Dutch Wonderland/Hershey Park

We left Sunday morning for Hershey Park. We went with 2 other families. One of the families are good friends of ours. Joseph and their son Vincent are good friends and Anthony and Vin's father Nick are their Soccer Coaches. We got to PA at like 11 am and went right to Dutch Wonderland. The kids had the best time. LilyRose got to go on so many rides. Some of them she loved and some of them she didn't love. We had to stop 2 rides because she was crying so hard. I had to laugh because the rides she cried on were the ones Anthony put her on. It was really funny that she gave him "that look" that she is famous for when she's not a happy kid. She was amazed at all the different rides and sounds and she had a ball. I got to go on 2 rides here. The old fashion car ride with LilyRose and the bumper cars with Joseph. I am not a big ride person, but it made Joseph happy so of course I did it. My neck was not happy but Oh Well. Then we went to check into the hotel which was right across the street from Dutch Wonderland. It was ok, not a place that I would want to stay at again. We were going to go back to the park but the kids wanted to go and eat and then go in the pool. So we went to the Texas Road House. What a great place. Of course, the kids we having Peanut fights. They put huge buckets of peanuts on the table and they were throwing them at us. We had to have 2 tables because there were 11 of us and LilyRose. She was so tired by this time and her heading was hitting her chest until the food came out and boy did she get her 2nd wind. It was really funny. After that the kids went to the pool and LilyRose and I went to bed.

Monday we got up at the crack of dawn and had breakfasts and headed to Hershey Park. We got there at 10 am right when the park opened and it was a mad house. I have been there 3 times and it was never that crowed. They waited like 2 hours for a 3 second ride. LilyRose and I did alot of sitting and walking around by ourselves. I did get to go on 1 ride though. I went on the "Whip". I love that ride. Joseph was embarrassed because I was laughing so loud and throwing my hands up. To bad, I had fun. I have to say that I was really surprised at Joseph. He went on roller coasters that I didn't think he would go on and he had a ball. There was one called the "Mouse" and it had no sides so you feel like your gonna go off the sides when you go on the turns. It was so crowed that we were sure when they got on and I didn't have my camera ready when they went by, but I will never forget Joe's face. He definitely had skid marks happening. LOL.

Then they went on this Flume ride. It goes really high up and then has this steep drop and the wave that happens is HUGE. They had a full boat and the wave was one of the biggest. It looked like a really fun ride but I am afraid of heights so I wouldn't go on. I was looking for the characters so I could get pics with LilyRose but they were no where to be seen. LilyRose went on a lot of rides and she really liked all of them expect the ones Anthony went on with her. LOL He took her on the baby slide and she was screaming on the way down. I have a pic but you will have to click on it to make it bigger so you could see her face. All in all we had a great time. We were at the park until it closed. 12 hours of walking and waiting and walking and waiting. Poor LilyRose was so done. Then we went to the Chocolate Factory and took the tour and LilyRose loved it. Then we shopped for a little ( i didn't buy that much candy) and headed back to the hotel. We ordered pizza and picked it up when we got back. We went out by the pool and ate and the kids went in the pool and of course LilyRose fell asleep so I went back to the room and went to sleep too.

Tuesday was a very relaxing day. Cathy, the mom from the other family stayed back at the hotel with the kids while then went into the pool and we all went to the "Amish Village" We did some shopping and had a nice 2 hours out. I was starting not to feel well though and knew that I was getting sick. I had the worst body aches I ever had. We went into this store that sells Shoe Fly Pies b/c Nick loves them and I walking around looking at all the stuff and it finally hits me that everything in the store says " I Love Intercourse" WHAT????????? I was cracking up. I was going to buy a t-shirt for my mother that had the logo on it but they didn't have her size. To bad it would have been a funny joke. I have to say the baked goods were awesome. I did not try the Shoe Fly pie though. We went back to the hotel and hung out by the pool the rest of the day. The other family that came with us left, but there girls stayed with Susan and Nick. We went back to the Texas Roadhouse and ate and then went to play Miniature Golf. LilyRose was out cold so I stayed in the car with her. By now I am getting sicker by the minute. We went back to the hotel and I went right to bed.

We got up Wednesday and packed up and ate and went to the outlets. I did some shopping and got the kids clothes. I got a few things for myself too. We got on the road and came home. By the time I walked into my house I was full blown sick. High fever (haven't had a fever in years) my body felt like a truck was rolling over me every few seconds and my throat was on fire and the couch was deep and painful. Forget my head, I can't believe it's still on my shoulders. My kids were so happy to see Grandma, that even though I was so sick it made me smile that they love her so much. My mother of course made the biggest scene when she saw them too. Thursday was a bad day for me. I could hardly get out of bed. I unpacked the suitcase and did 4 loads of laundry and laid down when LilyRose took her nap. My mother had to go and order LilyRose's birthday cake for me and get all the other stuff I needed. We are having her very first party on Saturday night for the family. Today was a little better, I still fell like crap and have a slight fever that comes and goes and my body is still screaming for mercy. I am going to go to sleep now. I hope you enjoy the pics. Remember to click on them if you want to see them close up.

Joseph got another trophy last night and the coach said a nice little speech for each boy on the team as he gave them the throphy. It has his name and jersey # on it. It is really very nice. Joseph had a great season.

Thanks for stopping by. Watch for LilyRose's 2nd birthday party stories and pictures. She will 2 on September 4th.

Again, it's been a long time

I don't know what is wrong with me. I promise myself that I would keep up with my posts and then I look and it's weeks since my last post. I really need to snap out of it.

So much happens and I want to write about it and by the time I get here I forget what I want to write. Let's see...

LilyRose got her ears pierced. She looks so darn cute. When you ask her to show you her earrings, she tilts her head and puts her hand right below the earrings and scrunches her face up. It really is cute. Joseph asked if he could get an earring !!(?) I told him if he REALLY wanted one that he could get it, but he would have to take it out when he played sports. He's thinking about it now. I think it was because LilyRose got one and we all made such a big fuss over it that he was feeling a LITTLE left out.

Joseph was sick for 2 weeks. The day he made MVP, that night had a fever of 102. That fever of 102 came and went for 3 days. Every time I got it down a few hours later it shot back up. Then the Asthma hit. Of course all of the Dr.'s we have were on vacation and I don't like the Dr. that covers for one of them. The other Dr.s wouldn't even squeeze him in. Not very happy on the Dr. front right now and I am in the process of finding new ones. Thank god we are use to this and I have a huge supply of meds for him and I just treated him myself. But that cough lasted for 2 weeks. So of course he missed lots of games and was super upset about it. Thank god tomorrow is the very last game for the All Star team. We just signed him up for Basketball. He starts in Nov. Did I mention that Anthony is Joseph's Soccer coach? I have to help out with this also. Anthony and another dad (1 of Joe's good friends) will be coaching and between the both of them they know very little about it. So the other mom and I have to help out. Well, this will be a very funny season for us because the 4 of us have no clue.

As you all know, my brother went back to Iraq on Aug. 1st. I am asking for prays for him. Some very not nice things took place here last weekend with his Ex and it has affected him in a very bad way. I did what he asked me to do and of course with her things never go the way they should and things got out of hand and he is all the way around the world and it's just to damn much for him. So, keep him in your prays that he will be able to get through this and keep himself safe. Thanks.

We are going to Hershey Park and Dutch Wonderland this week for a few days. We really need a few days away and the kids need to have some fun. So we are going with another family (the other soccer coach) and Joseph is super excited about going. All he keeps talking about are the bumper cars. I will take tons of pics and post when I get home.

LilyRose will be turning 2 on 9/4. I have 2 parties planed. One for the family and a few days later for all the little kids. I have 20 kids for that party. I can't wait for her to have her very first party all of her own.

OMG, my mother just told me that my Aunt passed away this morning. I was just there to see her on Wed. night. She was 92 and a super lady. My aunt has been ill for a while and sometimes not all here but when we went to get LilyRose, she would ask my cousin Nancy everyday if we were home yet. My cousin said at times she didn't know her name but would ask about LilyRose by name all the time. For some reason my aunt and LilyRose had a connection from the very start. We were home a week and Nancy and Aunt Mae came to see her. My aunt was in a wheelchair, but it didn't bother LilyRose at all. As soon as my aunt came in the house, my daughter went right up to her and took her hand and held it for a while. She never shied away from Aunt Mae either. So needless to say I am very sad that my aunt has passed.

I was tagged!!! Thank you Lara. But please forgive me as I will need a few days to sit and do it. With my aunt passing, my mind is blank. Thank you for thinking of me and I will do it, I promise.

Joseph made MVP

I had to post this right away.

Joseph's All Star Baseball Team made the playoffs this weekend. Friday nights game was rained out. It poured all day into late evening. Saturday he had 2 games. They won both games. Joe did pretty good. It was today's game that he did great. I missed this game (of course) because he had to be there at 7:30 am. Way to early for LilyRose. So I am on the phone with my friend April (Aiden's mom) and Anthony calls on the nextel and tells me to come outside with my camera. So I am thinking that Joseph is covered in dirt from head to toe and he wanted a pic of it. Well, that was not it at all. He opens the door and out comes this very big trophy. Joe has this huge smile on his face and says "Look ma, I was MVP today" (Most Valuable Player) Well as you can imagine I was jumping up and down and snapping pictures at the same time. He was so excited. He pitched and Anthony said he made 2 great plays on the field. Anthony said he did really good with pitching. I am so angry that I missed this game and the announcer calling out my son's name to come and get his trophy. I never really get over things like this. Now every time I dust his room and look at this trophy I am always gonna feel bad that I missed his special moment. Hopefully I won't miss anymore special times for him.

Well, I have some pictures. Check out that smile!!!!!!

LilyRose

Ok, so I forgot to mention in my post from yesterday a few things about LilyRose. First she just learned how to skip. Or better yet it's the toddler version of skipping. I believe my niece Christina taught her this. It really is the cutest thing to see. She skips everywhere. We crack up every time. Second, she said her ABC's yesterday. Ok, we had to repeat some of the letters like 50 times but she got through to Z. It was super cute and I am hoping to get all these new milestones on video now. Last but not least, she went to the beach for the first time last weekend. Saturday night me, Anthony, Joseph and LilyRose took a ride to the beach at like 7:15 pm. You had to see her face when she got on the sand. She had no clue of what to make of the whole thing. Joseph went into the water while Anthony stayed down by the water watching him. LilyRose was sitting with me a few feet away on the sand trying to figure out what it was. She couldn't understand why she couldn't get the sand off her hands and feet. It took her a while to get use to it. Well, she decided to walk over to Anthony just as the water was rolling in and it covered her feet. She let out the biggest laugh and scream and that was it, she was hooked. I had no bathing suit for her, so her shorts did just fine. Thank god I always leave the house with an extra outfit or 2.

Sunday we went to the beach nice and early with my cousins Janeen and Kristi and there 5 kids, plus one of there friends with her son. All together there were 7 kids and LilyRose. They had a blast. I didn't bring my camera because I forgot it. Can you believe it, I forgot the camera. It doesn't matter, the whole day is seared in my memory for life. I have a few pics from the night at the beach. There kinda dark but if you click on the pic you can see her face.

More to come soon.

So much has happened

OMG, I haven't been here in so long AGAIN. Where to begin...

First, let me say thank you to Sara Lane for making my blog look awesome. I love it. You should check her out. Her site is on my sidebar.

Well, my brother's visit was great. Short, but great. My son loved having him here and loved the fact that my younger niece was here everyday. They did lots of things and just had a great time together. We also got to spend time with our cousins from my fathers side. I have tried to keep in contact with them since he died. The last time we saw them was at my wedding in 2004. My brother ran into my cousin Kristi at a party that his motorcycle club had for him and she just moved to the next town over from us. She called us the next day and asked if we would like to go to her house so that everyone could see my brother and meet my daughter LilyRose. They had never seen her in person. They followed our trip to China and commented everyday. So we went and had a wonderful time. My cousin Kristi has 2 kids, Anthony and Isabella. Anthony is 1 year younger then Joseph and Isabella is 5. My cousin Janeen has 3 kids, Alexia, Gianna, and JonJon. Alexia is 10, Gianna just turned 8 and JonJon is I think 4. My fathers niece is Ann and her husband Babe. It was great to see them too. The next night, my cousin Amelia (Ann's sister) came with her husband, Tony and her younger son Thomas. They have 2 other boys also. My aunts from my mothers side came to see Ralph too. It was fun visiting with family and hanging out.

We also were invited to Gianna 8th birthday party. Joseph had a great time in the pool with all the kids. We love hanging out with them and plan to keep it up. In all of this visiting and hanging out, I fell down the stairs with LilyRose one morning. Slide right down with her in my arms. She didn't get hurt, but I sure did. Pulled my back out. My brother was on the couch down at my mothers house and I don't think he even touched the floor. He thought I dropped LilyRose. When he saw that she was fine, he went right back to the couch. The nerve of him. lol My daughter bugged my brother every chance she got. It was really funny. At one point right before he left to go back to Iraq, she climbed up on the couch and just put her head on his shoulder. Thank god I had my camera, it is the cutest picture.

My husband turned 44 in the mist of all of this. He had to work late that night and of course Joseph had a baseball game. So that is where we spent Anthony's birthday. By the time we got home from the game, Anthony was so tired he showered and went to bed. He didn't even want to have cake. What a birthday, huh? I am sure I am forgetting things, so I will try to get it all down.

Ralph had to leave on Aug. 1st. His daughters couldn't go to the airport with us so saying goodbye to them early in the day was a really hard thing for him. My mother didn't want to go to the airport because she couldn't handle that, he said goodbye to her so fast so that he didn't have to see her flip out crying. The ride to the airport was ok. LilyRose talked away and we had a laugh or two. But as soon as we pulled into the airport the air in the car changed. Ralph didn't want us to go inside with him, so we said goodbye outside. LilyRose got very sad looking, like she knew he was leaving, but it was my son Joseph that took it the hardest. He burst into tears and was sobbing. We were all shocked. My brother was so upset at that, that he got out of the car in a daze. I couldn't even speak at this point, I just hugged him and whispered that
I loved him and to be safe. That's about all I could get out. Even my husband cried. It was just so damn sad. Then my brother walked away. He didn't even look back. I stood there for a while after he went inside thinking maybe he would come out again, but he didn't. I still get chocked up when I think of it. My son cried all the way home. He kinda went into a depression. He went to sleep crying and when he got up the next day and saw his room (Ralph stayed in Joe's room) empty he started to cry again. He was depressed for 2 days. Didn't want any play dates or anything. It was a slow process, but we are just starting to get back to normal. Although, we will not be NORMAL until he is home for good. So hurry up Ralph, we need you to be home for good.

LilyRose had her first Dr.'s appointment since her tubes were put in and her ears are all clear. No fluid and she passed her hearing test. So we are super happy about that and she will get her ears pierced on the 14th of Aug. I know she will look really cute. Her Godmother Aunt Gina already put dibs on her first pair of diamond stud earrings.

Joseph's All Star team made the playoffs. It's been very exciting although it seems we are at the games every night, it's still exciting and I am so proud of him. Now he wants to join Basketball. I know absolutely nothing about basketball. But we will let him try it out.

We had our first Post-Placement meeting the other day. Can you believe we are home 6 months already. Time sure does fly by.

My Brother is Home

My brother is home from Iraq. Not for good (yet) but just for a visit. He has to go back August 1, 2007.

Anthony and I went to pick him up on Friday, July 6th at JFK. Joseph stayed home from his summer program and we had LilyRose with us also. My brother only met LilyRose for a few hours when we got home because he left the day after we got home from China. I really didn't sleep the night before, I was so excited. Ralph and I are the typical brother and sister. We get along but we also don't get along, but I couldn't wait to see him. We got to the airport way to early and then we were in the wrong terminal and had to walk to the other side of the airport. LilyRose got carriage sickness. lol Up the hill, down the hill. We finally find where we are suppose to be and wouldn't you know it, the flight is delayed. So we got coffee and Joseph got his Wrestling magazine and LilyRose got crackers and we were good to wait. We really didn't have to wait that long and it gave me time to calm down. When he walked through the doors, I started to scream. Couldn't help myself, didn't realize I missed him that much. He looked up at me and just smiled and laughed. Now of course everyone is looking at us and I'm crying like an ass and trying to take pictures and the stupid camera froze up on me. Boy was I pissed. I didn't know it at the time but Anthony was suppose to be video taping and he got the floor and Ralph's shoes and the back of my head. I was so mad. But I did manage to get some very good video of him and my mother. Anyway, my son was so happy to have his uncle/godfather home. Joseph adores Ralph. It was really funny seeing LilyRose looking up at him. Ralph was loving her. So we get on our way to go home and I think my brother was nervous seeing my mother. I called her to let her know we were close and when we pulled up I jumped out first so I could video tape it and my mother just kept saying his name over and over. She was crying so hard that I don't think she really saw him the first 15 minutes. My brother was all choked up just like the rest of us. After she calmed down she asked him to take out the garbage. Thank god I still had the camera on, because no one would believe it. We were hysterical. So there's Ralph, home one hour from Iraq and he's taking out the trash. PRICELESS

Then we took Ralph home to see his kids. Now, I haven't seen my oldest niece in almost 3 years. My younger niece I saw a handful of times in 3 years. That's a whole other story. So i have my camera ready to catch the homecoming but my younger niece flew out of the house so fast that I missed it. But I have to say I will never forget her face. She cried and was holding onto him so tight that you could see my brother trying to catch his breath. Then my older niece came out and it was very touching. No one said anything to me at all and that was ok. The girls had never seen LilyRose so I told Joseph to take her out of the truck so that they could meet her. We left Ralph at his house and went home. I took a nap because I was so tired and about an hour later I hear my brother telling me to get up. I came out of my room and the girls were here. I was shocked. Ralph is staying here for his time home. He is divorced and his ex and the girls live in the house. My younger niece Daniella has been here everyday. She even slept here a few times. Joseph is having a ball. Daniella and Joseph always got along great. They are very much alike. Christina is 17 now and has a boyfriend and she does her own thing.
I am just surprised that she has been here so much. I didn't know that it bothered me so much not having them in my life. I am just hoping that when Ralph goes back, that Daniella can still come here to hang out. LilyRose loves her like crazy. I saw my ex-sister-in-law for the first time in 3 years the other day and I took LilyRose over to the car to introduce her. We will never be friends, but I want to be civil so that my nieces can come here whenever they want. It's great having everyone together again. My mother is happy to have all of her grandchildren together.

BTW, LilyRose is doing great. She is picking up lots of words now that the tubes are in and she's loving life. My cousin's baby girl turned 1 years old and they had the pony rides and petting zoo. LilyRose was up close and personal with all the animals. She really loved the pony ride though. Wouldn't you know it, my carmera battery died right when it was her turn. I got 1 pic of her on the pony.

LilyRose had her Surgery

LilyRose had her surgery yesterday and all went well.

I was a basket case and didn't sleep at all the night before. We got her up as close to the time we had to leave because LilyRose LOVES to eat. She must have been wondering why she didn't get her milk and then her breakfast. Of course we had a few people come to the hospital with us. My cousin Gina (LilyRose's Godmother) my mother, my son, my brother and his daughter. We always do things big in this family. We had to be there at 8:30 am and she was suppose to go in at 9:30am. They called us in at 9:45 and she went to surgery at 10:15 am. Only one parent was allowed to go into the room and hold her while they put the mask over her face so I made Anthony do that. There was no way that I could watch that happen. I would have passed out. That's my baby and it would have broke my heart. Anthony was crying when he came out. I had to laugh though because he had the white cover up and blue hat that he had to wear to bring her in. He looked really funny. I cried a little when he walked away with her and she's waving bye bye but I really lost it when I went back to the waiting room and my mother started to cry. But no sooner did we sit down they called us back in. As we opened the door to go back to the recovery area, we heard LilyRose flipping out. She was screaming and crying and we took off at a run and boy was I shocked when I saw here. This was NOT my LilyRose. She had this blank look on her face and she was kicking and hitting the nurse. So I took her and she was flipping and hitting and I almost dropped her. So Anthony took her and he was having a hard time holding her too. She was pulling his hair and squeezing his face and she had no idea who we were or where she was. This went on for a 1/2 hour. The nurse told us we could leave, but I was not going anywhere while she was acting like this. The nurse kept telling us that this was normal and that she would snap out of it soon. I was floored. She finally calmed down enough for us to leave. She wouldn't look at anyone in the car and when we got home she sat on the couch with my niece and finally started to be herself. She came into the kitchen and pointed to the cereal cabinet and then she was off to the races. She ate all day long. Finally at 1pm she went down for a 3 hour nap. She got up and ate some more and played and was talking up a storm. She was repeating what we said more then she ever did. The Dr. told me, don't talk loud near her for a few days and I had to laugh at that, we are a loud family. But she was fine and thank god it's done and she's doing great.

I want to thank everyone who has emailed me and called me and wrote here. I really appreciate it all.