Best birthday present ever

Despite a pretty crappy day, I am not even going to go into that. I got the best birthday present EVER!

My new niece Addison Grace was born yesterday 1-30-13 (yes on my bday yay) at 6:28pm.  She weighs 6lbs 2oz and was 18 1/2 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful. 

My sister had a c-section and had some complications after delivery. She was in recovery and had to be rushed back to surgery because she was bleeding internally.  She is doing better now.

Now some photos of my new niece.


















Congratulations to my sister and her boyfriend. She is perfect.  ♥

Growing up ..

Hannah has been showing ALOT of interest in baking and helping me cook. So I have been teaching her how to cook and bake. She started with learning how to make scrambled eggs, pancakes and turkey bacon. Her scrambled eggs are the BEST! Her pancakes are very yummy too, as well as her bacon. She is growing up so fast. I love that she is interested in helping me and I like to teach her.

My birthday is tomorrow and Hannah wanted to bake a cake ALL on her own. So I said sure no problem. My sister sent her all the goodies and she made the cake all on her own, followed the directions and did a FANTASTIC job. We have not tasted it yet but I just know it is perfect. We will be having cake and ice cream tonight for my birhtday with the family then tomorrow my hubby is taking me to dinner and a movie :) YAY!! We get to go to my favorite restaurant for dinner- Cattlemans! YUM..

I took photos of Hannah as she was making the cake for me. We had only one glitch, she didnt put enough grease on the pan and the cake stuck to the pan BUT I helped her patch it together and she waited for it to cool and then frosted it and decorated it :)

My sister also has sent Hannah a whole bunch of new recipes we are going to try, I will take some step by step photos of her as she makes her new creations...

House full of sickies

t has been a little bit since I have posted. Our house has been sick. Started out with poor Natalie having croup twice in a month. Now I have the nasty cold and fever. Emily and Hannah have sore throats and are coughing now too. I just hope that it comes and goes quick. I have had mine for like 4-5 days and still I am feeling horrible and like I have been hit by a bus. I am thankful it is not the flu and pray that the flu stays away. I have been really reminding my girls to wash, wash, wash their hands like crazy.

I got a note sent home from Natalie's class saying that she and the whole class were exposed to strep throat. UGH!! And to top it all off the little girl that exposed everyone sat RIGHT next to Natalie. So her chances of getting it are pretty high. I sure hope she doesn't get it. That is miserable and I do not want it cycling through the house.

My hubby has been in a lot of pain. His wisdom teeth or causing a lot of pain for him. He went to the dentist last week and they told him his tooth was hurting from sinus pressure because he was having a lot of sinus issues. So he kept hurting and he said he needs to go back to the dentist which we did this week and come to find out that his wisdom tooth is pressing on his molar and causing it to hurt REALLY bad. So he is scheduled to have his tooth pulled. OUCH! I am a big baby when it comes to my teeth. LOL

I am working hard on getting the family well, I am suppose to have a good friend over and her daughter this weekend for a sleepover. I haven't seen her in forever and we need to catch up. It is hard to believe her and I have been friends for like 14 or more years ... yes our friendship has hit hurdles but we always seem to come back and pick up where we left off. I guess that is what a good friend is. We have fought, we have argued, we have disagreed but we always seem to remain friends. Hannah has been good friends with her daughter too since birth, Hannah is 6 months older than her daughter but they have been good friends. Hannah is super excited and I hope to be able to get the sickies out and no fevers and they can come over and we can have a great time. I can't wait. YAY!! I have the best friends ever!!

We got to see my oldest sister Jodi and her kids, Jake and Jade on Saturday. We drove and met them halfway and had lunch. My sister is doing something great to help me out because I was desperate in need of a little help. :) Love ya sis! My sister is due to have her baby in the next couple weeks. I am thinking this lil monkey is a girl but her boyfriend didn't want to know the sex so I am guessing girl. I cant wait to see my new lil niece or nephew. :) Pf course photos will be coming as soon as I get some of the new lil monkey. LOVE calling this baby lil monkey.

Life is good, not great. LOL Would be great once the sickies is gone! I like winter but really hate colds, flu and all that junk. :( Time to go put my kiddos to bed with the humidifier and cough syrup in hopes that it will be a miracle and they will wake up all better. LOL

Ciao

Cold winter days=sick kid

Luckily its nothing major, yet!  Natalie has been holding onto a really bad cough for two weeks now. We took her to the Dr last week on Friday and he gave her a dose of prednisone (steroid) and we came home and she has been coughing ever since and she cant sleep at night.  So back to the Dr today. He said that there is 3 ways we could address this 1) do nothing and wait it out 2) give her a prescription for prednisone for 5 days or 3) give her an antibiotic and prednisone. We chose #3 and the Dr agreed. At this point it is looking like walking pneumonia and we want to catch it before it gets bad. So we went with the more aggressive route. Poor kid is miserable and tired of coughing all night.  She also got a hepatitis A booster and is now up to date on all her vaccines until she is 11 years old. After her shot we went down stairs for a chest xray and then waited for her prescription.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="710" caption="Natalie's sticker from the dr office"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Way to many stickers to choose from"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Wearing the gown into xray"][/caption]

Little of this and a little of that...

Update on Me:

This new year hasn't exactly started out the way I wanted. I injured my knee, not 100% sure how but I had just started getting back into exercising and my treadmill and I think I tweaked my knee somehow. It has been pretty painful to say the least. So I have not been able to workout like I have been wanting too. So I am now just watching my calories and drinking my water and letting my knee heal. My sweet, lovely and kind husband bought me an awesome brace for my knee that is helping SO SO much. I love him. I ice it and elevate it a lot throughout the day and it is slowly feeling better. I am just ready to get my health and fitness back on track because I am ready to lose weight and feel great again. I am in the process of joining a gym with my good friend Krystal, her and I are going to motivate each other and that is what I need. She is great and doesn't live that far away thankfully so we can ride to the gym together. :) We figured we will go while the girls are in school for an hour to start then maybe two hours. We will see. I just want my knee to heal. GRRRRR!!! I am taking it easy but I am itching to get to working out, I know sounds weird but I love to workout when I see results and I have lost 6 pounds in 5 days on just cutting back calories and drinking lots of water, but still no exercise. :( I am glad I am losing though even though I am not exercising. Just eating very low carbs and high protein. YUM! I am also looking into going back to school. As long as unemployment will still pay me while I go to school I am all for it. I am not going to do online because all the schools I have talked to and looked into just arent for me. They don't have the exact career path I want to go on and want me to go a different career path and I don't want to so I will pick a local college and get some socializing done also while I get to learn a new career. I am all for that. I need more adult interaction. It seems like I hardly leave the house. LOL But good thing I LOVE our home and where we live so that doesn't bug me at all.

Update on Hubby:

Hubby is doing great and still very much so into EMS and firefighting. It is kinda funny because my first boyfriend worked for CalFire, my ex husband worked for CalFire and now my husband is a volunteer firefighter with CalFire. Just can't seem to get away from the public service men. haha But one thing is for sure, there is not another public serviceman as hot, caring, and dedicated as mine. I love this man. Ok I am off topic here. Hubby is working a full time job still, runs his business from home, and responds to 911 calls when his pager goes off. He stays very busy. His business is coming up on the busy season again. From the end of November to end of January is really slow for the business and it is about to kick off the busy season and his weekends will be consumed with medical events. Hubby is as well working on being more fit and eating healthier. He has lost quite a bit of weight, I think like 20 lbs he said. He gets quite a bit of exercise in at work, he rides bike all night twice a week and when he is not on bike he walks the stairs at work all the way up the hotel tower and back down. This year him and I are going to get in shape and forcus on fitness. He is doing well. :) This year him and I have also agreed that we are going to save money so we can go fun places like we used too. We both really miss that. This is going to be a good year for us... I just know it.

Update on Hannah:

Hannah just had her annual IEP at school and it went VERY well. Her RSP teacher, her classroom teacher and a psychologist said that Hannah will remain in RSP for next year, her first year of Jr. High. I think this is a great idea. Even though her teachers say that she is improving little by little but she still is very slow at processing and reading. She has APD (Auditory Processing Disorder) and she process words she is reading much slower than the average person (whatever average is) Math she has improved in greatly and will not be needing to be in RSP next year BUT if they see her starting to slip since it could very well happen, new school, new setting with class periods etc she will have a study class that she goes to and if she is struggling in math they will help her and if it gets really bad then she will be put back in RSP for math. Hannah is having some issues with girls in her class that were friends that are being mean and back stabbing. This age is really trying since they are learning a lot of life fundamentals and their bodies are changing rapidly also. Hannah made a mistake by telling a secret her friend told her to her friends cousin and he told her. So this little girl is/has been extremely pissed off at Hannah and has turned all the other girls in their "group" against her. Hannah has apologized numerous times and has tried to be friends again and they are not having it so I told Hannah that saying sorry was great and the right thing to do and you learned a very valuable life lesson to never tell someones secret again. She agreed and was very upset that she made the mistake and now she is having a hard time understanding why this girl won't accept her apology and forgive her. I have taught my girls to forgive when needed and let things go and move on. So I am hoping this will get resolved soon and blow over, but this little girl holds onto things obviously a little to much. But Hannah has other friends that she hangs out with so she is doing great. I am proud of her for doing the right thing and saying she is sorry. Hannah is really really into cooking and helping me, but she is more into learning how to cook on her own which I am ok with. So she is the master of making scrambled eggs, turkey bacon and pancakes she does great with also.

Update on Emily:

Emily is well Emily... lol She is my headstrong, wild child. She is doing well in school and is a procrastinator when it comes to homework. She is getting good grades and I am happy about that. :) The first part of 4th grade for her was a little bit of a struggle but she is now settling in and starting to get the hang of school work. Emily is my very active child. She wants to do cheer leading this year so we will see if we can get her into that. I tried getting her into softball but she is not having it. She needs activities to keep her busy or else she finds things to get herself in trouble. She loves to help me clean my hardwood floors and that is ALOT of work. So she will sweep it and then mop it. She is really liking helping me with chores and I am good with that too because it ocuppies her busy brain. LOL Hannah has been teaching Emily how to make scrambled eggs and now that is all Emily wants to eat. Emily is now dying to learn how to make pancakes. :)

Update on Natalie:

Natalie is still my tomboy and loves hot wheels, remote control cars and worms. Ewwwww But she is also doing great in school and I could not be more proud of them all. Natalie has been fighting a cold and has a horrible cough, I took her to the doctor on Friday and she has croupe AGAIN! So she was given a dose of steroids to open her airway up since she was wheezy a little bit and we were sent home. Her cough is still horrible and worse at night. I put a vaporizer in her room at night and that is helping a little. Emily has moved out and is bunking with Hannah until Natalie stops coughing at night because it was keeping her up at night. Some nights she coughs so bad that I have to put her in a steam bath for 20 mins and that helps but only for a little bit. I hope this cough goes away soon and doesnt come back and infect any one else. :(


Well I do not have much more to update, I am living the dream. Love my family, kids, hubby and friends with all my heart and I already think 2013 is going to be the best year EVER!!!!!!!!!!!

CIAO!

Friends

friend noun \ˈfrend\
Definition of FRIEND
1a : one attached to another by affection or esteem b : acquaintance
2a : one that is not hostile b : one that is of the same nation, party, or group
3: one that favors or promotes something (as a charity)
4: a favored companion

What is your definition of a friend? There is a very thin line on this definition for me, I have yet to find a very close female friend. I have a female friend right now that I would consider a close friend even though her and I do not talk daily or see each other daily does not mean we are not close. Her and I both flake on each other at times, and we both understand that life happens especially when we both have children. We don't get upset when we have to back out of plans. I think it is because we are both understanding. Friendship is about understanding, trust, a good listener and someone who will not judge you or go behind your back and talk crap about you to other people. It is so VERY hard to find a good friend that is trustworthy and not someone who stabs you in the back. I have had many many "friends" walk out of my life and well I don't let this bother me because if they were true friends they would have never walked out. Friends fight, friends have disagreements BUT friends will say sorry and forgive and move on. I find it very weird that ALOT of people have a hard time with saying sorry and forgiveness. Not many people now how to forgive and it blows me away. I was taught to say sorry and forgive those that apologize.

I really never knew what a "TRUE" friend was until I met my husband. We have had some tough times and times where we have apologized and both have been forgiven and we have a love that is so strong and a friendship like no other. We have grown so so so much in the last 5 years and continue to grow. He has help teach me what a true friendship is about. He has taught me it is ok to fight, but it is even better to apologize and forgive each other when feelings get hurt. We always apologize when wrong and forgive when needed. It is very weird how many people have a hard time with this, even young children. Hannah has a few friends that won't accept an apology and are very mean. I guess this is how they are raised, of course they learn from example. If their parents don't forgive or say sorry how can you expect the children to do it as well. I have taught my girls to apologize when needed and forgive when needed. The fighting is ridiculous, life is to short for the ups and downs of a "so" called friendship, the I want to be your friend until you say something that pisses me off then I am done and don't ever want to talk to you again. This is NOT me and will not do that. I forgive easily and accept apologies. I guess I will ever understand why some people are so miserable, when life is so short and we are all human and make mistakes. Hannah is learning this right now, she is learning that we are all human and we all make mistakes, she is learning that not many people can apologize and not many people can forgive and she is learning to turn the other cheek.

So the moral of my story is love deeply, forgive easily, and apologize when needed. If everyone lived by those three little rules then the world just might be a little less hostile. I can tell you though that some things an apology will never change and forgiveness is not possible but everyday things and little spats with friends, siblings and significant others are possible.

Tell your friends how much they mean to you and that you appreciate them. If you got any.............

{Never again...lesson learned}

So my girls came home from school one day with an idea from other class mates to "temporarily" dye their hair with kool aid.  So for Wacky Wednesday I said why not.  Ugh!  For some reason I could not get Emily's out and now have been told that it is not temporary.  So today we went and got her a cute hair cut.  I am said though because I love Emily's hair long, but it will grow out. Ugh! Not all of it was cut out but it looks better. 

{my happy place on earth}

New Years Day my husband and I went on a road trip to Carmel. I just LOVE LOVE the beach and any chance I get I go with my husband to an event. He had a 10k and 5k run in Carmel which went a little longer than we expected but we still got to stop at the Piegeon Point Lighthouse and sit in the sun for a little bit and soak in the ocean breeze and the sound of the waves. I could have seriously sat there in the son wrapped in the arms of my husband ALL day. It was so beautiful. The waves were HUGE! We came home down Hwy 1 along the coastline and the sunset was amazing as well, nothing better than to watch the sun set into the ocean with my honey. It was a very lonnnng day of driving but I wouldn't have wanted to spend New Years day any other way. Now that I am not working I don't leave the house much and tend to be out on our beautiful 20 acres having a good time with the girls. So this day trip was just what I needed. Just a little getaway, just the hubby and I. The girls had the option to go but they don't like being in the car for a long period of time so they wanted to go to Grandma and Grandpa's for the night. So thankful for my Dad and Anna who watch them for us when we need a date. I think every couple should truly have dates and go out together every chance they get. My hubby and I have made it to where we get a date every other week. Sometimes every week. :) I so enjoy our one on one time, it makes us appreciate each other just that much more. I look forward to our next adventure. :)