Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Twas the Night Before School

Twas the night before school starts
And in the Gawrych house
Even Max was quiet
As quiet as a mouse

The backpacks are hung
By the front door with care
And mom hopes the morning
Won't be a bear

The children are nestled
All snug in their beds
While visions of homework
Dance in their heads

And mom in her pjs
Quietly gives thanks
That tomorrow morning will stop
All fighting, bickering and pranks

But what's that you hear?
What's being said?
I think it's mom yelling
Just before bed...

Now bedtimes, now schedules, now breakfasts on time.
On homework, on school books, and bring mom some wine.
To Mrs. Pelky's, to Miss Biron's, to Mrs. Kasten's class
Off off you go, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast!

Monday, August 30, 2010

On the day that you were born

It occured to me the other day (or was it week? Month? Time is irrelevant lately. Except have I mentioned that SCHOOL STARTS ON WEDNESDAY??) that because I started writing about the happenings around our house after the three biggest were born, they may never know their stories. By the time they're old enough to ask, I may just forget! So today, on the eighth anniversary of my little ladybug (that being Abby) being born, I thought I would write out what I remember of her story.

Abby's story, like all of ours I suppose, begins before she was born. I found out I was pregnant in January 2002, and was pretty surprised. I knew it would be a little shock to Dave, so the day I found out we just happened to have a lunch scheduled, and I didn't tell him. I knew he wouldn't be able to go back to work, and he'd only been at his job for two months. Instead I waited until he came home that night, turned off a ballgame of some sort (basketball I'm guessing!) and then told him. I was right, he was shocked, but after a day or two, he was pretty excited too. (And speaking of jobs... I didn't have any. I didn't get a job until March. Nothing like interviewing when you're pg!)

Luckily, my pregnancy with Abby was really easy. I didn't even have the big ultrasound, never found out if it was a girl or a boy, and was just generally, fine. Her due date was September 26, but then on Tuesday, August 27 I went in for a routine checkup, and that's when it all went crazy. My doctor, Dr. Sims in Oconomowoc, was doing a quick ultrasound to check up on everything and realized my amniotic fluid was low. He wanted to induce me the next day and I said no way. Dave was in L.A. for work until Thursday, August 29, and I really wasn't planning on having a baby without him there. So Dr. Sims gave me until Friday, August 30 instead, I called Dave, and he made it home on the redeye that night. (The scary thing is, I didn't realize how serious this was, delivering 4 weeks early, until I was pregnant with Nolan and Dr. Sims asked me about when I was pregnant with Abby and I told him he induced me four weeks early and he said "Really? It must have been really serious for me to induce that early." Glad I didn't know that sooner!)

We made as many preparations that week that we could. Carpeting in the nursery, a crib (yeah, we didn't even step foot in the nursery for at least two months after she was born), Dave's parents came. I went to work the next two days to get things settled there, then just relaxed, organized my picture files, hung out. Meanwhile, Dave got the lawn in order (thank goodness those shrubs were cut!) and Dave's mom did baby laundry and ironing (those onesies and sleepers were the best looking baby clothes ever).

Friday morning came and I was up at 3 AM, taking a bath, trying to relax. I had to be at the hospital by 6, so off we went. We were well prepared with music and games and everything we might need. They got everything hooked up and then played Trivial Pursuit. The game was a close one, and I was the pink pie and Dave was blue. He won, so we were convinced it was a boy. (Tough guy, beating a woman in labor at Trivial Pursuit!)

From there everything just kept going. A few things I remember... Dr. Sims came in and asked how I was doing, and Dave answered (Hello! I'm right here, and no, it's NOT just fine!), and then they started talking about golf. I threw up a few times. I was mad that no one warned me that it might feel like the baby got the wrong directions, and is coming out the wrong path. While I was getting ready to push, Dave asked me what I needed and I said, "Three things... a cold washrag, something I don't remember, and Billy Joel." (The CD stopped and apparently I was really listening to it.)

Abby came out in 2 pushes, at around 4:24, and Dr. Sims quickly announced, "It's a girl?" He was shocked. He was convinced it was a boy with peeing problems and that's why I had low amniotic fluid. Then just when he thought maybe the baby had kidney problems and that was causing the low fluid, Abby peed on him. I guess that's fine too! She was a tiny peanut at just 5lbs. 8 oz., and 20-1/2" long (I think). They had to take her blood sugar everytime she ate because she was so little, and they had to do stress tests in the car seat carrier because they weren't sure if she would tolerate it. She did. In fact, she was perfectly healthy and came home with us just a day and a half later. Then she went back when they called us to tell us that they forgot to take her ID anklet off. Oops!

And here we are, eight years later. Maybe someday I'll write about years 0-6, before I started this blog, but maybe not. Mostly because I just don't remember!! I can't believe it's been eight years since my first child was born. I can't believe that I've had three more children since then! She's absolutely perfect for our family. The perfect blend of funny and serious, of responsible and crazy, of Dave and me. She stole my heart that day and I haven't gotten it back since.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Waterlogged

It has been a pool kind of weekend! First, we had Abby's birthday party Friday till Saturday. She decided to have her party this year at a local hotel where we got the poolside room (yes, our local hotel has exactly one poolside room). We've never done "big" parties before, just some kids over for the afternoon or a few for a sleepover, and this one was kind of true to form, just not at our house. She had four friends over, and I gotta say... it was nice to not have to clean our house before OR after the party! (Well, not true. It needed cleaning before, and it still needs cleaning after!!) The girls were great and were very respectful of the other guests at the hotel and of us. They spent hours in the pool, and I think they were exhausted. They watched a movie around 9:30, then some tv, and then were sleep before 12:30. Not bad! The only tough part was that they decided to sleep in the bed and pull out sofa, leaving me the floor. Ouch! I'm not as young as I once was.

Abby after we decorated the room, before her friends came. She's really into posing, apparently!
Ava, always a hit. Even when she's blurry.
Basic cake (or cupcakes, really), but it was perfect, and tasted great! We even had ice cream. The hotel is right next to Culver's, so I walked over there, ordered 8 kids meals, turned in all the coupons for kids scoops and got a quart of custard, then miraculously carried all 10 drinks, 8 kids meals, 2 adult meals, 12 things of ketchup and a quart of custard back to the hotel. Not bad! I put the custard on ice, and was perfect with the cake. Yum!
Reagan, Abby, Taylor, Holly and Riley.
Reagan has been at every birthday since kindergarten, and Holly all but one. I wonder how many will be at her high school graduation party?
Same girls, different order.
Max wasn't TOO excited to be in the middle of all the girls!
Ok, it wasn't ALL pool games. They also played baloon games out on the lawn.
And then there's little Miss Ava, swimmer extraordinaire. She just loves the water, and kept alternating between putting her face in and floating on her back. Silly kid.

THEN, after Abby's party, we came home and got stuff together and went down to Dave's parents' house. It was a while in the car, but the kids relaxed and it was a beautiful weekend for the pool. We just hung out and relaxed, got Giordano's stuffed spinach pizza (yum!) (I can't wait for school to start on Wednesday so I can go back to the gym!), projected a movie outside and let Abby open her presents (Heely's were a great gift!). Then today we spent all day in the pool again, this time with my sister and her kids, and were happy we could be there in this heat.

All in all, a busy, but great, weekend. Now starts the hard part. Dave is traveling nearly every day between now and two weeks from now. We have meet and greets at school, the bigs start Wednesday, Max starts next Wednesday, Abby's telling me she wants to be on swim team again, which starts next week, and a million other things are happening. I realized this morning that I completely forgot about a doctor's appointment for Max on Thursday. How am I going to keep from losing my mind??

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Early Birthday

Well, Abby's birthday isn't until Monday, and her party isn't until Friday, but here she is getting her early birthday present...
They're kind of hard to see through the cheesy smile and the gum in her mouth, but she got her ears pierced! She was super excited, and I didn't tell her what we were doing before we got there. She picked out her birthstone, which is unfortunately peridot... the ugliest green you can imagine. But she was very happy with them, so that's what counts. Friday she's having her friend birthday party. Four girls and her, having a sleepover at a local hotel in the poolside room. Should be a fun, if crazy, time.

Going back into the picture files... here's Ava on her birthday. She had mostaccioli (her favorite!) and then got into her cupcake. She left a ring of frosting around the tub...
This cupcake is for me?
Ooooh, that's good.
Yeah! Frosting!
Aaaah, that was good!
And on another birthday occasion at Dave's mom and dad's house...
She again did it up right!

And with Abby's birthday comes the start of school. We went school supply shopping, and it's such a chore! Two is really hard... I can only imagine when this is times four! All that stuff on the counter below is school supplies. Abby's trying to hold it all up...
I wonder where she's going?

And finally, pictures of the new baby! We went down to visit my sister today, and to meet Kate for the first time. Abby held her first, feeding her a bottle.

She fits right in with our family, just one of the kids. Hard to imagine that in a year she'll be as big as Ava, and probably more mobile!
Ava looking like one big baby here.
Hopefully Kate won't be as cranky as Ava's been lately! :)  Regardless, she's cute and precious, and just one of us!

Monday, August 23, 2010

My morning monster

My other children all slept and slept well. Oh, Abby had some issues for a little while actually falling asleep, and would holler several times before she actually nodded off, but that was when she was older. But Ava? She fights sleep with all her might. She screams when we go into her room and if I put her down before she's asleep. And then, at 5:00 AM like clockwork, she wakes up. She's obviously still tired, but restless as well, and won't go back to sleep. We'll sit there quiet for a long time, and I'll think she has nodded off, but as soon as I put her back in her crib, she's up and does not want to be left alone. I put her on the floor thinking she'll get crabby at that, but instead she crawls around and plays with her toys before finding her door and heading out to the hallway. And I'm still half asleep. So, we come downstairs, and on a regular bases, five minutes after we get down, she cries and gets crabby, I pick her up, and she falls asleep nearly immediately. And just as I'm dreaming of going back to bed, the other kids wake up, and she sleeps for another hour or two. Gee, thanks kid!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Baby Newness

My newest niece, Kate Selma Matulenko, was born last night around 5:40 PM. She weighed in at 8 lbs. even and 20-1/2" long. Other than taking longer than expected, everything went well and as planned. I can't wait to see pictures, and meet her next week!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

MIA

I lack ambition lately. Part of it is that last week, when I took Ava to the doctor and also snuck in a question about me and why my throat still hurts, the doctor took a look and said I had a resistant strain of strep that the first round of antibiotics didn't clear up. So, I got a new prescription, stronger, and while it's helped the throat, it's done just wonders for my stomach!

I also went back to my kidney stone doctor for a check up. They're still there (I knew that) and he'd like to treat them again. It requires anesthesia and general yuckiness. I say if they don't hurt, leave them along. He says if I pee blood (yes, too much info, I know) I need to figure out why. I'm just not all that curious. So we settled on getting a new contrast CT scan and we'll go from there.

BUT enough about me! Last weekend we went to Dave's mom and dad's house, where we "suffered" out the heat in the pool. It was perfect, and I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. Unfortunately, we came home and Dave is gone all this week, but at least we got to hang out for a few days first.

And summer is almost over. I took the kids to registration tonight for school. Abby has two of her good friends in her class, so that's good, but not the teacher she wanted. But then she heard this teacher orders pizza a lot. She thought that was pretty exciting. Nolan pretty much knew who his teacher would be, same as Abby's. But, he's in class with his good friend Kyan from across the street so he's excited about that.

13 days until school starts! I'm really not that excited about summer coming to a close, but I am excited about having a schedule again. A reason to enforce bedtimes, a morning routine, an after school routine. But I'm not looking forward to homework, rushing around, or bedtimes when it's still a nice summer or fall evening out. And really not looking to that horrible season that comes after fall. Ugh! It will be here way too soon!

That's my ramblings for tonight. Not too exciting, but it is what it is! Until another day...

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Mornings with my boys

I'd be remiss if I didn't blog, at least just a little bit, about the mornings I had with the boys while Abby was at camp. A few mornings were busy with something or another, or me being sick, or whatever, but Thursday and Friday were all about leisure. Thursday the boys played Pirates of the Caribbean. They made a dungeon out of the footstool and couch pillows and made Ava and me lay in the dungeon. Of course Ava could come and go as she pleased, but I had to stay in that cushioned, confined, pillowy dungeon. Oh darn! At one point I thought, "If Dave were here, he'd get a plank, a pirate ship, a million things for them. But I was content at just laying in the dungeon, letting their imaginations take over for well over an hour.

Then, on Friday, I got up early with Ava (5:30), but then got her back down and she slept until 9:40 (9:40!). So, I was on the couch when Max got up and snuggled in with me at 6, and then Nolan at 6:30 came and joined us. We just hung out on the couch, watched cartoons and giggled until after 9. Usually their constant chatter grates on me, but that morning it was perfect.

I missed Abby, but I loved the mornings with my boys!

Monday, August 9, 2010

She went away a 7 year old...

On Saturday we picked up Abby from camp. She was super happy to see us, even her brothers! It was awesome to hear about her week, at least what I could piece together. She did BB Guns and Archery (and is close to being a "women of the wange"), swimming, got a million bug bites, laughed during bearclaw (which is a serious thing) because someone tooted really loud, got enough to eat (no easy feat!), got fabulous points, sang songs, learned crazy jokes, and did all great camp things. But she also developed an attitude worthy of a 13 year old. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it was all the week at camp. She'd definitely been working on the attitiude prior to camp. But I think that her being the youngest at a camp with lots of big kids definitely made a difference. Now I'm attempting to get rid of the attitude as best I can.

BUT... on the other hand, it is so nice to have her home. She evens out the boy/girl ratio in our house, she watches Ava, she played with the boys for hours tonight, she's funny and crazy and sweet. I'm already planning her week to go next summer, but for now, I'll keep her around.

She's still my baby girl

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVA!!


I can't believe my baby girl is 1 today. I still call her that--Hello, my baby girl! How's my baby girl? I guess she'll just always be my baby. But she is so much younger than the rest of the were at one. I mean, by the time Max was one, he was conquering the world. I'm so glad Ava is a little bit more laid back. She doesn't always run for the bathroom if we forget and leave the door open, and if we block the stairs she just goes right by instead of trying to go through the blockade! And she's younger than Abby and Nolan, who both walked by their first birthdays and just seemed so big! But she's just right for Ava... crawling and exploring everywhere, figuring out how to throw things, make her opinions known for toys, food, sleep. I think she can both say and sign "More", but I never can tell for sure what are real words and what aren't. This year has been a crazy one. You would think by the fourth I would be prepared for anything, but she's so different from the others--eating and crawling late, ear infections and hand, foot mouth. She completes us, and there hasn't been a day that's gone by that I haven't been thankful that she's here.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

What's the opposite of homesickness?

So, Abby's at her full day three at camp, and I feel like I'm obsessed. Oh, I'm fine just at the regular times, with regular life. I may catch myself thinking "Where's Abby" and it's strange to not see her sitting in her regular van seat. But I feel like I'm stalking her. At the camp website you can look at pictures and read their blog and I look ALL THE TIME! I mean, if pictures aren't posted one hour, I look the next, or the next. It's crazy. I know she's having a great time, I just know it. But I miss her!!

But lucky, lucky her. She gets to spend time away from the craziness that is our house. All the reasons that I'll miss her (she's responsible, helpful, loves to play with Ava, keeps Max busy) are also all the reasons she deserves this week to hang out with friends, laugh, have fun, and do a little of this...

I'm just dying to know what "this" is! I have so many questions... she'll be so sick of me an hour after I pick her up. :)

Monday, August 2, 2010

The Gawrych Clan, Minus One

So, tonight is Abby's second night at camp. We dropped her off yesterday with absolutely no problem. When we pulled into camp, staff counselors were everywhere jumping up and down, very excited to welcome everyone to camp. When the bugle blew, we headed to her cabin number 5, where we met her counselor Lauren. Lauren was so nice and welcoming. We got Abby all decked out in her bed, put all her stuff away, and she was busy working on her bunk poster. We almost had to drag her away just to come say goodbye to us! It truly made it easy to drop her off, and for her to stay.

But I do miss her. Today was rough, not just because she wasn't here, but because I'm still under the weather, Dave now has strep, Ava is clingy and the boys were just driving me crazy. But we survived. I just really, really, really hope that they don't call me that Abby is sick. PLEASE just let her stay healthy this week. She deserves this week. I miss her most because she's so helpful--keeping Ava busy, playing with Max starting activities for the boys--but that's exactly why she deserves this week. So she can just be herself, having fun doing whatever she wants to do, just Abby and not Abby the big sister and oldest, helpful daughter.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Sick at Six Flags

Dave had the day off of work on Friday, so we were planning on doing something, hoping Ava would feel better. First it was Wisconsin Dells for the day, but then the weather showed 72 and thunderstorms. Ugh. So, we checked out Six Flags Great America. It's been a long time since either Dave or I had been there, and neither one of us is really up for the rides, so we had never really considered it. But, they have some pretty big kid areas so we thought we'd give it a go.

First off, the kids loved it! And Dave. Abby, Nolan and Max (with Dave) rode everything except the really big roller coasters--all the spinny things, the water rides, up and down. They went on things I surely would have gotten sick on. Luckily, I got to stay with Ava the whole time. And Ava was mostly feeling better. By the end of the day she was a little stir crazy being in the stroller all day or having someone hold her, so I let her crawl around on the ground. It was pretty yucky dirty but it kept her happy. We got there at 9:30 and didn't leave until almost 9:30--and all the kids did really great!

And then there was me. Thursday I felt kind of yucky, and Thursday night I didn't sleep much because my throat was killing me. But there was no way I wasn't going to go, or have no one go, to Six Flags. So off we went. And all day was kind of iffy. By the time we got done I was worn out and achy. Sleeping Friday night was bad, and so Saturday I got up and went to urgent care... and my strep test came back positive. I came home, did a few things I had to get done as fast as possible, took a three hour bath, then went to bed for another four hours. I got up at 4:00 and was at least able to hang out on the couch with the kids. Another nap last night, and bed at 9:30, and I'm feeling much better today. I can still feel it, but it's so much better than yesterday.

Today, Abby goes to camp. I'm a little worried, mostly because at Six Flags, we shared a drink all day. Nothing like giving my daughter strep. So far she seems ok, but I'm really nervous about sending her to camp. I guess time will tell...