{catching up #3.... a disaster}

Before I move on to April in the next post I thought I'd prove how busy March was so you might have a better understanding as to why I took so long updating the blog...

In addition to Gerard's surgery and my parents being here, we had a minor disaster in the house... one day in mid-March our washing machine died. Overflowed, to be exact. Somehow the machine didn't "know" to stop when it was full so it simply flowed out the top for several minutes.

Did I mention that our washer and dryer are upstairs?

Over the living room?

Yup....

Morgan and I were playing in the living room when she said "Mommy, what's that sound?" I stopped and listened to what sounded like rain above my head. Immediately I knew it was the washing machine, so I ran upstairs to stop it, but not before it soaked into the floor and ruined our living room ceiling.

I won't bore you with the details of me sopping up gallons of water from the floor, placing buckets all over the living room and making frantic phone calls. I'll just let you know that my friend washed all my clothes (the ones that were IN the washing machine at the time AND the towels I used to soak up all the water), we got the washing machine fixed, our friends/neighbors who own a drywall company fixed the ceiling after everything dried out, and we painted the ceiling, the walls and got new carpet (the carpet part was planned before this disaster). Phew. Good as new. Better, actually.

Please keep your fingers crossed that this DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN. PLEASE.

{catching up #2}

Grandma and Grandpa came in March so they could be here when Gerard had his tonsils and adenoids out. It was a big help having them here -- they watched Morgan while we were with Gerard during his surgery, and they kept both kids occupied and happy the whole visit.

Gerard was pretty out of it the first day, and spent much of it sleeping on the couch.

He was much happier the next few days, and spent most of the time in his pajamas playing with Grandma or Grandpa, eating popsicles, and watching funny videos of old songs on You Tube.

Gerard is doing great without his tonsils. He sleeps better and seems much more rested in the mornings. I only wish we had done the procedure sooner.

{catching up #1}

To avoid the risk of being further threatened by friends, family and neighbors, I thought it prudent to start posting again. One of the (many) reasons I haven't posted in a while is because I've fallen so far behind and the task of catching everyone up on my life seemed so daunting. So, to alleviate some of the stress, I thought I'd post several short updates, starting with this one from back in...OMG....March....

Being the good Jewish family that we are, we had a nice St. Patrick's Day celebration, complete with reubens and green milk. The kids loved it. Nothing like a little food coloring to brighten a 3-year-old's day!

Be on the lookout for the next update!

{so sorry!}

Please forgive me for my brief (OK, not so brief) blogging haitus. We've had a lot going on here. Our neighborhood garage sale is next weekend, but after that you can expect regular posting again. I have a lot of pictures to share!

{quick news update}

Just a quick update.... Gerard had his tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy yesterday and he did great! It only took 30 minutes and he was in recovery for about an hour. The doctor said his tonsils were enormous and his right tonsil in particular was 3 times the size of a normal tonsil. She said the nurses gasped when she took such a large tonsil out of such a small boy. They had to suction "snot" out of his nose -- his tonsils were so big they were blocking anything from draining, so he was living with a perpetually stuffed up nose. Poor baby!!! She told us to expect drastic changes -- better sleep, much better breathing, better attitude, and expect him to grow 3-4 inches by next school year. Crazy stuff!!!!

He was a bit confused and disoriented when he woke up and was in a little bit of pain, so that was hard to watch, but once we got home he was pretty good. They told us to give him the hydrocodone every 4 hours for the pain the first few days (even wake him at night) but I don't think he'll need it that often now. He ate and drank like a champ yesterday and slept through the night (except when we had to wake him). The hardest part of all this may well be keeping him home for 10 days! I think he'll be climbing the walls by day 4. Big Gerard is probably going to take him to see a movie on Monday, so at least he'll get out of the house.

We're very proud of him!

We're also very proud of Morgan.... she FINALLY pooped in the potty!! Hallelujah!!!!!

{omg}

***SQUEAL***

{the latest}

I hope you like the new blog banner and colors. I took a few pictures this morning before school and wanted to include them in the new banner. What do you think of Gerard's long hair? In theory he likes it (he calls it his "hockey hair") but in reality he HATES when I have to brush it. We'll see how long it lasts. Big Gerard and I think he's headed in the direction of Tim Urban from American Idol:

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It's official... Little Gerard has sleep apnea. We went back to the ENT and she scheduled his tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy for March 26. He is actually pretty excited about all the positive effects of having his tonsils and adenoids out: better, more restful sleep; the ability to breathe through his nose; most likely a growth spurt (you secrete growth hormone while you sleep); more stamina for sports (since he'll be able to breathe better); etc, etc, etc. He was, however, nervous about a few things. First, he was upset at the prospect of missing school during the 10-day recovery. We took care of that by scheduling his surgery on the first day of spring break so he won't have to miss any school. (Plus Grandma and Grandpa will be here.) He is excited about the ice cream and milk shakes that he'll be drinking, but was upset when the doctor told him he had to eat lots of salty junk food like potato chips and french fries. With a sad look on his face he turned to me and said, "Do I have to eat french fries?" I don't know where he came from......

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Last week for my birthday Gerard brought home a chocolate cake. The kids hated it, as you can see here:

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I almost hate to say it out loud, but I believe winter is over!!!! Last week we were playing outside in the snow and this week it has been 50 degrees and the snow is gone! Good news for me, bad news for our backyard ice rink.

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Last weekend was the start of the US National Curling tournament. Gerard was so enthralled with curling during the Olympics that we thought we'd take him to see it in person. He seemed to enjoy it, but Morgan was more interested in running up and down the stands.

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Last but not least, Gerard had to "Tell about a time when you lost a tooth" in school. He hasn't lost any teeth yet, so this is what he wrote. (He spelled everything on his own!)