Saturday, March 19, 2011

Good Morning from The Pop Shop






















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Friday, March 18, 2011

Vitamin D

Today was gorgeous.  We basically spent all day outside. The kids and I went to the park after we picked Ellie up from school with her preschool friends (and my Mommy friends).  Ellie stayed busy with her friends which is why you'll only see one picture of her below.  I had my eye on Charlie nonstop.  That boy is a daredevil! Than enjoyed the swing, being carried around by me, and sitting in his stroller eating Chick-fil-a fries.

After we got home the boys went down for their afternoon naps.  I decided to say a big "screw that" to cleaning the house and instead I spent my favorite time of the day outside with Ellie.  Ellie and I laid on a blanket out in the back yard after we played with bubbles for a few minutes and I read to her for an hour and a half.  She has an "Illustrated Stories for Little Girls" book from Usborne that we have had for a few months but haven't gotten around to reading yet.  We got through "The Railway Children," "The Wizard of Oz" and some of "The Secret Garden."  It was so nice. She just cuddled up on the blanket with me in the sun and looked at the pictures as I read, asking a few questions here and there.  It was the best hour and a half of my day.

After the boys woke up a friend came over with her kids and we did some more playing in the backyard.  They left when Chris came home.  The house was a mess.  We ate leftovers for dinner.  We managed to bathe the kids and get them in bed by 7:30 p.m.  The kitchen managed to get cleaned, but the rest of the house is a mess. I'm hoping all the fresh air from today will help the kids get a complete night of rest.

I've noticed a lot of changes in the kids this week. Ellie can tie her own shoes and she can pump her legs on the swing now to swing high. She still asks to be pushed, but she doesn't need it.  Charlie can roam free on the playground.  I have to worry about him opening the gates and running away, but for the most part he listens and I can let him run around and play.  Last summer he was in the stroller or in the swing. I can also let him walk around in the store and put him down on the ground while I close the door to the mommy van without worrying about him running in to the parking lot and getting killed.  He listens pretty well now.  It's crazy to think that this time next year we won't have any need for baby gates! Woo hoo!

Here are some pictures from our lunch date at the park:

Charlie on the slide.

Amanda's pasty white arm  :)

Ellie on the swing with her buddy.







Thanny soaking up the sun.

Charlie being a cheese ball.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

The best kept secret in Cherry Hill

Last night, with many thanks to my friend Amanda (one of a handful of people who actually read this blog), I stumbled upon the absolute best kept secret in Cherry Hill.

Premiere Immediate Medical Care is a little slice of heaven and that is in no way an exaggeration.  For serious.  The boys have had head colds for over a week now.  I have been going back and forth the last couple of days about taking them to the pediatrician because it didn't seem to be more than a head cold and I was borderline approaching the deadline of my pediatrician rules....

"Pediatrician rules?" you ask.  Yes. I have a few. Do you want to know what they are?

I do not bring my kids to the pediatrician every time they are sick.  Why?  No, not because I am a negligent mother.  Through  my countless visits to the pediatricians office between the three kids and many conversations with my pediatrician I have discovered the following things.  They will not treat my kids unless they have had a fever for more than three days.  They also will not treat my kids for a cold unless it's been over 7-10 days and they are not getting better. The few exceptions to this are if they seem to be in pain besides the normal "my head is stuffy, I can't breath out of my nose, I am not sleeping well" crankiness, if I suspect an ear ache, or if their fever is crazy high and it's freaking me out.

I love our pediatricians office.  The doctor we try to see regularly, Dr. Sarah, is wonderful.  The other doctors there we've seen are amazing as well.  They do however take a long ass time to answer the phones which drives me crazy, but this cold season is insane as I've mentioned many times before so I can only imagine how busy they are.  The other awesome thing about the pediatricians office is that they take you in on same day sick visits if you feel you need one even if that means they are there until 10pm.

Case in point, yesterday Than woke up from his afternoon nap screaming because he couldn't open his crusty eyes.  At 3:30 I called the pedi office to take him in scared that it was pink eye.  They had an appointment for both boys all right, but not until 9:30pm.  Yikes!  I scheduled the appointment but told them I was going to try out Urgent Care if we could get in there earlier.

Chris came home and off with the boys I went to Urgent Care, which is right around the corner from our house and is covered by our insurance with just a slightly higher co-pay, but 1/2 of what it would have cost me to take them to the ER. And you just walk right in without an appointment. Sounds good, right?

Wait. It gets better.  We pull in to the parking lot and I am surprised by how empty the lot is.  Oh what is this next door?  A pharmacy that fills Urgent Care prescriptions in 5 minutes.  It can't possibly get better than this. Until it does.

The place was immaculate.  Every inch of the waiting room and office was clean.  The staff were friendly.  They were great with my kids! I fell in love. Instantly.  Did I mention the part where we didn't even have to wait?  We handed the receptionist our paperwork and as soon as I sat down and pulled out some entertainment for the boys we were being called back to the room.  The nurse took their vitals and two minutes later the physicians assistant was in there taking care of them.

Both boys are now on Augmentin for sinus infections and Thanny has eye ointment for his crusties, which she says are mostly likely do to the sinus infection.  Last night was a doozy with both of them being up.  I'm pretty sure I didn't get to sleep until 3:30 a.m. and Chris fell asleep on the boys bedroom floor.  At least it's carpeted, right?

So, next time you're in South Jersey and you or your kids are sick.  I highly recommend them.  I have a feeling it isn't the last they've seen of us. For sure!  They are open 9am - 9pm 365 days a year! Yes, you read that right.  When you've stuffed yourself silly on Thanksgiving and think you're having a heart attack they'll be open. Feel free to stop by for a quick EKG.

I can't believe I have been driving by this place for the last two years and had no idea!!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Hallelujah it's 8 o'clock!

I remember back in the day, about four years ago, when my Heart Mama friend and I would both talk about how we can't imagine being one of "those mothers" that looked forward to nap time and bed time just so our darn kids would go to bed and we'd get some peace and quiet. OMG, what was I thinking? Most days, probably because I am greatly outnumbered for about 90% of the day, I can't wait for 8pm.  By 8pm the kids are definitely in bed.  The routine starts at 6:30 p.m. and some nights I get lucky and by 7:30 p.m. all three kids are down and the house is quiet.  I don't even really want to talk to Hubby until 9ish. I just need the hour to decompress and regain a little sanity.

I was supposed to go to the gym tonight because sick boys have prevented me from going during Ellie's school hours, but Hubby wanted to run an errand so I figured skipping a night wouldn't kill me.  He bought me an iced coffee while I was giving Than his nightly breathing treatment, so seriously, how could I say no to him?  That guy knows all the keys to my heart!

It's a big night over here.  Charlie is sleeping in a toddler bed. GASP!  I don't remember how it came up, but we just decided on a whim that tonight was the night.  Chris and I make a lot of our parenting decisions off the cuff like that.  We'll see in about 18 years or so how that method has paid off. I'll keep you posted.  Back to the big boy bed.... It seemed to go down without a problem.  Chris actually put the boys down so I'm not sure of the specifics.  All I do know is that Chris left them in there and Charlie hasn't tried to get out or cried, so in my mind that equals success.  I should probably go check on him to make sure he's not asleep under his bed.  I remember on the second night or so that Ellie was in her first big girl bed, I couldn't find her in the morning and it totally screwed me up when I saw an empty bed until I saw her cute piggies peeking out from underneath her bed!

Other awesome news from the day, Ellie had her GI appointment follow up today.  In the last three months since we've been there, E has gained one pound and grew a 1/4 of an inch!  A pound in three months is huge for us.  Especially considering she had that horrible stomach bug that is going around and she didn't really eat for about a week. Woo hoo!!  That's my girl!!  I was so happy. Her doctor said she thought she was exceptional!  She is actually 5% on the growth chart for weight and at 10% for her BMI!!  Yay Ellie!!  We'll go for a follow up in another three months. The plan for now is just to keep everything as it is and hope the great gain continues.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Let's hope the next 8 years fly by this fast!

Yesterday Chris and I celebrated our  8 year wedding anniversary.  8 years.  They flew by.  It sort of makes me laugh to think about our life together in college where we met in 1999.  Some people would call it "on and off"  I would call it "giving each other room to grow."  We were married in 2003.   Had our first kid in 2006.   Went to hell and back (a couple of times) in 2007.  Celebrating eight married years together and sending our first kid off to kindergarten in the fall.  Where did the time go?  Am I really already that old?

Chris really out did himself this year.  As I've mentioned before we don't really do gifts.  Birthdays. Christmas. Anniversary.  Each year we go back and forth, "are you buying me something?" "Are you buying me something?"  Our life is comfortable enough that we don't really want for much and when we do we budget and save to get it when it makes sense for us to do so.   I didn't get Chris anything this year.  Nada.  Not even a card!

I had my cycle-a-thon event to support Children's Hospital Boston on Sunday.  Fearing I'd be incredibly sore and seeing that heavy rain was in the forecast I decided to stick out Monday in Massachusetts and drive back Tuesday morning. So in my defense I was planning on picking him up at least a card, but my plans were delayed so I didn't.  Have you tried picking out a card at CVS with three kids with you?  I didn't think so.

He vacuumed the entire house! I know, incredibly romantic!! The little things thrill me!  He hid my card and gift in the sippy cup cabinet... but I didn't find it until he told me where to look.  He replaced the earrings I lost a couple of weeks before we moved and this time they came with screw backs. Woo hoo!  He did good.  I am certainly a very lucky lady.

Happy Anniversary to my best friend and partner in love and life!  We've so got this!