Brian's 3rd Bday Party!!

Brian had his 3rd bday party on Saturday at Kidzercise. He had a blast! If you are in the South Jersey area, I highly recommend having a bday party there. They do a great job! (I'm going to post the pictures on FlickR but I have to upgrade to Pro so I don't have a limit on my downloads.)

Emma is Home!!!

Emma eating some of Brian's bday cake!!

Emma Has Been Hospitalized

I just wanted to post quickly that Emma was admitted to Kennedy Hospital yesterday around 5:00. Her fever continued to climb yesterday, even after the motrin and tylenol were given so her doctor felt it would be better if she was in the hospital. I spent last night w/ her and Sal is there right now so I can get ready for Brian's bday party which is at 11:00 today. We didn't want to cancel so Sal will stay w/ Emma while I'm at the party w/ Brian. I will write another update this afternoon.

Please keep her in your prayers.

More pictures of Rylee

Here are some more pictures of Rylee. Kim said she is doing great..weighed 7 pounds at the doctor's yesterday. She is such a little cutie and look at all the hair!!

Update on Emma

Hi everyone --

Thanks for all your prayers and good wishes. Thanks to Shannon and Ginger for telling me some not so great mommy stories. Emma is doing better. She is still running a fever but I'm hoping that it will break after she has been on the antibiotic for 24 hours. She didn't sleep well last night (so that means we didn't either) but she is much happier and more herself than yesterday! You can bet that I won't be forgetting her medicine anytime soon!

Brian and Thomas

Emma

I think I just aged about 10 years this morning. It all began yesterday. I took the children to the zoo w/ my friend Nancy and her boys in the morning. We had a really good time and even stopped for ice cream on the way home. When we got home I noticed that Emma felt hot when I was taking her out of her car seat. I took her temp and it was 102.4. I gave her some motrin and laid her down. That evening Sal and the boys went to the Riversharks game (Emma and I were suppose to go, but w/ her fever I didn't want to take the chance). Emma woke up from her nap feeling much cooler. I gave her dinner and put her to bed around 7:00. She woke up at 10:00 and she was on fire. I took her temp and it was 104.1. I called Marie and asked her when I should start to worry. We decided that as long as the Motrin/Tylenol was getting the fever to come down that she would be fine to wait until morning to go see the doctor. She woke up warm. but not as hot as she was. I gave her some Tylenol and made an appt to see the doctor for 9:30. When we got to the office the nurse took her temp and it was 103.9 -- much higher than it had been even an hour ago. While waiting for the doctor, I noticed that her eyes were starting to glaze over a little and her head was dropping back. I was trying to get her attention, but she wouldn't respond to me. Her eyes then started rolling back and she back rigid and starting shaking. I screamed for someone to get a doctor and by the time a doctor came in (maybe 50 seconds) she was starting to come to. It took her another good minute to really seem normal and we started to undress her to get her cooler we noticed a rash ALL OVER HER BODY! The doctor said that could be happening because of the high fever and febrile seizure. Yes, she had just had a febrile seizure. I was aware of what they were because Drew had one as a baby, but he was w/ the sitter when it happened. This was the first time I've experienced it and it was one of the worst 50 seconds of my life. My doctors are so great and they hugged me and gave Emma some Motrin and just let us hang out in the room until we got the fever down. They also did a urine culture and it turns out that she has a UTI. As most of you know, she has kidney reflux so anytime she has a fever she needs to have her urine tested. Emma is on an antibiotic that she takes everyday to try to prevent the UTI's from breaking through. I'm embarrassed (and feel awful) to say that I was slacking off a little in giving it to her. It's so hard to remember the medicine when she isn't sick. I know that's not an excuse, and I feel so guilty because my baby is sick and it's my fault. Marie tried to make me feel better by saying that the infection still could have happened even if she got her medicine everyday, but we won't ever know. I admitted to the doctor that I hadn't been diligent about giving her the medicine and of course I started crying. She was so sweet - she hugged me and said we are all moms and sometimes things like that happen. She could have taken the other road and been very angry but she was great -- so sensitive to my feelings and the fact that I was beating myself up more than anyone else could. We need to give her Tylenol/Motrin every 3 hours to make sure her fever doesn't get that high. Other than that all we can do is wait for the new antibiotic to kick in. She is sleeping right now. When she wakes up I think I'll give her a cool bath. If I could, I would climb in her crib right now and snuggle her. I just don't want to let her go. I'm so thankful that she is going to be okay. I promise to make sure that she gets her antibiotic everyday. Thank you God for giving us another chance.

If another wants to comment on the awful things they have done as parents I would LOVE it!

Day Out With Thomas

Thomas the Tank Engine came to Cape May this weekend, so of course, we were also in Cape May. We had a 1:15 train ride scheduled and thankfully got there just in time to get on the train, so we didn't have to wait in the heat. And hot is was....it was about 90 degrees outside and over a 100 degrees in the train! Poor Emma was so unhappy..she was so hot and her hair just turned all curly! Brian had a good time, so that made the day worthwhile. Since we were down the shore, we decided to hop over to Ocean City to take the kids on the boardwalk to get something to eat and go on some rides.


We had a really nice day and over all the everyone was really well behaved -- including Sal. I was even good w/ my diet and didn't get any Johnson's Popcorn, but I did get a Dairy Queen blizzard, of course I shared it w/ Emma!! I'm going to post more pictures from Thomas and the rides in FlickR if you want to check them out. Click on the flickR box on the left hand side of the page.

Update on Emma and PT/OT

Good morning. I just wanted to write a quick update on how Emma is doing w/ her PT and OT and in one word: FANTASTIC! She actually started crawling before therapy began so it's been downhill from there! She is now pulling to stand and can go from standing to sitting and vice versa. Yesterday she even stood on her own for a second or two! I'm starting to think that my worrying was senseless because she just seems to be on her own timetable. Her OT therapist is helping us w/ her fine motor skills where she is also progressing. She can say "ma ma", "da da", and "bye bye" (with the wave to go along w/ the words!).

Thanks so much for all your love and support and we will keep you updated!

Rylee Marie

As promised, here is a picture of my BFF K's new baby girl, Rylee Marie. I can't wait to meet her, she is beautiful! Congrats K and S!!

How Cute is He?

Look at this picture taken when Sal was younger. How cute is he? Poor Angela had her head cut off though....sniff sniff. That's Sal's brother Joe in the background.

My Favorite Picture

I've been going through my pictures and trying to scan some here and there and I found this picture. This has to be one of my favorite pictures from my childhood. It was Christmas, 1973 so I had just turned 3. I have no idea how old my brothers were because I really don't know how old they are now. Wait, I think Jimmy just turned 40 so that would make him 7 in this picture so that probably puts Brian at 9 or 10? Whatever...I just think it is such a cute picture w/ both of my big brothers around me. Don't you like the curlers I have in my POKER STRAIGHT HAIR???? I also love the rotary phone on the wall? What...no cordless w/ a headset???

Happy Birthday Rylee Marie!

My girlfriend K, along w/ her hubby, welcomed Rylee Marie into the world yesterday. She weighed 7 lbs, 3 ounces and is 20 1/2 inches long! Waiting for her at home our big brother Shawn, Jr and big sister Jameson! We can't wait to meet Rylee and if mom and dad give the okay, I will post a picture of her.

K&S -- you now need to go from the man to man defense into more of a "zone". Meaning whoever is crying the loudest gets the attention!!

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

My BFF S just started a Blog for her family. Yeah!! I can't wait to read about what the kids are doing! (And of course S&P!!). Check out their Blog www.shannoncassaday.blogspot.com

Welcome to the Neighborhood S, you will love blogging! Miss you!

Playdough and Chalk

I don't let the kids use chalk or playdough unless someone else is doing the craft with them. I HATE the smell of playdough -- it makes me gag. I don't remember when it started because I know I played w/ it when I was little but apparently we had a disagreement because playdough is not welcome in my home. But it's a great babysitter craft. Especially when Brian is crying because he wants to come w/ us. When he sees the playdough he forgets all about us.
Let's talk about chalk. (like the rhyme?) I can not, can not, CAN NOT, touch chalk. It makes the hairs on the arms stand up. It freaks me out more than playdough. I could never be a teacher, I wouldn't be able to write on the board.

So just to wrap this up, don't buy the kids playdough or chalk, unless you want to piss me off! Haha, I'm kidding (sorta!). :-)

Comments are a Girl's Best Friend.......

....at least positive ones are!! If you are reading our blog, let us know! Throw us a bone, leave us a comment or two. Go ahead, make our day.

Happy (Belated) Birthday Nancy!

My sister-in-law, Nancy, celebrated her birthday on Tuesday. Happy Birthday Nancy, we hope you had a great day and a wonderful year!

Welcome to the USA Uncle Angelo!

Tuesday afternoon we went to a BBQ to meet Sal's Great Uncle Angelo visiting from Italy. Where in Italy? I'm not really sure but I did overhear cousin Josie saying he lived right near the base of the boot or was it the toe of the boot? Well it's somewhere near the boot. I would have loved to ask him about Italy and what he thought of American but alas he only spoke a word or two of English and I don't speak any Italian. When I did want to tell him something I would have to go through Josie or Aunt Francis (his sister) and even then he didn't understand me. But the boys had a blast with him! He played with them like no adult has played with them in a long time. He was flipping them, standing them on their head, doing tricks for them. You name it, he would do it. Honestly though, I'm not sure who was having more fun, the kids or Uncle Angelo.

I think that even Emma found a friend. He was helping her eat her macaroni and meatballs -- and we all know the way to Emma's heart is with food!! I always have such a great time when we are with Sal's side of the family. It's what I always wanted for my family -- the big Sunday dinner, the yelling, the laughing, the food, oh the food! The Campana/Villone/Pinto/Sisto/Sergi family are so loving and welcoming. I remember the first Christmas Sal and I spent together. We were only dating a month and Christmas Day was the first time they were meeting Drew and I. But you would never have known that. They welcomed us we loving arms and of course lots of food and we haven't look back since. Love you guys!

Tina Marie took Emma for a swim (her first in their pool) and she loved it!!

Drew doing his jump and spin move!







Uncle Angelo helping Drew stand on his head.
Anthony's not quite sure if he can trust Uncle Angelo not to drop him!!

Tina Marie, Uncle Angelo and Valerie

All Good Things Must End...

It's 8:50 am and ALL the children are still asleep. Can you say "heaven"? Although I know this too shall pass since I need to get them back on the school schedule w/ strict 8:30 bedtimes. Once that happens, the sleeping in late will stop. Yesterday Emma slept until 9:30, yes, 9:30!! What a beautiful thing! I'm actually sitting at my computer, enjoying my coffee, without any distractions!! Oh wait...I think I hear Drew moving around now....and yes, I hear the "juicy" "juicy" requests from Brian. At least I have Amy coming today to babysit!!

Thanks!!

Emma looking cool in her sunglasses (the happy meal toy from Wendy's!!)

Brian and Emma getting ready for a bike ride although Brian doesn't look very comfortable, does he?

Brian took a picture of our feet. He really loves taking pictures I'll post more of them later.

Drew playing water basketball

Family Pictures

We had professional family pictures taken a few weeks ago. Thankfully, they turned out nice. Considering that Brian didn't want to get dressed or let go of his whoozie along w/ the fact that we were having outdoor pictures taken the day after a torrential rain -- I wasn't getting my hopes up for good pictures. But as you can see, they did come out nice. We used Barnyard Portraits and I would recommend them to everyone. (Although finding her studio did prove to be a little challenging.)

Here is a picture of the Campana Family (including Sal's brother, Joe and his two children, Angelina and Joey and Sal's sister, Angela)



Daddy and the boys




Mommy and Emma



Our family