A booger

Reese now picks her nose and then finds me and says " a booga" and holds it out for me to take from her. Gross but still cute!

Big girl bed

So Jim and I got a wild hair today to change Reese's crib into a bed. To my disbelief she took a great nap and never got out. I have one of the little rails on it so she doesn't fall out. I figure after a few weeks and she is used to the bed we can take it off.
I really hope she sleeps well tonight in it.
I can't believe my baby is becoming a big girl!!!:(

Reese words

I've decided I need to post the hilarious things that Reese is now saying and doing each day. That way I have this to look back on
Just now she is eating some animal crackers and one is a horse. She says "momma horsie neh neh" she now refuses to eat the cookie because she doesn't want to eat the horsie.
Nice!
I then notice she's going poop so I asked her"do you want to go poop on the toilet"
Reese: no momma it's MINE!!

Stomach bug

Reese had her first stomach bug last night/today.
She was totally fine yesterday then all of a sudden at 9pm she started throwing up. No fever just puking. Poor baby puked all night long.
She slept most of the day today and pretty much just watched tv and snuggled (so not like her!) but she ate normally and seemed to feel ok.
So who knows what the heck happened wether it was food or a virus!
Just glad the puking has stopped

Two years old

I still can't believe Reese turned two yesterday!!! Crazy!
We had the most amazing party for her. We have such great family and friends and i am so happy so many came to celebrate our girl.
I am also very proud of how the party turned out. I spent a lot of time planning everything and it turned out exactly how I wanted. The kids of all ages had fun and the adults seemed happy too:)
My friend Jackie took pictures of the day and I'm so excited to see how they turn out(no pressure Jackie;)
Today Reese had her 2 year check up. She Is in the 75th percentile for everything. The dr also said that at this point is when you can project approx what height she will be as an adult and she said she will be about 5'10!! My tall girl! Crazy to think that but the doc said they are usually pretty right on with doubling the height they are now
She gave us a "prescription for custom inserts for Reese's shoes. Her feet turn in a little so she just needs a little extra arch support. We talked about it when she turned one but she wanted u to wait until two to see if it corrected itself. So no big deal, but that means no more cute sandals:( she has to wear tennis shoes or boots that will fit the inserts. And we know how much that girl loves her shoes! Other than that she was just fine! A couple vaccines and we were done.
Here's a couple pics from the last couple days

Sleep issues

I am at the end of my rope with Reese's sleep issues....
She has NEVER been a great sleeper. As an infant she woke up like 6 times a night. And didn't sleep through the night until she was like 18 months old, and even then she still wakes up most nights at least once. Usually I can just give her a paci and tuck her back in and she goes back to sleep. Starting this summer she would wake up around 1 or 2 am and she would just be awake for a couple hours. Letting her cry it out wouldn't work,so I just started putting her in my bed and letting her watch tv until she would fall back to sleep. Then either I would just leave her in my bed or put her back in her bed(it would all depend if I fell asleep, then was too lazy to take her back to her room) but it was so random. She would do it for a night or two then she would sleep great for a couple weeks.
We went on a couple of trips and to my surprise she slept great. Even camping she didn't make a peep at all. Then all of a sudden last week she started this entirely new issue. She will go to bed at her regular time, go right to sleep without a whine or cry and be OUT. Then EXACTLY one hour after she goes to bed she wakes up and she is completely freaked out. She screams and cries like I have never heard her do. She kicks the side of her crib and panics. It is heartbreaking to hear. Then when I go in to get her she is dripping in sweat and shaking and grabs on to me so tight. Once we are out of her room she is fine and happy as can be. Great....she is afraid of her room. I don't know if she is having nightmares. She has TWO night lights in her room and a sound machine that she has slept with since day one.
And it is random too. She will do this for a couple nights, then sleep fine for a couple nights.
Ahhhhhhh
It is SOOOO frustrating. The time after she goes to bed is when I clean up my house, relax, and actually have time to MYSELF! Oh and I forgot to add that she only does this on the nights Jim is working. So he has no idea what actually happens. He thinks she is just not sleeping but this is different and that's what so hard and bothers me.
I really hope this is just a short phase and that she goes back to better sleeping habits.

Lake Tahoe trip

We just got home from 4 days of camping at lake tahoe with my dad and step mom. It was SUCH a great trip! We ate, drank, swam, kayaked, biked, and more!
I haven't tent camped in YEARS, and I was worried I was too spoiled having a trailer for so many years, but it wasn't bad at all. The air mattress was skittle rough, but it just makes me love my bed even more:)
Reese was such a great camper(pun intended!) she didn't sleep great the first night, so I was worried. But after that she took great naps and slept all night without a peep the other nights! Yay! She loved going in the lake and floating around in the paddle boat my dad got for her. She is totally a little water baby.
Caleb kayaked for HOURS! We had to force him to come in each evening. He rode his bike for miles and miles. He really had a great time.
Jim and I even got to sneak away for lunch alone at the Beacon!! It was so nice to hang out just the two of us for a bit.
A big thank you to my parents for an awesome trip! Wish we could have stayed longer!

Penn Valley Visit

I took Reese and Caleb to visit our friend's the Ceselini's for a few days this week. They recently moved into a new house in Penn Valley and it is paradise!! We swam, and swam some more. The boys played and Laney and Reese are now best friends.
I had a great time with Lisa(as always!) We were even able to sneak away for a long lunch at Cirino's to have the best food and the most amazing bloody mary! My favorite!!
Thank you again Lisa for everything!! We had such an amazing visit!!
The pool. Look at that yard!

Laney and Reese

 

Caleb about to jump in
 

 

Momma and Reese

the girls thought the shower was a fun place to hang out.

Just enjoying some Starbucks 

Reese's favorite part of their house was the trampoline. Or as she calls it the "jump jump"
these girls jumped for EVER:)

 

Please notice Reese's awesome hair from the static!!

Whaaaaat??? 

<3 these two

Saying goodbye to each other!! They hugged like 20 times it was the sweetest thing ever 

 

Graeagle

Jim and I took the kids to his parents house in Graeagle for a long weekend. His parents, sister, and her daughter were also in town. We had a great time! My dad, step mom, and grandparents also stayed nearby, so we got to see them too.
I was so excited to spend time with my niece. She is a crack up and one very busy girl. I don't know how you keep up with her Amber!!!:) She and Reese were so cute together.
I was really nervous about the trip to be honest. We haven't taken Katie on a trip like that in well over a year. We weren't sure how she would handle the car ride, or the trip itself, but she did amazing!! She was happy the entire time, she didn't puke or cry once! She slept great too.
Reese on the other hand, was a different story. She did GREAT on the car ride up, but then when we were about 15 miles from the house she got car sick and threw up all over herself. She has never thrown up before, so she was very upset! Then she decided to not sleep at night. At. All.
We were sharing a room with her, which she never does well with, but every night as soon as we would get into bed she would wake up and refuse to sleep in her bed. She ended up sleeping with us 2 nights in our bed. NOT fun to sleep in a FULL SIZE bed with Jim and Reese let me tell you. :/
Saturday night is when they put on their fireworks show. We managed to keep all of the kids awake until the show and the two little girls did great! Reese wanted JIm to cover her ears the whole time, but she loved watching the show. So I guess next time we will just get some ear plugs for her and she will be just fine.
That night Reese acutally slept the whole night in her crib. But she only slept from 11-7 her normal wake up time, so I know she was exhausted! I was SO SO happy when she slept 12 hours last night. I woke up once in the night, did my check of all the kids then went right back to sleep and didn't wake up until Jim left for work. THANK YOU REESE!
I am taking Reese and Caleb to Grass Valley next week to visit friends, and I am REALLY hoping that Reese sleeps while we are there. Now I'm nervous:/ Sorry in advance Lisa! I am SO SO excited for this trip and I can't wait to post pics and tell you all about it

Just a Monday

Today was a nice day. Jim was in a good mood. The kids were in good moods(except for Reese throwing fits every 10 minutes because she is almost 2 and that's what 2 year olds do) and I was in a good mood. It doesn't happen often in a house with 5 very different personalities that we are all having a good day, so it was nice:)
A friend of mine was getting rid of a full size bed for free so Caleb got a "new" bed today. He has been sleeping on a futon for the last 2 years, so it was time for him to get a "big boy bed"---at least that's what we teased him all day by saying! We moved the futon to the back yard, so now there is a comfy seat to relax on. We have been spending so much time in the back yard, and I am loving it!
My grandparents came and visited today. It was too short of a visit, but always good to see them. We had a great dinner(that my grandma cooked, and anyone that knows my grandma's cooking knows what a treat that is!!) outside, with good wine and amazing carrot cake from Butter Cream for dessert.
Katie had her first physical therapy session since the fall. She didn't complain too much, but Pat didn't push too hard since it has been so long.
Tomorrow is farmer's market, and Jim doesn't know it yet, but I want all of us to go together;) We will see how much he fights it! Then I am getting my Mother's Day pedicure FINALLY!! I got sick right after mother's day and never went, so I am beyond excited! Plus it is with my favorite manicurist Jen so I get to hang out with her! BONUS:)

Swimming and country music

I took Reese swimming at a friend's house yesterday. She LOVED it like I knew she would. She has no fear of the water, which scares me, so I really want to get her some swim lessons ASAP! I have no pictures because I was in the pool with her obviously. I guess her float thing is in the attic, but next time that is necessary. It was a pain to have to hold her squirming the whole time:)
Can't wait to go swimming again soon!!
I have also figured out Reese LOVES country music. I go through phases with country. Jim like's it more than I do. But now that we have Pandora in our lives I find myself listening to it more and more. She dances around and "sings" with the songs. It is the cutest thing ever! She truly is her Papa's girl <3

A day at the coast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Six FLags day

Today a couple of us ladies took our kids to Six Flags. I only had a sitter for Katie for 5 hours, but it was a good amount of time. Would have loved to stay longer, but next time! Reese actually got to go on rides this year, and she absolutely LOVED it. She laughed and squealed the entire time we were on each ride. Then would throw a temper tantrum when we had to get off. Fun times!
We ate just the right amount of junk food, and the weather was perfect. Not too hot or too cool!
thanks ladies for a great day as usual:) And no I don't have any pictures. We have season passes so we will be going a lot this summer, so I will take pics next time!

4 Years

Today was our 4th wedding anniversary! I honestly can't believe it's ONLY been 4 years! I feel like we have had so much happen and so many changes in such a short amount of time. I never would have imagined, that we would have a feisty almost 2 year old girl. that Jim would have made a COMPLETE career change and have gone on to become a Paramedic. Or that I would no longer be doing hair. I also thought by now we would have moved out of Napa. We have always talked about it, and still plan on moving someday, but the time just never seemed right.
I sometimes want to strangle Jim, but when it's all said and done, he is my perfect match. He always puts the kids and I first, and never complains about his responsibilities. I know it is hard and stressful for him to have to provide for us, and I can't begin to thank him for all that he does.
I love you Jim with all of my heart!
xoxo
Here are a few pictures from the big day:)

 Look at how little the kids were!!!!

I'm baaaack

Did you miss me? I haven't written a blog post since March 9th. I just wasn't feeling blog like the last few months.
We honestly haven't been doing anything exciting enough to post about I feel. I really don't think any of you care about what we had for dinner each night. I don't have great pics, because once again just being around the house there aren't too many great photo op's!
But I have been reading all of my blogging friends posts, and I decided it's time to jump back in. Especially because summer is here and we are getting out and doing more!
Katie is feeling SO SO much better, and everyday is more like her "old" self. She can tolerate going on outings, and finished out the last couple months back in school! The baclofen pump was everything we had hoped it would be for her:)
Caleb finished out the year with A's and B's still!! He really turned it around this year in regards to school and was even chosen to be student of the month for April! He now has his advanced blue belt in karate, and just competed in his second tournament, where he placed 1st in sparring 2nd and 1st in board breaking! Now the goal is for him to not be bored all summer. Yeah right!:)
Reese is hilarious. She is talking up a storm, so we all have to watch what we say around her. She is such a ham. She is also a complete terror a lot of the time. It's a good thing she is so cute, because she makes me crazy most of the time!!!
Jim is a licensed Paramedic! He passed all of his tests and he has his blue card in hand! This was such a hard process for all of us. He worked his ass off and did it no matter what happened. I am SO proud of him.
As for me....I am always busy with these kids! I am loving not working still! I manage to sneak out for girls nights and fun times with my girl friends so that keeps me sane.
Until next time.....

Too much

Blah. I have not had the energy to blog AT ALL!!! I haven't been any busier than usual, I just felt like I had nothing positive or fun to write about, so I have just been quiet.
Katie had her baclofen pump placed on the 1st of Feb. Immediately we noticed swelling, but not much else. No effects from the medicine what so ever. We were all pretty discouraged, thinking that we had put her through another surgery for NOTHING. Last week the Dr said that since the swelling had not gone down and was worsening, he needed to go back in to fix whatever was wrong.
It turns out the connector that holds the tubing in place to run the medication into her spine, had broken. So ALL of the baclofen had been pumping out right at the pump site...explains all of the swelling/fluid!!
It has been one week today since they fixed her pump, and we are FLOORED by the difference in her muscle tone! It is very obvious that the pump was broken from the very beginning. It is kind of exciting to see her body changing. I don't remember what she was like physically 2 almost 3 years ago. So this seems so drastic.
That poor girl has had a horrible 2.5 years. I am so happy that it appears she is done with operations and hopefully chronic pain! It brings tears to my eyes to look at her and imagine what she must feel inside, but yet she smiles and laughs more than anyone else. I wish it hadn't taken this long to get her relief, but it was out of our control until now!
Caleb got all A's and B's on his report card again! He is competing in his second karate tournament at the end of this month. He has been a great helper and wonderful to have around lately. I can't tell you how much he helps with things around the house, and mostly with Reese. He loves his sisters more than anything, and it shows!
Reese is hilarious. She makes me want to pull my hair out one minute, then the next I just want ti squeeze and kiss her face. I love all the new words she has, and how independent she THINKS she is!

Trouble

I am in for so much trouble when it comes to Reese. I should have known with the way she was delivered, she was going to be a handful. In case you don't know the delivery story here it is shortened:
I was 2 weeks overdue. Scheduled to be induced on Fri morning. Thursday at 2pm my water broke.
Got to the hospital at 4:45. Reese was delivered by a crazy emergency C-Section at 5:20pm.
See what I mean?
Her latest trouble discovery is the water dispenser on the fridge. I caught her with one of her play cups "filling" it with water. AKA running water all over herself and the floor. Awesome. From now on we will be locking that dispenser!
Some of her other favorite mischievous activities are:
Pulling every clothing item out of every drawer she can reach.
Hiding toys in peoples shoes. This scared the crap out of me the other morning when I half awake pulled on one of my boots that had a "little people" inside
Tearing out every single baby wipe in a package if left within her reach.
Eating anything small enough to fit in her mouth, and I mean anything
Sneaking items out of the fridge when you have the door open. She is so fast and quiet, you will turn around and she will have four things out in a second!
Playing in the toilet water.
Un-rolling every roll of toilet paper.
Sending emails/texts and making phone calls from my phone.

well I should go. In the time I spent typing this, she has moved all of the dining room chair around the kitchen. And now she is stuck in a reusable grocery bag. Never a dull moment!

Katie update

Katie did great during surgery yesterday! The Dr was able to use the same incision that she had from her hip surgery last year, so that is one less scar for her:)
Now they are just trying to figure out a good dosage to start out with. After she is discharged from the hospital, we have to take her in every week until they get it dialed in exactly.
I have been told she doesn't seem to be in too much pain. But is irritated by the nurses and drs. Not that any of us blame her!!
Thank you for all of the kind words and thoughts. She is one very loved little girl, and we can't wait to have her back home with us!!
xo

Katie and her baclofen pump journey

 Tomorrow Katie goes in for her 5th surgery in a year. :( She is finally having her baclofen pump implanted. Here is a good explanation of what the pump is and how it is placed. http://www.neurosurgery.pitt.edu/pediatric/spasticity/baclofen_spasticity.html
Every doctor, nurse, and therapist that she has seen, has told us how this pump will drastically change her quality of life. It will make dressing and changing her so much easier and less painful for all involved. Hopefully she will be able to tolerate trips and outings again. And the icing on the cake is we have been told that there is a high possibility that it will help calm her constant vomiting! It is hard to put into words what that means. Unless you have spent extended amounts of time with Katie for the last few months you can't possibly understand what we have been dealing with in regards to the puking. We literally can't go anywhere because she pukes non stop. And even if she isn't puking she constantly gags(loudly) and coughs to the point where she pukes. She has been completely miserable(and quite frankly so have we) There have been so many times when she has puked all over herself, and I just had to sit and cry because I was so frustrated/tired of cleaning up puke.
We wanted her to have this surgery 9 months ago! But of course there are all sorts of hoops she had to jump through in order to have it happen. She had the required trial in August, where they injected her with baclofen in her spine. Her body responded exactly how the doctor had hoped, but when she was sedated they checked her Cerebral Spinal Fluid Pressure(standard anytime there is a lumbar puncture I guess) and it was high. So we were all sent into this crazy panic expecting the worst. We weren't sure if she was going to require surgery to remove a blockage from her brain, or what the hell was going on!
She needed to have an MRI to determine and see exactly what was going on. That of course ended up being a HUGE pain in the ass. Our local hospital kept giving the run around on whether or not they would do an MRI on her because of her weight and size, because she has to be under general anesthesia for the procedure. Finally Oakland Children's Hospital got it together and did the MRI in OCTOBER! So there was two months wasted. LUCKILY there was nothing wrong that could have caused the CSF pressure to be high. It was a "false positive" if you will. We were told that if the person is not in exactly the right position when the pressure is checked it will read as high when really it is not. Whew!!
Later in October she went to what we thought was just a consult and pre-op type appt to discuss and schedule the baclofen pump surgery at Oakland Children's. Boy were we wrong! We were told that she needed to see their clinic doctors because we had the trial done at another hospital and their first appointment she could get into was February 2012!! We didn't think she could wait that long. She was in constant agony and it was getting worse and worse. During this same week her orthopaedic surgeon also informed us that her scoliosis was progressing rapidly and she would need to have spinal fusion surgery to correct it. At that time he said approximately 3 months after her pump was placed he would want to do the fusion.
So we were in limbo for weeks, trying to get into the Oakland clinic sooner, and also meeting with a surgeon at Sutter Hospital to see if he could do the surgery sooner. It was a MESS!! It was such a stressful awful time.
Finally we caught a break and they squeezed us into clinic at Oakland in December. We thought this was going to be a easy peasy appointment where they looked at her chart and agree that the pump was necessary, blah blah blah. Little did we know they had something else in store for us! Abby(Katie's Mom) took her to this appointment by herself, because Jim and I both had to work that day. Like I said, we thought it was just a check in appointment! So imagine my shock and panic when Abby called and informed me that the ortho surgeon felt that she couldn't wait any longer for her spinal fusion surgery, and that he was booking her for surgery in TWO WEEKS!!! We were not at all prepared for this. Here we thought we had at least a few months to prepare mentally(and Katie physically) for this huge huge operation.
But we all just accepted the situation(we have all become really good at this) and started putting a plan into action. And on Dec. 21st Katie had her spinal fusion surgery. She spent 2 weeks in the hospital, and her recovery has been nothing short of amazing! I am still shocked when I think about the operation she had just a few short weeks ago, and how well she is doing. She is so tough it is crazy.
She was booked for surgery on Jan. 25th, but two days before the office called and had an emergency they needed to book for that day, so it was postponed for one week.
Now here we are, finally. Surgery tomorrow. It is still kind of hard to believe that we are FINALLY here. After all of these setbacks and delays the day is actually upon us.
I will update the blog after her surgery is complete and she is settled in her room. Her surgery is scheduled for 1:30 tomorrow afternoon. Jim and Abby will be there, I am hanging back with Caleb and Reese.
Katie is finally asleep. She did not sleep at all last night. But she is finally passed out and I hope she stays that way all night!! Here is sleeping beauty:)

A new blog

I have started a second blog about my daily adventures/ tips of staying sane as a homemaker. By the way I hate that word, is there another word that is less 1942?? I will continue to post about the kiddos on here so don't leave this behind.
The address is www.ahousewifeconfesses.blogspot.com
See you there:)

Last day of work

It's official. I am a stay at home mom/wife.
Yikes!
I have been tossing around the idea of stopping work at the salon for about 6 months now. Between ever changing kid schedules, and Jim's rotating schedule, child care was not always easy. I would end up having to cancel or reschedule clients ALL the time, and that isn't fair to them, and quite frankly is a pain the ass for me.
For the last few months I have started to not want to go into work either. I have done hair for almost 10 years now, and it has never ever felt like "work" I have always looked forward to going into the salon and spending the day with my friends, and playing with hair. But lately I have been burned out. I knew it was time to make a change.
So after lots of though, and some crying(not going to lie) I decided it was time for me to quit.
I feel so good!! Yes of course I will miss working with all of my friends, but I will still see them! I will miss seeing my clients, but I know they are going to be well taken care of! But I will LOVE having my weekends back!! I am tired of missing Caleb's sports, birthday parties, etc.
I am going to start next Saturday, a new tradition of sorts. I am going to start making a FULL big breakfast every Saturday, where we all sit down as a family(minus Katie and Caleb every other week when they are at their mom's) and enjoy a relaxing morning, when no one has to rush anywhere. I can't wait!
My long term plan? I'm not sure. I know I want to go back to school, but I'm not ready right now. Too much going on for me to focus, and let's be honest, it's been 10 years since I was in school it's going to be an adjustment to go back!
I would love to go to nursing school, like I always said I wanted to do. We shall see. I've got time:)
For now I am going to enjoy my kids, my family, and my friends!!

January??

Our weather has been SO nice, I am confused if it is really January or not? We had a good rain storm over the weekend, but today it is 70 degrees and gorgeous out!! So Reese and I took advantage and hung out in the backyard for a LONG time today. That girl loves to run around outside and play with Juneau.

 Who is this girl and what has she done with my baby?!? She is 100% a toddler now, it makes me sad :(

 Hanging with her buddy Juneau