Happy Late Halloween

I know I know, I have been a horribly bad blogger as of late. Do forgive me, I have had no excuse to neglect the blog, and it isn't like I haven't written any blogs, I just never did publish them, they were really long and good blogs, just not finished, and by the time I should have posted them, to much time had gone by. For me it is hard to pick back up on a blog and continue to write, I write with my moods and if I am in a particular mood that day, say sadness, anger, nostalgia, I can not just happen to pick back up on that mood. Which is very sad because I have many good blogs I have never posted. Oh well, they are there for me to read and print off for my out takes of blogging that never made it to the finished product. So the quick synopsis of life over here. Lily is great, we bought another 2 months for her last visit in the beginning of October. Her valve pressure has held stable at the 60-65% mark for the last several marks, which continues to make not only mommy happy, but the doctors are happy also. We are keeping our fingers crossed tightly that come December we get another 2 months all clear, so we can hopefully sail past her second birthday, which is what Dr.Cleveland wanted to begin with, with this repair. I don't say it often but I should, Dr. Cleveland is my hero, our hero in this family. Because of him, his steady hands, and years of medical school and wanting to become a doctor in the first place, we owe him everything.
Now real quick, Lily is weighing in at 29lbs 4 oz, standing tall at 83cm or 32.6771 inches...or should we just say 33" inches tall. She is healthy and where she needs to be for height and weight, she is in the 91st percentile for weight, and in the 63rd percentile for height. Pretty good if I do say so myself considering she is a heart baby. She is not fat, we consider her healthy..and even the doctors say so. Keep it up Lily, you are a growing girl who has to still undergo so much. Even though she weighs so much right now, she can easily lose a good amount during her next surgery, so we never take the weight gained for granted.
Now on to bigger and better things, such as Halloween and what has become mommies late night sweet tooth cravings. My poor children did the work of going door to door......WAIT...scratch that, it is as much mine as theirs because I still have to go door to door with them, I do not let them go up to the door without me..sorry, call me crazy, but that is just me. Oh and asides from the fact I still am regaining my 16 years of no Trick-or-treating allowed. Yes this is where my Jehovah Witness roots come into play. We were the household you would curse out as a child because you would see no lights on but every car in the driveway and the flickering of the TV, but when you rang the door bell there was no response. I am still surprised to this day that our house was never egged or T.P'd. I wouldn't have blamed them and I think I might have even laughed about it, at the expense of my butt being spanked for my behavior, but hey, I was a smart-alic child that enjoyed a good laugh, even if my butt stung for it later. I use to laugh about it then but my father said one day my actions would come back to haunt me, something about Karma..pssshhh...excuse me, but I didn't think JW's believed in stuff such as that, or am I wrong. I could call my grandmother and ask her but I do not wish to be drawn into a long conversation over religious beliefs and prefrences....SOOO...I will just settle this argument with, no, they do not believe in Karma or anything of the sort. So I have no reason according to them to explain my children being such willed children other then the way I raised them, which isn't truly wrong, but I will stick with Karma and bad ju-ju (Sami I stole your word). My rebellious nature has come back on me in ten fold..oh well, I love it and embrace and remind myself, when they are 18, they can move out, and I will be rewarded years later with many grandchildren, which will remind me that I did a good job and didn't kill my children on the many occasions where I thought duck tape and the wall sounded like a grand idea. I do hope you all know I am joking....or maybe I'm not...now that is the question you will wonder about every time you visit my page. Just remember, I love my children with all my heart, even at 2'o'clock in the morning and I am cleaning puke out of the carpet, my hair, their hair, their clothes, their bed, the bathroom floor, and the sink...I LOVE......MY.....CHILDREN!! Laughing out loud over here!
On with the pictures I say, Yes I purposely did these in reverse order...Enjoy the babies, they sure were cute!

Lucas and his Loot

Lily and her loot, let me tell you, once she saw what she had, she started screaming, and if you tried to touch it (like we did when we started picking it up) she screamed and then proceeded to bark at us. Since when did my daughter learn the guard dog routine?

The kids received glow bracelets from a house, which I thought was pretty neat. The loved them, was thrilling for the night!

The wonderful big brothers helping sissy out with walking house to house, more like irritating her

Lily and the big pumpkin, for the life of me, after 4 shots, I still could not get her to look at the camera.

The boys and the big pumpkin. Lucas thought it was "So Cool" he then asked me, "Mommy, that pumpkin doesn't have any of that yucky stuff inside it does it?" I laughed and told him no..you will see why it was funny below.

Lucas and his school friend Bella. She saw him first while we were out and about. He goes up and hugs her awkwardly, like trying to give her a pat on the back while having the, you smell gross look on your face. I thought it was cute. But it melted my heart when I heard him say, "Bella you look really pretty." AWE...my baby boy knows how to win the ladies over already..ugh, dang McLaughlin charm....I am going to have to watch out.

We had to walk over to the neighbourhood across the streets from out apartments. We started by going by Uncle Matt and Aunt Melissa's house.

Aunt Melissa and Cousin Madi came by before trick-or-treating, Madi was Little Red. She had the basket and everything.

I am big on Candid shots, which was all she was willing to give me anyways.

Lily, Aunt Melissa and Cousin Madi

(Lily and Madi are a month apart in age, Madi is older, Lily is bigger...hummm..I just make them big)

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture. My favorite of the night.

My second favorite, Lily and the pumpkin. She was so stinkin adorable.

Austi man as the Hulk

Lucas as a baseball player. Don't harp on me, yes I know he has a Boston hat on, with an AZ jersey, I am well aware of that, but hey, my mom got me the outfit, so I can't complain. He was still adorable, and that is all that matters. That whole outfit was pieced together, Aunt Sami gave us Kenneth's (her almost 3 year old) baseball pants, My mom got the hat and shirt like mentioned, but the socks were Great Grandpa Jim's (whom Lucas never got to meet before he passed, nore I).

My 3 beauitful babies.

Lily has bowed legs, I know

My ladybug princess. Aunt Sami and mommy worked hard on that costume. She was a doll

Her hair for the evening, don't ask how I get her to hold still for so long, because I don't even know how. She loves her hair being done and I love doing it.

All Hallows Eve

Mama and her Girl

See I am the one who carves the pumpkin, trying to make up my lost time remember?

Lily honey we need to work on that smile, you are going to scare the children...

Lucas and the gooey pumpkin...I will let the pictures explain it all.

This is my 3rd Favorite picture

Lily had to help...

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween.

oh on a side note, I taught my boys a song on the walk home from trick-or-treating...needless to say they sing it around the house now.

Trick-0r-treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat,

If you don't, I won't care, but I'll pull down your underwear."

Yes I know, bad bad bad mommy, they giggled all the way home istead of crying they were tired. Hey a mom's got to do, what a mom's got to do!

Love hugs and Blessings

Jenna

Who are you calling Fat....Mr.Bus Driver

OooooKkkkk...I know that's not a word...but lets not lecture me on that right now, cause goodness knows I have enough steam to blow off this morning....Where is this coming from you ask? Well, my last blog, below, has a reason for most of my anger this morning. It isn't even anger, it is more frustration then anything. So...if you don't want to read my rant, then just click the little X , well that is more of a big X but you get the drift, it is at the top of the page, in your right hand corner..............

You still here with me??? If you are hold on to your seats here we go.

My daughter is under no means, FAT. She is chubby, but with babies that is normal, with heart babies, well we all know the more cushion for the pushin is better then none at all. All heart parents and heart doctors will agree. She is in the 95% for her age, she isn't fat by any doctors standards, and if she grows like the boys, she will be built sturdy, but skinny. I mean, come on, my nickname was the flippin Tank, and here I am, 140lbs after 3 kids, for the record that would be a size 8 jeans, and I wear medium size tops, I have never been over weight except for once in my life, and that was while I was on depression medications, they aren't very food friendly. I may not be the 105lbs I was before Lucas, or the 112lbs before Austin, or even the 116lbs before Lily, but I am in no means fat. No one in my family or Chris's for that instance is fat, borderline fat, a little bit fat, nada. I hate the word Fat, it is such an ugly word. My children are all very active, they eat constantly and yet don't put on much weight. I was considered anorexic for such a long time, but anyone who knew me, knew that wasn't the case because I ate any and everything I could get my hands on, and I still do....hence the extra weight I haven't dropped since Lily....anyways....Lily....NOT FAT....PUDGY...BABY FAT....NOT FAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok....now moving on....I had to go to the store this morning after I dropped Lucas off at the bus stop. But before that lets destress a bit, then I can get back to my anger management.

When Lucas and I walked out the door this morning, I wish I would have had my camera then. It is hot air balloon season, I have seen them at least once or twice the last couple of weeks. This morning was different because I kid you not, right behind my apartments 2 of them were on the ground getting ready to go up. I have never seen a hot air balloon that close up before...kid in the candy store over here...it was neat. Lucas was like, "Mama look, they're so pretty." In all honesty I have seen prettier ones, but they are a marvel to see in person. These are a few of the shots I got from my lame digital camera. They were so far away so I had to accept the fate of the crappy pictures with my zoom.




I carried Austin out this morning in his Wolverine undies. He had me put him down and was like, "What are those?" I told him they were hot air balloons....and my 3 year olds response, "But mommy it's cold." Oh the logic...why didn't I think about that. I tried to explain to him quickly is a 3 year old way how they work, but he still go that, "I really don't care, let me go back to my cartoon" look on his face.

Now.....back to my aggression for the day...don't mind my attitued today, I am a bit sleep deprived because last night was the first night in 4 days I didn't take night-quill, needless to say, my body has had so much sleep in the last few days, I welcomed insomnia with open arms, I mean I can't sleep like a normal human forever now can I? Where would be the sense of that seeing I am normally a walking zombie with sarcasm. Well if you have miss it, I am back in full stride cause here I go.

Dear Bus Drivers,

We thank you greatly for doing us the service of carting our brood to and from school to be educated. We hope one day they will grow up and do something great with their lives and it is because of you, and your driving skills, or there lack of sometimes, that they are able to better themselves.

Now about these driving skills, please note, just because you are the biggest thing on the road well not to a Semi, or an oversized trailer, or the machines that work at construction site...so you aren't the biggest....but still...your bus is bigger then my Pontiac Grand Prix, it is also bigger then all cars on the road, and family trucks. So with that being said, please remember, just because you drive something big, doesn't mean you own the road. I like my lane, I like my car, I like my life. There are these things on the road called lane dividers, you might see them from that lofty seat you sit on, and I understand that making turns are more difficult in that then a normal vehicle, but please, if you are going to cut the corner or that just happens naturally, then you need a warning on the back of that thing you drive. If you didn't know, I have a fear of Semi's and Bus's. I know you can't always see me, so I try to stay out of your blind spots, and I try never to drive next to you, but that wasn't an option this morning. And you reminded me why I truly do not like bigger vehicles. No I don't have bigger vehicle envy, I just know, that with bigger vehicles, comes bigger egos and complexes...trust me I know, I use to drive a truck, and I thought I owned the road. Back to the subject at hand. It is not ok for me to stop in the middle of an intersection next to a median in the middle of a turn because my options are either to run over the median or get hit by you. I do not like being honked at by cars behind me, it makes me want to get out and slap people...( to the person that honked at me, ummm HELLO...DID YOU NOT SEE I WAS ABOUT TO BE RAN OVER BY THE DANG BUS???? YEAH I THOUGHT SO) For those of you who don't know, when you type in all Caps, you are being serious and usually yelling....Oh and be thankful I didn't have the kids in the car, because when we stopped at the light, I know you are fully aware that I gave you a dirty look, if the kids would have been in the car I might have ran home and dropped them off, only to follow you back to where you were going, to have a nice long chat with you....yes I am crazy like that.

To finish this letter Mr or Mrs. Bus driver, please try to remember the courtesy or road rules, you are not God of the road...I am...I mean...no one is.

Thank you so much for your time and attention... it has been greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Stay out of my lane.

Love hugs and blessings
Jenna

It's a bird...It's a plane...My goodness It's Lily!

So I have come to the conclusion that Lily is officially pudgy....GASP...I called my daughter pudgy, but it is true, I am telling you. She looks like the Michelin Tire Guy but with hair. She is about as white as he is...but look at her...she is a chunk...triple chins, thunder thighs...my goodness. And believe it or not, she doesn't eat 3 meals a day because she has become stubborn and only eats when she decides it is right for her. Umm excuse me, but who's the parent... oh that's right, she's in control. She has officially stole the pants in the family, she weaseled the pants I stole from daddy and took them for her self, somehow she managed to fit into them and take control of the house hold....and even though I stand here to admit to this, doesn't mean she gets away with murder. If she hits her brothers she gets time outs, unless it was for a good cause.....I'M KIDDING people...sort of....When you grow up with older brothers and are the only girl, you gotta put up a good fight for things. And with all that extra pudge, she puts up a heck of a fight. I will hear from time to time, "Lily get off of me....get your butt out of my face." That-a-girl...I mean...bad Lily!

I mean can you honestly tell me after looking at those pictures that she isn't a chunk? I would be afraid of her if I was a child. I would be running away screaming, "Run away, it's baby Godzilla." Which I do from time to time as she chases me through the kitchen and giggles. She giggles now, but lets just hope when my family see's her, they don't give her my old affectionate nickname of "The Tank"....sigh...I just admitted to it, I was even pudgier then she is...and I would bulldoze my brother over without flinching, while he cried on the floor and I kept running....oh great, she not only got her perky and stubborn attitude from me, she's got the pudge to prove she's mine also...oh well, I guess I will take what I can get. If i can't get them to look like me, I will contribute baby fat and attitude...not always good things.

If you can't tell, all is well in the household, if you minus the cold we all have. Cough, congestion, mommy has a fever, but doing better. I think we are past the worst of it this time around...just hoping it doesn't get much worse then this, this year. But with Lucas being a school kid now, I know we are in for a slew of colds. Just hoping when it comes time for Lily's next surgery is, whenever that possibly will be, we aren't in cold season, and if we are, may Lily be healthy and ready. We have an apt coming up on the 13th, I will most likely update then, I don't have much to update other wise. My blog is quite slow these days.

Oh for those of you who read my blog frequently, off to the left in our heart friends list, I added a new name, Manson, he is a heart baby and is in need of our prayers. Please stop by his page to read more about this handsome CHD Warrior.

Until next blog,
Love Hugs and Blessings
Jenna

Ball Game and Silly Lily

We are blessed to have such a great cardiac team, but on top of that, they go above and beyond to help all of us heart parents to stay connected by holding heart meetings and also events such as a Day at the Ball Park on top of other things like the Heart Walks and Picnic's at the park.
** To the left you will see a "Button" for donating to Lily's heart unit. I know times are hard, but every little bit helps. Without Lily's heart team we would be lost, and goodness knows how Lily would be. We are indebted to the team at St.Joes. If you are able and would like to make a donation, click the button and it will take you to a secure site to do so.**
We unfortunately don't make very many events due to Chris's work schedule, but we were actually able to make the ballgame and the boys had a blast, and Lily was a whirlwind monster. She is so big and that has always been on her side, and Dr.P and her surgeon Dr.C got to see my monster in action. Always on the go, moving, running, climbing, and almost never winded. It is wonderful to see her so energetic, knowing what is going on with her heart, you can tell it doesn't slow her down. Hopefully this strength will come with us into the next surgery, she is going to need every ounce of it to fight.

We got to watch the game in style, we were in a suite, I don't think the boys will enjoy their seats the next time we go..

Lily is almost always quiet while she is stuffing her face, popcorn is her new thing, and boy does she go to town with it

The Lily Monster in action, roaring, barking, and squealing, she was having a blast

On the way out I had to get pictures with my baseball fan, he was so thrilled to go, he is going to be a baseball play for Halloween and he wants to be one when he grows up

My 3 munchkins, the all look so much alike, but all different in their own ways. Lily and Austin look more alike then Lucas vs them, Lucas is a carbon copy of his daddy, the other two have more of me in them
We were getting ready to leave, Lily was thrilled to be getting out. Even though she is a toughie, we still keep her home bound most of the time. Better safe then sorry, and with Lucas in school, goodness knows we are going to get enough germ buggies this year.

My handsome handsome little man, just like his daddy!

Lily being the goober she is, always knows how to make a great picture even better!

Lily, are you praying for less crazy hair?

Please pick me up daddy, please?....and her please is, "Hi"...she says it so sweetly that you can't help but give her loving when she does....she now says it when she is in trouble, she will wave at you and say hi

She wanted the cookies that were on the inside, very badly!

My blue eyed monster!

Nothing better then a good, CHEESE!!!

All in all nothing exciting is going on around here. Lily's next cardiologist visit is on the 13th of this month, we have an echo that day also, so hopefully we will stay stable enough so Lily and I can take a trip to Missouri this fall and visit Lily's god parents. Mommy needs a vacation. It would just be Lily and myself and Chris would be at home with the boys. The great thing about St.Louis, is they have a great children's hospital with a great cardiac unit and team. Lily's Godmother was a heart baby also, not to the extent of Lily's conditions, but enough to warrant surgeries and cardiac apts.

I will update as soon as any new news comes in, it is hard to blog when there is not much to blog about...well Lily wise that is, I have my own blog for my own blogging, but I don't seem to get over there much anymore. I blog in my mind, which is short for saying, I am to dang lazy to type it all out. Then again, seems like I don't have much time these days until it is late, and then by that time I am way to tired to do it. Yes Yes Yes, for those of you who know me you are thinking, but Jenna, you are up until the wee hours of the morning anyways so what is the big deal with finding time to write? But for those of you who enjoy writing, blogging is difficult to do when it is 3am, and your brain is functioning only due to the fact of it is restless but can't string words together to form comprehensible sentences. So what I am saying is, I will stick to sudoku, that is about all my brain can handle at that time of the morning.

Love Hugs and Blessings
Jenna