Sunday, November 30, 2008

My Love Affair

I have previously mentioned my love affair with New Kids on the Block and it remains ongoing. I don't know what it is ... I think them coming back is just so nostalgic for me. I love it ... I love them. LOL.

Two days before we left for Russia to go get Nika, I went on a road trip to Atlantic City with my sister-in-law, Shay, and two of our friends. We had SO much fun and pretty much felt like we were in high school again ... which I think is okay for one day. LOL. We jammed to NKOTB on the way there and we honked and waved at other NKOTB fans we saw on the road. We even wrote out some of rap lyrics in the songs so we could master it at the concert. Dorks we are, I know.

When we got to Atlantic City, we found the Comfort Inn ... only it looked like the Ghoul Inn. No wonder it was only costing $49 a night, which is nothing in Atlantic City. Anyway, the hotel seriously looked deserted and I told them there was no way I was staying there. So we called to see if we could even cancel since at this point we were supposed to be checking in. Lucky us, they couldn't find our reservation and after a whole rigamaroll, we were able to cancel.

We ended up getting a room at Trump Marina, which is across from the Borgata where the concert was. We quickly got ready and went over to the Borgata to find tickets. Did I mention we didn't have our tickets yet? LOL. We planned to try to find a scalper before the show, but it was getting late and there aren't really scalpers at a casino venue. So after hearing there were only 14 tickets left, we got in line. I bought my ticket and right then, some older millionaire Borgata gold card holder walked up and offered us two free tickets. Score! And right after that, a girl asked me if we needed a ticket and that she would give it to us for $50 ... plus she had an early bird bracelet to go with it. Score twice!

Since we had an early bird bracelet, at least one of us was allowed to get in the line to go in early, since it was a general admission venue. We ended up getting another bracelet from security by batting our eyelashes, so Shay and I went up and got in the early bird line, while our two other friends stood in the regular line. We ended up sitting up there for like two hours, and since our bracelets were not issued together and had different numbers on them, we were about 50 people from each other in line. It was fun to mingle with other fans that are having a love affair just like we are. There was also a lot of fighting and psycho fans that were afraid someone would cut in front of them in line.

Once we were let into the venue, I got in first and secured a spot about four bodies back from the stage. Shay came in right after me and our other two friends ran in a few minutes later, so we were all together again. Since it was general admission, we couldn't leave our spots until the show was over, so that meant no drinks, no snacks and no potty. That was hard!

There were two opening acts and NKOTB finally came on stage. It was so awesome to be so close to the stage ... we had such a great time ... Jordan even pointed at me! LOL.

Here are some of the pictures that Shay got ... they turned out really good!

I love him! LOL.
Shay loves him! LOL.

Ear infection for Ms. Thang

Payton has had some serious chunks of wax coming out of her one ear over the past couple weeks. Since it was hard wax, I figured she was just a wax making machine. However ... in addition to that, she has been a fuss bucket and has been thrashing around in her sleep and crying in the middle of the night.

Given the two latter behaviors, I was really starting to worry that maybe she was under stress given the newest addition to the family. However, yesterday morning I concluded in my mother's wisdom that maybe she has a nasty ear infection instead.

I scheduled an appointment for her to be seen yesterday, but the only doctor there was one particular female that I don't not ... umm, like. We have bumped heads in the past ... basically I wanted Payton admitted and she refused ... turns out the mom was right and she ended up being admitted by the ER. Anyway ... I also think this doctor thinks she is digging a hole in the ground when she tries to get wax out of the kids' ears ... and it makes me mad. So I made Kyle take Payton to the doctor.

Sure enough, doc tries to dig a hole in the ground and even if she were to get all the wax out, she still wouldn't be able to see in Payton's ear canal because they are so small. Grr. This is the reason I usually take her to the ENT when she is sick ... they put her under the microscope because they know they have to. The ped can't do that. So after Payton screams for what Kyle estimates to be 10 seconds of hole digging, the ped lets up and just prescribes the antibiotic. Really? I could have told you to do that with no hole being dug. Sigh.

So when they get home, I look at Payton and she has petechia all over her face. I asked Kyle what in the heck happened. He said the doc said she got that from screaming so hard. No comment.

Fast forward almost 24 hours and the petechia is still there. Just in time for family pictures this afternoon. Lovely.

Friday, November 28, 2008

We did some damage ...


Around 3:00 a.m. this morning, my alarm went off. Who in their right mind wakes up at 3:00 a.m. on purpose? Ha ... apparently I wasn't in my right mind ... neither was my mother! I picked her up at 3:45 a.m. so we could start our Black Friday shopping at 4:00 a.m.

We started out at Kohl's ... and the line was super long, but it actually moved quickly once the doors were open. I just had to laugh at all the people ... within about a half hour, the cash register line wrapped literally half way around Kohs's ... it was ridiculous! After an hour at Kohl's, we moved on to Modells, Toys R Us, Macys, Target, JCPenney, Bath and Body Works, American Eagle, Kmart and last but not least, Home Depot.

We were home by 11:00 a.m.

I don't know how much money we spent, nor do I think I could make a list of everything we bought ... let's just say my Yukon was filled to the brim ... literally. We had to drive home with bags on our laps since we could not possibly stuff anything else into the rest of my SUV.

So yeah ... I pretty much think I am done with the bulk of my Christmas shopping. I need to do this Black Friday stuff more often! 50% toys, free stuff ... I love it!

Turkey Day

We had a great Thanksgiving just hanging out with the kids and my mom. We spent the day eating, playing, eating, cooking, eating and most importantly ... looking at the ads to plan our day for Black Friday. More on that later.

One form of entertainment ... pulling sisters around on toys with a string ...
Craft time ... pine cone turkeys!
"This take a lot of concentration, folks!"
Nika playing with her pipe cleaner {and flashing the Cheesy Monkey} ...
The final product ... Mason and Grandma are so proud!
My attempt at trying to get just one picture of the girls both smiling nicely ... um, I think they are in cohorts together ... did they plan these faces?
"Gimme kiss ..."

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

Gobble, gobble, gobble! We are counting our blessings today, that is for sure. We are spending the day here at home with my mom ... everyone else ditched us and left town, but we decided to stay home. Kyle has deemed Thanksgiving his favorite holiday, so the pressure is on my mom today as she cooks the turkey ... I'll be adding my own little touch, too. Ha ... that is coming from someone who thinks she is being Martha by cooking chicken parmesan. LOL.

And ... today happens to be my wedding anniversary! Nine years ago I married the love of my life ... my soul, my rock. For him, I am VERY thankful. Love you babe {he is a blog lurker just like many of you ... maybe I can bring him out of hiding sometime soon ... haha}. I know I totally plagerized that from my other blog, but whatever ... it is my blog, so I can. Ha.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Please refill my cup

I'm not quite how this ever started, but the kids each take a sippy cup to bed with them. Usually their sippies contain chocolate milk ... it is pretty much a staple around here. Several months ago, Mason began placing his empty cup in his doorway every night after he had drank the entire thing. This is his way of saying, "Yo ... mom and dad ... please refill my cup!" It cracks me up every time!

Mason's "Jent"

Mason has been playing with a little metal fighter jet lately ... only he calls it a "jent". We have told him over and over that it is called a "jet", not a "jent" ... but he clearly doesn't care. Somewhere along the way, he decided we were going to build a big "jent" ... and so we did.

I got out a cardboard box, drew a jet and used a box cutter to cut it out. Mason decided that his "jent" needed to be red (his favorite color), so we glued red paper to it. Mini Gatorade bottles served as our engines; pistachios as our guns; Gatorade caps as our wheels; and jingle bells on the wings so people would know we were coming, of course. Mason wanted to decorate his "jent" with Mickey Mouse stickers, thus our jet's name ... "Air Force Mickey".
Our pistachio guns ...
Our warning bells ...
Our Gatorade cap wheels ...Our mini Gatorade bottle engines ...
Mason has not stopped playing with his "jent" since we made it. Shoot, if I would have known that a homemade toy would go so far, we would have started doing this a long time ago!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Seriously.

Who invented the stomach flu? I have a few choice words for that person. Ha! First Chicky ... now me. I've been up and down since 4:00 a.m. hanging in the bathroom ... I just want to cry! I'm trying to eat a popsicle now ... we'll see if I can keep it down. And the worst part of all of it is that I missed a birthday party today for a family friend. Kyle and my mom took the kids while the bathroom floor and I made friends.

I really hope nobody else gets this bug ... only time will tell I guess. :(

Friday, November 21, 2008

Sicky in the house ...

This morning at preschool, I was talking to some other moms ... pretty much all of them have had kids sick with the stomach flu. Ish. I left thinking, "Thank God we haven't gotten it!"

Fast forward a couple hours, I picked the kids up from school and we went home. I carried Payton through the front door of the house and bam ... she vomited all over the foyer. She has never been sick like that before and it totally scared her. She seemed okay after and even ate some lunch. I laid her down for a nap and heard her crying a little bit later ... great. I ran upstairs and sure enough, she had vomited all over Mason's bed. Poor Sis. I laid her on the floor on Mason's comforter and she fell back asleep. Luckily she had been laying on her side, so she did not get it on herself. I cleaned up the bed and left her to sleep. Half hour later ... she is crying again. I run up and sure enough, more vomit all over Mason's comforter ... and herself. Good grief. Off to the tub we go.

We came downstairs and I decided to just hold her in the kitchen ... that way if she vomited again it'll be on the hardwood. Well ... surprise, surprise ... it happened. I don't mean to be graphic, but she is vomiting yellow bile. :( My poor baby ... I hope this stops soon! My baby should not be vomiting bile!

Sorry this was sort of TMI (too much information), but good grief ... we've had quite the day!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Welcome Home, Nika!

Our adoption journey is officially over. The past several months have been very exciting, adventurous and stressful ... it was worth every minute! We have been blessed in so many ways throughout our journey to bring Nika home ... thank you, thank you, thank you!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Tales from the home front ...

While we are in Russia, Mason and Payton are being cared for by my sister, with a little Grandma and Auntie Shay in between. My mom sent me this email ... so cute ... makes me miss the kids even more ...

A couple stories from yesterday.

Payton: She comes in and goes right for the toy chest where she loves to cover herself with the Mardi Gras beads. Come lunch time, Mason’s was done first and we agreed that he could sit on the chair with a tv tray. Well when I put Payton’s dish on the kitchen table, she put her head down to cry. You see she too wanted a tv tray. She has no problems communicating and she certainly knows what she wants.

Mason: I have pansies that have needed planting for 3 weeks so Mason and I go out to plant them even though the weather is not excellent. I put on my gloves and he wants to know where his gloves are. So we get him gloves and he wants to be the main planter. Dig, empty the pot and spread the dirt around. He does a great job and he isn’t done yet, he found a broom and started sweeping while I potted another plant, and he swept my whole garage. What a helper.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Gone to Russia ...

We are headed to Russia to get our newest daughter! Follow us on our journey over at our adoption blog ... Dreaming on an Angel. :)

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

GI Update

Payton went to the GI today for a check up. We increased her Prevacid dosage to 30mL per day. I figured since she has been on 15mL since she was just a little thang, that it only made sense to increase the dose since her weight has increased. Since she has silent reflux, I am just nervous more damage is being done than we are treating, so this is good .... I think.

As far as her stats, here is where she falls on the Down syndrome chart ...

32 pounds ... 90th percentile
35.5 inches long ... 90th percentile
47.5 cm head circumference ... 50th percentile

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Trick or treat!


We had a great Halloween. Shay and Jeremy and Kristie and Casey came over to trick or treat with us. Batman, Batgirl and Monkey had a blast. The weather really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Mason got a ton of candy {great} and Payton had so much fun interacting with all of our neighbors.

{Our nephew, Jaxson}