What they've been up to

Kaity and Abby had their Student-Teacher Conferences. They went well!

Kaitlyn was said to be such a sweetheart. I knew that already! She is friends with everyone and has an infectious laugh. She struggles when reading aloud but was the only one in her class to score 100% on the reading assessment exam!!! The teacher said she took her time, all her classmates (6) finished before her. I'm so proud, she didn't rush through it and what an accomplishment!

Abby is the youngest and one of the brightest in her class of 19! The teacher even thought I wrote down the wrong year for her birth date! Her overall assessment went well, she was able to recognize more words than the teacher thought. She is shy but social, she is coming out of her shell and joking around. Aside from the lisp, the teacher has no concerns!

Maddy is potty trained!! It's been a loooooooooong, stressful journey but we've finally made it! She was doing an amazing job so we went out the other day and bought her, her own panties. Now she has panties that actually fit. She was waking up in the middle of the night screaming that she had to "pee bad" so I had El bring up the toddler bed from the basement and she has now slept in it for 2 nights and stayed dry in her panties! She's not a baby anymore. I keep the potty in her room close to her nightlight so she can get up when she needs to. I've been dreading the toddler bed. I knew that once we began this chapter, naps would end and bedtime would become a challenge. So far, I've been right. This is the third napless day and NOTHING is getting done around the house. At bedtime, she gets up 20 or so times. It's been horrible...for me. I hate potty training!

I'm so proud of my girls! It makes all the stress worth it! I just need someone to remind me of that in the midst of the 4 of them simultaneously screaming, yelling, or whining.

Oh My Gallbladder!

If you haven't heard, I need it removed. I've put it off for several reasons. One, I've been restricted as to what I can eat, so I've lost a few pounds and I can stand to lose a few more. Another reason is that the surgeon I was referred to doesn't accept my insurance and I keep forgetting to call another one. I swear, my memory is TERRIBLE! Most importantly, I've been having heart palpitations. Before I have surgery, I wanted that looked into because really I'm afraid to go under the knife, especially with this undiagnosed heart condition.* Also, Daisy is so attached to me that I worry about her crying for the 5 hours I"ll be in the hospital, that is if everything runs smoothly. If I need open surgery, I'll be in the hospital who knows how long.

I have a bottle of vicodins and percocets for the pain and try not to use them because I know how addictive they can be.

Things were going fine for awhile. However 2 days ago I had a horrific attack. I guess I got too comfortable eating again. I had to take a pill. I hate those things. I can't imagine how someone could become addicted. They give me horrible migraines! So I went back to my healthy eating and I thought tonights dinner would be ok too. I made curry meatballs with rice and edamame. I used turkey...I thought it shouldn't be so bad. I was wrong. The pain is awful. I had to take another pill and here I sit with another migraine. Someone please remind me to call the surgeon tomorrow!!

I'll post the recipe for the meatballs if anyone wants. I'm so proud of myself. It's my own recipe. I have all these ingredients, but not everything I would need for one certain meal. So after looking through my pantry I thought I could create curried meatballs. And I did. And they were really good! Too bad I have to freeze the leftovers and wait a few weeks for seconds!

*Tests determined that I have a rapid heart rate. Which in a sense is normal. However, what isn't normal is that less than 1% of the time it doesn't slow, which normally happens when sleeping. At one point in the day, my heart was beating 158 beats a minute. It was when the girls came home from school. I'm just really stressed. The dr said I should get more exercise, try to build the heart muscle and see if it helps any. She said the hill I live on would be a perfect place to start. Or, she could prescribe a pill which I politely declined. Daily walking is just one more thing I miss about the city!

Style

that only a 2yo could pull off!

4 months

What happened to my sweet, easy baby? The past few weeks have been beyond stressful. She is already going through separation anxiety (isn't it early for that?) and wants to be held a lot! If she sleeps well, she's much happier, but once the girls get home from school, there's just too much going on. Thus, she's cranky.

Yesterday, she screamed for an hour. It was not fun.



Her personality is blossoming. She has a voice and let's it be known...she's just as loud as her sisters. It's pretty funny.