J’s Pain

I finally figured out what has been hurting my baby boy. Thanks to my mom…. we figured it out!!!!

Every once in a while J’s tummy would hurt really bad right above his belly button. He would scream and cry and feel gross. I would try to help him manage the pain and just as I was about to take him to the ped it would stop and he’d be fine, up and running around. On Sunday his stomach was distended and he was lethargic, crying… I was freaking out. Mom said it was just like my brother when he was young. Basically my brother cannot eat hard candy of any kind his reaction was the same as J’s, except he ended up in the ER. J had had two dum dum suckers that afternoon and it makes total sense because looking back, the pain would happen after he ate some sort of hard candy. I cannot find anything online about this happening to anyone else but we have to start somewhere I guess.

So we are going around the house and getting rid of suckers, life savers and any other hard candy we can find. Poor guy he loves suckers and life savers too. Luckily none of the other candies are triggers, chocolate is fine. We’ll just bundle it up with the other candy we’re taking to the dentist, my new favorite thing for getting rid of candy. We always have so much left over, not even my sweet tooth can keep up.

This of course is not doctor diagnosed but it’s all fitting into place.

The weekend

This weekend was chock full of fun…. I didn’t have a single session and was able to spend every waking minute with my lovely family. It was really nice.

Friday we had Trunk or Treat which was a lot of fun but we are used to this tiny little event at our old school. The one we attended at our new school was HUGE!!! Crazy out of control fun. I worked the event (have I mentioned my inability to say no) and didn’t see my kids or poor husband until the end. We attempted to decorate our car. Thinking it somewhat cool… NOT AT ALL. We were delusional. People/Families went all out!!! There was a haunted car, where the kids went in one side and slid down a slide at the end… there was a disco inferno with disco music and lights, there was a whole Harry Potter set up… we tried to do Harry Potter I made a really cool drawing of Hogwarts Castle…. It was pathetic. I still like my drawing but it was pathetic. We parked side by side of our good friends and I didn’t see them the whole night. I was pinning numbers on kids, the whole night. Insanity!!!

The best news of the night…. L won best overall costume. She was beside herself excited. When she got back from receiving her gift (a $10 g.c. to AMC theaters and a cool headband with our school logo) she told me “Mommy I’ve never won anything like this before”. I was so happy for her. My moms and my hard work paid off.

Hedwig and Harry Potter

Our Hogwarts attempt

My drawing of the castle

Kids with all their candy, sorting their favorites from the yucky

 

Saturday we had soccer. Our last fall soccer session. We’re pretty sure we’re going to sign them up for the winter indoor session. We really like the program their in. JT’s brother, sister-in-law and our niece joined us at the soccer field and after practice we headed out for lunch. We ate at Jilly’s Cupcake Bar. SO GOOD!!! Love spending time with them. After lunch we said goodbye and headed to the library where L picked all kinds of books. She is a reading machine.

When we got home JT and I changed our closets over. YUCK!! I hate doing that every year. I definitely have more winter clothes than I do summer. Mom came over after work and she and I drove out to Macy’s to buy her a birthday outfit, L joined us of course. After we were done shopping with my mom we came home for dinner and then headed back out for some more birthday shopping. Once home and kids in bed I watched the Cardinals win game 3. A huge win for us. It was a lot of fun to watch.

 

Sunday was my mom’s birthday. We met at Vin de Set for some brunch and then came back here to have a nice relaxing day. We watched a few Halloween movies, family friendly of course and JT made a good meal of Salmon, Chicken (for me and the kids), rice, cabbage – YUM!!! We had a great day just hanging out and enjoying each other’s company. J got my mom a huge bunch of flowers and L got mom a necklace that means Love Forever.

There’s our weekend. A pretty nice one. Next weekend I’ll be back to working a lot but also trying to fit in some pumpkin carving.

Our Dog

Warning to all pet owners… a very sad post

We had to have our dog put to sleep on Monday last week… it was terrible. There have to be 500 reasons to not have a pet but the #1 reason is dealing with their death. It’s torture. We knew it was his time, he had lymphoma.

His body was worn down to nothing, all of his bones were protruding, he had tumors all over his body, he didn’t have the energy to bark at our passing neighbors, he could barely walk and he wasn’t begging or eating anymore. We knew it was time. So we waited for both kids to be in school and took him to the vet. I carried him to the car and JT had to carry him into the vet. While laying on the table his ears were perked and it made me think we were making the wrong decision but… we weren’t. We spent some time with him. I kissed his nose and stroked his silky ears, they came in and put a line into his vein, they had a hard time because he was so thin. The needle startled him and he put his nose on my hand. The doctor gave us more time with him before she came back with the medicine. We loved on him and I started to cry because it just didn’t seem right. I couldn’t stay in the room in case he had a bad reaction, I didn’t want that to be my last memory so JT stayed with him. As I walked out I turned to look and he was watching me leave, it was very sad. I cried in the waiting room and sat so I could see the exam room door. I saw the nurse and doctor walk in… and not 5 minutes later they walked back out. JT was behind them a few minutes later, he was crying and that’s the worst to see your big, strong husband be broken down to tears.

He told me he took a big deep breath and laid his head down on his paws, he fell asleep peacefully. Everyone was crying. Me, JT, the doctor, the nurses. It was one of the worst things we’ve had to do… the first was letting our first dog go.

We quietly came home, justifying our decision with lots of excuses (he was sick, he couldn’t walk, etc) but it never feels okay. You feel like you’ve killed your best friend. Nothing makes it okay, no amount of excuses. We got home and that’s when I sobbed. The thought of walking around the house without him greeting us or even just following us to see what we’re doing, it was all too much.

Luckily it rained that day so we sat around and mourned until it was time to pick up the kids. I cried at pick up when a friend said some nice things. I told the kids when they got in the car. L cried and J wasn’t really processing it… so we came home and cuddled on the couch and watched a movie.

Each day gets better but it’s still hard. We always think we hear him moving… his nails on the door frame, a creak of the floor from him walking. JT still expects to see him laying behind him in his office here at home. I was alone one night and it was strange because my protection was gone, even though he could barely hear and could hardly see anymore.

We are awaiting his ashes and I’m sure the sadness will start all over again once they arrive.

He was a difficult dog to own. He caused a lot of grief for us… we are convinced that Marley and Me was written about him. He chewed on everything, stole food from our counters, dug in the trash… all those yucky dog behaviors BUT he was our dog and we still loved him.

We are now dog-less. We have had dogs since we were engaged, so this is a new thing. We will be dog-less for a while. No puppies or rescues in our future. This makes the kids sad because they grew up with our two but life will be a little easier, as much as it pains me to say it.

I’ll miss his silky ears, he had a sweet smelling spot on his forehead, the black spot on his rump, the way he would place his head on the couch and look at you if he needed something, the security you provided us, the way he would run around the house looking for you (we’d totally play hide and seek, the kids loved it)… and so many other things…

Thank you Roscoe for all your love, companionship and loyalty for the 12 1/2 years we had you in our lives. Have fun running around with Rudy in Doggy Heaven. RIP buddy!!

Photos taken in early September

Watching baseball with J

J is hilarious. He says the funniest stuff sometimes, not just about baseball – he pretty much has an opinion on everything but this week we’ll address his comments on baseball in honor of the Cardinals playing in the World Series.

1. He laid on my lap tonight and told me he needed to pay attention and watch the Cardinals win the World Serious

2. He wanted to know why the guy behind the catcher has on a gentleman’s suit and are there medals on his shirt

3. JT entered a contest today to win some tickets to Game 1… my mom asked me if he would take me… I said well sure who else would he take – J yells “ME he has me!!!”

4. Is a fall just like a home run? (fall = foul)

5. Daddy how do you get a point by throwing the ball?? (hmm neither of us knew what he was talking about with this one)

6. Pitcher is throwing balls on purpose to walk Pujols, J says “that’s cheating”

7. Oooh Mr. Freeze plays for the Cardinals. David Freese must be his real name

8. J was taking off his socks… Daddy what if the Red Socks (I know it’s Sox) were called the White Socks… Daddy says “there is a White Socks team” J exclaims “WHAT!!!”

9. If we go to the game I’m going to get Nachos, Pizza, Ice Cream…. so not interested in the game just the snacks. He says that’s the best part.

10. I hope they don’t lose!!! Amen buddy!!!

He apparently needs to watch more baseball with Daddy or just let Daddy watch the game. Go Cards!!!

There has to be another word for BUSY

If there were a stronger word I would use it because the word BUSY seems like an understatement. Hah. I have this problem, I can’t say no. I’m learning, slowly but surely to say NO, but it’s hard.

I am currently signed up to help at our Trunk or Treat event, I am the chair of the Scholastic Book Fair, I am room mom for L, I am room mom for J, I’m co-leader for L’s brownie troop, I’m making L’s costume for Halloween and I’m running a photography business. All of this in my busy season. It’s Christmas card/gift season. Luckily I’m not doing it all alone. I have an excellent fellow leader for L’s troop and we only meet once a month so it’s not a big deal (it’s not eating up my time), my co-chair for the book fair is splitting everything with me right down the middle so it’s kind of like we are co-chairs and the room mom thing you don’t do by yourself, obviously.

I’m not complaining but I do think I took on too much. I’ll have to remember this, and remember not to sign up for anything else. But there’s more. I decided to try and sell some kid stuff in a local sale and I have to get that ready in the next couple of weeks. Plus the saddest and worst part… our dog is dying. As a matter of fact I think this might be his last night with us. It’s sad but it’s time. There is no reason to keep him alive for us, his quality of life is gone.

All of that is enough by itself but I’m still a wife, mom and daughter. If it weren’t for my lovely, understanding husband and a mom that helps everywhere she can I’m not sure it would all get done.

Luckily I’m organized!!

This weekend, starting Friday, we had a Girl Scout bonfire.

Saturday the kids had soccer, a play date and I helped shoot a wedding

Sunday I had an early morning session, a birthday party and an afternoon session

I missed being with my family on this beautiful weekend but we are going to have a nice Christmas with all the money I’m saving from working. Plus we had a nice dinner out tonight just the 4 of us enjoying each other and talking about the fun things the kids did with Daddy. I would say that I’m waiting for Monday so my life will calm down but really who is ever really waiting for Monday.

Have a great week friends.

SLOW!!! Kids at Play

We have a great street. The kids place this sign in the street and they scooter up and down all weekend with their friends. Of course they are under adult supervision the whole time and when a car approaches all adults scream “CAR” and all the kids scatter to the sides. We love our street.

Being Three/Being Six

I found this post today while looking through my drafts. It’s all about J and it was set to be published in July of 2009. I guess I never got around to it… It was titled “Being Three” and now he is 6!!! Geez. That breaks my heart.

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Pretty soon my little guy is going to be 4. It’s not a monumental birthday by any means but it feels like we are completely leaving the baby behind and the big boy is entering the picture.

He is all boy, he’s my early riser, he goes to bed with no problems, he’s my messy eater, he breaks my heart with his cuteness at least once a day, he likes to say pee pee and poo poo, he says the cutest things (for instance instead of saying something tastes like strawberries he calls them rose berries), he plays rough, poor guy suffers from night terrors when he’s over tired, he likes it when we style his hair like his Daddy, he tells the hairdresser 50 times while he’s getting his hair cut that he hates the hair dryer, he wants to be a superhero so he can fly, he can be very shy, he adores his Unca Na, he tends to not do things for himself, he just learned that he can pee outside in the grass, he gets his feelings hurt easily, he can be very clumsy, he doesn’t listen to me when I say no, he’s starting to realize that he’s tougher than L, he has a short attention span, he suffers constantly with nurse maid’s elbow, he’s content to play by himself but mainly plays with L, his speech is improving  and boy do I love him.

The other morning I woke up as JT was leaving for work, J was already up. He was sitting on the floor in front of the TV, watching Dora, eating Cheerios and he was surrounded by our dogs. He looked so lonely, I couldn’t wait to go in and see him and hear his sweet voice. It’s a little sad, he will never be 3 again.

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There are so many things that have changed about my little man and a few things that haven’t. He’s still my early riser, still falls asleep easily, still a messy eater, still likes to use pee pee and poo poo in every phrase, his speech is so much better so there are no more cute sayings, he plays rough still… likes to punch his daddy a lot, still suffers from night terrors from time to time, hates when we mess with his hair, doesn’t mind the hairdryer anymore, no longer dreams of being a superhero, he now wants to be a baseball player, growing out of his shyness, Unca Na has been replaced with his buddies at school, still doesn’t like to do anything for himself, still clumsy and still gets hurt feelings easily, great attention span and a great listener, never gets in trouble at school, he grew out of nurse maid’s elbow (thank god, that sucked) and he is REALLY good at playing by himself, you can still find him in the mornings in front of the TV with a bowl of cheerios, the loves video games and watches YouTube video game clips on JT’s iPhone all the time, he has 4 really good buddies at school that he talks about all the time, he is excellent at make believe, fights with his sister but she can still kick his butt, likes to be responsible for Roscoe’s care, he feeds him and takes him out, he can be really annoying and just laugh when we tell him to knock it off, such a stinker, he looks just like me or so I’ve heard, he loves legos, harry potter, mario and batman and like I mentioned video games, his teacher says he doing above average work in the classroom, he’s reading… he’s 6.

This is our last year together during the day. He attends kindergarten in the afternoons and next year he will be in first grade all day. I think I’ll stop thinking/worrying about next year and live in this year (in the moment).

Pictures of J at 3

Pictures of J at 6

Love this guy!!