And the hits just keep on coming...

Soifa is doing ok, not great, but alright.

So yesterday, noticed that the boys were wheezing pretty badly, so took them in today only to discover they also have ear infections and asthma. We did nebulizer treatmenets and have a machine at home now. I have asthma myself, so feel really badly about this as well.

So, giving the twins nebulizer treatments was in a word, horrible. William screamed through the the whole treatment and David started out ok, but then screamed even more than William had, to the point of my having to hold his arms down. Poor baby. William sounds really bad, even after the treatment, but his oxygen level was ok, so we go back tomorrow. I'm not sure what will happen if he's not better.

One funny thing in the midst of all this...Sofia called the nebulizer a "washing machine."

On a lighter note, David is standing!! I call him scrappy! (video here http://youtube.com/watch?v=Dw1PuPRnsuI)

Also, a very funny incident in the pedi's office...I've only been a parent for a little over 2 years, but what happened today was definitely the funniest thing that has happened as of yet in my little parenting world. At the pediatrician's, we had to weigh the boys (William is a whole lb more than David, which I suspected) So, we weigh William first and Steve is holding him as I place David on the scale, with Sofia at his side. I'm intently looking at David's weight when I hear a shriek of unprecedented magnitude. I turn to find Sofia, her entire face dripping wet and crying as if she was in unimaginable physical pain. William had peed on Sofia, a straight shot into her face. I should have tried to comfort my completely freaked out daughter, but I was too busy laughing hysterically. I literally could.not.stop.laughing.

People were staring at us, as they do anyway in the "oh my god, those poor people" way, but now they were staring because we were making a scene. I mean, my daughter was shrieking and I was laughing uncontrollably, I'm sure people were like what a bunch of nutjobs. Sofia just added to the scene by yelling at the top of her lungs "No Weeyam! No pee over ME!" It took a good 5 minutes to calm her down, I think the whole thing was pretty traumatic for her...understandable...don't think she expected that and I suspect some of it got in her eye

I have a feeling we are going to be hearing about this for many months to come....

I knew when Sofia started preschool that this could happen, that we'd get slammed with the sickies, but I honestly didn't think it would be this bad. If she didn't love it so much, I'd seriously reconsider sending her. This is all a bit much, this constantly sick thing. Steve is also sick and I'm feeling like I may be the next one in line (I just got through my own sickness and astha exacerbation) No one said this was going to be easy!!

And yet more sickies

So yeahhhhhh....another day, another kid sick...

Sofia was coughing really badly last night and also coming down with yet another cold. The poor thing was coughing so much (a dry cough, which I can attest is the worst kind) and having a hard time sleeping, crying in her sleep, etc. Around 10 pm I said to Steve "I can't take it anymore, I'm taking her to the emergency." By the time I got dressed, she'd fallen back asleep, so I let her sleep. As I had an appt for myself this morning, I just brought her with me and called her pedi when they opened, explained the situation and after a little begging, they agreed to squeeze her in. Thank goodness they did. They took her temp and she had a 102 temp. I was shocked as she didn't even feel warm to me!! Turns out the poor thing has pneumonia and a raging ear infecftion. The pedi said he was shocked that she hadn't complained of ear pain as it was bulging like "a piece of bubble gum." So she's on zythromax and at home with daddy, who is also sick.

I swear, it's not funny at all, but I just have to laugh at the illness fairies that have descended upon my life. I managed to go 2 years with almost no illness and now it's just been constant for 8 months, surely to continue. I've just accepted the reality of someone being sick all the time. People tell me I'm being negative and I just laugh. Just call me Negative Nelly. *eye roll*

The Money Shot...or Close Enough

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We managed to stop by my brother in law's fire station on our way to family's house in San Francisco and Sofia got to sit in a real fire truck. She was thrilled. She loves her some "Unka Mike" so it was all just gravy after seeing him. We got some semi decent shots of the kids in their little Thanksgiving outfits, so that was good. It's all about the money shot. Of course, trying to get 5 people looking at the camera and smiling is probably not going to happen - ever - but I still think it's cute.

What's the Butterfly Say?

Sofia has been coming at me with the wildest things lately. The other day, out of the clear blue sky, she asked me how old her little friend was. I almost drove the car off the road. Where does she get this stuff? Is she sitting there in her little 2.5 year old world, actually thinking about this stuff??? So then, yesterday, I was talking and she said "Did you say (the f word)?" I was horrified to hear that come from her mouth!! I asked her where she had heard that word and she looked up at me, batted her lashes and said softly, "You, mommy." Again, you are on stage!!

While reading a book the other day, we came upon a crab and she said "What's the crab say?" She had me stumped. The same went for the giraffe, zebra and the best one of all "Mommy, what's the butterfly say?"

I'm just sayin'

Ok, so a few weeks ago, Sofia kept saying that some kid pushed her at school. "Gavino pushed me!" she exclaimed. I was like "Who? Gavino?" convinced that she was mangling the kids name. But Sofia's pretty articulate, so I finally realized that she did, in fact, mean, Gavino. So, apparently this "Gavino" character pushed her and she "Fall dowwwwwwwwwwwwwn" I am not sure what happened or if she was hurt in any way, but it didn't seem like it. I was like "who is this Mafioso bully that is pushing my kid?" (Relax - I'm Italian, I can say that.)

So, the next time I went to the school, I checked the roster and sure enough, there was indeed a Gavino listed. On Halloween, I met this Gavino kid. He looked exactly as I'd pictured him. A cross between Tony Soprano and Charlie Brown. He was a 49er football player for Halloween, complete with shaved head and pants hanging down his butt. He's 2, by the way. His parents were not at the Halloween parade and the teachers had all they could do to keep him in line during the proceedings.

So, today, I saw Gavino's parents. At the risk of sounding elitist, his dad was even worse than I imagined. Definitely a bit rough around the edges, like someone Dog the Bounty Hunter would be hunting down. Tattoos, two sizes too large Ben Davidson pants with chains hanging off of them, a black ski cap pulled tightly over his head, long underwear with a tee shirt over it...you get the idea. Gavino's daddy is a thug. Big shocker there. Again, don't mean to sound like a snob, but the kid pushed my girl...I'm sure he's a nice guy and all, I'm just sayin'...

You are on Stage

As god as my witness - this conversation just occured this evening.

Sofia - pointing to cereal box on top of fridge "Get me Mickey Mouse! I want mickey mouse! It's mine."

I am a bit taken aback at her tone and don't respond.

"Get me mickey mouse now!" Stands on chair.

Me -- "Get down from the chair immediately."

She sits down.

Me -- "Ya know Sofia, I don't think I like your tone."

She looks at me point blank and without batting a lash, says " "I don't think I like your tone eye-derrr!"

Exsqueeze me?

What the.....????

When exactly did I lose complete control?

This is not good, not good at all. I look at her and see her evolving into a little dictator and it's troubling me. I think I know where the sass is coming from, which is the worst part. Lately, all I do is bark orders at everyone, I'm so freakin' stressed out and harried all the time. Clearly, she my little sassbucket is mimicking mommy. What a trip to see your less than desirable behavior mirrored in your little girl. I think I need to take my bossiness down a notch. I need to be extremely conscious of my own tone, my words, the level of my voice, my off the charts control freak demeanor.

It makes me wonder, if she's sassing me now, what will she be like at 3, 5, 10, god forbid 13?????????????????????

So early New Year's Resolution...takin' it down a notch...be a nicer person...as Disney would say "You are on Stage!"

Clearly, I'm no superwoman

So, it's not been the greatest week for me at work.I screwed up a few major items and completely forgot about a meeting yesterday -also forgot to tell the assistant to come to the meeting. Fortunately, my boss had mentioned it to her.

I've been with my company (a local real estate firm) many years (12 - was their first first time employee, they have about 40 now) and most of the time, do the job on autopilot. It's not even that busy and my primary role is supervisory. Truth be told, due to the level of activity, we probably could do without one employee, but hell will freeze over before I share that with anyone. So, bottom line, I don't do much at work every day. It's been like that for a few years and I've been so busy TTC or pregnant, that it's worked out very well. I hang out, make sure everyone does what needs to be done and assist my boss as needed. She's not there much of the time, so...you get the idea. It can be boring at times, but with the priorities in my life shifting so drastically lately, boring is good.

I've been having great difficulty focusing on work while there. While I don't necessarily do much, I still am responsible for making sure things get done, ordered, followed through, etc. and my mind is swimming with thoughts about my kids and all that needs to be done at home. It takes all I can do to get to work on time. In fact, most days I am up to an hour late. In my former life, I was obsessively on time or early, certainly never late. Now, it's all I can do to get out of the door. I get up early and it still takes me a full 2 hours to feed all the kids, dress all the kids and get myself ready.

So this week, I was reprimanded by my boss for coming in late, leaving early, letting things fall through the cracks, etc. I copped to it and it was fine. She needed to say what she needed to say and we both felt better afterwards.I did express that I was having great difficulty balancing the kids with work but assured her I'd be making a concerted effort to improve in those areas. Truth be told, I have been milking it at times, but in fairness have had a lot of issues arise that have been out of my control (doctor visits, hospital stays, etc.) I did manage to get to work on time the rest of the week, for the first time since I started back in September. My boss said something like "We used to have a good thing going..." and that made me sad. We did have a good thing going for several years, but I have 3 chidren now and things will never be the same. Priorities, b aby.

Girl Cheese at the Ho-Towel

So we did Disneyland with 3 kids under 3 and lived to tell. Yes, it can be done. It's going to take me a good week to recover and I could barely walk today, but *by george* my little girl had the time of her life and that was the intention. Mission accomplished. People have asked me what her favorite thing was and I can't really answer that. I know she thought having a "girl cheese sandwich" at the "ho-towel" was a highlight of the trip for her. The twins were troopers, as was Sofia, considering naps were pretty much nonexistent.

I had intentions of us pacing ourselves, returning to the hotel and napping, but that pretty much all went out the window. There were a few times the kids crashed hard, as evidenced by these photos, but it was ok.

Surprisingly, there was more than enough for toddlers to do. I thought 3 days would be more than enough, but it turns out it's not!! By the time you factor in feedings, diaper changes for all, napping (or not as the case may be), waiting in line, etc. the day just flies by! Big hits, It's a Small World, Casey's Train, Playhouse Disney Live, Toontown, Dumbo and Teacups. The whole park was decorated for Christmas already and truly a sight to see.They were even filming an ABC Xmas parade special (airing Xmas day) so that was awesome to watch. Even got to see Ryan Seacrest! *eye roll*

At the risk of sounding like a total cheeseball, they don't call it "The Happiest Place on Earth" for nothin'.

And We're Off!

So yeah, we're leaving for Disneyland bright and early tomorrow morning. I have gotten so much flak for this trip, there aren't even words. Most everyone who I've told I'm going has suggested I have my head checked. 3 kids under 3 in Disneyland, I must be insane! Truth be told, the last 8 months have been so intense that I felt I desparately needed a visit to the Happiest Place on Earth.

I have very few expectations for the trip, just glad to be getting out of town. Steve and I are both looking forward to seeing Sofia's face light up as she experiences the magical kingdom for the first time.

My first trip to Disneyland was in 1977 in a Pinto wagon with 6 people (my brother and I, 2 cousins and their parents). We stayed at the cheapest flea bag hotel you can imagine and my bad seed older cousin (who is now in the state Pen in Oregon, I might add) traumatized me shortly before we went in the Haunted Mansion. Oh yes and I'll never forget, my cousin's step father's toupee fell off when he jumped in the motel pool. It doesn't get much funnier than that when you are 10 years old.

Super Baby!

So the albuterol syrup isn't working with David's wheezing, but it's sure got him hopped up. When he's not blowing raspberries over and over and over, he's bouncing up and down like a little crazy person or plowing over his brother to get a toy. Baby crack, indeed!

That's just *wrong*

Ok, somewhere in that great human creation factory in the sky, someone is having themselves a mighty laugh.

People in my family have freakishly large feet. My cousin and I are both petite (her of the traditional petite standards, me of the short limb definition) and we have always had huge feet. We both stand about 5 2" or 5 3" on a good day and our poor feet have been size 9 since about 8th grade. I have always liked to say that I have the feet of a supermodel. To add insult to injury, what was once a size 9.5 on a bad day has now become a 10-10.5 after having 3 kids. This is just blatantly wrong. A 5 3" person CANNOT have a size 10+ foot. That is not normal. As if the mere fact that my foot is huge wasn't bad enough, imagine my disgust when trying hopelessly to reach the top shelf in the shoe store, where the size 10's are located. I'm sure the logic there is that the size 10 people are tall and can therefore reach up there. Uhhh yeah.no. Not I.

Never a dull moment

I was just telling my boss that I have gone to SF on average at least 3 times a month for the last year. So, now we can bump that number up as I already had one visit to SF this week and had yet another one today!! Poor little David has had this cold going on 3 weeks and today I noticed that he was wheezing pretty badly. The poor kid inherited my eyes, hair and skin, why not my asthma too? So, up to SF we went. Good news is he's perfectly happy and not in any distress. He is definitely wheezing though. The doctor Rx some albuterol syrup, which from what I hear is like baby crack...literally. Don't know that we'll be getting much sleep tonight. I am to call the doc on Moday and let him know how it worked and if it doesn't work, we'll have to do a nebulizer treatment. That should be interesting on a 7 month old. Geesh. Sorry kids, genetics are a b*tch.

I want some more choc-o-lit!

Trick or treating was a hoot. The boys hung out with Daddy in the MacLaren, snuggled warm in their costumes. Sofia had a great time, that is when she wasn't crying because of some kids in a Scream mask or tripping over her ruby slippers to get up someone's walkway. At one house, we were on the stoop and all of a sudden, a life size, animatronic witch came to life and Sofia.freaked.out. Hysterical, scared for her life, panic. She was literally shaking, I felt so bad. Particularly because Steve and I were in hysterics. Is that bad? Don't answer that. All in all, we only stayed out about 1.5 hr and were home by 7:30. Just in time to come home for a chocolate induced meltdown.