Holiday Cards

I always enjoy seeing my brother's holiday card from work (since they are graphic designers) and since I put it on our blog last year, I felt the need to include it again this year. So enjoy!



http://berlinproductions.com/holiday_08/

It wouldn't be fair if I didn't embarass Ronnie too...

More Pictures of Christmas Past...

This is my all time favorite Christmas picture!



And here are two more:

Can You Say "SNOW DAY!"

Today was Anna's first snow of the season. Although she had remembered it from last year and knew what it was, she had forgotten that it covers everything. Frequently, throughout the morning while she waited for its arrival she would ask if some of the neighborhood kids would come and take it all away. She even broke down in tears at one point and said "Mommy, I don't think it is ever going to start snowing!". It finally did however and she had a great time sledding, digging and making snow angels -her first!. Here are some pictures of the day. It's great being a teacher :)

Our Princess....

Christmas Past...

Christmas Present...

Christmas Tree 2008

Here is our Christmas tree. I'm obsessessed this year with checking under the treeskirt for water leaks. Last year, our treestand leaked all over our brand, new hardwood floor and I didn't notice it for 24 hours! When I did see what had happened, I was home alone with Anna and her little friend Ryan, another two year old. I had no choice but to slowly slide the tree across the room and mop up the mess. And yes, you guessed it, once I started sliding it, the whole tree tipped over and crashed. Glass, tree sap and pine needles were EVERYWHERE! It was such a mess and I practically had a nervous breakdown because my new floor was warped and the rest of the floor was going to be if I didn't get the 12 foot tree back up. I can laugh at it now but it was not a good day. Anna says she still remembers it too. We had to buy all new ornaments because all of ours broke. So the moral of this story... check your treestand for leaks and cracks...DAILY!

Some Thanksgiving Highlights...

We had a lovely Thanksgiving with Ron's family. They arrived Wednesday morning and we enjoyed our time with them. Dinner was great and enjoyed by all.

Anna's New Sayings...

These are some of Anna's sayings that she uses daily. She learned them at school...


"You get whatcha get now don't get upset!"

"Too bad, so sad"

"Hot Diggity Dog"

Family Pictures

This is my highly successful brother ....on Halloween :)

Imaginary Friends...

This may come as a surprise to many of you, but we have a new family member living in our house -until the summer. This weekend, Anna announced that her 'friend' Lizzie would be living with us until the summer -her mom said it would be okay Anna claims. The girls had their first sleepover Saturday night and true to nature, Anna was up with her until 9:30 on Saturday evening. You could hear her giggling and talking in her room. We've had to set a table setting for Lizzie, buckle Lizzie in the car, brush her teeth and even lay out her clothes. Its so funny because as soon as Anna wakes up, you can hear her say on the monitor "Good Morning Lizzie, How did you sleep?" Its like she's really in there -even after a good twelve hour sleep, Anna doesn't forget about her new little buddy. This morning I cracked up because I could hear Anna on the monitor telling Lizzie the following:
"Lizzie, last night my Mommy made me sit on the naughty chair because I wouldn't eat any of my lasagna. I cried a lot. And then my Mommy made you leave. I'm sorry Lizzie that you had to stay outside the door all night ...in the cold weather." I'll finish this post by saying that I have done a lot of research about imaginary friends over the last few days because I'm not sure how I'm supposed to handle this as a parent. I will say that the research states that children who have imaginary friends are extremlely well adjusted and have a great sense of imagination -and I thought she had a split personality starting!

Honeypie

My family went out to Outback last night to celebrate my birthday. Here is a little video my brother Ricky made of the evening. I was drinking a cup of coffee when I first saw it and spit it out! You'll have to copy and paste the link below. Turn up your volume and click on the play button -the middle button in the lower, righthand corner of your screen. Enjoy!


http://www.rickdorgan.com/rachels_birthday/

Happy Halloween!

Anna enjoyed her 3rd Halloween. She dressed up as Madeline this year and we went trick or treating in our neighborhood. We all had a lot of fun and there was much candy to be had by everyone -especially once Anna went to bed :)

Freezing Our Buns

This year, Ron and I joined an online challenge that we read about on someone's blog. We made a pledge to keep the heat lower than usual this winter. The woman who writes this blog does it for environmental reasons, but we are doing it for financial reasons. Our monthly oil bill is set to double this year due to the oil crisis. After nearly losing it when I heard this, I started researching ways to save money on your heating bill. Hence our adding nine extra inches of insulation to the attic this past weekend. Our builder did a lot of great insulating before we resided the house when we had the addition put on and when Anna was born, we replaced all of the windows. When I was nine months pregnant with her, we got a brand new boiler -actually, I remember the day very clearly. It was ninety degrees outside and I had to come home from work (air-conditioned mind you). I drove home in the Neon which had no ac. I got home sweating like a pig to meet the guys installing the new furnace. I was so hot and felt like I was going to pass out when I heard a knock on the door. The furnace was installed and they wanted me to turn the heat on to make sure everything was working properly Not a good day.
Anyway, there is not much more we can do but turn the thermomstat down to save some money. We've pledged to turn the heat down to 60 at night and no higher than 68 when we are home. When we are out at work/school its at 65. We'll see if it saves some money. We're still paying double but I'm hoping that since the price of oil has come down, we'll be getting a nice refund check in the summer. It will be going towards a gas stove for the family room.

Anna's Comments...

Anna's response when she saw the picture of me below: "Well, you didn't look like a Mommy".

Halloween Past

My dad sends me old pictures occassionally and I tell him, I could just sit and go through them all for days and days. There is just something so wonderful about going back into time and being a kid again. No worries, no responsibilities. Its just wonderful! Here is a picture of me around the age of 5. Anna's sleeping now and I plan on showing it to her when she wakes up. She'll be Madeline this year. I'll post pictures of Halloween once the big day arrives. She'll be having a Halloween Parade at school on Friday morning. Although I'll be at work, Grandpa Dorgan is going and I'll make sure her brings his camera with him.

Fun at the Farm

Anna's expression when it registers that THIS is where bacon comes from.

Mr. Ed

Anna's expression as a horse comes over to say hello at the North Salem Harvest Festival

History Repeats

Here is a neat e-mail I got from my dad the other day.


These were taken in October of '78 up at Button Bay on Lake Champlain. You were younger than Anna! See if you can explain that to her!

Apple Picking Fun

Today my nursery school class had a field trip to Stuart's Fruit Farms in Granite Springs. The head teacher of my program said to bring Anna along with me for the morning. All the parents go and she thought they would love to meet Anna. What a fun morning we had. She had seen an apple picking episode on Caillou and so she was full of questions on the way there...will they have Russet Apples?....will we use a ladder to get them down? We had the best time together and she is a GREAT apple picker. I picked up a frozen pie crust the other day so this weekend we'll be making apple pie together :) Here are some pics of my sweet girl.

Pumpkin Fun

Since I teach nursery school and Anna is in nursery school (a different class), we both come home singing the same songs and doing the same fingerplays. Since it is "Pumpkin Week" for both of us, we learned the song "Five Little Pumpkins". Here is the correct version:

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said "Its getting very late!".
The second one said "There are witches in the air!".
The third one said "I don't care!".
The fourth one said "Let's have some fun!".
The fifth one said "Let's run and run!".
OOOOOOO went the wind and OUT went the lights
And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

This is Anna's version which she taught me in the car on the way home from school today...She insists this is the right version!

Five little pumpkins jumping on a gate.
The first one said "Let's walk."
The sec... the number 2... the other one said "Let's skip".
The other one said "Let's run!".
The other one said "Let's go to Home Depot"

Don't bother singing it the correct way in our house -or you'll make Anna very unhappy!

Update on the Whiteheads

Not much new to report here. Chloe is doing fabulously well. She has been pretty much off of crate rest for two weeks now. She is walking beautifully and even uses her back legs to scratch her ears -something I never really appreciated before :) Her life has changed drastically though and will remain as it is now to keep her safe. She doesn't have free run of the house when noone is home. She enjoys her crate which we keep right next to the sliding glass door so she can keep an eye on the neighborhood squirrels and deer. She also doesn't have access to the family room anymore unless Ron and I are there to pick her up on the couch and hold her. No more jumping up and down. We also took her ball away as it was encouraging wild behavior. She is very happy though and looks great.
Anna is doing well too although we had two teary days at dropoff time for school. She's in rare form lately but as cute as a button. Her hair is FINALLY starting to grow -especially after I threatened to put miracle gro on it! She is enjoying school and comes up with some pretty funny things. This week her job at school was 'teacher's helper'. I'm still amazed to walk into the bathroom and find that she has gone in there to sit on the potty on her own accord, without any prompting. My sweet little baby girl is growing up!

Craziness!

I just finished finger painting with fifteen three year olds. What did I get myself into?

Our Family Story....

Does Anyone Know How To Get A Dog To Heel While Walking On A Leash?

This was what our afternoon walk was like today:

Three Days In A Row!

Yes folks, we have now had three days in a row of drop-off time at school without any tears! What a difference it makes. Usually I leave there kicking myself saying "Why are we putting her through this", but now I'm feeling much better. She keeps coming home telling me about the many friends she is making and yesterday she told me Julia taught her how to play 'Hippity Hopscotch' which consists of running back and forth from one end of the house to the other yelling "Hippity Hopscotch! Hippity Hopscotch!"

This morning we had our first taste of Fall weather so Anna got to wear one of her new, long sleeved outfits. When I picked her up after lunch I asked if she was warm enough. Her response, "Well, I was a little hot, cold and sweaty, but don't worry Mommy, I was warm". Go figure.

And for an update on Chloe.... She is presently sunbathing crate free on the deck. She is continuing to do very well. I'm surprised to find though that many times when we let her out of her crate for some 'free time' she returns to it within a few minutes for a little nap.

Two for two! No tears again!

NO TEARS TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pooch Update

Chloe seems to be doing very well so far. She is allowed out now three times a day for a ten minute walk and is allowed out on our deck for small periods throughout the day. I've started her on supplements that many people online claim can do wonders. We gave her a bath today since she has been crated for so long. After Hurricane Hannah's rains last night Chloe was smelling a little gamey so we couldn't take it anymore. She got a nice bath, got her ears cleaned and her bedding washed. She looks so pretty now. She got to dry in the sun and now is enjoying a nice nap on her soft bed. Keep praying for her. If all goes well, she should be free next week!

Peek-a boob

The other day, I took Anna to a development near us for a ride on her tricycle. Usually we ride near our house but it was a beautiful day and this development has little traffic and a completely smooth stretch of road without any hills. We packed up the car with her tricycle and her helmet. Then I put her in her carseat. She had on a sundress and as I buckled her in, the strap of her dress got moved over exposing her chest. As I began to close the cardoor, I said, "Ooops, somebody's booby is peeking out". I closed the cardoor, walked to the driver's side and got in. As I turned the ignition on, Anna said from her carseat, "Don't feel bad Mommy, I checked and my booby was peeking out too".

Hurricane Hannah Fun

Tomorrow we are supposed to get remnants from Hurricane Hannah. I'm planning on staying home since I'm not a big fan of being out when there is a major storm around so I told Anna we are going to make some homeade play-doh I learned about at the nursery school. Here is the recipe in case anyone is interested. The teachers told me they even add extracts like cinnamon, pumpkin or vanilla to make it scented.

Mix together in a medium sized pot:
2 cups of water
2 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
2 tablespoons of oil
4 teaspoons cream of tartar

Add food coloring while cooking over medium heat. Remove from pan while still a bit sticky. Dough will become firm as it cools. Store in an airtight container or ziploc bag.

First Homework Assignment

Well school dropoff yesterday was a teensy bit better however we did have the regular tears and hanging on Mommy's leg as she tried to leave. I did have a happy girl though when I picked her up and she had nothing but positive remarks about her day. She even came home with her first homework assignment -to decorate a paper doll cutout in any fashion, as long as it looked like her. I'll try to post a picture of it. At any rate, she was so excited to work on it and we're hoping that bringing it in to show her teacher tomorrow will erase some of the anxiety and replace it with happiness and pride? I will update you tomorrow.

Growing Like a Weed....

Well, although school dropoff hasn't been the best for Anna (or myself), I find these last few days she has shown so much growth in her ability to do things independently. I called her pediatrician on Thursday to see if there was anything I could do to ease the transtion to school for her. I didn't want to have the conversation in front of Anna so when the phone rang and I saw on the caller id it was the pediatrician calling me back, I told Anna I'd be out on the deck for a minute for an important phone call. I was back inside within two minutes and found Anna sitting on the toilet. When I asked her what she was doing, she said "Mommy, I had to go to the potty and I know how to do it myself now!". My eyes immediately filled up with tears. She's been potty trained for almost a year and a half now but I always remind her to go and help her get on and off the potty. This was a shock to me that she could do it 'all by herself'! Then on Friday, I joined Ron and Anna for her daily tricycle ride after dinner. She was able to ride the whole way, even up the slight hill that is near us. It amazes me how much she has grown and changed in these last three years. I vividly remember doing tummy time with her as a newborn trying to get her to lift her head up off the blanket and now she is becoming so independent. It is just so amazing!

Beautiful Birthday Girl

Here is Anna on her 3rd birthday, patiently awaiting her requested cupcakes. She is all girl! Yummy!

Another Tough Day...

Well, today was no better :( Anna started crying from the minute I woke her up not wanting to go to school. At one point she cried, "Mommy, When is it the weekend?". I felt terrible. I tried staying with her for a little while but it seemed to make things worse so I left. She cried as I walked out but I lingered around the corner for a few moments and could hear her crying turn to just whimpering. I called to check on her and the teacher said she was a little tearful on and off for the first hour but then brightened up considerably. They said she is really starting to make friends now and is learning the routine. They did say they can't believe her appetite! When I left, her teacher said she anticipates Anna will only be like this for a few more days. I sure hope so because as my mom always used to tell me, "A mom can only be as happy as her saddest child".

Tears

Well, today's dropoff at school was pretty terrible. Anna cried and I barely had the car door shut before I started bawling too. It is so hard dropping off your little one whom you have spent the last three years with from morning till night. She has become my little buddy and my shadow and to be apart from her is so hard. Seeing her crying while I left was almost unbearable. There were countless times throughout my morning at work that I just wanted to run out and go and pick her up and kiss her chubby little cheeks. I know this is another learning process for her that she must go through. I know of a girl who had to deal with separation anxiety when she left for college at age 17! Hmmmm, I wonder who that could've been?

First Day of School and Work...

Well, I went back to work today.... sort of. I had applied over the Spring for a part time job as an assistant nursery school teacher and was excited to hear I got it. I'll be making some extra money and they pay half of Anna's tuition for pre-school. She is in the building next door to me. I transitioned her the week before last and she did pretty well. No tears. Today we both started our regular days 9:00-12:30. Its different being a teaching 'assistant' since I had my own classroom for ten years but its nice working with young children who don't have any emotional problems. I worried the whole time about Anna though and missed her terribly. Her teachers said she did very well and only teared up about missing me once during clean up time. I'm worried that separation anxiety will set in once she realizes we do this five days a week. She seems happy so far and the facility is absolutely beautiful, complete with a duck pond, swimming pool, and old barn. She looked adorable this morning with her backpack on and her little curls. They practically had to pry me off of her little leg! Gosh, I love that little girl.

Second Try?

Well, Chloe's eight weeks of crate rest will be up tomorrow. We start by easing her off of crate rest over the next four weeks. Starting tomorrow, we can take her for two five minute walks each day for a week. Please pray that she does well! I am so nervous that this will happen again. She seems to be doing well but is so full of energy -I'm scared she will push her limits. I'll update as the week goes on.

Anna's Jammin' Jeep

This was not quite the look Ron had on his face when we bought him a used car last month!

Our Weekend...

I'm not sure why but this weekend had a nature theme to it. It all started on Saturday morning when we took a trip to Home Depot to pick up a few things. As usual, Anna and I perused the garden section to see if they had anymore perrenials on sale. We ended up finding that the trees were 50% off! Two weeks ago, the town highway department took down two of our shade trees that were parallel to the road. They hadn't been doing well for a while and had lost most of their leaves. The skyline near the house looked so strange and we had talked about replacing them. Well, for 40 dollars we bought two sugar maples. Here is Ron planting them Saturday afternoon...

Then yesterday, Ron suggested we go for a hike since it wasn't such a great lake day. We took Anna and she did unbelievable well. She probably walked about 3/4 of a mile! We got to see several toads and she loved it. Best of all, it was free!

Cart Dog

I found this picture online and just love it. It is a little dachshund named Frankie who is paralyzed. Here he is in a costume contest that he won.

Our Refrigerator Saga...

Ron and I have been married almost 11 years and since day one, we have always gotten stuck with the most terrible refrigerators in each of the apartments we have lived in as well as our home. Our first refrigerator was so old the appliance repair man called it a dinosaur. It was dirty, it leaked and it boosted the electrical bill each month. We complained constantly to our landlord and he never replaced it -until two weeks before we moved out! Our second apartment was just as bad. The thing was Barbie doll size and during the hot summer months it would sweat and drip puddles on the floor. We tried to live with it. Finally that one was replaced when we came home after a week's vacation to mold growing on the walls because we had closed all the windows in the aparment and the moisture buildup caused major problems. Again a new fridge arrives just as we are packing up to move out. Fast forwad to our present home and once again, a disaster! The fridge here is shorter than me. I have to make sure Anna is nowhere near it when I open the freezer door because things inevitably fall out due to the small size.

Anyway, when Ron and I met with the architect to draw up plans for the addition, I basically designed the kitchen around the new side by side fridge I had dreamed of. It is a special color called graphite metallic that we just loved. Well, when it came time to order all the materials, we decided to hold off on the fridge for one more year to save some money. We ordered the matching dishwasher since the kitchen didn't have one and planned on getting the new fridge within the next year. Well, I promise you that since that decision was made, every time I went into Home Depot, I would visit 'my fridge'. I'd open the doors, imagine them filled with home cooked meals, and I would say to Anna "Someday, we are going to have this beautiful refrigerator in our house". Pathetic I know. Well, this past weekend Anna and I stopped by Home Depot to get some more flowers for our garden and I decided to see if my fridge was on sale ......however it was nowhere to be found! After searching the entire store I was told by the saleswoman that my graphite metallic color HAD BEEN DISCONTINUED! We searched all the Home Depots within driving distance and located one store that had ONE left -it was a floor model however. They said it had minor scratches but if we were interested, we could have it for 60% off! Did God have his hand in this or what! We made the trip and signed papers. There are a few scratches but nothing that a little compound and appliance paint can't touch up. Plus they are all near the bottom. My side by side refrigerator was delivered today. I'll spare you the ordeal we went through to get it up the front steps and in the front door but we did get it in. It looks great! Something tells me this will be a big grocery bill this week!

I had a fun morning planned for Anna today. Our nearby mall has a 'Kidz Summer Camp' each Tuesday during the summer. This morning they had Java John and His Amazing Talking Tiki and then Sparkles the Clown was going to join in on the fun and create some balloon sculptures. Pure enjoyment to an almost three year old right? Well on our way into the mall, I bumped into some ladies I know from church -women whose children are all grown now but whom I remember as always having it all together regarding their children. Well, wouldn't you know it but as we're talking (for only 30 seconds at this point) Anna decides to take off running down the long mall corridor. I call her several times but to no avail -she just keeps running. I start to make my quick goodbyes to these ladies just as Anna decides to turn around and come back to me. She comes running back and I make some comment about how we're so close to three years old but those terrible twos just won't give it up already. They smile and laugh as now Anna who is almost back by my side focuses on the nearby escalator. She takes off running again aiming right for it. Of course its the escalator going up which certainly is not going to help my cause at all. Fortunately I grabbed her just in time remembering my mom telling me about the many occasions she wanted to pinch me as I continuously embarrassed her in public. The thought entered my mind as I now wrestled my daughter and tried to finish my conversation with these 'perfect moms'. As we walked away I contemplated skipping the show and just going home as I truly felt Anna did not deserve to see the show due to her terrible behavior but the thought of sitting at home alone with her while she fights this terrible mood she is in was too scary of a thought. I hoped that the show would distract her and entertain her and maybe even tire her out for a good long nap while Mommy regrouped. I guess what discouraged me the most was that I thought we would have such a nice morning together and unfortunately it was just the beginning. She did watch the show but didn't want to participate in it and sat sucking her thumb for the majority of it. Lunch did not improve as I had egg salad thrown at me and then more and more tears. Where has my sweet little girl gone I keep asking myself. Did I mention that last night she put her vitamin in her ear? I know I shouldn't complain as she has always been so easygoing but I think that makes it that much harder. We'll see how this afternoon goes after her nap.

What Happened To My Sweetie-Pie?

Somebody must have taken my daughter and switched her with an evil twin. For the last week or so she has been a terror. Very defiant, oppositional and with crying outbursts throughout the entire day. How can this be that we are a month away from three years old and the terrible twos are rearing their ugly heads??? I'm not sure if it is a phase or if she is overtired but something is not right! She had a major meltdown today because I blowdried my hair -I blow dry my hair every morning!!! Do almost three year olds cut teeth? Help!

Well, This Pretty Much Sums It Up....

http://www.hulu.com/watch/1389/saturday-night-live-dont-buy-stuff

Hair At Last

I waited almost three years for this.

Temper! Temper!

I honestly have to say that Anna really only had a solid two weeks of the 'terrible twos'. However, as we head towards her third birthday, I am not sure if they have reared their ugly head or if Anna was just overtired from a week full of 4th of July excitement and a lack of regular bedtime hours and routines. On Thursday we hit the Bronx Zoo and between her insisting on walking the whole thing and her not taking a nap, we had a couple of minor episodes. Then on Friday, my grandmother came for a visit which involved more excitment and a later than usual nap. As the day progressed, the episodes of crying and raising her voice at us increased. Finally on Saturday, we had our biggest one yet where she had a huge meltdown when I told her she couldn't hold onto her crayon any longer because it was crumbling to pieces due to the heat and was leaving little pieces of wax particles everywhere. Everytime one got stepped on, it put a nice purple stain in her rug. Well, I'm sure the blood curdling scream could have been heard on the west coast as she yelled "NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I stood in shock for a minute amazed she was capable of such a high pitched note. She was immediately put on the naughty chair and Ron and I discussed in private that bedtime must be set earlier for that evening because of course the child must be overtired! After a good night's sleep, our regular, happy girl returned. However I did have second thoughts about bringing her to church Sunday morning because I would have just died if her Sunday School teachers had to witness that behavior!

...Some More Zoo Pictures

'Mommy's Taking Us To The Zoo Tomorrow'

Yesterday we took Anna to the Bronx Zoo for the very first time. She loved it! Her favorite animals were the seals who were very vocal for us singing the entire time. Anna thought they were hysterical. She enjoyed riding the monorail and seeing the tigers and hippos. She also enjoyed the monkey house. She did very, very well considering the lack of a nap and all the walking she did. We're kind of paying for it today though as she is a little on the moody side!

Update on Chloe

Well, we are back from the vet with mixed news. Chloe did have a relapse however the meds are doing their job in keeping her pain free. The plan is to keep her on pain meds for another ten days. When she comes off of them, if pain returns, the vet would like to do surgery. If the pain does not return, she will begin crate rest for 8 weeks this time. Please, please, please pray the pain does not return because surgery costs between 4000 and 5500 dollars and..... there is a 25 percent chance she could blow another disc again and we would have to start at square 1 all over again. She is resting comfortably in her crate and we have promised her if she is good and heals over the next few days, we will have a nice, big marrow bone waiting for her. Here she is on a much happier day beside the fireplace :(