My last 1 year check up

How sad but how nice too. It was an annual event for a while. Tommy is doing great. He is 22lbs 1oz and is 30 inches long. He is 75% for height but he didn't gain much weight from the last time - I don't think it was even a pound. I'm sure this is because he is moving around a lot more. He was very cooperative at first but then decided he didn't want to be held down to long. I think the doctor was very impressed that he was off the bottle shortly after his 9 month check up. He is a believer the sooner you get rid of the bottle and pacifier the better it is on everyone. They looked over his hands but everything was fine. So I have to make his next appointment which is 15 months. I usually make them before I leave the office but the secretary said her computer crashed so I will have to call in the next day or two. It would be really great to get John and James in at the same time for their yearly checkups. Tommy will be the only one getting shots so that shouldn't be too hard. Patrick, I'm sure will be disappointed it won't be his turn. Also in the good news department - Tommy can have 2% milk. That is great because it costs less than whole milk and now I don't have to worry about when Patrick drinks his milk when I forget to put it out of reach.

We got outside a little last night and this morning waiting for John's bus. It was chilly last night and unfortunately Tommy doesn't like to keep his gloves on so his little hands were freezing. Today Patrick found some mud and got it on his coat. I don't think he ate it this time. I was smart to have him and James in boots for that reason.

This afternoon the Indians open up their Spring Training games. I wonder if John will play that over Wii. He might play Wii for awhile but then switch over - hard to say.

Last night James didn't hear my reminder to grab a night time diaper and went to bed with big boy underwear on. When he came down this morning he was complaining his pants were wet but I didn't feel anything. I asked if he had to go the bathroom and he said yes - Daddy I need your help. So this is when Matt discovered he went to bed with his underwear and it was just slightly wet. Boy it would be really cool if that was the norm. I would love to not have to buy the night time diapers - especially if Patrick will be needing them soon too.

The latest

We had a bit of the flu bug in our house. John and James had started coughing late last week and they developed fevers. James had his on Saturday and John on Sunday. I kept John home yesterday just to make sure his fever was gone and because it was so called I didn't want to send him out - he still has a cough. He could have went yesterday, but I think he enjoyed staying home more.

I got the boys signed up for baseball, tball and James wanted to play soccer. I'm surprised that James came around but I'm glad he did. I think he will have a big summer blossoming into a little boy. I was thinking this morning I haven't worked at all with him on writing letters. I probably should start to make the effort. I'm starting to practice with Patrick counting to 10 and his alphabet. I think he hears it so much from the Wiggles and Sesame Street that he might know it even though he doesn't annunciate. You can throw James in that category too. He mumbles are address really fast and I make him slow down and say it loud and proud!

I was surfing around this afternoon and WKYC had a poll question - would you give up Facebook for Lent? I don't think I could - like I told Matt that would be like giving up caffiene - a major sacrifice. I think Facebook is the reason I'm still sane this late in the Winter. I have an outlet to see what other people are doing or saying and have a means to interact. I don't normally do it too much when the kids are awake.

I got the official notice from my boss at Pfizer that I won't be retained and will be eligible for a severance package. He told me had I chosen to come back full time I would have been retained. That is certainly nice to hear. I really enjoyed working for that company. It was crazy at times but it was a lot of fun. I think that is the only company I can recall working for that I can say that. CRT was a great company but when I moved to customer service it became a thankless job. The owners of CRT were fabulous but the job was very hard more times than not.

I'm taking Tommy for his one year check up tomorrow. It was supposed to be on Monday but the doctor had to change it. I'm glad because it was super cold on Monday. He is such a pleasant little fellow. He likes to climb up on low to the ground objects or stand on things like Patrick. He does well at taking papers off the table that holds our TV in the living room upstairs. He was up at 5:45 this morning and made it to just before 1pm when I laid him down. In fact he was quite disappointed when we headed towards his room. Apparently he was having fun with Patrick. I had the front door opened waiting for my brother in law to bring over a dresser. I had a beach towel laid out on the floor. They were running all over it knocking into each other and laughing.

It will be a "Cars" Easter at our house this year. Marcs brought in some new toys into their close-out area. I was very happy to see that. They had Cars sandbox toys so I bought the 4 they had. I also got the 3 older boys some Cars cars before they were sold out at Marcs. I also found Cars pajamas and sticker books for John James and Patrick at Aldi's. Tommy will get a Wiggles DVD. I'm thinking instead of giving them a lot of candy which I never really have is to give them Cars jelly treats instead. They eat those things like they are going out of style. That should fill up the baskets plenty!

I ordered Tommy's year of pictures from Shutterfly. So when they arrive I will be working on his scrapbook. I purchased a prepaid plan for $60 or 10 cents a picture. I still have 80 left. I'm not sure what I will use them for but I'm sure something will come up.

Tommy's Birthday

So far not too bad. The boys seem to like his presents. I had Tommy's present from us on the kitchen table this morning then I heard paper ripping - it was Patrick so I had to move it until Tommy woke up! The poor guy is a little fussy today. It looks like the 2nd front tooth is coming through so that could be the reason. He seemed to perk up after lunch. I was really surprised how well he played in the 12 o'clock hour - as usually he is fighting off sleep.

Patrick this morning was an early bird. I heard something on the monitor that woke me up - it was him - apparently he was playing "wake up Jeff" with himself and singing the new Wiggles theme song. Then about 10 after 5 he decided he should call for me. Luckily Matt got him and brought him into our bed - I hate to do that but he didn't fall asleep so we aren't creating any bad habits. He is another one that made it to 1pm without being to cranky or fighting sleep. I'm sure the story would have been different if we went to a store today. I forgot to blog about this last week - a chunk of dirt that fell of one of our shoes fell on the floor. Patrick picks it up then eats it. That kid doesn't care what is on the floor - its in his mouth. I had to wipe out his mouth and give him some water to drink for the dirt I couldn't reach.

James fell off the potty training wagon today. I forgot about having him go to the bathroom before nap time - so he had an accident - unfortunately not the wet kind. He lost his prized toy so hopefully he will get back on the wagon and tell us that he has to go. He wanted a pull-up but I told him no - you are a big boy and you can do this.

I updated our picture collage in the living room. I didn't say anything to see how long it would take Matt to notice. It was roughly about 2 hours after he got home. I'm pretty impressed as I thought it would be a few days!

President's Day

I will always remember President's Day weekend being a special time thanks to Tommy. Officially on Wednesday he will be one years old but it was President's Day that he was born. I was going through all the pictures I had printed this past week putting together James and Patrick's scrapbook. The one picture I had printed was taken on February 17 2007. If I you would have told me in one year I would have another baby I would have thought there was no way that was happening. I finished James and Patrick's books last night. I have most of the year in a scrapbook like form where I cut the pictures into different shapes to place them on the pages. Eventually I ran out of space but the book included pages to display 4 x 6 pictures so all of my leftover pictures to round out the year went in there rather than finding paper and taking the time to cut and tape each one. I think the books came out really nice. I hope to find some things from the hospital for Patrick like his ID tag to include in the book. I just realized Patrick was the smallest at birth weight being 7lbs 2oz but at the different stages Tommy is smaller. I'm glad I wrote down their birth weight and height in a book because I forgot! I will have Tommy's pictures printed in the next few weeks and then work on his book.

We had a fun day off. My Aunt Mary came over and went with us to the mall. It was nice to have an extra set of hands. It was also a nice surprise that Lori, Carter and Paige came to the mall and found us at the play area. As Mary was leaving I left Patrick on the potty. When I got back to him he had most of the foamy hand soap all over his head. His socks were wet and the pee shield was in the toilet. I don't want to know how his socks got wet but I think he did turn the faucet on because he could reach with the step stool. I can't wait until we get past the exploratory stage with him.

This past Saturday James was throwing some a tantrum because I wanted him to use the bathroom before he had his morning snack. He refused so he was crying while the other kids ate their snack. Patrick decided it was much too loud. So as he is heavily leaning over the kitchen table he kept his hands over his ears but would take off one hand to take a nibble at his snack. Matt and I laughed because he looked so funny. The camera came out too late to capture this moment.

Tommy gets tired late in the morning especially when he doesn't have a morning nap. Saturday and Sunday while we ate lunch we was making the funniest faces with his eyes closed because I think he was fighting not to sleep. Then when he realized we were laughing at this he continued. I swear he does some things because he knows he is cute.

Last week was so nice to get outside. We got out and took a few walks. I'm excited John wasn't scared about riding his bike on a sidewalk other than the driveway. We definitely need to raise his seat and handle bars. I will be interested to see if he will learn this summer how to ride without training wheels.

The insurance claims for Tommy's hands are just about all processed. We received a few bills so far. I called Metro about the first one from them to see if our account was credited with the co-pays I paid when I took Tommy for treatment. I think they were going to be but now that I made them aware that I'm watching I'm sure we won't end up paying more than we need to. It was nice that the lady who helped me was very understanding and helpful. I have been very impressed with most of the people I have encountered at Metro.

Projects

This week has been a week of projects. I decided to get my act in gear and get all the pictures of James, Patrick and most of Tommy uploaded to Shutterfly to order prints so I can make them a scrapbook of their first year. Last Sunday I completed a Valentine's Book for the Grandparents and that helped inspired this little project. It has been fun looking back at James and Patrick when they were babies. I got the Valentine's Book today in the mail - make that books - apparently I ordered 2 books to be sent to me and 2 to my mom. No wonder it cost more than I thought it would. I guess I got confused along the way in the process. Matt said that's ok maybe I'll keep one and take it to work with me!

My other project this week is getting our tax stuff together so I can take it to the professionals. I think I have my ducks in a row. Now I'm nervous about two things. How much I'm going to owe the professionals and Uncle Sam because my virtual assistant position not taxed. I got the official offer this week from Pfizer to come back full time to which I replied - no can do - so I will be offered a severance package! Nothing like walking away from a job with a little bit of money. The bummer is my severance package will be based on my part time hours and not when I was full time. Now its time to start praying that the virtual job will be enough still for us to make ends meet.

The kids have been cranky this week - it could be me, who knows. We got out Monday and today. The rest of the week it wasn't worth it weather wise. On Monday the boys and I found Tommy's birthday present. It is so hard to pick something special and nice for the 4th boy. I think we found it in the Little People's Garage. I've wanted this for a while but we kept having more children so I'm glad we put it off. James is super excited. He thought we should bring it in from the car and put it in the living room to play with it. Just two more weeks we can do that. It looks like Tommy is about to sprout one of his top front teeth. I've been giving him a dose of ibuprofen every night before bed. I hope that doesn't hurt him health wise. I just want a peaceful night's sleep which hasn't happened in a while. Someone is always rumbling at one point in the night. If only Patrick would just learn to pull the blanket over him.

Ok back to uploading pictures!