Finally Friday

This past week has been exciting, depressing and crazy. Here's my list:

8/21: Baby Silas arrives!
8/22: Baby Silas has to stay in the NICU for a couple days
8/23: My baby boy turns 1 years old. Too fast.
8/24: I find out that someone at work has colon cancer. YUK
8/25: Baby Silas comes home!
8/27: Jack Bartosz becomes an angel
8/28: Give baby Silas his first bath
8/29: Lunch w/ a close friend; it's been too long, so good to see him.
8/30: Second night of teaching. It was nerve racking, but I'm getting back into the groove!

I'm ready for September, I'm ready for the seasons to change and the leaves to fall. My favorite time of year is Fall and it's only a couple days away. I consider September to be Fall time, even though it really isn't. I love the crisp air, walks at night when the kids need a blanket in the stroller, comfy clothes, Halloween, football games (only for napping time), Nick's birthday and the time right before the holidays when life gets crazy busy.

via bhg.com

A scare

This morning I had a big scare! I woke up to get ready to go to work and glanced at the monitor and didn't see Ellie in her bed. Sometimes if she moves down to the bottom, it's out of the camera view. Or I thought maybe she fell out and was laying the blankets and pillows on the floor. I went up to look and she was not there. Not in her bed, not on the floor, not in her room! OMG. Panic. Big time. I ran downstairs, thinking maybe she snuck in our room (she has never done this) and I didn't know it. As I was running into our room, I saw her on the couch! Her head was on the pillow with her blanket in hand and a Hello Kitty dress in the other. I woke up to tell Nick and to find out if he knew about it. He was clueless. He took her upstairs and put her back in her bed. I wonder what happened. Did she walk in her sleep or was she awake? What time did this happen? How did she see in the dark? Why did she have the Hello Kitty dress too? Am I going to have to alarm her door, which by the way was completely shut when I went up there. Ellie did this when she went downstairs, because we usually leave it open and she is a 'door closer'. She always has to close doors. 

I hope this doesn't happen again. She really scared me!

Visiting baby Silas

We stopped over by Wendi and Nick's for a visit. Ellie finally got to hold baby Silas. She's very curious about him. I wonder if she thinks all babies are boys. We gave Silas a bath. His first one, since his belly button fell off the day before. He didn't like it at first and he pooped - a lot. Once he was dry and had his clothes on he relaxed and seemed very content. Jack doesn't pay any attention to Silas. I don't think I could get a picture of Jack and Silas together, it would be too dangerous. Here are two of Ellie and Silas.

I Back Jack

Not even a year ago, little Jack Bartosz was standing in my living room asking about my baby Jack's birthmark. When I told him that he needed surgery to get it removed, he reassured me that he would be alright and that he's been to Children's Hospital a thousand times and they would take care of him. Jack B was 9 at the time and made a worried mama feel a little less worried. He's a hero and heaven gained an angel yesterday. Pediatric cancer is a horrible, nasty thing. I don't understand it, but I know we will find a cure someday. Jack's parent's John and Sarah are amazing people who started a foundation called, I Back Jack to find a cure. I believe one day we will find a cure. Jack made a video several months ago to promote awareness for pediatric cancer and to find the hero's that want to find a cure. This video is so awesome, Jack is so great and the music fits perfect. Jack, you will be missed! They are lucky to have you up there :)

Weekend recap

We had a nice, non-eventful weekend. Friday night we headed to the hospital to visit baby Silas. Ellie was still not able to meet him, because he was in the ICU. We decided to grab a bite to eat and then had a relaxing night at home.

Jack's funny face at dinner.

My Mom and I took Ellie and Jack to Bayshore Mall on Saturday to shop a little, eat lunch and just get out and enjoy the weather. Ellie liked going in the fountains! Luckily I had a extra dress we could put on her after she got soaked.

Finally, Ellie gets to meet baby Silas! She was curious, but after about a minute she was over it and wanted to play with toys and Jack. I think she was thinking, "oh new baby, but 'boring'!"

My mom and baby Silas

Updates

Ok, so of course I'm impatient, so I'm not waiting until next week to talk about our changes. It might not seem like a big deal, but it is to me and more importantly to my family! WCTC asked me to teach a Web Page Design class this semester and I've accepted. Being off for the last year from teaching has been nice, but after giving it a lot of thought, we decided it is something that will probably pay off in the end just in case my full-time job doesn't survive. I really like my full-time job, but don't want to put all my eggs in this basket, because the basket my not be around forever. So, that is part of the news...

The other part, is that I'm not going to be full-time anymore. I've been thinking about it for awhile and now that baby Silas is here and I'm teaching part-time,  I've decided to go down to 4 days a week. Fridays will be my day to be with my babies - Ellie and Jack. This will definitely give our home/work life a better balance. I don't want to have regrets one day, so I'm super excited that we decided to do this. When I say 'we', I mean convincing Nick and my Mom. I think they think I'm super woman, which might be partially true (not), but those are some high expectations that just fill me with guilt most of the time. So yah for ME! I do have mixed feelings about teaching again though. It's such a struggle, because one moment I love it and the next I hate it and want to vomit. It definitely pushes me out of my comfort zone. Last night was my first class. I have 16 students right now and I'm sure there will be a couple that drop out, but it seems like a good group. I would say most of them are non-traditional students, meaning they are retired or going back to school. I even have an older man in his late 70's or even 80's! He's a retired engineer. Seems really interesting. Then of course I have the 19 year olds right out of high school who make the class fun and crazy. Even though I'm the instructor, being in school, feels like "being in school". I'm already looking forward to Thanksgiving break! We booked our trip to Arizona with Ellie and Jack. I'm looking forward to it, but really scared! A four hour flight with 2 little kids might be a disaster. I'm super excited and feel like I should start packing. Haha!

Happy Friday and happy weekend! (Silas is coming home this weekend :)

New baby

I'm happy to announce my new nephew, Silas Victor Coraggio! I'm not exactly sure where the name came from, I think Wendi and Nick just really liked it. It means "of the forest" or "wood". I think it's a really cool name! Victor is my dad's middle name and goes so well with Silas. My sister, Wendi did a great job! She was patient, strong and took over her new mommy role as soon as baby Silas came out. It was a long day, but the ending was magical. Silas is super cute and has the biggest baby hands and feet I've ever seen! I think that means he is going to be a big boy, like our Jack or maybe he's going to be a downhill skier?

I'm so happy that Wendi had her doctor (mine too) there to deliver her baby. The first night was a little scary because Silas's oxygen kept dropping and he wasn't eating that good. They put him on an IV and put him under the heat lamp. I think after resting and getting use to this big world, he was feeling better and eating. They are still monitoring him closely, but hopefully he'll be able to come home soon. Wendi's stay will be a little longer because of the recovery, but that's okay too. Being in the hospital sucks, but sometimes it's nice to have the nurses and doctors around.

Here's baby Silas moments after being born. He's trying to suck his fingers/thumb. So cute!

I took Ellie to the hospital to visit Auntie We-we and she seemed to understand what was going on, even though she didn't get to meet Silas. You have to be over 18 to go in the NICU. She did ask Wendi if she had an "owie" though. It was funny, because she has a big owie! I'm so excited for Wendi and baby to come  home and for Ellie to meet Silas. I love posting good news and will be posting some news next week too! Stay tuned....

Happy Birthday baby Jack!

Happy FIRST Birthday to my little baby boy.  A year ago you came into this world and made it so much brighter. We love your giggles, cute little teeth, soft baby hair, button nose, fast army crawl and your big, bright smile!

Happy Birthday Jack! 

waiting...

The baby is coming soon! Updates to come...

Animals and Dirty Girl

We had a great weekend! We started it out with a trip to the Zoo Friday night. I wasn't sure how Ellie was going to be with the animals, but she loved them! I think her favorite were the bears and the sea lion (she thought it was a fish). Ellie got her ice cream of course and we walked and walked. 

It got dark quickly, so we decided to skip the train and headed to listen to the LoveMonkeys. Ellie loved listening to the band and watch the kids dance. She even danced too. Jack wasn't a big fan of the loud music, but we're just breaking him in at this age :)

Gavyn and Aubrey and their BIG ice cream cones!

Looking at the Elk.

Aubrey and Ellie

Daddy and Jack

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The Dirty Girl Run was on Saturday. It was so much fun and craziness. During the run, I had a few moments of "What the heck was I thinking?", but when we were done I was glad I did it. 

This was fun going up, but going down was scary!

I'm in the pool of mud behind the girls w/ the pink bandanas.

Our team after.

Going home to shower!

We-we is weady!

Wendi is ready, but it's not up to her. It's the baby's decision. For those of you that know my sister Wendi, she's 37 weeks pregnant with her first baby! Last week some things happened to her that put her into 'stress' mode. Since then her blood pressure has been high, she's stressed out and worried about things that she shouldn't have to worry about when you are 9 months pregnant. I wish I could go into details about what exactly is going on with Wendi, but those that are close to her get frequent updates of her dr. appointments and how she's feeling. I also wish I could just come out and say, "so-n-so" is a effing, crazy, person, but they may be reading this right now too. If they are reading this they wouldn't even think it's them because they are so oblivious. 

It's a crazy thing when there are people in this world that are evil and do mean things because they are not happy with themselves or they are just plain heartless people. I know I've said this before, but karma is a bigger bitch than anyone can be. I am a huge believer in karma and when you got it coming, it comes and it does justice. So, we'll wait until karma gets them and in the mean time, Wendi will be at home waiting to have her new blessing. I'm super excited for a new baby to be around. I can't wait until we know if it's a boy or girl and the name! I really would like to go shopping too, but I'm sick of yellows and greens. I also think it would be cool if the new baby and Jack shared the same birthday 8/23). That would be so, so cool.

Here's a picture of Ellie and We-we taking it easy at her house:

This was taken a few weeks ago at Ikea. Kim and I thought it would be a good idea to push Wendi in a wheelchair, until we realized we needed a cart and I was pushing the stroller w/ Ellie and Jack. She got to ride for a little bit, but buying stuff was more important :) Ikea needs to get motorized ones. I'll have to send them a nice note.

Ellie's first dentist visit

Ellie is a brave, brave little girl. I was nervous taking her to her first dentist appointment yesterday. She went to a cleaning with me several months ago to sit and watch what they did to me, but I was unsure of how she would react. The hygienist is awesome. She is so nice and gentle. She explained everything to Ellie and took her time. Ellie put a pair of sunglasses on because the light is a little bright and let the hygienist do her thing. She looked around and counted her teeth, used the electric brush with bubble gum flavoring and flossed her teeth. She really followed directions and was so great! Ellie LOVED the water sucker thing. They call it Mr. Thirsty because it 'drinks' all the water out of your mouth. Ellie thought it was really funny! She picked out her own toothbrush and a toy from the treasure chest. After we stopped by We-we's house and got some ice cream. 

Jack's Baptism

Here are part 2 from Jack's baptism and birthday celebration. These are at the church while Jack is being baptized. It went really smooth and Jack liked the holy water on his head :)

John and Kristi (godparents)