So much going on!!!!

Sorry I know I suck at updating anymore. We don't have our internet at our house right now, so I just use my phone for stuff, and I am limited on how much I can do. Since I am at my mom's today I decided I would do a long post, so I hope you have time for it lol

WE'll start with Syd's knee. The orthopedic surgeon could not seem to figure out what was going on and why it wasn't healing when we went back in for her check-up. He ended up sending us for an MRI, and everything on that came back good but she still insisted she was in pain. Wel the gentleman we had been seeing said "Lets get Dr Douglas in here to look at it" Ok call me crazy, but I don't recall ever being told that the guy I was seeing the whole time wasn't Dr Douglas. I was obviously a little irritated by that, but the guy was nice so I didn't raise a fess. Dr Douglas came in and looked at her knee and felt it for about 2 seconds and said (in laymans terms) it's just swelling right on the knee cap. REALLY????? All of this for SWELLING!!!!! I was a little peeved to be honest with you. He said stop the use of the brace, stop the use of crutches, give her ibuprofen and if it still hurts after the first of the year we'll do some physical thereapy. Well what do you know...it isn't hurting anymore. I'm glad it wasn't something more serious, but I am really cranky that it took that much time and effort to find out it was swelling.

Baby update- Pregnancy is still going ok. It has definitely been my hardest one so far, but I am still trying to enjoy every minute since it'll be my last. I had a check-up yesterday for my glucose test, and when I got there my blood pressure was high. My blood pressure has always been perfect up until the last couple of weeks, so my dr was a little concerned. He had me lay on my left side to try to calm down and relax for a few minutes, and he took it again and it was fine so I guess it's just something we have to watch closely. Then I was telling him that I have been having Braxton Hicks already for the last 3 weeks. They are a daily occurence, and sometimes they are downright painful! He said I need to monitor them, and if I get more than 6 or 7 an hour that I need to call him and we'll do a test to see if Miss Arabella will be coming early. I am crossing my fingers and saying my prayers that she doesn't, but you just never know I guess. That's another thing...we decided on the name Arabella Lu. Lu is after my Grandma that passed away last year. We will call her Bella, but it isn't because of Twilight. When I was little my Grandpa used to call me his "Bella" or "Bellisima" which means beautiful girl in Italian (as well as Spanish), so we thought it'd be neat to call have our baby girl's names both have meaning to them.

Now on to Christmas- We had a great Christmas!!! The kids were spoiled. We went to my parents early Christmas Eve, and I made us all dinner. Then we opened our traditional pj's, and headed to my mom's church for their candlelight Christmas Eve service. Anth and I were up until 2 in the morning wrapping gifts, and the kids had us up at 6:45. They tried at 5:45, but I made them go back to bed for a few because there was no way I was getting up! We did gifts, had orange julius' and breakfast casserole and relaxed for a bit to let the kids play. Then we got ready and headed in to Anth's mom's for dinner, and for the kids to be spoiled more. It was a great day with family, and it was exactly the way I would have wanted it.

Tonight for New Year's Eve we are doing our usual, and hanging out at home watching movies and eating treats with our kids. We aren't big on going out for New Year's, and as far as I'm concerned there are way too many crazies out on the roads tonight. I hope you all have a fun and safe New Year's as well :)

Update on Syd's knee

The dr told us Syd's knee looked like it was just swollen and maybe had a torn tendon, but it should heal on it's own. We were told to take off the brace and stop using the crutches after 2 weeks, and if it still hurts to call them and they'd refer us to a specialist. We took her off after 2 weeks, and by the following morning she was in tears from pain so we put it back on. The dr sent a referral to Dr Douglas (an orthopedic surgeon), and we got in to see him today. He said she fractured her growth plate, and the reason it isn't healing is because the brace she has allows her to move her knee. In order for a growth plate to heal it has to be completely immbolized, so he gave us a brace that'll do exactly that. We have to go back in 2 weeks, and if it's healing she'll be back in the other brace for a couple weeks. At this point we're looking at another month @ least in a brace and on crutches assuming it starts to heal in the 2 weeks.

It's a....

GIRL!!! We are having another beautiful, precious baby girl. We are so excited! They also moved my due date up a few days to my Grandma's actual birthday. Pretty crazy huh! After the ultrasound my in-laws took us to Chuck E. Cheese, and ate dinner and let the kids play lots of games. It's been an amazing day, and I'm ready for bed now lol

Boy or girl???

We find out today what we are having, and I can't wait!!! I didn't sleep hardly at all last night, and when I did I had dreams we were having twins lol My appointment is at 3, and I'm really hoping the day doesn't drag. The kids can't wait to go and find out either. It's all they've talked about all weekend! I will keep everyone posted :)

Monday is the big day!

I have my ultrasound on Monday, and I can't wait! I'm sure this weekend is going to go super slow since I want Monday to get here so bad.

Is this year over yet???

Ok so 2010 really has been a year full of bad luck for us, and last night added to the long list of things that have happened. Yesterday at recess Syd was standing on a platform waiting her turn for the monkey bars when a kid ran by and accidentally pushed her off. She landed funny on her leg and couldn't straighten it or put any pressure on it, so I took her to Dr Gould's after hours clinic. I had to take her to the hospital, and my parents came to help me since I can't carry her around and Anth had to stay home with the other kids. After looking at the x-rays the dr told us it looks like a tendon tore and pulled some bone away from her knee. Ouch huh! She's in a brace and on crutches, and after the radiologist confirms it we have to take her to see an orthopedic surgeon :(

My poor sick baby :(

Tasia has had stomach cramps to the point she was curling up in a ball in pain for the last 2 days along with diarrhea. My mom was telling me to call her dr, and see if they wanted me to bring her in because it could be constipation. Just after I hang up with her my poor girl started throwing up everywhere :( I called the dr, and he did want to see her. He ended up telling me that he's pretty sure it's the stomach flu, so he gave her anti-nausea meds and anti-diarrhea meds. He said if they don't work to take her straight to Primary Childrens to make sure it isn't appendicitis :( So far she is doing better with the medicines, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that it stays that way!

Life is good!

I am finally almost never nauseous anymore. Syd, Dom and Tasia are loving school and having fun. Anth still has a job for sure for the next 6 months, and hopefully by then he'll be hired on permanent and we won't have to be on this rollercoaster everytime layoffs come up. Inspection is next week, so I'm trying to gather the energy to clean my house the way I like it. Like I said, life is good, and I really can't complain!

We have a heartbeat!!!

Yesterday we had our first dr appointment, and we got to hear our little ones heartbeat for the first time. Even after 3 babies it's still such an amazing sound! My dr confirmed I am due April 15th which puts me @ 11 weeks along right now. Already almost @ that 3 month mark! He said that it's weird that I am having morning sickness even though I never have in the past, but that it's a sign of a healthy pregnancy so I guess we'll take it :) He also tried to scare us by saying maybe it's twins, and you're sick because of the extra hormones. Not funny! Can you imagine...5 kids?!?! There's no way. In about 2 months we'll be able to find out what we're having, and I can't wait! Tasia says if it's a boy we have to put it back lol We also started talking about different methods of permanent birth control (tubal ligation, vasectomy or essure implant). Any of you have any suggestions on what they think? We are trying to weigh our options financially, recovery time, etc.

Baby #4!!!

That's right we are excited to announce that we are expecting our 4th (and last) baby! I'm 9 weeks and due on April 15th. I'm hoping to have him or her on the 12th, because that was my Grandma's birthday. Also I've never been so sick in my life lol I have morning sickness like you would not believe, and I never had it in the past so it's been quite different for me! Anyway...we are extremely excited!!! Tasia says we can have a girl. Dom really wants a brother, and Syd doesn't seem to care either way. The Chinese birth chart said it's a girl, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see :)

Toys, vampires, dead batteries and surgery....OH MY!

This past Friday I saw that Toy Story 3 and Eclipse were at the Drive-in. I had wanted to see Toy Story (and Eclipse again, of course), and my kids had really wanted to see Eclipse. We got a group of us together, and set out to have a good time. During Toy Story I kept telling Anth he should turn on the car to make sure the battery didn't die, and he kept putting it off and saying it'd be fine he'd do it in a minute. Well a minute went by and the movie got over, and our battery was dead. Huh, maybe he should have listened to me! The drive-in has a battery charger, because things like that happen all the time. Unfortuantely, our battery was so drained that there was nothing to charge. We decided to watch Eclipse and my cousin's husband towed us home afterwards. I had to borrow my other cousin's husband's car to be able to make it to cheer the next day, so by the time we picked that up and got home I didn't get to bed until 3:30 and had to be up at 7:00. The next day after cheer Anth went with my mom and $105 later our car was back up and running. It could have been worse, but I still wasn't thrilled to have to deal with all of that. We got things done just in time to get ready and head up to Ogden to have a family BBQ up there.

Sunday night we dropped the kids off at my parents house, because Anth had to be in Salt Lake for his 2nd surgery by 7 in the morning and it was easier for them to sleepover than it was to drag them out that early. We headed in, they took him back and I got to hang out in a little private room with a couch and a tv while he was in surgery. It only lasted maybe a half and hour. All they had to do was remove the pins. He is in a soft cast until his follow-up appointment on the 19th. After that they want him to start using the arm. He is excited! I am nervous lol I just don't want to have something happen to it after it's been braced all this time and have it hurt again. He is breakable to me now, if that even makes any sense. The day after he gets his cast off we go on vacation to Starvation for the weekend, and I can't wait for that! We have a fun group going, and who doesn't love camping out, laying by the beach and playing in the water all day!!!

:My foot hurts, because it's green!"

Yesterday morning Tasia was standing on the kitchen floor, and she told me it hurt her foot. I had no idea why that would hurt her foot, but her response was..."It hurts, because my foots green!". HUH??? I looked at the bottom of her foot, and she had this hard, green ball on her heel. A couple of weeks ago she had stepped on something (she said it was glass), and I had checked her out and couldn't see anything in there so I cleaned her up and thought everything was fine. Apparently, I was wrong! We took her to the dr, and after taking x-rays and seeing that something was there they strapped my baby to a papoose board (a backboard with straps to hold them in tight like a burrito, so they can't move), numbed her foot, made a small incision and went in to find 2 small pieces of glass :( As she was strapped to the board and numbing her foot she was crying and telling me "Mommy it hurts", and it took all I had not to cry. I hate to see my babies in pain! When she was done the dr gave her a popsicle, and sent her on her way. They didn't stitch it up in case there are more small pieces in there that need to work their way out. She was numb until after she fell asleep last night, and says her foot doesn't even hurt today. She's a tough girl!!!


BEFORE


AFTER

Matrix Cheer

I didn't get any really good pics myself from the 4th, because my camera isn't working :( I did get these from a few friends though. I really do love the group of girls we have! They are so much fun to be around.


We had to have a pic of the back of their shirts. They say "Stuntin is a habit"

Syd's so tiny next to all the other girls in the older group (she's 3rd from the right on the bottom row...not counting the little girl out there lol)

There's my little Tasia!

We had a ton of fun in the parade. Quality donated this nice truck to us. We listened to the same songs over and over, and danced to them the whole way through. We had candy, but the little girls decided to throw WAY too much of it at the very beginning of the parade, so we were pretty much out by the time we turned onto Main Street lol So sorry to all of you that didn't get candy from us!

Hey it's Frankling...coming over to our house

We have a new member of the Quintana family. His name is Franklin, and he's a Russian Tortoise. He won't get much bigger than he is now. The kids love him! I think he's pretty cute too :)

Things are busy as usual around here. The cheer group that Lacy and I are doing is coming along well. It's a little hard to keep 11 3-7 year olds attention for an hour and a half, but it's ok. We will be in the parade, so be sure to look for us!

Fundraisers

Lacy and I are looking for possible fundraiser ideas to earn money for our little girls cheer uniforms. If anyone knows of a company that's great to work with, or has any ideas we'd greatly appreciate it!

What's so hard about it???

Is it just me, or does it seem like divorce due to one of the parties being unfaithful is on the rise?!?! I'm not talking about my marriage, but I know MULTIPLE people who are getting divorce or are already divorced because one or the other is cheating. I thought the whole point of getting married was, because you wanted to spend the rest of your life with someone. If you are just going to go out, and sleep with someone else then WHY GET MARRIED?!?!?! I also thought that if someone was married that meant they were off limits to others, but apparently I am mistaken. There are people out there sleeping with married men (and probably women too) that are bragging about it. If you slept with a married man you better be prepared to be called a homewrecker. I know it takes 2, but that's just it you aren't the innocent party. The poor wife who has no idea is the innocent party. Oh and if you are the one sleeping with that married man you really shouldn't be calling his wife a whore, because that's pretty much calling the kettle black if you ask me!

Lol thanks for listening to me rant. It just pisses me off that some people take marriage so lightly. I love my husband, and never in a million years would consider doing such a thing to him. I just don't see how girls can even consider getting with a married man, or how a married man could step out on his family. Like I said, this isn't about me, but someone close to me is going through a divorce because of it and it just disgusts me.

I'm slacking a little

Anth had his surgery 6 days ago. When the dr got in there he said the cyst was worse than he thought, and it took a lot to scrape it out. Otherwise though, things went great. They had to use pins, so he will have to have the 2nd surgery to remove those before he can use his arm without the cast. Anth is sore, but doing great. He is sick of his temporary cast, because it is HUGE! It goes from his knuckles all the way past his elbow, so he can't do a whole lot for himself. He says he feels like a child. He has his follow-up appointment a week from today, and he should get his first of many hard casts put on (he will have to have his cast changed every 3 weeks). From here on out it will be a wait and see process on whether or not the surgery actually worked though.

10 years ago...

Ten years ago yesterday I was celebrating my 18th birthday with dinner at Melina's and watching "Where the Heart Is" while timing contractions! Interesting experience to say the last. I went home after the movie to try to get some sleep, but at about 3 in the morning Sydney had a different plan for me. I got up, took a bath and my mom called my dr and we were told to come into the hospital. After a few hours being monitored they were planning to send me home. I was not a happy camper!!! Again Sydney had different plans....she moved away from the monitor and they lost her heartbeat. When they found it again it wasn't as strong as they would have liked, so it was decided that I would have her that day! There I was barely 18 and scared to death, and I had a nurse who panicked with every little issue that came up. Not a good combination. She had me in tears by 10 that morning, because she rushed in and said , "You just bought yourself a c-section!" WHAT?!?!?! Last time I checked you can't just "buy" yourself a c-section, and could she not tell how scared I was anyway and that maybe she should be a little more sensitive! I was EXTREMELY happy when she went off duty (Funny little side not though...she ended up being my nurse with both Dominic and Tasia too, but I LOVED her those times.) Regardless of what she thought I did not have a c-section. At 10:06 PM May 13, 2000 I gave birth to a gorgeous 5 lb 9 oz baby girl! I was scared to death when I found out I was pregnant, but from the minute she was born I didn't know what I would do without her. I love you Miss Sydney Elizabeth Busico! You have changed me for the better, and I don't know what I would do without you. Happy Birthday sweetheart!!!!

Trainers and Cheerleaders!!!

I had my appointment with the personal trainer last night, and I swear she was trying to kill me lol She had me doing all kinds of crazy stuff, and I am feeling it today. Last night I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I could feel my heart POUNDING in my throat! According to her plan though I am suppose to workout 6 days a week. Three of those days I am suppose to do strength training for 30-45 minutes and cardio for 15-30. Then the other 3 days I am suppose to do strictly cardio. If I do that and eat healthy I can be close to my goal weight by November, so 6 months! Not too bad. I wish it was faster, but at least this way it's not some drastic change and I am doing it the healthy way. Plus it'll last longer than some quick fix diet. I am going to become obsessed with going to the gym lol

Also yesterday I found out that I am going to help teach the cheerleading group that they have for little girls! I am way excited. I miss cheerleading and dance, so this will be a way to be involved in it still. Plus my girls will get to be cheerleaders, and follow in my footsteps :) If any of you know any girls ages 4-17 that might be interested we will be doing another sign-up next week. We are thinking Wednesday from 6-8 at All Star Lanes, but I will let everyone know for sure as soon as I know what's going on. Practices will be at the swimming pool park Wednesdays and Fridays from 10-11:30 starting the 2nd week in June. They will perform on the 4th of July, and get to be in the parade. Plus they will do competitions in November and December. FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

Birthday party, Mother's Day and a hectic night!!!

We had Syd's birthday party Saturday, and of course something is wrong with my camera so I didn't really get any pics :( My mom did though, so hopefully she will send them to me soon. Syd got some really cute stuff, and was way excited. Everyone convinced us to give her our gifts too (even though we usually wait for her actual birthday), so on her birthday we will have treats and go to Dom's game. Lucky her huh! Oh I did get a pic of her cake, and it was so dang cute. I will have to post it later.

Mother's Day was great! My parents took us to breakfast, we came home and I got to take an uninnterrupted nap and then we went back to my parents for a BBQ. Nice and relaxing. I couldn't have asked for anything more!

Tonight I have an appointment scheduled with a personal trainer, and I am excited!!! I'm sure tomorrow when my muscles are screaming at me I won't feel the same way, but for now I do lol My schedule tonight is jam packed, and I am still trying to figure out how to do it all. I'm praying for rain, so that Dom's practice is cancelled! Of course when you want it though it doesn't happen, so we shall see. I need to do dinner when Anth gets home around 4:45ish. Dom has practice from 5:30-6:30. My mom will pick the girls up from practice at 6 for their church class. After Dom's practice I have to get him up to his church class, sign Syd up for the little girls cheerleading and be to my appointment by 7. I am thinking we may need to leave Dom's practice early if it happens, but now you can see why I am praying for rain. Either that or I will have to have Anth drop me off at my appointment before we take Dom to the church class. I don't know, but I should probably figure it out soon huh!

Gold's Gym

Anth entered us into a drawing for a free membership to Gold's Gym, and WE WON!!!! Can you believe it?!?!?! I swear I never win anything, so I am so stinking excited that it's something so cool that we did finally win. We both have a free 2 year VIP membership which means we get to use everything (all the equipment, spin class, aerobics, kickboxing, swimming, sauna, etc.), plus free child care for an hour and a half a day and free tanning at Deluxe tan. Oh and we were both offered a free session with one of their personal trainers. Anth decided not to take it, but I am taking FULL advantage of it. I have my appointment on Monday at 7. Last night we worked out for an hour, and can I just tell you that the elliptical is hard!!! It definitely gave me a workout, and I am feeling it today. Syd and Dom weren't too thrilled with the daycare, but Tasia on the other hand didn't want to leave. Oh and they gave us each a fancy Gold's Gym water bottle lol Anth and I both agree that we are going to use our free passes to our advantage. I want to go at least 5 times a week whether he comes with me or not.

Hmmm....

Not a lot to say lately. We are getting closer to Anth's surgery, and he is starting to get nervous. Truthfully so am I. Our stupid washer isn't working now. I probably should've expected it since we bought them at the same time. It will fill up with water and it will drain, but it won't spin. We have been spending a lot of time with our families lately. Last weekend my parents fed us both Saturday and Sunday. It was nice to not have to worry about figuring out dinner and cleaning up dinner for a whole 2 days. Yesterday my mother-in-law came out to hang out at our house for a little bit, and she ordered us pizza for dinner. It has been a nice relaxing couple of weekends. Anth cleaned the house for me yesterday, so other than load the dishes and get kids ready for the day I am kind of lost on what to do. I'm not complaining though. It is definitely nice!!! Oh I do have a birthday party to plan. We are doing Syd's birthday party this weekend, because the weekend after her birthday Anth will have just had his surgery and won't be up for company. Syd isn't sure what kind of cake she wants, because she has decided she is too old for character cakes. She wants something more teenagerish (if that's even a word). I still can't believe in just over a week she is going to be 10!

Bed for sale

We got Dom a bigger bed, so we are selling his twin size frame and headboard for $50. If you know anyone who wants or needs one email me at abusico2@hotmail.com. Have a great weekend everyone!

Surgery

Well the appointment with the specialist yesterday actually went worse than we thought :( Not only does Anth have the fracture, but with it not being fixed a cyst has formed in there and the cyst is blocking his blood flow. As a result he has dead bone in there, or dying bone I guess. The dr has to go in and remove a piece of bone from farther down in his wrist, and put it where the cyst is. That bone has an artery that will remain attached to it, and hopefully they blood flow will basically revive the bone that is dying. If it is a big chunk the dr will put a screw in to hold it in place, but if it is a small chunk he will put pins in there. Anth will have a cast for about 3 months, and if they have to use pins they will have to do a 2nd surgery to remove the pins before he can use the arm without a cast. Even with the surgery it isn't a guarantee that it will revive the bone, and if it doesn't they will have to go in later and remove the chunk of dead bone and fuze his bones together. The dr also told us that if it does fix the problem he will still always have pain and stiffness in his wrist. He has a 90% success rate with this surgery, so we are definitely praying that Anth is in that 90%. Anth will be having the surgery on May 14th, and it'll be about a 4 hour surgery so as you can imagine I will be a complete wreck during it!!! We have supportive family though, so I know I won't be there alone.

4 times that guarantee chaos will occur within the Quintana family

I have decided there are 4 times that there will always be chaos going on around here. Getting ready for school, cleaning rooms, going for a ride or getting all 5 of us ready at the same time.

First of all...getting ready for school. Sydney and Dominic fight over who is going to brush their teeth first, who is going to do their hair first, who gets to open the door when they leave, who gets to unlock the door for my sister to come drop off my nephew...the list could go on forever! I try to do things to eliminate as many of the fights as I can, but it is impossible. For example, they take turns everyday opening and unlocking the door. I make one brush their teeth and do their hair while the other gets dressed and gets their backpack ready. Somehow they still seem to find a way to pester each other and fight like cats and dogs.

Second....cleaning rooms. Oh how I wish I had a maid to come do ALL the cleaning around here, but even if I just had one to clean their bedrooms I would be happy as can be. When Syd cleans her room Dom and Tasia go in and bug her, or Tasia goes in and starts taking out more toys. Syd seems to think that when I say it's time to clean that it's really time to read a book or something besides clean. She has been bribed with everything you could imagine by me, Anth and my mom. She has been threatened with every threat that I can think of too, but she just doesn't seem to care. It's quite frustrtating! Dom thinks it's the end of the world when I say it's time to clean, but after he throws a fit for a few he is usually good about getting it done. Tasia just won't clean. She claims she can't or makes up some excuse to get out of it. I do what I can to get her to help, but some days it feels like such a lost cause.

Third...going for rides. Gone are the days when I used to go for rides for leisure time. Now going for a ride or driving anywhere period has somehow translated to "lets fight as much as we can about everything we can, so we can see how crazy we can make mom and dad". I miss the leisure rides! The kids seem to fight over everything. He's touching me, she's looking at me, he touched my carseat, she's sitting too close to me....and then the hitting starts. I swear I have taught my kids you don't hit at all, and they do fine with other people but when it comes to each other (mostly Syd and Dom) it's like a dang boxing match. They try to hit the other one harder and more times than they were just hit. I threaten, yell, ignore and every other possible thing I can do, but nothing works. Someone ALWAYS ends up crying, and by that point I just don't have any sympathy because I have already warned them that someone is going to end up hurt and they chose not to listen to me.

And last...having to be somewhere that all 5 of us have to get ready at the same time. The kids are fighting, I'm trying to get myself ready while breaking up fights and I am trying to get Anth to quit procrastinating on getting ready so we can leave on time. I love my husband more than anything, but he procrastinates when it comes time to get ready where I start getting ready like 2 or 2 1/2 hours before we need to leave. For example, Dom had a game last week and I had told Anth all day long we had to be there by 6:40. He got home from work at about 4:15, and I started telling him then we have to be walking out this door by 6:30. He acknowledged that he knew, and I reminded him about an hour before we had to leave that we had to leave in an hour. Well he waited until 5 minutes before we had to leave to get in the shower. Luckily he was just throwing on a hat and not doing his hair, but we still didn't even leave until the time we had to be there so I was frustrated!

Go Dodgers!

My camera decided it didn't want to work right before we left for Dom's game, so a pic with my phone of Dom in his uniform is all you get for now. I think he makes a pretty handsome ball player. Anth says he's going to make us rich some day, because of his amazing talent. If I had a video camera I would take video of him, so you guys could see how good he is. I swear I'm not just bragging, because he's my kid. Well I am bragging (again!), but he's one of those kids who hits the play or throws it and you hear random people in the crowd say "Wow that kid has a good arm" or "Dang he has a powerful swing!". Of course, I beam with pride everytime I hear comments like that :)

Not a lot to say

I really don't have much to say lately. Things have been sad around here, so I am trying to pull myself up out of this slump! We celebrated my Grandma's birthday Sunday with the notes written on balloons and sent up to Heaven. It was hard, but it also felt really good. My mom even made a cake, and my kids sang Happy Birthday to her. Monday was her actual birthday, and my dog that I got when I was 11 had to be put to sleep that day. She hadn't eaten in 2 days. She was collapsing constantly. She had lost a ton of weight, couldn't see or hear and was struggling to breathe. It was time to let her go, but it was an already emotional day so it made it even harder. I went with my mom to take her, and I couldn't even check her in without bawling. My dad says he feels like he lost a child. I agree...it's like losing a family member.

On a brighter note, Dom has his first game tonight. I can't wait to watch him!!! He is very talented, and it always makes me proud. I love hearing other parents comment on how good of an arm he has or how well he hits the ball. I'm sure I will try to get some pics posted, but I can't promise anything because I really am slacking on that lately!

Feeling a little BLAH today

This snow is really making me cranky! It needs to go away. I swear we are getting more snow now than we did in December, and I am over the cold weather. We bought Sydney a new swimsuit last night (as part of her birthday presents), but at this rate she won't even get to use it unless we go to the indoor pool. This diet doesn't help my crankiness much either. So far I have lost 7 pounds, and I am thrilled about it but I am having a REALLY REALLY hard time not cheating. I'm not going to lie I cheated for Easter, but it's Easter how can you not cheat.

My Grandma's birthday is fast approaching, and it's been hitting me hard lately that she isn't here. I bawled most of the way to Ogden last Friday for our family Easter party. The kids want to celebrate her birthday even though she isn't with us anymore, so thanks to my great friend Ashley for giving me the idea we are going to write notes to her on balloons and send them up to heaven. I'm sure it'll be quite emotional, but my kids wanted to do something and I'm not going to discourage them from trying to remember her in any way at all.

Our stupid dryer went out on us Friday, so now we are trying to find one that isn't too expensive. I had to break down and wash a couple of loads and hang them to dry today, because my kids would have nothing to wear to school the rest of the week if I didn't. It's not convenient at all, and the piles are getting extremely large. I usually have to do at least 2 loads of laundry a day to keep up if not more, so you can imagine since I have done none since Friday what it looks like. Anyone have any ideas where to get a good deal on a new one? I'm not crazy about getting one used on ksl, because I don't know the person we would be buying it from. That probably sounds kind of snotty of me to say, but not everyone takes care of their things the same as I would and I don't want to take any chances.

Easter

We had an extremely busy Easter as I'm sure most of you did. The kids went to church with my mom just like every Sunday. Then we had a BBQ and Easter egg hunt at Anth's cousin Nikki's house. Then we headed out to Sandy to have dinner with his parents and sisters. My kids were sugared up, but exhausted by the end of the day. It was all around perfect if you ask me! Don't my kiddos look super cute in their Easter outfits :)

How much leisure time do SAHM's really have?

I was flipping through the channels yesterday, and I saw that Dr Phil was about how much time mom's really have of leisure time so I decided to watch it. Some Professor did a study, and according to him mom's have 30-40 hours of leisure time. 30-40 hours...are you kidding me????? I would love to find the mom who has that much leisure time on her hands to find out what I am doing wrong. Even if all of my kids were in school all day long I wouldn't have that much time to myself. There is always cleaning, laundry, cooking, errands and other things to do. I don't usually have 10 minutes of leisure time to myself, let alone 30-40 hours. Even when I am exercising I am telling kids to quit messing with something, or to quit fighting with each other. My schedule is like this everyday....

7:00 Boston comes
7:20-8:00 wake Syd and Dom up and get them ready for school
8:00 Get Tasia breakfast
8:30 Get Boston and Tasia ready for the day
9:00 My nephew gets here
9:15-11:00 Do dishes, sweep and mop, clean bathrooms, start laundry, vaccum and dust
11:00 Make kids lunch
11:30 Lay kids down for naps
12:00 Exercise
12:30-1:30 Shower and get ready for the day
1:30 Change laundry, fold and put laundry away
2:00 Kids usually wake up from nap
2:15 Get kids a snack
3:30 Syd and Dom come home. Do homework
4:00 Start dinner
5:00 Anth gets home. Eat dinner
6:00 Start kids shower and bedtime routines
8:00 Kids go to bed
8:15 Wash Anth's work clothes
9:00 Go to bed

....That doesn't include changing diapers, breaking up fights, helping kids clean up toys they take out and baseball practice!!! Now tell me where do these supposed moms find 30-40 hours of leisure time, because I don't see where that would fit in with my schedule at all.

HCG

Ok I am on my 3rd day of 500 calories of the HCG diet, and I'm not going to lie it's hard!!! I have lost 3 pounds already though, so it'll definitely be worth it to stick to it. I need to find more food combinations though, because I swear I have eaten nothing but boiled chicken, strawberries, oranges and cucumbers for the past 2 days. It will all get VERY old if I don't find something else to eat soon. Anyone that has done the diet have any tips they can give me??? This weekend is going to be extremely hard with Easter and all the junk food that will come up. We have an Easter party in Ogden on Friday night, and they are ordering pizza for dinner which is definitely a big no no for me right now. I will have to take some salad or something for me to eat, so I don't just watch everyone else eat and wish I was eating with them :(

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

We hope you have a great day even though you have to work ALL DAY LONG!!!

Who said weekends are meant for relaxing???

I don't know who said you are suppose to relax on the weekends, but we pretty much never do. This weekend was no different.Thursday night we went into Salt Lake to get the kids Easter outfits. Children's Place was having a sale, so we got the girls some way cute dresses. We got Dom's outfit at Ross, and I have decided I just might love that store. They have way cute stuff for way cheap! The kids were out of school Friday, so we had a house full while Anth and I were trying to clean the house (scrubbing walls, mopping, etc.). Then we got ready, and headed out to Sandy for a surprise party for Anth's little sister Danielle. The kids had lots of fun hanging out with all her friends, and Tasia LOVED the attention! She decided she wanted to have a sleepover. We were skeptical, because she didn't have her blanket that she is SO attached to, and Syd and Dom wouldn't be there and she hasn't had a sleepover anywhere without them yet. At 1:45 in the morning we got a text from Anth's other sister Stevie that Tasia was freaking out. We called and tried talking to her, but she kept telling me she wanted me. I ended up driving back to Sandy to pick her up, and didn't get home until 3:30 and had to be up at 6. Syd and Dom had Awana Olympics in Syracuse that we had to be at at 9:00. They did really good, and had lots of fun! When we came back to Tooele I had to go to Walmart to get food, because Anth had people coming over to watch the fights on PPV. During all of this I am also having to take my HCG drops every 2 hours, because I started my binge days on Saturday. Like I said...who said weekends are meant for relaxing, because I honestly can't remember a weekend when all we did was relax!

The verdict is in

Dom had an allergic reaction to something in the sunscreen. Also it was a severe sunburn! Lucky for us there isn't any permanent damage, so all he has to do is use some antibiotic eyedrops for a few days and we are done. My poor dad has been so stressed out about the whole situation, because he feels like it's his fault since Dom was with him. Now he can finally relax a little. The dr did say that his vision is a little blurry (completely unrelated to the allergy or burn), so he wants him to be seen in August for an eye exam because he thinks he'll need glasses.

No luck :(

Dom hasn't shown much improvement so far, so it looks like we will be seeing Dr Griffith the opthamologist. Hopefully he can fix my poor little man's eyes, because he is pretty miserable :(

OUCH!

Dom went ice fishing with my dad on Saturday, and when he got home his eyes were red. We figured it was just a sunburn, because he didn't have sunglasses on at all. When he woke up this morning though his eyes were even more red and pretty swollen!!! We decided to take him in to the after hrs clinic at Dr Gould's office. Dr Gould thinks he may have gotten sunscreen in his eyes, but he isn't sure if it was a chemical reaction or an allergic reaction. We have to flush his eyes out 3 to 4 times a day for the next 2 days, and we have to give him some eye drops that are basically like motrin for the eyes. It should help the swelling and the burning. If we don't see an improvement by tomorrow we have to go see an opthamologist to see if there is something else we need to do for him, and make sure there isn't any additional damage that Dr Gould can't see. Don't his eyes just make you want to rub yours!

Sweet Pea Giveaway!!!

Every Friday Sweet Pea Boutique does a free giveaway. This week is a $20 gift certificate to their store. They have some of the cutest bows, headbands and hats. Head on over and enter for your chance to win at www.sweetpeaboutiquetooele.blogspot.com!

A cup? You mean like a drink???

Dom's first baseball practice went great last night. I was proud of him, and how well he did. He was the first one to connect with the ball on their first try. Yes, I am bragging! Before they got started the coach asked if anyone was wearing a cup. The boys all looked quite confused, and one even says, "You mean like a cap? Like a baseball cap?" So then the coach asks them, "Do any of you know what a cup is?" Some sweet innocent little boy with the most confused look of all says, "You mean like a drink!" LOL Not quite buddy. The coach just said it was protective gear and left it for us to explain the rest, but I thought that was funny and had to share it with you all :)

Keep an eye out

We got a note a couple of weeks ago that there was a middle aged man in a white van trying to pick up 12 and 13 year old girls, and to talk to our kids about stranger danger. Then today we got a note saying he tried to pick up 2 girls (one in 1st grade and one in 6th grade) from my kids school. I was freaked out before, but now it's even closer to home. So anyone in the area please keep an eye out for anyone suspicious, so we can get this guy off the streets. I hate to think of what he might do if he ever got a hold of any girls.

UPDATE...Just a little more information. He drives a white panel van that says Lakeside on the side, so keep your eyes peeled and warn your kids!

Sickness all around

I am so tired of the cold weather and all of the sickness going around lately. Sunday night after Dom went to bed he started puking, so he was out of school Monday and Tuesday. Monday night Tasia was sick to her stomach. She was pale and had a little bit of a fever, but she never threw up. Thank goodness! Now Syd is saying her throat is hurting, and from what I understand strep is going around so I am hoping that she doesn't have that. Guess we'll be making a trip to the dr to be sure.

I really just can't wait for the warm weather to come, and to stay! We keep getting these little teasers, but then it will snow. Seriously, just be spring already. I'm sure the little kids are as tired as I am of being cooped up in this house, and I would love to take them all outside to play but not unless it's warm. Hopefully it stays warm today like it's suppose to, so that we don't freeze at Dom's first baseball practice tonight. We got his mitt and bat ready last night, and he was so excited to be able to get out there again. He has hit off of the machine before, so I know he will do good. Plus that boy just seems to have an amazing natural talent when it comes to baseball. Watching him makes me proud! Anth loves that it's something that he's into too since Anth has played ball since he was little also. He has the same kind of natural talent that Dom does :)

I have to go to what?!?!?!

Last Friday my sweet Sydney had her maturation program at school. She was nervous, as were the other girls I'm sure, but she already knew about most of the stuff anyway, because we have talked a little about growing up before. When I got there and sat down I looked around, and I swear to you I was the only mother under the age of 40!!! I felt like I should be taking the stupid class, and not a parent to a child in the class. When the girls walked in they were all scared to death. I remember feeling that way for my own maturation program, so of course I had some sympathy for Syd. When the nurse actually started talking though, and she said the word nipples there was about 50 shades of red on the girls faces throughout the room. Then the lady breaks out a pair of underwear, and shows them how to put on a pad and the girls all but climbed under their chairs. The did not want to even look at the nurse LMAO! They got off lucky though, and all they had to walk out with was a cookie and a cup of water not a pack of pads like we did when I was little! I was laughing when I came home and started to tell Anth about it, but he was as bad as the little girls were at listening without being embarrassed.

8 lbs and counting

For the past 2 weeks I have been working out everyday during the week, and then taking a break on weekends. I've been doing Turbo Jam and if I don't have the energy for that (because trust me you need a lot of energy for it!) I will do the treadmill. I have officially lost 8 lbs as of yesterday. Not a ton, but it's getting there, and I am doing it the healthy way and not by crash dieting or taking some miracle pill that as soon as I go off of it I will gain all the weight back. I can finally say too that I feel like exercising is just a part of my routine. No it isn't easy, and some days I still have to force myself to do it but it is part of the routine that I have set for myself. Granted with that, cleaning and taking care of kids I don't always get to shower until noon, but that I can deal with. I'm sure these little ones don't care that much what time I shower. My days feel a lot more productive lately, and I really do have quite a bit more energy. I am sleeping better, and I don't feel completely drained all day.

Memories...

We went to my stepdad's funeral today. It was sad, but good at the same time. A lot of memories were shared while we were there, so I thought I would share a few of my memories on here.

*Mike LOVED popcorn! When I was little I remember we had this old school popcorn maker that you poured the kernels in and had to put a bowl under it to catch the popcorn as it came out. I swear that thing was one of the most used appliances in our house!

*Mike would always let me drive his car. When I was little he would sit me on his lap starting at the bottom of our road, and he would control the gas and brakes and I would control the steering wheel. One time when I got older he let me drive on my own while he was in the passenger seat, and I backed over our neighbors sprinkler so he had to replace it. I think I was in maybe 4th grade.

*Mike would always pay attention to whatever new thing I was into or name brand clothing, and he would surprise me at random times by bringing it home for me. He bought me a scooter when I was little, and put it in our bathroom then made some excuse that he needed me to get something out of the bathroom so I would go see it. One time he gave me batteries, and then when I was reading the note he said that maybe I could put them in this (and when I turned around he had a new discman for me). He was always very giving.

*Mike's family spends their summers in Montana at Seely Lake, and we had lots of fun trips up there. Mike taught me how to water ski when I was just little during one of our trips there.

*Mike was an avid Neil Diamond fan, and to this day I can't hear a Neil Diamond song without thinking of him.

*Mike probably to this day has an 8 track player in his basement. He hated to have to upgrade to new things when his old things were still working, but when he could no longer find his Neil Diamond on 8 track or cassette he didn't have much of a choice but to upgrade. He used the same theory with his cars. He used the same cars until his 2 older kids ended up wrecking them, and he had no choice but to get a new one.

*Mike was also very supportive. He was constantly driving me to and from dance classes, and he would sit for hours through my millions of performances.

*Mike liked to take us to movies or waterparks. He continued that tradition with his grandkids. When I was little it was Classic Waterpark or Raging Waters that we went to. The first time I went anywhere with Mike by myself (I was 3) he took me to a movie. My mom had the little talk about having manners. I wasn't suppose to ask for anything and I was suppose to make sure to say please and thank you for things he did buy me. Me being the clever little child that I was told him when he picked me up, "My mom says I'm not suppose to ask you for anything, but if you want to buy me something that would be ok."

...There are many more memories I have about Mike considering we lived with him for 11 years, but I will stop right there so I can go relax and spend some time with my family :)

What's going on in the Quintana household???

Lots is going on around here as usual. Last week my step-dad passed away. He has been fighting cancer for about a year now, but they only found out last month that he had it. He was given 6-8 weeks left at that point, and he only made it 2. I had lost touch with him until recently, but I am very glad I was able to get in touch with him again before he passed away. As sad as it is that he is gone, I am glad that he is no longer suffering. The last 2 or 3 months were pure misery for him. My mom and I were able to go see him a couple of weeks ago, and I am happy to have had that last visit with him. We will be heading to Ogden this Saturday for his funeral :(

Then yesterday my mom found out she has a form of skin cancer. She had a mole looked at last week that her dr decided to biopsy, and it's cancerous. It isn't deadly, but it will be recurring. I am just sick of that stupid word cancer all together. It has claimed too many people in my life, and I hate it. It also makes me scared to death that I could get it since it is obviously so common in my family.

On a lighter note, my sister came over yesterday to pick up my nephew and she brought her stuff to wax my eyebrows. While we were at it we did Syd's for the first time too. She looks so much more grown up to me! See for yourself.....



I know she is only 9, but when you have an aunt who does that stuff for a living and you have your sperm donors bushy eyebrows/unibrow you have to tame them! We have started doing stuff to both my girls young. My sister likes to play with their hair. Tasia had highlights when she was only 2, and Syd had them for the 1st time at 3 and has had them quite a few times since. It's fun to do little girly things like that with them. Syd loves her eyebrows. I think they have always made her a little self-concious.

Valentine's weekend

Anthony and I got to have a night to ourselves on Saturday night. The kids slept at Anth's parents house, and we went to the tattoo convention to get our tattoos. After I had been getting mine done for about 10 or 15 minutes the guy came and told Anth he was ready for him, so he had to leave me. I was a little nervous, but I made it through lol They both took about an hour to finish. Anth got Tasia's full name, and I think it's the first time he realized just how long her name really is! Mine is the angel wings with the nickname Syd gave my Grandma that stuck with her through all 3 of my kids. My Grandma used to sing Old McDonald with Syd all the time, but instead of singing E I E I O Syd would sing I E I E O so she started calling my Grandma Ahee since she associated her with that song. These pictures are right after they finished, so they are red and obviously have some healing to do. I think Anth's tattoo looks sexy!

Afterwards we went shopping for the kids. We got them each a stuffed animal and a cute little tin with some candy in it, and we bought a Wii for the family. I think Anth and I love it as much as the kids! We played bowling, tennis, baseball and golf together. Then after the kids went to bed Anth and I kicked each others butts at boxing lol It gives you a little bit of a workout, and my arms are a little sore. I think we need to do a family Wii party! We also got the new Super Mario. It's definitely a fun, classic game. I think the next game I want to get is Just Dance, and the Wii Fit.

What else is new???

As always we have a busy weekend ahead. Syd and Dom had a birthday party last night. I ended up picking Dom up early though, because the girl whose birthday it was has this older brother (he's 13 and in junior high) that felt the need to pick on my son. Poor Dom was sitting on the curb wanting to come home. The dang kid bit him! That's right, a 13 year old BIT my 7 year old. The dang mom didn't do much about it either, and I was pissed so I went and got my son. Today we have baseball sign-ups for Dom, and after that we are going into Costco with my parents to stock up on groceries. Then we will come home, go pay bills, get kids ready and head to Sandy to drop them off so we can have our night out!!! We are going to dinner at the Olive Garden (one of my favorites!) and then heading to the tattoo expo. I think I am getting a tattoo that will be a tribute to my Grandma. I'm pretty excited! Anth still isn't sure what he's getting, or if he's getting anything at all. Stay tuned for pics!!!

Anastasia (Tasia)

I just realized I haven't done my post that's strictly about Tasia! See what happens when you feel like life is shitting on you left and right. Oh well, we are working on getting back on track, so we shall see how things are over the next few weeks.







My little Tasia is the child who will give us a run for our money! She is extremely stubborn, and thinks she can run the household already. In fact, she thinks she is Dom and Syd's 3rd parent. Tasia is into everything girly. She loves Dora and the Disney Princesses. She loves makeup, and is constantly getting into mine. She has to have perfume put on her when I put mine on everyday. She likes me to put mascara on her when I am trying to do my makeup. Tasia is constantly walking around singing. She seemed to be the entertainment as we walked the aisles of Costco a few weeks ago. She was belting out "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus at the top of her lungs, and people just smiled and giggled at her. Tasia is extremely smart, and always has been. Her dr told me at her 1 year old check-up that she had a 2 year old vocabulary. She has recently learned to write her own name, and loves to try to write new letters everyday. She is also a little parrot. She pays attention to things that you would never know she was paying attention to. The other day we were sitting at a stop light, and when it turned green and nobody went she yelled "Green means go people!". Apparently she wanted to get somewhere, and they weren't moving fast enough for her. She is equally a mommy and daddy's girl. My mom would say she is a Grandma's girl, but I will have to argue with that. Tasia has a perfectly comfortable bed in her bedroom she shares with Sydney, but she insists on sleeping on a bed made out of blankets on Dom's bedroom floor. If she does decide to sleep in her room she still chooses to lay on the floor rather than her bed. She will argue that she isn't tired, so she doesn't want to nap or go to bed at night but within 10 minutes she is usually out cold. On the nights when she isn't tired she has a tendancy to get caught sneaking into candy or some other snack foods. She ate her whole bag of Halloween candy one night, and the next night she ate about 4 pieces of sandwich sliced cheese. Tasia is a dare devil child. She tries to climb and jump off of everything, and it doesn't even phase her. The kids went through a phase where they liked to watch Big Momma's House 2, and Tasia decided she was going to try to jump off the top bunk onto her mattress because the little boy on there jumps off of everything. Tasia doesn't have a favorite color. She just tells me that every color in the rainbow is her favorite. Tasia is VERY attached to her purple blanket. We have bought her many blankets, but for some reason it is the only one she will use. She likes to take it everywhere with her, and it gets dirty easy and we have to fight with her to wash it. She eventually agrees to let it be washed, but after about 10 minutes she is whining that she wants her blanket back. It makes for a very long process! Tasia is also helpful. She likes to help me clean up. She loves to help me with Boston. Anytime Boston cries she is the first one there trying to talk soft to her to get her to stop, or giving her a toy to try and make her happy. She loves to make Boston laugh, and she loves when Boston will give her hugs and kisses. I'm sure that as Boston gets older they will be good friends. Having Boston around makes me worry less about how Tasia will react when we have another baby. Tasia likes to sleep in her underwear. She has lots of cute little jammies, and we get her in them every night but they NEVER stay on her. As with all of my children, Tasia likes to have a routine. If we mess with her routine at all she can get pretty cranky. I'm sure that's her OCD coming out. She definitely shows characteristics of OCD like me. She has to put toys away just the same as they were when she took them out. She lines up everything...blocks, movie cases, shoes, pillows, bottles of shampoo, you name it she probably at some point has put them in a line across our floor. I think that about covers it for now. She is our little wild child, and we love every minute of it!

Have a good weekend

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I've got a busy one ahead as usual. Saturday I am going to my cousin's baby shower with my mom in Ogden. After that she is taking me to the hospital out there, because my old step-dad (my mom and him were married from the time I was 6 until I was 13) isn't doing so well. They found out a couple of weeks ago that he has cancer, and it has spread extremely fast. In less than a year it has spread through basically his whole torso area and more. Anyway...he had a biopsy done Monday, and wasn't stable afterwards and has to stay in the hospital for a while. He only has an 8% chance to live with the cancer even, so I definitely need to get up there to see him. It's scary and hard, because it's been a lot like the situation with my Grandma. They said he had gallstones, he isn't eating and is starting to become dillusion, etc. It's making it all a little hard to deal with. On a brighter note, Syd is probably going ice fishing with my dad Saturday, and Anthony will be cleaning out the garage. Then Sunday, of course, is the Superbowl and I am pretty sure we are going to my parents to eat munchies and hang out. Neither of us are big football fans, and neither one of the teams is even the team Anth likes, but it'll still be nice to get together and hang out with family. I need to go start scrubbing the house (another inspection is coming next week). I have already warned Anth that when I pick him up today I probably won't even be showered yet...pretty nasty huh!!!

Rambling

*There hasn't been a lot to post about lately that I care to discuss on a public blog, so I have just chose not to post at all. I know I suck, but things are looking up so hopefully there is more to post soon.



*Dom is finally getting a hair cut tonight, so I may post pics soon. I swear we were going to have to start calling him Dominique if we didn't get it cut. He's starting to look a little girly lol Ok maybe not quite that bad, but he definitely needs it done like yesterday!



*I am having a bit of a lazy day today. I spend all day everyday cleaning and doing laundry, so today I am just doing laundry and reading. The cleaning can wait until later or tomorrow. Maybe I can even convince the hubby to help me do some of it, so it'll go faster (as if there's that much to do lol)



*My parents got Dom his own ice fishing pole and his own little tackle box filled with different lures, so my dad promised to take him out again maybe this weekend. He loves going, and I love that he can share that special time with my dad.

*We have my little Boston's birthday party tomorrow. I know she isn't really mine, but since I spend all day 4 or 5 days a week with her I love her like she is mine. I can't believe she is already 1. This past year has sure gone by fast. I started watching her when she was only about 3 months old. After the party I think we are going to Sandy to spend some time with Anth's family since we haven't been out there since Christmas.

*We are anxiously waiting my W2 from my work-from-home job, so that we can submit our taxes and get that lovely big deposit into our account. We are paying off bills with it, so that we have little to no bills left. Not very exciting, but it'll make life a little less stressful. We are considering getting a Wii too. Anth has played one at his friend's house, and the kids play my nephews and love it so we are considering getting one. Maybe we can do some fun family get togethers with it!

*Like I said not much to post, and if you have stuck it out through my boring little rambling then you must be pretty bored yourself lol Anyway...hopefully there will be more to post soon. Maybe Anth and I will get to make a trip to the tattoo expo again this year, and I can post about that. I can't wait for my next tattoo. It's going to be a little bit of a tribute to my Grandma :)

Preschools

My sister and I are looking for a preschool that we can put Tasia and Havyn in together out here in Stansbury since I have Havyn during the day. I have googled everything I can think of, and looked at Dexonline, and can't find anything. Does anyone know of any good preschools that don't cost an arm and a leg out here??? I don't want to go into one blind, so it'd be nice if I knew someone who took there kids there or someone who has heard about it from someone else even. The preschool Dom went to when he was 4 was great, but she doesn't do it anymore so it's out of the question. I took him to Kids Park when he was 3, but he didn't learn anything so I don't want to do Kids Park either. Any suggestions???

I love giveaways!!!

I saw this on Andrea's blog, so I had to go check it out and I fell in love!!!! This blog fairywonderful.blogspot.com is having a giveaway of any pettiskirt of your choice. So all of you who love making your little ones look girly go check it out :)

Happy Birthday little man!!!

My Dominic is 7 years old today! I really can't believe it. He is getting so big. It's kind of sad :( I always let the kids pick what they want for dinner on their birthdays, so tonight we are having pizza. Then we'll do cupcakes and his gifts from us. Then tomorrow we're having family over for cake and ice cream, so I'm sure there will be pictures to share! Happy Birthday Buddy! We love you :)

Mommy daughter day

Yesterday Syd and I had a little bit of mom and daughter time. Anth was off for Martin Luther King Day, so he stayed with the other kids and we went and got our hair done. I hate pictures of myself, so you just get to see Syd's new do. Eventually I'm sure mine will get put on here, but I can't make any promises when lol We cut Syd's in an A-line (short hair just looks really good on her), and we added blonde highlights. She looks grown up to me *tear*, but she is almost 10 so I guess that's going to happen right :)

Dominic

In keeping up with the posts about personalities and all that fun stuff it's Dominic's turn...

Dominic is my mama's boy! He is extremely loving. He is my first child to remember to hug and kiss us before bed each night, and a lot of times he comes back for a second hug before finally heading to bed. Dom can be very shy at times (until he gets to know you), and he doesn't really like to be the center of attention. He gets nervous easily. He also cries easily. Not one of my favorite things to deal with. It's not just one of those little cries, it's a you're murdering me type of cry. I really hope he grows out of it soon! He likes to color, but doesn't like to let people see him color because he has familial tremors and is VERY self-concious about them. However, he makes sure to concentrate really hard when he is coloring or writing, because of his tremors and he does very well at both. Dominic is all boy!!! He is into all the blow up, fighting crazy type movies. Some of his favorites are Transformers, GI Joe, Iron Man, Spiderman etc. He can watch them nonstop over and over again. He likes to play video games, but would rather be outside running around or riding bikes and scooters. He loves baseball, and he has a really good arm for someone his age and even for someone a few years older. He will go far if he continues to pursue baseball throughout his life. Dominic has my OCD lol He has to have things just right or he gets frustrated. He likes to clean his room, so it's exactly the way he wants it. If people help him clean and they don't put things where he wants them, he will move them to where they should go. Dominic has little to no patience, but when he is fishing he has more patience than anyone I know. He can sit still for hours and watch the line, and just wait for the fish to bite. Even if they don't he enjoys himself. He has a short temper with some people, but when it comes to Tasia his temper doesn't come out as much. Dom likes just about any food you put in front of him except fried potatoes. I don't know what it is about them, but he can't stand them. He isn't a fan of hot foods either, so he complains when Anth cooks because everything he cooks is hot lol When you do give him food that he likes he can eat more than I can! I don't know where it all goes, because he is a skinny little man. I think he ate 3 plates full of food last night. I wish I had his metabolism! He isn't big on sweets. He will eat them, but he is perfectly happy without them too. My little man will be 7 next week. That sounds so big to me. Six still seems like a little boy, but 7 sounds so much more grown up!

The stress diet lol

I have been so busy dealing with stuff between my Grandma passing away and Anth getting into an accident that I don't eat as much. I'm not snacking as often, because I generally snack when I am bored and I don't have enough time to be bored anymore. I forget to eat sometimes. I know that sounds stupid, but it can be bedtime and I'll realize all I've eaten all day is a roll or something else equally as small. Apparently the stress diet is working for me though, because I got on the scale yesterday and I have lost 14 lbs!!! Now I know that not eating isn't good for you, but the not snacking as often is a good thing. Hopefully when life gets back to normal I can continue to watch what I eat more, and continue to lose weight. I love seeing that ugly number get lower when I weigh myself!

NEW CAR!!!!

YAY!!! It was a long day, but well worth it. I love our new car! It has plenty of room for us and one more when we have him/her. Plus I really like the color. Anth says it's army green, but I like it because it isn't your normal everyday green. Also there is that wonderful bonus that we are no longer CARLESS!!!! We got a great deal too, so that's always nice. We owe less on this car then we owed on our Trailblazer, and it's a newer model and has less miles. Can't go wrong in any of that.

Personalities, likes and dislikes

On my blog I always seem to document the things we are doing, but not really any individual person and the things they like or dislike or their own personalities. It's something that I want to remember as they grow, so my goal for this year is to at least every 3 months update on those things that make my kids who they are. I will probably focus on Anth too, but I'm not one to talk about myself much so you won't get much of the ins and outs of Angela.

Today I will start with Syd...

Sydney has such a tender heart. She loves everyone, and she treats everyone very well (except maybe her brother, they fight ALL the time). She gets her feelings hurt really easily, so you have to be careful what you do or say so she doesn't take it out of context. She is also very careful not to hurt other peoples feelings, because if she does she also gets upset. She is an amazing reader, and is well above her grade level at it. She doesn't throw anything away, and sometimes that's one of our biggest fights but she'll learn as she gets older. Syd loves to spend time with family. Family movie nights are some of her favorite times. She is starting to become quite a bit more mature. She is right at the age where she isn't a kid anymore, but isn't quite a teen. She still loves some toys, but is growing out of most of them. She has taken quite a major liking to Aeropostale clothes and peace signs lately. All she wanted for Christmas were shirts from Aeropostale, so she was kind of hard to shop for because we didn't want her to not have something to play with when Tasia and Dom asked for a bunch of toys. Syd is REALLY into music! She constantly has her radio going, or has a cd playing while she is in her room. She knows the words to the songs I listen to more than I do now. On New Year's Eve we were watching the thing in Time Square and a song came on I had never even heard, and Syd knew every word to it. It kind of made me feel old lol She also loves to dance around, and just be goofy. We are going to put her in a cheerleading group out here, because it would be perfect for her! Sydney is getting pretty tall! She is my long and skinny girl. I sat on the floor by her the other day, and she was as tall as me sitting. I'm pretty sure she will pass me up one day :( Syd is also pretty indecisive. She does better not to have too many options to chose from, because if she does it could take a while for her to choose. She always wants to be sure that she makes the right decision, so she wavers back and forth between things a lot. I think that pretty much sums her up for now. She is my beautiful preteen, and although I am sad to see her grow I can't wait to see the things she will continue to accomplish as she grows up!

Car search

We got the phone call yesterday about what they are paying for our Trailblazer, so now it's time to really get searching for another vehicle. It's only been 2 weeks since Anth's accident (tomorrow is exactly 2 weeks), but it feels like forever when you don't have a car to get you around to the places you need to go. We considered getting a car instead of an SUV this time, but really with the 3 kids and the fact that we do eventually want another one it's going to be best to go with another SUV. I don't want to have to trade a car in and end up upside down in our next car, so we'll just cut out that middle step lol Besides I really liked that I could seperate the kids in our Trailblazer, because when all 3 of them sat right next to each other in it, it was a NONSTOP fight no matter where we went. They just seemed to get on each others nerves when they were sitting so close to each other. So for my sanity, and the sake of not having to look for another new car before we are ready we will just go with the SUV now. Wish us luck!

Royal treatment...

My dad invited Dom and my nephew to go out ice fishing with him, but my nephew couldn't go so it ended up being just Dom and my dad. Dom LOVED every minute of it!!! My dad called Saturday afternoon and asked if he could just come get Dom that night, so he could sleepover and my dad wouldn't have to wake us up early Sunday morning. My parents picked Dom up at about 7 that night, and headed straight for Walmart. Dom couldn't find his beanie, so my dad decided to buy him a new one and let him pick any beanie he wanted (he chose a GI Joe one). Then they went to the snack aisle, and my dad let Dom pick all the snacks for the next day. Once they got to my parents my dad made popcorn and let Dom chose some cartoons to watch until bedtime. The woke up early in the morning, got ready and headed to McDonald's for breakfast, and then they were off to Vernon. They spent all day out on the ice, and Dom still wasn't ready to come home. My dad drilled him his own hole to fish through, and Dom caught about 8 fish himself but most of them were to small to keep so they put them back. When they headed home they stopped at my parents again, so my dad could show Dom how to gut his fish. Fun huh lol My little man is pretty proud of himself, and can't wait to go fishing again. If the weather is good they are going out next Saturday. Here is a picture of Dom's first fish he's ever caught....