October 2008 Pictures and updates

It's hard to believe that Carter is 17 months old now! :( I've posted some pictures of him in his Halloween costume below. The picture above is a picture of Isa walking with Bill at the Zoo when she wore the costume! It's funny, when you're raising the kids sometimes you feel like the time can't go fast enough. You have your fair share of wonderfully great days mixed with with wonderfully insane days. In the moment, it's hard to listen to advice such as "don't rush them, the'll be grown up before you know it." Looking at this picture of Isa wearing the same costume as Carter, it's hard to believe (or remember) when she was that little. :( I'd take it back in a heartbeat (minus all of the screaming!)




Carter snuggled in with Daddy




Playing tickle bug




Took the paci out for a brief moment

Scooby Doo and Daphne

Carter with Daddy.

Daphne posing

Braden at Shaw Farms

This is the best picture that I could get of all 3 of them. Isa was so tired. She had just had a sleepover at her friend, Maura's, and didn't go to bed until 11 that night.

Carter....a picture not in the highchair, but still with the paci!

With Daddy

Learning to put on his, I mean Carter's, coat. Hey, whatever works!

In the highchair, again. This is what being a 3rd kid does to you!

On picture day. Isn't she beautiful?

Posing again before school.

October was a fun month! The kids had a lot of fun at preschool, we went to Just for Fun on Fun Friday, went to Shaw Farms (where Buddy proceded to get lost and they had to do an all call for a "lost little boy with blonde hair in a Chad Johnson jersey with a blue Cincinnati Zoo hat"....luckily we found him quickly. We went to Kings Island's Halloween fest. There really are a lot of festive things to do in Cincinnati during Halloween.

Carter: Carter is such a stinker. He's way too smart for his own good. He loves getting a step stool and jumping over the arm chairs and then falling to the ground. He's very much into high fives, loves say "bye bye" at the top of his lungs, and yelling "hi" like a mad monster. Bill had told me that he caught on to trick or treating by the 3rd house. He held each piece of candy until he got to the next house and once assured that he'd be getting a new piece, he'd then put the piece from the last house in his bucket. I took them out later and we were walking around in our neighborhood. The neighbor asked Braden if he wanted a piece of candy and then she was handing us a piece (Carter and I were on the sidewalk), I said "no thanks" and started walking on and Carter through a complete fit and held out his hand for the piece of candy! It was too cute!

Braden: Braden continues to bring a smile to my face every day. You couldn't ask for a sweeter boy. He has his temper tantrum moments, but I can forget those when he looks at me and says "Hug, Mama." He's so genuine and soft-spoken. He's making huge strides in his speech and it shows on his IEP Progress Report. Waiting for him to say certain things makes it that much warmer (and cuter) when he does say them. The other day he said this whole entire sentence when Carter was crying "Oh, baby Carter wants his paci." Not a big deal for most 3 1/2 year olds, but when you're waiting on pins and needles for your baby to talk, a sentence like that melts your heart! He's come such a long way and his teachers and speech thereapist have really worked hard with him. He continues to be all boy. In a year from now, he and Carter are going to be wrestling all over the place. (Honey, that's why we need a finished basement...so they can romp around down there and not drive me crazy all day!)

Isa: Isa is one smart cookie. She earned a lot of good grades on her report card too. She's really into spelling right now. Here new sounds are sh and ch and the tricky y. It's amazing how this little 4 year old WANTS TO spell words and wants to tell you which end with the tricky y and begin with sh. Yesterday she said to me "Mom, I really want a sister, but I don't want to have to go to the hospital and get a shot to have her. So, I want you to go and get the shot to have her for me!" Ha ha! (No, that's not some indirect way of telling you that we're pregnant....just a cute story!)

Bill: Still working hard on his PhD and another paper to be submitted. He missed the last deadline because work got really busy when the paper was due, but this new one is still in Italy and is due December 5.

Me: Still staying at home during the day and having lots of fun with the kids and tutoring during the evenings. I switched my schedule to only working on Tues/ Thurs. Being out of the house all 4 nights was not working out for me.

Here are recent pictures:

Baby USA

Lisa and Josh's little guy: Tyson (Ty) Joshua


Angie and Gary's little girl: Mia Kate




Monica and Paul's little girl: Isla Francine

I do not have pictures of the others yet, but both had boys.

First Days of Preschool and PreKindergarten

In Miss Barz's classroom on the first day.




Isa's first day of pre-kindergarten.





So wanting to go play with the cars and trucks, but instead following the classroom routine: table activities when you first come in the room.

Soccer Mom, Open House for Preschool

Carter-Bear




A rare shot allowing us to take his picture.







Looking at the dolphins in the underwater case.



A nice short trip for us that we truly enjoy is one to the Indianapolis Zoo. It's about a 2 hour drive and the kids love it. The dolphin show is a family favorite. They still allow you to feed the giraffes right out of your own hands. They give elephant baths right in front of you. They have a very nice "closed in" playground for the kiddos. And, in general, you're much closer to the animals than at our Cincinnati Zoo.



Isa and Buddy in front of Milford Preschool. We're heading to Buddy's Open House day where het met his teacher, Mrs. Moreira.





Carter loves waffles! He's 14 months in this picture.

I guess when your child starts playing soccer, you officially become a Soccer Mom! Isa practicing before her first game.

I love August

Many of you know how special birthdays are to me! I love that my kid's birthday months are spread out perfectly between 6 months. Believe it or not, but it takes me that long to think of the ideas for the kids and the invitations. I slacked this year and sent the boys via e-mail, but the thought, research and creativity still took the same amount of time.

So, this year Isa is going to be 5! I can't believe that I have a child old enough to be 5. She'll start school next year. It's crazy. It seems like it was just yesterday. Am I even old enough to have a 5 year old?

She's been so into Princesses, dress up and pretend play, that I think we'll just do a general Princess Party this year. 1st year was dogs, 2nd was Sesame Street (which I have to say was my favorite game wise...I had Ernie's duck pond, Elmo's Coloring World, and we even bought her a "Dorothy". Well, let me rephrase that. Tried to buy her a "Dorothy." I sent Bill to get her a goldfish and he came back with a Beta! We ended up calling him Grover. Oh well) 3rd year was Ariel and this past year was Belle.

I have some good ideas brewing for this year. Hopefully it's just perfect!

Now, if I could only think of a good idea for 3 kids for Halloween. Last year they were Shrek, Fiona, and Puss n Boots! How do you top that?

August Updates

I have been really self-absorbed lately following my latest hobby, decorating. After realizing I only had 1 picture of my children from the entire month of July, I decided that it was time to get back to my old ways of taking pictures of my kids and having fun with them and stop being so preoccupied with "getting things done." The pictures below are from some of the things that we did.

Don't get me wrong, I do fun things with them almost every day, but I've been failing miserably at capturing moments on camera and really engaging in that meaningful play with them. I won't get too dramatic though because we've still had plenty of trips to the pool, Kings Island, playdates, parks, walks, etc...so it's not like I've completely kept them secluded during my preoccupation period.

Isa started soccer two weeks ago. She did so well this past week. She dribbled well, scored two goals and learned how to stop the ball with her foot. She was cracking me up whenever she would run too fast. I overheard her tell the coaches that she can't run because her stomach starts jumping. I guess that meant she couldn't catch her breath! Her first game is on the 23rd.

Both Braden and Isa start school in a few weeks. I'll need to make sure to get those moments on camera.

Carter just got over a double ear infection and a virus with blisters in his throat.

I'm down 3 lbs. this week on WW. Weigh in again tomorrow. My cousin, Angela, and I set a goal to lose 12 lbs. before our cousin, Jen's, wedding on Sept. 6. We started last week. So, as long as I keep exercising and staying within my point range, I'll lose that 3 lbs. per week. (Such a slacker....why does it take me a month before a wedding to get motivated?)

I don't know that I've mentioned this, but please keep Bill in your thoughts. He has a qualifying exam to pass and a paper due October 3rd. He must pass the qualifying exam to stay in the PhD program. The paper, if chosen to be published, would be something that he would present in Rome, Italy next May 2009. We'd both like to go if his paper is selected.

Met up with my old friend, Tina Cramer that I used to work with at Pete's Restaurant years ago and spent time with her and her kids today. She has two. Twins. Brooke and Brady. They're starting kindergarten this year! Geesh, time flies.

GG and Papa's anniversary is tomorrow. Happy Anniversary!

So many people are having babies here within the next few weeks: cousin Angie, friend Lisa, friend Monica, and friend Libby. Good luck to all of you!

August Pictures

Isa and her friend, Maura. When they both have their hair down, these two could be twins! Maura is Monica's daughter.


Carter driving the car

Isa at Recreations Outlet

A princess smelling her rose

Trying to convince Carter to marry her! (Braden wouldn't participate)

GG bought Isa a make up kit and had it delivered this week. She's played with it for a few hours every day in her room by herself. This is how she came downstairs a few days ago. She even knows how to do ponytails, so she styled her hair herself.

Finally getting him to sit still!

Funny faces at breakfast. Today, he said (while waiting to eat his waffles that I cooked him) "Wake up waffles. It's Buddy's turn!" Translation: Come on, waffles. I'm hungry. Hurry up and get over here. It's my turn to eat you.

The things that the youngest can get away with. He's been broken from a bottle for months now. Must have been a bad day to con a bottle out of me!

Lots to catch up on

Isa got into the preschool right up the street. St. Mark's Lutheran Church. That's a blessing so that Mom doesn't have to drive all over creation transporting children to school each day. Her teacher sent her a letter and will be coming to visit her on Aug. 12 to get to know her and read a story with her. What a thoughtful woman! I always wanted to do that, but never got around to it as a teacher! She starts right after Labor Day.

Braden will start August 21. We started potty training again. He's doing pretty well, but still does pee on the floor at times.

Carter will still be at home with me.

I started officially working for Smarty Pants doing some advertising work. My boss is very flexible and is allowing me to work from home. www.smartycenter.com

Bill needs to start studying for his Qualifying exam for his PhD and also write this important paper before October 3rd. Pray that he both passes and gets that paper done. He already has one published paper, but this one (if accepted) would be presented in ROME, ITALY! Not only would it be another accomplishment, but we'd like for me to go as well!

On a sad note, my nephew was hit by a car last week. He's at home now, but he definitely was very lucky. He was effected from his neck up. Nothing was damaged on his lower body. He did have to have plastic surgery, but there has been no evidence of brain damage. A lot of swelling, cuts, stitches, staples and such, but he's alive and doing very well considering. Please pray for him.

Bill and I took care of my sister's other 4 children and that was a handful...7 kids under the age of 9! (2) 9 year old's, (2) 4 year olds, (1) 3 year old and (2) 1 year olds. There was not one minute of free time. We went from the time we woke up until 11-11:30 each night! The kids were really good and we were happy that my sister knew that she could just concentrate on my nephew's recovery.

Important dates in August:
August 10: Dad's birthday
August 13: Aunt Donn'a Birthday
August 16: Barb and Butch's Anniversary and Edie and Olivia's Birthdays
August 16: Jim's Birthday

Happy B-day and anniversary everyone!

Date Night

Bill and I finally hired a babysitter and went out on a date. It was sooo nice and much needed. The girl was really sweet, talkative, talented, experienced and came highly recommended, so I trusted her immediately.

We went to Applebees so that I could order off of the Weight Watcher's menu. (Yes, I'm back at that again. I'm convinced that I'll be in a size 6-8 dress for this wedding that we have coming up in Sept.)

We attempted to go to Miami Meadows to listen to Kansas at the Midsummer bash, but the sound system wasn't the best, so we left early.

We found ourselves at the movies watching Hancock with Will Smith. It was a good movie.

Thanks for a great night, honey!!

July 2008 Updates

I posted a bunch of pictures from both the boys' birthday party, check them out. We had a great time and the party turned out so well. It was just perfect!

June went by like crazy! I had two online Master's courses to complete in about 4 weeks. They were both accelerated classes so that I could get done quickly. I would literally wake up every day, take care of the kids, work during their "rest time", go tutor, and then come home from 9 til midnight every night and finish school work. (Assignments were due daily by midnight.) GG helped out a lot on Monday's so that I could get some work done and I tried to work ahead. Here's hoping that I didn't damage my 4.0!!

Isa: She says the darndest (is that a word?) things. I swear she's a splitting image of me. She needs a lot of attention, loves to play school and teach others, and loves to be the BOSS and make up the rules to everything. She has a very nurturing side to her as well. She's going to make a great mother one day. She's loving, thoughtful and enjoys the care-taking role.

Braden: He's speaking more clearly every day. Check out the new picture with his buzz. It was a hair cut on a whim and won't happen again. Maybe we'll keep it a littler shorter than we usually do, but never this short again. He's still fascinated with trucks, cars, trains, and diggers. He's becoming a little more trying at the age of 3, but we can't complain! He was angelic from birth until now! We just painted his room this weekend. Hopefully, we'll get his big boy bed set up next weekend and I'll post some pictures.

Carter: He is just one big ham bone. Aw...I could just gnaw and love on him all day long. Look at the picture below and those fat rolls on his thighs! I really hope that he retains that dimple on the right side of his face. He still only says Mama and dada. He is clapping his hands now and reaches for what he wants. He's still attached to his dog and paci. We've finally broken him from the bottle though.

Bill: Bill's still plugging away at his PhD and working at FKI.

Edie and Olivia: Edie barks a lot less these days. Must be old age. Olivia, however, barks more! Olivia is a good tempered dog and will make a great companion for our kids as they grow older. She has a very sweet disposition and is very submissive. The kids can do anything to her and she doesn't care at all.

Naked baby with paci


Buddy with his new buzz

Bill teaches all of our kids to do this face. Not sure what it is, but they all know how to do it.

Bill, Isa, Buddy, and Carter

B-day party pics

Me with the two boys and the beautiful cake that GG and Papa had made.

My dad, Roger, with Carter.

Kane and Braden painting their house during the party.

Carter on before his b-day party.

Braden with his Chad Johnson jersey and "pink" backpack.

Birthday Parties!

Carter Reid is now 1 and Braden Jack is now 3! Happy birthday to our handsome young guys! We've had a wonderful week full of celebrations and I'll post pics soon.

16 years later it finally makes sense!

Mr. Price was my Freshman Art teacher at Seton High School for maybe a week in the Fall of 1992. Well, probably not even a full week. I think class started on Wednesday and I was trying to get out of his Art class by that Friday.

I have NEVER been good at art, although it is definitely a talent I wish I had. So, way back in 1992 entering my Freshman year of high school, I decided that I would take Art instead of Chorus. Everyone knew that Chorus was the easy "A," but I thought that if I signed up for Art, I might actually learn how to be an artist.

I remember the first assignment that Mr. Price gave us. It was a black and white picture of an old woman in a rocking chair and we were supposed to turn it upside down and draw it. Huh. Now how was I supposed to do that? I had no real talent in drawing and I didn't even have a clue how to do it. I kept trying to look at the picture and draw the lines exactly how I saw them. It was awful! I couldn't get anything that I drew to go in the right direction or even be of similar size to the lady in the drawing!

Mr. Price was so encouraging though. He kept telling me to visulize the picture as a whole and break the picture down into shapes that I knew how to draw. At the time I didn't have the faintest idea what he was talking about. So, three classes later I found myself in the school office investigating a schedule change to Chorus. As I was speaking to the secretary about switching from Art to Chorus, he came up from behind me and asked why I was switching. I was mortified. I didn't have the heart to tell him first, so I had just gone to the school office without even speaking with him about it. He was still so sweet and encouraging, but I told him that I was just too frustrated and I didn't see that changing any time soon. (And I proved myself right. After I saw some of the things that these girls drew, painted, sculpted, ect....I knew that I was better off in Chorus. Of course, I couldn't sing either, but at least I could be muffled by the other great singers in the Chorus and that wouldn't be too embarassing.)

Fast forward to now, May 2008. Isa loves Art, and even more specifically, drawing. A little fact that most do not know about Bill is that he is actually a really good artist, but he doesn't have as much free time as we'd like these days, so often I'm sitting with Isa trying to teach her how to draw! I've read some very simple books on drawing to be able to teach her some elementary concepts and she seems to enjoy both the time with me and the fun that she has drawing.

Yesterday we had checked out this book on CD from the library called Joseph had an Overcoat. We've listened to it on CD several times and today was our day to do something crafty with the book. The moral of the story is that you can always create something out of nothing. At the beginning of the story Joseph starts out with an overcoat, but it gets old and worn, so he makes a jacket out of it. Then that gets old and worn, so he makes a vest out of it. Then he makes a scarf, and so on. The items keep getting smaller until he makes a button in which he eventually loses (so at this point "he has nothing" so to say), so Joseph then writes a story about it (hence the theme "making something out of nothing.") Very cute story, and even better that someone else can read it to her on CD!

So today our activity was to start writing and illustrating our own book about Joseph. The picture above shows Joseph in his overcoat. The picture to the right shows "our" best attempt at matching the illustator's version of Joseph. Now I know that my attempt at drawing the overocat isn't the best, but 16 years ago, I could NOT have done this period. It would have been lopsided, one coat arm shorter than another, and I definitely would not have been able to even attempt his collar. But, in the midst of teaching my daughter how to draw, I am also learning. I'm finally beginning to see those smaller shapes in the larger picture in which Mr. Price had told me to visualize 16 years ago. Isa did our Jospeh's face and I think that she did a remarkable job. When it came time to do his hat she said "Mommy, I don't know how to draw the hat." So I told her "Look at the bottom part of Joseph's hat. What shape is that? " To which she answered "a rectangle." So I had her draw that first. Then I said "Now what shape is the top part of his hat?" and she said "an oval." So I had her draw that. Then we discussed what color Joseph's hat was and she chose brown. As we colored Joseph's hat in, the lines that made up those shapes began to disappear and suddenly Joseph's hat started looking more like a hat instead of an oval sitting atop a rectangle. Ah ha! That's how these artist's do it! (Again, I know that our drawing is close to what a 4 year old can do, but that's a lot for me! It took me 16 years to be able to figure some of this out!)

When I went to draw the boots, she told me that I needed to draw a rectangle for the heel and an oval for the boot part! She paid really close attention to the colors that Joseph wore in the illustration and tried to match it in our picture.

We worked really hard on this project. I'm really proud of her. Us. Proud of us. Sadly, I'm quite sure that my picture of the old lady sitting in the rocking chair when I was 14 years old wasn't even close to as good as the one that I drew with my daughter at the age of 30!