2026
Unbelievably, the little ones in these posts are now between 17 and almost 21. While we let this blog go dormant, we don't want to lose this history so keeping this active with a new post.
Monday, March 16, 2026
Thursday, March 8, 2012
How did this happen?
How did this happen? Our first baby is quickly approaching her 7th birthday and our youngest baby is already 3.5. Those 5 year old twins keep us pretty busy too.
It's been 2 years since we made the decision to relocate our family and in just a few weeks it will be the 2 year anniversary of when we actually made the move. On 2 weeks notice. Looking back, I'm not sure how we pulled it off since these days we can't get out the door to go to gymnastics in less than an hour.
What a difference 2 years makes! 3 kids in grade school. 1 in preschool. All of them starting to pick up speech patterns from NC. Well, all but Sarah who still sounds like she's from Long Island, despite the fact that she's never been there.
Hopefully in 2012 I'll get back to updating the blog much more regularly... although I think I say that every time...
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
All in a summer day
Started at the park....
Then dinner with great friends....
And then finishing off the day at Chuck E Cheese. What kid wouldn't love this day?
Then dinner with great friends....
And then finishing off the day at Chuck E Cheese. What kid wouldn't love this day?
Monday, July 25, 2011
Jersey Girl
A year since I've posted...Is it an acceptable excuse to say it's been a busy year?
This past year brought us many, many changes. A move 500 miles south. A new job. Saying some sad goodbyes. Kindergarten and now first grade for Erin. A new preschool and now Kindergarten for Sarah & Sloane. 2 new preschools for Cole. Year round schools. A new house. New friends. A dog diagnosed with cancer, but treated with surgery.
Maybe not an epic year, but also not a blah one either. So why the return to the blog? I think maybe because this is a milestone week, with Sarah and Sloane turning 5 and Mom turning... well a milestone number. It's interesting, I've found that it's not the age that's bothering me, rather that I'll be celebrating it differently than I would have up north. I'm feeling more nostalgic when Jersey Girl comes on the radio and offer to go on any business trip that takes me to the tri-state area. I miss my lifelong friends, although many are scattered across the country now and have moved with their families just as we have. I miss my goofy cape colonial house with the "boat" neighbors. I miss the Garden State Parkway...mainly because it took me down the shore so many times.
North Carolina is the right place for our family. The amenities are all here, even if the beach is further away now. We have less traffic, more community offerings and a less hectic lifestyle. We've made some amazing friends and love our house. We get to see some of Matt's family more often because they have connections in the area. We can say y'all or you guys and either way someone will smile since there are so many northerner transplants. This week though, I'm going to relish being a Jersey Girl at heart and smile a little brighter when my oldest child says "Mommy, turn that song up.....I'm a Jersey Girl"
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Monday, March 9, 2009
2 Months...Yikes
Wow - pretty bad that it's been almost two full months since I updated the blog. It's been an insane work month for me and our social calendar is starting to fill up as the weather gets warmer. Pictures will follow but here are the updates on the entire family.
Erin is amazing. Simply amazing. She's writing words, is an incredible big sister and is such a good friend. She's been a wonderful help with Cole and her sisters. She's taken a shine to a gymnastics class that she takes at school so we've signed her up for Little Gym again. I was a bit worried at first because it took her some time to warm up to LG the first time she went at 2 years old. This new class is not a parent participation class and she walked right in and didn't look back. She loves the balance beam and the mats and is warming up to the uneven bars. Ask her nicely and she'll do a back roll for you any time.
Sarah is hilarious. We always say she's our most deliberate child. She thinks about anything at length before doing it and figures out the best way to do it. That includes misbehaving! She's great at telling herself stories, helping us clean up and helping us plan the menu (it's a steady dose of "I WANT CHICKEN!" She's great at giving looks that express a thousand meanings. She and Sloane have been going to Little Gym as well in a parent participation class and to our amazement she's been a daredevil!
Sloane is our sensitive girl who has a future as a comedian along with her sister. She's turned into a major love bug - she loves to cuddle and will play catch with us, loves to parade around her babies and actually has a favorite baby doll now. In Sloane-speak the doll's name is baby zoozaaa. It started our as baby Jesus and we convinced her that probably wasn't an entirely appropriate name for a baby that she dragged around half naked and left in the car each day.
Cole is our little man. We took him for his 6 month well baby and advised the pediatrician that he's not rolling over. When I fessed up to the fact that we never put him down, she determined that was probably the cause. Since he never gets the opportunity to play on his playmat, he never has learned to roll. We're trying to give him some time. And in the doctor's very professional opinion - he has beautiful eyes :)
Matt and I have both been good. We finally gave in and got a cleaning service. Matt claimed he's never seen me walk in the door as happy as the day the cleaning service started. What can I say, I love the smell of clean house.
Pictures to follow soon!
Erin is amazing. Simply amazing. She's writing words, is an incredible big sister and is such a good friend. She's been a wonderful help with Cole and her sisters. She's taken a shine to a gymnastics class that she takes at school so we've signed her up for Little Gym again. I was a bit worried at first because it took her some time to warm up to LG the first time she went at 2 years old. This new class is not a parent participation class and she walked right in and didn't look back. She loves the balance beam and the mats and is warming up to the uneven bars. Ask her nicely and she'll do a back roll for you any time.
Sarah is hilarious. We always say she's our most deliberate child. She thinks about anything at length before doing it and figures out the best way to do it. That includes misbehaving! She's great at telling herself stories, helping us clean up and helping us plan the menu (it's a steady dose of "I WANT CHICKEN!" She's great at giving looks that express a thousand meanings. She and Sloane have been going to Little Gym as well in a parent participation class and to our amazement she's been a daredevil!
Sloane is our sensitive girl who has a future as a comedian along with her sister. She's turned into a major love bug - she loves to cuddle and will play catch with us, loves to parade around her babies and actually has a favorite baby doll now. In Sloane-speak the doll's name is baby zoozaaa. It started our as baby Jesus and we convinced her that probably wasn't an entirely appropriate name for a baby that she dragged around half naked and left in the car each day.
Cole is our little man. We took him for his 6 month well baby and advised the pediatrician that he's not rolling over. When I fessed up to the fact that we never put him down, she determined that was probably the cause. Since he never gets the opportunity to play on his playmat, he never has learned to roll. We're trying to give him some time. And in the doctor's very professional opinion - he has beautiful eyes :)
Matt and I have both been good. We finally gave in and got a cleaning service. Matt claimed he's never seen me walk in the door as happy as the day the cleaning service started. What can I say, I love the smell of clean house.
Pictures to follow soon!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Post 100!
Wow - a milestone for the blog - post number 100!
It's been beyond normal chaos in our house of late. We've decided to finish off the last few items on our home improvement list in order to consider everything "done". Yes, we do know we're never really done and that there is always a new project.
We had a sump pump installed two weeks ago that has been working beautifully but left one very small area that needed to be addressed from when the driveway was re-done a few years ago and it affected the water flow. So the mason came back to dri-lock the basement. We asked the foreman about the odor and were told that it would dissipate by that afternoon. It's now 4 days later and we're finally moving back in. We're planning on doing a small renovation of the downstairs bathroom. You know, adding a floor again where the tiles were removed during the renovation and replacing the subfloor since there are literally drilled holes from when we had radiator/steam heat. Since we're pulling out the fixtures anyway we're replacing the vanity with a smaller version and putting in a new toilet. I think we're going to try to plan this one for when we actually want to be out of the house for the week :)
Seriously, my mom and dad were incredibly gracious hosts given that we showed up on their doorsteps with 2 adults, 4 kids, 1 neurotic dog and 1 incredibly lazy dog, not knowing when we could go back home. It was like sleep away camp for the girls with the bonus of us being right down the hall should they need us. Hopefully my parents will get some sleep tonight since they won't be overrun with our family.
The kids are all doing well. We took Erin and Sarah for their regular eye exams. Erin is still farsighted but not enough to need glasses so we'll just continue to have her tested yearly. Sarah's vision is the same but the crossing is getting worse even with the glasses so we've been instructed to patch her eye 2 hours a day when she's playing but not running around. In case you don't know, trying to patch a two year olds eye is like trying to bathe a cat. Not so much fun. However, we're hoping it works since the next step is surgery.
Sloane and Sarah have had another language explosion and the phrases that come out of their mouth astound us. And sometimes make us shake our heads. Sarah's new favorite "No, you go to time out Mommy". Sloane's "I no go to bed, I watch TV downstairs. Because that's why".
Cole has discovered toys and loves to play on his mat or in his exersaucer and talks animatedly to them. Have to wonder what he's saying?
Erin is doing well - she's beginning to write and doing a lot of pre-reading. One of her gifts was the tag reading system so we're hoping this will help her in her quest to learn to read (along with help from mom and dad).
Facebook addiction has kept us from updating the blog. Who knew all those people you left behind after high school are actually still out there - and they grew up too!
It's been beyond normal chaos in our house of late. We've decided to finish off the last few items on our home improvement list in order to consider everything "done". Yes, we do know we're never really done and that there is always a new project.
We had a sump pump installed two weeks ago that has been working beautifully but left one very small area that needed to be addressed from when the driveway was re-done a few years ago and it affected the water flow. So the mason came back to dri-lock the basement. We asked the foreman about the odor and were told that it would dissipate by that afternoon. It's now 4 days later and we're finally moving back in. We're planning on doing a small renovation of the downstairs bathroom. You know, adding a floor again where the tiles were removed during the renovation and replacing the subfloor since there are literally drilled holes from when we had radiator/steam heat. Since we're pulling out the fixtures anyway we're replacing the vanity with a smaller version and putting in a new toilet. I think we're going to try to plan this one for when we actually want to be out of the house for the week :)
Seriously, my mom and dad were incredibly gracious hosts given that we showed up on their doorsteps with 2 adults, 4 kids, 1 neurotic dog and 1 incredibly lazy dog, not knowing when we could go back home. It was like sleep away camp for the girls with the bonus of us being right down the hall should they need us. Hopefully my parents will get some sleep tonight since they won't be overrun with our family.
The kids are all doing well. We took Erin and Sarah for their regular eye exams. Erin is still farsighted but not enough to need glasses so we'll just continue to have her tested yearly. Sarah's vision is the same but the crossing is getting worse even with the glasses so we've been instructed to patch her eye 2 hours a day when she's playing but not running around. In case you don't know, trying to patch a two year olds eye is like trying to bathe a cat. Not so much fun. However, we're hoping it works since the next step is surgery.
Sloane and Sarah have had another language explosion and the phrases that come out of their mouth astound us. And sometimes make us shake our heads. Sarah's new favorite "No, you go to time out Mommy". Sloane's "I no go to bed, I watch TV downstairs. Because that's why".
Cole has discovered toys and loves to play on his mat or in his exersaucer and talks animatedly to them. Have to wonder what he's saying?
Erin is doing well - she's beginning to write and doing a lot of pre-reading. One of her gifts was the tag reading system so we're hoping this will help her in her quest to learn to read (along with help from mom and dad).
Facebook addiction has kept us from updating the blog. Who knew all those people you left behind after high school are actually still out there - and they grew up too!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Monday, December 22, 2008
And a partridge in a pear tree
Scene from the weekend: Erin reading the Very Hungry Caterpillar (she knows most of it by heart). Gets to the page with 5 pieces of fruit and says "On Friday he ate through.." Sloane finishes the sentence with "5 Golden Ringggggs". Apparently they've been singing Christmas songs at school :)
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Milestones
Ok, between returning to work and discovering how easy it is to post updates and pictures on Facebook the blog has been a bit neglected. My early New Years resolution is to make sure the blog gets updated regularly too.
We've hit a few milestones in our house this week. Cole cut his first tooth on Wednesday. Poor boy fought teething and a raging ear infection at the same time and was still a sweet little man.
Sarah.....is potty trained! Yahoo. We made the transition out of pull-ups this week and she's done extraordinarily well so far. Sloane is well on her way to being trained also.
We've also discovered that Erin can write almost every letter. She's been writing Erin and Cole for a few weeks now. A friend of hers gave her a book that allows her to trace the letters and she's done all of them without hesitation and can pretty confidently write them on her own. We're impressed - we know she's not covering this in preschool so she is apparently self teaching to a degree.
Pics to be added tonight!
We've hit a few milestones in our house this week. Cole cut his first tooth on Wednesday. Poor boy fought teething and a raging ear infection at the same time and was still a sweet little man.
Sarah.....is potty trained! Yahoo. We made the transition out of pull-ups this week and she's done extraordinarily well so far. Sloane is well on her way to being trained also.
We've also discovered that Erin can write almost every letter. She's been writing Erin and Cole for a few weeks now. A friend of hers gave her a book that allows her to trace the letters and she's done all of them without hesitation and can pretty confidently write them on her own. We're impressed - we know she's not covering this in preschool so she is apparently self teaching to a degree.
Pics to be added tonight!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Spoke too soon
Apparently I spoke too soon. After 3 days of fussiness, screaming and culminating in not want to eat, Cole has been diagnosed with his third ear infection. This time they gave him a stronger antibiotic so hopefully it will kick it out for the winter. If he gets one more ear infection our pediatrician will be referring him to the ENT for possible tubes.
Not to be left out of the attention grabbing fun Sarah decided that her glasses were so 2007. So she managed to bend both pair and then step on the more wearable of the two and pop out a lens. Thank goodness we have a great optician. Matt took Sarah and both pairs of glasses last night and he was able to fix the glasses on the spot.
Sloane has developed a new fascination with Blues Clues and reinvigorated Erin's interest in it. They both now walk around the house with pieces of paper and crayons finding clues and writing them in their notebooks.
Matt is enjoying his paternity leave week with Cole this week and I've finally gotten off my duff and submitted my proposal for my graduate school capstone project.
Pics of the kids to follow - it's a lot harder to remember to put them up now that I'm back in the office!
Not to be left out of the attention grabbing fun Sarah decided that her glasses were so 2007. So she managed to bend both pair and then step on the more wearable of the two and pop out a lens. Thank goodness we have a great optician. Matt took Sarah and both pairs of glasses last night and he was able to fix the glasses on the spot.
Sloane has developed a new fascination with Blues Clues and reinvigorated Erin's interest in it. They both now walk around the house with pieces of paper and crayons finding clues and writing them in their notebooks.
Matt is enjoying his paternity leave week with Cole this week and I've finally gotten off my duff and submitted my proposal for my graduate school capstone project.
Pics of the kids to follow - it's a lot harder to remember to put them up now that I'm back in the office!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Mish mosh of topics
I'm hoping we're finally off the ear infection bandwagon. Sarah seems to be improving each day and the nightly screaming has stopped, although the visits to Mom and Dad's room have continued. I think our bed is just more comfortable than hers! Cole spent Friday night screaming so we took him back to the pediatrician on call on Saturday morning. He told us that he could still see infection but wouldn't give him antibiotics because he thought the underlying cause was allergies and we should see our pediatrician on Monday.
So, off to the pediatrician (I think 7 visits in 10 days now with 3 of the 4 kids?) on Monday to find out his ears are clear and she doesn't think the allergy theory is accurate. Much more likely was what we pointed out to the doc on call - he has three older sisters in school bringing home a new virus or germ every few days.
We also picked out Erin's big girl bed. My first baby is getting so big! She'll be moving into a twin bed in the early part of 09 when it's delivered.
I started back to work yesterday and it's been very, very hard. Suffice it to say that Mom is handling it much worse than baby.
So, off to the pediatrician (I think 7 visits in 10 days now with 3 of the 4 kids?) on Monday to find out his ears are clear and she doesn't think the allergy theory is accurate. Much more likely was what we pointed out to the doc on call - he has three older sisters in school bringing home a new virus or germ every few days.
We also picked out Erin's big girl bed. My first baby is getting so big! She'll be moving into a twin bed in the early part of 09 when it's delivered.
I started back to work yesterday and it's been very, very hard. Suffice it to say that Mom is handling it much worse than baby.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Cool site for Natural Products
www.thenatureschild.com
I found this by following a link on one of the boards I post on and was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of great, natural products I would/can use with Cole and the girls.
Also, for the Moms that follow the blog, they also have a contest to win a Medela Freestyle:
http://www.thenatureschild.com/win_a_medela_freestyle_breastpump_s/128.htm
I found this by following a link on one of the boards I post on and was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of great, natural products I would/can use with Cole and the girls.
Also, for the Moms that follow the blog, they also have a contest to win a Medela Freestyle:
http://www.thenatureschild.com/win_a_medela_freestyle_breastpump_s/128.htm
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Head, Shoulder, Knees and...ears
So, this past week had three kids at the pediatrician for 3 separate ear infections. Cole has his second in less than a month and the twins each had their second in approximately two months. All three got the standard Amoxicillin prescription since they didn't seem to be kicking these on their own.
The past few nights Sarah has woken up screaming and ended up in our bed. Where she has proceeded to scream for 20 minutes at a time, head butt us, kick and scream. Last night she was finally able to verbalize what was bothering her - she grabbed her ear and yelled "OW OW OW OW OW". Okay, we got it. Back to the pediatrician today (for those keeping score, this is visit 5 in 6 business days for 3 kids) and one eardrum is bulging with a raging infection and the other was so much more infected that the doctor just winced looking at it. She's now on a stronger antibiotic and we were smart enough to give her Motrin before she went to bed. Hopefully she'll start feeling better soon and Mommy will get over the guilt of not realizing before last night that her ear was getting worse.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Pictures of the kids
Erin modeling her new winter coat:
Cole's version of playing on his mat - eating the mirror.
Sloane and Cole on her sick day
Sarah being just a cutie:
Cole's baptism:
Cole's version of playing on his mat - eating the mirror.
Sloane and Cole on her sick day
Sarah being just a cutie:
Cole's baptism:
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Bye Bye Bo
We finally took the plunge and took the twins' pacifiers away. We've been contemplating it for awhile and our trip to the dentist for the 3 girls this morning solidified our decision.
Erin acted like such a big girl and went off alone with the hygienist to get her x-rays taken and then let the dentist clean and examine her teeth. Sarah was less convinced of the purpose of a dental visit and I had to sit with her in the chair and convince her they weren't trying to hurt her. Sloane was the most surprising, hopping up into the chair and sliding a pair of sunglasses on, reclining to watch Dora while they cleaned and examined her teeth and she never complained. Erin still has dysplasia in her enamel but they don't know if it will occur in her baby teeth. Her great dental hygiene has kept it in check so it needs no treatment. Sloane and Sarah also got a clean bill of dental health with the only other surprise that Sarah has two teeth fused together on the bottom. We don't know the long term impact - it could mean that one of her adult teeth is missing. The dentist wasn't concerned and advised that even if the adult tooth was missing there, it could be treated easily orthodontically.
Of course we received the pacifier speech and saw the damage it was causing. So, we made the dentist the bad guy and when the kids came home from school and asked for their "Bo"s and told them we left them at the dentists office. Commence screaming from school to home (poor Matt). After they were distracted with their new jump ropes, they stopped. Another 5 minutes of complaining at bed time and then to sleep. Hopefully it will stay this easy....and if it doesn't, please remind me that it was our wonderful idea to take these away the day before I have to have dental surgery and will need to rest at night tomorrow?
Erin acted like such a big girl and went off alone with the hygienist to get her x-rays taken and then let the dentist clean and examine her teeth. Sarah was less convinced of the purpose of a dental visit and I had to sit with her in the chair and convince her they weren't trying to hurt her. Sloane was the most surprising, hopping up into the chair and sliding a pair of sunglasses on, reclining to watch Dora while they cleaned and examined her teeth and she never complained. Erin still has dysplasia in her enamel but they don't know if it will occur in her baby teeth. Her great dental hygiene has kept it in check so it needs no treatment. Sloane and Sarah also got a clean bill of dental health with the only other surprise that Sarah has two teeth fused together on the bottom. We don't know the long term impact - it could mean that one of her adult teeth is missing. The dentist wasn't concerned and advised that even if the adult tooth was missing there, it could be treated easily orthodontically.
Of course we received the pacifier speech and saw the damage it was causing. So, we made the dentist the bad guy and when the kids came home from school and asked for their "Bo"s and told them we left them at the dentists office. Commence screaming from school to home (poor Matt). After they were distracted with their new jump ropes, they stopped. Another 5 minutes of complaining at bed time and then to sleep. Hopefully it will stay this easy....and if it doesn't, please remind me that it was our wonderful idea to take these away the day before I have to have dental surgery and will need to rest at night tomorrow?
Monday, November 17, 2008
A beautiful day
Cole was baptized yesterday and it was a wonderful day. Matt and I had chosen yesterday when talking with the Reverend because it was the fall contemporary service. I usually go to 8am mass with no music, so going to 10am with music was a completely different experience. Our wonderful Reverend included not only the parents and godparents but also Cole's sisters and grandparents. I'll add pictures later. One of the hymns the music director chose was just so perfect that I wanted to add it here so we don't forget:
I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry
I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.
I was there when you were but a child,
with a faith to suit you well;
In a blaze of light you wandered off
to find where demons dwell."
"When you heard the wonder of the Word
I was there to cheer you on;
You were raised to praise the living Lord,
to whom you now belong.
If you find someone to share your time
and you join your hearts as one,
I'll be there to make your verses rhyme
from dusk 'till rising sun.
In the middle ages of your life,
not too old, no longer young,
I'll be there to guide you through the night,
complete what I've begun.
When the evening gently closes in,
and you shut your weary eyes,
I'll be there as I have always been
with just one more surprise.
I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.
I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry
I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.
I was there when you were but a child,
with a faith to suit you well;
In a blaze of light you wandered off
to find where demons dwell."
"When you heard the wonder of the Word
I was there to cheer you on;
You were raised to praise the living Lord,
to whom you now belong.
If you find someone to share your time
and you join your hearts as one,
I'll be there to make your verses rhyme
from dusk 'till rising sun.
In the middle ages of your life,
not too old, no longer young,
I'll be there to guide you through the night,
complete what I've begun.
When the evening gently closes in,
and you shut your weary eyes,
I'll be there as I have always been
with just one more surprise.
I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
A new take on a classic
Heard from the backseat as we were driving last night:
If you're happy and you know it, clap you your hands
If you're angry and you know it you go grrrrrrr
I'll leave it up to the imagination as to which daughter updated the song!
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