Milestones???

I'm in a strange state of depression for some reason. This is what my odometer read this morning as a pulled into our garage from school. I guess by the time I reach the end of the street, I'll see the big 100,000! Time for a new car? Hmmmmm!

Happy Anniversary to Kathy and Jim! I'll be honest, I have lost count of the actual anniversary, but I'll venture to guess this year is 37. I am usually really good with these things. Hey, at least I can remember the date. Hope it is a wonderful day for you! Oh, just in case you are lost, Kathy and Jim are my parents-in-law. This is my favorite picture of them taken at Dan and Tedra's wedding.

For the rest of our beautiful country... Happy Tax Day! That's my cue to sign off, I'm giddy!

Chasing Bubbles

THANK YOU AUNTIE TORY! Kevin has begun his bubblegum bubble mania! He chose to play with the bubblegum bubbles instead of the strawberry ones in the care package. As he says, "nan nan's bubbles" translation into English, "Juliana's bubbles". Check out the pictures, it tells the whole story, even the one that shows Kevin eating the bubble wand. His response to that was, "yuck" with a gagging noise to accompany the experience. Ha ha! Thank you again! WE MISS YOU!



And yes, I was cheesy and played around with the pictures a little bit. Many pictures were not too good, so I had to pretend I took decent pictures and put a sepia tone to them or play with the lighting to make them look better.

Night with the Girls

I have been waiting for April 12 for a few months now. I had a night out with "THE GIRLS" in San Francisco! I met Meara at our hotel to get ready for the night, then met up with everyone else at the restaurant. We all know what a girls night entails... food, drinks, laughing, gabbing, catching up, then repeat that cycle throughout the night. After we left the Cheesecake Factory, Meara hailed a cab like a champ, and we hung on for dear life as we headed to a fun restaurant/bar across the city where I had to pull out my ID for the first time in years. HA HA! We met up with one of Meara's USF guy friends who made us laugh, and added a spark to our girls night out.

The night pretty much ended close to midnight with foggy good-byes to Kristen and Martine, while Meara and I headed back to the hotel with a nosey and very opinionated driver. I think the drivers last run was with one of San Francisco's finest if you know what I mean. Dressed to the nines with a mini-skirt, sparkling shirt, plenty of make-up, and hairy legs, if you catch my drift. Once we got out of the car, we wanted to go to the hotel bar, but there was a HUGE drunken wedding party taking up most of the bar, so we decided to call it a night. What a night!

Thanks girls for a night of laughing and fun, and most of all for your friendship! And for those of you that could not make it, we missed you a lot! NEXT TIME... yes, there will be a next time! I wish I could have taken more pictures. I have a feeling that the flash would have made a lot of people agitated, so I only took a couple. They are pretty bad, but I'll share one. Yes, I had a couple drinks, but I look completely stupid because I was laughing while the picture was taken, not because of my state of mind, or lack thereof.

Jason is at the SF Giants/SL Cardinals game right now with friends while I am home with Kevin and Shadow. Juliana is out with Grand (my mom), and GG (Great-Granny). I guess it is supposed to be a Grand Day with the girls.

A Day of Docs

This morning Kevin was all booked with doctors. The first one was his Speech and Language Therapist. He had the first evaluation with myself and the therapist. He warmed up quickly and began playing immediately. The therapist asked many many questions about his speech development, although much of it is so difficult to explain. Kevin is able to say "Yes, please", but he can not say "no". He can say, "wheeeeeee", but he can't say, "uh oh". Kevin also showed off his ability to recognize colors and numbers. THANKS JULIANA! Anyway, the therapist even checked his teeth because he seems to struggle when he says certain sounds. He struggles with the hard consonants, such as /d/, /b/, /c/, etc. Kevin has been recommended for further speech therapy until the age of 5. At the end of the 90 minute session, I was told that Kevin is one of the happiest children he has ever seen. Yeah, I am sure he says that to every parent, but for now, that is the best diagnosis any parent can receive.

Off from speech therapy to audiology. Kevin had the extensive hearing tests in a closed off room with one way mirrors. I felt like we were lab monkeys. Kevin did really well, especially when he gave responses and a big Pooh would light up to the left or a big Tigger would light up to the right. Poor guy also had to endure a hearing machine that did not work well. He had rubber tubes being shoved in and out of his ears over and over, until it started working. He did well, but was quite ticked off by the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh try. After quite a few different testing in different rooms/settings, the audiologist discovered Kevin's right ear drum hardly vibrates. She is hoping it is just due to fluid in his ear right now. Even though he has the fluid in his ear, his hearing has barely been effected. YEAHHH!

It was very strange arriving back at the Children's Hospital parking garage with Kevin in tow. I remember the countless times that I parked on the 2nd floor near the elevators while Kevin on the 4th floor of the hospital was the norm. Today it was wonderful to have him in the back seat while singing to Celine Dion. OOPS, yes, it is out of the bag, Kevin loves Celine Dion, especially the song, "I'm Alive". Haaaaa, you should hear him try to sing it!

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE!

Promoted

April 9 has arrived, which means that my head begins to spin all day long. Today is the 6th anniversary of the day Grandma and Uncle Don were promoted to Heaven. I'd imagine that whether you've known me for 30 years or only for a few months, you probably know the story. Every year I put it into writing, which is therapeutic for me, so hold tight.

6 years ago today... I remember putting 4 month old Juliana down in her crib to take her morning nap about 10:30am EST. The phone rang, and it was my Dad. I knew right away that Grandma finally passed away. Her promotion (I love that word) to Heaven was completely expected, although still made me an emotional wreck. I hung up the phone, and remember walking into Juliana's room, rubbed her cheeks, and began sobbing as a touched my little girl. Grandma's only wish in life was to see her first great-graandchild, and she succeeded. Her stroke was one week after Juliana was born, and we flew to California for her to hold Juliana twice. I remember walking out of her room for the last time, and Uncle Don putting his arm tightly around sobbing ol' me, and said, "I know, we all love her and will miss her the day she goes too. Be strong for Grandma." Exact quotes, probably not, but you get the point.

Little did I know that would be the last time Uncle Don would put his arms around me. I got a frantic phone call from my Dad about 10:00pm EST that Uncle Don had a heart attack and it did not look good, so he was driving back to be with him and Aunt Marie. I was told he would call me back soon. I could not stand waiting anymore, so I called about an hour later and Dad said, "He didn't make it." Within 12 hours of one day, my father's family was suddenly gone. Gone to a place that I could never feel their hugs again, gone to a place where their voices are silent on the phone and in the home.

I still feel empty when I enter Aunt Marie's home. Not only was that Uncle Don's home, but it is where Grandma had lived for years. The silence is deafening. Who would have thought that when Grandma gave birth to her son so many years ago, that she would have known they would enter Heaven together due to completely unrelated causes. I am convinced that Uncle Don simply died of a broken heart.

It's almost 9am, and it has already been a very emotional day for me. I'm hoping to keep my head up high, just so for a moment or two I can be a bit closer to Grandma and my beloved Uncle Don. Peace Grandma and Uncle Don.

Two Peas in a Princess Pod

Yes, there were two princesses and a prince at our house today. The little prince slept for a while this afternoon, while the two princesses watched "Enchanted", or attempted to watch it. I even tried to give them a HUGE bowl of popcorn to keep them entertained, and did it work? Noooooo! Although the popcorn bowl was empty within about 10 minutes. After trying to watch the movie without success, we moved on to coloring, then turned to dress-up. Girlie girls, what can I say?! That's all for now. We are headed for storytime in a little bit, and not to forget dinner too.

HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY CHANDLER! Hugs....

MY FAVORITE PICTURE OF CHANDLER AND MOMMY... and Karsyn while she was snug in Mommy's tummy.

Manic... again!

It's monday again. I guess if I am a blogger, I have to do this. Ehhhhhh, I think I enjoy reading other people's answers, more than I enjoy answering, so this will be my last "Manic Monday" for a while. Maybe if I have fun reading others, you will have fun reading mine. Here ya go!

Lucky number:


Favorite vacation spot:


Favorite holiday:


Favorite board game:


One phobia:


Favorite Children's Book:


Favorite place to shop:


Favorite smell:


Favorite cartoon character:

AND