A STORY FROM THE PAST

June 13, 1998 was the date that we set sail on our Caribbean cruise. It was the beginning of a whole new chapter to our lives. See this cruise wasn't just an ordinary cruise or vacation. This was our wedding. Yes, I got married on a cruise ship. We set sail from Miami on the 13th and three day's later on the 16th we got married on the Island of Saint Thomas.

We did not do this alone either. We took our parents, grandparents, siblings and some friends with us. 15 people in total went on our journey with us which made it all that much more memorable.

I remember that day so well. We ported in Saint Thomas where we had to go sign our marriage license, we then went to the beach for about and hour. Here we are getting off the ship that morning. Who would have thought we were getting married in just a couple hours.

After that we headed back to the ship where I had 45 minutes to get ready before I got married.

Nothing fancy for me.... I am a very simple gal and I just had a sun dress (custom made by my aunt) and sandles, fixed my own hair, painted my own nails... you get the idea.

Look how young we look.

We all then met in this beautiful little room on the ship set up for our wedding ceremony. We were married to wedding voes set to the sea (if I can find them I will post them sometime), very beautiful.

This was the room we married in and these are our friends that went with us. Everyone else was family.

After the ceremony we went to another room just for our reception.

I really wanted to get married on the beach and this was an option however my grandfather went with us and he was in a wheel chair so this really wasn't an option for him so we married on the ship instead.

I never had those little girl dreams of a big wedding one day. I am just not a girly, girl. I was not a Christian at this time in my life (sad to say) and I had no desire to get married in a church. I do not like lots of attention and the idea of walking down an isle with a room full of people watching me was terrifying so I opted to get married on a cruise ship. It was this or Vegas. I really didn't want to say I got married in Vegas, seems a bit cheesy to me.

It was simple, very little planning, we pretty much just had to show up. We got a full weeks vacation out of it. The cruise line upgraded our room to a fancy cabin with a balcony while all our traveling friends were down in the lower parts of the ship. It truly was a wonderful event in my life.

Hard for me to believe we will be celebrating 12 years of marriage. Where does the time go...

Funniest part was our friends that went with us said the four of us will go back on our 5 year anniversary. LOL.... we were both pregnant that year so that was out.

Then we said how about on the 10 year anniversary? LOL... again, she had just had a baby and I was pregnant again.

I am almost afraid to declare a 15 year return because a baby could magically appear. Seems to be a pattern anyway.

I know I posted this early but I have such a busy week ahead of me that I am afraid I will not get around to posting it. I didn't post it last year when I wanted to so I wasn't missing it this year.

A little laugh

There is nothing I enjoy more than a good laugh from my children.

The other day for the first time Thomas (2 year old) walks up to his little potty and says I have to go pee. So I say, go potty. He walks up to the potty but instead of sitting down he bends his little legs in a bow shape and starts peeing. I laughed so hard because this is the first time he has peed standing up. I will give him lots of credit because he hit the little hole better than when his brother uses the real potty and misses his target 75% of the time.

This all took me back because Luke was 2 when he first learned to pee standing up. I will never forget him coming home from preschool and standing in front of the potty. I freaked out thinking he has no clue what he is doing but his friend Cameron taught him.

This leads me to believe that Thomas has learned from another little boy at the preschool as well.

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On a side note Thomas had another fever (103)over the weekend. We went back to the doctors on Monday and I was a mom on a mission and wasn't taking no for an answer. The doctor issued the C-diff. test along with a few other tests. They also did another strep test (4th one in a month) and it was negative but his throat was still a little red. I delivered his stool sample to the lab yesterday morning so hopefully we will hear something very soon.

I also gave my notice to the preschool this week. I agonized over this decision. I want Thomas to have everything Luke had and Luke's experiences at the preschool were so good. I just don't think Thomas is getting the same so I have decided to part ways. I was also having a lot of trouble with how much it costs especially with having to pay for child care for Luke for the summer months. I tallied it all up and it is costing me almost $300 a week for the two of them and this is for part time child care. That is crazy!!!

I did not go with the first lady I interviewed but some friends of ours use a lady who has set up a house (not her home) just for a preschool/daycare. She runs it with the help of her daughter and another lady. She is going to charge me $35 a day for both my boys. This is fantastic!!! At the end of the day I said this was not about the money but I was having a real hard time with spending $300 a week in child care when that money really could be used for other things. I also love that Luke will be going with Thomas because this will make the change for Thomas so much easier.

Luke is excited because our friends son goes their and they are the same age and play together really well.

Lots to do so everyone have a wonderful week.

It continues...

Last week was truly a nightmare.

Last week my little guy went for 4 days and did not eat anything. I mean nothing... the only thing we could get in him was popsicles. The child ate a lot of them as I was so stressed that he was not eating.

Finally on Thursday we made a trip to the children's hospital because I couldn't take it anymore. Not a lot of resolve from the hospital but they pinpointed that his mouth was riddled with sores. I am guessing it was a side effect of the antibiotics. So on top of a sore throat we also had a mouth that was just covered in open sores. Finally, after applying some orajel to his mouth we were able to get a little food in him.

The hospital assured me he can go a long time with out food and he was hydrated so he was OK.

Can I just say it is very scary when you see your child not eating and they can't tell you anything and they don't understand how much you want them to eat.

Yesterday he went back to the preschool only to have a lot of loose stool all day. At this point they inform me that they recently had a positive case of C-diff. in the preschool. Looking this up really causes me worry. I have taken all the loose stool as antibiotic side effects. However he has had random days of throwing up. For no reason he will cry about his tummy and then throw up. After that he seems fine until the next incident. This part really concerns me.

I was also really mad that the preschool only told me because he had so much loose stool yesterday. They have not informed or notified parents that this was in the school.

Today I called the doctors office because I wasn't making another trip with out being told they should see him. I argued on the phone for 10 minutes as it is all just antibiotic side effects. This very well may be but how can they be 100% sure with out testing him? So again I am angry...

My baby has been way to sick in the month of May. This goes back to May 5th as the start date to all this. My baby has literally lost all of his baby fat as he has lost way to much weight. First from the 10 days of stomach virus and now this. I cried last week when I gave him his bath because he has sagging skin on his little butt cheeks that use to be full of baby fat. I cried again last night when I could see his ribs on his back. He is just way to thin right now.

First Photo, two months ago, second photo I took today.

With my frustrations up I looked into another option and considered taking him out of the preschool daycare. I interviewed someone today who has started a daycare in her home. She use to be the director at the preschool where my little guy goes right now. She has all the background, I know her but when I went it feels like a home environment, not a school environment. She says they have learning time, TV is very limited (less than an hour early in the morning) and she has a structured day. Along with all of this she has hired an assistant. Cost would go from paying $50 a day to $25 a day and I really like that part but I don't want to make this about the money.

I am just afraid to take him from this wonderful learning environment that did so much for Luke and I am already seeing some great things in Thomas, just from the two months he has been in the school. However how much more sickness can we really handle? He can't loose anymore weight and the risk of illness is way up if we stay where we are at.

I really must apologize as I seem to be talking about nothing but sick people these days.

Today I am a touch sad as my favorite Television Series of all time came to an end last night. I am such a Lost fan, still a huge fan and was so happy with last nights finally.

I found the ending to this amazing show to be so beautiful an heart warming. Not something you would really expect but it was truly wonderful.

Now I have no more TV to be excited over. I think that is OK, I sometimes feel bad for kicking my family out just so I can watch Lost with out interruption once a week.

Side Note:
Took the little one back to the doctor again today. He has lost weight, will not eat or drink. His throat is so swollen and red that he tested positive for step this morning. He has been on antibiotics and was almost finished with his current dose from the last time he tested positive for strep. I don't think it ever went away and the doctor said it must be resistant to the antibiotic they put him on so they changed med's and hopefully the poor child will feel better in the next day or two. I just wish he could catch a break. He really needs one.

What are you eating????

I recently saw a couple episodes of Jamie Oliver's show "Food Revolution". I have always been extremely good about raising my kids to eat healthy and to eat lots of fruits and vegetables.

The show was all about the food that is fed in the schools and how unhealthy Americans are when it comes to the food we eat. The worst part was the statement that my children's generation will live a shorter life span than what we do. This is not the only place I have heard this statement.

While I have never been happy with the food fed in my son's school, I never thought about all the preservatives that go into so much of the food we eat. This is one of his big hang ups is the labels on the food we eat, the amount of sugar, salt and other junk inside our food, etc...

First off, I can give a few really bad examples of the food in our schools here. First on the breakfast menu, funnel cake, soft pretzel with cheese... if you ask me it sounds like we are at a carnival eating junk food but wait this is breakfast. My son is 7 and he does eat breakfast at home but also likes to go through the breakfast line before school with his friends. Often times he purchases Hunny Buns and donuts for breakfast. I have to threaten him often that those are not acceptable breakfast items. I don't mind them occasionally but not everyday.

The problem here is they are available to them everyday and they have the choice. I am sorry but a young child should not be allowed to have these choices. Sorry, I am not standing their to say no so he will do as he chooses. As I said, I have to threaten him often that their will be no more breakfast money.

I do get some criticism that my kids are skinny and I shouldn't worry about it. However I do because the eating habits they develop today will take with them for the rest of their lives. If I don't teach them now, then donuts could be the breakfast norm and that is not an acceptable choice.

As for lunch it isn't any better but I don't pay that much attention because my son packs everyday. While packing isn't a hot meal, I do make sure he does get a good meal. We have a ham or turkey sandwich every day, along with a fresh fruit and vegetable. He loves getting a salad in his lunch and will always eat it. We also do some cheese and a juice drink. I use to give him a small snack everyday. That stopped when food came back and snacks were eaten. He would say I don't have time to eat it all, so fine we don't have time for a snack. He can have a snack after school.

OK, I think I am getting away from the whole point of my post and that is the preservatives. The show pointed out the science experiment that is on all our food labels. I never really put much thought into and always thought I was feeding my family well because of the fruits and veggies we eat. Oh how much I have learned.

Before I was notorious for buying a box lasagna, frozenpot pies, chicken nuggets, frozen waffles... you get the idea. Convenience comes easy for a working mother. But then I started looking at labels and said this will not do and I am not doing my family any favors.

So I have started cooking from fresh everything. Making my own pancakes, lasagna, using all fresh ingrediants like fresh chicken, etc... I think you get the idea. While my grocery bill has gone up a bit, I do feel better that I am paying close attention to what I feed my family.

Now I still struggle with some items. For example I can't find a bread that isn't full of preservatives and I just can't make my own bread. I thought about a farmers market and seeing if I can find fresh baked bread. We do burn through it so I really don't need it to last for a month in the cabinet.

Another thing I love is ice cream. I did find the Turkey Hill brand and they use all fresh ingredients and it is such good ice cream. So I don't have to sacrifice everything but I do read my labels a lot more.

My question to all of you, do you look at the labels on what you eat? If you don't take a look at your labels. Does it look like a science experiment or do the ingredients sound like the stuff in your pantry?

I must say, I am very disappointed that our lives have been so driven around conveniences that we are trading our health to save 10 minutes. I am taking back as much of that as I can to offer better to my family.