Goodbye Old Pal

Today was by far the hardest day of our marriage and lift together so far. We had to make the decision to put our first dog, Maverick, to sleep. We found out last Saturday that Maverick had developed lymph cancer. I took him in for what we thought was his routine annual shots and they discovered the "lumps". After a round of blood work and an attempt at some steroid pills that did not help, we made the right decision for him, and us. Daddy and I took Maverick in, and then had a drink in his honor. We will never have another dog like Maverick - he was the best! Rest in peace buddy, you are always in our hearts.

He Talks!

Although, we seem to have lost the secret decoder ring. Anthony has recently started "talking" - if we can really call it that. We are still having a hard time understanding exactly what he is saying, but I can say this for sure - he seems to know exactly what it is he is trying to communicate. Some words are as clear as day - my favorite saying "I love you Mommies" - he has more than one? He has also mastered the "open this please" and "all done" or the ever popular "more please." If you don't understand him and ask him to repeat it - it is the exact same "verbiage" as the first go around - so soon, he should be up to understandable full sentences.

Other popular words currently used are:

Hailey, Hey Dude, Holy Moly, Good Boy, I see you, I got you, drink, water, huggie, good nite, I love you.

Turkey Day

Let us get back in the car - AGAIN - and drive to Cocoa Beach for Thanksgiving. This was our first holiday with the extended family from Germany, and Mommy was really excited about it. We all pitched in, it was a little crowded around the house and with three kids, chaos quickly arose. We took the kids to the beach for a little while, can you believe it was actually over 80 degrees in the end of November?

The turkey turned out perfect, one of the best ones yet. We all ate and enjoyed ourselves. Thursday late eveneing, Aunt Daniela dragged me out for Black Friday shopping, our new tradition. We did not get a lot of great deals, but it was great sister bonding time - and good people watching. On Saturday, we went to the annual Art Show - one of Daddy's favorite things to do in Cocoa Beach.

Another Girls Weekend

We went to Ft Myers, just us girls, to visit and enjoy a weekend away. Alexandra and Hailey enjoyed playing together and we all had a great time. Tante Heidi and Onkel Dieter happened to be visiting from Germany, so they also came to Ft Myers with Oma. During the day, we played at parks and shopped. Another great weekend with the family!

New York City Rockets

Alexandra and I went down to Ft Myers to visit with Aunt Daniela, Hailey, Oma, Tante Heidi and Onkel Dieter for a long weekend. Aunt Daniela had gotten free tickets to see the New York City Rockets Christmas Special so the girls are in for a real treat. The show was on Saturday, but Alexandra was so excited she asked about it constantly.

When we got to the show, there was so much for them to see before we even got into the theater. They had such a great time and both loved all the "dancing Santa's."

What is 26.2 miles between friends?

He did it! After months of training, Robert completed his first Marathon - in NY! What a great place to be. The crowds where unbelievable, I have never seen this many people in one place. Robert left the hotel around 5:45am to go wait in line for his starting time, which was not until 10:15am. It was nice and cold, so he was very bundled up.

Since we had some time to kill, I went to NJ with Stephanie, Jo, his sister and Izzy to The Cake Boss. The place was completely packed but I got Robert and congratulations cake to enjoy after the run.

We made our way back towards the finish line and I was so nervous I was going to miss him. I kept getting text messages stating when he crossed different marker points and it was getting late. With thousands of people separating us from the finish line, I knew I had missed him. I decided to climb up this rocky area to get a picture of the run, it was right around mile marker 26. I looked over and there he was. I could not believe it. Nathan and I started screaming and Robert looked over. That was a great feeling.

Robert finished the race just under 5 hours, at 11 minute 18 second miles. What an accomplishment. He has now decided to run multiple marathons and is signing up for the Disney one in January. I guess there are worse habits to have.

Happy Halloween

It is that time of year again, and the kids are looking forward to the candy. We went trick or treating at Gamma's house this year. Our friends Rob and Melanie joined us. Alexandra was dressed up as a ladybug and Anthony was a very scary Pirate! He was too cute and loved walking up to the doors with Alexandra. After a few houses, Anthony was getting tired but not Alexandra. She walked up to each house, "trick or treat" and made sure to grab extra "for her baby brother who was too tired to walk." We had a great time!

Vocabulary Expands

Anthony has mastered a lot of new words over the past few weeks. Just to list a few:

- Yellow, "Hello", Oma, Alexandra (not that clear yet), Outside, Sit Down, Bye, Nose

He is turning out to be just as much of a talker as Alexandra. He points and says thing constantly now. He loves walking through the house and pointing to the pictures. I guess it is true that boys just talk a little later in life. Anthony is very adventurous. He loves to climb on things, follows Alexandra everywhere and will try to do just about anything she does. I find myself always saying "Alexandra - does that set a good example?"

First Day of VPK

Today was Alexandra's first day of VPK. Where has the time gone, I can not believe she is so big! She was not overly excited, to her it is just another day at "school" since she is doing VPK at daycare. Of course, for Mommy it symbolized so much more than that. My little Angel was growing up - way too fast. She got dressed with minimal stress in the morning and was off.

Daddy dropped her off and I picked her up. When I got to the daycare, Ms Marie (her old teacher) told me that "I have a very dramatic daughter." Please, tell me something I don't already know. She was telling me that Alexandra gave everything away by her facial expressions - hopefully this holds true for years to come because right now - she is horrible at lying.

We got home and worked on our first "homework project." She had to decorate a star with a picture of her family and color it in. This was a family project - and she kept telling us "You have to work on this with your children." I think she is going to be a teacher, or instructor of some sort - she is very bossy.

Go Germany

Although we did not make it into the finals - we still love to watch the German's play soccer. Daddy and Anthony watched the game last Saturday. Anthony even showed his support by wearing his Deutschland Fever T-shirt!

Swing Set Adventures

So we bought a swing set for the kids and Daddy agreed to put it together. Since Alexandra was with Gamma over the holiday weekend, it was the perfect opportunity to get started. Okay, so first off, it came in 4 huge boxes. I was responsible for organizing the steps - that was a mission. It took me over an hour to lay out the wood for steps 1 through 10 - there are a total of 48 steps. We started to understand why everyone wanted so much money to assemble this thing.

After a few hours, we were starting to make some serious progress.

The day was coming to an end and Daddy was exhausted. See I had the easy job - I was inside most of the day taking care of Anthony. We decided to regroup and work on it a little more on Monday. The morning sun brought a new wave of energy. Daddy finished a lot more today! Hopefully by next weekend we will be playing on this thing - or at least the kids since it has a weight limit. Alexandra came home and was very excited to see the progress.

Clean Bill of Health

Alexandra's appointment at the urologist went great. Turns out she only is a 2 out of 5 so for now, no surgery or medication is required. We are going to change her diet a little and help remind her to empty her bladder more frequently and hope for the best.

The Manager

Daddy got promoted to Benefits Manager today. We are so proud of him. He has worked for MPS Group/Adecco for over 13 years and has been through many different managers. He has earned this promotion over and over again, and they have finally recognized him. We love the Dada

A Father's Day to Remember

Happy Father's Day - I think. The morning started out great, Gamma had the kids and Daddy and I went to go have breakfast at Metro Diner. The wait was long but we enjoyed ourselves. After breakfast we headed to Gamma's to pick up the munchkins. We had plans of going in the pool and just relaxing at home. Of course, the kids were very excited to see us. Anthony was walking through the house and tripped on his own two feet and hit his lip on the floor - his first fat lip! It was instantly bruised and puffy.

It only gets worse. We got home, got changed and went in the pool. Alexandra has been doing great at swim lessons so she was so excited to show off her new moves. Swimming back and forth in the pool and all the way to the deep end. While in the deep end, she was showing me how she can put her whole head under water while she was sitting on the swim out ledge. I told her to be careful because if she hit her head on the step, we would be in big trouble.

We swam back to the sallow end and I had my back to her for just a second while she was on the steps. I heard her bobbing in the water and just as I turned around, I saw her go to slam her head under the water - but that dang step got in the way. She popped her head back up, and had a total look of shock on her face. I asked her if she was okay, she said she hit her chin and instantly started crying. I noticed a small amount of blood so we got out of the pool, got a towel and sat down and applied some pressure. At this point - she was totally hysterical. I went in to get ice and when I came back out, told her to tilt her head back so I could see. I almost passed out - she had a huge gash in her chin.

We headed up to the Urgent Care Center for stitches, but turns out they do not do them on children on the face - so off to the ER we went. After waiting for 3 hours, we got back and they were able to use Dermobond "the glue" to but it back together. Alexandra was very brave and did not cry at all. The doctor's were very impressed with her - and Mommy was very proud!

Then the angel and I went to McDonald's for a "sandwich" and ice cream.

7 Shots!

Today was a big day for the kids. It was time for Alexandra's 4yr checkup and Anthony's 15 month checkup. Alexandra was scheduled to get 5 shots but she decided that Anthony had to go first -so hers would not hurt. Anthony did great with the first one and cried with the second. Alexandra was true to form - DRAMA! She started screaming and crying before we even got the needle close. She did very well - 5 shots is a lot to get at once. She was a little disappointed that she only got 4 band aids.

Anthony topped the scales at 29 pounds and measured 32 inches
Alexandra weighed 38 1/2 pounds and measured 40 1/2 inches

You don't need to Kiss

This morning Daddy was giving out the morning kisses to the kids while they were in the car. Lucky Mommy was last in line. After I kissed Daddy good bye and got in the car Alexandra said to me "Mommy - why did Daddy kiss you?" I said because Daddy loves Mommy. At that point, Alexandra got a very puzzled look on her face. She said "Mommy, kissing is only for people who are IN love with each other. You and Daddy are not IN love - you are already married, you don't have to kiss anymore." I just started laughing - I wonder if I could convince Daddy of this?

Survey Says

Alexandra scored a 3 out of 5 on her VCUG test. We are not sure if this means she will require a surgery or just antibotics. We are scheduled to see a specialist on 7/2/2010 - more updates to come!

Stephanie's Engagement Party

Today was the engagement party for Stephanie and Jo. Of course, the Adams clan got in the car and drove down to Miami for the event. The party started at 7pm and Alexandra was so excited. She was a little confused, she kept thinking that this was the actual wedding. Since she is going to be in the wedding - she is really excited and talks about it non stop.

The party was a lot of fun and the kids loved dancing and playing all night.

The night could not have been more beautiful. A perfect sunset for a perfect night

VCUG Test Day

Today Alexandra had to undergo a VCUG test to see if she had a reflux disorder that pulled her urine back into the kidneys. She was under the impression that she was just going to have some pictures taken of her tummy, like last time when we had the sonogram done. She was very excited when we got there and loved her new "dress." She got some medication to help her relax, but it made her almost drunk. Daddy went back with her during the procedure while I waited. I was nervous, but it went by quickly. Alexandra did great. We wait a few days and will find out the results of the test. Best case, it requires medication - worst case it will require surgery to correct. Either way, after a Popsicle and a walk down the hall - we were good to go home.

Not the Victim?

So today is the day we had to sign the first incident report for Anthony at daycare where he was not the victim. We have reached that dreadful stage of biting. Last week we got a notice that he was sent to time out for hitting a friend. Then on Friday I learned he had also bitten someone - no report just a verbal warning I guess. Well, Monday - he was back to his tricks. This time, it left a mark on the poor victim (Logan - his best friend from daycare) so we had to sign the paper work. I hope this is not a sign of future misbehaving. I know biting is a phase they all go through, but I thought for sure my little angel would not be doing it. I was wrong!

Alexandra's Birthday Party

This year we celebrated her birthday party a little late. Since we just got back from Germany - we kept it small. I did not want Alexandra to feel like her day was not important, so we hired a face painter to bring a little excitement into the mix. She showed up and it was a huge hit.

The honored guests included: Aunt Daniela, Hailey, Madelyn, Kim, Jeremy, Uncle Nathan, Gamma, Becky, Jeff, Ava, Jennifer, Danny, Aubrey, Anna, Alexandra (Aubrey's sister), and of course us. We all had a great time in the pool and playing around the house. Happy Birthday Goosey - another year older

Eye Snot

We have had yet another run in with the germ fairy at the Adams house. So we have been back to work exactly one week and sure enough, it is time to miss another day for a sick kid. We just can not seem to get a break. Today, Gamma picked up the kids, like every other thursday. When she walked into the gym she noticed Anthony's eye was "yucky." She asked the teachers but they had not noticed it. I talked to her but did not realize how bad it was until she came to drop them off around 8:15. This was the worst case of pink eye that we had seen yet. Luckily we started drops right away and daddy took him in this morning. Looks like he will live - drops for a few days and we are in good shape!

Celebrating with Friends

Today is Alexandra's real birthday so we enjoyed a day of fun with the Warren Family. We all went in the pool - it was Anthony's first time ever. He was not sure what to do about it but he was not too thrilled about being in the water. After watching Alexandra and Ava splash around, he started feeling a little more comfortable.

Alexandra and Ava enjoyed the day, and of course, shared cupcakes! When the weather turned bad, we moved inside and they played dress up. Anthony was the lion chasing the princesses ~ not sure who enjoyed that more. Next weekend is the real party, so there is more fun to come.

Happy 4th Birthday Alexandra

Okay, a day early but we were too excited to wait any longer. Since her birthday fell on a holiday this year, we moved her actual party to the weekend following her birthday. Last night she stayed at Gamma's which gave daddy time to put together her new doll house. One box, yet so many pieces. It is amazing how much patience you need for kids toys these days. It seems like everything must be assembled or is tied down with so many twisty wraps it takes 2o mins to get it out of the box. After a little while, the house was assembled.
Daddy went to pick up Alexandra from Gamma's and I waited patiently at home to see her reaction to the new dollhouse. Her first words "WOW Mommy - what happened to my dollhouse?" Her favorite part was the bed - "It is fancy with the lace trim" - that is for sure from Gamma's influence, we all know that Mommy is not into fancy.