A while back one of my friends was pregnant with twins...
Super cool because I have never seen identical twins before from the start. I was not only amazed at how tiny she stayed thru the pregnancy but I was also amazed at the fact after staying in the hospital for several weeks (i think 8) I really never heard her complain or anything. I guess it is different when you are trying to hold babies in to bake a little longer. I would have been a big baby about it!
So while she was in she asked me to take a couple of pictures...I wanted to share them.

I love this picture! She was about 32 weeks this day.



How sweet are these babies? I AM IN LOVE! Who wouldn't be?

They were just a tiny bit early but all healthy. How exciting. As you can guess I absolutely LOVE THIS!

BIG NEWS!

Nick lost his first tooth in the swimming pool Sunday! YAY! He was very excited but I think Nat was more excited since she worked on it for days! The tooth fairy came, left money and you would have thought it was Christmas morning.
I wish I could post a picture of a toothless boy but his new tooth is already thru and in place.

I wrote this back in the beginning of May. I needed to vent but really didn't have anyone to vent to or anyone that would understand. So I have sat on this and sat on it. I think I need to post it to just wash my hands of it all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am having a tough time with this today..It will most likely take me a couple days to complete this but then again I have so much on my mind it may just roll out.

I have to question parents. Do you realize when you are negative about a Teacher or Coach your children feed off of that? Have you ever noticed children are influenced by parents actions? Children listen to everything we say and do. They respond to that and sometimes they respond bigger than we do.

Lauren's freshman year of school she made J.V cheer. In the few meetings before everything began I noticed a lot of whispering,judgment and negativity. I knew going into this the coaches were new because the previous coach decided to hand it over so she could focus on her own children. But I had no idea what was going to happen! I sat back and listened to parents be rude,ugly,hateful and LOUD. They emailed nasty letters to these 2 ladies who gave their time,they were ugly and rude to their faces. They were so disrespectful it was sad. What happened then with the situation was even worse. The daughters of these parents started acting the same way. Anything the coaches would say the kids would be rude and nasty about it. They treated the other girls horrible (teammates)
This went on all year and instead of correcting the situation excuses were made. I continued to encourage my child and the coach because I felt that was what needed to be done.
Sophomore year things were EXACTLY THE SAME! Keep in mind we still had a few left over girls from the original coach. We dealt with it,we stressed out, we were treated horribly and just kept smiling.
Junior year Lauren wanted to try out for Co-Head cheerleader. I really didn't think it was a good idea because these girls can be so nasty. But I supported her and stood by her. She made it and the drama began.
There was a set of parents who were outraged that my CHILD made it and theirs didn't. These Parents treated my Child terrible. They complained about her,talked bad about her and then talked bad about me. I was determined to not let it bother us but then their child also started in on it. She didn't take the time to get to actually know Lauren so instead she fed off of the parents attitude and was very tacky. I do believe parents get way to involved with these kinds of things.

Now we have Natalie. She tried out for her 2nd year of cheer. She seemed to really not want to try out for Co-Head cheerleader but I pushed her to do it. I felt like why not. If you don't do it how will you ever know the outcome. I really felt like she could be a good leader and it would help her grow. She made cheer but not Co-Head. I could see the disappointment in her face but it was gonna be OK. Her main concern is one of her really good friends made it and I think she thought she would be left behind. She will not be left out! BUT we have a whole new concern (besides the leg issue) we have a couple of parents who are being nasty about the outcome of the team. So with them being nasty their children are being HORRIBLE and NASTY. At this point I am not sure if we should continue any further with any of this. I am not going to spend all of this money for my child to be treated terrible by parents and their kids.

I don't understand how parents think it is "normal" to talk nasty about a child who has made a position on a team. I really think part of the problem goes back to little league when every child is a winner. At some point in these kids lives they are going to learn not everyone is a winner. Not everyone can be number 1 and not everyone can be the Team Captain. Every parent believes they have the Star Athlete, the Best Dancer and Top Cheerleader. At the end of the day you have to accept the fact there is always someone who deserves a little more or who can play a little better. Why are parents so involved that they are putting other CHILDREN down? Do they do it because they think it is acceptable? Then I think this is a School Activity. You will not grow up to be the Top Cheerleader and makes tons of money. You are not going to get a scholarship to get you thru College. You will be lucky to get a $500 scholarship at the end of your Senior year. If your team has the funds.

Maybe I have so many kids that I don't care who is in charge or on top. I want happy healthy smart kids who are successful in life. I believe the only way you will grow up to be a successful adult is to learn what life is about.

By the way one of these parents that is being so nasty was also on the track field yelling at her daughter to not be as terrible as the rest of the team. REALLY? Come on people get it together.

We push our kids to do their best and be competitive but do you know how many "Star Athletes" actually grow up and are still "Star Athletes"?

I am sure I will make some people mad over this and I really don't care.

I think as parents we need watch what we say and do. When you have negativity towards a Coach or Teacher how do you ever expect your child to have respect for that person? Maybe we try to live thru our kids and want things a certain way (I always live thru mine) but you don't treat other people crappy over it. So what if they don't make Captain of the team or if they don't make the team. You don't get mad and rant and rave. You support your child and move on!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since I wrote this Natalie had to make a very important decision. To cheer or not to cheer. She made the decision to go ahead and focus on sports. I asked her why? She wasn't ready to deal with all the drama (they had drama before the school year ended) and she just had more fun with Sports. She said with her sports everyone was rowdy,had fun,cheered each other on and was just laid back. I went back and forth on this decision and of course I had to let her make a decision. I know it was tough but I support her no matter what she decides.

Tyler had his Senior Prom this past weekend....WOW these are a couple of BEAUTIFUL KIDS! We all went to his Grandmother's house for pictures and I have to say that is one great family. From the moment I walked into the door I felt welcome. I can't wait to go back so I can sit and actually talk and hang out.
I think I took about 270 pictures of the two of them but these are my favorite.

"Yes Me the Lousy Cop"


Well Mr. Citizen, I guess you have me figured out. I seem to fit neatly into the category you place me in. I'm stereotyped, characterized, standardized, classified, grouped, and always typical. I'm the "lousy cop." Unfortunately, the reverse isn't true. I can never figure you out.

From birth you teach your children that I am the bogeyman, and then you're shocked when they identify me with my traditional enemy, the criminal. You accuse me of coddling juveniles, until I catch your kid doing something. You may take an hour for lunch, and have several coffee breaks each day, but point me out as a loafer if you see me having just one cup.

You pride yourself on your polished manners, but think nothing of interrupting my meals at noon with your troubles. You raise hell about the guy who cuts you off in traffic, but let me catch you doing the same thing and I'm picking on you. You know all the traffic laws, but never got a single ticket you deserved. You shout "foul" if you observe me driving fast enroute to an emergency call, but literally raise hell if I take more than ten seconds responding to your call!!!

You call it "part of the job" if someone strikes me, but it's "police brutality" if I strike back. You wouldn't think of telling your dentist how to pull a badly decayed tooth, or your doctor how to take out your appendix, but you are always willing to give me a few pointers on law enforcement. You talk to me in a manner and use language that would assure a bloody nose from anyone else, but you expect me to stand and take it without batting an eye.

You cry, "Something has to be done about all the crime!" but you can't be bothered with getting involved.

You've got no use for me at all, but, of course, it's OK if I change a tire for your wife, or deliver your baby in the back seat of my patrol car on the way to the hospital, or save your son's life with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, or work many hours over-time to find your lost daughter.

So Mr. Citizen, you stand there on your soapbox and rant and rave about the way I do my job, calling me every name in the book, but never stop a minute to think that your property, your family, or maybe your life might depend on one thing, ME, or one if my buddies.

"YES ME THE LOUSY COP"

By

Author Unknown

I found this in our garden. I didn't buy zucchini but we sure have a giant one. We cooked it Saturday and it was YUMMY!

My little gardening friends...they were all so happy to pick cucumbers yesterday!

143 Days later and Nick is cough free,no dark circles,no vomiting, no whiney mornings and seems to be sleeping much better.

Amazing!

Teacher Appreciation week was last week. The Baseball team recognized their favorite teachers before a game the other night and this is who Lauren picked. She absolutely loves this teacher (also her freshman cheer coach). She is a great role model and Lauren and her formed a great bond her first year of High School. I am happy to say we all have a great amount of respect for her. Lauren has gone to her for advice and she is always willing to give it. I truly believe they will remain in contact after Lauren graduates.


If you are wondering why Lauren was with the Baseball team she has been a part of it as a Diamond Doll (manager) and loves it more than any activity she has been a part of.

Can you believe how good this is looking? We only have one problem...


Our Squash get a few inches long, look beautiful and healthy then...they turn black!
UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I am getting frustrated! They either have a fungus or are not being pollinated by the bees.


Maybe I need to stick to Tomatoes. THEY ARE HEALTHY and growing non stop!

We all have had so much going on with this last month left of School. I have a few updates and can't wait to share them.

Nicholas~ ok so now that we are into May he has finally stopped throwing up on the way to school. I'm not kidding! I think we may have solved a little of the problem by taking him to an allergy and asthma specialist. Remember back in December he got Strep then that turned into Pneumonia and honestly he wasn't able to kick that nasty cough so about 2 weeks ago (yes freaking 2 weeks ago) I decided to take him to a new doctor. He has been on several antibiotics,steroids,breathing treatments and inhalers since December but this cough was wreaking havoc on his body. He developed a hernia that we will have to have surgery for, was vomiting, had dark circles around eyes,not sleeping well and just couldn't kick this. I was really getting frustrated and seriously crying over it. It makes no sense to have multiple doctor visits and so much medicine with 0 results.
So this new Doctor (which we LOVED) said he noticed Nick had a HUGE tonsil that could possibly have some kind of other infection that set in and just will not leave. After spending about an hr talking about his symptoms,medicines and everything else (his Dad is HPD retired :) ) he decided he wanted to first put him on a BIG does of steroids (in the past he would only get 2 days worth) and after 3 days if no improvement then a very powerful antibiotic. With the high dose of a week long steroid if he had asthma me would see an improvement almost immediately and if we didn't then on the 3rd day we start the antibiotic. If he didn't respond to either then we have to have a cat scan to look at other options. Well me personally I was a little disappointed over more medicine. This kid is getting to the point when he hears me getting it ready he hides. But we really trusted this doctor and figured we will try this.
3 days later he is still coughing all night,gaging,dark circles and everything else. I almost was hoping to see an immediate change in him and be done. So we started the antibiotic. Day 4 no change, Day 5 no change, Day 6 I am crying over the fact he was up all night for 2 nights coughing so bad and crying over his throat. Day 7....we didn't hear him coughing last night! IS IT GONE? He also lost the runny nose! OH MY GOD IS IT GONE? I am almost not wanting to celebrate yet because he has cried over his throat and suffered so bad but this morning seemed perfect. I am going to wait a few days before I celebrate but I am beginning to see the light.
I have also noticed he is much happier in the mornings this week than he has been in months. At this appointment Nick measured 4ft 2in and 65 pounds (5yr old)

So while we are at the doctor I also had made Ashlynn an appointment. I always try to double stack...who has time to run back and forth? I wanted to talk about doing a true allergy test for a milk allergy. Remember previous issues? If not look back in previous post.
We took her off milk and put her on Rice Milk (ewwww) and she has gained 15 pounds and is finally catching up in size. Anyways as we are talking to him he noticed in the paper work I put down she had an allergic reaction to ants. So he ask..and I tell..we went to a birthday party last May and she got into ants. Immediately she starts getting Hives and swelling ALL OVER. Her eyes,nose,ears,armpits...really all over. We get home fast and on the way she starts coughing. Well I grab liquid benadryl and call Walgreens for an accurate dose. We started seeing a change within minutes. We decided after that to make sure we have NO ANTS AT ALL near her. Well he then tells us she obviously had a severe reaction and the fact that she started coughing was a definite bad sign. So we come home with this little jewel...

I believe the DEVIL himself invented this little gadget. I know it saves lives but seriously if I have to use this I may need counseling for a year. If you are not familiar with this let me tell you, at the sign of an allergic reaction you hold it with a fist, pull off the safety and punch the meaty part of her skinny thigh and hold for 10 seconds. Then you give benadryl and go straight to the ER. The are very adamant about telling you if you accidentally hold it upside down and pierce your thumb you will lose your thumb.

I forgot to mention the fact he said each time you have a 50% stronger reaction after you are stung. Wow it was pretty bad last time so we will try and avoid these critters.

Natalie's leg ~ All I can say is it is still in a boot. VERY FRUSTRATING! She has cheer try outs this week and after watching her cry last night I told her to just take the boot off! We shall see what happens in the next week or so. I personally think it has been on way to long.

Go ahead ask...What happened to me? I know you are wondering right?

OK so as if you don't know this every April/May I feel like I am kicking everything in high gear. These last few weeks are always CRAZY!

So I will try my best the next couple days to get this caught up.

In the mean time let me just post a picture for you to look at!


Look at these little cuties!