A great day with family!

Auntie & Bruce arrived. Soon followed by Mom & Hank.

We had a good dinner and Gwen and Bruce had to head off to the Kennedy Center. Grandy and Connor made a craft project (a candy tree) and Connor opened his Birthday presents from my parents, a Little Mermaid video and 3 Curious George videos - we sat down and watched the Little Mermaid one - Connor was entranced!

Tomorrow brunch with Rita's family.

I had a funny memory today - since tomorrow is the Super Bowl. We had a combo Connor's 1st Birthday party and Super Bowl party when Connor turned one. It feels like it was just yesterday.

Sara's Birthday party at McDonald's was a lot of fun. Looking forward to forging new friendships with the kid's friends parents.

Auntie Gwen & Uncle Bruce - Coming for a visit!

My Auntie Gwen and Uncle Bruce are coming down from NJ for the weekend. My cousin Jesse recently got married to a lovely woman named Rita. Rita - a professional dancer, is dancing tonight at the Kennedy Center.

Tomorrow - Rita's parents, who are semi-local, are having a brunch to introduce Jesse to their friends.

Should be a great time - Connor is really excited. Sara, one of Connor's girlfriends at school is having her Birthday party this am, and then everyone arrives. Grandy and Grandpot (my parents) are also coming tonight for dinner.

A fun filled weekend.

This in my Aunt (in white) and my mom - two totally awesome ladies!

Mr. Mouthy

Ok - this is not a post about any of my children - ha ha.

My friend Rachel told me about a 50% off sale at Old Navy, I found this on their website. I CLEARLY need to re-invent myself professionally - I really need to be in a position where I can design and more importantly NAME children's toys. If I made a toy called Mr. Mouthy, I would think that I was so totally funny and clever that I would just hand out Mr. Mouthy dolls to everyone I knew - and possibly total strangers.

"Wow total stranger at the next table in the restaurant, you certainly ARE talking really loudly on your cell phone. Here - have a Mr. Mouthy doll."

Potty Training Bad...Spiderman Good

aaahhhhh...the ups and downs of toddlers!

We were almost at the potty training finish line, or at least very close to it, but since Connor's tummy troubles of last week, he has lost ALL interest, and there is a lot of foot stomping.

On a brighter note -Connor got a light up Spiderman hoodie for his Birthday and LOVES it. He went around school yesterday showing it to everyone. There was GREAT devastation in the Primo household this am when he discovered that it was dirty and he could not wear it.

Jessicatopia Moves Closer to Becoming a Reality

Olivia made it all day yesterday and was just fine, but she got sick in her bed in the middle of the night.

I have begun preparations for the move to the basement - all the cooties are not good.

Olivia is now at school and wore a pretty shirt to make herself feel better.

Connor is wearing his new Spiderman jacket - so I feel like we are set for school success.

Leap of Faith

Ok - my friend Carolyn has been reading my blog for a little bit now, but I was too afraid to alert the massive throngs to it's existence. 

I figured that it stank, and figured if it did, she'd tell me. She assures me that it does not, so I have officially taken a leap of faith and have told someone else about it.

aaggghhhh. Hopefully she is correct about the non-stinky nature of it :)

This is Olivia. Mike reports a happy and yack free day back at the ranch.

Olivia's (2nd) Field Trip to the Hospital

This is a photo of Olivia in a teeny tiny hospital gown.

Why you ask is Olivia in a hospital gown? Well...as I was walking out of the house to take Connor his Birthday cake, the school called. Olivia was throwing up again. I explained that I was on my way already, and would be there shortly.

While I was entertaining three year olds - the teachers kept coming over to give me status updates - and by the end of cake time, it was official, she was sick.

We drove to the pediatrician's, who had the NERVE to be closed due to the snow. By this point, she had thrown up in the car, so I headed off to the hospital where she was seen last week. They take sick kids seriously, and we were seen very promptly. The got her some more meds to stop the throwing up and ran a bunch of tests and got her fluids.

They brought me dinner and gave her a stuffed ladybug, and this super fancy gown. (My friends Jon and Sarah and Declan would be pleased to know that she arrived in the fancy Ravens sweatshirt that they gave her - but she threw up on it, so we ended up in the gown.)

Ok - they didn't really offer up the gown, but I pointed out that she was naked, and that I planned on stealing it.

They think that she is still suffering from the flu, but may also have an infection, so they started her on antibiotics, and we should have the results on Thursday to see if se does indeed have an infection.

I will be contacting the mail carrier tomorrow to see about forwarding my mail to the top secret island in the basement.

Mike is better, Connor is in LOVE with his Birthday card, yet Olivia remains sick - we have only one more piece of the Primo Puzzle to fit back into place.

Get well soon my little lady bug.

Batman Cake Tastes Great

I took Connor's Birthday cake to school today. He chose a great Batman cake. Chocolate with white frosting, and a cool toy on top.

He was a little disgruntled by the other kids manhandling the toy and trying to lick frosting - but he had fun.

Olivia was sick when I arrived - see next post, so it was a little crazy with people running back and forth giving me status updates on how she was doing.

It's so cool seeing Connor excited. These photos are of his FAVORITE Birthday gift. Uncle Seymour and Aunt Teresa sent Connor a card in the mail today with his name on it. When you open it up - it sings "ding dong...CONNOR,, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday Dear Connor, Happy Birthday to You!".

He has played it like 50 times and it just carrying it around. He thinks it's just for him which is awesome. See picture #2 to see how he looks - he is carrying it around with his ear pressed to it, and Mike & I yell "Connor" along with the singer after the ding dong.

He's a great kid!

Connor Turns Three!

It's official - Connor is now three!!

It's the 1st Birthday that he is really getting what is going on - so we're excited. We had presents laid out on the table for him yesterday, and Dad took off work early to take him to Chuck-e-Cheese. Then the family went out to dinner at Red Robin.

Today - I'm taking his Batman cake to school which should be fun.

My Aunt and Uncle are coming in from out of town this weekend, so he will have some more party fun, and then his big Moon Bounce Bash is in a week.

Mom to a great 3 year old and 1 year old - it's amazing. 

And - as an added bonus - no one was sick yesterday.

Poor Olivia

We went to lunch, and then to Wegman's to order Connor's Birthday cake, and Olivia got sick again. She has not been ill since the trip to the hospital 4 days ago. Very frustrating and sad. I want her to feel better, and can only control so much.

Our friends Fo and Liss have had viruses run through their whole house before and have told some wild tales, so I know we'll get through this - but it's been a roller coaster ride. Please get well sweet little girl.

Connor picked a Bat Man cake for school! He turns three tomorrow am - I can't believe it. He's really excited and helped himself to his 1st Birthday gift today while I was on the phone. I turned my back for 30 seconds, and he had gotten the gift down and sat on the living room floor to open it - Olivia crawled over to see what was up, and they both tore it open. She ate the wrapping paper, while he begged me to help him open it. It was a new kids MP3 player that plays nursery rhymes. He loved it.

An Island Called Jessicatopia

This past week has seen the following;

3 trips to the pediatrician, 1 trip to urgent care, 1 trip to the hospital, 1 ride in an ambulance, 2 calls to pick up sick children, 4 days off from work, 2 cans of lysol, and more poo and yack that I care to discuss.

Mike is now sick - he has a sinus infection and "goopy" eye.

My master plan is to go on Freecycle and ask for an old refrigerator box. I will create a new cootie-free sanctuary in the basement. No children or sick husbands will be allowed. I will train the dogs and cat to spray lysol around the base of the box and patrol the perimeter.

I will call it Jessicatopia. I will relocate my home office to Jessicatopia and see about getting separate mail delivery and Verizon service. My dorm fridge stocked with Diet Coke, beer, and cheese sticks will be all I need to survive.

This is my plan!

Promise NOT Thomas

Connor has hit the stage of pretending which is a lot of fun.

Whenever I ask him what the name of something is - he always says Promise (and often adds "Not Thomas"). What's the name of that squirrel in the tree? Promise. What is the name of the Doctor? Promise. What do you think that little boy's name is? Promise.

Very intriguing - I totally want to know how this came about.

This is an old picture of us - but I love it. My Aunt Gwen took it and it always makes me smile.

Connor is allowed to turn three!

Last night we had our 3 year pediatrician appointment for Connor. He didn't really want to go, he wanted to go to McDonald's instead. I explained that we needed to go see the Dr. so that he could turn three. He burst into tears and said that he didn't want to turn three.

Despite his wails - we went to the Dr. - and got the Birthday green light. They checked out Olivia from her hospital stint on Wednesday, and she's doing great.

A Field Trip to the Hospital

Ok, so my parental assessment that Olivia was doing better was a little premature.

School called in the am, she had throw up 12+ times and was not looking great. Mike and I rushed her to the pediatrician where she threw up some more. They did not like her color, and gave her oxygen, but eventually recommended a trip to the hospital. They called an ambulance (very scary parental experience !), and off we went.

After a day of tests and x-rays, the final verdict was that she had the flu. We all got the flu shot - so just goes to show, the shot is not 100% fail safe.

She got an IV which helped significantly - and we were home by dinnertime.

aaaaggggghhhhhh - sick children are very scary, but a good end to a very anxious day.

As an aside - pediatric ERs are MUCH nicer than regular ERs - they brought us lunch, had videos and children's books, and had a snack area. Regular ERs tend to be filled with sketchy looking people and magazines I don't think we should be touching.

The Terrible Threes

Connor turns three next week! Monday to be exact - it's shocking, I can't believe he is growing up so fast, yet that's of course what everyone says to you when you have kids. Mike and I have marveled about how we escaped the "Terrible Twos", we have now arrived at the "Terrible Almost Threes". Everyone who I have discussed this phenomenon with has also said "Yes - it's not the terrible twos - just wait for the threes".

mmm...ok, well how did two get such a bad rap then? I need to get out my What to Expect Toddler book, because the parenting magazines are not helping. Mike is the calm in the storm when faced with an unruly three year old - I'm a lot more stressed out. When he is whining, its really pretty taxing, but he's also a lot of fun right now. His language skills are really good, and he says the funniest things.

He seems to be over his virus, and Olivia seems to be doing much better, but still has a runny nose going on. The virus has now attacked Mike, who got sick at work yesterday. It's interesting - when you are little, school calls Mom & Dad and says come and pick up your germy child. When you are at work - you can get sick, and no one seems really phased.

Wouldn't it be nice if someone came and got you and put you to bed?

5,000 Porta-Potties?

I have the TV on in the other room and can hear bits and pieces of the Inauguration. Someone just sent me this. Now see what I'm talking about? Can you imagine if you had kids in tow. 5,000 porta-potties = more wipes that an average mom would be able to haul on the metro and through security.

The poor people who built the Washington Monument probably never envisioned it being the backdrop for a forest of porta-potties.

Happy Inauguration Day!

Ok - I'm not political at all...but Happy Inauguration Day nonetheless. I'm THRILLED to be at my house today. I live near Washington DC and I have been asked countless times if I'm going into the city.

uuuummmm...no! NO ! NO ! NO ! I am working today (despite my Dad's claims that it is a Federal Holiday and it is therefore against the law to make me work), and am actually really happy to be at work.

I work from home on Tuesdays - so I am warm (people downtown are not), I am alone (people downtown are not), I have access to a restroom (people downtown do not), I have access to Diet Coke (people downtown do not), you get the picture.

All of the Primos went to school today...I live in fear of the "your child threw up" phone call from the school - so fingers crossed for a poo and puke free day.

Olivia is sick...

The International Poo Incident involving Connor has been resolved with some trusty negotiations and peace talks. He will hopefully be headed off to school tomorrow. We have now begun Phase #2 of "Primos in Peril".

Olivia is now sick and is throwing up quite a bit. The Doctor assures us that it's just a virus - but still not good. I have become the Lysol Nazi and have sprayed the house so much that it smells like a bug bomb has gone off.

This is Olivia in better days - pre-puking. Riddle me this Mommy Groups...what happens if I get sick too? I have been feeling a little suspect - and have mentally gone the next step to wonder who would take care of me? I'd probably send Mike away for fear of him being sucked in the the virus vortex - I guess that as a Mom you just have to buck up and tough it out.

Get well soon dear family!

This is me...

Dear Me...Ok, too scared and new to let anyone know yet that I've decided to start blogging, so it's really just me so far.

I've recently started writing a column for my company newsletter, and I realized that I miss writing. I wrote in high school for the school paper - and I've gotten the bug back.

I'm 39 - soon to be 40 - aaaaaaggggghhhhhh. I have two fabulous kids, Connor and Olivia. Connor is 3 and is such the wild man. Olivia is super sweet and just turned one.

Today's post is about the novelty of the poo filled pajama. My son is home sick with Daddy, and we woke up this am to the cries of "Daaaadddddddyyyy...". As I approached my son's room, I smelled "the smell". There was a great poo incident that filled his Lightening McQueen jammies. It's amazing that as a parent - stuff like this does not seem to really faze you. It's weird. Connor once threw up down my back - and I could feel it sliding down my torso, but all I could think of was - please get better, please feel better. The photo is of Olivia and I in our Halloween costumes this year. (Hopefully you already knew that - and did not think that we wore them all the time)