In a galaxy, far, far away...

Keith LOVES Star Wars. He hasn't actually seen the movie, but he loves it anyways. I don't know what got him into this, but he has the action figures (may I take a moment to say 'DAMN YOU ADAM' for selling MY Star Wars action figures?!?), the legos, you name it. We're even going to Pottery Barn Kids to meet some Star Wars characters in a couple of weeks. And for his birthday, I heard that Grandma got him the ultimate in Star Wars:

(yeah, if you can't quite tell from the picture, that's a Star Wars room from Pottery Barn Kids)

Car rides

Three kids definitely bring a whole new meaning to "don't make me pull this car over!" We live really close to one of the busiest intersections in PA (who would have known?!?), and every. single. day. we get stuck at the light to turn left. The light just sucks - it lets through about 5 cars, and the person in front NEVER seems to understand that the SECOND that light turns green you have got to go or else no one will get through. Then, you have to wait for all of the other cars before the light changes again. On a good day we sit through one cycle of the light, on a bad day we drive halfway to West Chester to avoid it. Unfortunately, Caroline HATES the car. She's okay with it if we're travelling faster than 50mph, but stopped at a light? Oh no. Not good. Caroline screams her head off whenever we're stopped. And then, Keith takes it upon himself to sing "go to sleep" over and over and over and over again at the top of his voice to either get Caroline to shut up OR drown her out - I'm not quite sure which. And Henry? Henry just yells "MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM" while all of this is going on. If I manage to answer Henry (by saying "what, Henry?" - just "what" doesn't work because how does Henry know I'm talking to him?!?), he then switches to "where's pop pop? Where's pop pop? WHERE'S POP POP?" until he goes back to "MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM". Lather, rinse, repeat.

And people wonder why I drink?????

Cows like M&Ms too!

I think we should be scared lol. But, hey, M&Ms got me through college, so they can't be ALL bad, right?!?

Read the story here!

And as the cost of grains and corn has gone up because of the interest in ethanol, feeding cattle strictly corn is too expensive, reports the Wall Street Journal. So farmers are now moving to alternatives such as m&m's and potato chips mixed in with their corn, frankly because its cheaper.

I guess he liked it...

It's 8:30am, and Keith has asked me twice already if it's time to go wait for the school bus. The school bus which arrives at 12:12pm. I think it's going to be a long morning for Keith!

First day of KINDERGARTEN!!!!

It was Keith's very first day of Kindergarten today! I can't believe he's actually in school - this day seemed so far away when he was Caroline's size! He was very excited to ride the bus, and waited outside for it for over an hour. I kept telling him I'd tell him when it was time, but I guess he didn't believe me. Grandma came to see him get on the bus, too, then insisted that I go to the school to meet him when it arrived. He was happy to see me there - I even got a hug! - but wanted to walk to his class by himself with all of his new friends. He's just so big - before I know it he'll be driving! And no, I didn't cry!

Is it 3pm yet?

I can call the PA Department of Health at 3pm to see if Caroline's test results are back yet! For those of you who don't know, it's been a stressful week. On Wednesday the midwife called to tell me that Caroline tested positive for galactosemia on her newborn screening exam (you know, the heel stick test). We went up to her house to redo the test, and mailed it off on our way home. While we were at her house, someone from CHOP called my cell phone 3 times about getting Caroline in for some blood test about the galactosemia. If you test positive for one of the rare disorders that the newborn screen tests for, the Health Department calls the local treatment center to let them know that a kid who possibly has such & such disease needs to see them. So that afternoon I took Caroline into CHOP and she had some blood test done to see if she actually had galactosemia. Those results should be back today or tomorrow. THEN, I talked to the midwife on Friday and she said that she had talked to the health department again and they said Caroline also tested positive on the screening exam for PKU. So, it sounds more and more like the first test was just a bad sample or something, especially since she's as healthy as can be. But I still want to hear from someone with test results that it was all a test to see how well I handle stress, and she's actually fine. So at 3pm I can call and see. The poor nurse who deals with people on the phone is probably sick and tired of hearing my name - she now answers the phone with "Hi Amy!" lol. So please cross your fingers that I get some answers today!

Update: I got some answers, and they were the answers I wanted! Her second screening test came back 100% normal!

See a resemblance?

I found it!

The birth certificate! I only waited until MONDAY to start looking for it, but I found it, with Henry's social security card and birth certificate. I still haven't found the lease, but there's one good thing about renting from your parents - you can get them to print up a lease any old time. I'll be picking that up tomorrow.

The Escape Artist

Well, Henry's been known as the escape artist for quite some time now. Screen doors? No problem for Henry. Locked screen doors? Ditto. I wouldn't be surprised if he picked up my house keys one day and took off out the locked front door. But this, this I was not prepared for, or expecting.

He can get out of his crib.

Lord help me. He wants to get up in the morning (a good hour before the rest of us, mind you), he's up. He doesn't want to take a nap? He doesn't. AND, to make matters worse, his room isn't quite Henry friendly yet. This morning he showed us his skill at taking all of the wipes out of the wipe box. He's pretty good at that. He's currently back in the crib for the third attempt at taking a nap today, but I don't think this one is going to work, either.

The Over Shoulder, or Keith watches too much TV

The other day we were going somewhere with my mom, and her cell phone started ringing. Of course, it was buried in her purse somewhere, so by the time she found it it had stopped ringing. Keith piped up from the back seat "Grandma, you need an Over Shoulder. It's a purse that has a place for EVERYTHING! You can even put TWO bottles of water AND AN UMBRELLA in it! And there's a special pouch for your cell phone so you never miss a call again!" My mom looked at me and said "Do you think your son watches too much TV?" So now all we hear about is this Over Shoulder Bag, and how if you buy it right now you can get a recorder so you never forget what you went to the store for again. Oh, and it's LEATHER. Not pleather, but genuine leather. Ed and I happened to see the commercial the other day, and I was almost crying I was laughing so hard. I could just hear Keith in the background telling me about all the great Over Shoulder features.

If you were a birth certificate, where would you be??

Keith starts school on Tuesday - first day of Kindergarten! That is, if I can get my act together and find my lease and his birth certificate. I *used* to have his and Henry's birth certificates together in a safe spot, but then we moved. And now, well, I forget where I put them. Oops. Fortunately my office isn't that large, so I should be able to find them relatively quickly, if I just started looking for them. Note to self - start looking. Preferably before Tuesday morning.

Everyone's still alive!

Today is my first day alone with three kids. I am proud to say everyone is still alive with half the day down! We even got into the van and buckled in and all the way to Kennett without losing anyone and with everyone staying out of traffic. I am so impressed! I must say, though, my mei tai from www.divasnbabes.com is a life saver. I thought it was a life saver when Henry was born, but that was nothing! I had two hands and two kids then - now I have two hands and THREE kids, one of which is 21 months old and hasn't figured out the whole listening thing.

Sleeping beauty

All she does is sleep! Well, and eat and poop, but mostly sleep!

Caroline's birth story

Well, people have been asking me for Caroline's birth story. Feel free to skip this post if you're not interested - I know everyone isn't like me!

I guess it all starts with Henry arriving at 39 weeks. Even though I KNEW that I could go past 40 weeks (Keith was born at 42 weeks), I didn't really believe it. Boy, was I wrong. So 39 weeks came and went. So did 40 weeks. And 41. AND 42. It was a long month, to say the least. A couple of days after my car accident I saw the midwife to check in. I was 6-7cm dilated, so we tried some homeopathics to get labor going. No go. They gave me some contractions, but those contractions didn't end up in a baby. So the weekend came... and went... Monday night I had contractions all night, but the didn't get any stronger or closer together. Tuesday around 10am I called the midwife, and we decided she'd come down and we'd evict this baby. If you know me you know that I'm not a fan of inductions, but sometimes the risks of staying pregnant outweigh the risks of the induction. I was pretty much at that point. Postdates, baby wasn't moving as much as I'd like, the car accident... time to have a baby. I'd probably still be pregnant if we just waited for Miss Caroline to get her act together. So I called Ed (who was working at the Jersey shore - way to stay in the area in case your wife has a baby Ed!) and my doula and told them that the midwife would be over in an hour or two and we'd be having a baby. I called my mom to get Henry, and the midwife showed up around noon. She broke my water and gave me a dose of cohosh tincture, then my mom came to get the kids. We convinced Keith to go with her to lunch and then come back, because babies take a little while to show up. He'd be fine - get some lunch, come back and see a baby be born! So the boys left around 12:30 or so, and the midwife gave me another dose of cohoshes. Two contractions later, I changed my mind about the whole having a baby thing. I called Ed and told him to hurry up and come home, and called my doula. Contractions were 2 minutes apart, lasting about a minute. The second midwife showed up around 1 and got me into the shower so I'd cope better. At 1:30 I started pushing. I only pushed a couple of times with Henry, and for 20 minutes with Keith, so after a few pushes I was done. Unfortunately baby had different ideas! I ended up pushing for about an hour. Ed and the doula showed up a little bit after I started pushing, and were HUGE helps! I hate pushing with a passion. Finally, she was born at 2:28pm - two and a half hours after the midwife showed up at my house, and less than two hours after I felt the first contraction. She was a bit slow to adjust to outside life (is THAT a surprise? Why do I think my Caroline is going to be consistently late in life?!?), but after a bit of oxygen she was fine. My doula told me it was a girl, and I didn't believe it until I saw her. I still don't really believe it! Ed called Keith to apologize for him missing the birth, but it was all made better when he was told that he had a baby sister. He dropped the phone and Ed heard him say "I finally got what I wanted!" Mom and dad brought the boys right over to meet their sister, and they've been over the moon with her since.

Feel free to hate me!

I guess I paid my dues in pregnancy with this little one. Last night we got home from grandma & grandpas around 8:30 and Caroline and I went straight to bed. And then, I woke up for the day at 6am. Caroline woke up every 2-3 hours to eat, but we cosleep and breastfeed so I barely had to wake up with her. No screaming, no socializing, no wanting to hang out and chill at 3am. I feel like a million bucks! And she's just now thinking about waking up to meet the day. What a great way to start a Monday! Oh, and to make matters EVEN better, can we just say "regular clothing"? Yup - you got it. I can wear my jeans. It's amazing how exciting it is to be able to button and zip a pair of pants. Now I can pack the maternity clothes away yet again. Having two babies in less than two years has made those maternity clothes a bit too familiar.

We're off to the pediatrician this morning to check in, so we'll have a busy morning. Fortunately Keith is at grandma & grandpas - he spent the night - so I only have to figure out how to get two kids changed, dressed, and out the door without losing one or missing my appointment. And Ed is around to help me out, so we can double team the little guys. Thank goodness.

I'm curious!

Who's blog is www.wishesforjenn.blogspot.com? I want to read it!

Patience - I guess I was the only one?

So, I figured that Caroline, seeing as she taught me a LOT about patience, would have some herself. Boy, was I wrong! She is definitely stubborn (I've been saying THAT for months!), but patient, not so much. When she's hungry, she's HUNGRY. She goes from perfectly happy, staring at her brothers, checking out the sights, to STARVING in about 2.6 seconds. And God forbid that it takes me longer than, oh, ten seconds to feed her - she'll just get louder and more pissed off. And diapers? Same thing. After two previous kids we've learned that you wait a second before you change a diaper so you avoid as many surprises as possible. Caroline definitely does NOT agree. She's lucky she's so damn cute.

Pink... such a wonderful color!

So, if you know me, you know that I HATE PINK. With a passion. Never have liked it. The first house we bought, the owners before us LOVED pink. When we were looking at it, Ed and the realtor kept saying 'Look past the pink, Amy. See the potential." There was even pink wall to wall carpet in the bedroom that looked like it had come out of my great-grandmother's house. Fortunately, the owner was so in love with said ugly pink carpet that she ripped it up and took it with her. Good - save me the trouble! There was pink in the kitchen, the dining room, the bedroom, you name it. Then our second house (the last one) had a pink kitchen sink. WHAT?!? Who makes pink kitchen sinks?!? We got rid of that pretty quick, too. But now, things are different. I freaking LOVE pink. It is amazing how much pink stuff has made its way into my house in the past five days, and I'm not complaining in the least! Hell, I want MORE! I think Miss Caroline is even going to have her room painted, wait for it, PINK! This is a big deal, because I'm sure sometime in my life I said that hell would freeze over before I had a pink room in my house by my own doing. It is just amazing what having a little girl will do to you. She's currently wearing a pink onesie and brown pants (thanks Regina!) and pink booties (thanks Jess!), with a whole line up of pink clothes to change into should the need arrive.

Did I mention that I LOVE pink?!?

Want to see even MORE pictures??

Because I know you can't get enough of my sweet Caroline!

Click here!

Who can resist baby pictures?

Introducing...

Caroline Mae Borrelli
born at home
8/12/08 2:28pm
9lb 7oz 18in

New car, here I come!

I just got off the phone with my insurance company a little bit ago and my car has been declared a total loss. I thought the bumper in the backseat might have given that away, but it's still nice to hear it from the people with the money! I get to go pick up my check this afternoon and then go buy my new minivan this evening! I picked it out on Saturday and I've just been waiting for the go ahead from the insurance company. It's a beige Toyota Sienna - I have now made it as a mom. Where are the soccer games, because I'm there! I'll post pictures when I get home :)

Baby didn't get the memo.

Yeah. That's all I have to say about that. 8/11/8 maybe? I give up.

I have to say

I think today would be a cool birthday. Hopefully baby agrees with me.

Well, I'm still pregnant...

Fortunately! I must be the only 41+ week pregnant woman who ever walked OUT of Labor & Delivery! I went to the chiropractor yesterday morning and was coming home when a car made a left turn in front of me. I didn't even have a chance to swerve. So I hit her head on (hit her passenger side) going about 50mph. Both the boys were with me, so we all went to the hospital. I had an ultrasound, there's a baby in there, and it has the cutest face lol. It was a regular old black & white u/s but you could see its cheeks perfectly lol. Baby looked great, placenta looked great, baby was reactive.... OB on call was chomping at the bit to induce me but couldn't give me a reason other than I was REALLY pregnant, so in the end after talking to the midwife and her talking to the OB I went home. I'm REALLY sore, but other than that pretty good considering. I pulled some ligaments in my pelvis and can barely walk which REALLY SUCKS seeing as I should have a baby one of these days, but I'm thoroughly convinced I will be pregnant forever now, since a freaking car accident didn't even put me into labor!!!! The boys were both fine - a bit shaken up and they both have marks from the carseats, but nothing major.

And now for my PSA: CARSEATS ARE REALLY IMPORTANT!!!!! Even if your kids are on the bigger side and could get by with not being in a carseat, err on the side of caution. Everything that was in the backseat (ie cups, toys, random kid crap) hit the windshield, but the carseats kept the kids exactly where they needed to be. And remember, they expire after a certain amount of time (around 5 years). And, they need to be install correctly (for those of you in the area - the state troopers at Avondale Barracks will check your carseat installation for free). So, if you have kids, check your carseats :) And when you wreck, you need to go buy NEW ones. Fortunately we have a couple extra ones in the basement!