Saturday, December 29, 2007

Merry Christmas and a happy new year! I'll keep this short for now... We are visiting w/ Michael's parents and HOPE to get to my parents' home soon! We have had a total of 6 illnesses in the past two weeks - Josephine has been sick twice, Maureen three times and Veronica once. Maureen went to the doctor today and her iron is even lower... Michael's granny has been in the hospital for an uncontrollable nose bleed and high BP. AND our van needed a gasket replaced - $895 and 2 days later, it's fixed again. Now we just have to wait for our children to be healthy again so we can go visit my parents!

Christmas day was wonderful and we have tons of pictures, I just haven't had the time to go through them, make the image size smaller and post them. It may be a while before I get to those...

I hope everyone else had a great Christmas! It'll probably be a while before I post again!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

I can't believe I haven't posted in a week! Things have been a little extra busy around here... Josephine and Maureen went to the dentist today. Josephine did great - she was very cooperative during the whole process and had no cavities - yay! Maureen cried the whole time while I restrained her (again!) but was perfectly fine as soon as we got out of the chair. She also did not have any cavities.

Michael is FINALLY done with school!!! Click on the link labeled "Family Pictures, Michael's Ceramics and paintings" on the left side of this screen to see a lot of pictures.

I'm keeping it short for today. I'm off to bed!

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

We went to the local health unit to get Veronica's vaccines today... she got three shots and one medicine she took orally. They weighed her and she weighs 17 lbs. and 6 oz.!!! She's 5 months and one week old. She's definitely bigger than Josephine and Maureen were at this age.

Yesterday, Josephine was talking about tummies, for some reason... she said "Maureen's tummy is bigger than Veronica's tummy, mine is bigger than Maureen's, Mommy's is bigger than mine, Daddy's is bigger than Mommy's, and God has the biggest tummy of all!" Michael and I just cracked up laughing.

Here's a cute picture of Maureen. She got her new bike today... will post pictures of that soon, too. This one came w/ a pretend baby carrier on the back of the bike to put baby dolls in. She had tons of fun putting her doll in and out of it, over and over again!

Go LSU!!!

Friday, November 30, 2007

Yesterday was a very long day! I left the house at 8:15 AM (that's really early for me to get out of the house w/ three kids!) to go to a doctor's appt. for Josephine and Maureen's well check-up. Josephine is 35 lbs. and 3'6" tall, and Maureen is 24 lbs. and 2'8" tall. They pricked Josephine's thumb and Maureen's toe (i thought that was weird!) and they both got a flu shot. they gave Josephine's shot in her skinny little arm (I thought they should've done it in her thigh or rear end) and Maureen's in her thigh. Yes, they both cried. All the while Veronica fusses in her stroller as I continually pop the pacifier back into her mouth... Josephine's iron was fine, but Maureen is still anemic, so they gave her a prescription for vitamins and sent her to get her blood drawn and tested to get more accurate readings... little did I know that that would require walking a marathon to find the admissions office in the hospital, waiting in line to get admitted into the hospital, getting admitted, waiting some more, FINALLY getting seen by a nurse who takes blood from Maureen's tiny little arm. It's not easy restraining your own child and holding her arm still knowing she's being pricked by a nasty needle! The nurse didn't get it right away, either, and had to move it around some before finding her vein... poor baby. To make things worse, the majority of the staff, nurses and doctor we saw weren't the friendliest people in the world either... Anyhow, we all had a LONG day! we got absolutely no school done. I'll be doing only necessary subjects tomorrow to make up for it!

Next week, the dentist. For Josephine and Maureen. Wish me luck!

Michael's last day of school is Dec. 7th! Hooray! We all look forward to him finishing this semester. He's been working like crazy and I'm very proud of him! I'll post some pictures of his finished works when he's done w/ school.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Josephine riding her new bike (an early Christmas present from my parents). Thank you Grammy and Grampy! Maureen will be getting one soon, too! Josephine loves her new "big girl" bike and has been talking to everyone she sees about it!

Josephine took this picture of us - she's getting better and better with taking pictures!



Maureen was being really giddy while I was taking these pictures. She can be quite the clown when she wants to be!

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Sorry guys, I haven't posted in a while! Our Thanksgiving day was nice, though it felt strange preparing a large meal for just us! It felt strange not getting together w/ either Michael's or my family. All in all, it was nice... we had turkey, chicken dressing, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, macaroni and cheese, and dinner rolls. And of course, the kids took a few bites of the corn and bread and said, "I'm full." So the dinner was more or less cooked for Michael and myself!

Here's a couple crafts we did for Thanksgiving. Josephine learned about the pilgrims and the native americans a couple weeks ago in her history lessons.

I don't even remember which day this was... I was surprised to find her asleep on the couch - about an hour and a half earlier than her usual nap time!



I took 11 pictures of Veronica on the couch. In almost every one, she had her eyes closed or squinting, OR eyes wide open w/ no smile! Anyhow, I posted what I thought were the best three.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Michael took these pictures of the girls in the leaves. Josephine had the best time playing in them! She told Michael, "This is the best day of my life!" after doing some clay w/ him and playing in the leaves. She also told Michael she wanted to be a "clay artist" when she grows up.




Veronica smiles at herself every time you put her in front of a mirror!
...the cereal she ate the other day - gave her tons of gas and a yucky diaper. She enjoyed eating it, but she was a very uncomfortable baby about 12-24 hours later! I think I'll wait another month or so before trying it again...

Friday, November 16, 2007


Veronica has been letting me put her down for at least 5-10 minutes in the exersauacer. I like the look on her face; she's intently studying that toy!

I gave her rice cereal mixed w/ juice today... She had oatmeal w/ juice a few days ago and ate it OK... she seemed fussy afterwards, not sure if it was the cereal or not. We'll see how she reacts to the rice cereal. I'm hoping it'll help her sleep better at night. She'll be 5 months old on the 21st of this month. Hard to believe she's almost 1/2 a year old already!

I was doing my rounds in checking all the kids after they were asleep and discovered Maureen had crawled in bed w/ Josephine. I'm not sure if Josephine was awake or not when Maureen crept in her bed. I'll have to ask her tomorrow morning!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

This is across the street from my home. I'm not used to seeing so many different color changes in the leaves! Actually having four clear different seasons is a new thing for me!

I'm also amazed at the massive amount of leaves on the ground - I've seen falling leaves before, but not like this! It looked like snowing leaves today when it was windy.

This isn't a very good picture (I was holding the girls, facing the camera at us), but wanted to post it anyway. They had both fallen asleep at the same time while I was rocking them for an afternoon nap. It's not easy carrying two sleeping babies to their beds!


Tuesday, November 13, 2007



Maureen looks tired in both these pictures... she's been sick the past couple days (no fever, though) w/ a stuffy nose, congestion and coughing. Michael seems to have it now - no fun when you're in school!

Maureen was very happy, though, to have a turn holding Veronica.


















I went grocery shopping at Walmart today and passed by some summer dresses on sale for $1.00!!!! Even though it's fall, I just had to buy one for Maureen (it should still fit for the Spring/Summer of 2008). She is wearing it in this picture... It has some pretty flower embroidery around the neckline of the dress. Too bad they didn't have any in Josephine's or Veronica's sizes!







Saturday, November 10, 2007

Happy Birthday to me! I am 28 years old now, inching up to the big 30. I can't believe it!

Michael asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and I told him I wanted a nap! So that's what I got. Just as w/ our anniversary, there were no presents (not enough extra money to spare) but I'd actually prefer to have a nap over a gift! I told Josephine what I wanted for my birthday today was for her to be a good girl. She chuckled. Later, when we had cake, she gave me some of her dress-up jewelry as my birthday present. I thought that was very sweet. Maureen, I guess, thought it was her birthday again and said "I'm two, Mama, I'm two!" and pretended to blow out the candles again.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Success, all around!

Josephine and Maureen were asleep by 8:45 (that's good for me!) and Veronica was asleep by 9:00. I'm so glad they're all in bed earlier than normal. I think the time change is helping out, too!
Having half the toys available definitely helped out today! Clean up throughout the day was MUCH easier and faster. Maureen and Josephine even helped out more than usual - I think it may have been just as overwhelming for them, too, to have so many toys to pick up. Maureen actually picked up two things today, ON HER OWN, without me asking her too! She picked up an alphabet train puzzle and the wooden blocks! I have a feeling she will be a more cooperative child when it comes to keeping clean and staying organized! Josephine is very much like Michael in terms of organization and picking up after herself, although there are times where she does a better job than Michael does :)
Here's a picture of the LFGC. I never asked the other moms if I could post a picture online of their girls, so I put a green blob over their faces. I don't think the other moms would really care, but I'm erring on the cautious side. They focused on St. Monica and the virtue of Hope on that meeting and I've included a picture of the craft Josephine finished.




























Maureen playing with wooden blocks that Michael made a couple years ago...













Josephine working studiously on her spelling!













Maureen has been waking up during the night the past couple of nights and waking up too early in the morning. Today, while I was fixing her lunch, she fell asleep on the floor! If you click on this picture to see a larger size, take a look at those long, beautiful eyelashes!


Here's a picture of my Sleeping Beauty #3. notice the bib - she drools SO much, much more than Josephine or Maureen ever did! She pretty much wears a bib all day now - I go through about 3 or 4 of them a day.
Good night! I'm going to fold at least one basket of clothes and go to bed!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

I FINALLY took half of the girls' toys, boxed them up and put them up in the attic. Two or three times a year we'll take those toys and rotate them with the toys that were left out. I was getting overwhelmed at the very large messes made by all the toys, so I finally went this route to help w/ daily pick-up. Half the toys = half the mess. I'd be happy to donate half of the toys, but Michael (and Josephine) are pack rats and don't want to get rid of anything!

I also boxed up all the girls' summer clothes. The lows will be in the mid to low 30's for the next two nights, with frost. Much colder for this time of year than I'm used to! I'm a big ninny (spelling??) when it comes to cold weather.

Josephine had another Little Flowers Girls Club meeting last Friday and I took a picture of it. However, the camera is in the van, along with my purse and keys :0) Michael is on his way home from school, but I will be going to bed shortly after he's home, so the pictures will have to wait until tomorrow!

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

OK - here's a TON of pictures. I'm not going to say much, other than the past few days have been busy! We had a nice family birthday celebration for Maureen, Josephine and her were very excited all day! Maureen (and Josephine!) are enjoying her new toys. Maureen was saying "I'm two, I'm two!" and pretending to blow out birthday candles all day!

For Halloween, Josephine dressed up as the princess, Belle, Maureen dressed up as a ballerina (using one of Josephine's old ballet costumes) and Veronica dressed up as a leopard (Maureen's costume from last year). They had a blast tonight. They got tons of candy and were exhausted after all the walking!












































































































Saturday, October 27, 2007


Josephine dressed as St. Therese for the All Saints Party



















Josephine drew the face on the pumpkin and Michael cut it out exactly how she drew it. The only thing Michael added were the eyebrows. She's so creative, just like her Daddy!









Finally, a picture of me where I don't look too sleep deprived! Ever since Josephine was born, I believe I look tired in all the pictures of myself.














Michael and the girls being silly and dancing to really loud music. They were all having a blast!


Tomorrow we'll be celebrating Maureen's 2nd birthday! We put up most of the decorations tonight before bed, so when we get back from Church we'll celebrate w/ cake and presents. I got her a couple Little People toys and a Snap n' Style baby doll and bath - I hope she likes them! Little People toys were Josephine's favorite toys at this age, and Maureen seems to be following suit (one of the few things they share in common. They're pretty different from each other in several aspects!).

Thursday, October 25, 2007

man. Veronica JUST fell asleep! She took a late nap while I was playing piano for my Church choir tonight. I brought the kids along while I played - tonight was my first night playing. I enjoyed it, it feels nice putting my skills to use!

Well, I don't have any pictures to take, but over the next few days I probably will. Josephine has an All Saints party to go to (done by the Catholic homeschool group we belong to) this sat., Maureen's birthday is on Sun. (I can't believe she will be 2 years old already!) and then, of course, Halloween on Wed.

Josephine is doing her quarter tests this week - so far she's made 'A's' on everything, and has two more tests to take tomorrow. Maureen is continuing to do well with her alphabet, numbers and shapes. We did a train alphabet puzzle yesterday. Maureen and Josephine had a blast doing it together! Veronica is growing like a weed - she's four months old now! She has been smiling for over a month now, she plays with and studies her fingers, toes and feet, and has laughed only a couple times (once because of Josephine). She can also roll over from her tummy to her back and push herself up partially when she's on her tummy. There, I think I've covered all the baby milestones that we Moms look forward to! I feel so blessed to have normal, healthy children! I'm addicted to "Discovery Health" channel, where I learn about so many abnormalities, sicknesses, ect. in children, it makes me feel more and more grateful to have healthy kids.

Monday, October 22, 2007



Poor Maureen! I don't even remember why she was fussing here... she was probably just wanting to get down from her booster seat.





Here is a before & after picture of our playroom. I have to admit I'm a little embarrassed to post the "after" photo. The clean "before" room got totally trashed in about 2 days of me not able to touch the playroom.