Geez, I'm slacking...

Hellooooo out there in cyberland!  It's been awhile!  We're "in season" here, so it's been crazy!  Not as busy as I had hoped for, but that's to be expected with the economy.  We have lots of regular customers, and get excellent reviews...just a matter of time, I'm hoping.

Let's update on kiddo's (I don't have any new pics on this comp...I'll try and get them on my Myspace page soon!!).

Kaitlynne:  Unfortunately, she's not doing well.  Physically, she's healthy as a horse (thankfully).  Her emotional state is an ongoing rollercoaster ride, and we (including her) are ready at ANY time to get off!  We've done some minor tweaking on her meds, and she goes to her therapist once a week...just alot going on, I guess, not to mention the HORMONES ::eek::

Brandon:  His speech therapy is going very well.  We were able to get additional services, so he now gets visited by 2 seperate women, 3 times a week.  Still no words, but his eye contact with others has improved greatly, and he's come up with different ways to get his needs across.  I had a dream he said "mom-mom" in the car :*)

Gabriel:  Our little bruiser!  I don't know if I had updated here or not, but he does NOT have congenital scoliosis!!!!  He does this crazy little crab-crawl that is SO cute!  He stands up on his own, cruises the furniture, eats anything he can...and is a total comedian!

Anne-Marie:  The princess ;)  She's also crawling, cruising, standing, a little pickier with the eating, much more vocal than her brothers.  Brandon actually mimicks things of hers, at times.  She follows him around everywhere!

We've had some serious scares with my brother lately that I don't want to get into here, but it's killing me not being able to be with him right now.  Please pray for him.

We also had to put our dog, Princess, to sleep a few days ago.  She had cancer and was just getting worse by the day.  We didn't tell Kaitlynne until after we had buried her (by the waterfalls).  She's pretty upset, as she was closest to the dog.  We told her that she can visit whenever she wants, and when the time is right, we'll get a new dog.  Right now we have our hands pretty full, tho.

I think that's about it...I hope everyone out there is doing well, too.  Take care until next time :)

Happy Birthday to the sweet Peekers

The season is picking up here, we've been busy!  I wanted to pop in and say Happy Birthday to my sweet baby boy, Brandon.  I can't believe it's been 2 years!  It was technically yesterday (May 8th).  We did a small get-together dinner at the restaurant (I cooked spaghetti, one of his favorites).  He's been sick, as have the twins and I, but luckily he seemed to enjoy himself.  He certainly ate plenty!  He's not been feeling so well tonight, tho, poor baby.  I'll add a few pics from his little party when I get them on here.

Not much else to report, I guess.  Just trying to make things work in this crappy economy. 

5 free minutes

Geez, I've gotten so behind on this :/  I never realized how hard it'd be to juggle a job outside the home, and raising 4 kids!  Here's quickie updates for everyone:

Kaitlynne:  Doing fairly well in school, but having a hard time in other areas.  We just switched her counselor (first one was useless, and actually did more harm than good), and her psychiatrist is a really nice person.  The teachers/school have been very understanding and helpful with her transition.  She's made a few close friends, one of which lives next door-so she has someone to play with.  The weather has gotten lovely here, so she's able to be outside more.

Brandon is doing well.  He still isn't speaking, but we have a wonderful speech therapist that comes to the house weekly to work with him--he's showing tremendous progress :)  He's such a sweet boy, very lovey.

Anne-Marie (left) and Gabriel have grown so much, so quick!  He is 21lbs, she's 19lbs, both 28" long.  Both sit up, and get on all 4's...almost crawling.  Both have their bottom 2 teeth.  He's our goofball, she's our dainty princess.  They're so much fun-very good babies.

Alex and I are doing well.  The business has had a few minor bumps, but overall, going really well.  Everyone likes our food, atmosphere, etc...  Takes up alot of time, and now we have the motel open, too.  In 3 weeks, we start our summer hours...ugh.  I'll be glad to get this first year done!

Hope everyone is doing well out there in cyberland!

Congrats and Goodbye

A quick congrats to Dale Jr for winning The Bud Shootout...hoping this is the beginning of many more wins!

Wanted to add a farewell to actor Roy Scheider, who has died today at the age of 75.  He was a wonderful actor, and I personally really enjoyed his work.  God Bless and RIP.

 

 

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Happy Birthday, babygirl.

Wow, November 8th?  Oye vey!  Well, we've moved to Maine (as of early December).  It's beautiful up here!  Kaitlynne's loving her new school, babies are all doing well (sharing a cold, but well).  Mom's enjoying it, it seems, as well.  We've been very busy getting the restaurant and motel ready to open (which we did, last weekend...very busy, many compliments!).  I've had brief moments of home-sickness, but I've been so busy, hard to find the time to think about it.  The snow is really pretty (as long as you don't have to go out in it, lol).  For the most part, really nice people, too.  We're just a few miles from the ocean!  I'll get pics of the surrounding areas when the snow thaws more and the scenery can be seen.  We have a waterfall directly behind our house (owned on our property).  The restaurant actually overlooks the reservoir/waterfall :)

I actually just popped in to say Happy Birthday to our beautiful daughter, Marissa.  I just can't believe it's been 3 years.  I still keep in touch with many from the pregnant loops I was on, and it's hard to hear all of the things their toddlers are doing.  Marissa is forever a newborn, with her sweet face etched in our hearts and minds.  We love you so much, baby girl, and thank you for watching over us.  Whenever I feel down, I know you're there with me.  I can't wait to see you again.  I hope you had a huge party today with all of the precious angel babies.  Sending you sweet kisses.  "See you on the other side..."

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5 free minutes

Wow, it's been awhile...I'll try to give a quick recap.  We're still anxiously awaiting our move.  My FIL can't seem to decide on where he wants to buy a hotel, so we're just...waiting.  It's nice having Alex home, for sure...it's made the first few months with the twin so much easier than it would have been.  It's just hard not knowing where we're going to be and when.  We've outgrown our current house, and we're greatly looking forward to no longer being cramped up in here.  My incision finally healed up (thank God, without any infection).  My blood pressure never did go back down after the babies, tho, so I had to go on medication for that.  They tested my thyroid yesterday, hoping to get the results back tomorrow.  I've never hoped for anything to be wrong before, but this would explain so much.  My anxiety levels have peeked, and I'm having a hard time with things right now.  Mostly because of the impending move, I think, but there's just alot going on.  I was offered a medication, but I'm not sure want to start it just yet.  The doc told me that *if* my thyroid levels are off, than it can cause anxiety, as well.  Anywho, hopefully know soon.

Kaitlynne is having a hard time in school right now.  She gets frustrated, so rather than ask questions, she's been lying about having/doing homework, arguing when someone tries to help, etc...  The ESE teacher they got this year was a very last-minute replacement, and I have to say, I'm really disappointed in her.  She has such a horribly negative attitude about Kaitlynne.  Even Kaitlynne's mainstream teacher has called to tell me that this ESE teacher is always talking negatively about Kaitlynne when she sees her, too, and she's tired of it.  I've gone to the VP, as has the teacher, but I don't know what will be done.  I thought we would have moved by now, and she wouldn't have to deal w/ her anymore.  Like the reg teacher says, Kait shouldn't have to deal with it at all...ugh, it's a mess.

Brandon is doing great, tho having a hard time with his molars coming in.  He's such a joy.  He just lights up when he see's Kaitlynne (she's a goofball for him).  I'm so proud of the way Kaitlynne has taken to her siblings.  I was so unsure, since she was my one and only for so long.  She's really hard to be around sometimes lately (a combination of things), but she still surprises me in good ways.  She's turning into quite a lovely young lady, too (something hard for me to watch, but happy at the same time...the bittersweet part of being a parent, I guess).  Brandon, tho, is doing well.  Climbs all over everything, walking/running everywhere. 

The twins.  Wow.  They aren't as hard as I thought they would be.  They tagteam us at times, but it's amazing have 2 little ones at one time.  They're so completely different.  Anne-Marie is our flirty little drama queen.  Gabriel is our deep thinker with a smile that lights up the room.  We had feared Anne-Marie was born with a dislocated hip, but thankfully it turned out ok.  Gabriel was born with torticollus.  We've been trying to do exercises and positioning at home until we can get him in for physical therapy (again, thought we'd be moved by now...I'm going to try and start it here anyway).  Gabriel has been smiling since 4 wks, and cooing like crazy since 5 wks.  Anne-Marie saved her pretty smile for about 6 wks, coo's very softly at you when you tell her what a pretty girl she is.

I'll add a few photos for y'all that aren't on my email lists.  Hope all are well :)

Kaitlynne's Halloween pic:

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j112/DELLA2577/Picture060.jpg

Brandon's Halloween pic:

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j112/DELLA2577/Picture061.jpg

Anne-Marie and Gabriel

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j112/DELLA2577/Babies030.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j112/DELLA2577/Babies024.jpg

Like Noah's Ark, they came in 2's!

Just a quick update (I don't get much time online now lol).  We got to the hospital (on Aug 23) for our csection at 730am.  However, getting the IV in was another story (I have horrid veins).  It took 3 anesthesiologists almost 3 hours to get it in.  Needless to say, we lost our place for the OR, and had to wait.  We got in around 145 or so.  Spinal went fairly well (that part always scares the crap out of me).  They opted to do a classical incision this time (up and down vs side to side).  At that point, I didn't care, I just wanted my babies here.  Soooo, here's the stats:

Born at 237pm, Gabriel Roman Michael B.  He weighed 7lbs 3oz, 18.75'' long.  He's such a little peanut (which is what we call him...lol).  Clean bill of health :)

Born at 239pm (they had a time getting her out cuz of her size), Anne-Marie Aryanna Rose B.  She weighed in at a whopping 7lbs 14oz, 19.25'' long!  She actually eats less than he does, tho...LOL!  She had a slight heart murmur, but it wasn't detectable by the time we left the hospital.  She also has a hip that pops in/out easily that the ped is watching...hoping that corrects itself :(

Both took to the breast wonderfully, but as usual, the pain from the vasospasms and bleeding/cracked nipples was a bit much.  I now pumping, as well as supplimenting with formula.  They're such wonderful babies.  They let me 3-4 hours at a time at night!  Woohoo!  Kaitlynne adores them, she's all over them and in with me in the bedroom most of the day (I'm still resting from surgery).  Brandon usually doesn't notice them, but when he does he's very sweet with them (lays his head down on them to give hugs, or 'pets' them...lol).  He doesn't twitch at night when they get up, thank goodness.  They're all in our bed, too!  Me, who swore she'd never co-sleep, loves it...love having my babies near me.  The twins are in a co-sleeper type thing, Brandon is all up in Daddy's space (loves to snuggle up close to him). 

My incision has opted to not close up the way it should :(  It's not infected, thank God, and I'm praying it stays that way.  They did remove my staples last Friday, and I'm just keeping it clean right now.  I go back next Friday to have it checked.  I'm so scared it's going to get infected, I've heard horror stories :(  I've also been battling extreme back pain (which, the anesthesologist had told me that spinals can make already-existing back pain worse...he was right), and residual headaches (from the spinal).  I actually had a blinding migraine on Sunday when we were about to discharge.  I had to stay overnight again to get special meds (in an IV...which I had to get a new one done, it was horrid).  I am walking around good, tho.  Feels good to get around.  We went to the mall in the next town over and I walked it!  I cleaned my own kitchen!  I walked Wal-Mart to get groceries!  It's huge to me, since I was wheelchair bound everywhere for weeks, and couldn't bend over to even get my own clothes on.  All well worth it, tho, no doubt.

Now we're concentrating on the move.  We haven't heard a specific date yet, hoping my father-in-law will be down soon to talk about it.  My SIL in Canada did go into remission from the leukemia, however she was given a 14% chance of survival over the next 5 years :(  How horrible to have to hear that.  So, my FIL has been busy with that, of course, so we've not mentioned anything else.  My brother and Pete left for Missouri last Tuesday (they did come over Monday, lucky for them...I would have disowned him had they not).  Alex's brother left the day before for Kansas.  Sad, everyone's leaving. 

Kait's doing well in school, so far.  Updated her IEP (told the counselor I wanted it done before we left, since they knew her and I wouldn't have to fight for what I think she needs).  She's missed a few days already, tho.  I wish that didn't have to happen, but with babies coming and all these appts in another town, it's been hard not to keep her out sometimes.

Anywho, I guess that's about it...time to feed a couple of cuties :)  I'm going to add a pic of my friend, Kim, holding thebabies.  Anne-Marie is on the left, Gabriel on the right.