Tooth #2!!!

The tooth fairy comes again! Last night was a very busy night! We learned to tie our shoes and Mikey lost his second tooth!

Tying Sneakers is a Process!

"I did it, I did it Mommy!" Those are the words I heard over and over again as Michael repeatedly practiced tying his shoe for an hour last night. We even had to skype Ahma and Ahpe to show them this huge accomplishment! He is so proud of himself. This morning he woke up and got dressed away only to put his sneakers on by himself! I can't begin to tell you how proud of him I am. He is such a determined little man.

When it Rains it Pours!

The McMaugh house is FLOODED!!!!
Sunday night after a ridiculously long stressful weekend Mary-Ann was in the ER with Coup until 2:00 am. Monday she stayed home still with a terrible coup cough. Monday afternoon Mikey comes home from school saying his head hurt and had a low grade fever. Mommy is running around ragged trying to cram in 400 pages of notes so I can just pass my test. Tuesday morning Mikey wakes up with a fever and continued headache and Mary-Ann is STILL coughing up a lung (if she even has one left). Daddy calls and says his throat hurts, and Mommy has a sore throat and tickly nose...plus still has TONS and TONS of studying to do. Both kids tonight have fevers, one is hacking away even with prednisone and Robatussin with Codeine and one has a fever with bad bad headache and is crying! Oh topper is phone call from Uncle Rick that Nan has developed a long infection and will need to be in the hospital for another week! Praying for Nan to pull through. I love this lady so much!

I want to scream, cry, run away, put my hands up in the air and call it quits...but I have the most AMAZING parents in the ENTIRE world that are helping me and motivating me to stay strong and picking up for my slack while Mike continues to slave away to support us sick and all!

Amazing Grace!!!

Fourteen years ago, I was introduced to Nan. She was living alone, teaching in the ghetto, drove a car, cared for the ENTIRE family, and was completely independent. November 8, she will be 97! It has only been over the past year that she has been declining functionally. She no longer is able to ambulate Independently. She requires a rolling walker to walk. She quite frequently gets urinary tract infections that land her two week visits in the nursing home, but quickly bounces back and is home again, living with her son. To me, she is an AMAZING women. I have been blessed with getting to know her very well. I truly admire and love this women to pieces.

On Thursday morning, Nan fell and broke her hip. That evening we drove to RI to visit her in the hospital. Our visit was good, lots of laughs partly because she was so drugged up. She remembered us, the kids, my parents, however, had no clue where she was, the time of day it was. Her speech was slurred, she was "missing her toe", she was going to make us some dinner, and told me I was PERFECT! How funny!!! I asked her if I was as perfect as Mike and she said, "well, not quite!" LOVE HER!!! Friday morning she was due to go in for surgery with a 50/50 chance of survival. I was so nervous. I had to stay home to chaparone a field trip and watch my little man present his sandwich fair project to the school, so I was unable to go down there for the day. At 4:00 she had made it out of surgery and was in recovery. I was on my way down to see her. I felt like a thousand pounds were off my chest. Arriving at the hospital I was alone. Mike was up with Nan. When I walked in, it was NOT the same experience as the night before (obviously). She looked awful, the poor little lady. She has been constantly on my mind and of course I have a huge exam on Thursday that I am now so far behind with studying! I know that she is going to make it through this, she truly is AMAZING, however, I do feel like it is just a matter of time, and my heart (as well as Mikes) will be broken.

HOORAY FOR THE FAYAH!

The fall is my FAVORITE time of year. One of my favorite events of the fall is going to the fair! Last year we started a tradition of having a Hooray for the Fayah party. It was so much fun. So, this year we of course had another party. Once again it was a blast. I got to kick back and relax all weekend without opening a book, I spent time with my amazing family, and I saw some old high school friends. I think the worst part of the weekend, was going on a ride after a night of drinking and an empty tummy!

Struggles of Motherhood.

Life the past few years has been difficult trying to manage being a mother, a wife, working, and going to school, but when I compare last year to today it seems like a breeze. Michael has started Kindergarten. It has been a huge adjustment not only for him but for Mommy, Daddy, and Mary-Ann as well. Personally, I feel that going to Kindergarten a full day is WAY too much for a little five year old. I would say 3 out of 5 nights we have a huge meltdown due to being exhausted. He has had his ups and downs weekly. This past week was my fault, because I was NEVER home. When Daddy walked in the door I would leave and go study without giving my little sensitive man and very independent daughter a kiss goodnight. The poor little guy was struggling. I will never forget the sincerity in his voice when he informed me of his "not so good day" at school. When asking him why he was having trouble listening and following instructions, he said in the sweetest, most sincere voice, eyes looking in mine, "mommy, I miss you!" I did everything I could to not burst into tears. It absolutely stabbed my heart. To this day I think, is this education really worth missing being with my children every minute of the day. I have been told it is worth it in the end, however, I must say I am not convinced! His teacher also reported to me on that day, she had asked him what was wrong and he said, "I miss my momma." When the teacher told me this after my conversation with Michael, I broke into tears on the phone with the poor lady. It was such a heart breaking day.


This year is going to be a struggling filling many shoes. I know not only working, being mommy, a wife, and a student, but, I am a member of the PTA (parent teachers association), a soccer coach, the team parent for Michaels football team, basketball coach, and I have to transport children to and from there multiple extracurricular activities: gymnastics, football, and soccer, as well as, school functions (open houses, family fun nights). My schedule looks something like this:
Mondays: gymnastics at 5:00
Tuesdays: school all day and PTA at 6:00
Wednesday: Football practice
Thursday: School
Friday: Usually Free night(HOORAY)
Saturday: Soccer 9-10 and work 10:30-4:30
Sunday: Football 1-2
Life is a little chaotic and I wonder if I will survive this, but every minute of it is so valuable and precious to me. I can't imagine my life any other way!

Switzers!!!

Summer is upon us and that means....GOOD OLD MR. SWITZER! Michael was in a class with third and fourth graders and looked like a midget and Mary-Ann was with Mr. Switzer. During the course of swim lessons I agreed to take on Geof's children as well. So, for two weeks I had four kids all day and all night. It was an adventure and it made me realize, I could never be a mommy of four!

Boys will be Boys!

So Michael has a new found passion. That passion isn't playing trucks...it is climbing trees! One day Michael was outside playing and I couldn't find him anywhere...all I heard was his little voice "i'm over here!" All of a sudden I looked up in a tree and there he was!

Milestone Achieved!

Mary-Ann has learned how to pump a swing and get going really high!

MY BABY BOY IS GROWING TOO FAST!

I never thought this day would come. I am so happy, yet so sad. Ms. Sally, has informed me that Michael is more than ready for Kindergarten. He knows all his letters upper case and lower case, numbers, shapes, his address, our phone number, and mommy and daddy's name. Preschool graduation is May 25 and he is registered for Kindergarten as of today at 1:00. We have Kindergarten orientation on May 26. It is unbelievable to me on how fast time flies. I am so excited for this, but so anxious.

PROUD MOMMY!

Michael hates to be put on the spot. He is extremely shy (until he gets to know you), and really doesn't like grand lunches at school. He gets so anxious, misbehaves at school and home prior to the show, and cries about having to go on stage. It is something he needs to get over and outgrow, however, he is NO different than his mommy! Unfortunately I gave him this LOVELY quality!

Last week Ms. Sally, Michael's teacher, approached me about the grand lunch and NOT having Michael actually up on stage but being involved in the performance "backstage". I was a little upset after having this discussion with Ms. Sally because I felt that it is something he needs to learn how to do and that as a parent and teacher we had to encourage him to participate. I didn't want him to think that if he didn't want to do something, he could misbehave and not have to do it. For days and days, I thought about my conversation with his teacher. We went through this with the first grand lunch, and Mike spoke with Ms. Sally, telling her that he expected Michael to be on the stage and would discuss his behavior with him. Low and behold, he was on the stage, and the STAR of the show...a little angel. This time, I thought I would give Ms. Sally the benefit of the doubt, respect her decision, and let Michael sit back and do all the props and the program for the show. I felt okay about my decision.

On the day of the show, Michael was determined not to be involved, for the first half of the show he sat on my lab and watched...but....during the last performance, Michael got up and walked up onto the stage and joined his friends, all by himself! I was so proud of him! My brave little man...I know he is going to come out of his shell! He is going to have to if he wants to be a doctor like he says he wants to!

Dress Up!

Day 1 of vacation starts with stripping beds and cleaning comforters, pillow pets, and doggies after 48 hours of sickness. In the process of doing that in walks Mary-Ann dressed like mommy!

T-24hrs = VACATION!!!

This has been my life for the past week. Finals are upon me and I have NO desire and NO motivation to study my endless stack of notecards, my pages and pages of special tests for all the joints and muscles in the body knowing, my little man, is sick with a cough, fever, headache, and sore throat, laying on the couch with his doggy watching television, playing leapster, and reading books. I just want to be with him and make him better!

Surprises...

There is nothing like going to bed after a long stressful day and finding my bed made and this note next to it from the most amazing little boy, my son, Michael!

Tubing Fun!

Winter is such a tough time of year to keep the kids entertained and active! This past weekend was a quiet one for me as far as studying and upcoming exams, so we decided to venture off to King Pine and hit the slopes for some sledding! It was so much fun! Michael and Mary-Ann loved it, especially when they spun us prior to going down the hill. After each run, they both would scream "Again, Again!" Both kids lasted about an hour and a half..which for Mary-Ann is a long time considering her Raynauds disease! Our next adventure will be to the mountain for their "knee high program!" Both Kids have been skiing is 18 months, however, only a hand full of times and neither one of them have had lessons. Let the winter fun and activities begin!

Renegade Playground Challenge Here I come!

It is official, I have signed up for my first ever 5k! I will be participating in the Renegade Playground Challenge at New Hampshire Speedway on June 4! I am so super excited, hopefully my knee will handle this fun adventure. It is a kick off to my dieting and good health! Training has begun...good eating has begun...I refuse to make a fool out of myself!
www.renegadeplayground.com

Nine Lives!

Cats are known to have 9 lives, but I strongly believe that Suzi, has part cat in her and is slowly exhausting all of her nine lives. She has 2 remaining, and is becoming a multi-thousand dollar dog with each live she exhausts.

My dad went in for a THR, and I was left caring for their two dogs as well as mine. 4 springer spaniels, 2 kids, and Mike and I in a small house isn't an easy task. I left for school first thing in the morning took my exam, ran to the hospital to check on things, came back to Moultonboro to let ALL the dogs out, and then went to get my munchkins from the babysitters, all to go back to Concord to see Ahpe!

Upon arriving home, we were NOT greeted by Suzi, a huge concern to me. I searched the house and thought, "my gosh, I left Suzi outside accidentally". When I went back up stairs to search, I heard a scratch at our unfinished master bathroom door. I opened it up and out ran Suzi, crazy as ever. I began our nightly routine, after all it was 7:30. Feed the dogs, got kids dressed and ready for bed, sat down to relax for a few (after all I was up at 4:25 to study), only to hear the kids scream, "yuck, one of the dogs threw up." Not thinking anything at all I picked it up and sat down again, only to have to get up again b/c the dogs wanted to go outside. Walking into the kitchen was a large pile of throw up with candy wrappers of all kinds in it. Instantly everything clicked. Suzi had eaten the Easter baskets filled with candy from last year that I hid on the kids and clearly forgot about! I ran upstairs and sure enough that is what happened. Of course, Mike wasn't home and had ski team, so I texted him letting him know we may have a problem. He encouraged me that she would be fine until he got home and then we would make a decision about taking her to get seen.

At 9:00 I was getting ready to finally put the kids down (later than usual) when I noticed Suzi's hind legs tremoring! It was so scary. I didn't know what to do so I just sat and acted like things were fine. Suzi would jump up and down of the couch, until finally she vomited ALL over the floor, again chocolate covered with TONS and TONS of candy wrappers. There was so much vomit I had no clue how to clean it up! Figuring it out, I called my parents and they told me I had to call the hospital immediately as chocolate was TOXIC to dogs.

At 9:15, my lovely neighbor Pat came to sit with the kids, while I ran Suzi to the Vet Hospital in Meredith. Four hundred dollars later, Suzi was forced to vomit, had IV injections, Charcoal, x-rays, and a VERY strict diet of 2 tablespoons of rice, and lean hamburger 6 times a day for 24-36 hours with close monitoring for toxicity. Signs including, hyperactivity, anxiousness, vomiting, diaherra, and tremors! She has since survived the 24 hour watch! I'm telling you this dog has nine lives.

Suzi's Nine lives:
.1. Eating my pantyhose (during my banking career. HA HA HA).
.2. Eating 9 whole tooth picks that were in Filet Mignon and passing all 9 of them.
.3. A porcupine fight (of course she lost)
.4. getting shot by our neighbor
.5. eating beer grinds from Mikes home brewing.
.6. eating well beyond 16 oz. of chocolate
.7. eating di-con!

May she keep staying strong, but seriously ease up on making our finances suffer! God love this dog!!!

Pajama Day!!!

Pajama day is always a favorite, but going to your school in pajamas in a VERY special surprise!

A day full of questions!!!

Mary-Ann's question of the day:
"Mommy, why do sisters and mommy's have two butts, but daddy's and brothers have a pee-pee and a butt?"
Mommy's Response:
"It is just the way god made us."
Mary-Ann's Response:
"hmmmm...."

Michael's question of the day:
After getting up from resting on the couch, Michael said he had to go to the bathroom really badly and was moving rather quickly. He then said, "mommy why is my pee-pee pointing out like this?" and he held his hand up to show me. Some questions I just don't know how to answer and perhaps, pretend maybe i didn't hear him well.

What a day of questions! What kids will say...

Stress!

I can't remember a time that I didn't cry when I was stressed out or upset about something. As I have gotten older and my hormones have changed post children, crying occurs more often. I cry watching Oprah, I cry when I see a said story, I cry when I worry, I cry when my kids are sick. Crying should have been my middle name. Since I have started this DPT program, I am a basket case. Before every test I always ask Mike "do you think I will be ok?" To which, lately he replies, "no Jenn, I don't", hoping of course he is being sarcastic. Every morning before every test I feel the need to get up at the crack of dawn, which on okay nights leaves me with 5 hours a sleep, however, there are those nights the kids have bad dreams, or I toss or turn, or like last night I don't feel well and have tons of fluid in my ear.
Today, my day started with 4 1/2 hours of sleep, waking up to attempt to study for a bit. During my studying I decided to check the news to find that EVERY school is delayed or closed due to ice accumulation during the night, but of course Franklin Pierce University was not! This meant it was going to be an awful commute, one that normally takes 45-50 minutes on a good day. So, instead of studying too much, I chatted with a girl from school on Facebook (obviously that is a priority) and ran around like a luna bin trying to find my blood pressure cuff, my goniometer, my tape measure, and my reflex hammer, all of which are of course toys to two curious kids that claim they want to be doctors.
So, I head off to school, in the truck, driving like a Nanny, and worrying. I got half way there stopped to get a soda so I could take my anxiety medicine before this dreaded test and continued my journey. When I got to Concord, an hour and a half later, I of course had a nervous poop. Instead of going at school, I went to Target. Rushing back to school, I parked the truck, grabbed my backpack that literally weighed 50 pounds, only to step on the ground and have my feet fall out from beneath me, leaving me hitting my head on the truck, falling on a FOOSH, cutting my hand, and continuing to bump my head on the ice. I of course had to act strong and laugh it off because people were in the parking lot, but deep down inside I wanted to CRY!!! I ran in the building with 5 minutes to spare, cleaned my hand wound, put my bags down, only to notice my cut was still bleeding pretty badly, and lord knows my patient wouldn't want bloody hands on him. IT was bad enough he had a snotty nosed, herpes bump on lip, and congested therapist in the first place. Needless to say, I ran around trying to find bandaids. As soon as I was done cleaning up I got called in to "the holding cell" to read my case.
Thankfully it was a shoulder! Yeah, one thing right. I had a pretty good guess at what I thought the diagnosis was. I got called in brought all my papers to which we got told we were allowed to use and began my evaluation. I was on a ball. I never looked at my evaluation and was cruising until....special tests. I came up with a couple right off the bat, and then my teacher asked me what other test could you do to test this? I thought and thought about it...I could see the test in one of my charts on my evaluation but couldn't put a name to it. I asked if I could grab my eval on the table next to me and he said, "No, you have this, just problem solve, you are doing great." Of course, I instantly broke down into tears. First because he said I was doing well, and second because we were allowed to use our evaluations and he isn't letting me." After a few minutes I gained composure, passed my exam, and now I can laugh to an extent!

Frustration!

I am feeling frustrated! More than frustrated, irritated, mad, and very anxious. I have been working as a physical therapist assistant at a skilled nursing facility for 3 years. I work EVERY Saturday and when they call if my schedule allows. Never once, have I ever been called off from work regardless of census and/or the flu or flu-like symptoms going around. New Years Day I drove to work to only have 2 1/2 hours of work...not too happy about that! Maybe I would be able to get a tank of gas after my 401K deduction and taxes. I never complained, never said anything, just thought hmmm....maybe they are being nice b/c it is a holiday. So, last week comes and Friday night at around 6:00 my boss texts me that she doesn't need me on Saturday because the census was low and there were "flu-like" symptoms. I believed her to some degree, but thought it was odd. After all, I've been there 3 years and haven't been told not to come in. Well...last night, my lab partner text me to see if I wanted to study and practice, on Saturday, for our lab practical on Wednesday. I in turn text my boss to see if I was going to be needed. If I wasn't going to work I wanted more than 12 hours notice, and to be productive in other ways. Two hours after my text she responded that I wasn't needed on Saturday, but I could come in Friday (today) for a little bit. Really? Why? I hesitated to respond, and then told her no, for today and asked "why not Saturday". My text in return...."Erin is going to work, because census has been low and they had made cuts during the week." Erin is the new PTA they hired full time. She is on a high horse, horrible bed side manor, and to top it off has on her facebook page she is a Doctor of Physical Therapy. I totally understand, that they need to keep her happy because she is full time, but really? Why lie to me or not tell me with out me confronting the problem. I am very frustrated. I need that money for babysitting and gas. It infuriates me to no extreme as I have turned down other hours in previous months and weeks for 4 stinken hours of work. Now, I am losing hours to this girl who is claiming to the facebook world she is a Doctor of Physical Therapy. Upon graduation I wouldn't expect people to call me Doctor, I am Jenn, and everyone is to call me Jenn, but....to falsify something like that makes me mad. I am struggling, I have been miserable, unhealthy, depressed, sleep deprived, missed out on seeing my kids daily, have been in and out of the doctors for chest pain, gained 20 pounds since this program started, and NOW on ANXIETY medication for this degree, and she happily announces that she is a Doctor...I DON'T THINK SO!! I think it is time for me to start searching for other alternatives, but I am sad to have to leave a place I have been for so long and a place I am so comfortable only to start something new and add more stress to my plate. There are no more tears to cry...just a very unhappy mommy until I see my beautiful children smiling up at me and my wonderful, handsome husband, and very best friend.

Winter Fun!!!

I told Michael he wouldn't have school because we were going to get a foot of snow. His reply, "I think I am in heaven!" Winter is here and Michael is in heaven...Mary-Ann is learning too enjoy the snow.

Movie Star, Really?

The big joke (or I assume it is a joke) is when my husband has facial hair he claims he looks like a movie star. I CAN'T stand facial hair. The month of November and December he grew a beard. A really ugly, unattractive, untrimmed beard. It did NOTHING for him, however, he claimed he was a movie star. I beg to differ. In order for him to shave it off, I had to take out my earring in my cartilage. I loved that earring, not sure why but I did. Needless to say I took it out to get him to shave, so I could see that handsome face of his!

Where have I been???

It has been forever since I have written. My life has gotten out of control. A few months ago, I said I may have to much on my plate and in fact I have come to the realization that I do. We are all healthy and well, besides minor colds. We had a great holiday season and the kids are loving school, there new sitter, and life. Michael is reading early readers. He came home last week with a book called Go, Go, Go and reads it to Mary-Ann almost nightly. His teacher as assured me taht he is more than ready for Kindergarten and it is very rare that she can actually start reading with her preschool children. Mary-Ann knows the alphabet, some of the sounds, can count backwards from 5 and up to 20 at least. She continues to amazing me with what comes out of her mouth but...apparently I was the same way!!! One incident that I didn't report here but put on facebook was when she wore her cherry leggings and cherry dress. When we got to school she was in the corner with a little boy and proceeded to lift up her dress and put her butt in the poor boys face to show him the cherry on it. She then turned to him and said, "it's not real, you can't eat it!" Of course my daughter would do that.
So here is what we have done: We had fun trick or treating.
We had a great holiday season:
Ahpee showing them the book "Night Before Christmas." He recorded his voice of him reading the story. It has been a yearly tradition since I was a baby, and now is read since Michael was born.
Christmas morning was so much fun waking up to lots of presents and Santa's arrival.
The biggest gift of the year was his/her ATV's.
The holiday was wonderful! It was so nice to spend every waking minute with the kids. They had a great time with there cousins, going to Rhode Island to see Nanny, Uncle Rick, Aunt Sandra, Lisa, and Jay "that guy". Now it is back to reality and crazy schedule.