A Letter to Hannah

To My Hannie—



I don’t write a lot of letters, Baby Girl, and I’m really trying to save the nostalgia until you turn a year old, but today is momentous. You are six months old; one half of one year old. How is that even possible? It really does seem like yesterday that I was walking in to the hospital, so early in the morning having barely slept the night before from all the anticipation, but it wasn’t. It has been six beautiful months.

I feel blessed that you have fit so easily in to our family. You love your brother and sister so fiercely and want to be involved in every last thing that they are doing. The problem though is that you are not at all mobile. This frustrates you to no end, but does not make you any more eager to roll or spend extended time on your belly. You are horrifically stubborn and though you don’t talk, you make your needs and wants known to anyone who will listen.

You are also obsessed with the cats. You will stop everything you are doing to get a good look at them. And you get more and more excited every time Oswald settles down near you. You’ve been allowed to pet him recently, and the look of amazement on your face is priceless.

You love to play with your toys, but you are happiest when I let you chew on a wet washcloth. Being easy to please is ok with me. Meal time is your favorite and you especially love oatmeal when it is thick and chunky. You also love chewing on Gerber Wagon Wheels. You have tried noodles, and yesterday you took a piece of garlic bread right off of my plate, and went to town! You are a girl who gets what she wants, that is for sure.

Your daddy says that his favorite thing about you is how we can hear you smile. Even in the dark of our bedroom, in the early morning when you first wake up, we can hear your open mouthed gummy grin. My favorite thing about you is how you bury your head in my neck and babble; it almost sounds like you’re saying “I love you”.

So here’s to 6 more months, my Banana. And years to come after that.

I love you to the moon,

Mommy

Today

Well, my stomach is finally feeling back to normal today, so I am looking forward to lunch time. Of course, all I have is a Lean Cuisine, but it is Southern Beef Tips, which is savory and good.

I woke up to Hub’s extra loud cell phone alarm this morning—he thought he was doing me a favor by not changing my alarm, but actually, he screwed me over because his alarm woke the baby. And just as I got her back to sleep, she decided to poop. A huge disgusto poop, mind you, so I had to get her up early and change her. She woke the big kids up with her babble, and we ended up being ahead of schedule, but due to the weather, it made no difference.

It normally takes me 5 minutes to get them to school, and it took me over a half an hour today. Then, my normal 20 minute commute from school to work, took me about an hour and fifteen minutes. You know, this snow storm was predicted well in advance. Like 3 days in advance. Plows and salt truck should have been out, but nothing was plowed. Everything was still covered in snow. It was total suckage.

I don’t have much else to say. The baby turns 6-months old tomorrow and therefore has a morning dr. appointment. Bud has his 5-year checkup as well, and I think they are both getting 4 or 5 shots. Hub has a fun day ahead of him!

I am off to visit your blogs and check Facebook while I eat. Why aren't YOU my Facebook friend???

Barfing Flu Be Gone!!

It started last Thursday evening. Actually, the foreshadowing was probably Wednesday when Daycare Teacher told me that all of the babies had been throwing up. Liv was overly cranky; she screamed through her dinner and bath and passed out after drinking about 2 ounces of her bedtime bottle. She was in bed shortly after 9 and I settled in to watch Grey’s and Private Practice. I hadn’t intended to stay up so late, but I was comfy on the couch, and was entertained, so I stayed. After TV was over, I debated whether I was going to do my morning preparation then, or just get up early and do it. I decided to go to bed, and get up earlier. I checked on the big kids, and then went in to our room. I reached in the bassinette to cover the baby and felt something wet as I tucked her blanket around her. I thought, “WTF??” and then thinking that maybe it was cold, rather than wet, I stuck my hand in again. Nope, definitely wet. I turned on the TV to get some light, and discovered the baby to be covered from head to toe in vomit. I nearly died, but kicked in to high gear spreading a blanket on my bed, getting her changed and then stripping her bed. I was glad that I’d only put her in a clean onesie, because she threw up 3 more times while I was doing the change over. She pretty much slept through all of it, and was stealthily quiet. I would bet that she had thrown up 2 or 3 times before I’d even gone to bed. By the time I had everything settled and cleaned, it was nearing 1am, but Liv was fine and slept the rest of the night.

Friday was uneventful; we kept her home from daycare and I went in to work a few hours late. She drank watered down juice and ate rice cereal and bananas all day. And then started the pooping which is still going on today.

Saturday was great! We thought that maybe we were in the clear. I made pulled pork for dinner and MIL came over. Cut to 4 AM which is when Hub and I both woke up at death’s door. We were sick all of Sunday, and around 4PM, Lucy started in with the barfing. FIL caught wind of it around this time too, so there was poor Bud tending to us all, save for the baby, and being absolutely cheerful about it. We kind of all felt better by the evening. Lucy even ate some soup for dinner. Bud was still fine.

Bud never gets barfing flu-sick. For every time he has thrown up, I would say Lucy has thrown up 5 times. We kind of thought he was good.

Until 3 this morning when he was standing in our room saying “Mom?? MOM!! I threw up!!” In his bed, I might add. Hub cleaned that all up, while Bud and I settled in on the couch. Bud was ok this morning, even eating some toast, but got sick again this afternoon.

It goes on and on and on.

All 6 of us have gotten it. Liv still can’t shake it. And Bud seems to still intermittently have it.

I am here to say that if we start passing this shit back and forth, I quit. I frigging QUIT!!

Contests GALORE!!

First of all, did you know that Bloggy Giveaways is doing their quarterly carnival?? There are like 1000 giveaways.



Secondly, Grocery Cart Challenge is giving away this AWESOME coffee pot.

Letters: From the Heart

Dear Dunkin Donuts-

I think it’s pretty crappy that I even need to order extra butter on my bagel in order for it not to be half dry. Even crappier though, is that you charge me $.15 for the extra butter and the damn bagel still has dry spots. You need a better system.

________________________________________

Dear The Children’s Place-

You need a better website. I am trying to spend money on your merchandise, and you don’t let me because your site consistently crashes. In addition, please stop allowing me to add items to my cart just to immediately take them away and tell me they are out of stock.

__________________________________________

Dear Stride Gum-

Actually, you are pretty awesome. Your long lasting flavor is a bright spot in my day.

___________________________________________

Dear Workplace Vending-

I think it is complete crap that you have removed all peanut butter items. Especially when I am totally dying for a peanut butter Twix. I know the risks! I’m a grown-up! Not to mention the fact that these candy bars are so damn old, I’m pretty sure they aren’t tainted.

___________________________________________

Dear Lucy-

Please do not ever make me explain to you again that it is inappropriate to slather your body (including your lady parts—le sigh) in the Chap Stick you received for Christmas. Please also stop telling me that Santa is mad at ME for taking away your Christmas gift. Santa is MAD AT YOU dammit!!.

______________________________________________

Dear The Barfing Flu-

I realize that you have hit every baby in Liv’s class. Please stay away, because the thought of a 3 child barf-a-thon is probably the least appealing thing I can imagine.

_______________________________________________

Dear Menstruation-

You are giving me a good reason to get knocked up again. I HATE YOU.

WINNER!! And Answers!

This was fun! I was dying to see what you guys would say. I have tallied the answers and the clear winner is Pocklock who got 9 out of 10 right! WOW!! I would have to say those were some pretty powerful guesses! Props out to Jess, Shauna and Bananafana who each got 6 right too.

So here are the actual answers, and Pocklock—I am emailing you now!

1. My pseudonym, Saly comes from my actual 1st and middle names. What are they?
Sara Lynne

2. My favorite part-time job when I was in school was:
Selling bras and underwear to both male and female strippers at Fredericks of Hollywood. this was definitely the most interesting job, EVA. Plus I got a 40% discount. Another fun fact- this was the only job I was ever fired from—for being late. They fired me and gave me the option of working my shift that day or just going home. Um, didn’t you just fire me? Everyone who worked there was a bitch anyway.

3. At my wedding:
2 of my gay friends who were not the other’s date, hooked up in the woods behind our reception site. TRUE STORY!! One of said friends came alone and the other came with one of my girlfriends. We noticed they were gone and couldn’t find them and then as some of my family was leaving, there they were exiting the woods sans shirts and carrying a blanket and a boom box. My friend K had never been more embarrassed and to this day I wish HIM a happy anniversary on my anniversary. It’s hysterical what happens when there is freely flowing booze!

4. The most pain I have ever been in was:
With kidney stones while pregnant with Lucy This was hands down the worst feeling of my life—I actually did do the other 3 painful things, but this SUCKED. I was actually hospitalized for 2 days. When we were in the emergency room with a ton of dirty vagabonds, Hub called my OBGYN and demanded that they admit me to the maternity ward. He stayed on the phone and argued for 15 minutes until they finally gave in and he wheeled me down there himself.

5. In college, I majored in:
a. music education and business
b. business and elementary education

Anyone who picked A or B got the point here. I started off in Music Ed and then changed to Elementary Ed. When I went back to school, just before getting pregnant for the first time, I was majoring in business. I never was much of a drinker, though Hub and I did spend a lot of time just sleeping in our apartment or at the Chinese Buffet.

6. The first time I kissed a boy:
a. was the summer after 8th grade, and I was with my 2 best friends and one of their boyfriends.
b. I screamed “WHAT THE HELL” when said boy put his tongue in my mouth.
c. I was 15 years old and it was Hub.
d. Both a and b
e. Both b and c

Hub and I have been together 4EVA but no, he was not my 1st kiss. We began dating the summer after I was in 10th grade. Which gave me 2 years of making out with random boys. And boy, did I.

7. I am deathly afraid of:
a. Birds

Yeah, birds freak the absolute shit out of me. When Hub and I were first hanging out, we had gone to Six Flags and were having a picnic in the parking lot. One of our friends threw some bread to the birds and they swarmed us. I rolled underneath the car without even thinking about it. Even watching birds on TV totally gives me the heebs.

8. I haven’t been to very many “main stream” concerts. My favorite
concert experience was:
The Monkees, a concert that was so overwhelming for me I actually burst in to tears when they started singing. Go ahead and call me a dork, it’s ok. I love the Monkees so much! I grew up watching them on Nick at Night and had all of my parents old records. Their music was a huge part of my childhood. So yes, when they took the stage and burst in to song, I burst in to tears.

9. I had very high aspirations for my life when I was a child. When I
grew up, I wanted to be:
a. a GOGO Dancer
b. A school bus driver

Yes, I wanted to be a GO GO Dancing Bus Driver. High aspirations indeed!!

10. I am overly freaked out by:
a. feet

Your feet my feet, anyone’s feet. BLech BLech Blech. Don’t even bring them near me. The exception is baby feet. I love them! And bite and kiss them!! My kid’s anyway. Probably not your kids…..

I'm Seasonally Affected

Maybe it’s because it’s so grey, cold and dreary, or maybe it’s because all of these yahoo conspiracy theorists are discussing our demise in 2012, or maybe after all of the gifting of Christmas and Bud’s birthday I’m coming down off of some kind of high. Whatever it is though, I’ve been a little bit blech , if you will, and I think the way to solve it is to do a giveaway.

I’m not going to make it a gimme though. Oh no. I am going to give you a quiz. And the person who scores the highest will win something, hand picked and not yet determined by me. I need an excuse to browse all of this delicious clearance anyway!

SO! The quiz…it is about me. And don’t worry, my geniuses, it is multiple choice. I am the final ruler on the grading, and I may give partial credit for wrong answers if you amuse me. Just saying…

Today is what? Thursday? And we have a long weekend coming up? I will keep this open through Monday at 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time. I will deliver the results sometime Tuesday, along with the correct answers and explanations.

You can leave your answers right in the comments, or email me. Whatever works.

Soo…without further ado:

1. My pseudonym, Saly comes from my actual 1st and middle names. What are they?
a. Sandra Lynette
b. Sarah Lynn
c. Sara Lynne
d. Samantha Lynn

2. My favorite part-time job when I was in school was:
a. Working as a spaghetti gal at Fazoli’s. It was all about the breadsticks.
b. Serving up mashed potatoes at Boston Market
c. Selling bras and underwear to both male and female strippers at Fredericks of Hollywood.
d. Slicing sweet potato fries at a hole in the wall called Barnacle Bills.

3. At my wedding:
a. 2 of my gay friends who were not the other’s date, hooked up in the woods behind our reception site.
b. Hub and 3 of my cousins danced topless for the crowd.
c. One of our guests brought their dog, and after a few drinks, paraded him out on to the dance floor.
d. The priest had to stop our ceremony twice to use the bathroom.


4. The most pain I have ever been in was:
a. while pushing out 10lb 2oz Bud
b. while delivering Lucy with no epidural
c. after breaking my toe while running around our apartment with my pants around my ankles.
d. With kidney stones while pregnant with Lucy

5. In college, I majored in:
a. music education and business
b. business and elementary education
c. beer, sleep and Chinese food
d. all of the above

6. The first time I kissed a boy:
a. was the summer after 8th grade, and I was with my 2 best friends and one of their boyfriends.
b. I screamed “WHAT THE HELL” when said boy put his tongue in my mouth.
c. I was 15 years old and it was Hub.
d. Both a and b
e. Both b and c

7. I am deathly afraid of:
a. Birds
b. Mice
c. Snakes
d. Dogs

8. I haven’t been to very many “main stream” concerts. My favorite
concert experience was:
a. Alanis Morisette the summer after my senior year, on the lawn at Six Flags
b. The Monkees, a concert that was so overwhelming for me I actually burst in to tears when they started singing.
c. Simon and Garfunkel, just after Bud was born, that was just a huge phenomenon.
d. Kenny Rogers outside at The Casino, where he waved to me from his limo on his way out.

9. I had very high aspirations for my life when I was a child. When I
grew up, I wanted to be:
a. a GOGO Dancer
b. A school bus driver
c. A chiropractor
d. An air traffic controller

10. I am overly freaked out by:
a. feet
b. cleaning out a hairbrush
c. anything that flashes
d. things that ding


That’s it!! Have fun!! See you Tuesday!

Random Kidbits

My house looks like there was some sort of explosion. Laundry, birthday gifts, and brick-a-brack festoon every surface. Having an entire sick family has hit us very hard. With the exception of Hub, who wouldn’t pop Vitamin C and the other vitamins I recommended, we are all feeling better. He is still behaving as if he is on death’s door. And today is his day home with the kids, so there is no telling what I will find when I get home tonight. I am glad to be at work for the time being, that is for sure.

Bud had a mini-meltdown last night because it was his turn to give me the first kiss, and I had mistakenly bestowed that honor on Lucy. He was fine until he told me that the kiss he gave me was the LAST! KISS! EVER! and then faced the reality of actually never kissing his mom again. He totally freaked out and needed about 20 minutes of sitting in the living room with Liv and me while Lucy went to sleep on her own. She did go to sleep, eventually, but not before going thru Bud’s dresser and putting on his “I watch ESPN with my Daddy” T-shirt over her button down, princess covered flannel pajamas and through her own drawers to pull on some stripe-y Christmas knee socks, pulled up over her pajama legs, of course. Imagine my surprise when I went in to check on her before going to bed myself. We’ve been calling her Punky Brewster lately as she loves to express herself through odd fashion choices on a regular basis.

Liv was the final of our 3 children to make it in to the dr. last week, and she came home with prescriptions for Albuterol and Cefprozil (or something like that). Albuterol makes this child a beast, so I’ve made an executive decision to only give it to her in the event that her wheezing was out of control. Thankfully, after about 5 treatments between Friday and Sunday, she has been ok. Still coughing, but ok. The dr. tested her again for RSV and advised that if this one came back negative too, that we would likely need to explore the possibilities of her having asthma. I got the call yesterday that it was negative……crapola. Not that I was wishing for RSV—Bud had that when he was a baby and it was a very scary thing—but I worry about the lifelong stigma of asthma. I guess we’ll be talking about it more at her 6-month visit at the end of the month.

Did I mention that we had a bowling party for some of Bud’s friends and cousins on Sunday to celebrate his 5th birthday? I haven’t uploaded the photos yet, but he had the time of his life. I’ve seen him play with his same-age cousins before, but to see him interact with all of his friends was a really neat thing. All of the parents stuck around too, so we didn’t have to keep an eye on renegade children. I’m glad to have been able to do it for him. Sunday night before bed he said “I really love you Mom, thanks for putting my party together for me.” My grown up little man.

Stop and Say Hi!

I could bore you with countless tales of how sick our family continues to be, or the fact that my OTHER eye is now infected. But honestly, I am sick of talking about it. You're probably sick of hearing about it too.

Thankfuly, today is Delurking Day!



So please use today to tell me you are here! I need a pickmeup! If you can't think of anything to say, tell me about your breakfast this morning.

Mine was standard--a large coffee from Dunkin and reduced sugar oatmeal.

Ok, go forth and comment!!

Bittersweet

I lay on the couch cradling Bud in my arms, sick with fever and chills. He slept fitfully, snorting and grunting every couple of minutes as he drifted in and out. It was actually kid of poetic, I thought. Wednesday was his 5th birthday, and there I was holding him in the same fashion, although he is a much bigger child now, as I did the day he was born.

I never wanted to be the mom who brought up the child’s birth story on their birthday, reminiscing “5 years ago today….” But there I was, doing it. 5 years ago, as much as we all tried, you just did not want to come out. 5 years ago, finally, there you were, my firstborn, in my arms, so brand new, but also there as if you belonged; had always been there. 5 years ago you began teaching me how to be a mom, and you still teach me something every day.

Birthdays are always sort of happy/sad occasions for me. It’s a joy to see them grow and gradually turn in to what will someday be their grown-up self. At the same time though, I long for my babies to stay babies, for them not to be so big that I can’t hold them in my arms. Yet birthdays are a reminder that it is not to be.

I haven’t made it through singing Happy Birthday to any of my children without crying. I can’t say that I ever will.

8 Days Late and $50 Short

OH! Here is my 2008 Survey!! Took me long enough!!!


1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Became a mom of 3!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I was so focused on the “ZOMG I am pregnant and SO.RIDICULOUSLY!sick!” at the turn of 2008 that there were no resolutions. The big one this year is to be healthy. I would like to be thin, but that is not the ultimate goal. I need to take better care of myself. And I think I want to start wearing makeup. I mean, I’m 30. Now is as good of a time as any…

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Well, I did…… also my good friend M.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.

5. What countries did you visit?
Canada, Eh!

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
some time just for me. Like overnight alone time

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
7/29 Liv’s bday

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Being able to effectively manage life with a full time job and 3 kids

9. What was your biggest failure?
Oy…I don’t know. I’ve had a lot of little FAILS, you know? Like losing my temper too quickly with the kiddos, having no patience with the hubby etc.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Morning sickness… does birthing a child count as an injury?

11. What was the best thing you bought?
hmmm, don’t remember buying anything for me

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My own, Dawg!! I birthed a child in record time!! And I Twittered it LIVE! Also. Hilary Clinton.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Le sigh…..my mom’s

14. Where did most of your money go?
Daycare, sad to say. And the everlong Kitchen Remodel 2008

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Excited in a terrified sort of way…pregnancy and birth.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
“My Sister, My Right Hand, My Beeeeest friend….Deliver Me”

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:


a) happier or sadder? Happier, because I am not miserably pregnant and I have a happy, healthy, chaotic family
b) thinner or fatter? Probably about the same. Fatter than I was before I got pregnant, but about the same as I was last year at 8 or 9 weeks bloated/pregnant
c) richer or poorer? Well, I make more money, but the cost of kid #3 kind of xxx’s it out. So I’ll say it’s a wash.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I’d have liked to read more. Let’s add that to the 2009 resolutions list, shall we? Read more.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Snapping at people around me when my patience was stretched too thin.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Home and with extended family.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
With my new baby girl, yes.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
How I Met Your Mother, Damages, Burn Notice, Breaking Bad (though I had to stop watching because it gave me labor pains—for serious)

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No.

24. What was the best book you read?
I really liked Emily Griffin’s “Something Borrowed” Truthfully, that may have been the only book I finished in 2008. Misty- I am committed to finishing Prodigal Summer this year.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
riiight….The new and improved Wiggles with Sam! Let’s all do the Shimmie Shake!!

26. What did you want and get?
A healthy and happy baby. A new kitchen!

27. What did you want and not get?
a new camera. A fancified one.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
I really enjoyed Burn After Reading. I also watch Knocked Up for the first time and LOVED that. For the record I thought Mama Mia SUCKED.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 30 and sulked. Then I had a surprise party to make up for it.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
a maid; a brand new house

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
bohemian maternity??? I am always better dressed when pregnant than while not pregnant.

32. What kept you sane?
Oh the blog for sure. You guys.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Mmm, Robert Downey Jr. it’s always RD Jr.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Prop. 8 grrrrrr!

35. Who did you miss?
occasionally, my kids. I actually missed work while I was on maternity leave

36. Who was the best new person you met?
My beautiful Hannie bean (uh-oh, name spoiler…OH, LIKE YOU DIDN’T ALREADY KNOW!)

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
3 kids is no big thing (until they are all sick at the same time), if I give in to “keep hub happy” he keeps me happy in turn,

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

?? I can’t answer this one