Things That Are On My Mind Lately...

So I haven't blogged in forever even though I said I was going to keep on top of it. Just seems like when I have some time to relax, I always get involved with something else and my blogging takes a back burner. I couldn't decide what I was going to write about today so I finally came up with just a bunch of things on my mind lately.

1. I can't believe that my pregnancy is almost over. About 9 wks. to go and Baby #3 will be arriving into our family.

2. Am I nervous...not about being a mom of 3 or about caring for a newborn but about other things like getting out of the house in a timely manner. I am quite a perfectionist so it takes me forever to get out of the house with 2 kids because I can't leave before my house is in perfect condition and the boys are all groomed, clothes ironed, hair perfect, etc. Throw a newborn into the mix...that could be quite a task.

3. Registered Jack for full-day kindergarten last week and I am not doing well in the least bit. The thought of him not being with me all day is so sad to me. He is my buddy, my pal. I can have full conversations with him, ask his opinion, he understands my sarcasm, etc. I just don't know where 5 yrs. have gone and it blows my mind how fast time flies. He is so excited though and is definately ready so I try to be excited too in front of him but it is breaking my heart.

4. Nolan is still my little active boy with quite the sense of humor. He is so much like me when I was a baby, it is scary. Not just looks, but personality too. He has no fear, he will do anything to get a laugh, rough and tough but is a cuddle bug and has such a good heart. My parents laugh when I tell them about my lil' monster because I got one just like me.

5. Rob has been so helpful lately even more than usual. He is working 2 jobs but still will wake up early with Nolie and let me sleep a little extra these days. He also helped me clean the house last week, which is usually an all-day task and let me tell you, it meant the world to me.

6. Taekwondo is Jack's new favorite obsession. He is loving it and so are we. He has built up such great self-confidence and determination to one day be a black belt. His listening skills and multi-step directions have improved drastically just in the last months because of it and I think it will be awesome for school next year.

7. The whole family living in NY and us being here is still really bothersome to myself as well as Jack. I am not sure when it is going to get easier or if it ever will. Jack seems more bothered with it now then before. He talks about them constantly and all his wishes he makes consists of going to NY or moving back to NY or surprise visits from the family, etc. As far as me, I am definately jealous that my parent's are always with my sister's children. They take them for sleepovers almost weekly, babysit them just to spend quality time with them and I know my Jack and Nolan would love that type of time with them too. We are planning a trip right after the baby is born to drive to NY so my family can spend time with them and get to meet the new baby.

8. Looking forward to my mom's visit for the arrival of the baby. When Nolie was born, she was there for his arrival and ended up having to stay longer than expected because she fell in our garage and wasn't allowed to fly. It was fabulous, well not the injury but the outcome. This time, I am planning on setting up some type of obstacle to try to cause some injury that will once again force her to remain here with us for just a wee-bit longer.

9. Soooooooo looking forward to Rob's school year coming to an end and us having time together as a family especially with the new addition in July. Hopefully we take full advantage of his time off and come up with a bunch a fun things to do this summer.

10. Jack is doing great this year in baseball. Last year his coach was a nice guy but I don't think he taught the kids one thing about baseball and Jack was bored out of his mind. He totally lost all interest in the sport. Whereas this year, he has a great coach and is learning so much about baseball. He is hitting the ball straight from a pitcher instead of a tee this year and is so proud of himself. I think he is also loving the idea that his Grandparents come and watch him play and we all make such a big deal out of it.

11. Last but not least, I am freaking out about being in the hospital for 4 days and how Nolan is going to deal with that. He is literally attached to my side and I have never been away from him for more than a few hours. I am so nervous that when he comes to visit his new brother and I at the hospital, it is going to be quite an issue when it is time for him to leave and he realizes I am staying. Jack was so much older when I had Nolan so he understood the whole need to recover in the hospital and that he could come visit when ever he wanted and there was no jealousy. We shall see how it all works out...

I would love to end by saying that I am going to keep this blog thing updated but I shouldn't make promises I probably won't keep. So until next time...

Jack's 5th Birthday Party Success

Wow....what a amazing day!! A few months before jack's birthday, I received some flyer in the mail for a special deal if you bought Grand Opening Night for Disney On Ice and when was it....Jack's actual birthday. I knew we wanted to bring him and at the same time, I was also trying to plan where to have his party this year. We were not coming up with any great ideas and didn't want to just spend $100's of dollars at some place that really wasn't that exciting or that he was just settling for so.... I decided to have Jack's party at Disney On Ice. When I thought about it. it seemed a bit costly but then when I added up any party place, dessert, supplies, favors, etc., it wasn't too much more and it was something different and I thought his friends would really like it as well. I decided to go ahead with the plan and order 22 tickets for Opening Nite and prior to showtime, have everyone over for cake. Due to me ordering the tickets so early and the day I got the flyer, I totally lucked out with the seats. I was able to get 22 tickets together and the best part, amazing seats pretty close to the ice with a perfect view.

The children all seemed so excited before the show but to see everyone at the show was priceless. Everyone of the children had huge smiles on their faces and their eyes were glued to the show. It seemed like even the parents had a great time. All I know is Jack was on Cloud 9. He had a perma-grin the entire day from when he woke up until when he went to sleep at midnight. It was the absolute perfect day!!! He loved it so much that he made us promise we would pretend it was his birthday again when he woke up the next day. I guess this year was the 1st year he really was obsessed with his birthday, so much so he did a countdown calendar for the month of March. As a parent, it was amazing to just see him so excited about turning 5, having his friends there with him on his actual birthday and of course, getting presents. After several conversations with him about gifts not being the most important part of his special day and making sure he doesn't attack people when they show up for his party by ripping the gifts straight from their hands went completely in one ear and out the other. The minute a knock on the door was heard, he would run to the door and in some cases say "Hi" first but for the most part, he took his gift and added to his pile of gifts he had set up on the couch. Well, I tried and I apologized to the guests and hopefully everyone can understand that he is a 5 year old boy obsessed with toys but truly enjoyed all his friends and family being with him on his special day.

Thanks everyone for making my angel's birthday so special and unforgettable!!

Wow, How Time Flies...

Our Angel, Jack Dylan

Jack's 1st birthday

Jack's 2nd Birthday

Jack's 3rd Birthday

Jack's 4th Birthday

Our Jack is 5!!

We cannot believe that 5 years ago on March 24th, our first love of our lives was born. From the minute we laid our eyes on him, we were so in love. 5 years later, Jack still continues to put a smile on our face each and every day. Happy 5th Birthday Angel!! We love U!!

Where's Your Purse??

So the other day I decided to go take the boys to the park for about 1/2hr while dinner was in the oven. I headed down to good old Riverwalk park with the boys in the Power Wheels and Peanut. When we arrived we were quickly greeted by an adorable little black girl that basically jumped in front of Jack's moving vehicle and tried to highjack it and throw him out. I told her that we were just going to park it because we needed to save the battery power so we could get home. She really didn't love my reponse and tried to convince Jack that it was necessary for her to try it out. After she failed to get Jack to agree with her, she headed over to my 12 year old dog and began tugging the leash from my hand and telling me to just let go, she needed to take my dog somewhere. I explained very nicely to her that I had to hold her because she would run off and due to her age, she gets nervous. So....she moved onto my kid, Nolan. She told me to stop touching the swing because she wanted to push him but Nolan was not very friendly to say the least. He was lunging forward trying to hit her and screaming bloody murder for her to let go of his swing. The lady next to me was laughing her ass off because no matter what I told the girl to do, she would just move on to the next personal belonging I brought with me to the park. Well, finally she gave up on Nolie after he got her good and refused to stop swatting at her so she began talking and questioning me. Here is exactly how it went...

(Girl) Hey lady, do you know you have a baby in your belly?

(Me) Yes honey I do and it is going to be another little boy.

(Girl) Why, do you hate little girls??

(Me) No not at all, God just wanted us to have 3 boys.

(Girl) Where do you live??

(Me) I live right here in the neighborhood.

(Girl) Hmmm

GET READY for her next line...

(Girl) Lady, where is your purse??

(Me) What??

(Girl) I asked where your purse is??

(Me) At home, why do you ask??

(Girl) Just wondering and where did you say you lived. You should bring it next time.

Okay, this could be completely innocent but is it me or is this a strange thing for a little girl to ask out of nowhere?? Ladies, keep your purses away from little girls at Riverwalk. It could be a dangerous place.

And the Results are In...

We only waited about 5 months to find out the sex of our lil one but it seemed like eternity. We were so prepared for Friday for our dr. appt at 9:45am. Rob took off of work weeks ago and we even asked my mother-in-law to watch the boys so Rob and I could enjoy finding out the sex of Baby #3 over a nice, quiet lunch. Well moving to Texas, you think you would never have to worry about snowstorms, right??? WRONG...of course the day before our appt., we get a Texas-like blizzard and everyone freaks out, so much so every thing gets closed down for the next damn day. And then we got the dreaded phone call the night before from my OB canceling my appt. for Friday morning. Can you say D.E.V.A.S.T.A.T.E.D. We were so upset because of how long we looked forward to this day. So the next morning, I whined and cried to basically everyone including Amie, who is determined to always make the impossible, possible. Literally 15 minutes after getting off the phone with her, she calls to tell me she has made an appointment at a Diagnostic Imaging Place for us to go get a 4D sonogram to find out if our munchkin is a she or a he. I truly think she probably paid this company thousands to open the doors that morning because it seemed like they were the only public place opened in the whole state of Texas. To say I was excited would be quite an understatement. It was probably one of the few times in my life that I wasn't just on time but an hour early for my appointment. I couldn't wait to be able to put a name with the lil' one inside me and tell Jack and Nolan if they were going to have a little brother or sister. So.....IT'S A BOY!!! We had the sonographer put the sex in an envelope and Rob and I went to lunch and opened it up. We were so thrilled to know our little angel was going to have the 2 best big brothers and be loved beyond belief. I felt like I was on Cloud 9 the whole day. How lucky are we to have 2 healthy boys already and now to prepare to bring another one into the world is simply the most amazing feeling in the world. And to spend the day alone with my husband was just as amazing. We never have alone time...EVER!! I don't think we have had alone time since before Nolie was born and we sure needed it. Just to be able to have an un-interrupted conversation and talk about things that we ever have time to talk about without taking care of the kiddos at the same time was incredible. We say that we are going to try to do this once a month even if its just lunch and walking around the mall again so hopefully we do it. Thankfully my mother-in-law watches them when we need a babysitter because as most of you know, I am a complete control-freak and my routines are a bit more then most people can handle but my mother-in-law Joan is great. She just follows my OCD structure and routines and I never worry when I am gone because I know the boys are having a blast and eating and sleeping when they should.
Now I am looking forward to Monday morning because I have my rescheduled 20week sonogram at my OB office to check out the baby and make sure all is perfect and of course, we will get to see his little package again to be 1000% sure he is a BOY, but after looking at the pics, I am POSITIVE that he has a weiner.

A Natural Laxative

Warning, if you are eating or plan on eating anytime soon maybe you should skip this blog post. Here it goes...

So my boys always take baths together but Jack has been trained to be prepared to jump out in a fraction of a second if he sees any warning signs from his little brother which include:

#1. Nolie suddenly standing up

#2. A reddish tint to his face

#3. Or a stare that looks like a deer caught in the headlights

Jack is pretty damn good at reading the warning signs and yesterday was no exception. The boys are playing, laughing and splashing and I am doing my hair and makeup for the day when Jack screams, "Oh no, here it comes" and dives head first out of the tub onto the rug. Sure enough, I turn around and there is Nolie standing, reddish color to the face and the stare. I grab at my washcloth stash to try to intercept the poop so I can avoid it landing in the tub with all the toys and a tub worth of water but was a fraction of a second to late. Now, Jack is gagging and asking over and over, "Mom, how do you get all that poop out of that tub?" Good question....

So after about 20 minutes of feces removal and intense cleaning of the tub, all is good in The Fitzgerald household. So if you ever have an issue with your child or children being constipated, a free remedy to your problem is simply a bath.

Our Trip to the New Grocery Store...Unforgettable

On Friday, the boys and I decided we would go to the new Kroger by our house to do a little food shopping and let Jack pick out his $5 Transformer toy that he earned for getting rid of many of his old toys in the playroom the other day. When I told him he had earned a little toy, he basically fell over in excitement because since Christmas, we have a new rule in our home that toys are for holidays and birthdays and the children do not get toys for no reason anymore because it became an obsession and was expected every trip we took to the store. Jack must have asked about 1000 times when we were leaving so he could pick out his new toy, which I explained that he was only allowed 1 toy that was no more than $5. He agreed and thanked me over and over again for this special occassion. So we were off...this was going to be great!! Jack was going to get a new toy and be thrilled that he was allowed one even though it was not his birthday yet and be thankful beyond belief and Nolie would be happier than a pig in poop because he could ride in the new car shopping carts that had a steering wheel that wasn't ripped out or broken yet and a tv as well inside with some kids shows.

Well things took a turn for the worse...

We start off at the toy aisle, where Jack is already going for the $30 toys and I continue to show him the few items that he can pick from. He finally decided he is going to take all 5 of the Transformers in the shopping cart and make an educated decision while we are food shopping. About 5 minutes into food shopping, he begins to harrass me about getting 2 instead of 1 and has a long explanation why they need to be purchased together. He goes on and on how they are brothers and cannot be seperated or else they will be sad like he would be if Nolie wasn't with him. Persuasive, yes but I was sticking to my guns on this one. Jack can convince anyone of anything but I needed to remember that I laid down the rules and he should be happy with 1 and understand that one is better than one. For the next 40 minutes, he is still asking for both no matter how many times I have told him not to bother asking me again because the answer is no. I explained being greedy and how he was taking advantage of the situation. At the same time this is all going on, Nolie is trying to escape from the locked doors of the car shopping cart. He is kicking the doors open, sticking his hand out a slot that is the size of half his fist and jiggling the handle so it will pop open. I decide food shopping is over and we begin to head to the register. I give Jack full warning to choose 1 or else we are not getting any. So who would have guessed, I get on the line that the cashier looks at me like he doesn't no where he is or what he is doing. The lady that was in front of me looks back at me with a face that clearly was saying, "Get off the line if you know what's best for you". Well of course I don't and I unload my shopping cart and get my coupons all ready...big mistake!! Jack now begins to flip out and begins crying because he can't decide and needs both. If anyone knows Jack, he is a loud talker and an even louder crier. I mean so loud that people from 7 registers away are looking to see if someone is being slaughtered because it is that disturbing of a cry. With a smile on my face, I bend down and talk to him and explain to him that it is a hard decision but he needs to remember how lucky he is to have earned the chance to get a toy and how many children would love to get one toy. Well the more I talk to him, the louder his cry becomes. At the same time, my cashier has begun ringing up things that I am not sure where he got some of the items. My $.84 asparagus was rung up as $4 avocadoes, 3 cookie mixes were rung up but I only had 1, my 1 onion was $3, not sure how?? Okay, so my patience is about done and I am beginning to sweat. Jack has now snuck both Transformers down the conveyor belt hoping that I am so distracted with Mr. Wonderful Cashier that I will not notice that he has ended up with 2. And Mr. Nolie, he has now figured out the whole door thing and is dangling out the door with the seatbelt around his legs and wiggling out onto the floor while ripping the bags off the counter. Jack is still flipping out and I tell him that he will not be getting any of the toys because of his behavior. I then go ahead and make the mistake of giving the cashier coupons. I should have known he has no idea how to enter coupons so he flips on the light for assistance. Is he serious??? My one kid is hanging out of the car with the seatbelt acting like a tourniquet and my other child is screaming crying so loud that I think he is hyperventilating and everyone in the store is starring at me because I have this shit-grin on my face like life was perfect at that moment. Well after the help comes for coupon assistance and to fix the 9 million mistakes, we are headed for the door. Jack now begins screaming, "I need my toy, I know which one I want, HELP!!" I tell him, "I'm sorry but you lost your privledge to get a toy so it is time now to leave". As I head to the door, he runs back down the aisle to get the toy and now I have lost it. I am loudly calling his name and telling him to get back here immediately or else he will loose marbles for this unacceptable behavior. He comes back and is literally uncontrollably sobbing and screaming crying. We begin walking to the car in the pouring rain and the whole walk to the car, I am explaining how upset and embarrassed I am of his behavior etc. By the time we get in the car, he is trying to get control of himself enough to say how sorry he is and he knows how wrong it was. To be honest, I was shell-shocked. We go to the grocery store almost every other day for something and my kiddos are great. THey are so used to going with me on all my errands and they really never have behavior issues, especially Jack. I was literally exhausted!! By the time I get home, I begin to unpack and what do I find, the poor lady before me on line's coldcuts. Obviously, my fabulous cashier forgot to give them to her and I now was the lucky recipient of about $25 worth of coldcuts. Normally I would have went back immediately and returned them but even if I knew that a reward of $1000 would be given to me, I do not think I could step foot back in that store that day!! So, does anyone want to go food shopping with me next week??? I promise it will be a great experience.