Melissa’s Blog

This morning the kids headed back to pre school. Such a stress for me getting them out the door and having to clean up for the cleaners as well. They were so excited to be going back to school. I stayed with them for a little while just to make sure they were ok since they hadn’t been for a couple weeks. They finally told me to leave! I went to the gym, then headed out to look for shoes. Justin needed formal shoes and I wanted a new pair too. The kids said they had so much fun at pre school. We stayed outside and played for a bit. We came home and had lunch, guess snack wasn’t that great, as they are usually not hungry after pre school. Grammy called and said she was home then Grammy called and said her car wouldn’t start. We headed over there to drive Grammy around for her errands. She packed and got ready to go to Canada. The kiddos played and daddy met us at Grammy’s. We all went to dinner which was nice. It was almost like we didn’t have a care in the world, even though we were all thinking about Henry. Todd called and luckily the cancer isn’t in Henry’s brain. Todd just mentioned Henry was cranky and who would blame him. Meghan is able to go to the hospital and play with her brother. After dinner the kiddos seemed tired so I took them home. I told stories on the way home and sang songs. We read books and the kids are sleeping. Grammy leaves tomorrow morning for Canada.

This morning we had Staci babysit. I had an app’t with the endocrinologist and I wanted Bret to come with me. This doctor is amazing, he is really helping me. The kids had a great time with Staci. They went to castle park and rode their bikes in the culdasac. It was so weird coming home and seeing my kiddos outside without me. But I am glad they love Staci and had so much fun. I also ran to the gym. I felt so bad for being gone and wanted to spend time with the kiddos. So we played Candyland and just spent some time together. I let them watch TV for a bit so I could figure out the rest of my day. We went to do an errand and then to the grocery store. Justin wanted to ride in the car cart at the grocery store while Nicole wanted to push her baby in her doll stroller. It took forever in the grocery store, with the kids going to the bathroom, etc. Oh well we got what we needed. When we got home, the kids really wanted to drive their cars. They love them. I didn’t want them to ride too long as it was cold. We came in and the kiddos helped me make dinner. After dinner it was bath time. Nicole wanted her baby doll to take a bath with her. After bath the kids wanted flying burrito (dad wraps them in a towel like a burrito-holds onto the towel and flies them around). They love it but they are getting way too big for it. We read lots of books.

Update on Henry-he has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Thankfully this is the most minor of all leukemia. He still has a long road ahead of him. Henry starts chemo tomorrow, poor little guy. Grammy should be back in California tomorrow.

I write this because we just found out our nephew Henry has been diagnosed with Leukemia. We are so sad and just waiting to hear more info. We were so excited to go to Canada in April. We will still be going but it won’t be the same if Henry is ill. We are keeping positive thoughts and just wish we could be there. Grammy is leaving NZ hopefully today and heading to Canada. So we have counted our blessings and hugged our kids a million times. we played games with the kiddos, Candy Land and the fishing game then we played outside for a bit today. The kids drove their cars, rode bikes and scooters while Bret and I worked in the garage a bit. Someday we will have the garage in order. But nothing seems as important as Henry today. Bret helped his mom make plane reservations to come home. The kiddos watched Thomas and Curious George. Nicole was loving seeing Rosie the train on Thomas. After we headed to the Spectrum. We did the usual stuff, carasoul and train ride. The skating rink was still open. Nicole wants to skate so badly. We went into the Mac store and the kiddos played on the computers and went to the pet store too. On the way home we stopped at Orchard Park and the kiddos had fun playing. Justin was loving the swing. Nicole was pretending to be a train conductor. I had to sit in the caboose (which I barely fit) and eat cake (made out of sand). After dinner, the kiddos just climbed on us. It was fun to hear them giggle and be so playful. They also put on slippery socks (no writing on the bottom) and ice skated around the downstairs. They went right to sleep tonight and we actually got them down by 8:00. Todd called tonight and Henry will have a bone marrow bioposy tomorrow, so hopefully we will know more tomorrow.

This morning we started off slow. I don’t even think we ate breakfast until 9:30ish. We were upstairs for a long time. The kids were busy putting coins into their banks. I moved the megablocks upstairs and the kids finally noticed them, so they built big towers and castles for princesses. We ran to Costco as we remembered the kids need passports for Canada. We shopped a bit too and the kids loved the samples. It was getting close to lunch, so we just had lunch at Costco (hot dogs). After we went to Lakeshore Learning Center for the craft and to get a few things for the easel. The kids made the cutest snowmen. Justin’s is full of glue, he loves to squeeze glue out. Nicole rested and Justin and I went out to drive his car. But Nicole didn’t want to miss out on the fun, so her and daddy came out. The kids love driving their cars on the greenbelt, daddy has them race. They love it, big smiles on their face. The rain forced us to come inside, so the kids used the easel. We got dry erase markers and they call the eraser-spongebob. Then I gave the kiddos the bath. Nicole brought a baby in and it was so cute watching her talk to it. She would dunk it and hold her under water-at least she told the baby to hold her breath. Everytime the baby got water in her face, Nicole needed a towel to wipe it. Justin cleaned his train and Nicole washed the baby. I think I had to warm up the tub three times as they took such a long bath. After bath, we decided to have some alone time. Daddy and Justin headed over to Northwood Pizza to play games. Justin was so excited and waited all day to play games. Nicole and I stayed home. She wanted to make cupcakes. We had so much fun doing this, so easy with one kid. While the cupcakes were cooking, I filled up the kitchen sink with water and bubbles. We had so much fun playing in it, water everywhere. Then grandma/pa came over to give the kiddos paper for the easel. We then headed to meet Justin and daddy for pizza. Grandma/pa came too. When we got home, we had cupcakes-the kiddos hung out with grandma/pa for a bit then upstairs to read books and bed.

Well it has been a year since I started blogging, I can’t believe how fast a year has gone by. Bret and I are getting older…I remember when my parents were 40 and I thought that was old and we are almost there. The kids are doing great, amazing us all the time. I feel very lucky as I married the love of my life and I have two healthy happy kids. This year I am looking forward to our 10 year anniversary. My only resolution like every year is to lose weight.

I went to the Spectrum to work out. The kids did so well in the kid’s club. After we got the kiddos skateboard dog/kitty out of the car and the kids pulled them around. Nicole pretended her dog had to poop, she even asked for a bag. We didn’t stay at the spectrum too long as it was cold. Then we played at home for a while. I was pretending to be Shamu and Nicole was pretending to feed me fish. I even got fish for doing tricks. Justin played with trains. Cindy just sat next to me and slept. I think Cindy goes home today. I miss our dog so much but don’t think I am ready for another one. But it was fun to watch the kids play with the dog. We played at home for a bit then Justin really wanted to go to the mall and get on the train we couldn’t go on yesterday. He so wanted to go, so off to Laguna Hills Mall. They both loved the tractor train. It was cute, then we walked the mall a bit. On the way home, Nicole liked the car in front of me. When I told her it was a VW bug, she told me it was a car. It is so gloomy out, we came home and just watched some TV. I needed a break! Daddy came home early which was a nice surprise. We played games, Don’t Spill The Beans and Candyland. After dinner daddy put their new easel together. They were so excited. They only got to draw with crayons and markers for a few minutes as it was getting close to going upstairs. Nicole wanted her Minnie Bank, so got Justin’s Mickey one down too. Got a bunch of change and the kiddos had so much fun filling their banks, so cute. Doing story time I mentioned the pizza place (Northwood pizza) and Justin immediately said we haven’t been to the pizza place in a while. He loves that place. The kiddos went right to bed, but I hear Nicole coughing.

We were awoken at midnight with people outside celebrating the New Year. This morning we played at home for a while. The kids wanted to go outside in the backyard. It was cold but we bundled them up and out they went. They had fun with the lawnmower and truck. We ran to Wal-Mart to return one of the electric car batteries. Wal-Mart was empty, it was great. We let the kiddos play and have fun. They rode bikes and looked at toys. We returned one of the Hot Wheel toys we got Justin for Christmas, so instead we bought another piece to GeoTrax, the helicopter. The kids love it, but we will see how long they actually play with it. I felt like I needed to walk Cindy, so we went around the block. Daddy used his trikke and the kids biked. I could barely keep up. After the kiddos drove their cars, they had a blast racing the cars on the greenbelt. We ran to the Laguna Hills Mall to JCPenny to look for a suit for Justin. The kids were so sad as there was a train and it was closed. They wanted to wait there until it opened. They didn’t care we told them it would be all night. We went to Ruby’s for dinner-the kids liked the planes and their cardboard train. Thank goodness by the time we left the mall, things were closed. The kids get easily distracted with the lights, the coin operated rides, etc. We came home and read lots of books and told lots of stories, kiddos went right to bed.

Felt like a busy day. We went to the Spectrum so I could work out. The kids love the workout place. After we ran some errands at the Spectrum, at Target and Carters. Then all of a sudden it was getting close to lunch time. We ran to the grocery store and the kids had so much fun with the little carts. Came home had lunch then made the kids rest a bit. For rest I let the kids watch Elmo’s World. All of a sudden I hear Justin laughing at the TV, so cute. It was about Mr. Noodle sharing a swing. Then we headed off to My Gym for the drop off. The kids were so excited to go. When I left them there Justin was getting on the stairs and swinging from a rope with a big smile on his face. I tried to go clothes shopping for me while the kids were at My Gym. I came home for a bit and walked Cindy. Time alone flew by and I went to get the kiddos. I try to get there early so I can watch the kids play. They had a blast at My Gym. They were doing the space swing-the kids were hanging and going really fast. They also went backwards. Then the bubble storm, it was great. We came home and got ready for New Years Eve. We spent it at friend’s house. It was so nice, we had a great dinner and adult conversation. The kids all played really well. Happy New Years Eve 🙂

I am so sad Bret is working this week, I wish he was off. But he is getting caught up on things. This morning we went to Mission Viejo mall to story time at Pottery Barn Kids. Something we can never do due to pre school. It was cute. My kiddos did so well sitting there listening. We played in the play area for a bit and just walked aroun the mall. It was fun; I even tried to shop a bit for me but too hard with the kiddos. We had lunch together then came home. It was so nice out we played outside for a while. The kids “mowed” the lawn and pushed the truck around in the back yard. Then the kiddos watched some TV and rested a bit. I finished packing up Christmas and cleaned up the living room a bit. We ran to Kohl’s as the kids needed a few more clothes. Then we did the usual driving of cars. The kiddos grabbed their scooters and scooted while taking CIndy the dog for a walk. The kids also rode their bikes, Justin fell though 🙁 After dinner dad and the kids played games while I watched. We went upstairs and I had the kiddos laughing so hard. It took forever to dress them as I was doing it in such silly ways. Then we couldn’t find Justin’s teddy. He decided he would sleep with a Thomas train but then we found teddy. The kids are pretty wired, dad just went upstairs to get them to sleep. Nicole was trying to talk to daddy about Thomas and she couldn’t get out what she wanted to say and finally said I don’t know what I am talking about. So funny!

This morning I needed to get a blood test. The kids were such good kids while they were there with me. We had about a 40 minute wait too. We read books and played with the drawing toy then had a snack. I loved that people commented how well behaved my kiddos were. We came home and I ate, I was so hungry. Then the kiddos rode their bikes to castle park. We met some friends there from pre school. It is always hard for me to talk to people at castle park and keep an eye on my kiddos. We came home and had lunch. I caught up on laundry. Nicole was on the potty and I didn’t get in there fast enough to read her books so Justin did. So cute, she kept on screaming read my another one. I love when they interact. They watched TV for a bit, Thomas and Barney. Justin was pretty sleepy and took a nap on our new shaggy rug in the family room. Nicole and I put away laundry and she was playing with the Zoe puppet and Cindy.

Luckily Cindy is a very patient dog. After Justin woke up I ave the kiddos a bath. They just love bath time and so cute to watch them. We took Cindy for a walk. Nicole was so cute wanting to walk Cindy. Justin just loved walking and looking at the Christmas decorations. He just wanted to drive his car, he saw no reason to walk the dog. They drove their cars and had a blast. Finally dark and cold out we came in. We had dinner, Justin ate a lot and with the nap today maybe a big growth spurt is coming. The kids played trains after dinner then we headed upstairs. The kiddos were kind of awake. We brought Nicole’s new doll crib upstairs so her baby could sleep up there. Both kids have been playing with the mobile. They are up a little late-I hope they go to sleep soon.

This morning we decided to go to the OC Marketplace. It was so empty there, it was nice. We got lots of fruits and veggies and a new area rug for our family room. We were there much longer than we thought we would be. So we headed over to Grammy’s and had lunch. The kids played and rode trikes. I was surprised they rode the trikes since getting the two wheelers. Sharon met us over there as well. She wanted to see the kids and give them Chanukkah presents. She gave them really cute pillowcases, pink kitty and blue dog. The kids were as entertaining as ever. We got home and I am dog sitting for Cindy again. Our house still feels chaotic from the holidays. I tried to get it under control since our friend from college, Tom came over. Dad took down the Christmas tree 🙁 The kids liked Tom. We decided to go to Dave and Busters so the kids could have fun too. Of course, Justin finishes dinner first and says lets play games over and over again. We drove cars, ski ball, and circus games, etc. He has the cutest smile while playing the driving video games. I always think we have enough time there then we always end up rushing out of there. Nicole wanted to hold Tom’s hand. The kids went to bed really easily. Then we just hung out with our good friend Tom. It is nice to catch up with him. Wish we could see each other more often.