Life With This Baby!!

pregnancy

2010-09-05T21:00:00.003-07:00

Feeling HUGE. Can't imagine getting bigger over the next 4 months. Can't believe how fast it is going though. My ribs hurt and it is hard to turn over in bed. I pee every 30 minutes and sometimes nothing really comes out. I get my 3d ultrasound this tuesday. We are having 2 boys. I am so worried about that. I really don't like many boys. Heck, I really don't like many kids. Am I doomed or what?

yep freaking out

2010-06-08T10:13:00.002-07:00

I am still having a lot of cramping but it could be just because we are having twins. Where am I going to put them? I don't know. Where am I going to get the energy for them? I don't know. How are we going to send FIVE kids to college. I DON'T know. But God has a plan for us and this is it. He has a way of seeing things all work out. So, if we have to keep them in our closet, make Austin do night duty, and apply for lots of school grants, so be it. We will survive. So please don't make me feel bad by saying "what?? Were you trying? Did you want twins?" Because it really hurts my feelings. These are my babies, a part of me, and things will work out.

Nervous Nelly

2010-04-09T12:05:00.002-07:00

I am nervous about Ileigh and Avery switching to the new school. Andy thinks this is ridiculous. I think any kind of upcoming change for your kiddos is worth some worry. Avery has only ever known where she is at. She loves it and so do we! I hate to switch her but two seperate drop off's is more than I can handle. And add Austin to the buss drop off and I won't be at work till noon. The new preschool seems cool but a TON more kids will be there. I think it's like 20-30 seemed like 200-300 during our tour though. I do think we will have Ileigh repeat Kindergarten. I know she is a genius inside but until she works her brain kinks out (like Albert Einstein) she will be in Kindergarten. I know she will make plenty new friends right away and I would like her to be able to stay with them through elementary at least.

Austin met his dad for the first time (that he knows, anyways) Easter weekend. It went well. I am worried he won't keep up a relationship but I am trying to remain hopeful. They went to the race factory and had lots of good conversation at the town lake. I know he even told him about the other daughter he doesn't see. He told austin "yet" so I wonder if he will start to see her. I know her name is Alexys and she is the same age as austin. nice, huh? It's crazy he still seems like a nice responsible guy. He is getting older but still looks 21. His girlfriend of 13 years must get the dr she works for to do free work on him. I am sure that's it.

Austin's a good kid. It's nice to have a boy once thier this old. I told andy I wouldn't mind having another boy once he is 11. Can we skip to that age please? I look at my nephews and thank God I have girls. I just can't take that gun you down punch you up push you in the pool behavior. And they really don't ever grow out of that. Maybe girls are better at every age.

2010-03-30T07:30:00.003-07:00

my beautiful purr baby Marley Moo
Avery loves to swing everyday now
Austin celebrating his 15th birthday with my botched up cake creation
Ileigh's new bed moved into a new room. She wanted that corner under her bed with pillows to be her snuggle corner.

UPdAteS!

2010-03-25T10:45:00.004-07:00

Avery- she is so stinkin smart and also a smarty stinker. She is still very loving to the point of crawling up under our shirts and putting her nose up to our ears as she is trying to snuggle herself to sleep. She seems very smart (to us) but that possibly could be a comparison we inadvertently make to Ileigh, who began speaking in 3-4 word sentences after her 3rd birthday.

Avery continues to win our and our friends and families hearts.. however.. we need to be careful not to disturb her delicate temper. (I.E. )You WILL know what sippy cup she is requesting from the cupboard and what color straw she wants, even if she has not verbally expressed it. You WILL make sure she does not hit her head while passing the kitchen counter or while walking backwards toward the refrigerator doors. and you WILL know when it is neccesary that she do something completely on her own whether it be buckling herself in her carseat, pulling her own pants off to get up on the potty or brushing her own teeth. Those are just a few of the Avery rules. If any of these are accidentally or (God forbid) purposely broken, you will be punished. First by the extreme noise that she lets out at your face and second by some sort of pain inflicted by her nails or teeth. Yes that is our sweet sweet girl.

Healthwise, Avery still has some. Her pooping issues come and go. Her eczema is bad. She has been on a few different creams, ointments, and steroids for 2+ years now. I recently read (yesterday) that one of the ointments we have been using has been black boxed. We were specifically told it was safer than steroids, so we have been using it liberally. Come to find out yesterday, she was supposed to be covering her body parts from the sun after using this (like the Elidel we started last month, and were warned about). And we were to use it sparingly and under extreme circumstances. Unfortunately the drug companies wanted people to be amazed by this wonder drug so they went ahead and waited for 76 or so cases of skin cancers and lyphoma's to be found in children after using their product to go ahead and let the public (ME!) know. I am pissed. She better not get anything.. and now we have to monitor her carefully for the next 10 years. Those three $50.00 each tubes are now going in the garbage. The worst eczema is better than the best cancer. JMO.

Ileigh. Poor middle child Ileigh. She is so emotional. She has so many frustrations. She is usually very quiet but is a complete bear in the morning to get ready and out the door. We are beginning to think Kindergarten again next year will be the best thing. She has breakdowns doing her easy peasy homework lately. Her memory for all things UNacademic is superb. I just don't understand why it doesn't carry over. I pray that her brain synapses will fire off soon and she will understand and learn the basics over the next few months. I don't think she will even realize that she is repeating kindergarten next year. It will be at a new school and most of the kids will only be a few months younger than her due to her late summer birthday.

Austin- Has a girlfriend! I am so scared. I wonder if they kiss. Ewww. I mean, I did at that age but it is always different when it is your child. In another year, he will be driving. I just can't believe it.
He got almost all A's and I believe Montessorri really pushed him in middle school. High school is a breeze for him. This weekend he starts baseball. May there be NO injuries there!

Andy- wants to switch jobs. Hopefully it will be the right move for us. I will have to change my work hours and begin taking the morning beasts to school. We really want to get out of debt and I think we can do it in the next year, with my settlement and his new job. I hope. I hope.

February 2010

2010-02-18T13:29:00.002-07:00

Hi all who are reading this- if anyone does anymore.

Avery- still wakes up at night. still hardly ever poops. and now it seems she likes to hold her pee as well. I really don't know how potty training is going to take place. Her exema is just awful. We began with a new pediatrician at the hospital where her gastro doc is. He put her on atarax to help her sleep and stop itching all night long. She also was prescribed elidel. Great for exema but can cause skin cancer, so we have to keep her covered. scarey stuff! I really try not to use it. I am doing heavier on the steroid ointment to avoid cancer. ughh. And how can she still wake up at night even with the atarax? I have no clue. sometimes the child just won't sleep.

Ileigh- very worried about her crazy brain. She has the most difficult time learning.. it goes in one ear and out the other. the the the THE, turn the page... Is??? I don't get it. I never worried like this about austin's development. I can't decide if we should go for 1st grade and see if she needs to repeat that or really just re-do Kindergarten. 1st is not only going to be difficult for her but for US. Kindergarten is hard for us. She doesn't know her address, phone number, or sight words. Sure she is better than she was 6 mos ago but still seems a year or more behind. Poor poor Ileigh. she sure has a strange mind too. Has an awesome memory for what happened 3 years ago but doesn't remember sight words. Talks and worries about death a lot. Doesn't much like to cuddle and can play by herself for hours. Loves little animals and her miniature toys. Recently has wanted to cut things open to see what's inside. yikes.

Austin- growing up. Still gets really immature with siblings but is so tall and has a deep voice. He is improving with anger management but still could use help. He really takes after his absent father. It's pretty scary, I wish he could see. He loves high school, but thinks it's really easy. I wish it was more of a challenge for him. That really makes me want to move outta here! The schools really suck. I am very glad austin has friends now. He needs to go out more than he does though. I really wouldn't mind if he got a girlfriend or something at this point. He is 15. he needs more. He will start baseball soon so that may help him to get out more. I told him my greatest wish ever was to have him and dh get along seemlessly. still is. I think it is improving.

Thank the good lord that 2009 is OVER. part 2.

2010-01-21T11:25:00.002-07:00

So we got Austin into a smaller, probably not quite as good, farther away, but easy and he likes it, high school. On our journey into new high school land, we had to stop at our house to get the old high school's books and bring them back there, so they could release him to a new school. Upon arriving at the ol' homestead, our garage door would not open. We assumed the power went out. We stupidly forgot that we installed a door chain on our front door, so when we unlocked the door and opened it, it would not go all the way and made a huge BANG. Andy ran around through the back gate and saw that the power box was opened and all power was manually shut off. He went to the office door (Newly installed x 5 mos or so) and it was kicked in. Metal bent, boards in shards, and muddy footprints to boot. Computers still there, broken glass and coins scattered, bras abundantly spread throughout the bedroom, drawers overturned, riffle carefully laid out on our bed, camera's gone, Wii gone, games gone, new camcorder with all the past year's birthday's and holidays recorded on it, GONE!
I could kill someone.
Police called. Is anyone still in the house or in danger? The wrong answer here is NO. No will get you put on the bottom of police priority lists. After their calls about pets in trees, after their donut breaks, and after their important calls to friends and families. We sat outside, unable to touch or make a mark in our newly destroyed home for over FOUR hours.
I could kill someone.
Would they be able to take fingerprints? Would they be able to get information from the perfectly formed footprint on our back door? Would they bring out the K9 sniffing dogs? Would they takes notes of where items were left and were we could clearly tell they peeled out of the alley and down the street? No, but they could lecture us about trimming our Oleander's to make our yard "less obscure" and therefore more open to neighbor's being able to view any illegal activity. yeah right. Thanks mr. policeman. I will keep that in mind.
If only I had killed someone, more may have been done.

Phoenix Flower Shops: Best Holiday Photo 2009: "Sharing a moment" by laura o.

2010-01-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

Phoenix Flower Shops: Best Holiday Photo 2009: "Sharing a moment" by laura o.

vote for me today! click on the 5th star over, BEST then submit and verify by email. Thanks!

Thank the good lord that 2009 is OVER. part 1.

2009-12-31T07:43:00.007-07:00

And don't look back. It was a hard hard year. It began okay, I suppose. I don't remember much of the first few months. In May, the kids were out of school. Avery turned 2. I began working again in June and Avery started daycare. Ileigh went to summer care at her Montessori school. Avery did suprisingly well at daycare. She even took a nap the first day which floored me because I had trouble at home when I even would lay with her. Ileigh was about to start Kindergarten. She had a HUGE birthday party with a water slide. I got some cute video of her and her friends. I also had video of Easter, Avery turning 2, Avery's first singing (happy birthday) and Austin turning 14. Why am I telling you that? You will find out later.

Ileigh's Montessori school closes for a week before school starts. Have I told you we are worried about Ileigh? That's a different post. She is a child of a different breed. Anyways, the week before the closed week, they charge 140 for 4 days. Ridiculous! I refused. I asked Avery's daycare if Ileigh could go there for 2 weeks and I would pay the 133/week to them. They said yes! In those two weeks, Ileigh began learning a few letters, numbers, and writing her name. We decided to switch her to their private kindergarten. In other words, right when her montessori school was going to switch to a free charter program, we decided to keep paying for her. She really misses her old friends but I can't say I have ever regretted it.

Austin was all set to attend Saguaro. The neighbor, Amy, that also didn't get into our closest and best high school agreed to transport the kids since we wouldn't be able to. The problem is that there was a "secret" waiting list. I was able to find out Austin was at the bottom by someone that wasn't supposed to tell me. Apparently, Amy was at the top. So almost too late to do anything about it, we found out Amy had switched to the closer, better high school and Austin was left without a ride. Drats! (insert inappropriate term here)

The next best idea I had was another snobsdale school. Far away yes. However a straight shot on the the good ole public transportation system. We bought austin a new bike too. I practiced the route with him. He was excited. Freshman year. Freedom. Bus pass. New bike. skate park across the street from new school. HUGE school. Lots of opportunities. TONS of new kids.

Second day of school. Austin was taking his bike to the bus stop when a punk kid asks why austin has "looked" at him. He replied that he wasn't and got assaulted. In the face. Braces through lips. AGAIN. (didn't I tell you that happened before?). Poor kid had braces for 6 months and they came off twice, or more. Fast forward to Austin not wanting to go back to that school. Need a new plan.

Andy and I decided on our old alma mater which was near grandma's house. We had to finagle (sp?) our way into there. transcripts. return books, locks, schedules, never got our refund they promised at old school (thanks for reminding me). Back and forth between schools. new schools policy is 12 days absent per year. They were already counting it for austin. He began there on the 5th day of the first week. whew!

Avery's poop problem

2009-09-09T11:55:00.002-07:00

well, I can't remember if she had meconium in the first 24 hours or not. I am thinking she must have because I don't remember a big fuss about it. At 5 weeks old, she stopped pooping. She didn't go again until 9 weeks old. I told the doctor and he honestly did not believe me. He told me to stop breastfeeding and start on a hypo allergenic formula. Instead, I switched doctors. We did take her to a gastroenterologist. They recommended I take probiotics and that we start miralax. It was hard to get the miralax down her though. She would never take a bottle and wasn't on solids. She only breastfed. It was normal for her to go 1-3 weeks between bowel movements.

We also did suppositories and enemas when she seemed overly uncomfortable. She began solids around 6 mos old. We put the miralax in her baby food. We lived that way for the next 18 mos. Poor Avery has never ever pooped more than once in a one week before.

She started daycare in March of 2009. Almost 2 yrs old. She adjusted well and even naps for them. She is a happy girl for the most part. When her stomach starts getting distended, we give her more miralax or suppositories. Then she struggles and cries and it is usually really difficult to get her poop out, then it is diarrhea or something close to it. We have a hard time understanding why it is so hard to poop something so soft. Everyone just thinks she is stubborn and good at "holding it".

My husband and I are both x-ray technologists and know what a B.E. is. We really didn't want this for Avery. It is so much radiation, and they are almost always normal. I don't think I had ever seen an abnormal one.

Fast foward August 2009. Avery has NEVER once pooped at daycare. In fact, she rarely pee's either. I never buy diapers. It's crazy. So August 8th, I nursed Avery for the last time. I was happy to be freed and she did well with the adjustment. I continue to give her lots of cuddles (she has always been very clingy). I lay down with her for naps and bedtime. August 9th, we tried to calculate the last poop. It had been at least 2 weeks. We gave her a suppository. She went a little. The morning of August 10th, she went more for daddy. I was so relieved. She still seemed a little uncomfortble but not as bad. August 21st.. no poop since the 10th. we gave her another suppository. Nothing. 2 hours later.. just the liquid of the suppository came out. I began to really worry. August 22nd.. another suppository and fletcher's children's laxative. Nothing. Her stomach was HUGE, she cried all night. Andy and I worried about obstruction. I called her NEW pediatrician. I am not allowed to be put through to the doctor.. only the nurse. She advises us to ... are you ready for this???? Give her a stool softener. Is she mentally challenged? Can she hear me? We have been giving Avery softeners since birth. We tried suppositories and they didn't work. On the back of the bottle it instructs to go to the ER if it doesn't produce results. Time to change doctor's again!!
August 25th. I can't take it any longer. Avery goes to the ER. They do a flat and decub abdomen x-ray. Constipation. No shit!!
I explain the problems to the ER doctor. She doesn't seem too worried. She probably sees this all the time. Constipated children. Yeah I get that. But she doesn't have constipated poop. It's runny or soft. There is a problem somewhere.
September 1st. Pediatric gastro enterologist appointment. We only got to see the NP but oh well. That's arizona healthcare for you. At least she seemed sympathetic. Well kind of. At least she listened to our story. I will give her that!
Of course she said Avery needs B.E. I am ready this time. My family does not think she needs it but they are not living with the sadness of our situation. She moans at night. She cries poo poo several times a day but never goes. =(
September 8th. yesterday. B.E. day. She tolerated it better than I thought she would. The radiologist did not give us any results yet. Everything I read on the internet points to Hirschsprung's disease. From what my husband and I could see on the monitor, it looked that way to us. After the exam, Avery was filled to the HILT with contrast. She is supposed to evacuate and get one last film after that. Not our little Avery. She held every drop for the next 4 hours. She has now gone 4 times since. Thank goodness. We await the results......

Updates

2009-07-26T18:21:00.002-07:00

We are trying to potty train Avery. She is really liking the potty lately and loves wearing underwear.
Ileigh is starting Kindergarten in 2 weeks. She is nervous but it will be the same teacher and room as the last two years. The only difference is that she doesn't have to take a nap and HOPEFULLY the teacher will push her harder to learn her letters and numbers.
Austin is starting high school. He has to take the city bus since the high school near us is crap. He is not really thrilled but I think he will grow to like it. He still loves to skate. His new school is right by the skate park!
Andy is not liking work. He has been getting called in a lot. He obsessed about our brick wall enough to pay 800 dollars and get it knocked down and hauled away. Today he has been back and forth to home depot and getting wood and cement and such to begin a new fence on our real property line. He really wants to be able to push the mower on the south side of the house. Crazy man!
All my kitties are lovely.
I am working and happy to be making money and in charge of my own mammography patients.
=)

New pictures Site

2009-07-26T18:19:00.001-07:00

http://lauraohmer.shutterfly.com/

More Mail!!!

2009-02-28T16:49:00.002-07:00

On Dec 1, 2008, at 8:15 PM, ** ***s wrote:

When you don't want to be Facebook friends
With so many opportunities these days to connect with people online, some are confronting a question they thought they had left behind during their awkward adolescent years: What if I don't want to be your friend?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27775484/from/ET/

LOL. I found this girl on facebook, ***. My family lived across the street from hers for years and years. (like 15 or something). I was best friends with her older sister and since she was just a year younger than us, I was good friends with her too. I have been searching for her whole family for the past 5 years. Phone books, internet people finders, reunion sites, you name it. So I was overjoyed when I found her on facebook and it is for sure HER. I asked her to be my friend AND left a little note as to who I was. No response. I let a few months pass and then sent her another note saying how much I really wanted to catch up with her and her family. Still nothing. Now she either is creeped out, doesn't have any kind of memory, or doesn't check that email account. Whatever the case, I am hurt! My family was asking me daily if she wrote me back too. My older sisters went to school with her older brothers even. sheesh!

December 5th, 2008

ughh. Avery is still not sleeping. Another thing she doesn't do is eat! She only wants to nurse and it is so frustrating.

She absolutely will not go in her crib so she sleeps on a mattress on the floor until her first wake up. She just learned a couple days ago how to open her bedroom door. So now she wakes up and comes right to my bedside. We took the box springs out from under our bed to make it lower. I put her next to me and nurse and she goes back to sleep. Then she wakes up about 2-3 more times before wake up time around 7 or 8 am. She goes down late recently around 9 pm. Her naps are horrible too. She naps around noon for about 50 minutes only. The really sad part is she is sooo tired and sooo hungry which makes her whine all the time and just want to nurse more. It's a vicious cycle.

Laura

December 6th, 2008
In regards to claim number 08344032
and coverage ID number 636541201

My daughter and I were involved in an accident on August 25th, 2008. A 12 foot wall fell over on us and she was nearly killed. I was surprised to have my claim denied stating "AC THIS PLAN PROVIDES BENEFITS FOR ACCIDENTAL INJURIES ONLY"

This was an accident in every sense of the word. Please let me know why it was denied as such. I have a doctors signature and the receipt from her services. Do I just need to submit that or was this a glitch? I have never had to submit those things before.

Thank you

Laura and Andrew

December 9th, 2008

Hi ***. I have a problem or rather my cat does and wanted your advice.

I found Marley at the pound on Sept 24th. He looked like he had a severe eye problem and his cage was labeled "stray" so I asked what would happen to him. Of course they would just put him to sleep so long story short I fostered him. They reluctantly gave me some clavamox drops saying he had a URI. On the 24th, only his eye looked bad but I picked him up on the 26th and he had nose bubbles, yuck. They said his eye was just ulcered from the URI. After the meds, he seemed really no different. I took him back to the pound vet (technically, he wasn't my cat). They gave me some ointment for his eye and said it was just ulcered. They also said he should get better from the URI in a few weeks. He didn't. I called the pound foster coordinator three weeks later. She yelled at me that I wasn't taking proper care of Marley and what kind of person was I, etc. Really rude. She said obviously I wanted to adopt him so he was either my problem now or I could bring him it to put him to sleep. Sobbing, I got off the phone. I was planning on asking you what I should do about his URI around that time when the worst happened.
Right before Thanksgiving, Marley ( who I believe to be blind and possibly deaf too) got into my garage and stayed under my car when I backed up. Let me add that Marley is the sweetest cat ever. He was obviously hurt and had blood coming out of his mouth, I rushed him to the nearest vet. They gave him oxygen, xrays, IV, ect. Charged 300 dollars and sent us to the overnight pet hospital. He slowly stopped panting and they next day ate and made friends with everyone in the hospital. I told them the whole story of his URI and eye problem and even though they were certified in pet eye care, they did nothing but prescribe clavamox again. I told them it didn't work the first time but they said it should work. argghhh. you would think that 1,200 would have paid for them to help me with his long standing problems as well. Also, he didn't have anything wrong from the accident. No broken bones or anything. It was a miracle!

So I am wondering if this is something marley just has to live with? Can a cat just have chronic URI symptoms?
I really appreciate it.
Laura

(never got a response from her.. thanks a lot!)

December 11, 2008
Hi ***. How are you?

Well, last night was just plain awful. Avery also is getting her eye teeth and I HOPE it is due to that.
She went down after 3 tries at 9 pm in her room. I immediately went to bed even though it is sooo nice to get the break from her to do what I want. I decided to sleep. She woke up at 10:30 and I layed down in her room with her on her mattress and nursed her back to sleep. Then I creeped back out into my own bed at 11:45. She woke up around midnight and opened her door and came into my room. I let her in my bed and nursed her to sleep. She was up at 1 and same thing. Then up at 2 but this time she wouldn't go back down. Even with nursing and even in our bed. I got up and gave her motrin. She kept getting out of my bed and trying to drag me out with her but I kept refusing. I also threatened her crib. Then I tried to put her to sleep in her room while rocking and nursing her. She nursed and then got up, over and over again. Finally around 4 a.m. she settled down in my bed without nursing. It was so frustrating and the motrin didn't seem to make a difference. My husband was like "oh I am sorry (around 3:30 a.m). I said if your that sorry, you can get up and help me at any time now! ugghh. That really stinks about nursing. Husbands get out of a LOT of baby care. Will you nurse next time? I know it has it's benefits, I guess if I were to do it again... I would just make sure they would take a bottle too. Avery has just been stubborn her whole life! Boy are we in for it.

Talk to you soon,

Laura

Hi there people who read this!

2009-02-28T16:18:00.003-07:00

I thought it may be fun to update by posting some of my old written mail from the past few months. It may seem weird but what the heck!! It will be interesting. I will start from the beginning of November. I will delete names of others, of course!!

November 3rd, 2008

jeez ***. I am sorry your friend got her panties up in a bunch about this. You were clearly just letting her know the facts. You didn't even try to tell her what a dope McCain is and you clearly didn't tell her who she should vote for. My guess is that *** is a little insecure about her voting decision this election. Why else would she lash out? Maybe all her friends have been trying to tell her to change her vote and she is on edge because of it? I supposed I would just leave her alone at least until after the election hype settles. Sorry about that!

On a side note, I get upset when I even see that a friend or neighbor is pro McCain. I really wish some people wouldn't tell me so that I can keep on thinking that they are knowledgeable sensible people that I want to remain in contact with. See, I am worse than you!
Laura

Nov 4th 2008
wow the stupidity!
Can I use hydrocortisone valerate cream 0.2% on avery's feet? They look horrible today and I have some of that cream.

thanks!
laura

Nov 5th, 2008
perfect! Let me know what/if she says anything. I am queen of controversial emails and recently had to write one to the condo owner where we stayed in California for charging us for a dryer knob. She thought we stole it! Anyways, I just heard Obama's g-ma died. How sad she didn't get to see her grandson become president. Let's hope we do!!
Laura

On Nov 12, 2008, at 2:15 PM, ** ****wrote:

Hello,
There has been a Tabby cay that has been hanging around my house for at least 3 weeks. It was pretty skinny when it came, but is in better shape since I have been feeding it. It fits the description you placed in your ad and looks like your photo. I live on the other side of the city at *** Ave. and ** so I don't know if it would travel this far. I am allergic to cats so I have not brought it into the house, but it is very loving and playful. I don't know if it is male or female. I am hoping to find its owner.
**** ****

Nov 13, 2008
Thank you so much for your email. I really appreciate people like you who take the time and effort to do what is right for lost animals!

Ironically, Lucy has come home. I thought I removed all the ads that I put on the internet, I am sorry for that. It really was a miracle. Lucy was gone for nearly a month. I looked everywhere near and far. One morning, I opened the door to let my other cat inside, and Lucy ran in! She was really hungry and really skinny but otherwise unharmed. She hasn't left since.

Thank you for your email! And in case you were thinking about taking the cat to a shelter, the humane society is far more humane than the pound. Hopefully it doesn't come to that.

Laura

On Nov 13, 2008, at 1:15 PM, *** ** wrote:

Hi Laura. Hope all is well. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind being one of our featured members in the upcoming newsletter. Here are the questions....

1. Where did you hear about MOMS Club and how long have you been a member?

I heard about the moms club online and did a search for clubs in my area. That was about a year ago, I believe.

2. Where are you from and how long have you been in Phoenix?

I was born in Tucson and lived there until I was 12. We moved to Phoenix and I have been here ever since.

3. What was your work in your prior life (before child) and do you work outside the home now?

I finished x-ray school in 1998. In 2000, I got my mammography license and also starting doing dexa bone scans (for Osteoporosis). After Ileigh was born, I worked part time for a while and since Avery I haven't worked. I will be going back to work next year sometime. I might go into MRI next.

4. Tell us about your children - names, ages, what you enjoy doing together?

Austin is 13 and in 8th grade. Ileigh is 4 and is in Pre-K. Avery is 18 months and she stays home with me but would LOVE to be going to school right now with the others. She gets really excited when we pick up the others at school. For fun we go for bike rides, watch movies, or get out of town and go up north. But sometimes it's as simple as going to Peter Piper Pizza or Costco!

5. Tell us about your husband - name, occupation, what you enjoy doing together, how you met?

I met Andy in 2000. I went to high school with his older sister and found her on a reunion website. She invited me to her upcoming wedding and I met Andy briefly, but he was in the Army and lived elsewhere. I remained in contact with Racheal, who had a birthday just 3 days before mine. We would have parties together or at least go out around that time. One birthday, Andy had just got out of the Army and wanted to go out with us. We have been together ever since. We married in Hawaii in 2003. Andy works in a heart Cath lab. He is also an X-ray tech, but it's purely coincidence!

6. What are your interests/hobbies or what do you do in your spare time?

I love photography and take pictures everyday. In spare time, I work on photo projects online, go to the zoo with the kids, but mostly I am picking up after 3 kids!

If you could get me your answers, along with a picture of you and your children, by the end of next week I would really appreciate it. And, if you don't want to do this, let me know as quickly as possible so I can get in touch with someone else. Thanks! ****

Avery's Words

2008-11-01T19:58:00.002-07:00

Avery says a ton more than Ileigh did at 17 months. Here are the words I can think of right now that she says.

Uh oh
Ma!
dada
Hi!
Bye bye
doggy
woof
kitty
meow
graysi belle
lucy
duck
quack
Poop
There

She also nods and shakes her head for yes and no and follows simple directions. She gives kisses when you ask and waves bye bye. She loves shoes and will go get them and tries to put everyone's on her feet. She laughs when she toots and then announces, Poop! She loves baby dolls, ducks, and dogs. She doesn't like getting strapped in her car seat or having a door shut in her face. She will put her hands down on the ground, put her head on the floor with her butt up and bang her head on the ground. Sometimes she bangs it harder than she means too. She also bangs her head on doors frequently. She still has a temper and lashes out when she doesn't get what she wants. Ileigh seems to have a scar on her face that Avery gave her on my birthday. It is shown in Ileigh's school pictures this year. She bites me when she is mad yet she still wants me for comfort. She loves picking Ileigh up from school and I think she is ready to go herself. We hope soon!

2008-11-01T19:56:00.003-07:00

2008-11-01T19:54:00.001-07:00

Sorry I have been so lame lately. If anyone still bothers to read this, I think about posting daily. I actually post monthly. I think up elaborate wonderful entertaining humorous posts in my head and they don't ever make it to my fingers. I will try harder. =0

If you haven't heard already..

2008-10-23T20:38:00.002-07:00

Please vote for Ileigh in her fairy costume!!! One vote per day per email address. I have been on there everyday with all of ours, but my mom and aunt say the page takes too long to load so if we lose, I know who to blame. =) Please go to the site and vote for Ileigh Ohmer so we can go back to Disneyland when she doesn't have bronchitis!

http://www.mix969.com/pages/disney-photo/

Thanks!

Sickness and cats....

2008-10-07T12:08:00.001-07:00

We to go to Urgent care while on our vacation. =( No, not a shark bite. =)

We arrived on Saturday and Sunday and Ileigh had a mild cough, as did the cousins that are with us. By Monday night it was worse and Tuesday was our day at Disneyland. She said she was happy and having fun but only smiled a couple of times and fell asleep as soon as we let her in Avery's stroller. We actually went back to the car and sat in there for over an hour while she slept and we ate some sandwiches. I felt so bad for her and we were very disappointed that it was super duper hot and seemed crowded although it is off season. Thank goodness my older sister (who lives here) came with us and offered to watch Avery so that we could ride some rides. The awesome thing is that Ileigh was not afraid to ride anything and we didn't have to "talk" her into any rides. She even rode space mountain. I think she like splash mountain the best but she says she liked Nemo, which I thought was boring and too loud and we had to wait an hour for it. !!! Avery was better behaved than we thought and better behaved than Ileigh was at the same age at Disneyworld. Ileigh as a baby would try to jump off the rides and we had to hold her in. Avery sat happily in my lap or danced to the songs. She loved Pirates of the Carribbean! The only thing that made her cry was Mickey Mouse dressed up. lol. I have pictures I will share later. Anyways, Ileigh persevered and now I really really want to go again when she will be happier. Maybe early next year. =I
So one night Ileigh was coughing so hard and sounded like her lungs were just completely full of crud. She was crying because she couldn't breathe and I was so worried. She had extremely labored breathing so we took her to urgent care and got a Z pack and albuterol. Now I think I am getting it.
On a side note, I now have 5 cats. I had 2 inside cats plus Andy's sister's garage cat... then we got a kitten after Lucy was gone for 2 weeks. Then I went to the shelter the day before Lucy returned to look for her one last time before our trip. There was a cat there that was so sweet and caught my attention. He is orange like one I wanted and looked blind in one eye. I asked a volunteer about what would happen to him if he needed medical help and she said they would most likely kill him and that if I had any interest to put my name in up front. I did but she didn't even ask my number so I figured oh well. She told me he wouldn't be for adoption for a while anyways. I left and the next day LUCY CAME HOME!!! (still so happy and dumbfounded) A few hours later, a lady called and asked if I could foster the orange cat. They have a full house and were going to kill the cat since it needed meds. !!! I couldn't let him die because I said no. I knew we were leaving and Andy's sister was going to have to give him meds but I decided I would just have to pay her well while we were gone. Technically, he is not my cat and we do have to keep him separate since he is sick. when he is better than we can return him or adopt him. Poor little kitty! I just had to share that story with you guys. You probably all think I am crazy but I would have taken all those shelter kitties if I could. I wish I could open a no kill shelter or something some day.

A miracle! A miracle!

2008-09-26T08:02:00.000-07:00

I was just emailing someone who lost their cat that I had seen one that looked like her at the pound yesterday. She didn't know about the area shelters so I told her hours and locations and the whole process they go through after intake. At the end of my email I told her I hoped she had better luck than me. I have been going every few days to all the shelters and put up posters everywhere and lucy hadn't turned up. I told her I had pretty much given up hope. Then I went to let the dog back in from his morning pee and Lucy RAN IN! I about fell over dead! She has been gone for 18 days! She is super skinny and quite talkative but looks great. I really think she was trapped somewhere. Poor baby! I can't believe my luck today!

Happy Birthday to Me

2008-09-23T10:24:00.001-07:00

Today started out a little rough. I put Avery in her carseat and (as usual) she protested by banging her head really hard backward. Ileigh got up next to her and yelled "No Abury! No!" To which Avery replied with clawing at Ileigh's eyes and cheeks. (not unusual either). Wouldn't you know today is picture day for Ileigh? So, I went inside to get Ileigh a paper towel for the blood (yes I have a very mean baby) and while I was gone, Ileigh decided to retaliate and sock Avery in the head with her fist. So now I have two screaming children in the back seat and Austin yelling at Ileigh for hitting the baby. Ileigh threw her paper towel at me and I had to politely remind everyone that today is MY birthday.

Isn't motherhood fun? =)

Where or where is Lucy

2008-09-16T10:19:00.003-07:00

I am giving up hope. She is very smart and although I hope she is still going to come home, it just seems like she would have by now. I keep picturing her trapped in someone's shed or stuck in a tree or crushed in someones rat trap. I feel like she is somewhere needing me and meowing but I just don't know where. I keep thinking I see her and when I last saw her and how she was sleeping in the corner of the crib just last week and I was so mad as I kicked her out. I miss her so much. I am also afraid some neighbor either stole her or ran over her and just doesn't want to tell me. I would rather know as I am going to be searching for her forever. I still look for my cat Celia without thinking about it and I lost her over 2 yrs ago now. Silly I know. Some people just don't understand how much animals can mean to their owners.

My poor Lucy Liu

2008-09-12T10:16:00.001-07:00

My other cat has been going crazy meowing and looking all over for her. I have hung posters all over, asked neighbors, and went to 3 pet shelters so far looking. She never goes far from home and always has come when I call for her. She is the sweetest kitty. Every person who has come to my house has asked if I will give her to them, she is that sweet. She cuddles with everyone and purrs and doesn't struggle to get out of your arms when you hold her. She lets babies pull her fur and purrs when her brother Pepe gets wild and bites her neck. She was the perfect kitty. I keep thinking I see her everywhere and that I am hearing her meow. I am almost ready for the funny farm. Please wish/pray/hope for Lucy to come back to me.

A horrible thing.. well two actually

2008-09-10T14:21:00.002-07:00

Number one:

Austin, Ileigh, Avery and I went to Border's bookstore which is at an outdoor mall. We went after I picked the kids up at school yesterday evening. There was a very welcomed storm and the rain was hard by the time we reached the store. Austin braved the down pour and got the stroller out of the trunk for me while I unstrapped Avery from the backseat. Ileigh was anxious to see the rain so she hopped out of the car and so I was "yelling" at her to get under the cover of the mall walkway. She wasn't listening to me and instead was on the sidewalk next to the walkway getting soaked. I grabbed Avery out and ran for cover all the while yelling for Ileigh to move where I was headed. As soon as I got to the walkway a huge gust of wind came and the wall to my right flew off and into me, who was holding Avery. It happened so fast that seriously, if it would have killed me I wouldn't have had time to realize it. Avery and I were on the ground with metal, boards, and drywall on our heads and even in our mouths. Austin started yelling Oh my God over and over again and trying to free us. Avery was screaming. Ileigh was inches away and didn't get hurt. If she had listened to me, I am sure she would not be with us today. If Avery had been in my left arm instead of my right, the wall would've hit her head full force before it hit me. We are so lucky. An ambulance and fire trucks came. I am bruised and in a lot of pain but happy to be here. Avery mostly got hurt in the face. It was scary not knowing if she was okay at first, but her crying was a good sign. The mall is doing construction and apparently the wall wasn't on very well. They are lucky as well that it wasn't an elderly person or small child that got hit.

Number two:
Now my precious kitty is missing.

Sorry

2008-09-10T14:19:00.001-07:00

Sorry so many of my pictures are now cut off in the middle

Sorry I haven't posted in so long

Sorry if you read my blog and have been bored lately

Sorry if any of these words hurt your eyes

Sorry

2008-08-09T07:30:00.003-07:00

Update on the Walking front

2008-08-09T07:27:00.002-07:00

Avery is taking more steps! She began taking a few on July 19th. I can't even put a date on walking because it is just a few more everyday! Last night about 10 pm. she did this funny walk-dance from the bed over to me which was about 10 steps or more. She gets so proud of herself, laughing and snorting. She is such a hoot! If only she slept at night, I really would enjoy her. Instead, I am longing for her to be older so I can be a real human again and not just a mama.

2 more days...

2008-08-09T07:26:00.000-07:00

Until school starts!!!!! Yay!! I can't wait to get these arguing bossy kids out of the house and into a learning environment! I can't believe how much Ileigh has grown the past few months. She is talking up a storm now, she asks why about everything, explains things that happened over a year ago in detail, and tests her limits on everything! She encroaches on Austin's space every time they watch tv, it bugs him like crazy, so then he pretends to change her shows, etc. It's a never ending cycle with them. Meanwhile, I have a baby that WILL NOT sleep. I swear, her happiest times are between the hours of 11 pm and 2 am.

Also, Avery finally got into the daycare we have had her on the waitlist for since I was pregnant. I knew the price went down from 1,050 a month to 900 a month when they turned 18 mos. So when they called, I told her I really wanted to wait until November since she will be 18 mos and I hopefully will be done breastfeeding. She said they changed their program and now the kids are separated at 12 mos until they are 2. The price also went up. To 12,050!!!! No way. We can't do that. So I have looked and looked at other daycares/ preschools. There is nothing. Everything has a waitlist or is crap or doesn't take kids until age 2 or 3. I just don't know what to do since we don't have family to watch her and we don't have money for me to keep staying home forever. It sucks!

2008-07-24T15:40:00.001-07:00

2008-07-24T15:39:00.001-07:00

2008-07-24T15:38:00.001-07:00

my beautiful children

2008-07-24T15:37:00.001-07:00

Circus

2008-07-24T15:36:00.001-07:00

Mother's Day

2008-07-24T15:35:00.001-07:00

2008-07-24T15:24:00.005-07:00

2008-07-24T15:24:00.003-07:00

2008-07-24T15:24:00.001-07:00

Pom and Cheer

2008-07-24T15:19:00.001-07:00

2008-07-24T15:18:00.003-07:00

2008-07-24T15:18:00.001-07:00

2008-07-24T15:15:00.001-07:00

2008-07-24T15:14:00.003-07:00

2008-07-24T15:14:00.001-07:00

2008-07-24T15:13:00.003-07:00

2008-07-24T15:13:00.001-07:00

A few updates

2008-07-15T06:28:00.003-07:00

Avery has finally started acting better from a 4 week long fussy period. I know she was getting a few molars (and probably still is) and she has been sick a lot too, I
guess. My theory why she is sick ALL the time is because she sucks her thumb and crawls around getting everybody's germs on her hands.

Ileigh's classes are all ending this week and next. I can't believe school starts in only a few weeks! I am going to miss her so much.
She has just learned to swim these past few weeks and is doing great. Sometimes she is a little bit too bold though, flipping like a fish out to the deep end. We have to watch her more now than ever. Before she was afraid.
Austin just finished surf camp in Cali and this week he is doing hip hop dance camp. He is also in basketball this season. Avery just tags along and whines.

Avery doesn't sleep well at night lately so is really tired and cranky. I can't believe it has been over a year since I have been able to sleep through the night. Well now I am lucky if she will even nurse to sleep.
She usually just pushes away from me to get down on her bedroom floor and then
tries to get the door open. Sometimes she stays up for hours in the
middle of the night either crying in her crib or me struggling to rock her or
whatever.
A few weeks ago she had a double ear infection and the flu. So that explains
some of it. I think it may be getting a little better now that I decided to move her mattress to the floor. I am hoping she will learn to put herself to sleep since she will have to if I am laying down with her. It can take a while though. We will see how my plan works in another few weeks.

Milestone wise... not walking. She will stand up without holding on to
anything though and cruises furniture. She will walk while you hold her hands
but then tries to get down or up. She is starting to use push walkers and seems to really get a kick out of it. I have some pictures.
I remember Austin.. once he learned the push walker, he couldn't get enough of it. He would run around corners and everything. Around 8 mos!!!! Kids are so different. Ileigh walked at 14 mos and Avery will probably be 14 or 15 mos. The only reason I am anxious is because of the germ thing.

Other things.. she says "uh oh" about 100 times a day. Usually right before
throwing food or her cup. She points and can do eye nose mouth... kindof. She
loves Ileigh and Austin but she bites and pinches. She is pretty mean! She
doesn't "scream" .. she doesn't get mad when you take her toys or anything. She just gets pissed sometimes for no reason. Like Ileigh will be saying "Hello Avery!!" in her face or something and Avery will reach out and scratch the crap out of her. Just a meanie.
On the other hand she loves to giggle and squeal. Man, when both girls get going it sounds like a teenage slumber party in here. What am I in for?

We got a new car!!!!. We were going to buy a Prius but ended up
with a Camry hybrid. It is so awesome. It has navigation and you can say "store"
and it will pop up every store in the vicinity and give you phone numbers and
stuff. You don't have to pay for a service either. We got a really cool greenish
aluminum color. We traded in Andy's pick up truck (gas guzzler) so we still have
the van if we need to fit all 5 of us comfortably. The prius was too small for
Austin to fit between the carseats at all.

Avery's weight went down in the last few months. She is 19 pounds even. So we can't
turn her seat around and after watching crash tests on youtube and reading info
online about the benefits of rear facing, I may wait a bit longer. I guess in
Sweden they don't forward face till 3 or 4 yrs old. I just wish they made dvd
players that face the opposite way! My kids are spoiled!!!

We are going to Southern California a few months and staying in a beach
house. We may go to Sea World and/or Disneyland or Legoland. I know Ileigh would never ride a roller coaster in the near future. I can't even get her to go down water slides
that she is tall enough for!

Poor Ileigh stood in an ant hill in our backyard a few weeks ago and didn't notice till they were up to her knees. She is so eaten up. I had to give her an aveeno bath and gave her benedryl. =( It was incredible how many bites she got. Even up near her chest.

We got a Wii and love it!! It is so fun. Ileigh can beat us bowling
and I plan to get the Wii fit. I know she will love that too!

We got her a wood kitchen for her birthday. 50 bucks from one of Andy's
co-workers. She loves it too. We also are having a family bbq but will have a
party with her school buddies when school starts back up. I asked her friends
mom to do a joint party and we are going to do it at Pump it Up. It is an inflatable indoor place.

We went to watch some fireworks on the 4th. Both girls fell asleep but we drove there anyways. I woke Ileigh up and she was amazed. I was so happy because she had been begging me NOT to go. She is still terrified from when she was a baby. They were awesome and we parked and walked to the lake front and got to see a great show including the finale. Now she is asking to watch them again! She did the same thing with Nemo on ice. Didn't stop asking to see it again for months! I try to tell her these things happen once a year!

I will post pictures soon, I promise! It is too early in the morning for that now.

2008-07-14T06:25:00.001-07:00

Happy 4th Birthday Ileigh!!

Glitter Graphics & Comments

The girls

2008-06-06T21:07:00.003-07:00

Avery is cruising around things and just started standing on her tiptoes and holding on with only one hand. She points at everything and proudly calls it "Djah Djah" whatever that means. She says Hi and uh oh and all done. She is just starting to wave and signs for all done. She can make some crazy faces and knows how to do fishy lips (see below). She knows where things go and tries to put her clothes on and tries to brush her hair. She also does well with a cup and uses a spoon well until she decides to fling her bowl across the room. lol

Ileigh is learning to swim and has started putting her head underwater. She is excited to be off preschool for the summer. But still asks everyday "Is it school today, mama?" She loves her swim lessons and is also taking dance and music. She has recently started liking to go to bed at night and does so proudly. I haven't quite figured that one out. She is really sweet most of the time but I have witnessed her recently trying to get a rise out of Austin. He is to blame for starting the feud but now I know she will instigate it sometimes. She will hit him and pull his hair for sitting in her seat and then he holds her down, she screams, wakes up the baby and then Austin gets in trouble. Well now they both do. =)

My blue eyed babe

2008-05-23T10:57:00.005-07:00

2008-05-23T10:57:00.003-07:00

2008-05-23T10:57:00.001-07:00

2008-05-23T10:56:00.003-07:00

2008-05-23T10:56:00.001-07:00

Rock and Roll is here to stay!!

2008-05-23T09:26:00.001-07:00

First Birthday Cake

2008-05-22T06:20:00.005-07:00

The neighbor loaned me her tools, and I actually made this cake!

Updates!!

2008-05-22T06:09:00.002-07:00

Avery had her one year check today. She has lost a pound since the beginning of
April. She weighs 18.8 pounds. The dr. seemed concerned. I know why though. She
is crawling now. She is pooping now and she is eating less. She doesn't seem as
interested in food now that she can go about and explore. She is eating a lot
less breads and more finger type foods. She doesn't eat much though. She still
hardly eats baby food and maybe will eat a half a container if its something
really good.

She is 10 percent weight and 25 height.

Avery will still hardly take a sippy cup. I have been giving her milk starting
today. She usually just has water and I am still nursing. I don't pump though.
She is still waking at least once a night, well its once on a GOOD night. =)
I can't wait to be able to see a movie or go to dinner without kids. And getting
a weekend away would be a dream come true. Those are some pitfalls to
breastfeeding! She will be really hard to wean too. I am going to take it slow.
As soon as she takes more than 3 sips from the cup a day, I will be able to cut
down. I hope!

Ileigh had a blast at Avery's party and still is doing really well not showing much jealousy. She really has done one hundred percent better with a baby than I thought she would. She is a really good kid now.. hee hee. She is quiet most of the time and has been listening well lately!
Austin and Ileigh get out of school tomorrow for the summer. I have Ileigh signed up for swim, cooking, gymnastics and art. (each like a 4-5 week class). Austin is going to surf camp in Cali and is doing a hip hop dance camp/class, and basketball.

Mexico was a complete nightmare. We even came back early. Avery was okay in the
car. Cried some but only like 20 min of 4-5 hours. Then when we got there she
would not sleep at all. No naps and we had to let her toss and turn in bed with
us until she passed out around 9-10. Then she would wake  several times. She is
just a creature of habit I guess! She needed her own crib. We put the port a
crib up in the bathroom to block out noise. we also had the loud air purifier
on. I even brought a portable rocking chair but that didn't help. Mexico was
beautiful but I couldn't  enjoy it on 3 hours of sleep. To top it off, Avery had
bit my nipple  before we left and I had a large welt. It felt like alcohol in a
deep wound every time she would nurse on that side.. and that is the major milk
side. owwwwww! I cried myself to sleep for two nights.
Austin and Ileigh had fun, so I guess it was worth it.

I am starting to worry about going back to work and how I will work it with the kids getting picked up from school. Austin gets out at 3:30. I am afraid for him to take the city bus and don't want him to ride his bike either. I am hoping he can catch a ride with someone or I can work part time.

Avery is such a comedian. She can make so many faces. Fish lips, snarls, some
super ugly ones too! It is hilarious. I need to post some pictures on here. She
is also a giggler. She giggles over everything. Oh and she loves to say "uh oh".
Its funny. All she says besides
that is Hi and she mocks our sounds a lot. Like saying here and ball. Not really
full on saying them though, but she repeats the noises. At least I think she is
not really saying them!

Mexico April 2008

2008-05-13T17:48:00.004-07:00

If only Avery would have slept, we would have had fun. =(

One Year

2008-05-09T15:59:00.002-07:00

May 7th its been one year since we moved out of the scorpion house.

May 15th Avery will be born one year ago.

June 2nd it will be one year since we began destroying out new house to add on a baby room, office, and closet.

Just a little pity party

2008-04-24T09:30:00.001-07:00

Austin is the worst as far as getting on my nerves.. and he should know better. Half the time he doesn't answer me and the other half he is deliberately doing what I told him not to. He gets really mad when I ask him about school or want to know about his life and when he gives me any info at all and I ask him questions about that, he rolls his eyes and huffs and puffs. He takes things from Ileigh to hear her scream and its usually taking place while I am dealing with a crying baby already.

Ileigh is just going through her growing independence phase. She doesn't want help but needs help and loves to scream No and lately "Whats wrong with you, mom?" She gets super whiny and for the most part I have to bribe her to do anything. At night, she goes to bed around 8 and then gets up and comes in our room for water and various other things until we are so tired we allow her into bed with us. Then she kicks and sweats on me making what little of my night I have miserable. I usually wake Andy up to take her back to her bed but by that time I only have a few precious hours left.

Avery is smiley and very happy.. when I am holding her and walking around. Sometimes she is still happy if I sit with her and play on the ground but forget it if I leave the room. Forget it if Daddy is the one with her. She gets really squirmy sometimes and acts like she wants down but then NOPE that wasn't it, she wants up again. I think she would be a lot happier if she would learn to crawl. I keep thinking something is really wrong with her. Besides her being so cranky at home, she whines in the car, and getting her to sleep is the worst. She bites that crap out of my boobs and my left one is just throbbing right now. She will be sucking fine and then decide to teeth clench and throw her head backwards. I would quit in a second if it weren't her only source of nutrition. She hardly eats any other food and won't take a bottle at all. I do have her taking a few sips of water from a cup but thats over the course of a day. She never poos and doesn't eat so that is partly why I think something is seriously wrong. (I know the obvious.. get it checked) I just really need to vent this. And one more thing, she is waking at night 3-4 times. Sometimes I rock her and switch from boob to boob 4 times and just get her to sleep only to have her screaming again by the time she is back in her crib. Sometimes I go through all of that and then I actually make it out of her room, go back to sleep and 30 min later she is up again. She used to be a lot better.. only waking 1 time at night. Ever since the Roseola, she is up constantly and very difficult to put back down. Oh and then she gets up up at 630 on the dot. All last week. I can't stand it! I don't know what to do. Oh and I know the dr. won't have any answers for me either. I don't know what it is about AZ but I think all our dr's suck here.

Countdown to Avery's Birthday

2008-04-20T08:39:00.001-07:00

Lately

2008-04-20T08:29:00.003-07:00

Avery is finally better. She still seems to have a low grade fever and IS NOT sleeping more than 2 winks at night for some reason but I hope it's just teething. She is pretty happy during the day and continues to wow strangers wherever we go. She catches someones eye and then stares with a huge grin until they break. It's pretty funny.
We are going to Mexico soon and I am excited for Ileigh and worried for Avery aka ME. She is requiring much rocking and soothing to calm down for bedtime and when she wakes up it seems often she is ready to get all the way up. I have had so little sleep the past few weeks its incredible I can even type this.
Ileigh had another pump it up party yesterday and this time managed to keep all her bones intact. Austin had his heroic journey at school which was pretty cool. The only thing that stunk was painting, hanging and transporting 50 power shield hangers at the school. Ivy's mom and I did it together. At the actual event, we blindfolded the students we were ally's to (I'm Ivy's) walked them down to the courtyard, sat them down, lit candles and they played HERO songs. Then the student had to stand and say what quality they were taking from their mom, dad, ally and what quality they were giving to the world. It was neat. Then there was a feast and dancing. I took lots of pics but they may be blurry since I am into the no flash thing.

Avery started scooting last night! Within a week I bet she will be across the room in no time. She also says HI and MEOW and repeats sounds like OH and RAAAR. =) We'll keep her.

Easter 08

2008-04-13T21:29:00.003-07:00

1991-2007 babes aka Nonnie and Papa's grandchildren

love this one!

The baskets

aww

2008-04-13T21:11:00.003-07:00

Sick Baby- Frustrated Mama

2008-04-13T21:03:00.001-07:00

Avery has a fever of 104-105. It's been 3 days now. Andy took her to the dr. on Friday while I went to Nemo on ice with Ileigh (she loved it). Dr L said that it was viral and that she would probably start puking and/or get a cold. She never did and no one else is sick so we suspect some kind of infection. I have been worried about it being either her ears which she pulls at all the time now, or her intestines (still hardly ever poos) or her bladder. She hasn't had a lot of wet diapers but she also hasn't been eating like usual. So I tried calling the dr. yesterday to make a saturday sick appt. They said they would have to have a nurse call me back and she called after they closed for the morning only to tell me that she doesn't know why they had her call me instead of just making me an appt!!! Then I called this morning and made an appt for 10 am. Avery has not been sleeping and I have been up almost all night with her 2 nights in a row. I ended up giving her bendryl just so I could sleep a little. She was 105 this morning one hour after the Motrin. So I packed the kids up and went to the ped office and got there at 9:45. At 10:14 they announced that Dr. L was running 30 min late. First I was upset that it was the same dr. from Friday. Then I figured if she is truly only 30 min late, I should be seen at 10:30. Well they called us back at 10:45 and into a room. I was so paranoid about Ileigh getting all the germs from the office I had her sterilize her hands like 15 times. Of course, she had to touch everything in the office constantly. Finally the dr. came in at 11:20. Arggh I was peeved. Then she proceeded to tell me it's viral again. Which it could be I am not denying that, I just think .. well I just don't think she is good and seems like she is not investigating enough. She said the ears were fine and then she said that she would cath her to see if it was her bladder. Well I have cathed many a kiddo's and this lady took for ev er and was not good at it. We held Avery down screaming and she finally got it in, got some pee and then took it for the preliminary testing. She came back and said there was blood in it. I am suspecting it was from the cath but she didn't even mention that. She prescribed antibiotics and said that if it turns out to not be an infection, they would call me to tell me to stop them. Avery is still crying constantly and seems like she is in pain. I just don't know what to think. wahhh

2008-04-04T21:40:00.003-07:00

stuff

2008-04-04T21:31:00.003-07:00

Austin's 13th birthday party- good. He got some money and a pogo stick which he really wanted. I got him clothes.. which he never likes. He is so picky about shorts. they have to be baggy and LONG. WTF? kids these days. Good family turn out.

Easter party- good. We went to my mom's house after Ileigh's dance class and Austin's drawing class. We hunted for eggs and got about 10 dollars from them. We also got 10 from lottery tickets in the prize room. Thank God for that or it would have been ceramic tomato shaped salt and pepper shakers that my mom still thinks was a good prize. Then Andy got called into work.. as usual. I was stuck at my moms for oh 5 hours with a 3 yr old that was drawn into the freezing pool like a magnet and an extremely tired fussy and irritable 10 month old. not good.

Easter Sunday- good. Austin couldn't find his Easter basket to save his life. We hid Ileigh's and Avery's fairly easy and Ileigh found em no prob. Then she had no prob finding Austins when she was done with that. And we thought we hid his harder. =) Poor Austin. It takes him a while to figure out that an Easter basket will not fit inside the toaster oven.

Pictures soon.

I also am thinking about entering a photography book contest. I was thinking about just face parts and stuff. It costs to enter though and I am no professional so I am not sure if I will do it yet.

Oh and Andy bought a very expensive bike without discussing it with me first. Now we bought a kid trailer that he will make me tote but at least I won't be left at home with the rugrats while he is out pedaling away. hmph.

A fact of life but irritating none the less

2008-03-18T09:28:00.003-07:00

It all started with a class action law suit. I love them. Do nothing, receive a check in the mail. Some people are scared away by those kind of letters. My mom for instance, has never noticed one come in the mail let alone fill out the form and send it back in. My sister didn't know that when you live in an SRP area and pay for APS (who knows why this happens?) You qualify for a return on your money. Once again, all you have to do is fill out the form.
And my family thinks I just get lucky with money. HA! I work for it.

American Family insurance was being sued for not paying sales tax on their client's claims. Seems dumb enough but why not sign up? I must qualify because I am receiving the letter. Months later, I received a check via regular postal mail. $6.34 cents. Well at least it was easily earned! A couple weeks later I got one of those orange cards on my doorstep saying I had certified mail. The sender.. American Family. Well, I already received my check... if there was more they would have just sent it. I just knew it was probably something dumb! I assumed the post office would redeliver. I swear I have received these before and they did... but 5 days later.. another orange card. I am free to pick up my letter(s) now two of them.. after the following date.. 3-05-08. Okay, so I kinda forgot about it with Austin's birthday and all. However, cleaning up the day after his party (3-15-08) I find the card. I read it again. It states, Final notice or letters will be returned to sender on 3-15. Oh man. I figure I better go get it. I suppose it could be more money, right? I am on my way to get my letters, and the baby is pissed because she has an ear infection, is getting 3 new teeth at the same time, and I just tricked her into her car seat. I have to stop and get gas. I pull up at Costco. Every pump (as usual) is full for left sided pumpers. I pull up on the right. Stretch the tube out and get gas while Avery howls. My stomach is growling. What do I want to eat? I need to buy the kids' Easter basket chachca. Target or Walmart? Back in the car. Think about Taco Bell. No, Avery is too fussy.. straight to post office. Out of car, walk in, wait in line. Finally up there.. this better be good, I think. Nice post man. I explain that I misplaced my orange card, the letters may be gone, but just in case. He says okay he will look. He turns the card over. OH! I am at the wrong postal location, he tells me. dag nammit. I don't want to drive to the other side. If I go all the way over there, I might as well pick Ileigh up, and it's too early for that. Target and Walmart are on this side of town.. AND if I wait till later to go pick up my special letters, they may be gone since this is all taking place the day after the orange card said they would send my letters back. arghhh.. Ok. I will just go get some food, stay calm, and drive to the post office. Maybe Avery will fall asleep in the car? I wrestle her back into her car seat and peel out of the parking lot. I pull into Arby's. Everything is overpriced and my coupons are all at home. I choose just a simple sandwich. no fries. no drink. $4!!!! I decide to ask for the special sauce that doesn't come in packets since I am paying out the wazooo for a single sandwich. They give it to me in a little container. I pull into the Fed Ex parking lot to eat while the baby complains. Pull out of there. Down the road, turn left at 28th street. Down the road, it doesn't go all the way through, back track to 32nd street, and turn the corner. There goes the horsey sauce all across my console and down beside my seat. I look while driving and see a huge drip about to touch the carpet. I do not do well eating and driving, let alone cleaning while driving. Some people can, I can't. I grab a napkin and try to stop the mess. I get all sticky but find a wet wipe while passing the parking lot for the post office. Could that be it? An empty parking lot? And I have never noticed a post office here before. I didn't even know about it. Did I mention it's in a really SHADY part of town. And I don't mean lots of trees.

I manage my way to the parking lot, finish cleaning up, grab Avery and proceed the risk of our lives. First I have to walk along a major road with speeding cars and I envision myself being creamed as a driver veers up on the sidewalk. So trusting, you have to be in this life. I make it to the door. I walk in to see rows and rows of post office boxes. No line. No numbers. No attendants. No wonder the parking lot was empty. I find what looks like a metal plate on the wall with several notices on it. Was I in the right place? I feel like I am in a horror movie. It was that creepy. I catch a few scary stares as some creepy men come and go in the empty room. I hate post offices! Even more than banks. ughh. I start to read the notices.. "In an emergency please call 911." duh. "This is not an operating post office!" (would Mr. nice post man have steered me wrong?) no, I don't think so. "We do not sell stamps here."" You cannot mail packages here."" This is a working dock. Please ring buzzer and wait for an attendant. There may be someone working on the dock. Please wait patiently." What the hell? Even creepier. I ring the buzzer and hear it echo far away. I shudder and think of leaving. I look around. I could be killed here and no one would see. I hate this office. I hate this neighborhood. Are these stupid letters worth it? Would they even have them? They better. Finally a man comes. He asks for ID. He gives me my letters even though my ID has a different last name on it. I race back to my car and jump in. Andy calls and I tell him the story. I decide the baby is too dang fussy to go to Target or Walmart. I go home and open my exciting letters. "This is to inform you that your claim to American Family insurance has been denied." Okay, let me get this straight. I received a check from American Family already in the regular mail. I ordered an 800 dollar camcorder that was thrown on my porch that I didn't even need to sign for. The Christmas fiasco bouncer was thrown on my front porch with a huge pictured depicting what was in the box last December. Yet a letter informing me that I will not be receiving any more money, I risked my life for.

NICE.

Movies You need to see

2008-03-18T09:26:00.001-07:00

Pan's Labyrinth

Into the Wild

Most of you have probably seen these but if not RENT THEM NOW.

Pics I never posted

2008-03-18T09:19:00.003-07:00

Some old Some new

2008-03-18T09:08:00.002-07:00

Ileigh

2008-03-18T09:04:00.003-07:00

2008-03-18T08:56:00.002-07:00

My pictures on Shutterfly

2008-03-16T08:50:00.002-07:00

http://lauraohmer.shutterfly.com/action/

hopefully that works

If not try this

http://lauraohmer.shutterfly.com/action/pictures?a=67b0de21b35d4befc4db

Austin is 13!

2008-03-14T15:46:00.002-07:00

Holy cow! Austin is a teenager. Man has he been acting teenagey this past year though. I can't imagine when the girls are 12 and 15. I will be certifiably insane by then. I pray that at least one of them is good.

We are having a bbq for Austin tomorrow. My cousin Spencer that I never see is coming from accross the US. His son is 12 and daughter is 5ish. (can you tell how often I see them?) I am so busy trying to get my house in order for them to see what a slob I am. Boy Laura I can really tell your a stay-at-home mom! Yes but I have naughty kids and the youngest of which won't let me put her down without howling. All the chores that take place are during naps and during serious fuss sessions. I vaccuum while holding my 19 pounder. It's not as easy as you think! Sometimes, I like to sit down when she is napping. My friend asked me yesterday if I nap while she naps. Yeah right! When would anything get done? I don't have the kind of baby that is perfectly content in her high chair or exersaucer for hours. Nope constant attention!

Anyways, back to Austin. He was a butt on his birthday. He thinks he doesn't get enough and never gets to see movies, etc. Well, I made plans to take him to a movie on Wednesday and he wasn't home when it came time to leave! He was out riding his bike with his g/f. Oh yeah I have a cute picture of them. They don't like each other btw. Just friends austin says.

Quote of the Day

2008-03-14T15:45:00.001-07:00

Ileigh (While noticing Avery's new tooth)

"She's like a real people, Mom!"

In disbelief

2008-03-10T08:01:00.000-07:00

The other night I dreamed about my ex boyfriend, Sidney. It was a very vivid dream where he was saying goodbye to me and that he would never see me again. I kept trying to talk him out of it, but he insisted. I woke up thinking about him all day.
Sidney and I dated when I was in high school and first year of College. I broke up with him and broke his heart. It was on again/ off again for a while until we decided we should just be friends. We worked out great as friends. Soon he met a girl and they moved in together. I was happy for him. He continued to come visit me and was visibly upset when he found out I was pregnant by someone else. He continued to be my friend though. Soon he called and told me he "had finally done it". His girlfriend was pregnant. His son was born 2 yrs after mine. I gave him some of Austin's hand me downs, and loaned him the cradle. Soon I found out he was keeping our friendship a secret from his girlfriend. I had a boyfriend who knew all about Sidney and didn't mind. I told Sidney he should tell her, keeping it a secret was showing that he had something to hide! Soon she found out and of course was upset. I talked to her and told her the truth. We were just friends and I was happy for them. I felt bad. Sidney and I slowly drifted apart. Last I heard he opened a bar.
Well after that dream I decided to Google Sidney. Sometimes things come up sometimes they don't. The first thing I found read "33 years old is too young to die". Well that couldn't be, my Sidney would be 35 now. Then it said he owned a bar. Then it said his wifes name. I was in shock! Suddenly it was as if I still knew him well and all the times we spent together came back to me. The article talked about what a special person he was, how he helped so many punk bands to network and make something of themselves. Everyone loved him and was in disbelief. Sidney had a heart attack. He left behind his wife and 3 kids. I feel for her. Her youngest is the same age as Ileigh.
Now I know why I had that dream. Sidney was trying to tell me something. That he would never see me again, in my lifetime anyways. He was telling me goodbye. In person.

2008-02-15T09:21:00.004-07:00

Avery

2008-02-15T09:13:00.002-07:00

She weighs a little over 18 pounds.

She may crawl in a month or so.

She doesn't pull up on furniture yet. Austin did this at 6 mos and Ileigh around 9 mos.

She doesn't sleep through the night but she gave me 3 good nights last week, sleeping 6-10 hours in a row. Back to normal last night. =(

She is much better behaved than Ileigh was. We can take her to restaurants and drive her in the car. She is generally better when we aren't at home except when it comes to going to sleep. She needs her crib for that.

She is very loving and sucks her thumb and finger a lot. She does this while rubbing her head on my shoulder and scratching the back of my arm.

She loves to eat. Errr.... except baby food.

She loves Ileigh and Austin. Her face lights up when they are happy and laughing and she cries when she hears Ileigh upset. No one can make her laugh the way Ileigh can.

She has only been left with a sitter a few times. Poor mama doesn't know what it's like to see a movie or go out anymore. No one wants to babysit for us, apparently.

My baby is 9 mos old today!

2008-02-15T09:08:00.003-07:00

Old Toys

2008-02-04T10:29:00.001-07:00

What to do with old toys. Not just any old toys but Vintage old toys. Ones that are so cool and they don't make them anymore. Ones like the fisher price apple, the roly poly Ollie ball, the school desk with ALL the letters, numbers, and cards, and the original little people. Toys I love, toys that Avery will be outgrowing, and that probably are covered in lead paint chips. I want them sure, I don't have room for them for sure, but I can't sell them.. for sure. I have one that stretches across the crib. It has a ball (picture the old popcorn ball pushers) that rolls and makes balls spin, it also has rattles that spin on the sides of that. Your baby can kick at it, or bat at it. As I sit, nursing Avery looking at this toy, I wonder how many babies may have been strangled by it when their parents left them unattended in their crib with it. I am sure that's why they no longer sell anything remotely like it. Heck, even her starlight mobile which easily comes apart when touched has a warning not to use after 4 mos of age due to strangulation hazard. FOUR MONTHS!?! I used it with Ileigh every single night until she moved to a twin bed .. when Avery was born. I feel sorry for the waste of money parents are left with who follow all those "rules".
I consider saving all these awesome, yet potentially dangerous toys for Austin's kids. It's what, like maybe 10 years away. Well, it could be. I have saved these toys since Austin was a baby .. 13 yrs... what's another 10? Then I think, Man.. he better marry someone I like and who likes me. I can just picture his wife's face as I present her with these toys that have been around and saved for 30-40 years. "uhh, thanks..." as she dumps them in the high tech incinerator. And I thought of what the "recommendations" for babies will be in 10 more years..

No medicines until 4 yrs of age unless imminent death is present
No mobiles, no crib toys, period
No cribs, no blankets, put your child to sleep sitting up in the middle of a breathable fabric cage
Nothing paper (chokable) Plastic (chemicals) or electronic (strangulation on wires, emf cancer causing waves) anywhere near baby.

Oh hell, I'll just put the toys on a shelf and admire them from time to time.

January 29th, 2008

2008-01-30T08:16:00.001-07:00

PICTURES

2008-01-22T20:53:00.001-07:00

I think you can click to view closer.. . maybe..

Ileigh REALLY wanted to hold the worm. Not too girly Ileigh!

Turns out she doesn't like peaches!

chubby squarepants

awwwww

awwww

Lucy and Pepe

Sharing....

2008-01-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

LINK to Julian's Blog

http://michellekemperbrownlowwrites4kids.blogspot.com/

LINK to pictures of Alyssa

http://www.rockyou.com/show_my_gallery2.php?instanceid=96107098

YOU'RE WELCOME!

has it been that long???

2008-01-22T14:55:00.000-07:00

For those of you that read this....

Quick updates

Ileigh has bronchitis and I am making her stay 2 feet away from me and the baby at all times. No one else has it... YET.

She had her finger pricked at the doctors office and was a champ. Her lead levels are LOW dispite the fact that I keep blaming things on them.

I'm not in a very good mood today. Avery is yelping and moaning constantly. I don't know if its her teeth.. tummy.. throat.. ears... tiredness.. or what. I just wish I knew so I could make it stop!

I am consumed with grief since entering Tina's life. She lives a million miles away and I have never met her but she had a baby Avery's age .. until December 12th. She found her not breathing after having anesthesia and it was most likely a medical mistake. I can't stop thinking about her little girl, Alyssa.

Another thing.. since I get lost in other people's tradgedies.. is that a little boy named Julian just passed away from brain cancer. He was 4 1/2 and his mom describes the last moments with him which I just about couldn't take. I will post the link when I get home.. so all of you can enjoy it as much as I have. =(

When I am feeling down I, like certain other members of my family, make it worse by thinking of all the WORST things. I know I just have to be thankful for what I have.

More later....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2007-12-29T16:13:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a lovely Christmas except one thing. The bounce house that Santa got for Ileigh didn't work when Santa's elves tried to put it up. I was SOO looking forward to her excitement seeing it on Christmas morning. =( The blower was broken. So that sucked. Austin got a skate ramp and a basketball hoop. Probably his favorite gift is this dumb ol video game chair that has speakers in the head of it. At least it was only 32 dollars. Andy and I didn't exchange gifts because of our spending all we have on the house addition thing. Funny how Christmas changes as you age. It's just all about the kids now. And I don't even mind about not getting anything.

Avery is doing great! She laughs and loves to eat bread. lol. A LOT! She is like a starving bird when you feed her pieces of it. And she hates baby food. Kind of hard to give her the Miralax with no bottles or baby food but the pooping hasn't been too bad lately. She gave me a HUGE present at midnight the other night while I was feeding her. Merry Christmas Mama!

Ileigh is so sweet. She always tells me how pretty I am when I dress up or put any kind of make up on. She also notices when I wear fancy underwear. Go figure! She is a girly girl but still loves to rough house with Austin and play with legos. She loves all her toys and dolls and especially miniatures. She mainly gets on our nerves when Austin is tormenting her.

Austin is doing a hundred times better in school than he was a few months ago. He seems to be trying a lot harder and got mostly A's. He just really really hates reading. That could be a problem. I have no idea how we are going to send him to College though. bummer.

The house is coming along slowly. Andy is working on it all by himself because his friends and family have all deserted us when we need them. Well, I can't blame them. Who wants to roof and drywall? We now have some of the front done and most of the roofing. Andy has been insulating and drywalling now. Oh maybe by Ileigh's birthday we will be done. Maybe.

ta ta for now.

2007-12-28T16:30:00.000-07:00

small update!

2007-12-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

Avery is sitting up on her own and has grown 2 new teeth! Guess she got all she wants for Christmas. Good thing because that is all she is getting. Sorry baby!

2007-12-22T08:43:00.003-07:00

pinch my cheeks

2007-12-22T08:43:00.001-07:00

hmmmm

2007-12-22T08:41:00.001-07:00

2007-12-04T21:28:00.001-07:00

Some new photos...

2007-12-04T15:07:00.000-07:00

http://gallery.mac.com/lauraohmer#100105

Avery's GI doc appointment

2007-12-04T15:05:00.000-07:00

Well, first we have to put her on miralax. She is hoping that will help and we
can slowly wean her off that and she will start pooping. I also have to start
taking a probiotic so that it will be in my breast milk and go to her. We also
have to start her on reflux meds again. She does spit up frequently and arches
her back while eating but the last meds didn't seem to do anything at all. Now
she will be on prevacid and it is a pill. We just break it into a few pieces
and put in her mouth. She loves eating chunky things anyways. She tries to get
our food all the time now and we give her crusts and bagels and stuff.
Ironically, she pooped a little on her own yesterday AND right after her gi
appt. She has only done this twice before! Except when she was on antibiotics.
She pooped every day of that. That is why the dr. thinks I should take
probiotics. Also, we are going to start giving her yogurt.
A b.e. is one of the last resorts, so I am relieved. Blood work also is not
necessary just yet. I feel like a weight has been lifted! It will get even
better when she starts to poop! Oh and she was 17 pounds exactly.

ELF YOURSELF!!

2007-11-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

www.elfyourself.com/?id=9541892031

copy and paste

and this one, Andy is HIL airy Us!

www.elfyourself.com/?id=9541823309

Twins and Avery

2007-11-20T13:29:00.001-07:00

Elizabeth, Avery, Emily

2007-11-20T13:28:00.001-07:00

before her haircut..

2007-11-20T13:27:00.001-07:00

A good one

2007-11-20T13:25:00.001-07:00

First Haircut!

2007-11-20T13:21:00.001-07:00

My poor Ileigh

2007-11-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

Ileigh was so "ta sighted" about TWO birthday parties on Saturday. One at a gymnastics place and one at a place called "pump it up" (boucers). Well, we were the first ones to show up at the inflatable zone party. She was so excited. I was too, as there were two fun parties and then I had a surprise party planned for Andy with an army theme. Although unlikely with my social problems, I was hoping to meet some of the other moms of kids in Ileigh's class. I really don't know anyone and only know a couple of the other kids' names. Well, Ileigh had trouble getting around in all of the infatables. One was an obstacle course and she really wanted up in it. They do allow the adults in, but I was a little hesitant and no other moms were playing. I asked this little girl in her class to help her around. She was excited to, but was being really rough with Ileigh. I think she was just overly enthusiastic about the inflatables. I asked her to be really careful and 10 min later Ileigh came down the slide crying and holding her arm. The party dad grabbed Ileigh and brought her to Andy. After about 10 min we decided we better leave. Ileigh is such NOT a baby when she gets hurt that we knew it must of really hurt because she would not move her arm.
We took her to the ER and long story short she broke a growth plate in her wrist. Poor baby kept asking for the cake while in the ER. She still doesn't understand that she missed both the parties. I took her to my sister's for the surprise party because there was an unfenced pool at the party house. We felt so bad leaving her and she has seemed really depressed. She can't go potty by herself and has trouble getting dressed and up and down with her cast.
She was a trooper in the ER though. The worst part was when they "reduced" it in case she pulled her radius out of her elbow socket. Ouch. Don't make fun of me but I have some pictures since I took my camera to the party. I will post them when I get them uploaded. Andy turned the big 3-0 yesterday. Guess I am married to an old man now. ha ha.