Thursday, February 28, 2008

Hi. My name is Lorene

and I am an addict. lol.

When I had Emily, I was addicted to clothes. Clothes for her. I needed something new for her to wear to every function, every holiday. She NEEDED clothes. Cute clothes. Pink clothes. Ruffley clothes.

When I had Elle, I was addicted to matching clothes. I even warned Jay when I was pregnant with her that if we had girl number two, he was going to go broke. lol. Every holiday, the girls had matching clothes. Every family function, yup, matching clothes. Every Sunday for church. Yup. Matching dresses. I was a fool for clothes. I would walk up to a rack and if I didn't see two of the sizes I needed, I walked away.

Now that Cecelia has blessed our lives, the kid has more than her fair share of clothes. She literally has two of almost everything. So...what's a Momma to do?? I needed a new obsession. I did cloth diaper Elle from about 16 months on, but I don't have any small or medium dipes. Obsession #1. Cloth diapers. Obsession #2, shoes. A girl needs shoes to go with all those adorable hand-me-down outfits. Robeez are still my favorite, but only cause Ce-Bop is so small. Give me a few more months. A few of the ladies on my mom board ( I will not name any names to protect the innocent haha) have turned me on to new shoes. New shoes that I MUST HAVE! (too bad I was just telling JAy how I am going to work on tightening my belt a bit...) And biggest obsession....#3 is Baby Legs. Dear Lord. I can't get enough. Think little leg warmers for babies and kids (http://www.babylegs.net/) I love them! They make diaper changes a breeze and make every outfit adorable! Cecelia wears them on her legs and her arms, which gives a little more life to the short-sleeved summer outfits. I think we are up to *gasp*22 pair. A girlfriend of mine just dropped off another 6 to me today and I am dying to get them out and try them on. I am so freaking obsessed, I find myself going to the Baby Legs drawer first in the morning and picking a pair out, then color coordinating a diaper and finally an outfit. Yup. I am that crazy. I think I need a life. :)

The funniest thing of it all....I am wearing a pair of jeans that are 2 sizes too big and my shirt is 6 years old. Hey, I might not be "in style" but dang it, my kids are super duper well dressed. I used to laugh at my mom for wearing old clothes, but now I know why she did it. I don't care what I look like anymore. The only satisfaction I need is well dressed kids. :)

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Wanna clean my house?????

Geez Louise. Our home looks like a tornado went thru. I guess thats what happens when Momma spends a week in the recliner and Daddy is working 65 hours a week. I think I am having a slight side effect of the antibiotic I am on and I am super nauseous and have visitied the bathroom more than I care to mention. Ewww gross, I know! I did get about 4 loads of laundry done and you'd have sworn with as exhausted as I am that I ran a marathon. My mom tells me it will get better and I will be back to my good old self in no time. I sure hope so. I think Jay and the girls hope so too. I haven't cooked in a week! Geez.

No other fun news to report. Nothing exciting. Nothing new. Just a whole lotta hanging low and waiting for this crap to pass. Thank goodness for the girls. They are such angels. I think we'll plan a fun day out when I am feeling better. They so very much deserve it. Em keeps giving me kisses on the forehead cause she "doesn't want my yucky germs." That makes me feel so much better. I really wish the kisses made it all go away. I am sick of being sick.....

Denver Colorado

Leon, Lucias, Laura, Cecelia and me






We made itr home from Denver! Took me long enough to tell you that, huh? I JUST unpacked suitcases last night and we have been home a week! Its that darn Bronchitis I tell you. Shot me right down. Here are two pics for now. The first one is Cecelia and I at Hard Rock Cafe Denver. I think this will go down in history as one of my favorite pics of myself. I think its the hat. I still wish I would have stole it away in my suitcase. I think Leon would have missed it, but whats he gonna do?? Come to my house and kick my ass?? I don't think so. In the meantime, I am on the lookout for the same hat. I NEED one! The second pic is from atop the Continental Divide. Pretty isn't it??


We had a smashing trip! Friday morning came EARLY as my alarm went off at 4am. Our flight was at 9, but we had to get there early and I did have a few last minute things to do in the morning. The flight out was GREAT! Cecelia slept the entire time minus the maybe 15 minutes she spent nursing. Not too bad for a three hour flight. We found Leon at the airport and headed to McD's for some grub. Friday we spent the day at home lounging and doing a whole lotta nothing. Just loving on the new baby Lucias and catching up with Leon and Jaylene. Saturday morning we got up and walked up to Einstein Brothers for some breakfast and then hit the road for the mountains. I am still in awe of the natural beauty and decided that if my husband and kids and parents and sisters decided that they wanted to move to Denver we would go too. We drove thru Loveland Pass and watched the skiers and snowboarders. We gave a ride to five snowboarders headed up the mountain, took some pictures and circled back down. We made a pit stop at Red Rocks Ampitheatre. I think that classifies as one of my favorite places on Earth. It's beautiful! Saturday night we had QDoba and went to bed.


Sunday we headed out to the Sixth Street Mall. I was on a mission to find a couple of WebKinz for the girls and I needed to get it done. Unfortunately, the Sixth Street Mall is not the place to find them. WE walked in the cold and never came across a Hallmark and only found a Carlton Cards that was closed and a florist that was closed both with signs in the window that said they carried WebKinz. We stopped in at Hard Rock for a snack and a pilsner of Blue Moon (I think I may have said about 100 times that weekend that Blue Moon is my new favorite beer- YUM!!) and headed back home. Then Leon took me to Cherry Creek Mall and we found some Web Kinz. What an awesome mall. A little too spendy for my taste, but cool nonetheless. I have never in my life seen some of the stores that were in there...Movado, Urban Behavior, Janie and Jack, Pumpkin Patch....and then of course there were my old favorites...Prada, Saks, Neiman Marcus, Juicy Couture....Ha! There was surely no Sears or JCPenney there. I got my WebKinz and we bailed.


We got home and had some elk tenderloin, mashies, and green bean cassarole for dinner~a whole lotta yumminess for me. I thought for sure I would hate elk, but it is actually pretty scrumptious. We hung out the rest of the evening taking movies and pictures of the babies. All I can say is that nephew of mine, Lucias, is one cute kid. I happen to know all about cute kids cause I have three, but he is as cute as they come. I am still so very excited that we went and that I have those priceless photos of Cecelia and her cousin. It's not like they are going to see each other on a regular basis. They are talking about coming home in June and then again for Christmas. I can't wait!


The flight home went as smooth as the flight there. Cecelia again slept all the way home and got up for a minute when the pilot announced out descent on Detroit. She is a world class traveler for sure! I'd take her anytime. However, I have decided that as soon as Cecelia is big enough to not need her MOmma so much, she is gonna stay, too, and Jay and I are going to go out and enjoy the sights and a little more of the AWESOME nightlife that Denver has to offer. Thats my plan!



Monday, February 25, 2008

Upon Ellisa's Request

A friend of mine holla'ed my today and asked me where my blog entry was. Shhesh. I have a lot to catch up on thats for sure. I think I am going to have to do a separate blog for today and one for Denver in general. I will start with today....well...ok...the last WEEK! (or is it two???)

I am just getting over Bronchitis. Its really crappy! Wednesday we took the big girls to see Dr. Curt (my childhood dentist that I saw for 19- yes, 19 years) I waited patiently to switch insurances so that I could take Em and Elle there. I swear with all the crazy work I had done on my teeth, you'd think I'd hate the place, but I still have fond memories and I want the kids to have that too. I don't care the cost of it. Going to the dentist is important and I want them to feel comfortable. I am happy to report great brushing scores and no cavities for either one. They got new toothbrushes, paste, floss and stickers and each one came out proudly displaying their own fake lizard. A pink one for Em and a green one for Elle (they wouldn't have it any other way)

Wednesday night we came home and I wanted to cry. I couldn't get warm and I felt dizzy. Thursday I felt a little better. Friday was horrible. I woke up at 5am coughing and had a 101 temp. I called to cancel Miss Hannah for the day and literally spent the day on the recliner. Friday night my temp went up to 102 and I broke down and took some tylenol. Jay woke me at 5:30 am Saturday when he got home from work and my temp was 103.8. I figured I should probably go to the doctor. My parents took the girls for the day cause my mom said I needed to rest and I came home with a script and some juice and slept all day. IT was kinda nice. I have been a veggie ever since Saturday. I guess thats the only way I am going to get better, but lets face it, the house has taken a beating. I need to muster up some strength to clean for goodness sake. At least the diapers are washed. :)

The girls are doing well. Miss Ce-Bop ROLLED over yesterday. Twice. I wasn't prepared for this. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later, but I could have held out a few more months..or years....She is just so darn cute. She talks and laughs and blows raspberries now. Such a little person and I love it! Elle is keeping right up with her potty progress. We signed her up today for DANCE. She starts the second week in March and I am not sure she could be more excited to be "just like Emily." Emily is continuing in dance and was more than excited to get back to school today after mid-winter break. Less than a month and she will have another week off for Easter. Then she has 2 months and she is DONE! Summer break and then KINDERGARTEN! My goodness!

We sat yesterday and watched movies from the last 2 years. My gosh! I was laughing and crying and giggling. I couldn't help myself. It amazes me sometimes that I survived having Em and then 18 months later having Elle. I was overwhelmed looking at the videos. But what fun! It was so wonderful and I don' think that if I could I would ever change the age gap they have. They will always be friends and always be together. Now I only wonder if I can talk Jay into the same age gap between Cecelia and one more............

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Two more days

And the countdown is on.....

Two more days until Laura and I depart for Denver with a baby in tow. I bet it will be a whole new experience for Laura. She goes from traveling with Donovan and her friends to traveling with a baby and her sister. I bet we will be the most lively crowd. I have to say that Cecelia is one lucky girl. It took me 16 years to fly on an airplane. My virgin flight was to London, England with a group of highschoolers. She is 4 months old and already jet-setting. There is no way to leave her with as attached to the boob as she is, plus I am having a little issue with leaving Em and Elle for so long. Despite being in the hospital twice to have babies this is the longest either of them will have been away from me...and its only 3 days!!

I can't wait to see my newest nephew. I tell ya. The last 7 months have been great. I became an aunt for the first time in June and then again in January. I have waited several long years for this and I finally have the title of Auntie Lorene. I couldn't be happier. I only wish that we lived closer to my brother and his wife and the baby. Denver is a long way to send hugs. Thank goodness for my mom and dad's webcam cause at least we can see him!! It's only a matter of time before I talk Jay into one for our house. :)

I am being paged upstairs. Apparently CeBop is tired of her bouncy seat- who can blame her- she just spent my Biggest Loser workout in it and now my blog time. Stick a fork in her...she's DONE. Good night.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

It's Sunday. It's cold.

Wow! What a difference in weather. Its freezing today! We decided to stay in all day and do a whole lotta nothing. We were supposed to hit church this morning, but the thermometer said 8 and with the wind blowing I knew it was below zero, so I made the call to keep all the kids in today. Jay went out for a paper and coffee creamer, but he said his cheeks froze in the 2 minutes he was outside. A good day to sit in with a blazing fire and keep warm. Maybe a few board games and a bit of laundry and it will be the perfect day!

Em and Elle stayed Friday night at Busia's. Jay and I had a funeral to attend Saturday morning. I went to visitiation Friday night and called to check on the girls when I got home. As I was on the phone with my mom, Em threw up all over, so I hung up and rushed out to my mom's. We ended up staying at Busia's for the night and all snuggled up in the family room. One puke was all it took for Em and she was fine after that. Thank goodness. Needless to say we missed the funeral, but I couldn't leave my sick peanut. I have to say it was kinda nice staying with my mom and dad. It was literally 3 on 3. Plus Auntie Laura. Man, oh man. It was a pretty easy night. We all took a kid and everyone was happy. :)

I got on the scale yesterday morning when I got home (and that was after 2 Eggo waffles at my moms) I lost 14 pounds! I was so excited I almost cried. Granted, I know the weight has been coming off. I notice it in my pants and people are actually noticing. It makes me feel good- Kinda like I wanna do another walk for the day, or another Biggest Loser Workout. I.WILL.LOSE.THE.REST. 36 more pounds and I will be a new person. A new healthier person. A new person who doesn't get short of breath. A new person who looks good in a pair of shorts. A new person who doesn't LOOK like they birthed three kids in four years. A new person who can be a role model for her kids. Yes. A whole new person and I can't wait!

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Happy Birthday~!

I noticed the calendar this morning as I have every year for the past 15 years. (and then some) Today is my Big Busia's birthday. She was born February 6, 1913. It's been 15 years since I have been able to tell her happy birthday in person. She died June 27, 1993 only 10 days after my 13th birthday. I said a silent prayer for her this morning and realized that she was probably spending her birthday with her two sons around a card table up there.

I cannot even begin to express how much I miss her. I don't talk about her half as much as I should. My girls should know what an incredible woman she was. I loved her. Everyone loved her. Good old Martha Darga. It makes me so sad when my mom talks about her and to this day gets tears in her eyes. I can't even type without wiping the tears from mine. I always felt I was robbed. I wish that my Busia could have lived to see the person I have become. I feel that my kids were robbed because they never got to meet her.

Big Busia was a riot! I have very fond memories of her with her rolled up newspaper in her walker bag beating the cat off the counters, or the year we went to Posen and mom and Dad went to a New Years Eve dance and left us to party with Busia. She used to come and spend the winters with us in Romeo. Uncle Jug would bring her at Thanksgiving time and she would stay thru Easter. Every child my mom had, Busia was here to help. I always tell my mom that I could never handle having her live with me for months at a time (but secretly I would love it.) My Busis always protected us kids from trouble. If Dad would get mad at us for one reason or another Busia would always pipe in and speak up for us. Drove Dad nuts, but we always got off the hook. Now my Dad does the same things with my own children and it makes me giggle.

I learned so much from Busia. She sat for countless hours and taught me to crochet. She had arthritis so bad, but she kept "heckling" away. She would sit for hours upon hours and make doilies, angels, blankets, night gowns, dresses for every singe one of our dolls and yes, even crocheted Barbie sleeping bags. She taught me how to sew and let me just say my Barbies had more little pillows than any Barbie on the block- all sewn by me. I even helped her make throw pillows for the couches. She was incredible.

I was just telling my own mother at Christmas time the irony of it all. Decades ago my Busia made these Christmas ornaments out of avocado and gold bulbs with beads and straight pins. When we were kids, we used to have to put them on the tree out of courtesy. We would hide them as far back and as far inside as we could. After us kids all got our own houses and families and trees, my mom divided up the dozen ornaments that she had and gave us all two. Now, I proudly display my gold and avocado green ornaments plain as day at the top of my tree. It makes me proud to have them and I get to tell my kids the story of them every time they are placed on the tree. I am sure they will feel the same way about them until they are old enough to appreciate the memories behind them.

This past Thanksgiving, I tried my hand at baking bread for the first time and the whole time I thought of Busia. She used to take her homemade bread dough and deep fry it (yeah- healthy, I know) Then we would dip it in syrup. Oh my gosh. Its been at least a decade, but I can still taste it. And cinnamon rolls. YUM! She was remarkable! I only hope that one day I can be half the woman that she was. She raised 5 great kids and ran a home and a farm. I miss her.

The only thing I can be thankful for is that I have a mother who was raised by this woman and there isn't a day that goes by that I don' t thank the good Lord for her. She would bend over backwards and do whatever we needed to do if we asked her. I have a Dad who does the same and a husband who is so very appreciative of everything they do.

Happy Birthday Big Busia. We love you and we miss you everyday.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

I am such a proud Momma

The girls have done a few things in the last few days to make me proud. Proud as a peacock! Sunday we got up, got dressed and went to church. This was the first time with all three of them by ourselves (Christmas and Christening don't count- we had help- and lots of it) We've been saying for a month now that we were going, but have made all kinds of excuses. This time, I was going and that was that. I am not so sure what we were worried about. I don't think we could have asked for three sweeter, quieter under control chilren. Em and Elle sat and ate their trail mix that we threw together before we walked out of the door and Ce slept until the second reading, but after that sat quietly and cutely on my lap. She talked a little during a song or two, but lets face it, baby talk is just too cute to shoosh. :)

After church, we hit Target, Home Depot and went out to dinner later in the evening. We tried Boston's Gourmet Pizza this time around for something different (plus we had a gift certificate to use) Oh my gosh! I was a little nervous, but the girls again were angels. We had a bunch of please and thank yous and nice quiet kids. (though with the Super Bowl on, they could have been animals and no one would have even known...they were better behaved than some of the men in there Haha) Elle even went potty in the potty there! After they devoured their mac and cheese, Momma ordered up a big fat hot fudge sundae that Daddy and the girls shared. What a great dining experience.

The biggest bestest proudest moment happened for me yesterday! I took Emily to school and talked in the parking lot with another Mom for about 15 minutes. I came home and Elle greeted me at the door and Daddy said she had something to show me. So she ran upstairs into the bathroom and I followed closely behind. She lifted up the potty seat and right there plain as day the proof that the little lady pooped on the potty. I cried. I laughed. I jumped and danced and sang and hugged and kissed and cried some more. Any mother who has been in my very situation can honestly say they know what I am talking about. A week and three days into potty training and the kid is already taking herself into the bathroom and pooping. No cues- nothing. All she did was call to Jay and tell him she needed help to wipe her butt. She has seen the light. And I think I have seen my last diaper from her. WOOOHOOOOO!

So, that was our last few days in a nutshell. To some of you, they seem amazingly boring and not-so-great. But to me, I don't think I could have asked for anything more. I am such a proud Momma today.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

A laid back Saturday is always good

It's Saturday and we have nothing to do. I love it! We went to gymnastics this morning and then to the library. We came home, had lunch and now Ce is sleeping and the big girls are upstairs playing ponies. I do have a few loads of laundry to do, but I am only on the first rinse of the diapers so I have two more of those to go. I do have to clean up a bit, but that can be done fairly quickly. Jay is working today, so I have till 6:30 to make this house his castle. :D Lots of time!

Got a great workout in the other night, as I was determined to do. I am rocking the block. I just embarked on a six week Biggest Loser work out plan. I am on day three today and my legs are on fire- but only when I try to do an unplanned lunge or squat. I can tell that its working cause my butt is 12 pounds less. It makes it all worthwhile when I see lower numbers on the scale, I tell ya. I have made the commitment and darn it, I am going to stick with it.

Potty training? Dang! Elle is ON FIRE! The entire time at gymnastics and the library, she stayed dry. She told me one at gymnastics she wanted to go, and we tried to no avail. She stayed dry though and thats all that matters. (mental note to self.... a leotard and tights with a sweatshirt over are NOT potty training friendly clothes. ) That was a challenge in itself. Elle super duper loves gymnastics and I swear she is going to be the one to put herslef thru school doing something physical. She loves to run and jump and do the balance beam and the spring board but most of all the parrallel bars. Thats just her thing. She is taking a huge interest in reading and writing. I think she likes to follow Emily's lead every now and again. I love seeing the blooming artist she is becoming and love spending time reading with her and coloring.

Emily is continuing to shock the heck out of us! She is so stinking smart it scares me sometimes. Not only is she reading the labels on all the food on the table and the signs on the road and the pages in her coloring book, she has moved on to actual books. There is a section in the library full of reading books for beginner readers. I overheard the librarian telling another parent about them when we were there last week. I mosied on over to the section and found an easy reader Cinderella. Well, Em sat down and read the whole thing cover to cover by herself. And even corrected herself on a few words. This week alone she read her school library book, Jump Frog Jump, Go Dog Go, The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Cinderella, Hop on Pop, and Polite as a Princess. I am amazed everytime she does it. At just over four thats quite a feat!

And Cecelia...What can I say, the kid is growing like crazy. She is constantly laughing or talking. I swear she is going to give her sisters a run for their money. If she is awake, nine chances out of ten she is talking. I was talking to my dad last night on the phone and he heard her across the room. The kid sure loves to make noise. It's all good noise, though, so we love it! She is already scooting. Yesterday I was getting the big girls in the tub and laid Cecelia on the bathmat and she scooted herself right off. Crazy kid!

Never ever a dull moment over here. Ever. :D