Family of FIVE!!

At the end of September, my husband and I welcomed into the world our third and final child! She is fabulous! We are all so happy to have her in our lives. The kids love her so much! They are both so good with her! We are all very happy that she is here! The pregnancy took us by surprise, and yet we knew we always wanted three kids. Right before we found out we were pregnant we had decided that two kids would be it for us! Not even a month later I found out that we were being blessed with our littlest K. Even though money will be tight for many years to come she is the perfect little surprise! I could not ask for a better life than the one I have with my husband, dog, and three gorgeous children. I truly am blessed!

Single White Female in a Strange Way!

So I have my own "Single White Female", but this girl is not after my man; she is after my parents!! I think it is weird. She has the same name as me,and from what I hear,she introduces herself as my parent's daughter when they are out!! Sadly, my parents treat her and her kids better than they have ever treated me or my kids!! I know that is sad, but it is true!! The Phillie's tickets I have been asking my parents for years to share with my family, since they did with my sister for years, they gave to her and her husband this year!! I got one set of pity tickets from them and that was just a way to keep me from their annual "family" camping trip. Yup you guessed it, my parents, this chick and her family, and my sister go camping together every year and leave me, my kids and husband off the invite list. Why would we want to go and break up their happy little family?!?! Besides, I am not a big fan of the girl. She kind of creeps me out!!
Years ago when I was going through rush to join a sorority my father asked me why I wanted to join a sorority! I told him I like the idea of it, the philanthropy, and the sisterhood I would get from the sorority. If you have read any of my other post you would realize I was never really accepted by my family or ever felt loved by them either!! I found what I was looking for in a sorority!! My father was annoyed and told me I have a sister! Really, as if I did not know that already?! Well, years later and I wonder if he realizes that he already has a daughter by the same name of this girl. He finds it so humorous that this chick introduces herself as their daughter. How nice!! I am sure he would be fired up if I did the same to him and introduced someone other than him as my father!!
For awhile I was hurt by the whole scenario of this chick trying to steal my parents,
and I have mentioned this to my parents. They of course just blow it off as me being me!! If the shoe was on the other foot, I am sure they would be pretty upset. At the same time, they didn't want me, they ignore my children and they obviously want her and her family in their lives. They treat her kids like grandchildren while my kids get ignored! Let them have each other! My "Single White Female" won because I created my own family and am sick of being hurt and ignored by the one she stole!!

Halloween

Well here we are at the season for haunting! I am so excited to get the kids all dressed up in their costumes this weekend for the many events they have scheduled. Their parade is tomorrow and I cannot wait to see my little princess and little monkey walking among their friends and enjoying the day. This weekend the kids are booked with Halloween Activities and I know they are going to remember this Halloween for years to come. They are both at such a great age now. I love this time of year, and I love this holiday!!

So many opportunities lost

I think the worst thing a parent can do is play favoritism among their children. Believe me, I know how much it hurts to watch as the other child gets all of the attention. I try so hard as a mother to keep everything fair among my two kids because I would never want either of my kids to feel like he/she is not good enough or needs to earn my love. As an adult I know that can really hurt because that is how I felt my whole life. I have always felt like when it came to my parents I was just not good enough. No matter how well I did in school or how many responsibilities I took on at home and in school, I was just never going to be good enough. I watch now as my parents dedicate a great deal of their time to my nephews and very little to my kids. It hurts to watch, but it is not much different than how I was brought up. Of course, I have mentioned this to my parents and get the same old, "We treat all of our kids and grandkids the same all of the time," which is a complete lie. Granted my sister does invite them on many excursions while I have stopped inviting them since they usually said no to me when I did invite them. A person can only be rejected so many times before they give up.
For years my sister, her husband and their kids had season tickets to the Phillies with my parents. When my sister decided not to do it anymore I offered to buy her half of the tickets so that my kids could have the same experience. I called a few times to see how much I owed and my mother had bought all of the season tickets instead of allowing my husband, kids and I to enjoy the same quality time they did for all of those years. I was really hurt, but when I told them that I was the crazy one and somehow must have made it all up in my head. My husband and I were disappointed and saddened by their lack of respect for us.
My oldest is now starting to ask why my parents do not love her as much as my nephews and sadly I do not know what to tell her. All I can say is, "Honey, it is me and not you that they do not love." I am thankful that their lack of attention for her has not put a wedge in the relationship she has with my nephews. She knows it is not their fault that my parents favor them over her or my son. At the same time, how sad for a child to feel unloved by their own parents or grandparents.
Over the years I have become uninvolved with family things because I never feel welcome even when I am there. I feel as though I am the mistake they got stuck with instead of the child they were blessed with to raise. I hope my children never feel this way about their upbringing. I work so hard every day to make each child feel special! I hope I am successful in doing so!

Swim Lessons Again

My youngest has recently started swim lessons. He is doing great; however, he is not afraid of the water at all. If he had his way we would let him loose in the water. He forgets that he has not idea how to swim. I am hoping this class teachers him how to be safe in the water, but I do not think he is paying attention enough to understand the teacher. He is so busy during the whole class trying to get out of our hands and do his own thing. He will learn eventually...I hope!!
My oldest has started private lessons because I did not think she was learning too much in group lessons. She is doing great and really learning how to swim. The techniques she has learned in just a few weeks are great. She is even practicing outside of the water. This is her 6th swim class, but the first one where she is one on one with the teacher and I think it makes all of the difference. I will definitely sign my youngest up for private sessions when he is 3. I think by that age kids are ready to learn and need more than just games to get comfortable in the water.

The summer of broken plans

I am not sure why this is, but for some reason this summer everyone makes plans with my kids and than never follow through. I actually stopped telling them what plans we had because my 3 year old would get so disappointed when the other person would not show up. It started right in the beginning of summer with someone inviting us to Longwood and the day of cancelled. Than there was the person who invited us over to swim and never followed through, which was followed by the person who asked us to meet at a park for a play date and never followed through. The final one was someone inviting us to a museum and than again NOT FOLLOWING THROUGH!!! What is the deal with people? I always try to keep my appointments in order not to disappoint the other adults children, but it seems no one has trouble disappointing my kids!! Here is the crazy thing, they were the ones inviting us! Why invite us somewhere and than not follow through? Whatever. My kids and I still have a great time together. We tend not to invite people along because I am sure they WOULD NEVER SHOW UP!!!

Sometimes life is busy

The kids are getting big. The baby is going to be one next week. We are so busy with two kids that life is flying right by us. This year has flown by us and we are in amazement that he is going to be one already. It seems like yesterday I was bringing him home from the hospital. I can say it has been an busy, but enjoyable, year for us!
Recently I have noticed that the kids, especially Kiki's, schedule/s are filling up and things we would have been able to do before, such as attend events for family members, take a backseat to the kids activities. Their activities have to come first since we pay so much money to have them in them and more importantly they enjoy them so much. Life is getting to be so busy.
I hope that the kids never get too overbooked, but I think that is sure to happen. Recently, for example, Kiki was invited to three different parties on the same day and we already accepted tickets to an event. I RSVP to one event and then had to call the mom back up to let her know that we would not be able to make it because we already accepted tickets to an event. I need to keep up with my daily planner so I do not over accept invites again.
Wish me luck as they get older and more involved in activities. I am going to need all the luck I can get.

TIME

So here I am blogging on a Friday night. Time is such an issue for me these days. I am so busy now that I am back at work. Working as a mother of two kids is much harder then it was with one kid. At the same time, life with two kids is so much fun. Kiki and baby K are so funny together. Kiki will do anything to make baby K laugh. It is really rather cute. Anyway, getting back to time. Life with two is great, but time is not something that I have to myself anymore. I go to work early, spend my morning catching up on paperwork, teach all day, pick up the kids, spend time with them, cook dinner, get the kids ready for bed and by then I am ready to crash so I go to bed. Time is something I need to find in order to keep up with the house, get ahead of myself at work, and relax. I guess I will have some time in about eighteen to twenty years, right? In the whole scheme of things, all the things can wait because the time I am spending with my kids is time I can never get back. =)

BIG GIRL NOW!!!

In March we finished Kiki's BIG GIRL ROOM!!! It was great, and we were so happy to have it finished. At the same time we were not yet ready to move into the room. We moved all of her clothes into the room, put all of her toys in the room, but we still had her sleeping in the nursery. To be honest, we always had some reason for not moving her into her new room. The truth was that she could get out of her BIG GIRL BED and that was an issue. She never attempted to get out of her crib, so by keeping her in the crib we were fine. Well the time has come to move her into her new room. Her baby brother is growing out of the bassinet and ready for the crib and she was getting sick of the crib. So last night we set up the monitors and moved her into her new room. I was so nervous, but she did great. She loves her bed and slept through the night. When she woke up at 8:20 A.M. she simply knocked on her door and said ,"Knock, Knock...Kiki is up now!" So cute. She was so proud of herself for her big accomplishment. We are proud of her as well. I can't believe how quickly she is growing up. It feels like yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital and introducing her to the dog. I remember her first night in her crib and the first time we fed her solids. Now she eats with us in a big girl chair, sleeps in a big girl bed, and is a big sister!! Wow two years have brought a lot of changes for us, but with the changes have come moments of extraordinary pride for our BIG GIRL!!! Love you KIKI!! =)

People Crack Me Up!

People are so funny, really they crack me up. I just love the people who take, take, take, but when you ask for a favor they act like it is a BIG DEAL!! Or how about the people who always throw judgement around about everyone else as if their lives are perfect. Really, your life is perfect... you have made no mistakes? I especially love the parents who kids do no wrong. For example, your child is playing with a toy and their child wants it so the child takes it from your child. When you go over to find out why your child is crying the parent blames your child for hogging a toy, but never addresses the fact that their child just STOLE THE TOY YOUR CHILD HAD!! HELLO, what are you teaching your child that it is okay to just take what you want no matter the consequence. Great Parenting!! Same goes for the parent who goes to play dates and "accidentally" leaves with a toy or two. Really, I have to do inventory before and after you leave my house?! Then the parent wonders why he/she is no longer invited to play dates. DO I REALLY HAVE TO EXPLAIN IT TO YOU?!?!


Going along with thieves are liers!! I love the people who play favorites but deny it all of the time even though it is so obvious. Everyone sees it, especially when it comes to your own children. You know who you are, you invite people somewhere, or buy things for someone and say "don't tell so and so I did this for you because they would be hurt." Don't you think they will be hurt when they find out you LIED... come on now the truth always comes out!! Oh wait, my favorite people are the ones who tell you how wonderful they are all of the time. You know the ones, they end every story with, "And everyone told me how wonderful the event was", or "people always tell me how great it is to have me around", etc... Lets be honest, no one is that great to have around all of the time, and furthermore no one really thinks you are all that great to have around. These all lead to the person who lies to make themselves look better in front of others. We all tell white lies once in awhile to boost our image, but to do it on a constant basis and to make the stories larger then life is a bit absurd.



Love the self centered people. The ones who feel like the whole world really does revolve around them. I know this person who feels as though if he/she is going through something you need to be there to hold his/her hand (even if it is as simple as the person has a bad day), but you could be going through something serious like your child is sick and this person does not feel the need to even pick up the phone to make sure your child is okay. Or the person who knows you are dealing with a lot and could use a friendly call, but never calls to make sure you are okay or to check in with you to see how you are doing. They of course are offended that you do not call them is whatever free time you may have. When or if you do call them they don't even ask how you are doing. They only talk about themselves and how wonderful they are even though they know you are dealing with some type of issue. GET A CLUE!!! Show some compassion for other human beings. You will be amazed when you open your eyes and realize that you are not the only living person in the world. Like I said, PEOPLE CRACK ME UP!!! =)

Reliability

People can be so unreliable and it really annoys me. I mean come on now, if you say you are going to do something or be somewhere then do it. At this point in my life the reliability of people does not effect me as much as it effects my children and that really annoys me. If someone says they are going to be somewhere and do not show up don't they think my two year old, who expected them, and is now disappointed. I do not expect a lot from people because I am usually disappointed by people, but my daughter is innocent and still expects reliability from people. It hurts me when she is disappointed by people that are supposed to play such an important part in her life. Don't they realize that every time they disappoint her she learns to rely on them less and less. For a two year old that is hard to handle at times and it is hard on me because I am not sure how you explain unreliability to a two year old. Especially when that two year old is crying and hurt by the person. If you cannot make a scheduled appointment I do not think it is too much to ask for the person to just simply call and let me know she/he cannot make it so that I can explain it to my daughter before she gets herself all ready to stand at the door waiting for the person.

Kids Music

For awhile now my daughter has insisted on listening to either the Sesame Street music CD or classical music. The classical music I do not mind since it is relaxing and great for brain development, but the Sesame Street CD gets on my nerves. If I have to listen to 'RUBBER DUCKY" one more time, I am going to go crazy. I tried hiding the CD, but she found it- LUCKY ME!!! I have tried other Cd's, but those are the only two she likes. If one of them is not in she cries and cries, which leads to a miserable car ride. I hate to give in, but I have to pick my battles. We need a compromise.
With that said, I have been looking for music we can all enjoy, but have been hard pressed to find something that fits all of our tastes- well just my daughters and my taste since my son is still too little to really have a say. I am happy to say that I think I found the perfect CD- Jack Johnson's Curious George Soundtrack!! I am so excited. I really like his music and my daughter loves the soundtrack. Even my son smiles when he hears the music. The best part is that if I get sick of that CD, I can just order another one of his Cd's since I love his style. I am so excited and cannot wait for the CD to come in the mail. ENJOYABLE CAR RIDES ARE IN MY FUTURE!! YIPPEE!!!=)

My Promise to My Chidren

To my dearest children I make the following promises to you:

1. I will always be there for you.

2. Your needs will always come before my own.

3. I will always treat you fairly and never put one child above the other.

4. You are loved equally and with all of my heart. If you ever question this please ask and we can discuss it thoroughly.

5. I will always be HONEST with you.

6. I will never lie for you.

7. I will never ask you to lie for me.

8. I will never make a promise to you that I do not intend on keeping.

9. I will strive every day to be a better person so you have a mother to be proud of in life.

10. I will provide for you and make sure you are happy, but I will not spoil you (for the most part).


That is my list so far for you my beautiful children. As you grow I intend to add to this list. This list is just the beginning of our lives together and promises I know I will keep.

It has been awhile

It has been awhile and there has been a big change in my life since I last wrote. My son K Z was born in April. He has been such a great addition to the family and his big sister K loves him (sometimes too much). He looks just like his daddy and has his temperament, too. KZ is a laid back baby, but when he is mad you know it. I cannot believe he is two months already. His life is already flying by me. The past two months have been filled with a lot of laughs, a lot of discipline for his older sister, and a lot of love. K is enjoying her little brother, but is also jealous of him. Who can blame her, her whole world has been turned upside down. Tonight she wanted me to feed her her dinner. She has not wanted me to do that since she was one. What can you do, we are all adjusting.

My son is such a pleasure to know. His pregnancy was really tough on me since it was high risk, but it was worth it. I could not imagine my family without him in it. He has completed our family and brought such joy to our lives. He has this amazing smile that warms your heart and he recently found his giggles. SO CUTE!!! I cannot say enough about him. He is just so adorable. His big sister calls him her baby and gets really concerned when he cries and cracks up when he giggles. It is amazing to see the two of them together and I hope they always have a close relationship. I feel so lucky to have them and I hope they always feel loved and safe in their lives.

Things going on in life

Since I last wrote, Kiki turned two. I cannot believe she is two already. The last two years since her birth have flown by way too quickly. She had a great birthday with lots of gifts from her friends and family. She loves to open gifts and to spend time with people. I think time with a child is the best gift you can give a child. She loves when people are around and she can show off for them. She cracks us up.





She has a big year ahead of her since she turned two and is going to be a big sister in a few months. She is really excited about the baby right now. I am not sure if that will still be the case when she has to share mommy and daddy with the baby. That may be a time when she is not as thrilled with her new role in life (big sister).

Her language skills and abilities have really expanded over the past few months. She started tumbling class in January and loves it. She loves to try all the cool toys out and exercise. She will be going back to swimming soon, but tumbling was a nice break. I think she is looking forward to swimming again, because she has been pulling out all of her bathing suits and dressing her dolls up in them. SO CUTE.


Besides Kiki, Z and I celebrated our five year anniversary. WOW time really does go by fast. We have been together much longer, but the five years of marriage have had their ups and downs and mainly their ups. Along with Kiki's birthday, our anniversary, and the holidays- our dog M also hit a milestone. She turned ten in January. I am amazed how quickly it has gone by. I got her when she was only six months old, so the past nine in a half years have really just flown by.




Well that is our life up to date. I hope everyone is doing great.

Christmas Day!

Kiki had a great Christmas this year. She really got into the whole Santa thing and really loved all the presents under the tree. She was so excited Christmas morning when she came downstairs and saw all of the gifts and realized they were not all for her. She was so happy to open gifts and to watch us and the dog open our gifts.

Kiki and daddy checking out the tree!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!

LOOK AT ALL MY GIFTS!!! WHAT?! There are more over there? This day is GREAT!!!

She also got to spend Christmas day with her grandparents, cousins, and aunt and uncle. She was so happy about being able to get gifts and see everyone. Christmas was quite a success this year. =)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

December

I cannot believe Christmas is over already. December flew by since we were so busy with activities with Kiki. She had quite an action packed December with meeting Santa twice, making Christmas cookies, playing with cousins, and shopping with mommy and daddy. She was quite the busy little girl.

In the beginning of December we took her on a train ride with Santa. She loved the train ride, loved the scenery, but was a little freaked out about Santa until he gave her chocolate. The chocolate made them fast friends. The train ride was really great and something I will definitely do again with her. A few weekends after the train ride she had the opportunity to meet Santa again and have breakfast with him. Not only did she have breakfast with Santa, but she also had both sets of grandparents there with her to share in the memories. She absolutely loved all the attention and really enjoyed Santa that time. We all had a lot of fun at the breakfast and the food was fantastic.

Besides the Santa events she made Christmas cookies and also spent a lot of time shopping for her parents, dog, cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. She does love to shop. What she loved more then the shopping were the people and decorations all around. She was fascinated with all of the lights this year. I have to say, this December was a lot of fun. She really embraced the holiday season.

She really loved the preparations for Christmas this year!!!

I know this is late!

I have been meaning to add these pictures in for awhile, but I keep forgetting. Back in October Z, my sister, brother-in-law, and father got to celebrate the big win for the Phillies at the WORLD SERIES GAME. Z had a blast even though he had to spend one night sitting it the rain before he got to go back for the BIG WIN!!! Of course he says it was all WORTH IT, and he loved being at the game/s. So here are the pics of the game.

Pics from Kiki's swim classes

I wrote two previous entries about Kiki's swim classes. She really loved the classes. We have taken a break for the winter months because she hates having her hair dried, and I cannot have her leave with a wet head. We will sign her up again in the spring. By then she will move up a class and the activities will be different. She will enjoy that.

I am posting some pics of Kiki and her daddy in the pool. They really loved spending the quality time together and still do a lot of the activities together outside the pool. They are really cute together.

P.S. Ignore the date on the pics. My camera is old and keeps changing the date.

A Pet Peeve of Mine

I just need to vent about Christmas music starting the day after Halloween. I mean, come on now, we haven't even celebrated Thanksgiving. Give me a break! By the time Christmas comes around, I will be sick of the music. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, and I love Christmas music. It is my favorite holiday; however, I also really like Thanksgiving. I would like to celebrate Thanksgiving before the Christmas holiday begins.
Now, some may say just don't listen to those particular stations. I do agree, but when I am flipping through the stations and I hear a song I like it is hard to keep flipping. I love Christmas music, which means sometimes it is hard to keep going past a song I really enjoy. My saving grace is that Kiki loves her Sesame Street cd and is insistent on listening to it when she is in the car. Usually this particular cd would not be seen as a "saving grace", but for now it stops me from flipping to the Christmas music.

Thanks for letting me vent.