that hard) it's been nearly 3 months and so now we should just let the kids finish school this year and then try again. During the next 7 months I think we'll be working on Country Curb Appeal and try to get the front yard looking nice. There are 2 trees we need to take out, reseed the yard. Just get it looking great for when we sell it next year. This will require PHYSICAL LABOR which I hate doing.

And last, One more week and the inlaws will be here. I hope it's a quick one!

My New Man, HP

Well Toshiba and I have broken up. I'm a bit sad as he was part of my everyday life for 3 years and he was my pride and joy. He went on all of our trips to Colorado, Oklahoma, even to the hospital and I was able to post pictures of Damien soon after his birth since he was wireless. I enjoyed playing with him during my 3 hour glucose test also. According to Best Buy they will drill a hole clean through the hard drive so any personal info we had on there is now gone. I will have to download everything again to my new sharp dressed man. And I do mean SHARP. I about shit my pants when Dave walked in the door. I think this laptop was around $1500 or so we bought our last one for pretty cheap there because they gave us a zillion dollars in mail in rebates. Thankfully with that Best Buy warranty it was just traded straight across. It has a digital media center, DVD writer, more memory, a 17 in widescreen, a 10 key pad, and other features but I'm not real computer savy to list them all.
He is very handsome and I'm in love. Hopefully he won't need his fan replaced 5 times.

On A Perfect Day: Ode To the Stay At Home Mom!

I'm not feeling down or anything. I just thought I'd throw in some humor for the day. My day is actually going O-K, could be better but ya know.

On a Perfect Day, I wouldn't have overslept till 6:45AM!

On a Perfect Day, this wouldn't be a Teacher Inservice Day.

On a Perfect Day, the buses would have came and picked up the kids today.

On a Perfect Day, Dominic would listen and mind my every command.

On a Perfect Day, Dominic would say "mommy! I'm going potty all by myself and won't ever pee and poop my pants ever again!"

On a Perfect Day, I wouldn't be itching STILL from Poison Ivy that's been gone for about 5 days now.

On a Perfect Day, K and K's mom wouldn't have shown up at 7 AM because McDonalds doesn't serve hamburgers that early.

On a Perfect Day, the kids wouldn't have got Maple Syrup all over themselves when eating their waffles.

On a Perfect Day, Damien would not have a green snotty nose and feel particularily warm. And be cranky.

On a Perfect Day, the kids would have slept longer than 6:45 on a no school day.

On a Perfect Day, my dog would get over the fact that he's going to be on a chain when he's outside for his potty breaks.

On a Perfect Day, the kids would be loving towards one another and stop hitting and taking toys.

On a Perfect Day, Damien wouldn't have peed his sheets, pillow and blanket.

On a Perfect Day, Alex wouldn't start saying "what can we do today??" at 8:30 AM.

On a Perfect Day, Best Buy would call and say "we've backed up all the files on your old laptop and are replacing it" not "I need all your accessories and receipt on your laptop so we can turn it in as defective."

On a Perfect Day, Katie Couric would STILL be on the Today's Show.

On a Perfect Day, I would have noticed my weight the same, not a gain of 5 lbs in a week from being on a Steroid.

On a Perfect Day, I wouldn't have had to do 2 loads of laundry this morning, or the load of dishes, or take out the trash.

On a Perfect Day, the kids would finish ALL their food. And eat their apple slices before they brown.

On a Perfect Day, at 1PM ALL the kids would take naps. Zonk out immediately for 3 hours. Maybe 4?

On a Perfect Day, when Dave calls for the "what's for supper?" report and here's it's Roast in the crockpot, he'd say "Yummy! I can't wait! You're the best!!!"

On a Perfect Day, the kids would play outside and I could write this post interrupted without the kids coming up to the screen door tattling on each other.

On a Perfect Day, none of this would really be that big of a deal but I guess I really enjoyed the kids going back to school!!!

I decided to drag out baby clothes, not only for me but for Alexzandra too. She's been dying to go through her old stuff and see what we have for our new little girl to wear. This tub is the 0-12 month clothes. It's looking like we may need to buy some 0-3 month winter clothes considering Alexzandra was born in June. For some reason that happened with me on Damien too but we were lucky and he was so big he went straight to 3-6 month clothes soon after birth. The kid now wears 18-24 month and some 2T straight out of Dominic's closet.

Most of the outfits I have though are 3-6 months which should be ok I would think because that would still be till June. It's hard to remember Alex wearing any of this stuff! I do plan on buying some new things for her but I plan on scoping out some yard sales for anything that looks like new too. ALOT of our kids clothes come from yard sales for example Damien's pic below of him wearing the Tommy hat and shirt. I just can't afford to buy that crap brand new.

I haven't been online much lately which is odd for me. I find something new to do everyday, I guess I'm nesting. Either that or I have OCD. It's also easier since Dominic isn't here in the mornings, I can actually do things and not have to stop any screaming and fighting. Damien and Kayla play really great together and aren't much work so I can get quite a bit done. Mainly I've been sorting and organizing things around the house. People coming through our house lately are probably thinking "the mom is a freak" because of all the labeling and storage containers in our house. If the kids have alot of a certain toy, it's in a clear rubbermaid container. Xmas supplies, snacks, airfresheners, batteries, pencils etc. If there's more than one of it, it has a container and is labeled. The pantry shelves are all sorted by veggies, soups, fruits, grains, all the cereal is stored in Tupperware pour containers. Alot of this I've always done but packing airfresheners or toys in clear plastic containers is kinda nutty I'll admit. Dave thinks the meds have added a new twist to this because he's found me extremely bitchy and uptight lately especially if things are out of placed or not picked up. The kids are learning quickly to put things where they belong. Today my task was coupons which I cut, sorted and put away for my trip tonight. I'm hoping to get some really good deals (and freebies) on some food. Damien played in the extra paper while I cut my coupons.

Oh and here he is as my little Ketchup Warrior. He's finally starting to eat his food more and more now if I give him ketchup to dip it into. Alex and Dominic were the exact same way.

Look at his tray. All finished and he's trying to tell me he wants more. Silly boy.

5 Years

It's hard to believe that 5 years has already passed since 9-11. I don't think I'll ever forget sitting there in the office and our boss coming up to us and telling us to come to his office after the first plane hit. We thought it was just a mistake by the pilot, then the second plane hit and we were all in shock. We didn't have a TV but we had the internet and the pics were just being uploaded left and right onto MSNBC and CNN.com. All 12 of us had alittle bit of a pep talk on "trying to do our job" but we all knew that there wasn't much going to be done considering my job and the others consisted of calling Fire Departments around the United States, 2 states in my territory were New York and New Jersey. Basically my job was marketing, calling ambulance services, hospitals and fire departments and updating our info on them since the company made ambulances and rescue vehicles. By 9:30, we were told to take the day off since we were getting hung up on left and right and yelled at. I remember Dave calling telling me to get gas on the way home because they said it was going to go up to $5.00 a gallon. I flew down the highway and when I came to town I saw about 15 cars per pump and gas was like 3 somethin. I drove to 3 stations and finally stopped at one where the lines were still huge. I got gas, can't remember the price but waited 45 minutes just to get it. Then I drove to our daycare lady down my street, picked up Alex and came home. I kept thinking we were all going to die and what did I bring a kid on this horrible Earth for. I spent the rest of the day playing with my little 1 yr old and watching coverage with bodies jumping out windows to their deaths. I was consumed in the news and couldn't believe this was a real. Watching TV made it look like a movie. After about 6 months I went bac k to calling Fire Departments in New York and found that several of my contacts had died that day. I felt like such a smuck on each one of those calls. But anyways.

Well the weekend was pretty boring around here. Cleaned all of Sunday morning for our 2:30-4:00 open house, went to my dad's house during that time then came back. Would you believe now that school has started, we may have 2 parties interested in our house. That's my luck. Honestly with like 10 shootings in the past 2 weeks in Wichita, shit maybe we should just stay here!! I mean I'm not sure if any other city around would have their homicide rate jump 35% in one week. What the hell!??

On the poison ivy, I'm still abit itchy but skin is totally looking back to normal. I'm no longer much of a freak! I still have pink skin though where I itched a ton, almost like a sunburn. I've been avoiding Dave like the plague but after doing some more internet research on Poison Ivy, he shouldn't be contagious since you only are when you have the pollen or dust on you. He was lucky to know from me what it was and get it taken care of because he didn't itch much at all vs. me itching like mad. I had a follow up appointment with the dermatologist but I called and canceled since I'm doing alot better. I just wish I could stop these itch fits in the middle of the night. Luckily only 2 times last night and I went back to sleep fairly quickly.

Found out officially when D's parents will be coming to visit. Thankfully they'll only be here for 1 week instead of the normal two. I don't know why they chose to come during the school year and Dave even told them it'd be better for them to wait till like Xmas break or summer. Nope, they want to come the end of September. Boy are they in for a ride. Last time they came together, Dominic was 1, his mom came alone when Damien was born back in 7-05. They'll sleep in the basement most likely but Alex is down there so we'll have to make sure they are quiet because they watch TV in bed. And don't forget they come from AZ so there's a hour time change they'll be putting up with too. There's not much time in the evenings to do anything because we're so busy and by 7 I start the bedtime routine with baths. Kids go down at 8:30 PM, we go down at 10:30 then Dave's up by 5 AM, I'm up by 6:15-6:30. I usually start a load of laundry in the morning around that time, get breakfast going, Dominic's up by 7 AM, Alex is on the bus by 7:15, K shows up by 7:30. Dominic's on the bus by 7:55. SO there's alot that goes on here in the morning and we just can't figure out why they just had to come NOW. I'm not breaking my routine for their visit. Be prepared for me complaining the last week of September.

I Think We're Getting Better and Damien's 14 mths old!

Enough depressing posts. I am feeling quite a bit better! Especially since Dave got Poison Ivy too! LOL I have to admit it was funny seeing him come home from work last night with his cheeks swollen up to his eyes and his ears about as fat as 2 apple slices. He did the smart thing though and called his Dr from the road and they got him the same meds so he could get started right away. By this morning he got up and went right back to work as if nothing was wrong and his face was back to normal. I swear Prednisone is a miracle drug! In my case though, I'm still a bit itchy after waiting a week to go to the Dr my skin looks and feels like leather. Very dry and scaley. It's getting less and less though. I'm praying the kids don't end up getting this too.

I gave the could-be culprit a bath. He is not allowed to run free outside anymore. I will escort him in and out for potty breaks now. There is no eye contact going on because he's in a bad mood from me giving him a bath and also talking to a ton of people on the phone about him. He's been sulking.
Damien recently turned 14 months old and now you can tell he's really a toddler. He's such a joker and thinks everything he does is funny. His new thing is pushing and trying to knock other kids over. Not fun to deal with at all. He thinks it's a riot though. He also loves dragging out all the dishes from the bottom cabinets, take all the DVD's out of the entertainment center, throw food all over the floor for fun, play in the toilet, and climb the footstool in the bathroom up to the sink. With him enjoying the same toys as Dominic, it's been hard because the two fight ALOT. He's also taking toys away and running for his life which makes Dominic very upset. lol I can't wait to see how he reacts though when his little sister gets here. I'm sure he'll be a great big brother. Here's some new pics of him.

On the Road to Recovery, I hope.

It's 6:30 AM and I've been up since 3:30. I can't sleep. Perhaps it's the massive itch attacks I'm having? Ya think? Ugh. So I finally gave in and went to the Dr Tuesday. I cried and cried Monday night in bed from the burning/itching and the fact I think Dave is a stupid pig of a guy about this whole thing. This was the first encounter leaving my house that I've had with anyone since last Wednesday at my sonogram. Let me just say it was quite embarassing. I had my eyes down on the babies in the stroller the whole time because I didn't want anyone to see me and my broke out face/body. In fact, a very good friend of mine from highschool and her husband were going to their family dr across the hall and I seriously hid from them by putting the canopies up on the double stroller then bending forward towards the babies the whole 30 minutes till my name was called. As soon as the nurse came out and said "sabrina" I flew in the door since I made sure to sit right next to where I'd be going.

To say Stumped would be an understatement. My Family Dr was floored, amazed, freaked out, and confused on what was going on with me. He had his hand near his mouth like he just couldn't muster what to say. I told him all the answers I knew he'd ask. Nothing new in the house, no new shampoos, haven't been playing in the yard, no new medicines, been like this for a week. After looking everything over a few times he said, "I'll be right back." I wouldn't be shocked if he went to the bathroom to throw up. Luckily in that time frame I knew I was going to have to be leaving to get Dominic off the bus but my Grandma called my cell and I asked her if she could please run by and get Dominic for me that this wasn't looking too good. She did thankfully. Dr finally came back in about 5 minutes and told me I had an appointment RIGHT NOW to go see a dermatologist in another office building. He said with the severity he needed to check me over. See I thought every day over the weekend I'd be better the next day when infact I think I was just getting worse. The pictures below were some of the beginning stages but by yesterday my front of my neck, my arms, shoulders, back, tummy, boobs, right butt and side were totally covered in about 4-5 inch thick raised patches of red while the rest of my pasty white skin was red from all that damn rubbing. I loaded the babies and we drove over to another building.

I got right in, this guy was super nice although I would say I've never seen two men so disgusted by looking at my body!! lol I guess I can kinda see why Dave was staying away and shuddering. I'm a freak. He said "I can't imagine how this feels, this has to hurt." Uh yeah! So after he looked everything over too his conclusion is that he believes I've gotten into poison ivy. He said some of the patches look like contact dermatitis but it's a definiate allergic reaction to something. We ruled out Cholestasis and PUPP the two pregnancy related rashes. I actually had done that the other day because after sitting in the house for a week I had PLENTY of time to Google them. I'm taking Prednisone now and hopefully I'll be over this nightmare soon. He gave me a cream for the itch but I'm just going to use hydrocortisone because my OB didn't want me to take the cream since she can't finda anything pregnancy related on it. He really didn't want me to use anything else on my skin but it's flaking so bad right now and you know dry skin makes itching worse so I'm using Aquafor which feels so greasy and good. I'm hoping I don't have any scaring from all this scratching in the past week. After having this happen, I've been seriously dreading the Morphine drip after my C-section. Each one I have literally ripped skin off my body from itching. I'm scared and I've still got like 17-18 weeks to go.

I hope you've all enjoyed this journey! lol

New Pictures

Look! No Binkie in his mouth but he's got it in his hand.


Alexzandra

My Al Bundy- this is how he sleeps.

Damien with a binkie. This Kid is going to be hard to break.

Weeeee! Having fun with Daddy.

Give me My Binkie!

(SMACK!) Take that you asshat! Give me back my binkie!

Yeah, that's what I thought.

I'm Dying

Right Side and part of my back

My neck and shoulder

Top of my leg

The Inside of my arm
Dave is afraid of me, he won't even come near. Nice. So if I ever had something disfiguring and permanant happen to me, I assume he'd leave me. :( I told him I feel like I'm dying a slow and painful death. This sucks. Can someone assure me this is NOT pregnancy related? If it is I don't think I could handle this till the end of the year. I'm hoping I just got into something I shouldn't have.

Lead Test Results

The Dr's office called me yesterday afternoon and gave me the results of the 3 lead tests that the kids did on Wednesday. They didn't want us freaking out all weekend long. Get this.....Dominic, Alexzandra and Damien's all came back at 1, which means very little exposure to lead. What a freakin relief! Last friday, Damien's lead level was 35. At a year old it should be 5 or less. So if you remember me saying that I caught Damien with that cat in his mouth and took it away because I had saw K with it earlier in her mouth, well the office is thinking that, THAT was the day we had him tested so he had lead on his hand and fresh in his mouth so it looked as if he had high lead levels. I know it was one day last week when I had the girls and it may have been friday I'm not sure. I was quite shocked that just like that it was gone after brief exposure. Those toys were in the daycare toys toybox so I had seen him and the others playing with them every once in a while and I'll admit I'm not that great about remembering to wash the kids hands before we eat. Obviously I had done it enough though that he must not have gotten much in his system except for that one day. So I'm super happy about this.

Alex is excited as ever that she's getting a baby sister. Dominic, who knows if he gets it or not. He was saying he wanted a sister but I don't think he understands that there is a baby in my stomach. I still have this rash or hives whichever. It's annoying and I'm tired of looking like this! My right body is mainly affected. My face is swollen on that side, my neck is red with patches, my boobs are totally covered, my right hip, butt cheek and my C section scar is all covered in this crap and I itch like a mutha f'er. I'm trying so hard to not itch and it's killing me. We hope this pillow sham was the cause since the rash started after I began using this other pillow as a pregnancy pillow. If it's not, I'm in trouble because 2 days without the pillow now and it's gotten worse. I was told it could take a whole week for the full effect of the rash and then another week for it to start clearing. I haven't left the house since Tuesday when it began. Say a big prayer that I'm back to normal soon. I am so miserable!!!