Emme's First Starbucks

At the SPCA Walkathon today, there was a Starbucks giving out FREE drinks to all walkers and vendors. Since we were there representing PCOTC, our dog training center, I let Emme get a Raspberry Tea. She drank a little and decided she didn't like it. I think she is a Dunkin Donuts gal like me!

The Many Faces of Jack

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Easter!

Poor Jack I didn't even get a picture of him. Hopefully someone else did!

Coloring Easter Eggs

As you can see someone enjoyed this very much. We only lost one egg!

The Bronx Zoo

Today we met my cousin Moriah and her two girls for a visit to the zoo. The kids had a great time. We got there early and good thing. It was the first nice day during the week off from school and it got packed. By the time we were ready to leave the meltdowns were in full swing. However all kids were zonked out after only a few minutes in the car.

Stepping Stones Children's Museum

 Today I went to Norwalk with the kids to the Stepping Stones Children's Museum. It was packed but it was awesome. Emme had a blast running from room to room tearing through the place and wasn't responsible for cleaning anything up. I wasn't either so that was worth the price of admission right there. Paul Jr. met up with us and played along with Emme. They had such a fun time.



I caught one!



 Everything was hands on and lifelike. There were so many different exhibits it could keep kids of many ages busy and happy. Emme's favorites were the floor piano, the school bus with working seat belt, horn and windshield wipers and the scan it grocery shop.



Learning to scan products is the first step in Major League Shopping



Scrub those teeth!



Working in the Energy Lab



Chess anyone?



Rock Slide



 Outside in the pavilion there was a stage, a ton of soft climbing mats, life size chess pieces, a rock slide and some ball and ramp experiments. Kids could run and smack each other with pool noodles and it was partially covered so even in the rain you could go outside.



Hanging with my big brother





I hate Insurance Companies

Better yet- I have had it with my ob/gyn. I am still bitter about having to switch to a new doctor when I was 17 weeks pregnant with Jack. Since I arrived at the office of what was 2 doctors and 2 midwives all that is left is one doctor with whom no one seems to get along with and a midwife who is leaving at the end of the month. I still have an open incision so I am going to great lengths to get it healed so I can leave too. So back to why I hate insurance companies. The fabulous doctor I described above refused to do Jack's circumcision  in the hospital because "she doesn't do circumcisions- that is the midwife's job." The midwife had that weekend off that I was in the hospital because the doc was to go on vacation for the following week and a half and she would be the only one on call. The doctor told me it would be done in her office by the midwife as soon as I was discharged. I asked if it would be a problem with insurance since I was already precertified for the procedure in the hospital. She said it wouldn't and it was done frequently so I thought nothing of it even when the nurses gave me a look when it was not done in the hospital. So when I went to the office and they asked me for a referral I was shocked. I couldn't produce a referral yet since Jack didn't have his own insurance (he was covered under mine for the first 31 days) but they kept telling me I needed one from his doctor. They even called his pediatrician whom Jack had not yet seen and they told them they couldn't give a referral because he wasn't their patient yet and he had no ID number. This went on for an hour and a half with all of us including the ped calling the insurance company to see how we could handle it. I was in hysterics wanting to leave, Paul was trying to calm my post partum mood swing and keep Jack happy when finally the secretary said it was cleared that Jack could have the circumcision- they got the ok from the insurance company.

SO WHY did I get a statement of the insurance company refusing to pay and the office telling me they refused to eat the bill?? So today I spent almost an hour and a half on the phone with three different people and got three different answers as to why they are not paying when finally someone said that the office sent the bill to the wrong place and that is why it wasn't covered. Well now we will really see if that is true. Stay tuned- I am sure this is not the end of this! All the while my mom and Jeanine came and entertained the kids while I fought with these nasty people. UGH!

WHUD Kids Fair

Today is rained. No it poured. It was awful and I wanted to get out and do something so we headed to the County Center and checked out the Kids Fair. It was ok. Emme had a great time running around and checking everything out. Some stuff she was still too small to do like the big slide and the bounce house which she was not happy she couldn't do but she was entertained as was Jack and I for the bulk of the day. Our favorites were the "meet and greet" with the characters, the ponies from the farm, the little animals from Muscoot Farm, the touch tank from the Maritime Aquarium and all the nature stuff from the Parks Department.

Emme & Jack's First Trip to the Museum of Natural History

My dad won tickets to the museum in a raffle so we decided to head down to the city and go. It was a really nice day so we arrived and ate lunch outside and watched the dogs in the dog park. Then we went inside and ventured through the halls. Emme liked the dinosaurs but wanted to know where they were. All she could see were bones! She enjoyed the Asian and African mammals hall because they depicted real life animals that she could relate with. Jack slept through most of it but his eyes were wide eyed with the elephant! On the way home Emme snacked on some cheez doodles and a Sport bottle of water. We ended up making a number of emergency stops along the way since she drank almost the whole thing! Thank goodness I keep the little bjorn potty seat in the trunk!

Beautiful Day for the Park

Big Boy Jack

Jack went in for his 2 month check up and he is the size of a four month old. The doctor had to double check with me that this was his 2 month appt. He is almost 12 and half pounds and 23 and one quarter inches long. He is not fat with little rolls- just long and lean with little chicken legs and fat cheeks! Emme was 1.5 lbs smaller at her 2 month appt. He looks great and she said his murmur sounds a lot smaller than when she originally listened when he was a few days old. He even had a shot in his leg and didn't cry. What a good boy! He has grown out of most 0-3 month clothes because he has little diesel arms that don't fit through the sleeves! The best part of all is that his eyes are still blue :) :) :) Emme's were dark brown by this time. My father in law, my side of the family and I are all hoping they stay blue.

Trash to Treasure

Yes more trash- I mean toys for the yard says Emme!



I love my new playhouse!



I am sure most of you think I am crazy but yes I love to shop for what people throw out. Not always in the trash but tag sales, consignment sales and shops, craigslist and yes even people's driveways on bulk trash days! I am not ashamed as I have found some awesome stuff for little to nothing. Most of Emme's clothes and shoes are secondhand although you wouldn't know it. So on the way home from the party today I spied a Little Tikes outdoor playhouse by the curb about 5 blocks from our house. I had Paul pull over and I even rang the bell to ask the owner if it was worth taking. They said it had some marker on the windowsill and table but I am the Queen of Goo Gone and other fabulous products that remove crayon etc from walls so it shouldn't be a problem. Paul dropped us off and went back to get it. He washed it off and assembled it and it needs two new bolts which he has in his work truck so it will be perfect. We can powerwash it when we do the rest of the outdoor toys in a few weeks and it will be as good as new. The cost $0. LOVE IT!

Happy 3rd Birthday Cousin Jillian



Emme & Jillian eating cake!




Jack the sociallite and Aunt Jeanine

Today was Jillian's Baptism and since her birthday was not too long ago they had one big party for her. When we told Emme we were going to a party her response was.... "Will there be cake??" We told her yes and she said. "I love cake, it's my favorite!" She takes after me for sure in the sweet treat department. The kids had a blast and my cousin Moriah and her husband Bill threw a great party. We can't wait to see them again soon.

Innocent Until Proven Guilty

I can only imagine what these two were doing before I walked into the room. But nothing was broken, no one was crying and Jack didn't look like he had been bear hugged so I will just have to keep my eyes on them. 

Big Girl Bed

ready for bed!

What a fiasco. I have been searching for the past two months for the allen key to take the rail off Emme's crib. She is potty trained and I am tired of hoisting her in and out of the crib int he middle of the night when she cries to go "pee pee." I even had bought a crib rail and today, finally I came across the allen key that fits the crib. So of course the rail is off and it's two hours until bedtime. I assemble the bed rail and I was puzzled. When I went to purchase it I had specifically said I wanted to put it on a crib but in teeny tiny print it states that it cannot be used on a crib only an adult bed. Then why was I misinformed. I cannot use it now and I refuse to put the rail back on the bed. So I call around and find out that the crib I have never manufactured a toddler rail even though they were supposed to and the full bed conversion kit is no longer made so I am screwed. Great! So Babies r Us tells me they have a crib rail in stock and I can come and purchase it. ( I decided to keep the other rail because Emme will be getting a twin bed or bunk bed this summer. )

I arrive at the store to pick up the rail and on the box it shows a crib with a rail and it says "Crib Rail" but why on the back of the box does it say Do not use on toddler bed, bunk bed.... Use only on an approved adult bed and adult mattress????? Does this make sense. So I buy it because it is now 1 hour until bedtime and we have no solution. As a last hope I stopped at the consignment shop to see if they had any used bed rails and no luck. BUT ALAS as I was walking out of the shop I noticed a cherry wood toddler bed that matches our furniture. It uses a crib mattress and the owner gladly will disassemble it and put it in my car even though technically they are closing. ( I buy a lot from them so they love me!)



finally put together



So in the end the crib rail from Toys R us was $75 and the cherry wood toddler bed in really good condition ended up costing $55 with my coupon. I suppose we will be going back to Toys r Us tomorrow to make a return! We came home and I assembled it and put the sheets and mattress on and Emme loved it. She was so proud of herself and so are we. Paul came home and disassembled the crib. Jack will eventually end up in it this summer when Emme moves to her new room. Now the true test will she stay in the bed when we say good night and close the door or are we in for a night of visits?? We shall see.

A Smile for Mommy

As far as my kids are concerned when they were infants I was not Mommy, I was a milk factory. Jack wants nothing else to do with me other than eat. No snuggling, no sitting content on my lap. Just food all the time. Anyone else can hold him and he will fall asleep or coo and smile. Not for me. At least not until today. It took him almost 8 weeks to smile at me other than the happy milk drunk smile as he was eating. I am so happy.

Cardiologist Appointment

Brave Jack

Jack went in for his follow up appointment with the cardiologist today. At 5 days old the pediatrician heard a murmur and referred us to see a cardiologist. She said not to worry too much about it since murmurs are common in newborns because they are finalizing their cardiac structure and closing up the holes and sometimes it takes a little longer to close. The first appointment was three weeks ago when Jack was about four weeks old. We got good news in that the three holes Jack has in his heart are really nothing to worry about at all. They should close up on their own by age 1 and even if they don't the holes will not grow but Jack will. The hole in the upper part of the heart was a fetal structure- a trap door that will just go away- it was for use in utero. The lower two holes are a muscular defect but the doctor could only see them on an ultrasound with contrast so that was really great news. Even today he still heard the murmur but the EKG looked awesome and Jack has grown 3 pounds in 3 weeks! The doctor called him a fat pork chop! He said for him to be growing so well is just another positive that the heart is healthy and the murmurs are nothing to worry about. We don't have to go back until August and I jokingly said Jack might be a grown man by then at the rate of his growth!