Food

My name is Skye & I'm 43. I've been a food addict for about 5 years now.
I always considered myself to be a pretty healthy person for my entire life. When I was younger, I played sports & worked out at the gym 4 days a week. I ate very healthy and clean. I felt good about myself, always weighed a healthy weight, but then my weight slowly went up after I turned 30 with the onset of a new relationship, longer work hours, lifestyle, etc.

Before I got pregnant with Julianna, Brian and I ate pretty healthy, worked out and lived a relatively healthy lifestyle. We went for walks and even started running some nights on our walks. Once I became pregnant, I stopped most activity and I started eating A LOT of not-so-good-for-me food (no shocker since I felt great with my first pregnancy). After I had Julianna, I stopped caring about how much I weighed (since after all, I just had a baby!). I never really lost much of my pregnancy weight and then we decided to try to have another baby. So, I figured why bother losing weight? I'm going to just gain weight with another baby anyway. It was a horrible way to think, but it was my excuse to eat. Then I got pregnant with Tyler and felt so sick the entire time, which I'm sure you've heard me say here many times. (One thing to note; once I found out I was pregnant with Tyler, I did cut out most or all products with 'fake' sugar like aspartame, and have kept it out of my diet since then - all diet products scare me - I pray that all the years I used fake sugar and drank diet soda didn't harm me).

After I had Tyler, I made up for all the time I couldn't eat and spent the first few months of celebrating being able to eat again. I totally "emotionally ate" for the few months after Tyler was born when he was recovering from his open heart surgery (Click HERE for Tyler's story in case you missed it). What is a better fix for sad mom? Ice cream right? Ugh! I also went through an unimaginable tough emotional and mental time due to pre-menopause. I knew I was unhealthy and very overweight, but for several months, I wasn't emotionally ready to do anything about it. It's always a mental thing for me. None of my clothes fit me and I felt so terrible about myself. I knew I needed to do something but had to wait until I was 100% mentally ready to take this on. Knowing WHAT to do was never an issue (I've never believed in goofy fad diets like drinking celery juice for 2 weeks to lose weight!). For me, weight loss is totally mental mindset. Brian and I made unhealthy dinners almost every night and enjoyed big-calorie dinners regularly when we ate dinner out. We had Ben & Jerry's after the kids went to bed every night - ugh - talk about big fattening mistakes! Large portions did me in. I have never been a candy or fast food person. I just ate too much regular food all of the time.

Finally, towards the end of 2013, Brian and I had some very long discussions about 'being ready' to finally start being healthy and changing our lives. We needed to be good roll models for both of our children. We have always encouraged and given healthy & fresh foods to Julianna (not counting chicken nuggets lol). She eats very healthy, but we, as parents, need to set a much better (long term) roll model for healthy living for them.

One fabulous thing Brian and I already changed once we had Julianna, was to switch all 'fresh' foods to organic. We started buying organic chicken & beef, eggs, milk, fruit & veggies. I'm so glad we did that and focused on Julianna eating healthy foods. Let's get one thing straight, organic and fresh doesn't mean weight loss. The focus was there on organic, but I cared less about how much I ate daily (clearly!).

As of this past January, Brian and I made a conscience decision to make a change. We decided to eat ALL organic, pesticide-free, pure & healthy foods. We continue to buy organic 'fresh' foods, but now stepped it up to include everything else we buy (when possible). Our local food store does not offer the best organic selections, but we can usually find most things we need. I would love if we had a Whole Foods near us. The closest one is over a half hour away, and not convenient for shopping. In the summer, we plan on visiting our local farmer's market, as we do every summer.

We made the decision to cut out all or most processed foods from our diet immediately. Brian and I read all ingredients and try not to allow any foods with chemicals or artificial anything in the house. If organic is not an option when shopping, then I'll choose the 'cleanest' product I can get, i.e. I get the bakery to slice fresh whole wheat bread (that has 4 ingredients) instead of buying the packaged bread that has a ton of 'preservatives' in it. In the past, we never really bought sugary foods or candy for Julianna anyway, and luckily now she prefers fruit or carrots as a snack over to sugary treats (pat myself on the back for that!). We have never bought juice for her since day one and she doesn't even like it - she likes water. Tyler will be on the same track.

Our life goal now is to eat nutritious & pure food, make smart food choices, be healthy, be a good roll model and lose weight. We are also taking vitamins daily (which we never did before). Brian and I are trying to focus on adding more vegetarian meals to our diet and trying some new (healthy) recipes. We plan out most of our meals for the week and have managed to make everything we make taste great and it has been keeping us very satisfied. This change takes work and is working out better than we ever imagined, especially since we are both 100% committed. It's a marathon, not a sprint (cliche, I know!) and we look forward to the long haul. It's time for life change. It's been a LONG time coming. I can't change what I did for the past 5 years, but I can change the future.

I am down 21 pounds since January. Yay me. Oh and I still use real sugar in my coffee. Sugar in small amounts is not the enemy like the diet industry will have you believe!
Brian is down about 25 pounds.  I am so proud of my husband and he looks great!
We are both using Weight watchers (online) for guidance. I need something to help me keep track of what I eat and be accountable. Weight watchers has worked for me in the past (many moons ago).

Oh and p.s. - I dropped my overall cholesterol down about 50 points to a very good number. My cholesterol was pretty high (totally self induced) last fall, and one of my personal goals was to lower it. I had my well visit with my doctor a few weeks ago, and discovered it had gone way down. Yay me again.

I still have a lot more to lose, but I am very satisfied with my results so far, and really looking forward to trying on clothes that haven't fit me in 5 or 6 (or more!) years. I am looking forward to boating season where I won't have to cover up and be ashamed of how I look.

One thing I hope to add to my life in the near future is exercising. I would love to have that back. That's one downfall right now with 2 small children, working full time and everything else that goes along with our crazy life right now. I will get more active once the nicer weather is here.
One thing at a time, right?

I'll share some of our recipes here next week. We have discovered some great food blogs!

Here is my inspiration (photo taken October 2013)

10 indications our house has been taken over by a preschooler and an infant

1.
In addition to my wallet, sunglasses and lipstick... I now have Binkies, wipes, diapers & Desitin in my purse at any given time. Also a few random toys. An empty fruit squeezy & an apple core.

2.
I find empty toilet paper rolls stuffed in the bathroom cabinet (and could never figure out where the girl threw them out until recently).

3.
Toys have taken over every square foot of our living space (when I swore that I would never allow that to happen, pre-kids!). Oh and let's not forget about the car. With 2 kids, I can truly say that no SUV is big enough, between the 2 carseats, toys, supplies, miscellaneous toys, school projects & food wrappers that collect on the floor in the back of the car. Oh and the ginormous double stroller. Time to move up to a bigger SUV.

4.
Our house has been taken over by giraffes. All kinds of stuffed giraffes. Big ones. Little ones. Fat ones. Skinny ones. The girl has 97 giraffes. She loves them all.

5.
Sticky snotty unidentifiable fingerprints all over my refrigerator, dishwasher, tables, leather sofa, ipad, phone, floor, & clothes. I clean them. They magically re-appear. Hourly. Daily.

6.
Basement storage. We used to only stock up on and store food & supplies in the basement, such as popcorn, pasta, olive oil, tomato puree, paper plates & paper towels. Easy. Now all of that takes a back seat to the boxes of diapers, pull-ups (Yup the almost 4 yr old girl still poops in a pull-up - Just kill me), tubs of formula, diaper genie refills, Aveeno baby wash, baby food, baby cereal, old baby toys, new baby toys, older-baby baby toys, tubs of outgrown baby clothes, tubs of to-be-worn baby clothes, 2 kid bikes and a princess ATV, mounds of laundry the size of snow moguls. We could easily film an episode of "Hoarders" down there. Did I mention the attic full of miscellaneous everything that no longer fits in our house due to kids taking over!

7.
Speaking of laundry. Who knew 2 adults, a preschooler and an infant could generate so much laundry. It's like washing clothes for a family of 10. It never ends. And then there's the folding... Folding of 298 teeny tiny pieces of kid clothing that can fit into the huge front load washer. 59 pairs princess underpants, 31 socks, 14 tiny boy pants, 18 onsies, too many pairs of girl pants, fuzzy PJs, cotton PJs, Hello kitty everything, etc etc... Oh and a pair of my own jeans slips by to get washed every once in a while.

8.
7am is considered sleeping in. Even on the weekend. 7:15 is a super glorious bonus. We were always early risers, but good grief it would be nice to sleep til 7:30 once in a while on the weekend.

9.
95% of the pictures on my phone, camera & computer are of my babies. Not of me and my husband. Not even of the dog. Not of the rest of our family. Not of much else. Just our kids. Why? Because they are beautiful little creatures and I want to capture their every move. They have taken over my heart and soul.

10.
And finally; the tenth indication that the children have taken over our house. Brian and I can sing (and dance to) the entire 'Hotdog song' from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or the theme song to the Octonauts. We can name every cartoon that is on Disney Junior - and whether or not we have seen certain episodes of each show. I quite often hum the Octonauts song when I am alone in the car or working. I can also recite every line from the all 3 'Toy Story' movies and the 'Cars' movie. And what about our adult shows? HA! All I can say is thank goodness for Netflix, 'On demand' and Tivo.
 


Have your kids taken over your house?

She takes after me. 

Giraffe craziness! 

Waiting for Spring...

Just like most of the Northeast; we are waiting... and waiting... and waiting... for Spring.
I've been limiting my photography this Winter due to the simple fact, I really don't love shooting indoors. I like warm, nature, and outdoor location shots! There is only so much I can do in our tiny little house all winter for photos of the kids over and over. Since it was so cold this past Sunday, and we spent yet another weekend indoors, I decided to get my camera out and spend a couple hours letting the kids play and taking some shots of them.
Here's what we've been up to while Spring is taking it's sweet old time to arrive.

Tyler has mastered standing and loves looking out of the top of his crib at the world! 

Waiting for teeth ... at 10 months! My gummy boy! 

Pondering the world. 

Squinchy face... he loves making this face. 

Tyler loves to be near his big sister any time he can! 

She loves to ham in up for the camera (on her terms). I didn't even have to bribe her. 

Julianna and her cheesy toothy smile. She is precious and so happy. 

Another toothy smile. I love this girls presence - she can light up a room! 

They play well together (most times) and Julianna shares with Tyler now. I love seeing them interact. 

Snack time & a quick Mickey Mouse cartoon. 

Back to running around like a maniac and entertaining her brother. 

She was running & diving on the sofa while he stood there laughing hysterical at her! 

And finally, we are waiting for spring so we can get this in the water... 

Soon ... soon! 

5pm rush hour at our house

5pm rush hour. I'm not talking about the awful traffic here in NJ. I'm talking about the time between 5pm and 8pm where it gets incredibly hectic here.

After work, I got get the kids from Daycare (babysitter).
Everyone comes in the house & we take off coats, put away the 18 stuffed animals that the girl brought to daycare with her. We all wash our hands - something we have been practicing since the beginning. Julianna then runs for the fridge for a snack; usually strawberries, yogurt or carrots.
Brian may or may not be home yet. I stick the boy in his pack & play (that he hates) or on the floor surrounded by many large, loud, singing & flashing toys to keep him occupied.
I need to start dinner. Ohhh dinner. If Brian isn't home yet, I gather up the ingredients and get organized. I try to get everything prepped and going for dinner... while sticking my head around the corner to watch the boy to make sure he is not attacking the books in the bookshelf or sticking something in his mouth he shouldn't be. OK as long as he is upright and breathing, I go back to the kitchen. Whenever Brian gets home, he jumps in with helping the kiddos activities or some nights he will make dinner. My saving grace is I plan our dinners out a week in advance so I don't have to magically come up with something at the last minute. (I have another post for some of my favorite recipes lately!)

What was once a nice leisurely dinnertime together, where we got to enjoy & savor every bite of food, critique the recipe we used, discuss family values, and talk about our day with Julianna, has now turned into something a whoooole lot different.
Me (or Brian) rushing to get dinner made, playing hot potato with the boy during his desperate & fussy 'I need to eat now" noises, making Tyler's dinner, plating my food up and shoveling it down while standing or half sitting on my chair, while Brian straps Tyler into his chair & quickly spoons baby food du jour into the boy's mouth. Julianna saying she has to poop now, and the dog jumping up and down she has to go out (Ooooh the poor dog! How she has been put on the back burner lately!). I then finish shoveling my food in, take over feeding the boy, and Brian eats his room temperature (if he's lucky) dinner, Julianna still saying she has to poop. Or feeding Pepper some of her dinner. The boy starts screaming because he hates the highchair. Julianna never did that- she enjoyed sitting with us at dinner time - they are SO different! He then makes a blood curdling groan that makes you think he is about to pop some vessel trying to get out of the chair he is buckled into. We try to get him to eat a cracker or take some water from a sippy cup and that buys us a few more minutes of time.

Then clean-up ensues. Bath time needs to happen still. Run to turn on the bath water, squeeze bubble bath into the tub & throw 43 bath toys in. Quick run through house to pick up random toys that we can trip on while holding/walking with naked children after bath. Brian's in the kitchen cleaning up dinner and loading the dishwasher. Rushing rushing. Oh shit the dog's on the table licking the girl's plate clean. Put dog on floor. Finish cleaning up. Get kids naked & into the bath. Scrub down time. The boy loves his bath with big sister (Thank you dear lord they can bathe together now!). Then it's PJ time. The girl screams she wants her nightgown but they are all in the laundry. She wants her purple hello kitty socks. Guess those are in the laundry too. Small meltdown happens. So we have to stress loudly "No PJs. No story" ... she whines a little more and procrastinates trying to find the nightgown I already told her 3x was in the wash. I have to threaten no story again. I get a whiny "Ok" from her and then she puts PJ's on while I'm dressing the boy... final bottle of the day & bedtime for Tyler promptly at 8pm.

Brushing teeth is sometimes happily done. Sometimes we get "I can brush them in the morning". Um no. Now. Brush teeth and then story time for the girl in the living room. SHe picks a couple books out & we read them together. Julianna goes to bed but not before asking to be wrapped up in her special hello kitty blanket. Then she needs her Light-up pillow pet on, and her Hello Kitty DreamLite on (the pillow pet that shines the glowing stars on the ceiling). Julianna & Tyler share a room, it's easier to space out bedtime by a few minutes right now. She goes to bed around 8:15/8:20 - which gives Tyler more than enough time to fall asleep. 8:30 is time for Brian and I to collapse on the sofa and relax... and have some adult conversation. Oh crap, the dog still has to go out. OK so 8:40 is relax time. Exhale. Glass of red wine sounds really good.

How is your nightly routine?

Julianna uses her big giraffe as a pillow... he is quite squished. 

Awakening moment

I think there are a few times in your life when you have an awakening moment. You can count on one hand those times. Those moments that are so clairvoyant & obvious that you have a hard time understanding why you didn't figure it out sooner.

As you may or may not know, I went through a really rough time this past fall (Go HERE to read about it) with the adjustment to our second child, Tyler.
I was feeling sorry for myself for many reasons & I felt overwhelmed and alone every day. I couldn't focus for what seemed like days/weeks on any one thing in my life. Doing anything outside of my small comfort zone was very difficult for me. Brian and I both had trying days where we dealt with our 3 year old girl melting down for what seemed like hours on end. We went through a period where we started to question if we were good parents and 'what had we done' to make Julianna act out like she was doing? She would meltdown over anything and everything (she still does!). We even took a class at her school on "Emotion coaching" - about how to listen to and talk to your 3 year old on their emotional level. It does work but not always.

In hindsight, I know Julianna's acting out is partly 'just being 3 years old' and partly her way of dealing with Tyler now crowding her once 'only-child' world & partly her being very misunderstood due to her inability to communicate her emotions to us. Tyler had a lot of doctor's appointments and tons of attention after he was born due to his condition. While we tried to spread our time evenly between both children, there were times we had no choice but to pay more attention to Tyler's needs due to his Congenital Heart Defect. (Go here for his story).

I think over time, it took it's toll on Julianna in some way. She seems to understand that Tyler needs to go to the 'special' doctor (cardiologist) but how can we be certain what she actually thinks in her little 3 year old mind? Who knows how she processed and dealt with Tyler's surgery and recovery period in her little world? She couldn't really communicate her feelings to us like an adult. She sees Tyler's scar. She doesn't pay any attention to it because it's part of him and she doesn't question it. I still can't help but feel major mom guilt about not giving her the time she deserved when his needs were deemed greater. I know most moms have mom guilt once they have a second child, because they are no longer able to give that same attention to the first child like they did before. Throw in a child born with a Heart Defect and Open Heart Surgery. You wanna talk Mom Guilt now!? It was Mom Guilt squared!

Adding a second child to our family was harder than I thought. I never anticipated all of the craziness another child would to our household routine. We went from a pretty solid & calm daily routine to constant chaos of the 'back & forth' of having to deal with the baby and the three year old at the same time. One was screaming because he pooped himself for the 4th time that day while the other was melting down over there being no chicken nuggets and band-aids left in the house. Thank goodness for my husband and all that he does. I would be lost without him. I mean truly completely utterly lost!

So anyway - From May to December I was dealing with new baby, baby having open heart surgery, my recovery from c-section, recovery of Tyler from OHS and very frequent (lengthy) doctor visits, baby blues, pre-menopause starting, going back to work in September, everything our house decided to break and needed to be replaced, Julianna turning 3 the day before Tyler's surgery and us having to cancel her party, potty training the girl, eating out of control (and not taking care of me!), madness of planning for & getting through the rough holidays.

The daily chaos of my life got so much so that I felt like I lost my identity and started to lose site of who I was and what my life was even about. I longed for me-time & found it hard to make a singular decision some days due to the constant fog I was in. I essentially stopped my photography and blogging, two things I really enjoyed doing for me. I was eating horribly and not taking care of myself in any way.

So back to the Awakening that I was talking about way up top.

All that time I spent worrying, stressing out, guilting, being overwhelmed, not functioning, and spinning in circles was mostly stemming from one thing. I wanted my old life back. I wanted my life before kids back. I missed being able to do anything we wanted to do when we wanted to do it at the drop of a hat. I missed the days of not spending a nauseating sum of money on daycare and baby supplies. I missed going to the gym and doing things that were so much easier pre-kid. I missed having my husband all to myself all of the time. Greedy? Yes. Honest? Sure.
I thought I could still (somehow) have the freedom I had before kids. The freedom to jump up and go where you want, when you want. I missed that so much! I missed the freedom that all couples without kids take for granted. Brian and I do not have much help, but yes, we get a babysitter and do date nights when we can. Yes, we do get out and do plenty of family things (with the kids). Brian and I do spend quality time together when we are not exhausted from the day. We get out and do lot's of things but the dynamic has changed with 2 more family members.
Even when it was just one child, things were pretty easy. Enter second child- and it got way harder. Like really way harder. Please do not misunderstand me; I love my husband, Julianna and Tyler so much so that it makes my heart burst into tiny pieces. I know that there was a piece of my heart I never knew existed until I had my kids & they fill a void I never knew I had. I thank God for them every day when I see their beautiful smiling faces. I love being their mommy. I have to think that other moms go through this acceptance of 'your life has changed forever' at different times after their kids are born. Maybe some don't go through it at all. I don't know if any of this makes sense. I can only speak for myself.

My awakening is this: 
Life WILL never be the same. Our life HAS been changed forever. It WILL never go back to the way it was pre-kids. How could I even think it could or would? I wasted a lot of time thinking about what I missed combined with my crazy mental state of pre-menopause and baby blues ... and probably some kind of post-traumatic stress syndrome from Tyler's surgery. I guess that is the incredibly massive adjustment period I went through. But here's the thing. Why would I want to go back to a time before these amazing & extraordinary little babies entered our life? My kids have changed my life in ways I never imagined possible. So, instead of looking over my shoulder constantly and longing for the freedom of my past, it's time to look forward and know that I can't change anything that has happened in the past couple of years (good, bad or indifferent).
It's time to embrace the future and look forward to each and every blessed day with my family. It sounds too obvious and very simple. Time to move on. Time to stop wasting time. Sometimes it just takes many hours of deep thought to realize the obvious thing that is right in front of your face. Everything happens for a reason. Time to look forward and make the absolute best of every single day I have with my family. I am working on another post about HOW I am changing and streamlining things in our every day life. (Hint; Healthier lifestyle!)

Some pictures I took of Julianna this week. I had to bribe her with ice cream to get her to agree to sit for me. 

I am in love with my little girl's infectious smile! 

10 things about Julianna

1.
Julianna loves her (almost 10 month old) little brother so very much!
She kisses his little fuzzy head and hugs him. She plays with him and gives him toys when he's upset or crying. She loves watching him eat his food and tells him he's a good boy. She gets so excited when he crawls or does things for the first time. Julianna also loves picking out his PJs at night & jumping up and down while making funny faces to make him laugh like only she can do (there is some kind of secret laughter code between them!). She holds his hand in the car and stares at him like only a big sister can do. She gets upset if Tyler has to go somewhere with Mommy or Daddy without her - she wants him to be with her all of the time! Julianna has even given her beloved precious baby giraffe to Tyler to play with. I am in love with watching their relationship blossom and grow daily. It's something that you can't truly understand until you witness your two children bonding with each other. Tyler looks up to Julianna with such admiration and love, like nothing I've ever seen before.

2.
The pencil story. Ah yes the pencil story. I was debating whether or not to tell this but, hey what the hell right?! So, Julianna picked up pretty fast (as most kids do) that her 'private parts' are not the same as Tyler and Daddy. One day not too long ago, she announced loudly, "Daddy has a pencil". A what? Huh? And I thought for a few seconds...Ooooooh. OK yes he has a penis honey. (kill me now!) Then she said in the same breath, "Mommy, Tyler has a pencil and he poops out of it". Um. OK?? What do you say to this kid?!

3.
Julianna is 3 years old and will turn 4 in May. Before you have kids, everyone warns you over & over about the terrible twos. Ha! We got through two years old and thought "Wow, that wasn't so bad after all". (all you moms with older kids, you can laugh now). Then came age three. Oh. My. God. No one warns you about three! Three has been beyond challenging. That's for another post. Julianna is primetime whiny, crying, obnoxious meltdown age. And I do mean prime time. All the time. Any time. About anything. Meltdowns (with a squealing high pitch that only a dog can hear & gasping breathes) over a crayon tip missing from a crayon, her balloon popping, not finding matching ponytail holders, hello-kitty barrette missing, too much milk in her cheerios, not enough milk in her cheerios, band aid falling off (after being on her imaginary boo-boo for 4 days), imaginary black speck in her rice, or pizza that is NOT from our favorite pizza place! And... melting down over the wrong flavor yogurt, wrong color spoon, no clean hello-kitty underpants, no clean hello-kitty socks, and the list goes on and on. Balloon popping... Oh wait, I already mentioned that- but it deserves an honorable mention due to the absolute enormity of the meltdown that one creates. Holy Moses head for the hills if that balloon pops!

4.
Julianna got a tea set from my mother (nana) for Christmas. This girl loves having tea parties with her animals. Giraffes are usually the main guests at the party, but cow, horsey, doggie, snake, hello kitty, or pony are often invited too. Julianna knows to stay in her bedroom that she shares with Tyler until Brian or myself come into their room in the morning. We have always told her if she gets up early to read a book or play quietly. And she does. Several times we have walked into her room in the morning and she has her tea party all set up, drinking tea with 4 of the above named guests. So so so cute! The animals will all have a cup that their little snouts are dipped into. So adorable!

5.
A few weeks ago, I was sick with a sinus infection and playing play dough with Julianna - and out of the blue she said to me, "Mommy I love you, I hope you feel better soon" - And she kept getting up to get me grapes in hopes it would make me feel better. I love this little kid - it makes all the whining and meltdowns (see #3) totally worth it!

6.
Julianna is growing into her own little person - every day I see her personality shine through and it just makes me smile with a proud-mama smile! She is so smart, funny & goofy. She laughs and tells jokes. She knows what she wants (sometimes a little too much), and knows what she doesn't want. She has such a fabulous personality and I love seeing her grow inside & out each and every day. I love seeing her with my husband. The bond they have is just amazing. It's so true what is said about daddy/daughter relationships.

7.
Back to the previously mentioned band aids (see #3). One night, Brian and I came home from our date night out and went into Julianna's room to kiss her goodnight (as we always do every night), and noticed she had a band-aid on her chin. Huh? All we could do is laugh. To know this kid, is to know she has 3-4 bandaids on her body any given day at one time. Mostly for imaginary boo-boos. She will be sitting on the sofa and out of nowhere say "Ouuuch! My elbow hurts. I need a Hello Kitty Bandaid". I could only imagine the extraordinary excuse she used on poor Jill (our babysitter) to get her to put a bandaid on her chin that night!

8.
The other night, I was reading Julianna a short story in her HighFive magazine (like Highlights for kids under 5 - it's awesome!), and I explained to her what twins are and how we have a set of twins in our family. I then asked her if she could name the twins in our family? So she quickly responds "Oh - me and Pepper. We're twins". Pepper is our dog. Clearly she missed the point. I was trying to get her to name her 13 year old twin cousins. Funny stuff though.

9.
File this one under kids say the darnedest things. The toilet made some gurgling noises the other day after she flushed it. She then proceeded to yell out,  "What's wrong with the freakin toilet?". Brian and I were cracking up! Could be worse, she could have said the other F word! I have to know that day is coming. Soon.

10.
Julianna wanted to meet Tyler's 'heart doactor' when we went to the Congenital Heart Awareness Event at the Hospital a few weeks ago. I later found out that Tyler's cardiologist was so touched by Julianna wanting to meet her. That is her way of learning about (and coping with) Tyler's condition even though she probably doesn't understand a lotbout it yet. She probably thought, "Who is the doctor they are always going to see?". Now she knows who his doctor is. I was also showing Julianna the halter monitor that was attached to Tyler's chest for 24 hours after his doctor' appointment a couple weeks ago. Julianna was genuinely interested in it and not scared at all. She doesn't ask about his scar at all either, even though she sees it daily. I think she just knows it's part of "him" and that's it. I believe she understands Tyler is different than her because she knows he goes to the doctor quite often and she talks about his heart doctor, but she is too young to understand the reality of it of course. I think it's pretty amazing how accepting she is of the special attention he gets and is OK with it (except when melting down - see #3).


Here are some pictures of a typical indoor day, which is every day lately due to the snowpocalyptic winter we have been having here in New Jersey.

Julianna loves cutting paper with her new scissors that Nana gave her!
Make note of random band-aid. 

Indoor fun

This was taken in December right around Christmas.... Pre-Ice Age.