We've Succumbed! It's official!

I have an artsy, creative friend named Robyn (in fact the one that took the pics of the boys permanently on the site) who says that every mom gets a pair of Bernie Macs and a stroller when they move to La Grange! Well we're adding to that .... a van. Yep, we got ourselves a van yesterday as Chris prepares to turn in his Lexus sedan. The MDX we bought in September will be Chris's and I have a new Honda Odessey to cart around the village in.

To all you "hanger ons" who who are still making due with the SUV with kids under the age of 5 ... we were once in your ranks. It just became too difficult trying to squeeze behind doors in a 2 car garage, trying to manage two boys who barely listen in parking lots like Target, trying to lift the 4 year old up and into his booster cause he owns the shortest legs known to man, and most important, trying to regulate the arm swings for two boys in cabin seats. I even got the phone call from our neighbor across the street congratulating us on joining the army of van moms that puruse the neighborhood. By the way, in the pic to the left, Charlie is actually saying cheese and giving us his happy face today. Let's just say it's been a long day.
The good news is that weekly payments will be decreasing along with insurance once the Lexus is turned in. The bad news ... the new mode of comfort for you being picked up by us at the airport has been diminshed somewhat. We did get navigation ... in case I get lost on the 2 block jaunt to the grocers and a DVD player ... in case I need a moment's worth of respite. I now can plug in Rescue Heroes and listen to sirens, copters and alarms vs. two boys screaming in the back. I'll take the Heroes!

The Chazinator turns 4!

Hip Hip Hooray, Charlie is 4 today. Actually yesterday (the 27th) but it takes me awhile to get caught up. Charlie had a great birthday. Thanks to all that sent cards, presents and email wishes. It's hard to believe Charlie's 4! He's such a little spitfire, it just seems like he's been here forever. We started our day off at a local gymnastics place that had open gym from 10-11am. It was our first time (not sure why that is) and we LOVED it. In fact so much, Charlie put on the waterworks when it was time to leave. Charlie's favorite? ... the 12 ft long pit filled with square foam pillows ... whew what great fun jumping, diving and wrestling his brother in that. We then went to lunch with three of Charlie's classmates who we met up with at the gym. There were 12 of us and of that 12 ... eight were kids ... so sorry for the unlucky tables next to us at Blueberry Hill.

Since Charlie is now dairy-free, I had to experment with my yummy chocolate cake recipe to come up with something that the whole family could eat. I'm glad to say that Almond milk works just fine and that the cake was as yummy as ever (perhaps even yummier). After cake, Charlie tore open his gifts. His favorite ... a stuffed Henry the Octopus (any mom's out there with young kids will recognize this character from the Wiggles). He loves it and asked to go to bed 1/2 hour early last night to snuggle up to his new best friend. Henry now joins stuffed Dorothy and Wags also from this show. Unfortunately, the earlier bedtime did not translate into earlier sleep and I had to remind Charlie around 9pm that Henry was tired and needed rest. I think I heard the duo playing again around 3am. Thus the major waterworks, tantrums and unruly behavior today! "What" you say ... "unruly behavoir from a 4 year old?" Well if Sharpie to the wood floor is any indication how this years going to go ... can we graduate right to age 5?. Fortunately Simona was here to show me how to remove it without scratching the floor or ruining the finish. I bought her and her team a well-deserved lunch.

Because we are on spring break this week and I am reminded how exhausting it is to entertain the under age 5 set 24/7 ... sooooo today I went to Charlie's preschool for next year and signed both boys up for 8 weeks of MWF morning summer camp and cough up the cash. Between Summer Camp, Korea Camp, vacations, swimming, Tae Kwon Do, therapy ... we're set.

Charlie's IEP is next week and I've been working hard to get the proposal together basically asking the school district to budget tuition, therapy, an aide for the 08/09 school year. Since I'm asking well into the 5 digit range, I've got quite a sales job ahead of me. We work with a behavoiral consultant/psychologist who knows a lot of the legal wranglings within the school system so she's been a great guide. Unfortuantely, not much is covered for kids with developmental delays or autism with insurance. So much is out of pocket, that it's really important to be boned up for the yearly IEP evals even if it means hiring lawyers who specialize in disablity law. Keep your fingers crossed we do well so we don't have to go the ugly legal route.

On a final note ... we couldn't break our sixth straight week of sickness. Chris ended up with the crud this week. As soon as he started shivering ... I bolted to the guest bedroom. Sorry love, but I've got to have my game face this week since there is no school or tae kwon do. OK, natives getting restless so off the library we go.

I'm Dreaming of a White Easter?????

I'm not really dreaming of a White Easter but that's what we got! Last year short sleeves and the balmy 60's. This year, our neighborhood block egg hunt took place in 30 degree temps ... but on the positive, at least we saw sun which hasn't been visiting us much lately. Not that the weather matter at all to the under 7 crowd ... they had a blast and the turnout was great considering that we are in spring break too. I guess any excuse for seeing the neighbors after being cooped up for 5 months will work. This was the grand finale to our Easter Weekend that started with Egg dyeing on Saturday, the family easter morning egg hunt, our block's egg hunt at 1pm and our family easter dinner that evening. Now that Easter is over and the entire block

has vacated for vaction spots far away ... we have a whole week to fill with visits to the zoo, museum and laps around the block. Charlie's Bday is Thursday so this will fill some of our time. Much to my dismay, even Master Kim closed shop to take the week off so no Tae Kwon Do this week. Come on Master Kim! This is the week we needed you most and we were on a roll! Oh well, next year we'll be tied into the school district breaks too when Jet starts Kindegarden. We're getting ready kindegarden. Jet had his 5 (YES 5) shots, his dental check-up (required in IL) and his vision test (also a requirement). Now we are just waiting for paperwork from the Ped to turn in his applications. We have a "tea" next month to meet his teacher, Mrs. B. Mrs. B is pretty awesome and the kids love her. She's been doing kindegarden at our school for 25 years.
To celebrate not being tied into school's breaks yet, we're heading to Disney World next month. The boys (all 3 of them) are pumped and so am I. We have lots already planned to see & do. We are staying on property.
Other than that, we're getting ready for summer. We will have Tae Kwon Do, swimming lessions, Camp Pride Korea and a trip to Omaha for a family reunion celebrating 50 years of marriage for Grandma & Grandpa. Our immediate hope however, is to break 60 degrees sometime in the next 4 weeks. I'm ready to pack away mittens, hats, scarves and coats (actually thinking about burning them after this winter). The UGGs that looked so cute in October are really hated right now. Anyways, warm wishes to you!

Holy Schmoly ... What happened to March!

Wow ... It's been awhile since I posted. I'd like to blame the socks but I was killed off on March 12th. I did great on this project for the first three days of the competition ... then illness hit. Jet's preschool class was blindsided with a mean case of strep/flu. How does this happen ... Jet finishes his penicillian on Monday (double ear infections) and Tuesday night is running a high fever?!? By Thursday, I figured out the cause wasn't his 5 kindegarden vaccinations that he got on the 10th ... sure enough Strep. SOOOOO back into the Ped who now prescribed Augmentum not only for Jet but also in good measure for Charlie. Fortunately, the kid with the autoimmune disorder seems to be staving this off. Mom on the other hand, went in for her dosage yesterday ... two days of a scratchy throat and I wasn't going to wait to see the results. I was even contemplating sneaking in Charlie's stuff but then decided if Charlie got sick it would be hard to explain what happened to his dosage. I was telling a friend that it's been so contagious around here ... I should go up to the nearest street corner with Charlie's dosage, dressed in trench coat & fedora, stop the stroller moms (they are in ample supply here):

"Hey Lady, need some candy for baby's sniffles? I've got the good stuff, aug(cough)men(cough)tum(cough). Just give me a big ben and this "wally g" bottle is yours!"

On an upbeat note, Uncle Eugene stopped by on his way to Bloomington. He's working down there for a few more weeks. We had a great dinner and really enjoyed seeing him. We LOVED the updates and wish we had more visits from the Reagan contigency. The boys were pretty good and enjoyed showing off their batting skills. Just so Uncle Eugene didn't think that they were too well behaved, Charlie threw down a big ol' scene a bedtime that would have earned him an Oscar. "I'm not tired, I'm not tired, I'm not tired" - which as any parent understands when this is accompanied by tears and screams ... they're not only tired but way past tired. He was asleep 2 minutes after his head it the bed.

Besides a super long winter ... every Chicagoan is complaining everywhere you go ... it's been a pretty uneventful month. Charlies EEG checked out OK which is great. Charlie is now Dairy free and his skin/congestion is so much better. I hate it though ... my eyes are crap now and reading those labels is the pits. God bless the manufacturers who put the allergy statements on the labels. Charlie is also taking a probiotic but will have nothing to do with the Chinese herbs that smell and taste pretty bitter. We're seeing a new DR who is an MD but also liscensed in Accupuncture, Chinese Medicine and is a CPA. She looks all of 35 and is gorgeous ... I just want the herbs and lotions that she's using! I mean how do you get your CPA then decide to go to medical school for years. Wow. I was impressed. She's really helped us so far with Charlie's skin but it's still a work in progress.

OK, Jet's eyeballs are going in circles because he's watched an hour of cartoons and I need to get him away from the TV. Will catch up later this week with Easter pics and pics from Charlie's bday.

Too busy to blog much this week.

Hi everyone. Just wanted to post that the boys have been under the weather (icky colds) and I'm in the middle of an assassination knitting game called sock wars so I'm not going to get much posted this week. In sock wars, you have to knit a designated pattern of socks for a person that you are assigned to. You must mail them off before you receive your pair in the mail. If you get your pair before you finish, you are deemed dead and must send your unfinished pair to the assassin. Last person standing wins. My person is in California and fortunately for me has a small foot. The sock pattern is the fish sock see the picture and I should complete the first sock today sometime. Good game to play when the weather is crappy, the yarn is bright/cheery and the kids are sniffling. Will update sometime this weekend.