Gracie's First Day of Preschool

It's official. The girl who was my tiny three pound baby in the NICU just yesterday started preschool today and grew up in a matter of seconds. I spent the past week preparing myself for the moment I dropped her off at school and yet I was still unprepared when we walked into the building.

Gracie was so excited this morning that she woke up at 6am to tell me that she was ready for school. We pulled up in front of the school and she was filled with joy and yelling "that's my schoooooooooooool" from the backseat. We got there early and the school wasn't open yet, so we had to wait a few minutes in the car. Finally we got out of the car and walked up the stairs and into the school.

As we walked down the hall, we saw that there was a blackboard on an easel outside the door that said "Welcome Gracie!" on it. We stepped into the classroom and back to the coatroom where Gracie found her coat hook complete with name tag. She hung up her coat and backpack and went right into the classroom. Immediately she was interacting with the other children and was totally oblivious to the fact that Joe and I were even there. We said goodbye and headed out of the school.

And as we walked down the stairs in the front of the school, my eyes welled up with tears. I then waited the entire 3.5 hours for the phone to ring, I thought that surely she would miss me and be too upset to stay at school...but I was wrong. No phone calls, and at 11:30 we came back to pick her up and she was thrilled to see us. She had a wonderful day and can't wait to go back on Thursday.

Menu Plan Monday: 2/8/2010

Meal planning has been going really well for us. Since starting to plan our meals three weeks ago, my husband and I have both lost weight, we're eating healthier, and we're no longer sitting around at 8pm saying "what do you want to eat tonight?" and then giving in to take-out.

I've decided that pre-cooking is what works best for us, but a few nights a week I'll be cooking dinner after work (on my off-days from the gym).

Breakfasts for the week include the following:
Low-Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread
Chocolate Chip Muffins (from betty crocker mix)
Low-Fat Cinnamon Rolls (from Hungry Girl 200 under 200)

Snacks:
Smores Snack Mix (from Hungry Girl 200 under 200)
Clementines

Dinners:
Sunday: Crock Pot Pot Roast with Potatoes and Carrots
Monday: Spaghetti and Meatball Stoup
Tuesday: Chili-Mac (will post recipe later), cornbread
Wednesday: Chicken & Dumplings
Thursday: Veggie & ground turkey  Lasagna (will post recipe later)
Friday: Mexican Meatloaf (will post recipe later)
Saturday: Crock-Pot Apple Pork Chops (will post recipe later)

For other wonderful menu plans and recipes, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie

Blog Makeover

My blog REALLY needed a facelift, so tonight I finally got down to business and did a complete and total makeover. What do you think?? Do you feel at home here?

I am loving the new setup, however I had an "epic-fail" moment and completely deleted my entire blog-roll by mistake and I'm working diligently to find all of my favorite bloggers and add them back to my blog roll. If you notice your link is missing from my blog roll, please let me know so I can add you back in!

Have a wonderful Sunday night everyone! My kids are in bed sound asleep and I think I'm going to head there shortly myself!

Also, a very big thank you to Lena for providing wonderful blog templates and giving me a chance to donate to "Premades for a Purpose" to help fund the adoption of a baby for her and her husband. If anybody else is looking for a wonderful cause to donate to and needs a blog update, I suggest you check her out!

It's a Mama Blog Hop...Join in!

I don't know about you, but I just love love LOVE to read new mom blogs, and what better way to do so than to join in on a blog hop? Check out the blog hop going on at My Life as MaMa. Spread the word!

If you'd like to join in and find some new readers, or find some new blogs to read, click the link below!

Brand New Belly Button

We had our followup appointment with Gracie surgeon this week and he has cleared her to go back to normal activity. She has very minimal scarring, and her belly looks great!

She still has a hard lump under the skin, but the doctor says that is normal. When Dr. D. came in, Gracie promptly gave him a high five, lifted her shirt and said "Dr. D. check out my BRAND NEW belly button!". He laughed and said "So, I did a good job then?" and she said "oh, yeah!". She also made it a point to tell him that she is going to be a doctor when she grows up and she's going to take care of little babies in the hospital. AND she has her very own doctor bag and tools. Dr. D. asked if she would come work with him someday when she is done with college and she accepted without even batting an eyelash.

It's so good to see her all back to normal with no golf-ball sized lump popping out from under her shirt. Her "new bellybutton" is her most prized possession these days and she loves to show people and tell them the story of how it got fixed.

In just two days we're off to tackle bigger things...our first day of preschool. When did my little girl start growing up???

In Stitches

Gracie went to Umass Medical Center for her first surgery this past Thursday. What the doctors thought was a simple epigastric hernia turned out to be a lot more complicated. Once they started the surgery, they found that she actually had two separate hernias - one very large epigastric hernia, and a smaller umbilical hernia. The surgery took just over two hours, and of course, I was a nervous wreck the entire time.

We arrived at 8am and we were promptly checked in and sent back to a pre-op room. We met with the surgeon and the anesthesia team. Gracie was given some medicine to make her relax and help her to not remember what happened before the surgery so that she wouldn't be scared when she woke up.

Here she is before taking off to the OR - she was so excited that Fancy Nancy was allowed to come into the operating room to get her belly fixed too (and she even got her very own hospital bracelet, just like Gracie.

I was able to go in and see her about 20 minutes after the anesthesia wore off. She was very groggy, and she kept crying and saying "I'm all done", "I'm all done mommy". Finally, the nurse gave her a dose of morphine and she went back to sleep for a while in my arms, and when she woke up she didn't cry any more.

We were able to go home about an hour later, and she spent the next two days in bed or on the couch just watching tv and chilling out. The third day, she started sitting up a little bit and by Sunday, she was walking around. Today she is doing really well, she is still having pain when sitting and she is unable to bend down at all but she is hanging in. She's a fighter this one... she has been from the start. Her bandage came off on Sunday, and the stitches should be healed by the end of next week. We'll go for a followup in two weeks and then we should be all set. No more hernias (unless we're in the 5% that spontaneously return).

2009 Year in Pictures

It's been a tradition since 2007 that I do a "year in pictures" on New Year's Day. 2009 was an eventful year for us. It was our first full year as a family of four, we watched our children grow and accomplish milestones, attended several weddings, reuinted with some old friends, and welcomed a new "nephew" to the world. We are looking forward to another wonderful year with our family and friends. I hope that 2010 brings nothing but joy and happiness to all of you!

January 2009:

Gracie is finally potty trained

Carter comes off his apnea monitor and can move around freely

February 2009:


The kids made me lifesized Valentines

March 2009:

We welcomed a new "nephew", Quinn to the world

April 2009:

We participated in our 3rd annual March for Babies

May 2009:

Trip to NYC with my best girlies

Last day at Hanover Insurance, moving on to a new career and celebrating with the best "twin brother" and some other friends

June:

Gracie gets bit by a black fly in the eye and we learn the hard way that she is massively allergic to black fly bites

July:

Gracie says goodbye to the toddler bed and hello to a big girl bed

August:

The binky fairy comes to take the binkies away and leaves Gracie a new bike

We reunite with an old friend for a trip to the zoo

September:

Gracie Turns 3

Family Hike in Keene, NH

October:

Trick or Treat!

Daddy cuts Carter's Hair

November:

Carter turns 1 (party is cancelled b/c he has the flu)

December:

Christmas Portraits (done by my mom)

Christmas celebration with college friends