So Lucky...

This post kind of got away from me and ended up being more of a written prayer...

A few months ago in church, our pastor did a series called "One Month To Live." There was a video and book to accompany his series, which we followed in our small group. I thought it was a good lesson at the time...don't take tomorrow for granted, love the ones you're with, TELL them you love them, do what you want to do today, don't wait...etc. Only now, months later, do I really GET it. It seems like people are disappearing all around me, or having extremely close calls and I have learned to take each day as a true gift. Started off with my grandfather dying so suddenly on Dec. 29th...his death was the first close relatives loss I've experienced, and it's been tough. A month later, our adopted grandma here in Florida, my brother in law's grandma passed pretty quickly. A few weeks ago, my great Aunt Eleanor in Boston passed away, then my dad's best friend was admitted to the hospital. A good friend of mine had a close call with her parents being struck by a drunk driver (they are both okay, thank God)....and as she said, you realize you are not immune to bad things happening. Experiences like this just really make you think and appreciate your health and all those close to you. I feel sooo lucky to have my family so close, and healthy. I'm grateful for happy, healthy children and a wonderful husband. And I feel strength in God that He is really with us. I watched Jennifer Hudson, the singer who's mom, sister, and nephew were murdered in Oct. and when accepting her Grammy award, she thanked God for "seeing me through." I am amazed by her faith, that she isn't angry or asking why (and maybe she went through that), but she thanked God. I need to do that more often...Thank God for all my blessings.

Happy Valentine's Day

Katelyn puts her favorite doll, Numvoyu, in Brady's new favorite toy, the Johnny Jumper. Although Brady doesn't really bounce, he swings...


Brady playing at the Valentine party at Brooks' house.



Brady "playing" with the other babies at the playdate.



Doesn't he look like a little boy?? He's lost his baby face. The "tough guy" pacifier adds to his new grown up appearance :-)



Katelyn holds Numvoyu next to Brady. She wasn't happy about wearing this shirt and told me Miss Abbie "wouldn't be very impressed."





It's Valentine's Day 2009, and my two little Valentines are currently napping (hopefully!). We have plans to go to Carraba's for dinner tonight and I can't wait!!






Katelyn just recovered from a horrible stomach flu. It was the sickest I've ever seen her. Should've known something was up when she declined pizza for dinner on Thursday...one of her favorites. That night, she was moaning and crying in her sleep. I went in a few times to check on her and just dismissed it as bad dreams, then I tried to wake her up around 10pm. I could feel she was burning up and once she sat up she vomitted all over both of us, not to mention her bed, carpet, pillow, etc. I tried to get her to the bathroom, but she left a trail all the way to the restroom. I had to give her a bath and she seemed to perk up and was very chatty. She even told me she felt so much better. Bryan and I changed her sheets and cleaned up, got her changed and settled back in bed...10 minutes later...again. This kept repeating until 2am. I slept on the couch outside of her room so she could get me when she needed me. Poor little girl. And I've never seen anyone so pale. The next morning, we had our once a month MOPS meeting where I'm the coordinator. I tried to contact my friend who could take over for me, but she was sick as well and not coming to the mtg. Another mom who could take over was unable to come to the mtg, so I had to bring K with me. By this time, she had gone about 6 hr. without vomitting and was able to keep down tylenol, so her fever subsided. I kept her with me, and tried to keep her away from the other kids, but she kept running up to them, wanting to play. It was a constant battle keeping her away. She was a pain in the neck during the meeting, kept walking up to me while I was talking to the group, interrupting me, calling out for me, getting her hands in the breakfast foods, etc. Ughhh... I'm glad the moms in the group understood.






Brady was invited to his first official playdate with his buddy Brooks, who was born about 2 months after him. My friend Abbie (Brooks' mom) hosted a valentine playdate party at her place and it was decked out with valentine's candy, cupcakes, homemade treats, and punch. Plus every baby got a monogrammed burp cloth and a treat bag for the mom. It was a wonderful get together. Since it was on a Wed, Katelyn was with me. She was the only big kid, I thought she'd have her nose out of joint or be bored, but she was a star. She asked each of the moms if she could put a heart sticker on each baby and sat at the kitchen table on her own and colored quietly. She enjoyed a cupcake and fell in love with the conversation hearts candy.






After going to the Bud Shoot out at Daytona Raceway last weekend, Bryan and I are actually looking forward to watching the Daytona 500 tomorrow. We don't have favorite drivers yet, but had a great time watching the race.

All About Feet

Playing Dora games on Nickjr.com. K is loving the computer!


K's barbies take a dip in the pool.



Mmmm...toes....





Mmm....more toes!




Big sis lets Brady take a bite out of her toes.




Brady has a foot fetish...whether it's his own or others...he loves to grab and shove feet into his mouth. He started reaching for his feet in Dec, but couldn't really hold on to them. Now as soon as his socks are off, he pulls his toes into his mouth. Most of the time, he gets all 5 toes into his mouth! It's so funny!






We have been so happy to have Olivia the pig make her television debut on Nickelodeon. Katelyn has been loving the Olivia books by Ian Falconer for a few years. We have checked out every Olivia book multiple times from the library and know them by heart. Now she has her own show and we are thrilled!! The tv show has stayed true to the books. Katelyn and Olivia are very similiar...both very independent, imaginative, strong-willed with hearts of gold.






Katelyn has been busy with her Barbie dolls and loving playing Dora games on nickjr.com. She's taught herself how to navigate the website and switch games, listen to the instructions, and play. She's made her own music by clicking different instruments, and listens to books read aloud in spanish.






It's been a quiet week...we've stayed in town and enjoyed mornings at the gym and our chilly overcast afternoons at home. It's been nice :-)

A Busy Week

Brady and Katelyn hanging out in the living room.

Fun on the floor!!

Mmmm...enjoying a homemade teething biscuit my mom made for Brady. He loves them!! Made from whole wheat flour, applesauce, and some maple syrup. Yum!

Oh my, what a week! We had a great time, but we are worn out! On Tuesday, after K finished school at 2pm, we drove directly to Tampa to stay with my parents. Luckily, K and B slept in the car and took good naps! I was able to listen to my talk radio show, "The Shannon Birk" show, uninterrupted and it made the 2.5 hour car ride fly by. Since my grandpa's passing on Dec. 29, we haven't been able to spend a "normal" visit with my parents. Katelyn was in the waiting room at the hospital when Grandpa was in ICU, but that was last time they were together. My parents were really missing the kids, and Katelyn was also missing them, so it was good to get together. As a bonus, my sister Michelle came over for dinner so we were able to see her and hear about her marathon training. She will be running in the Gaspirilla marathon on March 1 in Tampa.

Wed. morning, Katelyn woke up my dad (with his permission and encouragement) at 7am sharp and they headed to Dunkin Donuts together. While they were getting breakfast, mom and I stayed behind and fed Brady, got him dressed, etc. Once they returned, Mom watched Brady and Dad, Katelyn, and I played a round of miniature golf. Katelyn is becoming quite the golfer!!

Right after golf, we changed and headed to the pool at mom and dad's condo complex. This time Dad stayed behind with Brady (who was napping), and mom and I watched K swim around the shallow end with a cute hippo float. After a lunch at McDonalds, we drove over to see my grandma at the nursing home. As you know, she has been suffering from Alzheimers for about 9 years now...she is no longer able to talk, walk, feed herself...and worst of all she does not recognize any of us any more. The positive is she is not aware of my grandpa's passing and will not mourn his loss. She is spared that pain. Dad brought her out to the porch and we fed her a hot fudge sundae (her favorite). Katelyn has been visiting grandma since birth and knows her and is comfortable around her. She always goes up to her and says hi, strokes her arm, and talks to her. I was a little concerned with K told her Grandpa was in heaven, but grandma remained blank. Katelyn then took my mom's brush and brushed her hair so gently. It was so sweet and I was so, so proud of Katelyn.

We left for home after our action-packed day in Tampa and I was relieved when once again, they both passed out in the car. But the quiet didn't last this time and Brady started fussing about an hour into the trip. I thought he was just tired and annoyed at being in the carseat, so I kept on. His crying continued and got louder and more desparate, so I exited. Brady doesn't cry for no reason, so I knew something was wrong. Turns out he had somehow gotten his arm caught in the strap of his carseat and it was cutting into him. Just before I got to him, he had vomitted all over himself...he had gotten himself so upset. As I took him out of his carseat to clean him out, I noticed his diaper had also leaked and he was soaking wet, all they way up his back. I'd be screaming too!! Poor baby!

Bryan got us tickets to a UCF (Univ. of Central Florida) basketball game that night. I was worried K and B would be so wiped out, they'd be a mess, but they were great and really enjoyed the school band, dancers, cheerleaders, etc. K is so spoiled by going to the Magic games and wasn't very impressed by the college game, but had a good time.

And guess what else Bryan got tickets to???? He totally surprised me with a ticket to the New Kids on the Block concert in Orlando on March 13th. He was able to get me a pass to the suite his work has at Amway Arena. I was so surprised and I'm so excited!!

Finally, today (Friday) we had a MOPS playdate at Kangaroom, an indoor bounce house place near us. What fun!! Katelyn was non-stop and wore herself out! Yay! Brady was so sweet and napped on my shoulder. We all had so much fun and met so many great moms and kids!

Here's K on one of the bounce houses (where she later fell and scraped her nose):

On a sad note, our week ended with the news that my brother-in-law Rob's grandma passed away today. We had adopted her as our Florida grandma...she's present at all our thanksgivings. She was 94 years young and such a tough lady! We'll miss her. God bless.

This is the last picture I took of Grandma at Thanksgiving dinner this year...She's sitting in the front, center of the picture. She made the BEST deviled eggs!

Movin' Right Along

Stand-off in the backyard. Bacino finds a cat perched up on our fence and they had a stare-down for almost 15 min. I forced Bacino to come inside when it looked like the cat was ready to jump down and pounce on her.


So happy in the exersaucer!!



"I need to exercize so I can be a ballerina" -Katelyn




Sitting next to Brady's bouncer, not giving him a moment alone (see blog below).





Sweet moment between Brady and I at Busch Gardens. I had just tickled his neck with my nose and my sister Ali took the picture.

Katelyn riding the "Gwazi Gliders" ride at Busch Gardens.

Bundled up on a chilly Florida morning at Busch Gardens.

Cute new winter coat and stuffed puppy "Floyd" with it's own carrying case (thanks Papa Butch!). Katelyn played with this dog all day and had me pretend I was Mama Nana (Bryan's mom) in Cleveland.

Bacino suffered an allergic reaction on Friday night. Her eyes swelled up, along with her snout. We have NO idea what she got into. Luckily, benadryl fixed the problem!

Tomorrow Brady has his 6 month check-up. Bryan and I were talking about his appt. and just can't believe he is 1/2 way to his first birthday already! This past 6 months have flown by! I really feel like I've blinked my eyes and now here we are.

Another note about Brady's appt. tomorrow...it is FINALLY a well visit!! We have been to our pediatrician so often, it's ridiculous. Brady has been fighting an awful cough since November. He's been on cough supresents, nebulizer, albuterol, and nothing has really helped. I took him back in on Monday and the dr. confirmed he has reflux and his cough is so bad because it's gotten out of control. We started him on baby zantac 2x a day and only 2 days later now, we see a MAJOR improvement!! Confession time: one of our pediatricians suspected reflux in Dec. and started Brady on the zantac, but we didn't see any improvement so they put him on a nebulizer and I stopped the zantac. I feel guilty for stopping the meds (I thought it was too many meds) and letting his reflux get to this point. He's eating better, sleeping better, etc. We're so relieved to find the cure!!

Brady has been eating solid food for about 2.5 months now. He loves everything we've given him! In the morning, I give him oatmeal and a fruit...he's had applesauce and pears and loves them both. For dinner, he has rice cereal and a veggie. I boiled and pured veggies and have them frozen in ice cube trays. He loves everything from peas to sweet potatoes. I make a large portion of food for him and he often cries for more. He really packs it away! Sleeping at night has also been great...he sleeps 12 hours straight now. Ahh, heaven! During the day, he usually takes a quick morning nap and then a 2-3hr. afternoon nap. The exersaucer is his new favorite toy and it's really helped strengthen his core muscles.

Katelyn has decided she does not like tv anymore and has turned it off. This sounds like a great thing, but there are times I wish she would just sit quietly and watch tv (esp. when I'm making dinner or feeding Brady). Instead, she wants to play with Brady all the time. When he's in the exersaucer, she is positioning his seat so he's playing with the toys SHE wants him to play with. If he's in the bouncy chair, she pulls up a chair right next to him and sings and chats with him. We've had to ban her from the room when he's playing on a blanket because she come close to stepping on him and takes his toys, etc. Most of the time, she does play nicely with him, but she has her moments when she gets too rough and he cries. This week she admitted to pinching him for no reason and she tries to tickle him, but if he doesn't laugh she digs harder and then he cries. She also has figured out our child proofing on the door knobs and can open any door. Today she let herself outside twice (once with Bacino who is in heat right now) without permission. Needless to say, she's been a handful. But as always with Katelyn, she has the sweetest side to her. At Starbucks, she watched me add one packet of "sugar in the raw" to my latte and stir it. Today, she walked right over to the counter, grabbed a packet of the sugar and took care of my drink. Every morning, she goes into Brady's room and sings to him, brings him toys, etc. while I get his bottle ready.

We ventured to Tampa and went to Busch Gardens with my sisters, brothers-in-laws, and mom and dad Salo. It started as a very cold day, but then warmed up and it was lovely. Katelyn and Brady were excellent all day and Bryan and I were able to ride the coasters with mom and dad salo there to help with the kids. It was a great day!

New Year = better blogging!

Listening to big sis...


K sharing pictures of when she was a baby.



Christmas at Sea World.




K adds the santa tree topper.





K, Mom, and Bacino in front of decorated tree.





This is one of my new year's resolutions! I need to be better with this blog. I didn't realize how many people check out the blog frequently and I didn't mean to leave you hanging. Facebook stole my attention for a while and Brady has become mobile (he rolls across the room and grabs EVERYTHING and shoves it in his mouth), so he needs constant supervision (Thank God for the exersaucer!!).






We stayed in Florida this Christmas...our first Christmas in Florida. The Burless family traveled down to FL and rented a great house in Kissimmee. Tons of space, lots of bedrooms, a garage transformed into a game room with air hockey, pool, foos ball, and play kitchen, and a pool. Since we had a VERY warm Christmas...80s all week...the pool got lots of use! The highlight for Katelyn was playing with her cousins...all the Cola kids. Anthony and Katelyn are the same age and get along very well. They only see each other once a year, but when they always connect right away and are joined at the hip. The first night, they were holding hands. So sweet! There was a special kid room with 2 sets of bunk beds, so they hung out in there most of the time. K had a blast climbing the ladders and chilling on the top bunk. We drove over the rental house every day and spent lots of time together. It was great having them in town!!






You saw my previous blog about the passing of my grandpa, that happened right after Christmas. I wasn't able to say goodbye to the Burless's...I had to leave right away. A HUGE thank you to Mom and Dad Salo (my sister's in-laws that we consider our family as well) for watching Katelyn and Brady while Bryan was in Miami and I flew to Boston for the funeral. Katelyn had a great time with them!






Now we're home and back into our normal routine. Katelyn is back at school 2x a week. She has flourished in her school and really shines. She is born leader (okay, that's code for bossy) and is very bright. She leads prayer in chapel and doesn't take any garbage from the boys. I know she struggles with "rest time" and being still on her mat. And I'm sure she blurts out answers and comments during story time, etc. Her teachers have told me more than once that she's ready for kindergarten now, but we have another school year of preschool. We just enrolled her in a new VPK preschool near her old school. She'll be going 3 days a week, 9-2. There are computers, large classrooms with class pets, two play areas, etc. I was very impressed. Best part is we don't have to pay for it next year...the government takes care of this preschool year. Yay!!

And sweet, sweet Brady....well, he's been sick AGAIN!! His drs have even given him a nebulizer to keep at home permanently. His cough is better, but still not gone. On top of it, his two bottom teeth are starting to break through the gum and he's been miserable. He is LOVING solid food and prefers it over his bottle. He now eats cereal 3x a day...baby oatmeal with a fruit in the morning, plain rice cereal for lunch, and rice cereal with a veggie for dinner. Even with all this eating, his weight gain has slowed down. He's now 14lbs 10oz. He has grown longer and has thinned out...looks like he's going to be tall and skinny, just like Katelyn.

He's crying now for some attention, so I should see to him.
More blogs to come soon...

Goodbye to Grandpa

Michelle and Grandpa on Nov. 8th, 2008 @ Michelle and Andy's wedding. He had such a good time and did not want to go home.


Walking down the aisle with Mom at Jenny's wedding in Oct. 2005.



Telling Ali and Rob a funny story from the Hard Rock Casino...Christmas 2005



On December 29th, my grandpa, Charlie Donovan, passed away. He had been in the hospital for about 2 weeks, but seemed to be doing well and was going to be discharged on Christmas Eve, then on Christmas Day. The day after Christmas, he was unable to walk suddenly. Turns out he had bleeding in his abdomin and then things went south. I'm grateful I was able to get to the hospital to say goodbye and thankful he was not alone when he passed. He did not suffer, although is was difficult to see him a coma, having seizures very frequently. I'm also grateful for the opportunity to fly to Boston to attend his wake and funeral...you should've seen all the people who paid their respects...even the mayor of Boston. He was very loved. His body was laid to rest at the National Cemetary in Bourne, MASS on Cape Cod.




My grandfather was a very funny man...always seemed like he was into mischief. He was one of the most generous men I've ever known. He loved going to the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa and playing all the different slot machines. He also loved hanging out at the legion and joking with the nurses at Arbor Oaks, the assisted living facility where he lived. Most of all, he loved my grandma, suffering from Alzheimers for almost 10 years now. She's non-verbal, can no longer walk, has to be fed....but none of that mattered to Grandma. He loved her with all his heart.




We'll miss him, but will see him again.