The Glass House of Nicolerene

Bubbles, Swings and I love you's...

HI

I had a sweet little afternoon with Miss Ella. 

After Ella's nap she had a snack and we went outback. It was beautiful out. Not to hot and not raining. It has been raining a lot. So we filled up the bubble machine and caught bubbles and then we went to swing on Ella's new swing she got for her birthday. It was absolutely wonderful.

I love peaceful moments.

In BIG news!!! This morning when we called daddy at work I told Ella to say I love you just like I do every day but today she actually said I love you. It was the cutest thing in the world EVER!!! Our hearts just melted. 

 

Also...

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Have a super day!!!

A weekend in pictures...

This weekend we just hung out and had some fun...

cake at the diner

pool

super fun dinner with a fun game of guessing mommy's surprise

frozen yogurt

and some mini golf because we just can not get enough of that place

 

There were a few moments with some cranky kid attitude and sibling fighting (there is much more of that then I want around) but overall I enjoyed the laid back, no rush to be anywhere weekend. We needed that. Now I am back to the reality that I am having a party next weekend and my house is a WRECK!!! I have not done any yard work in ages and the grass... well... what grass? I have a half painted kitchen (I have the attention span of a 2 year old ). My back porch is torn apart from all sorts of projects that are going on, and of course Ben is out of town and it is finals week in school for him. I am so glad that we will have a break from his homework for a little bit. I am so proud of him though!!! He has really done amazing even though he is pulled in a million directions and the kids and I distract him from school work a lot. We do not mean to but we just love having him around when he is here. Everybody needs and wants his attention and help. I have days where I want to ring his neck (and I am sure he feels the same about me), but we love him to pieces and can't live without him. He truly is an amazing husband and father. I know this weekend he will breath a little with school being done and we will get this house together for Ella's party!!! We can do it!!! 

... I love how I got sidetracked there ...

 

It is very late and I was not planing on being up this late but that's how it goes... 

I hope everyone has a great Thursday!!! 

 

 

A rainy morning blog post...

_{(turned afternoon due to computer problems...)}

 

To the beach we go...

Last night I went back to the beach. It was really nice to go with Ben and walk around and take some pictures and let Ella play in the water for a little bit. I really enjoy how beautiful and peaceful it is there. Every time I go though there is more and more and more trash and it really gets me going. I am sure Ben is annoyed with my complaining over and over about people leaving their trash and ruining such a beautiful place... or any place. I know he agrees and feels the same way but I tend to get all wound up over it. 

After the beach we went out for dessert. We have a place that we go to just for the Crème Brûlée.  Its always fun to go there. They close early so we go there and then to dinner.

 Hey, everyone needs some dessert before dinner sometimes :)

After that we came home, watched a show while I nursed Ella to sleep and we called it a night. I woke up to an amazing thunderstorm early this morning and I am just enjoying it for a bit before I get to chores. 

 

 

I hope everyone has a beautiful weekend... Even if it's raining :)

 

Our little camping trip...

 

 

The best weekend ever!!!! 

Our little camping trip turned out to be the most amazing family trip, weekend, just the best everything ever. We will never forget this and we can not wait to do it again. Ben has declared that this is now an annual St. Patrick's Day camping trip. I second that!!! We all want to go back to our little island in the river and stay there forever. It was paradise. The island we camped on had a sand bar that stretched out into the water and made a little cove like area. Just around the time we were eating breakfast the first day, all of a sudden there were dolphins jumping up out of the water playing in our little cove. I was so excited... the kids were too but I almost cried happy tears because it was just so beautiful. I told Ben that he had to buy me the island and that the dolphins would be mine forever. The dolphins continued to play throughout the day... HEAVEN... After a while of playing around we went on a boat ride down the river. We went down to the area where everyone goes and hangs out on a sandbar and we came across the coolest thing ever... a ice cream boat... just like an ice cream truck but obviously way cooler. They had snacks and hot dogs and french fries and it was yummy. So after hanging out there for a while we headed back to our island and Ben and the kids went to one of the marina's near by and picked up Grandma and Grandpa to come out for a little bit. We all went exploring for a while and then Ben went and picked up my Mom and Uncle for a bit. The kids found lots of hermit crabs and sea snails and Kyle made friends with a lizard. Ella did great. She had her first experience with getting dirty. She had a blast playing in the sand and in the river. We had perfect weather and perfect children and just could not have asked for anything more... except for the trip to not end.

We were all very happy campers!!!

I hope everyone had an amazing weekend as well and that your week is off to a good start. I am looking at a porch full of camping stuff that I do NOT want to put away. Eventually I will get it all done...

XOXOXOXOXO

Nicole

 

WARNING: There are a million pics below... I couldn't help myself... I had to share them... 

 

 

Some pictures...

from the weekend...

_{There are a few pictures on here that Kyle took. He was really enjoing the camera this weekend and I was so proud!!!}

I hope all is well for everyone...

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Nicole

 

^{* Flashback Friday will return this Friday...} 

What I have been doing...

HI

I can't believe it is already Wednesday. The days are flying by. The weekend came and went so fast. I could not believe it when I sat there Sunday night asking myself if it was really over. Everyday has just been so busy. 

 

So our weekend... well it started great. My cousin and her friend arrived Friday night and we had chinese food and hung out and everything was great. Then I woke up in the morning and discovered that my cousin was SICK. Oh was she sick. Poor Cara was laid out on the couch as the weekend sped by. Ben and I went to get the new piano.. finally. I LOVE IT!!! Its home and even though it needs me to fix the paint on it (eventually I would love to strip the paint that some moron in the past 80 years painted it with, it was once orange and then painted black, it has beautiful wood underneath that, so one day it will happen, like when my kids are grown up and I have that kind of time on my hands) it looks amazing. And Ella loves it!!! She would play the other one with Ben but she LOVES this one. She crawls over to it and stands there waiting for you to come pick her up and sit her on the bench to play. She can just reach the edge of a few keys so she will try to play herself. And if you play it, she will stand there and dance. She gave her grandma's a great laugh the other night as she showed off her new moves. By Sunday afternoon Cara and Sam had to get ready to leave but we headed over to the beach for some pizza. Then the girls hit the road and the weekend was... sadly over. 

 

Monday______________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________ Oh Monday how I hated you!!!!! You chewed me up and spit me out this week. There is no other way to put it... Monday sucked this week. It hit my like a truck. I had a very hard time letting Ben leave this week. I just could not do it. I cried... I acted like a baby and felt like I was going to die when he walked out the door. I know... grow up Nicole... but every once in a while I get a week like that. Hell, I am only human and I just want my husband home... Is that really so much to ask?? In my past life I was an Army wife. I have done my time with deployments and all the other separation time that comes with that life. I did it, I got the t-shirt and then I burned that baby!!! I guess its just not in my cards to have a husband at home with me. Maybe one day... a girl can dream... right? 

So lets move on... Good bye Monday, Hello Tuesday... 

 

Well when I went to bed Monday I had my head set that I was going to go to sleep and wake up Tuesday and all the horrible would be gone and it would be all rainbows and sunshine for me... Ya well I was wrong... I woke up feeling like death. Now it was not related to my love being away... it was this stupid cold that I have been fighting for a month. Seriously... a month. I got sick on Jan 30th... and I can not get rid of it. (do not ask how I remember that date but I do) Ella was the best baby ever though and she played in her crib next to my bed while I got a little extra nap and then I woke up feeling much better. Things were looking up... so I forced my butt out of the house and into the thrift store! That helped a lot. I found a few things and my bill was $8.80. GO ME!!! That's the kind of shopping I like. I had my favorite pasta for dinner and tried to help my Mr. with his speech homework but I do not think I was much help last night. I hope I cheered him up a bit when I suggested to turn it into a rap. Hey I tried to make him smile... So the day turned out to be pretty good. 

 

 

Those are a few of my favorite Ella moments from the weekend. I am just hanging out this Wednesday doing chores and planning for this weekend. Its my weekend with the older munchkins so lets see what kind of fun we can get into. No matter how bad the day can be at least I have my munchkins and my husband (well a long distance husband :) ). I love my family through all the GOOD and the BAD. We can only work hard and the GOOD things will happen. 

I hope everyone else is having a great week!!!

Thanks for reading...

Nicole

As I write this... I got up to change the laundry, cause well, that's my job around here, and I walked into WATER... yep water... and it was well, you know leaking from my WASHER!!! Really??? This is not the day, the week or the year for this. So of course I called the Mr. down in the Keys and broke the wonderful news. I dried up all the water, moved everything into the hallway and put another load in. So my house is now a wreck... again. As soon as I am done with this post I get to go and check the status of my swimming pool... uh, I mean laundry room. Whoever is dealing the cards, can you please reshuffle before the next hand? 

 

 

 

Flashback...

 

May 30, 2002

 

 

The day my son...my first child was born.

Kyle Allen

May 30th, 2002

7 pounds 8 ounces

My dearest Kyle... this was one of the 4 most amazing days of my life. I was young... just 20 years old and my life was changed forever. I have a million better pictures from the day my boy came into this world but this picture is a special one. Kyle was born with a skull fracture and had to go to the NICU at another hospital in Savannah. Kyle left just hours after he was born in a neonatal ambulance and I had to stay behind until I was released the following morning so that I could go be with him. Hardest night ever!!! When I was discharged the next morning I left the hospital with this picture. No baby.. Just this polaroid that the nurse took for me before Kyle had left. An experience that no mother should have to go through. 

In the end, Kyles head healed up just fine and he has never had another issue with it. He has grown up to be my amazing son. When I got pregnant with Kyle I wanted all boys and now he is a big brother to 3 little sisters and I would not change it for anything. He is my boy. My one and only and I love it.

I love my baby boy. 

I love you forever Kyle!!!!

 

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Mama

 

_{* I am late with my Flashback post. I know, but I warned you that my commitment to Friday's would only set me up for failure. There was good reason though. I spent the day doing chores and getting ready for my bestest cousin in the world and her friend to come home for the weekend from college. Once they got here we had to hang out and spend some time together. Better late then never!!! Have a great weekend!!!}

A little update on Ella...

 

It was less then a month ago that I sat here typing a post, excited about how well Ella's doctors appointment had gone and how things were looking up for this pretty baby girl of mine. Well here I am again to give a little update as my little baby sleeps next to me. 

Let me go back to her last appointment first. Everything had gone well but I did notice that her weight seemed low compared to her 7 month check up. So I scheduled a weight check at her pediatricians office so we could get her weighed on her normal scale and well that scale said she had not gained much either. So I spoke with her doctor and he said to just make sure she was eating lots of baby food and to keep a food log the week before her 9 month check up that was coming up. Well here we are a few weeks later and Ella went in for her check up on Monday. She had not gained anymore weight. Since December 12th, Ella has only gained 9 ounces and has reached a plateau. I was so anxious for this appointment because I was pretty sure she had gained something. She eats very well and nurses plenty, but no, nothing.  So now there is reason to be concerned. The doctor does not seem to think this is in relation to Ella's liver issues because those levels are improving. Now this may be nothing. It could just be that I am not making enough milk but I do not think that is it. I nursed Chesney for 8 months and I do not feel as though something is wrong with that. I have something to compare to so I feel like I would be able to tell a difference of something was wrong. And I am not going to lie... hearing that I may not be able to give my child what she needs is not cool at all. It is a horrible, no good feeling. I am in for the long haul with nursing this little girl. ( I was cut short on nursing Chesney at 8 months because of my medical problems and I have been set that this time nothing was stopping me. ) So if it is me then as much as I do not like it, the problem should be easy to fix. But while it might just be no big deal we need to rule out other possibilities. Ella went today to have a TON of blood work and a X-ray of her wrist so they can look at the bone age. I felt so bad today making this precious girl go through being stuck again. She did so well but its so sad that she is getting used to this. The doctor is trying to rule out any issues including Thyroid problems and some Autoimmune diseases. All of my girls are at higher risk for Thyroid problems because I have them, but I also have Hashimoto's. This puts Ella at higher risk for other Autoimmune diseases. 

I know that this is probally nothing and probally just me not making enough milk... but... I can not help but freak out. I do not want her to have any health issues. No mother wants their children to have anything wrong, but to know that she could and that its because of me that she is even at risk for this stuff, SUCKS!!!! I have been so worried about this since my diagnosis during my pregnancy. 

All the tests are done and now we wait for the results. We have an appointment scheduled for a weight check the week after next. I am nursing more and filling this baby up with lots and lots of food. And in the meantime we wait... and I do my best not to freak out. I am a person who plans for the worst and hopes for the best so there is nothing I can do over the upcoming days to stop from freaking out. This baby does not deserve anything bad, no baby does...

Here are some pictures of Ella playing today. I love that even though she had an afternoon of tests, that she is still such a happy baby. Keep smiling my baby Ella. We love you. 

 

I hope everyone is having a good week. I am going to do my best to keep my chin up. Everyone else around here is doing great. Happy kids... Happy Mama...

For now its time to get some sleep. 

Thanks for reading...

Nicole

Just a little weekend fun...

Our weekend:

Jacksonville

Family

  Museum 

Valentines

Cupcakes

Playing Around

 

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend and Monday...

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Nicole

 

Flashback...

 

To February 1986

 

Grandma and Me. 

I thought these were good pictures for today since we are just days away from Valentines Day. I do not remember this but I looked happy about my big box of chocolates. This picture was taken at my Grandma's house in NY before any of us moved to FL. I loved this house and I have so many amazing memories there. I am very excited about the shirt I was wearing that day. It has a penguin on it and around here we kind of LOVE penguins and Ella just happened to be wearing a penguin shirt today. Sooo Cute!!! I already have the kids Valentines finished but after seeing these pictures I think I am going to go and get us all a heart shaped box of chocolates. And we can sit around and eat yummies together. 

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

HAPPY almost VALENTINES DAY!!!

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Nicole