Thursday, December 27, 2007
I cant seem to add a link in this post for some reason, so I will add it to my list of links to the left. It is titled "Its too bad not everyone is like this."
Sigh
Well Andrew finished up his bout of somach flu last Thursday. I thought we were in the clear and today Elaina is throwing up. Poor baby. I wish she would sleep a little. Meanwhile, she is throwing up, Liam is in his crib screaming and Andrew, as usual, is bitching. And in between each kid I am washing my hands like a maniac, as well as washing all the laundry that was already piled up but now there is even more from this. Sigh. I would love a nice normal week where no one is vomiting and no one has a cold (I have had a head cold for almost a month now) and people (ahem, Liam I am talking to you) sleep through the night. I need a vacation.
I had hoped that she was just sick from eating too many Christmas cookies but I think she would have been sick once or twice and that would be it. I dont allow her to eat that many, btw. She steals them when I am in the other room. They have been thrown out now. Keep your fingers crossed that our girl is feeling better soon!!!!
It's so "Martha" isn't it?
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
This is a photo of my father's gift to my mother. Isn't it heartwarming? This is nothing new. When I was a kid he got me a gift (I even remember what it was - a dark red travel bag) and put it in a brown paper bag, stapled it shut, and wrote "TINA" on it in black marker. So I just thought I would share that special magic of the holidays that only Jack Langan can give.
Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Before and After:
Good morning! I had big plans of getting up early and all that, but turns out I was exhausted. Who knew? So Elaina woke us up. The kids were thrilled with their gifts. The big hits were Elaina's Cinderella outfit (as expected) and Andrew's Bumblebee Transformer (also as expected). Liam was content to eat wrapping paper, though Santa did bring him a few little things. After the frenzy died down, we had french toast, scrambled eggs, cinnamon rolls, coffee and orange juice. Yummo.
Christmas Eve
Monday, December 24, 2007
I am laying on the bed being useless as John assembles Elaina's "Ariel Talking Vanity"... a big plastic monstrosity that she will adore. Anything that involves herself and a mirror is definitely a popular item. She is quite fond of herself. LOL
Anyhow, today I took Andrew & Elaina to a friends house. The picture above is her and her friend Isabelle.
Anyhow, today I took Andrew & Elaina to a friends house. The picture above is her and her friend Isabelle.
John stayed home so Liam could nap. Poor noodle is getting FOUR new teeth and needed the rest. After that I picked them up and we went to my parents house where we had dinner and exchanged gifts. The kids got tons of stuff naturally. We got money and gift cards and fun stuff. Then we went to church.
We got home, gave the kids their new pajamas and ornaments, which they did not give a shit about whatsoever, and sent them off to bed. As soon as John is done getting this thing together we will put all the presents out and go to bed. I am beat! Oh, John and I exchanged gifts after the kids were in bed. He gave me a Flip Video! I am so excited. I really wanted one and cant wait to post some video here on the blog tomorrow. Tomorrow is Liam's first Christmas!
We got home, gave the kids their new pajamas and ornaments, which they did not give a shit about whatsoever, and sent them off to bed. As soon as John is done getting this thing together we will put all the presents out and go to bed. I am beat! Oh, John and I exchanged gifts after the kids were in bed. He gave me a Flip Video! I am so excited. I really wanted one and cant wait to post some video here on the blog tomorrow. Tomorrow is Liam's first Christmas!
go Sean Taylor!!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Childrens author Sean Taylor has refused money from winning the Nestle Childrens Book Prize 2007, because of their marketing practices.
Read the article here http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/author/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003685452
Why is there a boycott against Nestle? Because in order to sell more of its infant formula in third world countries, Nestle would hire women with no special training and dress them up as nurses to give out free samples of Nestle formula. The free samples lasted long enough for the mother's breast milk to dry up from lack of use. Then mothers would be forced to purchase the formula but, being poor, they would often mix the formula with unsanitary water or 'stretch' the amount of formula by diluting it with more water than recommended. The result was that babies starved all over the Third World while Nestle made huge profits from this predatory marketing strategy.This was in the 70's and this is when the boycott begain. Nestle is still the biggest violator of the WHO code.
For more information on the boycott against Nestle, read here http://www.babymilkaction.org/resources/boycott/nestlefree.html
10 days till Christmas Eve!
Friday, December 14, 2007
I cant believe it. Yesterday was the Peace Preschool Christmas show. I just love it. The kids are so adorable. The 4 year olds (Andrew's class) did 4 songs. Eventually I will figure out how to get video from the camcorder onto the computer and I will put one of them up.
Tomorrow my mom and I are taking Andrew & Elaina to see the Nutcracker with the Orlando Ballet. I hope they enjoy it, and sit through it. I think they will because we have it on DVD and they like it. Elaina loves to dance while she watches it.
Sunday is our Moms Club Christmas party. That will be fun and its supposed to cool off, which would be nice.
I am all done Christmas shopping with a few exceptions. I still have to pick up the gift cards for the teachers gifts, which is easy enough. A few stocking stuffers and thats it.
Babys crying, gotta go.
Nothing but love
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Here is our noodle sporting his new bath towel that he got for Christmas.
Well now this is just ridiculous
Friday, November 30, 2007
Today I was in the boys' room putting laundry away and straightening up and I put Liam in his crib while I did that. I went down the hall to Elaina's room and when I came back he was STANDING in the crib. Um hello? Six months old. Crawling. Four teeth. Now pulling up? Is this child going to walk at 9 months old? What happened to my newborn? Perhaps his internal timetable is all screwy because he was so overdue? He is unaware that he is still supposed to be a lump laying on the floor? Hmm.
Where does the time go?
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Liam is crawling all over the place, pulling things off shelves, and has four teeth! A few days ago when I posted he only had two. He really is quite toothy for a 6 month old. He is such a happy baby - he smiles at everyone and thinks I am pretty funny. I just adore him. Here is our sweet noodle. Look at that yummy baby pudge.
It is home
Sunday, November 25, 2007
The laptop that is. I am typing on it as we speak. yay! We had a good Thanksgiving. We went to Ft. Pierce to my uncle's house for the Thanksgiving meal. My cousin and her family had come down from NY so it was nice. After that, we kept heading south and went to Johns parent house in Boca till Saturday night. Today we are just kind of recuperating and catching up on laundry, grocery shopping etc. Andrew and I went out this morning for a little mommy-son time and did some Christmas shopping. Next weekend I will take Elaina out.
Thats it for now.
Just in time for Thanksgiving
Thursday, November 15, 2007
John tracked the progress of my laptop on the HP service website and it looks like it will be back home to mama on Wednesday! YAY! I know its just sad how attached I am to it. LOL
Time Flies
Monday, November 12, 2007
Our noodle was 6 months old yesterday. I cant believe how fast time is going. Its bittersweet. He is already crawling (army crawling) and has two teeth.
good stuff and bad stuff
Friday, October 26, 2007
The bad first - my laptop is broken! I am so sad. Luckily it is under warranty but still. It will probably be weeks before I have it back. The plastic around the monitor is cracked and you cant really open or close it without cracking it more. So sad. I know I am addicted because I have this constant low-level anxiety knowing I dont have it. LOL
The good news though is that Andrew is on a dairy-free diet and doing AWESOME. Very very few tantrums and freak-outs. Now I am actually thinking that this has less to do with dairy than it does with no junk and crap but either way, he is a delight to be with these days. I am just loving it. I actually enjoy having him around and having conversations with him. Sad to say, but I havent felt that way in a long time. It is hard when you feel like you are on eggshells with your child. Every time he would drop something or something wouldnt work the way he wanted I would just cringe, waiting for the screaming to start. Its been night and day the last 2 weeks and I LOVE IT.
Mom, can you ...
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
I remember vividly the days when Andrew had no words at all and how worried we were, so because of that I try to never think "JUST BE QUIET" ... but I confess that sometimes I just cant help it. Now its Elaina that just wont stop talking for 2 seconds. Mom can I..Mom can you...can you...can you...
No. No I cant. I just sat down after fulfilling your 29834th request of the day. So no.
Anyway, I do need to get Elaina's 3 yr and Andrew's 5 yr pictures done. I am so late. What is that saying about the shoemakers children not having any shoes? Well I will post them when I get them done...eventually.
I know I know!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
I havent posted in forever. I know. Its been so busy and crazy and once a few days goes by I fel like there is too much to write! I still have to get pictures from Elaina's birthday up. Andrew turned 5 this week. Today is his birthday party which is at Orlando Gymnastics. We are also starting a dairy free diet for him, as per his allergist. He isnt allergic per se but we think he may be sensitive to dairy. So we are doing a 30 day diet and will reintroduce it in a month and see what happens. Either way, we are totally cutting out all junk food and I already see a difference.
In other news, last weekend we went to the La Leche League parenting conference in Cocoa Beach. It was fun - lots of parenting seminars and we stayed in a hotel on the beach. The kids were jazzed because the hotel room had bunk beds. Its called a Kid Suite and the bunk beds are partitioned off. Here are a few pics from that and I will get more up this weekend!
Oh, I almost forgot - Liam has two brand new sparkly white TEETH!!! They are adorable but I do have to say that he bit me twice and mama wasnt happy. Hopefully he figured that out from my screams and wont do it again.
4 months old
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Well today the Noodle is 4 months old. I dont know where the time went - I feel like he was just born yesterday. It is kind of scary how fast time can go by. Tonight he gave us a little birthday present - after trying repeatedly to get him to sleep I gave up and brought him out to the family room where he was cracking up. It was so adorable to see him laughing so much. He is so sweet.
He also had his four month appointment today. He is 17 lbs 8 oz and is 27" long. His infant carseat only goes up to 26" or 20 lbs so we put him into the big carseat, which is fine because the carrier was getting too heavy anyway.
I know I still have to get pics of of Elaina's birthday and I will do some pics this week.
Our Ballerina
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Elaina started ballet class yesterday and loved it! I was so glad. She is the youngest in the group so I was a little worried that she wouldnt follow along but she did. Here she is following along with her teacher.
Elaina's "Big Girl" room
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
I dont have much up on the walls yet, so I will post again when its totally done, but here it is so far.
Busy week!
Well, on Monday Andrew had his first day of preschool. Well not the first day ever - he went last year too- but that was the first day this year. He loves school. Barely even glanced back as he said good bye. Tomorrow is Elaina's first ballet class. She is so excited. I bought her the Nutcracker on DVD and she watches it and "dances" around. Its really cute. This weekend we have Liam's baptism. Next week Andrew starts soccer, and then the following weekend we have Elaina's birthday party on Saturday (A Little Mermaid pool party) and that Sunday is her actual birthday and we are going to the Magic Kingdom for lunch at the castle with the princesses, and will stay the afternoon and see fireworks at night.
So a busy time right now, but far preferable to sitting home all summer!!! I do much better with a lot going on. I managed to sneak out tonight for a quick pedicure. I hadnt had one since my due date!
Here is a quick shot of the Noodle from yesterday... he is growing so quickly. He weighs 17 pounds and laughs and coos and giggles all the time. He is so sweet.
Redecorating!
Monday, August 13, 2007
Well we recently put Elaina into a toddler bed, after she flipped out of her crib and ended up with a black eye. But the toddler bed we have is pretty crappy, and I sold her crib and dresser on Craigslist... so it was time. I went and ordered a twin bed and a dresser for her - real furniture she can have till she goes away to college. Its an off white. I also went to Pottery Barn Kids, aka Poverty Barn Kids and got her new bedding. Its all pink and green, which are the current colors of her room, but these are much softer shades. I think I am going to paint the room sage green. I will be sure to post some before and after pictures after I am all done. I have to admit I have been really looking forward to decorating her "big girl" room ... and since she is out of the crib and potty trained, its time! Her third birthday is in just a few weeks. I am taking her out to a park this weekend to do her 3 year old portraits, so I will be sure to put some up of those as well.
Our Little Mermaid
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Elaina went to a friends house yesterday to play and found an Ariel costume there... and refused to take it off, so we borrowed it. Apparently it was all too much excitement because later she passed out on her chair. John said is looked like she was out partying on prom night and passed out.
The Sullivan Boys
Thursday, August 2, 2007
I finally have a couple of pictures of Liam and Andrew that I think show how much they look alike. They arent identical, but they do look a lot alike.
Hot hot hot
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
I woke up this morning to find that our a/c was broken. Ugh. Lucky for me they came quickly and figured out the problem and were able to fix it this afternoon. Not so lucky was the fact that it was $700.
But anyway. As you can see, I did not get the promised pictures of Andrew up this weekend. He had a great time with his grandparents and aunts and cousin at Sea World. They stayed at the park till 11 pm on Sunday and he has been a BEAST ever since, because of the lack of sleep. But today he seems a lot better thank goodness. They had gone on Saturday but came home early because they got stuck in a freak rainstorm, which apparently was more like a hurricane that a storm. I was told that people were screaming and running for shelter, mothers were hunched over their kids in the fetal position, lightning was striking the lake right next to them. Apparently they all thought a tornado was coming. Thank God I didnt have Liam there. Everyone came home soaked and freaked out.
In other news, I just started a photography business blog but I will link to it when I get a few more things added on.
Thats it for now. I can feel the house cooling off already. Phew!
Books and guilt
Thursday, July 26, 2007
The guilt is because I see how few photos of Andrew I have on here!!! I will get a few up this weekend. And the book is called Protecting the Gift by Gavin de Becker. I emailed some people about this book this morning and decided to post about it here so anyone reading can go get it! It is a great book about keeping kids safe from predators and I think every mother should read it. Here is the link to it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Protecting-Gift-Keeping-Children-Teenagers/dp/0440509009/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-7945631-1288605?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185458489&sr=8-1
Please check it out and if you read it let me know what you think.
My happy boy
Friday, July 20, 2007
Thankfully Liam seems to be leaving a lot of his newborn angst behind him and is turning into the jolly little guy. (Unless he is hungry, tired, in the car, has a dirty diaper, or some other unidentified problem)
Eco vehicles
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
I just thought I would share a photo of our new car stickers. John has one on his but I keep mine on the fridge. I am afraid someone will key my car. LOL But c'mon - its funny.
Chunkalicious
Monday, July 16, 2007
Liam was 15 pounds 3 ounces at his 2 month appointment today!!! Here he is in his bath tonight.
8 weeks
Thursday, July 5, 2007
I cannot believe our noodle is 8 weeks old already... it seems like yesterday that I was waiting for him to arrive. Now he is here smiling and cooing and being very cute. Here he is at 8 weeks old.
Liam & Kelli
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Here is Liam with my midwife at my 6 week appointment. She is the best.
Brothers
Thursday, June 21, 2007
I dont know if these pictures really show the freakish similarity between Andrew and Liam. (Let's hope its physical only!) They are the only ones I could find that have them really in the same position...
My Little Mermaid
Friday, June 8, 2007
Elaina's new favorite movie is the Little Mermaid... with Andrew in camp and with a new baby, she has been watching it a lot ... there is a part where Ariel combs her hair with a fork - not knowing what its for. So twice now I have found Elaina eating breakfast and combing her hair with her fork.. its a problem when there is syrup on the fork and then I have a sticky little mermaid all day. But its still funny.
The Laptop
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Here is a picture of my new laptop. It really doesnt do it justice. Its much shinier and more delightful in real life.
Another Liam picture
Friday, May 25, 2007
This one was taken at about 1 week old, in his daddy's arms. It looks a bit brighter on this monitor than it does on the other one so I am not sure how it will show on yours.
Alone and outnumbered
Thursday, May 24, 2007
So I am on Day 4 of being Alone with Three Children. Its actually not too too bad. I mean its a little hectic. There are moments when I am trying to feed the baby, Elaina has climbed into her crib and is trapped and yelling, Andrew is peppering me with questions and the doorbell is ringing. But newborns sleep a lot, which is a blessing because then I have an opportunity to do things like laundry, dishes, and of course a shower is always nice. I have a cleaning woman coming tomorrow because I am getting only the barest minimum things done. Certainly no cleaning is going on. I did a big grocery shopping yesterday since there was literally no food in the house other than popsicles. Probably not the wisest idea to be lifting all that - but I had to get it done. Of course I forgot half the things I needed but thats ok. A&E were with my mom for the morning since Liam had a pediatrician appointment. He is now 10 lbs and 4 ounces. Breastfeeding is obviously going great!
Thats it for now. Kids need to get dressed and we are going to attempt the mall today. There is an outfit at Gymboree that is just calling Liam's name. ;)
My other new love
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
I forgot to mention what John got me for Mothers Day - a new laptop!!!!!!! It is the COOLEST. Its an HP Pavilion and it has a widescreen and it is just awesome.
Also I cant figure out how to edit my blog posts, so if I have double posts or repeat myself, just ignore it till I figure it out!!!!
A picture of Liam from today
I took this today in natural light in our bedroom. I love it - he looks like a wise old man.
Brothers
Saturday, May 19, 2007
This is the first time Andrew got to hold Liam... as you can see, he was so happy to do it.
Wow we have 3 kids
Friday, May 18, 2007
Its sinking in. There are 3 kids in this house, and they are all ours. Andrew & Elaina are coping well with the new addition. Andrew in particular is fascinated by Liam and wants to hold him and hug him and kiss him, which is great. He also shows no real jealousy (so far anyway) and understands that the baby needs a lot of care.
Elaina also loves Liam and hugs him and talks to him and likes to look at him. She of course being younger doesnt do as well with mommy being busy with the baby. Not that she is really having issues but she needs a little extra loving these days.
John goes back to work on Monday, which is fairly horrifying. I have no idea how I am going to do this, particularly since I am recovering from a cesarean. Ugh. I am feeling a lot better today than in previous days but its still no picnic. It doesnt help that my incision is 3 inches longer than my previous ones, giving me an all new and bigger surface area to hurt. I am still also trying to process the loss of my planned homebirth, which is really very upsetting to me but it will be for the rest of my life and is something I have to learn to live with.
Yes we planned a homebirth and no we are not crazy. its very safe. Unfortunately I went over 42 weeks and the midwife has to transfer care to an OB at that point. I had been in early labor for days but even though I was contracting I wasnt really having any progress because the baby wasnt descending....later on of course we realized it was because he was so big. Of course we knew at 42w + that he would be big but you just never know how big is big till they are out.
But here he is, beautiful and healthy and whole. It is nice to know my family - to know who my kids are, what the family makeup is, etc...and now of course I can buy all sorts of personalized items and not wonder 'well what if we have another kid' ...LOL
Baby Sullivan is earthside!!!!!
Liam John Sullivan was born on Friday May 11, 2007 at 9:23 pm. He weighed 9 pounds 12 ounces and measured 21 3/4" long. After being in early labor for a day, and labor that had come and gone for days beforehand, I ended up having a cesarean because with all that laboring, he just wasnt coming down and we knew it was probably because of his size since he was 42 weeks and 2 days. And he was big - even more so than we thought. Although he looks tiny when he is alone, when he was in the nursery next to the other babies he looked very big! I delivered at Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies and about the best thing I can say about them is that you have a nice view from your room. The entire staff - including doctors, nurses, and techs- could all use some lessons in humanity, compassion and manners. The food service people were super nice though.
But now we are home with our new precious boy and all that is behind us. He is very sweet. He really isnt fussy at all (knock on wood) except when you are changing his diaper. He does not appreciate that at all.
Andrew & Elaina are thrilled with their new toy- I mean brother. They adore him and its very sweet. Unfortunately they both have colds so they really havent been able to love on him like they want to. Andrew is getting over his so he washed his hands really well and we let him hold Liam just for a minute. Elaina is still pretty snotty so as soon as she is better she can hug and kiss him like she wants to. Its really sad - I cant wait for them to be better!!!
I will get up a photo and try to update frequently.
Easter Egg Hunt
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Well on Saturday we went to the local Easter Egg Hunt. It wasnt pretty. First of all, lets remember that I am quite pregnant, and therefore, HOT at all times. So it was on a big open field (no shade) at noon. Brilliant. But hey, at least I went. The egg hunts were divided up by age. Elaina went in two areas - the 2 and under and the 3 and up. The 2 and under was really just a little patch of grass with a few eggs. She picked three. The 3+ group was really part of the main, huge easter egg hunt. Andrew went in the 4+ group. I was sort of appalled at the parents around me, who were yelling and screaming at their kids to go faster and get more eggs, and directing them on which way to go to get the most eggs, etc. Chill out people. Its an EASTER EGG HUNT. We have another egg hunt on Thursday, which is just the Moms Club and its usually fun. So I think next year we will skip the official Hunters Creek egg hunt.
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Nesting
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Well I have approximately a month till my due date. Now dont go calling me when the day approaches asking if I have had the kid yet. WE WILL LET YOU KNOW. Elaina was 2 weeks late so chances are this one will be too. I see no reason to go inducing and sectioning early just because I am tired and over being pregnant. 40 weeks is not an expiration date - its an average. And with the ugly induction experience I had with Andrew, I am not going down that road ever again.
So moving on to other things - I am nesting. To a degree. I have things I want to do, but very little energy to actually accomplish anything. I did order new gravel for the front so we can make the front yard look decent and I have gotten a lot of decluttering/organizing done. But there is always more to do. I am pretty much ready for the baby. All I need to get is another baby monitor and then I think thats it.
A recent pic of the kids
Friday, March 23, 2007
This picture was taken last Sunday. I am glad it was cool enough for Elaina to wear this one more time. I love this dress on her and the weather is starting to get really warm.
This pictures is in desperate need of cropping but my Photoshop got all funky on me so I cant do it right now. I'll get back to it.
Foo Foo the Snoo
Sunday, March 11, 2007
as she is known... looking a little tired here...but still cute
ahhh... Longwood
John and I rode up to Longwood ( http://www.ci.longwood.fl.us/) last night. We love it there. I definitely think we will end up moving there. Its been realy stressful trying to decide where to go. We definitely need a bigger house and if we are staying in FL we have to have a pool. It is too ridiculously hot to not have one. Besides, its good entertainment for the kids on hot summer days... of which there are so many. Anyway, we were having trouble deciding between a few areas and we have always really liked Longwood/Seminole county so we rode up last night and it only confirmed what we already knew. So at least I feel happy that we have made a decision. My realtor says the average length of time for a house to be on the market right now is 6 months, so we have to take that into account. I dont see it happening this summer but you never know. We have to be there by next summer though so Andrew can start kindergarden there.
Do I need a witty title every time?
Hmm. Because that isnt going to happen. I think just the date is sufficient. Well today I had a prenatal appointment. Everything is moving right along. We also got an arts & crafts table for the kids, so I dont have to constantly be cleaning the kitchen table. Now I am going to try to post my favorite recent picture of the kids.
First post...
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Well despite telling John that I dont believe in blogging, here I am ... blogging. But I figured what better way to share pictures of the kids and family news etc. Its easier than updating our website ..which everyone knows we never do.
Some of you may be wondering how I am even doing this. I'll tell you- BOTH of my children are sleeping. Andrew has not napped regularly in about 2 years but he was so tired and crabby today that I just sat on the bed and read a book till he fell asleep. So hopefully he will feel better later.
Thats it for now. Maybe tonight I will get some photos up.
Thanks!!!