November 8: I am thankful passing my first Ortho/Neuro exam!

November 7: Thankful for being able to finally go to nursing school. I've waited a very long time to be here, and I can't believe it's almost over. Six more months to go!

November 5: I am thankful for cool, fall weather. It always finds a way to lift my spirits and bring a smile to my face

November 6: I am thankful for my study group. Without them, I don't know where I'd be.

Things To Be Thankful For.....

Following along with my sis-in-law, Wendi and her blog, and some other people on Facebook, I will post one thing to be thankful for each day in November. Since it's the 4th day today, I will post 4 things today and then try to keep up each day.

First, I want to share with you some pics of Nate's knee. Last week sometime, Grace fell and scraped her knee pretty good at school. Like the day after that happened, Nate had a little scrape on his knee and told me he fell at school. A day or two later, his "cut" looked really weird. It was a circle, about the size of a nickel, and the skin in the middle of the circle was puffed out, kind of like a blister but I didn't see any fluid behind the skin as you would see in a blister. The circle was outlined by a faint red line. At first I thought he might have had ringworm but after looking online, it seemed too soon for ringworm to have developed. I asked Ray to take a look, but he thought it was just the cut on his knee and so I decided to just put a little antibiotic cream on it and a band-aid. A couple of days later, which was Monday, Nate wakes up in the morning and tells me his boo-boo hurts and he needs a band-aid. I see that he has another scratch mark above his first cut, but thought it was itchy and maybe he scratched too hard and broke the skin. I put a band-aid on it and left it alone. Then I noticed on Tuesday there was another lesion. I think something isn't quite right, but I thought maybe it was my imagination. Wednesday it looks really off. He has like 4 lesions, all perfect little circles, all doing the same puffy skin in the middle thing, and now they break and start oozing honey colored fluid. Ick. My very first thought is Impetigo. But I like to see pictures and the ones I could find online didn't look like what Nate has, so I second guessed my thought. None-the-less I decide Nate needs to go get this checked out, because what ever it is, it is spreading and who knows what's going to happen if I don't take him. I really dislike going to the doctor's office. Mainly because I feel like usually whatever the reason I "think" I might need to go to the doctor's office will usually turn out to be nothing. So, I feel like I not going because of that. But then I create a new dilemma. What if it is actually something? Usually, more so for myself than the kids, I wait until the last possible moment to go (like when I had the flu/pneumonia thing last year.....was sick for probably 4 days before I finally drug myself in). So Nate and I went to the dr. Lo and behold, Impetigo! Poor Nate. Now he is on an oral antibiotic, Keflex, 3 times a day and an antibiotic ointment.

Here's the pic (I had already put 2 band-aids on the little lesions I wasn't sure if they were part of this or not, and I had already applied the ointment to the lesions, but you can still see how nasty these look, which they look a lot nastier now then they did at first!)



Ok and now for things to be thankful for:

Nov 1: My family. They have been so wonderful and supportive, especially this last year since I started nursing school. I love them all.

Nov 2: Snuggle time with my kids. Sometimes, in the hustle and bustle of life, I take these moments for granted. I miss the times when they were littler and we snuggled often.

Nov 3: Financial Aid. Without it, I'm not sure how I'd be going to school right now. Well, I'd probably get some loans, but still. You know what I mean.

Nov 4: Cool weather. I just love cool weather. It really lifts my spirits, just something about it. Thankfully, we're getting a cool front tomorrow. How awesome is that?

Bits and Pieces

It's nothing new that I am bad at keeping up on my blog. I usually just wait until I have something of substance to say, other than blah blah blahs. I find myself envying just a little bit, those who can blog quite regularly and have something to say each day that's interesting.

I am not one of those people. And that's ok.

Today, I have a few things to say. Not much, just some bits and pieces.

• Nate, even though he is nearing 5 years old, still says new, cute things that make both my face and heart smile. The other day he told me he loved me. I asked him if he loved his sister, too. He said, "Yes." Then after a slight pause he says, "But I love you one more lover than her." Kids. I just love 'em.
• Ray and I have decided to start Grace back up in ballet. It's an extra cost and takes up extra time that I could totally use but we have decided that she needs more interaction with girls her age. We feel because there are only 2 other girls in her class, and the fact that she's been having issues with those girls on and off, that this interaction is important. Since she missed a year, she has some catching up to do. The girls that were in her class are currently in a class thats challenging even for them, and Grace just couldn't keep up in it (we did a trial yesterday). Friday, we are trying another class and we will see how this goes. I wish she can be with her friends, but Grace is pretty content just doing ballet altogether, or so she seems so far. Also, she is still getting that girl interaction either way, so we're happy.
• Speaking of Grace, sometimes her generosity and sweetness amazes me. I have to preface this by saying that sometimes I don't realize how sweet she is, like during times when she complains about what we are having for dinner, for instance. I wonder why she can't just be grateful she has food (you know, the old "there's starving kids in Africa" saying that for all eternity parents will tell their kids). So I'm sure I don't give her as much credit as she deserves. Well anyway, as I started out to say, Grace was given a gift card to Build-a-bear Workshop for her birthday from my mom. It was a pretty good amount, and I also had two coupons for $5 off any purchase, so we had another $10 to spend in addition to the gift card. Grace, all on her own accord, suggested that she would share her gift card with Nate so he can get something, too. He was SOOOOOO excited. we went this past weekend, and even before we stepped foot in the store, he knew he wanted a puppy stuffed animal. to make things even better, there were 3 different puppies, all three different prices and Nate liked the cheapest one the best. He didn't get to pick out any clothes because we were allowing Grace to use most of that gift card for herself, but he was completely content with his little puppy, which barks by the way. I love my kids.
• I recently found out something really cool. Apparently, my mom was told by her cousin, which I did some searching on the internet and it seems pretty accurate, that she can become a citizen of Italy because her grandfather was born in Italy. This means that I, too, can also become a citizen of Italy from one of three ways: 1) Once my mom becomes a citizen, I believe I would be able to do so as well, 2) My grandfather (my dad's dad) was born in Italy and immigrated to the US, so I can become a citizen through him, or 3) Most of my great-grandparents were born in Italy, so I can become a citizen through them as well. I think this is a very cool thing and I am certainly going to look more into this. Maybe I feel like this is so cool because I am 100% Italian decent, and just about my entire family is as well, so I think it's WAY cool, like I already said- ha!

Well this concludes today's post. I've already run out of things to say. Tune in next time for some more bits and pieces of my life!

So Proud

I have to take this moment to mention how proud I am of my kids.

Nate:
Last year we tried him in school and it didn't work very well. He acted like a robot at school, and while for the teacher this was a good thing because he listened very well, it was out of his character. He seemed different. He would cry the night before about not wanting to go to school the next day, and that was very hard to hear. He would even cry when Aunt Elizabeth would drop him off, which was another red flag. Needless to say, I don't even think he lasted a full month before we pulled him out of school. It was a hard decision since I was starting school full time, but it was the right one. This year, he is a whole different person. He is excited to go to school, although at times he does make comments about wishing it was the weekend or asking me to pick him up early. Overall though, he enjoys it and doesn't cry about going. While there, he listens very well to the teacher, but he does engage in play with the other kids and enjoys the things he does there. He loves his teachers (the teacher and her assistant) and they are very good with the kids. I am so proud that he is such a big boy and is doing so well.

Grace:
She is doing sooooooo well in school. Her grades are all very high, with the exception of her penmanship (which to me isn't a big deal at all). She is given a reading goal each quarter based on her reading level and each book she reads has a set amount of points that she can earn towards her goal. The books she can choose to read are 3.0-4.0 level (I'm not sure if this level corresponds to a grade level, but it is the level for the particular reading program they use called Accelerated Reader). That is the highest reading level assigned to anyone in the class. Also, she has already reached and exceeded her goal. She currently at over 120% while I believe the next highest percentage is around 80 or 90%. Yesterday, she had her very first book report due, which was entirely oral with NO notes. She choose Nancy Drew- The Hidden Staircase, which was a 5.5 level book and earned her nearly 6 of her 13 point goal!! They had to choose a book that was at least 25 pages, which all the kids pretty much did. This book was 182 pages!! Grace got 100% on her book report- the only one in her class! We are so very proud of her for working so hard.

Weird

So yesterday, on my way to go have some coffee with friends at Barnes and Noble, I realize out of seemingly nowhere, the right side of my upper lip starts to swell. I didn't feel a bug bite, it is not itchy. In fact, today, it just feels a little like a fat lip you get from hitting it on something, but a very mild fat lip. And the swelling went down throughout the evening last night, too. Weird. It doesn't have any sore looking spot and doesn't look like a cold sore either. I didn't eat anything before that happened. I can't imagine what would have done it, except the only possible things are:

1) I got a bug bite and did not feel it
2) Ray, Grace and Nate all ate pistachios, which I am allergic to, and I kissed them all goodbye.

That's all I got. Weird.

Happy Birthday!!!

2003- 1 year old

2004- 2 years old
2005- 3 years old


2006- 4 years old

2007- 5 years old

2008- 6 years old

2009- 7 years old

2010- 8 years old

Happy Birthday, Gracie-lu. Today you are 8. Eight years ago I had no idea what you'd be like, how you would look, how smart you would be. You are more beautiful than I ever dreamed, you are funnier than I ever imagined, and you are smarter than I ever thought possible. I love you with all of my heart. You are growing to be such a sweet, amazing little girl. How blessed I am to have you as my daughter.

I love you always.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea.

Struggling

Today, I've been struggling. I'm not sure what exactly has come over me. Possibly the impending 8th birthday of my firstborn. Possibly the reality that my baby is in school full time. Possibly getting ready to see births and babies and the beginnings of life. Maybe a little bit of hormones mixed in, too.

In Target today, I saw moms with their toddlers and I just yearned to be one of them. It made me incredibly sad. So sad, in fact, I had to keep myself from busting out in tears in the middle of the store. I got in my car and drove home, holding it all in until I arrived. I am no longer that mom shopping in the early mornings with her curious little toddler, so full of life. Those years for me are gone. A memory. I can't help but to cry as I even type those words.

It makes my heart hurt that the years are flying fast. Too fast.

How did I get here so soon? It seemed like just yesterday I held Grace for the first time. It seemed like just yesterday Nate was the best Christmas present ever.

I'm sure it's just the hormones making feel all crazy sad today. But I can't help but wish there was a pause button in life sometimes.

Cute Animal Video

Ray shared this cute animal video with me last night, so I thought I would share it here.

This Is Great!!

Someone posted this on Facebook and I thought it was so well done. If you've seen Toy Story 3 and Inception, this will be especially funny. But even still, if you've only seen one or the other, or neither, you will agree that this is great. The video is all Toy Story 3 and the audio is all Inception.

Back to School Time!

Can't believe it's back to school time already.

It's The Thought That Counts

Right?

You see, my lovely daughter had a great idea this morning while I was still asleep. "Let's put the dishes in the dishwasher away and then make mommy breakfast." Nate was game, so he helped.

So sweet.

Only, the dishwasher had dirty dishes in it. Yeah. Now not such a great idea anymore. Good thing is they only started putting just a couple away before they decided to make me breakfast.

But they put my cereal in a bowl from the dishwasher. Also no longer a good idea.

I suppose its good that I nearly clean my dishes before putting them in the dishwasher for fear of having clean dishes come out with food still stuck on them.

Still, it was pretty sweet of my kids to try to help out and make me breakfast.

Toy Story 3

Ray and I took the kids to see Toy Story 3 yesterday. We've been meaning to take them for a while, but opening weekend happened to be the weekend before my psych final and I would be meeting with my study group to, well.....study. Then, after my test, we were preparing for our vacation and left a couple of days after my final. We have been postponing the movie for a month now and we've finally had an opportunity to go see it.

I have to say, this movie is probably one of the BEST movies I have seen in a very long time. It was so well written, so hilarious and nudged your emotions a little, too. I can't wait to see this movie again (on video of course. not going to pay a fortune to see it in the movies again!). During a part where I was getting a little teary-eyed, I turned to look at Grace who was swiping tears from her eyes. That was the first time I have ever seen her cry for a show/movie before. It was so cute.

In other news, the other evening, Nate woke up in the middle of the night crying that his head hurt. I wasn't sure what that was about since he has never had a headache before, let alone neither him nor Grace has ever awoken from sleep because of a headache. While he was awake, he said something felt funny in his mouth, so I took a look and lo' and behold, his bottom two teeth (the middle ones) are loose!! Grace didn't loose those 2 teeth until she was after she was 5 years old. He is 8 months younger than she was when she lost them. Weird thing is when I helped him brush his teeth in the morning, I never noticed they were loose. My only guess is that maybe the carrots he ate at dinner helped loosen them some? On top of that, I also noticed a couple of days ago that he is getting in his top 6 year old molars! I must have counted his teeth like 20 times to make sure I counted right. He currently had 20 teeth, and he is getting in the 6th tooth on each side on top, which technically aren't supposed to come in until 6 or 7 years old. Grace was between 6 and 7 when hers came in. I remember we had to wait to see the orthodontist until those came in and I had tried to see the orthodontist over a year ago with her old dentist. Anyway, I guess it's ok for them to come in a little early, but its just strange to have 4 teeth coming in early at once. Anyway, I'm thinking it's all these teeth that are coming in that's causing Nate's headaches. He's only complained about them once more, so I'm thinking it's not anything else that's really causing them.

Poor Nate......4 teeth at one time must be rough.

Fevers

I don't get fevers hardly at all. Although I have had a few more recently than in the past, I think I can count on one hand how many times I have had a fever since Grace was born (but if you include the fever I had WHILE I was in labor- no, that is NOT good-, then I might need to go to the second hand, but actually, I think I can still stay on that first hand). Ok. Tangent. Sorry. Anyway, that's always been my thing, well, one of two things I can use to gauge how sick I am. I don't get fevers and I don't, well, throw up. If one of those two things occurs, then I am pretty sick.

Anyway, people are different. Some people get fevers easily. Some for no reason (ah, I think I finally see where I was going with this.....funny that even I didn't know). Nate, who got sick when I got sick our first day in NC, seems to have a fever for no reason. We both still have our colds, so perhaps his body is just fighting hard against something else. I can usually tell when my kids have a fever just by looking at them, and I say usually because there was a rare time where Grace had strep throat and never once complained about her throat (surprisingly) nor did she look or act sick. The only way I knew she had a fever was when I was dressing her for her swimming lesson and touched her, I swear I have never felt a person that hot before. Her temp was over 104 and I just jumped in the car and drove straight to the pediatrician's office (after giving her Tylenol, of course). Grace still never complained about her throat, even though the doctor said her throat looked "like a mess." That's about the only time my kids didn't look sick and have a fever.

Sorry, yet another tangent. So this morning.....I look at Nate and I can just tell, something is off. I do my usual back-of-the-hand-then-my-chin-to-his-forehead-fever-test (works every time, but I still can't get an actual number yet). I knew my poor boy had a fever and my thermometer confirmed it- it was a little over 102. I immediately made him rest, gave him some water and some Ibuprofen (Advil). I had to battle his fever with Tylenol, as well.

Still, he has no complaints. Nothing seems to be wrong. But it's still so sad to see your kid sick. They always look so sad.


You know, come to think of it, I never did check his throat..............