Who wants to go see Santa??

Who wants to go see Santa?

Which one is better? This one from this year? Or last years??


Now, I will say, we love last years Santa. Of course, as we were leaving Yorktown, our favorite Santa was on duty. Jonathan about had a cow over not seeing our favorite Santa. We love our Yorktown Santa. He's got twin grand babies. Maybe next year.

Boys Suck!


and that is all I have to say about that.

Update!

Talked to Kerry. Jon & Jonathan are both sick now too! Kerry's been battling this stomach bug for a few days now too. Yet Bella is happily running in circles around her room and happily playing. She also took 2 three & a half hour naps today.

Could you believe that this sweet little girl landed herself in the hospital for a second time this year?

But she did. Thankfully, she's home safe, sound and on the mend. It started on Thursday, Bella started vomiting. We met Kerry and the kids for breakfast. Kerry allowed Bella to have milk, even after she vomited. I could tell she was sick, but I got some really great cuddle time in with Bella. I was the lucky one, and Bella puked all over me. Aren't I lucky? Kerry took Bella home, and we took Jonathan for the day. Bella seemed okay, only eating crackers and juice. But once Kerry gave her garlic bread, she puked again.

Friday morning Kerry went in to check on Bella, and she was still asleep at 9am. So, she let her sleep. But when Bella wasn't awake by 10am, Kerry went in and woke her. She was very lethargic and hardly moved. Kerry called her pediatrician who recommended that Kerry take Bella to the ER. So, Mom and I went to get Jonathan, only to discover that my brother wasn't going with Kerry to take Bella to the ER. I then decided to stay with Kerry to take Bella in. It's a great thing we did.

Bella was so lethargic, she didn't move when the nurses started her ivs, did a catheter test, or drew multiple blood samples. No crying, no nothing. She just laid there. A chest x-ray showed the Bella had the beginnings of pneumonia in her left lung (the lung that collapsed during her peanut incident). Bella was given IV fluids immediately, which did nothing. They admitted her and started antibiotics. Because of her earlier incident, Bella's lung is very fragile and it will take 7 years for her lung to repair itself. Doctors said it will take about a year for her lung to less susceptible to infections. So, basically, Kerry is going to have to watch her like a hawk, and notice every cold because a common cold could easily lead to pneumonia for Bella.

Like I said though, she's home now. We took Jonathan home and he was happy to see Mommy. We had taken all of Bella's dirty laundry (pukey animals, linens etc) home and got all of that washed. So tonight Bella will be able to sleep in her own bed with all her own animals. This little girl is giving us a great reason to be thankful.

Happy Halloween!

This year, I continued my tradition of taking the munchkins trick or treating with Kerry and Grandma (Kerry's Mom). This year, Jonathan was a robot (an IronMan 2 Robot), and Bella was a fairy!


Bella wouldn't sit down, she was too excited. Jonathan wanted to eat his candy. Jonathan didn't last long trick or treating. Bella got to ride in the stroller (since she's only 17 months). She got into the spirit though! When someone would hold out the bowl for her to pick her candy, she'd take big fist fulls of candy. It was too cute! One house was all decked out (Freddy Kruger, Pin Head, Jason and others were watching over the yard, while the man in the house had a fake chainsaw and a really gruesome looking mask on (with some FUN-KY hair) This wife of the house was sitting on the porch dressed like the evil witch). Bella, was not afraid! She looked at it all and was intrigued. She babbled with the witch lady. Managed to take 4 of 5 pieces of candy. Jonathan on the other hand, only made it half way up the sidewalk. I stood near the porch with the witch, and Kerry stood at the other end with the dog, but Jonathan wouldn't do it. He would not walk out, past the man with the chainsaw (who had turned it off so to not scare Jonathan). But then, Jonathan walks up behind the man, and goes "Boo!" then turns around screaming/crying and runs back to mom. It was pretty funny. Meanwhile, Bella was having a pleasant conversation with Pinhead.

There were some tears (over not being allowed to eat candy, or Bella finishing Jonathan's juice box after Jonathan said he was finished with it). But it went pretty well. It wasn't terribly cold, but both kids had long johns under their costumes. Bella had 2 layers under her costume, but she didn't appear cold. At every house Bella would wave and babble bye bye to the nice people at the door. It was cute. On the way home, Bella and I worked on saying Nana and Papa. We also showed Kerry how Bella can say Auntie.

We had no more gotten home (to Kerry's house), and I had gotten on the road to go home (to Naperville) then Jonathan says "Mommy, my feet hurt!" and the barfs all over. What a great way to end Halloween. =)

It's over

For those who haven't seen my plethora of facebook posts (updating when EACH miner came up), I've been following the mine rescue in Chile since it started. Only got a couple hours of sleep so I could watch this. It's amazing to me, all 33 miners are out of the mine after 70 days. They are safe and with their families. That is just amazing to me. Every miner that was brought out brought tears to my eyes. Even bringing out the 6 rescue workers, I was crying. Each chant of "Chi Chi Chi Le Le Le" was awesome. I love how the Chilean President told the last miner when he reached the surface, that his shift was over. I don't care if you don't believe but after this, you have to believe in something. Good work everyone.

No, I have not fallen into a well, or been eaten by aliens. Unless the aliens are disguising themselves as grad school. That's right, I've gone back to school! Benedictine cut their tuition by over half for their adult cohort programs, so i decided now's the time to get some more education. I am trying to get an ESL endorsement. At the same time, I'm taking a class through the county to finish my middle school endorsement. So my weeks now look like this: Monday night, class is Bloomingdale from 4:30 to 8:30. Wednesday night, class from 4:00 to 8:30. My Wednesday night class also comes with 4 hours of online work plus homework on top of that! It's good times. The great thing about this ESL endorsement is that there's one class every 6 weeks. We have to complete 6 classes. So by June, I'll have an endorsement! It's crazy. I've also started working for The Reading Tree. I am tutoring students in whatever subject they need help in as well as teaching ACT prep classes. So as you can see, i'm a bit busy. But before I got so busy, I managed to go with Nana and the babies to the pool. They were too cute.

A Funny Story

Mom & I went to the zoo the other day with Kerry and the kids. Before we go to the zoo, we always go out and eat somewhere because zoo food is AWFUL! So we go to this little place down the street from their house for some breakfast. Now, I always get something HUGE so that I can feed Bella off my plate. So, I got the Strawberry French Toast. It comes with 8 pieces of french toast with a strawberry sauce. While waiting for our food, Bella ate some crackers, a couple of those seaseme seed bread sticks, and she had 1/2 of a croissant. But she STILL wasn't full, so, I cut up 2 pieces of my french toast and Bella just chews em up and eats em. I think only 1 piece landed on the floor. I then started to cut up strawberries and feeding them to her. I gave her a bite and then went back and tried to eat a piece myself but she opened her mouth wide at me and then leaned over in her high chair towards me (a sure sign that she wants more [unless she's going to puke]). So I keep feeding her strawberries until they are ALL gone. She fusses some at me and I just look at her and start cleaning her off. I start talking to her and say to her "You're not a baby, you're just a strawberry!" And my goodness, next thing I knew, Jonathan stood up on the bench and says to me "She is not a strawberry Auntie! She's my baby sister and her name is Bella." He then sits down and finishes his glass of water. I about died of laughter.

I'm a HORRIBLE Auntie

I'm such a bad Auntie. Bella turned one over a month ago and I haven't told ya'll about it! I need a slap on the wrist. (I feel better now).

June 2, Bella turned one! We had a fun little party at Jon & Kerry's. We brought pizza over for dinner and a cake.


We all enjoyed dinner but the best part was the cake. Bella LOVED her cake (as any little girl does).






Once she was done eating/smashing her cake, it was time to clean off baby (and mommy).


Somehow, in cleaning off baby, everyone else got covered in cake. The more I think back on it, we should have just let the dog clean her off. Bella opened lots of presents and had lots of fun. She fell sound asleep early and slept in the next morning. I can hardly believe she's one and that Jonathan will be 3 at the end of July. Can we put a stop to this and keep them little forever??

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Home sweet home...or it was. For as much as I didn't really enjoy high school, its still that place that has those weird/bizarre memories. Like going off the diving board in a garbage can during Kayaking, although the box was much more fun. But anyways, NCHS is being "remodeled". The SPS hallway has been torn down and a lot of the 3 story wing has been gutted (or torn down to studs). But the day before demolition started, the general public was allowed to tour the school.


Our class's mural. Ah the memories of our class. Not many good memories. My favorite is graduating in the POURING rain. Best idea ever! Some of my favorite places were:

The Little Theater

The High Ropes Course/Rock Wall

The murals painted on the walls, especially this one.

The mural in Mrs. Jarman's bathroom in the pit.


What's left of the tile in the long hallway/commons (mmmm...asbestos)

Mr. Paulsen was my tour guide. He's my hero.

Oh NCHS, you'll always have a special place in my heart.

School's Out

Wohoo!! School's out for summer! Yesterday was my last day of school (well, for 2ish weeks until summer school starts). But YEAH! No more school! I know the kids are super excited but so am I! How did I spend my first day off you ask? I bet you can't guess.





I spent my day with the kiddies. It's hard for me to believe that this summer brings Bella to her first birthday (Wednesday June 2) and Jonathan to his 3rd birthday! But, it's a perfect way to welcome summer.

Keep watching for my trip down memory lane as I visited NCHS before they demo'd it. Stay tuned!

Betty White is my Hero

I love Betty White. I thought she was hilarious on Golden Girls (even though at first, I was too little to understand all her humor). But last night, she hosted Saturday Night Live (which I haven't watched in many years), but if Betty was going to host it, then I was going to have to watch it. My favorite skit was the census skit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkQxZltcljc The best part, is that Kerry (my sister in law...Bella & Jonathan's mommy) is a census worker! All you really need to know is.....I LOVE Betty White. Happy Mother's Day!

Bella's Healthscare

Well, now that the scare is over, I feel like I should tell everyone about the scare Bella gave us. On Saturday, Bella found a peanut in Jonathan's room. Being the curious 10 month old she is, she put it in her mouth. She choked on it. Kerry called 911 and the paramedics came. They couldn't find anything wrong with her, but upon Kerry's insistence, the paramedics took her to Hinsdale Hospital. The ER doctors proceeded to send her home. She was lethargic and acting strange all day. By the time Jon got home, he insisted that they go back to the hospital. By the time she got back to the hospital around midnight, she was very sick. The ER doctors called Loyola hospital to see if Loyola could accept Bella because Hinsdale was not equipped to handle her. The peanut was lodged into Bella's throat. Loyola's doctor could not make it to the hospital until 2am and the ER doctors said she didn't have until 2 am. So the doctors called Children's Memorial and they would take Bella immediately. Bella was then transported via medivac (helicopter) from Hinsdale to Childrens.

By the time she got to Children's she had been intabated, and the peanut had got into her lung. The doctors at Children's were able to use a scope and go into her lung to extract the peanut. They then discovered that the peanut had torn a hole in her esophagus. By the time Jon called me Sunday morning (when we were on our way home from Florida), he was in hysterics and things were still touch and go. By early afternoon on Easter, Bella's breathing tube was taken out. She was still being fed by feeding tube so that the hole didn't get infected.

Jonathan was being bounced around from different family members and was very confused. By the time we got home last night, there was nothing we could do. Bella was breathing on her own but she was groggy and very upset. They did more tests this morning (Monday morning) with a dye contrast to find out how the hole was closing. The test revealed that Bella was doing well. The hole was closed. The next test was to give Bella a bottle and see how she tolerated that.

Meanwhile, we went and picked up Jonathan from his grandparents and brought him to our house. He talked a lot about how Bella was sick and in the hospital. He desperately wanted Mommy. He was very good for us and we packed a lot into a day while we waited to hear how Bella was.

At 6:30, Jon called to tell me that Bella had been released from Children's! They were on their way to come get Jonathan before they went home. Bella tolerated her bottle and didn't vomit any of it up. The doctors say she'll be hoarse & have a nasty cough for the next few days but she's back to her regular self. She'll go to her pediatrician Tuesday for a follow up but right now things look good.

Our family is grateful for all the prayers for our little girl. Thank you to everyone for all your support. We will forever be indebted to everyone for all the love and support. And just so everyone can see how Bella is, here's a little peak!

Happy Easter

Seeing as how this weekend is Easter (and we won't be home to celebrate Bella's first Easter), I thought the least I could do is post the super cute photo from our trip to the Easter Bunny! Neither of them cried this time! Bella was intrigued by the bunny and had no issues with sitting on his lap.


Although, she refuses to keep her socks on, she does not mind having a bow in her hair! The little girl is also crawling now. She likes to get into mischief, going where ever you don't want her to go (under benches, in-between fences etc.) That's my girl!


Bella also decided that it was time to show off her newest trick to Auntie.





But Jonathan got a treat as we were leaving. New monkey rainboots!

Happy Easter

Greetings from.....

Greetings! We have arrived here in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida! Thank goodness it's Spring Break. I don't know if I could have taken much more of the cold, snow and rain!! We got here this evening and it was in the lower 70's. I know, so sad! This year, it didn't rain while we drove through Georgia. Although Mom kept saying the whole time, "Have I said lately how much I HATE driving through Georgia!". We got stuck in some traffic, some construction and people just drive like maniacs around there. But we're here. I'll post photos after I have gotten a good nights sleep and taken some pictures of our view of the marina.

Happy Birthday Papa!

Well, Dad's birthday came and went. He's now 3/4 of a century old. He didn't ask for much. He wanted a funny card and a marble cake with chocolate frosting. Easy enough! But Jon & Kerry brought the kids over a few days later to help continue the celebration. Would you believe, we put Bella on Papa's lap and look what happened:




Nothing says "Happy Birthday" quite like putting 2 of your grand kids on your lap and getting your FIRST photo with the two of them. Bella didn't cry once for him. She was in awe of him at first and then she realized that Big Bird had joined her. Jonathan only smiles if you tell him to 'cheese the camera'. But I'm thrilled that Bella has seemed to get over her fear of Papa.

Now, will she still be fearful of the Easter Bunny? Only time with tell.

It's been too long!

It has been too long since I have last visited my playground. So, let me start with a re-cap. When I last saw ya'll, it was time for Christmas! We did LOTS of baking in the days leading up to Christmas. For the first year ever, I made thin mint cookies (yes, like the girl scouts but BETTER! and cheaper).

I also decorated Gingerbread people. Mom baked them, I decorated them. I only had to decorate about 40 of them this year (compared to 80 or so previous years). This year I made our people into family members.

This is Karen's Hawaiian dressed Gingerbread woman. Notice the big red necklace. Hehe.

This is Chris' Gingerbread Man in his Hawaiian swimsuit. Both Chris and Karen loved their personalized cookies. Mom made Whoopie Pies as well. I was not brave enough to try them, but they looked good.
Jonathan and Bella (plus the rest of the family) came over for Christmas. Jonathan had a great time, he was very cranky though. Not nearly enough sleep plus all the excitement didn't go well with him. Bella slept through most of it. I managed to get her to sleep right before dinner (only after she babbled through ALL of Papa's prayer and breaking out into a high pitch squeal at the end). She slept through opening presents but got up in time to open a few of her own.



I found the greatest shirt for Jonathan to wear on Christmas. It says: "Dear Santa, For Christmas I want: A puppy, A red fire engine, A blue bike and P.S. Put my sister on the naughty list." How could I resist?! I don't know how i'll top it next year, but everyone agreed it was darn funny.

Once Bella woke up, she was one happy little girl. A nap did her good.

Bella was chewing on everything! She was cutting 2 teeth on Christmas, bringing her total up to 4. She soaked her Christmas bib in drool, so her favorite Winnie the Pooh bib was put on. All day, she tried to get both her hands into her mouth.

Jonathan joined Mommy and Bella. I love this picture of the 3 of them.

The day wasn't complete without trying to put Bella on Papa's lap. She still screamed for Papa at Christmas. Silly girl.

New Year's Eve!



I rang in New Year's with Mark and some of his friends. It was a fun time. We played Wii, ate a lot, played Apples to Apples and had some general good time. I was, unfortunately, getting sick. I ended up falling asleep about 2am and sleeping until 3:30 in the afternoon. I spent the rest of my winter break sick and went back to work sick!

I rang in my 25th birthday on the 25th and had a great time. I spent it with the family. Mark came out to my big birthday dinner that we had on Sunday. It was the first time that Papa held Bella and she didn't cry!

And now, i'm working like crazy and find myself exhausted most nights. I'm excited to watch the Olympics, but it's making me think a LOT about my aunt and my cousins who are still live in Vancouver.

Alright, now you are caught up. I will try not to let it go so long.