Celebrating Life~ AJ

Three years ago today.....

New Fun

I discovered Digital Scrap booking today. I am obsessed! I have downloaded a bunch of papers, embellishments, etc.- all for free! This is so much easier than pulling everything out to make pages.

Check out the family photo journal for the pages!

Celebrating Life~ My Grandmother

Two years ago today my Grama passed away. The day after Valentine's Day.

Day of Love

What a day! It actually wasn't that bad. Started off eh with "Storm Agatha" leaving snow/icy conditions for the travel in to work- wasn't so bad, made it in on time. A bunch of us had pizza delivered for lunch so we wouldn't have to go out. Todd called me this morning thinking that I would leave early due to the freezing rain, but I stuck it out. He stopped by an hour before I got our (on his way home) to clean the ICE off of the truck- I thought maybe he wanted me to cook dinner LOL! The ride home was crappy until I got half way home and the roads were just WET! I didn't really feel like cooking, so Todd went and got Chinese for dinner.

Jake was disappointed this morning with school being cancelled. We made Valentine's for all of the kids and teachers (there are 3) in his class last night. Today I set out cards and a heart tray of candy for Todd and Jake. My gift....a new laptop. Killer deal on this Gateway from Best Buy- we didn't want to go out Sunday, so we ordered on line and had it delivered yesterday. I love it!

So Todd offered a Snickers heart to Jake and he realized there was peanuts in it, so Jake says "I can't eat that! I am not a squirrel!".

Happy Valentine's Day

Celebrating Life~ Gramp

Gramp passed away 3 years ago today.

Back in the Swing

Sunday night while I am trying to prepare for my first day back to work and to get the boys ready for Monday, Todd decides he is going to "trim" his hair. As soon as he came into the living room I started laughing, and continued for about 20 minutes. He wouldn't let me take a picture, but I will post a pic of Jim Carey when he was in the movie "Dumb and Dumber"..note how his bangs go STRAIGHT ACROSS! Needless to say, I dropped what I was doing and got the hair clippers out..No. 3 attachment all the way around (I actually like it).

How was my first day/week back? Well, it was nothing special. See below:

• "Few" people missing (already new that), Michele is in MX on vacation, so it was kind of quiet. It was good to see the people I missed.


• I wasn't as emotional as I thought I was going to be (I did get a little when Patty and I were talking about Jake and how I was able to either take him to school or pick him up; and then when Jeff asked me how Kaleb was doing- he had known about the RSV and actually knew how dangerous it can be).


• Pumping went well (schedule worked out with another Mommy that also pumps)- I go (try) twice a day (morning and afternoon). Friday wasn't so good as I was a tad stressed (see below) and I only managed to go once..so, not much.


• When I returned, I learned that I was moving back to my old department. Wasn't so bad, but wasn't officially told, just found out and then my duties weren't as clear as I would have liked. So, most of the week was spent re-doing the schedule and reacquainting myself (I had been out of the loop for over 6 months).


• I learned that we no longer have "sick/personal time", we have to "earn" it like the employees on the floor. So, we cannot be late more than 6 minutes a week and we really cannot deviate from our work schedule unless it is approved, and we have to work 40 hrs. This is per quarter (3 months). If we can accomplish this, we "earn" 12 hours. I banked 12 hours for Oct-Dec, but will not get it these 3 months because I took a week of unpaid time on FMLA (maternity leave) (stupid).


• Short term/long term disability was cut to 50% pay instead of 100%- good thing I was out when I was...I got 100% pay for 6 weeks. AND, there is a 7 day "waite period" with no pay, rather than get paid after the 3rd day out. (gay).


• We will start punching the clock March 1st. (retarded).


• On Thursday they let 3 more people go. One leaving effects my job as the other scheduler and I now have more work (they felt they would keep the 2 stronger of the 3 and let the new Inventory Mgr coming on board cover the rest). (not too happy).


• Because of the above, my hours are changing to 7:30 - 4 (so I go in 30 minutes later) (don't know how I feel about that).


• And...my cubicle is moving (Amy is where Laureen was and I will be where Amy was). (eh)
  

How are things at home?

• Wednesday was horrible. Just wanted to relax after getting my daily things done, but my nephew was here until 7:30 pm (no further comment at this time).


• Todd started helping out 2 weeks before I went back to work- he slacked off a bit this week, which was frustrating for me. AND, he asked if he could go shoot pool on Friday night with a buddy from work (I would not answer him). No further comment at this time, but he did NOT go last night. We have had a few "conversations" about compromise and responsibilities around the house. My thought is when you only wash the laundry and take out the garbage, you have no room to say ANYTHING.


• Jake is still in his bed. He has come in twice this week before 5 am and we sent him back to bed. He goes to bed no later than 9:30 p.m. and is usually up by 7 a.m. for the day (he has been getting up around 5:30 a.m....).
  

So, that was my week in a nutshell. Don't feel like being creative or really have the time, so I did "bullets". Off to CVS to get the rest of Big K's PediaPred (my Dad dropped the bottle). Already did the Walmart thing today, so we are god for another week. Almost done with paying the bills for the next few weeks. Big K has already had his bath.

Joy, Joy.

Clocks Ticking

Got a lot accomplished Thursday. I was able to shower and cut Jake's hair (with little hassle) before he needed to go to school. It was off to my work to get my check and then to the bank to cash it. From there I brought the bugger to school. Before it was time to go pick him up I headed to Old Navy (got some really comfy pants/shirt for myself, shirt/wind pants for Todd, jammies/2 shirts for Jake, few out fits/shirts fo Kaleb that will fit him next winter...as low as $1.97 ea.!) and then had time to go to Walmart (with 10 minutes to spare until Jake was dismissed) and pick up formula that was on sale (Similac was offering 25.7 oz. can of Advance along with 1 qt. of the premade liquid for $21.87!! Plus they send me $5 off coupon/checks), then finally pick him up.

Matching Jammies I bought for the boys



I go back to work tomorrow. I have had a good almost 10 weeks at home and wouldn't have traded it for anything. Had a chance to spend quality time at home with my family and was able to participate with Jake going to school. I also will miss late night's watching CNN and HGTV, sleeping until 9 a.m. (hasn't append in a few weeks), taking Jake to school and/or picking him up, and watching Bringing Home Baby. *sigh*.

Work let one of my good friends go last week and another (schlep they shouldn't have hired anyway) on Friday. It's that time of the year when sales are down and they are looking at numbers- I have managed to stay on for 9 1/2 years. I hear they are conserving on the heat- to the point where people are wearing their winter coats and hats!. So, it ought to be interesting.


Spending the weekend getting the house in line. Cleaned and organized the living room yesterday while Todd and my Dad took Jake to Best Buy (Jake's favorite store)- they brought home Japanese *yummy* for dinner. We manage to have the bassinet and swing with room to move/play (once he has outgrown those, then it will be time for the Exersoucer). In the process of moving all of the kids books upstairs onto my book shelf and then I will transfer my books to another (less clutter). Dining area, kitchen, and downstairs bath are almost done. My bedroom- eh, some other day. Would like to get a nap in (was wide awake from 4 am to 6:15 am then went for a nap with the baby- should have no problem getting up tomorrow, but may get into an old habit of not sleeping on Sunday night because I know where I am going on Monday...and I won't be with my "babies" all day) and finish reading some magazines to add to the pile for Cathy.


Finished our taxes and have already received the state return back. Yippee...$ can go towards hospital co-pay for when Kaleb was born and other hospital related bills. Federal refund will be put into savings. Hoping my Dad will drop his off today, don't think I will have time to get to it during the week. On the taxes...why do people buy Turbo Tax when you can do it online at Turbo Tax.com for FREE and it costs the same to file electronically?? (We bought the program last year and could not use it this year because of Kaleb..we will see if we can use it to do my parents and brothers taxes).

Off to finish making "Fiesta Cabbage"- check out my page if you are interested in the recipe.

Family Photo Journal

I have created a new link on all of our pages to our new "Family Photo Journal". Rather than posting a ton of pictures on the kids' pages, it will be easier to post them here. Feel free to comment or upload!

Enjoy!

First Real Snow

Last night

This morning

Playing Around

Was "bored" so I altered one of my pictures (Todd's goatee and side burns extended, hair on his lower lip, and extra bushey right eye brow; Kaleb is missing a right eye brow).

Crazy January Weather

Almost made it to 60 degrees today...

Daddy's Boys

Hopefully the worst of the kids being sick is behind us. Here are some new pictures taken this week.

A New Year

Wishing you and your family a HEALTHY, HAPPY, and SAFE 2007!

A Night in the ER

Kaleb's cough got worse Saturday night and into Sunday (he was coughing so bad that his mouth turned a bit purple Sunday a.m.). As Sunday went on, his coughing fits became more frequent and had another fit where his mouth turned purple as he was having problems catching his breath, so we called the ambulance- I didn't feel comfortable driving him and wanted him to be at the hospital where they could look at him. (The weird thing is that he wouldn't be real stuffy and be coughing all the time...freaked me out though when he was!!).

So, we spent a good 5 hours in theER last night (and he wasn't coughing TOO bad either)- they have an impressive ER. They did a chest XRAY that was clear; drew blood (he did so good) to check for whooping cough (neg) and strep; and tested for RSV- a respiratory disease- (they stick a swab thing through his nose and down his throat!). We will not know for 7 days if he does have strep, but the results came back positive for RSV. SCARY! He and I almost had to spend the night, but after monitoring his oxygen level and pulse (and the fact that he was eating normally and not lethargic), the DR called 2 other DR's and decided to let us go home. In the back of my mind, I kind of wanted to stay just in case something happened....as it was I got maybe an hours sleep last night because I kept checking him to make sure he was catching his breath. The DR was not happy that our DR had him on antibiotics at such a young age and told us to discontinue treatment (my thought is that my DR is not retarded and wouldn't give him something if he knew it would harm him).

With RSV and Kaleb being so young to take meds to treat the cold, there is not much you can do other than run a humidifier and let the illness run its course. I do know some children that actually require the need for an inhaler or have to go to the hospital for breathing treatments. I am going to follow up with our DR tomorrow to see what we need to do from here (of course they were closed today).

I feel a bit better today and Kaleb seems to too. He isn't coughing as much or as hard; the stuffiness hasn't been that visible either- I was able to suction quite a bit from his nose today, but most of the congestion is in his chest.

We ARE Zithromax

We all made it to the doctor! Jake has a form of pneumonia and is on antibiotics; Kaleb has a form of strep and is on antibiotics too; Todd is just getting over "this thing" and has a script for Z-pack to fill if he needs it- also had his blood pressure taken and it was rather high, so the doc adjusted his meds (he had changed over to our dr); I am just starting "this thing" and will be taking Sudafed and also have a script to fill if needed for a Z-pack.

It's Here...

I seriously thought that Kaleb and I would not catch the sickness, but we are at the beginning stages. With the long holiday weekend coming up, I decided to make an appt. for the three of us (and possibly Todd) to see the doctor this afternoon. Kaleb started with a stuffy nose last night, but it is on and off and he also has a little cough and has been sneezing; I woke up with my head hurting and could feel a little pain in my ears as well as possible swollen glands; Jakob's cough has worsened (at least he took medication on his own yesterday and we did not have to take drastic measures for him to take it; Todd still feels under the weather. I am most concerned about the baby with him being so young.

'Tis the Season

We had a good Christmas! Todd and I decided not to buy for each other this year and to just focus on the boys (of course I did pick up a few things from Dogfish Head and Harpoon for him...). Jakob and I got up about the same time (before 8 am)- see his blog for more on Jakob and his gifts- and headed downstairs to see what Santa brought from the "Norf Pole".

I didn't think I would finish getting the house straightened away, the rest of the gifts wrapped, and make 2 chocolate cream pies...but it happend!

Around 2 pm my parents, brother Kevin, his wife Megan, and son Shawn came. We opened gifts from them and from my aunts the night before (we didn't go this year due to Todd and Jake not feeling well). About 4:30ish Nana and Candi came to visit. After gifts, we had CHINESE for dinner...yummy!

Shawn, Jake, and Kevin

Christmas Eve

A few months back, we picked out jammies for Jake to wear on Christmas Eve and he picked out Kaleb's. Jakob said the milk he had before bed was the "best ever"!

All are asleep! I need to set cookies out for "Santa", finish wrapping a few gifts, and get to bed before Santa comes. Heehee

Sweet Dreams........

A Visiting We Will Go

Friday night we ventured out to Brian and Tawnya's. We had a great time with friends and just hanging out by the fire and watching Christmas movies (Jake was able to watch movies on a sleeping bag just like he was camping out). Kaleb slept the whole time we were there; he really enjoyed his time with Tawnya and Dan. We did miss seeing Jaime =(.

Today we went over to the farm to see Great Gram. Nana, Aunt Sue, Uncle Don, and Catherine came over to meet baby Kaleb. We had a great visit (Jake was Jake buzzing all around!). Of course, we were in Woodstock so I HAD to have cider from Woodstock Orchards....mmmm mmmm delicious!!

Gram and the boys.....

With Catherine and Aunt Sue......

I think the rest of the weekend will be low key and spent at home as both Todd and Jake seem to be coming down with a little something.