Christmas Pics

Christmas Eve, we all went to Christmas in the Park. It was super cold but the kids had a lot of fun looking at all the lights and the fake snow. Izzy had her first bag of chocolate chip cookies and loved them! It was so cold that I gave in!

Our Christmas tree looks huge when Izzy stands next to it. The flash on my camera makes the tree look less green than it really is. It lasted for a month and the needles started to fall out. We took it out today, good bye tree!

Christmas Day! Presents! Izzy's first Christmas where she's old enough to open gifts and share the moment with her cousins. She was actually more interested in the paper and tags. She got a lot of great toys! I'm going to have to start packing some away....

Girl Please!

People have been asking me recently if I care for this baby to be or a girl. Of course the normal answer is as long as the baby is healthy we don't care about the sex. That is always the truth except that the more I think about it, the more I want this baby to be a girl. But if in the end, fate plays a joke on me and I do have a boy, trust me, I will do whatever it takes in my power to not let him grow up useless! He will have to be just as responsible as his sister and pull his weight! My little brother is a senior in high school and still can't do his own laundry! My sister and I have been doing our own laundry and taking care of ourselves ever since we could remember. I can't honestly remember the last time my mom even touched my laundry!

The other day I was trying to rest and as I was lying in bed, I tried to remember to a time when Ben and I had no major responsibilies. I tried to think back to when we were back in college and had our own apartment, no pets and no chilren. Just the two of us. No worries, nothing. They were such blissful times! We would walk around Shadyside and get coffee at Starbucks and watch the snow fall. There were so many cozy moments. Did I ever wonder what married/family life would be like? I don't think so... I was never the girl that dreamt of having kids and a family. Not that I didn't want it but I didn't think I ever thought that far ahead. Fast forward to present day and things are so much more complicated. I love Isabel and Ozzie but I don't love the drama. I want things to be simple. It sounded so simple when my doctor told me to take 2 weeks off for rest. It has not been restful at all. I don't think she remembered that the holidays were around the corner and on top of that, add a toddler and family members, it would just be wishful thinking.

The More the Merrier

We are happy to announce that we are expecting another little one! We found out several weeks ago back in October but waited till I was at least 12 weeks along and also when we told our families the news. The new addition to our family has a due date of July 4th but since I am choosing for an elective C-Section, he or she will be here on June 27th, 2009. People that know have asked if we were planning to do this since Isabel and this new baby will be 22 months apart. We didn't do either. We just went with the flow. After all that I have gone through at work, I am glad that there is happiness in this occasion.

The progress is this: I am totally sick. I can't hold anything down and I've lost at least 5lbs. My obgyn has put me on two weeks of medical leave through the New Year so I can get some rest. I'm SO tired! Sometimes I quietly freak out about how I'm going to get through this since I already have a toddler. OH and I don't care that other people have a million kids already and they did it. I AM tired and that's all that I'm worried about. Other people in my opinion are just insane if they think it's easy.

So the news is public!

Merry Christmas!

Holiday Cookie Exchange

My parents group met at our house on Saurday to have our first holiday cookie exchange and potluck. The turn out was amazing! All the families that joined us were wonderful and the kids all got along great. I think Izzy had so much she was wiped out by 1:00pm and took a super long nap.

Here is Miss Popular posing for daddy's camera.

She's playing with Ryan and the left and Rylan on her right. There was a reason why we had her play room set up the way we did. It was the perfect place to host playtime. All the kids loved her toys and it really kept them busy for several hours. We had plenty of toys to go around. It was a great turn out and we all made some new friends that we hope to see more of in the future.

Life in Prison

My sentence was delivered at 10am in the morning today. The last few weeks, like every company out there, OSH has been going through lay offs. This week, lay offs hit very close to home. My division announced their final re-organizational structure and some people had to be let go which was very suprising. Just in the last week, our senior vice president stood up in front of us and said that we would be fine and there would be no one leaving. I mean, today, I saw evil corporate leadership at work. Where did business ethics go? Anyhow, I had gone to work this morning ready to face my fate in being laid off. I was actually very happy. I would take it as a sign to be home and spend more time with Isabel. I didn't think it was the end of the world. At 10am my senior vp called me and he and my boss told me that they were promoting me! You would think I would be happy right? Except that I got a pathetic raise and more work, I would still be working for my boss, the most horrible person I have ever met. Honestly, if Hitler didn't have that gay thing going on, she would be his match. If she were not racist then she would be equally matched with Kim Jong-il. This is a woman who has serious mental and emotional issues. You know those Law and Order Special Victims episodes that you watch with and wonder where all these emotional issues come from in those psychopaths and rapists??? Yea, well they stem from middle class Caucasian America. I literally wanted to die in my chair as they were telling me this. I would have a lead buyer role but it felt like as if someone stabbed you but you didn't die, instead you were paralyzed. All the times I've gone to HR and senior leadership in the past two years have utterly failed. To have my boss watch me squirm as she sits on her high horse makes me sick to my stomach. I don't think I have ever felt so low. This economy seriously needs to get better soon, I need out!

Izzy and Her Play Group

Izzy had her first play date with her meet up group last week. She and the other little ones were so cute. It was a wonderful turn out and we met some really nice people. Auntie Cindy came to help out and also to play. We ended staying at the mall even after play time was over to do a little shopping.

At this age, the little ones don't know how to interact with each other. Most of the interaction consists of staring at each other and just observing.

Izzy has started brushing her teeth a few weeks ago. She is totally good at it and knows that there's a routine every night before we go to bed. She actually has two tooth brushes. One manual one for her to brush and an electric one that I use while she's distracted. There's also the "Brush Your Teeth" song that we sing. It's hilarious!

Happy Halloween!

We couldn't decide what to dress her up as this year and luckily I was in Crazy 8 one day and saw this one piece costume. It was simple and totally her. She's a lizard, dinosaur, swamp monster thing.

Izzy ended up wearing this to school and then to Valley Fair where we tried to go trick or treating but there were so many kids there. It was overrun with kids in costume. I don't know if we're going to go again next year, it was insane!

All she wanted was a balloon and I think she ended up with 3 pieces of candy and some stickers. She was more interested in watching the other kids.

Her school had a parade at 10am that morning and all the kids were dressed up in costume. It was the cutest thing! She's definetely my little monster!