Christmas with my two little princesses

We had a beautiful Christmas with our two little princesses. Lady M and Baby G were so much fun and truly made the magic of Christmas alive in my heart this year. I am so grateful that we were able to spend the holidays in our own home with family and friends. It is important to T and I that we create Christmas memories in our own home. We use to spend half the day in a car traveling from place to place to see our loved ones but this year was just perfect! I hope that you had a beautiful holiday with your loved ones. Here are a few favorite moments that I caught with my new camera! What were some of your favorite holiday moments?

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Wishing You Merry Christmas Card

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Tree Of Memories Christmas Card

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Our life...Fall Bliss

Despite all the scary moments we had with Lady M and her medical issues. We found several blissful moments that just took my breath away!

Lady M's Big Scare

Yet again my blog has been neglected. But in my defense, life has really thrown me some curve balls lately. I started back to work in the fall after having a great summer. I am working 4 days a week this year. I was nervous about the loss in salary for our family but luckily T's new job has ben wonderful and has off set my position being reduced to part time. I never once thought that working part time would be exactly what I needed but I have learned that sometimes our biggest challenges have a way of just working out as they should.

In late September, I began to realize just how fortunate my family really is. Our oldest daughter, Lady M, suddenly became very ill on a Friday evening. She started in with a cough that seemed to develop out of nowhere. She coughed all night long like I have never heard her cough before. She then developed a high fever and then showed signs of a urinary track infection. We made several trips to the doctor's office within a weeks time before we realized that she had bacteria pneumonia. The pneumonia then attacked her kidneys. To make a long story short my poor baby gained 5 lbs in less than a week and was spilling large amounts of blood and protein in her urine. She ended up at a children's hospital in VT. One we arrived there we began consulting with a specialist to try to determine if her kidney issues were all part of the pneumonia infection or a more serious disease. While we were there her blood pressure began to rise and she continued to retain fluid. She was put on several medications to control the blood pressure and treat the pneumonia. Luckily we were able to get things manageable and return home within a few days. We had to follow a strict diet and she has weekly doctor appointments to monitor her blood pressure and weight. It's been six weeks since the entire ordeal and Lady M continues to be monitored and her test results are improving. We feel fairly confident that all her kidney issues were related to the pneumonia. My husband and I were out of our minds with fear. I am so amazed how strong Lady M was through out the entire time. We are just so very thankful that we are able to be at home as a family and that we survived such a scary ordeal.

Here are some pictures of our sweet girl while she was sick.I still can't get over the weight she put on :( She always kept smiling!

This was taken the day we found out we were going home!

Uncle B is getting married...in Austria! What can I send?

My Brother is getting married in 10 days. I won't be able to attend because the wedding is in Austria. My other Brother will be flying over to attend the ceremony and I am hoping to send a wedding gift over with him. I have no idea what to get the happy couple. They have not registered and are just having a brief ceremony in Austria. They will be getting married here in the US sometime next year. I would still would like to send a gift to my Brother and future sister in law to let them know that I am there in spirit on their special day. Does anyone have any creative ideas?

iPhone or Droid...Help!

Ok. So I am ready for a new phone but I can't decide between these two. I am hoping I might get some feedback on my blog :) I have a Blackberry Curve right now which is fine but I hate the camera on it and i am due for an upgrade. the blackberry curve t takes horrible pictures so I am hoping to get a phone with a decent camera. I am looking for something that is easy to use, that will survive my kids...they always see to get their little hands on my phone when I'm not looking, and I would love to find a good deal! Any suggestions? What kind of phone do you have? Do you love it, hate it and Why?

I'm Back!

Ok so I finally have a little time to blog. Let's just say that that the last few months have been a whirlwind! There have been lots of ups and downs but I think things are starting to look up. For starters my husband got a new J-O-B! I can't even begin to tell you how happy we are. He started in May and things have been going very well. He use to work in Wind energy on the turbines as a technician but he now works for a power plant that deals with mainly natural gas in the I & E Department. Don't ask me details because I really have no idea what he does. It's very technical and I am not a technical person. I read his job description at least ten times but I still don't get it. All I know is that he seems to love what he does right now and he could walk to work if he wants...sure beats his previous 1 hour commute. The hours are great for our family and his salary has increased too! We are so happy and feel so blessed.
Now for my job, the last time I blogged I had shared that the school I worked in was thinking about cutting my position. I was cut to part-time which was 40 percent. Last week I found out that they would increase me to 60 percent with benefits or 80 percent without benefits. I was so frustrated...I wasn't sure what to choose. The salary decrease was one issue, the impact on my family in terms of health insurance was another, not to mention the fact that my students would only have a part time counselor was also weighing heavy on my mind. I didn't make a decision right off... instead I talked things over with my husband and we looked into health insurance with his new company...his plan had a $6000 family deductible! I was such a wreck over which option to choose. Then just before I was ready to accept the 60 percent with benefits our district asked to meet with me and offered me 80 percent with benefits! It seemed like a nice compromise. I am still concerned about my students only having a counselor 4 days a week but I am pleased that I will have a an extra day at home to get things done around the house...not to mention our family will still have great health insurance.
A few weeks ago Baby G had tubes placed in her ears and her adenoids were removed. The procedure went well and we have also been able to taker off her nebulizer. She still seems to get a lot of colds and upper respiratory stuff but we are hoping that the breathing continues to improve. Within a week of the procedure her hearing was back to normal levels and she started walking and talking up a storm! She is certainly keeping us on our toes!
Now I am off for the summer and trying to think about ways to save $ to off set the reduction in my salary. I would like to get more involved in couponing or reselling my childre's clothes on ebay. I think that having an extra day at home starting this fall will really help me balance my career responsibilities with my family life. Now that Baby G is getting older, I am starting to realize how busy life is going to got with two active little ladies. Thanks again for reading and following my blog. I am hoping to pay more attention to it this summer!

Baby's G 1st B-day
For now I will leave you with a few pics of the last few busy months!

Our Family Easter 2011

Mother's Day 2011

Lady M at her dance Recital

Baby G on the move

It's been too long..

So it's been way too long and my poor blog has been neglected but I have had so much going on the last coupe of months. The girls have been sick and it just seems like one thing after another. I got really bad news a few weeks ago that I may be without a job at the end of this school year. I currently work as a school counselor in a middle high school. Even though I have been there for six years and have been working the field for eight years, I have the least seniority. I am so afraid of what this might mean for our family. My husband has a good job but it's not enough to support us. I have been trying to find other positions in the area but I know that it will be almost impossible to find another position in school counseling in NY. The cuts that our Gov. has made are devastating. I am worried about my family but I am also worried about my students who will not have the support that they so desperately need. I am working hard to stay positive and try to find the silver lining in all of this. I have to admit that I love the ideas of spending more time at home with my girls. I just don't know how our family will get by. I know that I am not alone and that I am just one of many people in this country who are about to get pink slips. I just hope I am one of the lucky ones that bounces back stronger than ever.

Baby G has RADS

I took Baby G to the doctor's yesterday b/c she has had a cold for over a month that just won't go away. At first we were told a few weeks ago that she had an upper respiratory infection and that she needed antibiotics to get rid of it. We put her on a ten day course and there was little improvement so they extended the antibiotics for another week. After 17 days and little progress, I brought her back in and her doctor gave her a breathing treatment and she immediately sounded clearer. The doc put her on steroids via nebulizer twice a day and she will use breathing treatments as needed as well. I am so overwhelmed. yesterday was the first time I ever had to use a nebulizer and of course Baby G hates it. She is coughing up lots of yucky stuff and I guess that means it's working but it's scary that she has to be on something like this at such a young age. I asked the doctor if this was the beginning of Asthma and she said she is calling it Respiratory Airway Disease RADS. She said that there is a subcategory of children who are diagnosed with this who go on to develop Asthma but it's too soon to tell if that will be the case :( I really hope Baby G is better soon and that we all adjust to this new treatment. Does anyone have experience with this? I could really use some words of encouragement.

Disney Princesses on Ice

On Saturday, T ad I took Lady M to see Disney Princesses on ice. It was so much fun! I couldn't believe how great the costumes were and Lady M was so excited to be there. She was glued to her seat and was impressed with all the princesses. Belle is her favorite and she insisted on wearing her Belle gown that she got for Christmas. The show was great and I am so glad that we decided to take her. I highly recommend it if it's in your neighborhood. The only complaint we had was that the snacks were pricey. Her snow cone was $15! Daddy certainly spoiled her but it was well worth it. We had so much fun together! Here are some pictures :)

Wordless Wednesday...pics from my Recent trip

Back from my Hilton Head, SC trip!

Ok so I know it seems like I have abandoned my blog but I promise I haven't. Life has gotten crazy in 2011. I am just trying to balance work and my family. It is a constant balancing act and some weeks I am better at it than others.

On 1/16/11, I left for Hilton Head, SC to attend a Perceptual Control Theory Conference. I had went through the part 1 training in December and was excited to attend part 2. Is was a great conference and I met a lot of other professionals. It was a huge step for me as a working mom because it required to me to be away from my family overnight for 4 days...might as well say 5 because both the girls were sleeping Thursday night when I got in. My husband T was great. He took a few days off work so I didn't have to worry about him being distracted by his work while I was away. T's career is not family friendly. We are really hoping that we find another option within the next few months that gives him the opportunity to be with us more. It doesn't help that he really dislikes his career right now too. We are all ready for a change.

Leaving for the conference was hard. I hated saying by to my family even if it were for a few days. I need the time away though and T needed a break from his work and quality time with the girls. In the end we all got what we wanted. I connected with some other adults, gained some professional & personal knowledge. T who is a great father already, got even better at it. Baby G somehow became a Daddy's girl in just a few short days. Lady M took on the mommy role while I was away. T was so impressed with all of her help that he rewarded her by taking her to see Yogi Bear in 3D. They had a blast.

I was suppose to head back to work on Friday but took the day to enjoy my girls and ease into the weekend...I made the right choice. I am beginning to think that if I start to pay closer attention to me and stop obsessing about all the other things that I can't change that I might just be able to have it all... the career and the family.

Wordless Wednesday! - An amazing trip with my late father.

This picture was taken at Yankee Stadium in August 2009. It was my father's dying wish to visit the new stadium and meet some of the players...it was one of the best days of his life and I will cherish the memories that we created that day. My Dad passed away less than a month later of Multiple Myeloma and plasma cell leukemia.

Post it Note Tuesday

Tidy case Bookcase at Sugar pop ribbons

We could so use a product like this in our kids rooms. We love books in our house and the girls have a ton of them We need a bookcase for Baby G's room. I just entered to win this one and you can too by following this link.

http://sugarpopribbons.blogspot.com/2010/12/tidy-books-199-bookcase-review-giveaway.html