Spooktacular Fun

In honor of Halloween, I thought I'd share some fun, spooky food ideas. I can not take credit for them all, because I have picked them up throughout the years.

We made this dish last night:
Pepperoni Pizza Pasta
1 bag of halloween shaped pasta (we found a whole wheat/vegetable pasta mix that were in the shapes of spiderwebs, ghosts and pumpkins at Home Goods)
26oz of your favorite red sauce
4oz pepperoni, quartered (we used turkey pepperoni)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tsp italian seasoning

Directions:
*cook pasta about 6 minutes in boiling water, drain, put in larger sauce pan.
* mix in all of the other ingredients, cheese last though.
*once heated, serve! (C'mon, how easy is THIS?!?!)
The cheese gives a spiderweb appearance in the dish. My kids love it!

Another Fun Recipe:( we have already done this twice this year... they are a HUGE hit.)
Mummy Dogs

Scary Snack Ideas:
Apple BITES

BONE chilling

Crazy Girl

This is Keira after eating half an orange... she was on a sugar high, but it least it was a natural sugar high!

My Day So Far

I had a busy morning, but got to see a great friend/former roommate (Sarah) and her kids for a while. We don't get to see each other that often, so I love when we are able to find the time to get together. Then as I went to leave, I could not find my keys, and spent the next 10-15 minutes searching for them, only to find that Brody had stuffed them UNDER the lining of his carseat. Fabulous.
I picked Nate up at school, and one of the girls came up to me and asked me if she could come over. I politely told her today wasn't a great day, but we'd love to have her over next week, and I asked her if that was ok. She then stomped her foot and said it was not okay, she needed to come over today. As I kept promising her next week she'd come over, I got Nate, and she threw herself on the ground, SCREAMING and CRYING, saying "Don't go Nate, hold my hand forever, don't let go!" And she continued to scream this over and over again. When we got in the car I said, I think she likes you Nate. He said, "yeah"
I said "I think she wants you to be her boyfriend"
He said "Noooooooo she's just a friend mommy!"
And so it begins... can girls really be that clingy already?
Then while driving home Nate yells "Mommy what us Keira EATING???"
I gasped, because I had not given her anything, but when I reached my hand back, I pulled Brody's Milano cookie back with me.
"Is there any more" I asked Nate.
"No she swalloed the rest, and she really liked it."
When I took her out of the car I saw just how much she liked it, because her face and hands were covered in melted chocolate. It is only 2pm, and I have another 6 hours to go... at least.

Here We Go Again

For two days Brody has been not himself. Much more quiet, not eating much, and last night this all peaked with him becoming lethargic and laying on the floor, curling up to sleep... at 4 in the evening. I knew something was definitely going on. I called his doctor's office and we had to magically appear at 630 (I say magically because I had dropped Ty off at football at 530, but had to be "on call" in case it started raining hard, because then practice would be called, and even if it wasn't called, I had to be back to pick him up at 715.) Nathan was working late so thankfully my mom was able to help.
Brody's fever was 101 when we got there, and although he still had a lot of fluid in his ears, there was no pus, so they didn't think they were "infected." His throat is red, but the rapid strep test came back negative. Because he isn't congested or doesn't have a runny nose or cough, they ruled out the flu (I asked, and apparently kids that come in with the flu, in the dr's words, look like their faces have exploded with mucus and congestion.
So we have to watch him closely, and chances are he has a virus... just what we need! Another virus in our house. His fever got very high last night, and we were up most of the night because of it. I finally gave up and came downstairs because I couldn't go back to sleep.
Wish us luck... again! One of these days I swear, I will have a post that reports everyone has been healthy and I am no longer lacking sleep. Until that day though send us thoughts of health and happiness.

Look How You've Grown!

Remember this or this or how about this or this because if you do... or do now at least, then please, take a look at these photos and tell me what has happened while I blinked in the past 5 months???

A New Journey

As many of you know from my blogging, Keira has been anti-baby food. Yesterday a friend told me to look up "Baby Led Weaning", which basically is a belief that you skip the puree, "spoon feeding" stage, and go straight to table foods. Keira and I were up at 530 this morning, and what better time to research this? After all my research and talking to others, I have decided to try it out, and will be documenting the process. I have created a site just for this, and I hope it helps you, or someone you know. I have linked articles that I found helpful, as well as great recipe sights. This is a new experience in parenting, and I am excited! I have never been a fan of the whole "baby food" stage in the first place, so I find this very promising. I will also place a link to this site to the right, with the other "blogs I follow."

Daily Dish

Brody had his evaluation with Early Intervention today. Three women came out to our house with a great big bag of toys, and for the next two hours, they played all kinds of games with Brody. He was so happy.
After discussing all of our concerns over the recent findings of his ear issues, and how that could correlate with his speech delay, and seeing (and hearing) first hand his frustration in trying to communicate and speak clearly, they are recommending he receive services for the next six months, and then reevaluate him.
Brody scored off the charts for his gross motor skills and cognitive development. He clearly understands everything, and is actually quite advanced in this area. They estimated him in the 30-34 month range for these two areas.
However, in Brody's expressive language development, he is testing between 16 and 17 months, meaning he is 6-7 months delayed.
This is actually right on the cusp for receiving services through Early Intervention, but because of all the ear issues and potential for hearing problems, and because the gap between his cognitive development and expressive language development is so huge, they know the frustration he must be experiencing is very great. This is why he will only be on a 6 month plan for now. We are hoping between his hearing test and some personalized help, we can work past this and move forward.
A mother should always trust her gut instincts, and the decision to seek out some help was one I knew had to be made. My poor little guy tries so hard to communicate with us, and you can see it in his eyes, that he just does not understand why we don't understand him. In the meantime, I am learning a lot more signs to try and relieve some of the pressure, and hopefully make the lines of communication a bit clearer.

Hit by a Truck

It is just after two when I am writing this, and I have been going strong since 6am. That is, until now, because I feel like I have been hit by a truck. Exhaustion is washing over me at such an accelerated rate, I can not think straight. By 8:30 this morning I had already completed 3 loads of laundry, unloaded the dishwasher, loaded it back up, swept, mopped the wood floors, swept again after Brody thought dumping his cereal on the ground was a fun game, gotten all the kids and myself ready for school/the day and headed out the door. I was blasting Coldplay, Radiohead and Muse throughout my house to keep me going this morning, instead of giving into my inner desires to curl up on the couch and tune into my DVR to watch last night's Heroes.
After dropping Nate off, I went grocery shopping, and then headed back to Nate's school to do an apple print painting activity with the kids, and holy hell, I was there for only two hours but it felt like ten. One boy who shall not be named, really liked screaming in my face "My hand is BLUE, my finger is BLUE, I have a BLUE finger" all while putting the hand/finger a mere centimeter from my eyeball.
Meanwhile another little girl, decided placing the apples in the paint wasn't good enough, so she put her hands, arms, and every reachable surface around her in paint as well. I repeated the phrase "We are not fingerpainting, we are making apple prints" about 30 times before I said "Ok, looks like you are done now!" and rushed her off to clean up.
I am now home enjoying the "quiet" of the kids playing/screaming before I start cleaning round two, and do it all over again, and start the evening chaos of homework/snacks/football and trying to get the rest of the kids presentable before going out to dinner with Nathan's family. Have I mentioned this is an insanely busy week for us?

Nate's 5 Year/Keira's 6 month Checkup

Quickie, just came from a trip to our favorite doctor. Nate has held steady in the 50th percentile for his height (43") and made his way up to the tenth percentile (34 lbs) for his weight. He had two shots today and is looking great!
Keira has gone through a massive growth spurt and is 26" long (60th percentile) and held steady at 16lbs even (just under 50th percentile.) She had 3 shots today, including her first flu vaccine. Our concerns about her lack of interest, and gag reflex, vomiting associated with eating solids were put to rest. As her doc said, she's just not ready. So we'll try every week or so, until she decides she wants to eat. We shall see. She may be nursing for a very long time. (not very helpful as I am in the beginning stages of mastitis... OUCH.)
Also, Brody will be heading to Children's Hospital for his hearing test on December 3rd.
There's your quick fix for the day!

Where the Time Goes

Times flies. It is hard to grasp that it was ten years ago that I graduated high school, a little over eight years ago that I had Ty, and now already six months since I've had Keira. With all of the chaos and day to day activities it is pretty amazing when you stop to take a minute and realize that the little baby is now a boy almost as tall as you, and that yearning for freedom and self discovery has crept back in, but for completely different reasons. Where does the time go? There are so many moments that we want to forget, there is always something to look forward to, something you want to move past. It can be frightening to realize that in the rush and excitement you forgot to stop, even for a second, and just enjoy the now.
I find myself looking forward to my regaining of independence, if you will, when my kids are self sufficiant, and I'm not worrying if they will torture a babysitter, or go through separation anxiety. I am excited to say "let's go to a movie" and for us all to be able to go together, and not have to worry about attention spans, or supervised bathroom breaks. I day dream about the girlfriends and boyfriends my children will have, grandchildren, and what careers my kids will choose, and paths their lives will take.
When the days are rough, these are the things my mind goes to to stay sane. I think of the benefits of all the toil and hard work that these years now will sow. And yet, in actuality, when these far off things I dream of arrive, it is inevitable that I will be wishing I had the time back. I will want to be back here, in the now, when Ty still needs me to help him put his football gear on, and still waves to me from the field. I will wish that Nate still wanted to do his "super cleans" and let me help him brush his hair in the morning, and pick out his clothes before school. I will yearn to hear Brody's sweet, little voice, see his monkey and elephant imitations and get excited with him over his ability to say a new word. I will miss Keira smiles that are just for me, her early morning snuggles, and all of the wonder of what her life will hold.
It is important to remember that these moments, right now, the every day moments, these are moments to keep close to my heart, because time is gone all too quickly.

Beware of the Ick Factor

This morning when I was getting Brody dressed, in our usual morning rush, I noticed it looked like he had food stuck to his cheek and ear. I started cleaning his cheek, questioning what it was he ate, when I stopped dead in my tracks. His ear was covered (I mean COVERED) in ear wax/yucky goo. It was all dried up, but it looked as if his ear had exploded. I quickly realized that it was not food I had been cleaning off his cheek, but whatever mess that had oozed from his ear, had also gotten all over his face and hair.(sadly my camera did not pick up on the lighter goo, and this is post cleaning of his cheek and hair)
Needless to say I quickly called the doctor and made an appointment. And no, it does not seem that we can catch a break around here.
Brody's doctor is on vacation, so we saw my 2nd favorite doc in the practice, Dr Rosenthal. After cleaning as much as he could, he told me although what he could see of his ear drum looked good, he couldn't see much because of all of the stuff STILL IN IT. (hello!?!? look at the picture AFTER I cleaned him up... there's lots more in there?)
I raised my concerns over his speech development (which I have started writing about, but haven't had time to finish yet) and he agreed that a hearing test should be done. While he did a referral for that, he sent Brody to do a pressure test on his ears. Basically this test blows air into the ear, and it senses the amount of pressure on the ear drum. If it is normal, the machine reads out a mountain-like line, meaning the air goes through with no problem. If there is a problem, there is a flat line. Brody flat lined on both ears. Not what we were hoping for. Now where this could be a signal for a problem, it could just be that he has really bad ear infections (he was just treated two weeks ago for double ear infections) and all the fluid/goo is trapped behind his ear drums. The doctor decided to put him on ear drops, three times a day for 10 days, and repeat the medicine he was just on, because it is great for ears (Cefdinir.)
Brody will go back in 2 weeks to check his ears. He can not have his hearing test until we can clear up these infections as best as we can, so hopefully he can have that done in 2 weeks. If they will not drain, tubes will have to be put in his ears.
The doctor also was very happy I have already started to seek out Early Intervention services (again, I already started writing about it, but have not completed it yet, I will soon, I promise.)
Wish him luck and health for me!

Columbus Day Weekend 2009

We had a wonderful, but busy weekend. Here are photos (beware, there are almost 200) from Thursday through Monday.
To help weed through them all, they go in this order:
*Pictures from the morning Keira turned 6 months old.
*Some play time with the kids, Keira crying which her face too cute not to capture.
*Pictures from Matt's house (his family's Octoberfest Party. Side note, Nathan has been sick as a dog all weekend, thought he was feeling better, so went to Matt's, but ended up throwing up and not able to get out of bed the next 2 days.)
*Pictures from my brother's hockey game. Brody's first game since he was a baby, and Brody is obsessed with hockey.
*Keira sleeping. She looked peaceful.
*Pictures from Ty's football game vs. Wilmington Sunday morning.
*Photos from our trip to Parker's Maple Barn.
*Pumpkin picking/Hayride Pictures
*Playing at G-Ma's house
(The last ones are of Brody trying on his Halloween costume for this year... so cute!)

Quickie

~ I'm sick of sicknesses. Wah.
~I got to watch the sun rise this morning on the way to Ty's football game. It made me forget all about the shock of seeing my own breath. It was beautiful.
~I have not been home for longer than an hour at a time since Wednesday. Obviously this does not include sleeping.
~I can not wait to have a family day trip tomorrow.
~I had a breakdown about how sick everyone is in my house, and cried while I bleached every surface. I then felt much better.
~I had an epiphany that if I do end up getting the flu, since I am breastfeeding, Keira will get an instant dose of anti-bodies to it, and again, I now feel much better.
~Despite being exhausted from taking care of 4 sick people in my house, I am happy that I have yet to get anything, and genuinely love cuddling with all my babies.

Nate's 5th Birthday Pictures

as promised...

Aquarium Trip/Date with Brody

Because Brody has taken a HUGE liking to fish, an obsession really, I planned a special trip with him to the aquarium. It was practically empty in there, so it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. It was FABULOUS!!! I let Brody walk around, and he held my hand and pointed to all the places he wanted to visit. We had so much fun together. He could have sat there all day staring at the fish, penguins, sharks, turtles and stingrays. We played in the "Curious George Discovery Zone" where he made some new friends, and then we headed to the station where you can touch and hold various small creatures. Brody had no fear, holding starfish, hermet crabs and snails. We even got to watch the fur seals being fed. Keira was a trooper, and was honestly a bit wide eyed through the whole thing.
Afterward, since we had time before I had to pick up Nate, we met Brody's Godmother, "Auntie Kerrie" in the North End of Boston and walked around, looking at the boats, stopping to watch the filming of Ben Affeleck's new movie "The Town", and getting a treat at the famous Mike's Pastries.

Death by Laundry

When they find me, I will be surrounded by clothes, drowning. This is one week's worth, minus towels.

Keira's Pre-Crawl

Keira is trying so hard to crawl. She manages to get around pretty well. I think you can get the gist by this sequence.

Magic Man

Today was Nate's appointment for a second opinion, and good lord in heaven, Dr. Gary made my day. First of all, the office is right down the street from me, and although their other dentist isn't far, how can you compete with the convenience of a 2 minute car ride?
Second of all, he said that removing my 5 year old's 4 bottom teeth was a drastic measure, and in his words "unnecessary to say the least.
He went into a lot of reasons why he felt that way, and if you are really interested in all the medical info, send me a message and I'll gladly explain, but to not bore the rest of you I'll leave it at that.
I think I told Dr Gary a few times that he made my day, and maybe crossed the line at telling him I loved him, but dammit I was happy!
I told him I hoped the feeling was mutual because he was going to be seeing a lot of us in the 18 years to come.
Just to add some icing to the already sweetened cake, his office also has two orthodontists, so I won't have to make the 45 minute hike for that anymore.
And thus, a wonderful dentist/patient bond was made.
Hallelujah!

Quickie

Brody has croup, and had to have an oral steroid Friday. He has sucked since then. (Cranky, whiny, uncontrollable.) He is still not sleeping, which means we are still not sleeping.
Keira seems to be doing much better, and actually takes her medicine now. She is very close to crawling. She currently propels herself forward, and scoots herself around on her belly.
Nate's fish Nikki died last night. She was a Japanese Fighting fish, and survived for a little over a year, which we heard is a long time for that kind of fish. He was upset, but we sent Nikki to "sleep in the ocean" aka we flushed her down the toilet.
Nathan and I discussed if we should have the life/death talk, or if we should tell him his fish went to the dr, and go buy a new one and replace it.
We went with Life/Death, and we decided it was better for him to understand what happens. He cried for a minute or two, but then was happy that Nikki got to sleep in the ocean.
Nate is going in for a second opinion Monday, and I will update as soon as possible.
Ty's football team won 19-12, and Ty caught the ball when he was on the receiving team, stripped the ball from the other team when he was playing defense, and ran the ball 3 other times.
I got a special treat from Nathan this weekend, he woke up early and rented a heavy duty shampooer and cleaned all the carpets in the house. It was an amazing help!
Will update more soon!