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Pumpkin' land!

The last picture was tooken here at home. A friend of the family grew a mammoth 100 pound pumpkin and his sister painted a lobstering scene on it for our family. Very sweet!

Pics from today with ole Blue :)

Here are some snapshots I took today while out on the boat. A fellow lobsterman caught "Ole Blue" in his trap just up the bay the other day and left him in a crate for the kids to look at. Truly a beautiful yet rare occurence to have caught a blue lobster. The photos don't do it justice. It was gorgeous. Oh, and the lobsterman will be not be selling Ole Blue, she will be returning to the ocean :)

Sam's first real haircut

before and after, of course just as handsome as ever. He really was not impressed with the whole expierence but a lollipop cheered him up :)








And Thomas got his haircut too :)

She's here

After a 2 year absence, AF is back with avengence! She showed up early yesterday afternoon just as I was stripping down to my swimsuit to take a dip in the pool. Bummer :(

In high school, I always chuckled at the girls on the sidelines during gym class. Unable to participate due to bad menustrual cramps. I thought for sure they were faking it. I never had one iota of a cramp, backache, bloating, nada. They surely must be just trying to get out of gym class or be wussyfied.
Even growing up with 2 other sister, I didn't get a glimpse of overwhelmingly emotional and painful cycles. After having 3 kids, my cycles simply went back to the way they were.
This time around however, I must have been due. I have felt really emotional and crummy for the past 3 days. My lower stomach is so sore. I just don't feel up to par. I really hope that all these symptoms are just a one time thing and not a sign of what is to come every month. Blah.
Oh, and my lump is still there and unchanged. :/

18 month check-up

Sam's 18 month well child visit was yesterday. He received his very last immunization until he is 5! Woot!
His height was 32 inches and his weight was a whopping 19.6 pounds! I have no idea where he sits on the percentage scale and this point it doesn't matter. I am no longer worried about his health and left wondering if he is getting enough nourishment. He is just going to be a little mite.

I think, overall, his development is right on par. He walked a little later than the rest of his age group but now he has caught up. We met another little boy yesterday while waiting for the doctor who was Sam's age and he seemed to be right where Sam was. It was nice to see another child, Sam's age, on the same developmental scale.

Running is now the preferred method of getting around. He is fult tilt all day. You would think he would sleep better because of this, but no such luck. He has spent a few naps in his playpen. Which is wonderful. Not forced though. Soon enough he will be grown up and gone and I will miss those days of co-sleeping so I am in no rush to push him out. He says just a few simple words now. He says thank you alot. It sounds more like, "tank chu" as Susan can attest, but its super cute. I wish he would say momma, but he won't the turd. I try to teach him momma and boobie all day long. He wont' have it. Pretty stubborn, that child is.

Uh-oh

I need to get this off my chest....
Apparently, the(roughly)5mml sized hard lump in my left breast is not normal. Not sure where to go from here or what to think but I go back to a new doctor in 2 weeks and I am not sure what to expect. I haven't told anyone in my real life, for fear of upsetting Mark or the kids so I hope to update here if anything comes of it. Which I hope is nothing.
Anyone with any information or expierence with this is greatly appreciated.

A picture post

A few pictures from the beach and Funtown this past weekend.

Need help

I have tried 3x in the past 24 hours, to upload a video of Sam. I can't use photobucket as the site claims that the file is too big. I am unsure how to make it smaller and when I try to upload the file here on blogger, it just stalls or freezes.
:/

General update on us :)

Since I haven't really updated about my family lately, I figured now is a good time while I wait for daycare to arrive.

There are a few changes in Emma's treatment lately. Yesterday I had to take the day off to go to a "teaching" of her new medication. A weekly shot of Humira into her leg/stomach area. Needless to say that she is not happy about it. Yesterday she got her first dose, unexpectedly, and was hysterical. She is home today from school, due to side effects that kept her awake most of the night. Or so she claims. I am pretty sure she is faking. Our friends from Pennsylvania are in town this week and I am thinking Emma is wanting to spend the day with her friend, K. Since K is already here this morning, I am gonna guess I am right :)

Logan is doing phenomenal at school. With all her challenges and special classes, I will admit that I didn't expect her to succeed quite as much as she has. I thought she would coast through on the borderline like she usually has. She got a 99% on her big science project and made the honor roll all year! We are celebrating by taking her and a friend, plus the rest of the family, to Funtown next month!

Guess who taught himself to ride a 2 wheel bike in 1 day? THOMAS!!! He got sick of using his training wheels when all the rest of his friends were riding 2 wheelers. So last week he asked me to take them off and has been zipping around without them ever since! With the nice weather here lately, we have been riding bikes every night. Even made it to the bike path the other night and we made it the whole way!!
I am so proud of him. He reminds me of me so much. Its all or nothing with him and once he sets his mind on something, it doesn't stop until its done.
The other thing going on with Thomas is his skin condition. I noticed a patch of raised skin on his neck last week and spotted the same on both his elbows 2 days ago. I was pretty sure I knew what it was but needed the pediatrician to examine and diagnosis herself. Sure enough, he has psoriasis. Very dissappointing. Of course, I have played it off as it is nothing to him but I am worried with it being so high on his neck that it will travel to his face. Anyone who has psoriasis or knows someone who has it, understands how humiliating and uncomfortable it can be. I pray it doesn't flare too bad and stays off his face and other clearly visible area.

Sam the man is still just a going. He says a few words now like: Woah, uh-oh, no, whats that. Can't get the little bugger to say momma, for the life of me. He is running full force now, everywhere. He is still just a little mite and still is wearing his pants that are 6months in size..I joke you not. Out of all my children, I have the feeling he is the one that will keep me on my toes the most. He is fearless and a little monkey. He is constantly climbing on anything he can and has more bumps and bruises than I can count.

As for Mark and I, things are okay. Financially we struggle, like everyone else but are managing. We are in the process of getting some debt help/relief...keep your fingers crossed for us. After that process is done, we are hoping to get a construction loan to build on our land.
As I stated before, our friends from Pa. are in town. Its nice to see them. You never know how much needed friendship is in your life until you see your dearest friend after a long absence. Its nice to pick up where you left off and its as if she never left. Sure we are completly different and things have changed between us, but in a good way. I am in the hopes to find a sitter and go out to dinner, as they suggested, this week before the head home.

As Karen suggested, I will try to get some pics of all of us up sometime this week! Thanks for reading.