Long Needed Update

Well, Friday I had my Wisdom teeth out, and it became a hellish ordeal. The whole ride back from the oral surgeon, we needed to continue to pull over left and right so I could get sick. It was horrid.
Will came home around 5pm from work, and my mother took me to her house, and got all of my medications filled.

I thought I was going to die. It sounds dramatic, but with my fear of dentists, and the way I felt, it was the closest thought in my mind. Needless to say, I am clearly alive.

I had Saturday and Sunday of recovery at my parents house which helped a TON! Especially because my face was so swollen it would have been downright scary for the kids to see. Camden still knows I have a "boo boo" because of the large bruise I have...

Either way, I am so over this whole thing. I have another good week of recovery, and then tons more things on the schedule for the next two weeks...

This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is the Passion for Birth Workshop I am hosting in Milford to help women locally become Lamaze Educated Childbirth Educators. I planned this earlier in the year, and I am so excited it is finally here.

Then I am home with the kids for barely 3 and a half days, and I am off to NYC for 4 days. I leave Thursday the 5th (Dad's birthday) for the hotel, and meeting with the Publishing company... Oh ya, Did I mention I pitched a book deal to a publishing company, and they wanted to meet with me in Manhattan? BOOOYA!
So then Friday the BlogHer conference starts, tours of NYC, the Martha Stewart Blogger party I was invited, to, and all the other bells and whistles I am so excited about....
Wouldn't you be?

Big News! I got a JOB!

Yes, you heard that right! I got a job! One where I am going to be getting paid bi-weekly, real, steady income! Best part of all? I am still going to be at home with my kids, and doing what I love. Blogging!
I got picked up by the company Go Mama Go Designs, that is sponsoring me for BlogHer, and I worked a deal to be their Social Media Director. What exactly does that entail?
Running their blog, twitter account, facebook fan page, reaching out to other bloggers to get them writing about their products, etc.

I am super excited. When they sponsored me for BlogHer, they sent us a free crib set, one of their feature products, The Wonder Bumper. Ben is working on sleeping in the crib after a year of the co-sleeper, and playpen, our only hang up now is we need another a/c unit for the boys room. But in the mean time, we set this up on his crib :

How cute? Not only is it totally stylish, but it helps prevent SIDS, and is a breathable bumper, unlike traditional crib bumpers. An amazing idea!
I am so happy to be working with this company, and in even more exciting news, I have two more companies that want to work with me on the same capacity.
I think 2010 is totally the year of Mama Elwood (as the guys at the FD call me).

We have had so much crappy luck, things are really starting to change, and I am so excited!

Some Days Pictures Make You Smile...

With not so hot news circling the family, and a bummer morning for me, I needed to post some cute pictures of the kids to get me out of the mini rut I am in, and know that no matter the negatives that take place in life, there still are daily positives in the form of our children and grand children...

Although they are messy, and it was the end of the day, they certainly showed each other some great brotherly love!

They are both Hams for the camera

Camden don't look so serious!

Ben loves Daddy!

It is the moments like this that make me so grateful for life.

In Tooth News....

I finally went to the Dentist yesterday, and it is not that great of news... Long story short I have to have my impacted Wisdom Teeth out ASAP! I have an appointment for Next Friday to get them out, as well as the problem tooth.

I am pretty scared, I have never had dental work that I needed to be put to sleep for. And I am not a fan of the dentist to begin with. The only positive of all of this? I will be able to fix my 4 front teeth permanently now. Without having to worry about my wisdom teeth shifting my teeth again like what happened.

Here is to a year of dentist stuff I have been putting off...

Crawling Kid!

Most of my friends and family already know the awesome news that Benjamin is NOW crawling, but I can't believe I forgot to update and post this with pictures!

Last week after our meeting with Birth to Three, and setting up our care plan, including getting Benjamin mobile... he started crawling that night! Of course, he knew the pressure was on. Haha!

So here is a cute little picture of Squishy crawling around my mothers house from Sunday afternoon.

Beach Bums

Yesterday Camden, Myself, Will, and my friends Steph, and Amanda hung out on the beach for a little bit.. Ben stayed at my mothers house, and took a nap. I must get one of those little tents for him, as well as an umbrella so we want make this beach trip stuff a weekly thing.


We had a blast! I got a nice tan, and Camden even made a new friend when we were at the beach. Her name is Madison, and lives around the corner from my moms house. Since Mom isn't working anymore, we certainly will be spending more time there.

I am pretty bummed I left my camera behind, but I did snap a couple good ones of Will & myself. Next time I told him to bring a hat or sunglasses...

Update on the Boys

Lots of updates for the little ones...

Wednesday night, Benjamin crawled, and he has not stopped. He was playing next to the sliding doors in the living room, which is one of his favorite places, and he spotted his juice cup on the other side of the room. Off he went. Mid crawl I ran to grab the camera and got back just in time for him to enjoy a nice long drink out of his sippy cup. I was over the moon, and thankfully Will caught it with me. It was a great family moment since we have both been stressed about his delays, the early intervention therapy, and everything else.
He hasn't stopped going. Anything he sees that he wants, off he goes. His favorite toy to follow by far is his big brother though.

Updates for Camden?
He went to his pediatrician check up yesterday. He is 27.8 pounds, and still a peanut in the weight department. I am not surprised, and looking back now, I know I was right when I didn't worry too much about his weight gain as an infant. Ben is going to pass him right by shortly. LOL
He is hitting all his milestones, and our pediatrician expressed how floored she was with his speech. He is a year ahead of himself with his talking. I am not surprised considering the way everyone comments about it constantly.
He then decided he was going to tell Dr. D about all of our fire trucks at Daddy's fire house. He spouted off
"Ladder One, Engine Two, Engine Four, Squad Five, Tower Seven, and Truck Nine" she was hysterical at how cute it was.

I totally have been wearing my proud Mommy hat the past week. These guys have given me so much joy, and happiness and so much to be proud of.
All the hard work is paying off.

As for my other boy, I mean Will.
I am super proud of him. Tomorrow is his state practical exam, and then in two weeks he will be sitting down for his written exam. I have NO doubt in my mind he is going to pass with flying colors, then we are off to applying for paid departments!

He has worked so hard since January to help better our family in the long run, and do something he has always wanted to do, and loves. It certainly has been an awesome year for us.

On a side note, I had a business meeting for a local business I am going to be partnering up on in the next 12 months. We have a ton of work ahead of us, but it is going to be so super awesome in the long term. I can work, bring my kids to work, I will have my OWN business, be my OWN boss, and have awesome freedoms. Life truly comes together amazingly when you never expect it.

One Day At A Time

One day at a time right? That is what my parents always told me, and that is how I live now. I may get stressed out, but hey, tomorrow will always be a better day.

In the past seven months, our family has taken a different turn, but it is certainly for the better. With Will's class, he will now be able to start applying for paid departments in the next 12 months, which is a huge positive, and something we have both been wanting him to be able to do. Big Score!

He will also be taking a 6 week course in September/October to become licensed to drive the fire trucks. Another huge deal because there are only a hand full of drivers here in Shelton. I am super proud of him and all he has accomplished on top of being an amazing full time father and husband. If you told me almost three years ago we would be where we are today, I would have never believed you.

We are now moving forward in so many areas, including in the career paths we are most interested in. I am able to stay at home with the boys, and still have an income from writing. It is no six figures, but it makes a difference, especially with the popularity my blog is taking and the sponsors I have behind me now. I never thought my blog would ever turn this leaf.

Ben will be having his therapy once a week. Although we are optimistic that he may not need it after his 6 month evaluation in January since he crawled today for the first time. A good friend of ours Steph chimed in and said "I swear that child is just lazy" which is what is looks like if you know him. LOL! He was sitting by the sliding doors, and he saw his juice cup across the floor, and he went right for it. I saw in awe with my jaw on the floor as he crawled right over, sat up, picked the cup up and drank. GASP!

Anyways, I just wanted to make a positive post. Life is good and I am so blessed to have two beautiful, healthy, and happy boys, on top of an awesome husband. Who could want more?

Benjamin's Treatment Plan

Today we sat down with Ben's Birth to Three worker and wrote out his treatment plan for the next six months. We can pull it and review it at any point in time, but it must be reviewed again in six months.

Some of our goals include :

• Benjamin becoming mobile (crawling, cruising & walking)
• Having Benjamin using expressive language for his wants and needs, whether it be orally or through baby sign language.
• Using his own hands together meaning at the same time and the same tasks.

Simple goals I easily see in reach over the next few months. I don't think we are going to need a full six months to complete this. Maybe the speech but certainly not the physical developments.

They gave me the results from Ben's initial evaluation, his scores, and how the scores are calculated, etc.
Included in the package of information about the program, as well as a support group they offer to parents every Thursday or Friday. It seems like a really neat idea, but until things start to slow down for our family, I can't take on any more new committeements. Especially since they are held over 45 minutes one way from out home.

Our first therapy appointment is going to be July 22nd!

4th Weekend

From the Fire House & Fireworks to Picnics and the beach. We had a full weekend with something to do every day this Holiday weekend.

I finally busted out my camera yesterday and took some pictures. I have really been lacking lately on the pictures, but between the kids, and life in general, I just haven't had time.

Daddy & Ben at the picnic table, and then in the pool.
Ben LOVES the pool!


My nephew Dylan (who is 13 already!?!??!?! Where does time go??) and Camden in the pool.

Camden eating one of his many pieces of Watermelon from over the weekend!Ben & Grandpa MoMoBen before his walk to the beach with Daddy, Dylan and Camden.

We had a lot of fun, and today we are just relaxing. It it too hott to really do much, and I have some chores to catch up with. First dishes, then laundry, hanging at our neighbors pool in between!

When Did I Become THAT Woman?

You ever see that woman in the grocery store? You know the one I am talking about... At least two kids with her, causing a scene... Crying hit, one throwing a tantrum, another clearing the shelves, and another throwing in cookies and ice cream to the cart when the Mom is trying to deal with the other kids?

I felt like that woman today, and I think I had the most embarrassing moment of my motherhood THUS far.

Friday is pay day, and I figured instead of dragging Will out tomorrow or Monday to do our family grocery shopping, I would just bring the kids once Ben woke up from his morning nap. Simple enough? I have done it a million times! It is the prime time of the day to get things done with the kids.

Off I went to Shoprite for our essentials, then I was going to head over to Wholefoods. Well I was stopped dead in my tracks in the Produce section. You know? Right when you walk into the store! I picked up some Strawberries, and a pepper and headed to the Deli counter for Will's lunch stuff, and a pasta salad I have to make for a picnic on Sunday and it was HYSTERICS between the two kids. Like they were taken over by some kind of demonic force.

I was FLOORED! What had gotten into them?!??!
They are NEVER like this in public. EVER!

I was BEYOND embarrassed. Embarrassed would probably be the lightest possible term I would use for that situation. I promptly gave the woman behind me my deli number, put my strawberries and pepper back, and out the door I went. Hysterical toddler holding my hand, and screaming baby on my hip.

I couldn't get back to the car fast enough. All the stares in the parking lot. All the cries from the kids. I stopped and looked at myself from the outside and thought...

"When did I become that mother?"

OMG! I am beyond embarrassed. I called Will on his lunch break hysterically crying from the parking lot of the grocery store still in disbelief that actually happened.

Who are these children and when do I get MY kids back??