girlz in the hood

tea party for one

This one is a high maintenance diva! She makes her needs known with 3 word sentences like "Help Momma, pleee?"  She is hilarious and enjoys cracking us up with her funny dancing and huge smiles. We attempted dinner out at Pizza Luce and within minutes she had broken a glass pepper shaker, colored on the wall in crayon, and spilled a cup of water all over the table. We quickly remembered why we order in. Henny is such a Momma's girl, Jake struggles to get quality time in with her since she always want me. and my boob (singular). My physical therapist wants me to try weaning her because she think the hormones are keeping my SI joint too loose despite a million hours of core strengthening and Pilates.  "Momma's milk? More pleeeee" is a common request. What can I say? It probably tastes like french vanilla creamer*. 

*I actually do eat tons of organic vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

We call her Henley Catherine (or Foosie Susan) when she is naughty

time out tube

This girl is in birthday party mode looking forward to a house of full of ballerinas and pink tulle next weekend. It is our first kids birthday party to which she invited her "gang" from school along with other family/neighborhood friends. She is finally writing NORELLE now that she has overcome her phobia of writing the letter E. She said to me today, "Meggie, you are the best momma in the whole world". Aw, go on!  After I finished telling my girls how beautiful (and smart and kind andfunny) they are, she said "Momma, every daughter is beautiful, right?" I think she gets it.

headed for islands

basement progress

The basement is eleven weeks into a five week project. You do the math. Our 100 year old floor was broken up and hauled out bucket by bucket. A new slab was poured with in-floor heat and voila, musty old basement smell is gone!  Pluming and electrical is done, we just need inspections before they can drywall, carpet, paint, trim etc. We are pleasantly surprised with the transformation so far! Goodbye dungeon - hello family room, play room/office, and storage!

always time for Cramer and the stock market

My dad is doing well this week, just tired from the chemo. His blood counts are super low so they suspended treatment for two weeks until they can bounce back.  Even though I knew pancreatic was very aggressive, I let myself believe that early detection/surgery/chemo would cure him.  The reality is that even with surgery, only 5% people live longer than 5 years. That sucks. So we continue on, living every day and appreciating the time we have. He bought his acoustic guitar today and will start lessons soon- he better hope he has Casey's musical sense. We booked a 3 day Disney cruise for early March together which is very exciting. My dad has always wanted to take the girls to see Mickey, but I think they are more interested in the princesses than rodents.  Nori is looking forward to "dancing on stage with Cinderella and Charming".

joy

My dad

Go Gemzar! Go Gemzar! Go! Go! Go!

The only time you actually want to be at the hospital is when you are going to leave carrying a new baby.  Or maybe if they are giving out free massages. Unfortunately, I have been spending a lot of time at doctor's offices, the hospital, and the ER with my dad  because his pancreatic cancer has returned. He is a private guy so I won't share all the details on what has been going on since September, but just last week they confirmed their suspicions with a PET scan. Once pancreatic cancer has reoccurred it is no longer operable and it is also not curable. It is a very difficult disease and becomes resistant to chemo. Speaking of chemo, he started more Gemzar on Friday which is thankfully a well-tolerated drug with very few side effects.  So yeah, the prognosis is not good. It's really sad. But even though it's not okay, it is okay. We are talking every day making up for lost time. He signed up for guitar lessons. We are hoping to sneak in a trip this spring, too. There are lots of unknowns so we take it day by day and hope for him to feel good for as long as possible. I love my dad and am grateful to spend this time with him hoping for a miracle.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support!  Thank you to Aunt Jill & Cousin Abby for the babysitting on Friday which allows me to be with my dad at his appointments.

Christmas Day 2012

his favorite hospital treat - November 2012

The 12 Days of Chaos

Christmas is winding down but the toy piles are just ramping up. Please note that if you sent us a Christmas card it was properly manhandled and kissed to death, not by me.  We had a great week in Winona, thank you to one and all for the hospitality, food, and wonderful gifts!  Highlights include seeing family, an hour massage, sleeping in, extra coffee, and cake balls.  Our dog also enjoyed two giant caramel rolls and vat of butter so she was happy, too.

Today concludes 12 straight days off together. What haven't we done? Sledding and ice skating twice, dinner with friends, dinner with family, yoga, cooking, Dexter Season 7, reading, naps, dancing, playing: Play-Doh, race track, princess stickers, Zsu Zsu pets, My Little Ponies, and dress up, camping in the living room, eating by night light, watching Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, 5th birthday party planning, staying in our pajamas all day, cleaning, re-cleaning, un-decorating, tantrums, night terrors, messes and just letting it all hang out.  We finally experienced what we have dreamed of: long bouts of Nor & Hen playing nicely together! I had heard that this phenomenon existed - finally it is occurring in our house. I don't have any photos from our New Year's Eve (since the cops took away my camera at the station while they booked us) but rest assured, it was memorable. Family New Year's Resolution: stop Nori from referring to herself as "Meow Meow" and saying "meow meow" 3 times in every sentence.

We are also privately dealing with devastating medical news affecting someone we love.  Choosing gratitude and love in the face of fear and uncertainty. Send love and prayers for peace and healing. Cookie dough might help, too.

Ace of Cakes

cheetah pants help her skate faster

powered by Pat

cheering section

sledding with long lost relatives

Lilly & Claire (not from Modern Family) dressed Henny up as a baby fairy

blanket fort with Papa Bill

Christmas Day

Oh Santa, you shouldn't have!

She got her own "Hello"

cutest matching dresses ever!

No seriously, did you see the dresses?

awash in gifts

I got see my mom for five minutes

In case you missed it, look at the cute girls  in matching dresses (with parental accessories)

cousins!

Christmas Eve

holiday tunes on the piano

visit w/ Dad at Palbicki Christmas

Missing Ellen at the Seltz Christmas

ready for the fun to begin

Christmas PJ's

Santa is coming!

OMG, a Merida doll!!

she loves her puppy

beer under the tree?

my babes

Santa's cookies and Rudolph's carrots

breathe

Like you, we are feeling so sad about the tragedy in Newtown.  As the mom of a soon-to-be kindergartner, I can not imagine the grief of the families. Prayers for peace and healing. We are hugging our babies and spending extra cuddle time with them. There is nothing more important.

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Jake took Friday off so we had a day to get caught up on life. Not really. We did finish our Christmas shopping and clean the toilets so it was totally worth it a vacation day. On Saturday, Nori had her final Kindeflips class where the parents get to come watch. We were all ready to snap photos of her doing her new gymnastics skills. Turns out though,  she doesn't really do much. She is very fearful of the high bar and beam and not exactly a tumbler or a even jumper. She also does not like the pressure of us watching or her being put on the spot. Oh well, there is always chess club. We love her hesitant, cautious, safety first little  personality no matter what!

not impressed

Ang, Liam and my dad join us to help out at The Family Place on Saturday night serving a meal. Hillary, the woman who organizes the volunteer team, did all the hard work (menu planning and grocery shopping) and we just did what she told us to prepare and clean up. Our kids even helped  out setting the tables - we are really excited do it again!

Papa Bill and his girls

Today we had Christmas with my dad. We talked, exchanged gifts, ate too much P.F. Changs, and watched football. My dad is moving soon so he is giving away stuff like nobody's business. Anyone want a box full of Santas or maybe a lifetime supply of plastic forks?

ladies only tea party

Henny likes her body out

the girls got a MOA day with Papa for their gift!!