Weight

Oh a topic I struggle with yet know so much about. Since the age of about 12 I have struggled with weight. I have wished and dreamed for skinny genes but I just simply don't have them. So instead I have gone on and off diets since I was in middle school. In high school I was so athletic I didn't worry that much. Then I went to college and gained 45 pounds my freshman year. It was then I knew weight would be my life's battle. 

So all through my late teens and early to mid 20's I went up and down and dieted off and on.  Then I got pregnant with Jolie and that is where my weight just spiraled out of control. I gained over 60lbs while pregnant, it was an awful feeling to get on the scale at my OB appointments. I had this crazy idea that once I had her weight would just melt off and all of a sudden I would just be skinny again, needless to say when Jolie was about 3 months old and I was heavier than when I got pregnant that dream died.  Fast forward through another pregnancy (at least I only gained 35 pounds this time), several failed diets, one crash diet that somehow took off 60lbs (and I have kept them off for nearly 2 years), 2 hernia repair surgeries that gets us to today. 

When I went for this second hernia surgery (about a month ago) the doctor had one of the most honest conversations about weight with me I have ever had in my entire life. The doctor flat told me if I did this repair and didn't want to be redoing it again then I had to stay the weight I was on the day of surgery or less the rest of my life. Wow, I have to say that scared me beyond belief. This dr was telling a girl who struggled with weight her entire adult life she couldn't gain a pound. This was crazy talk!  I was more scared about the weight then the surgery. I spent the month between when I met with the doctor and my scheduled surgery not worrying about weight. I figured I would give myself the highest number possible, just in case. So I had the surgery, was in the hospital for three days, came home and it was then that I freaked out. How in the world was I really going to do this?  How was I can make myself the person I wanted to be for so long but had failed at so many times?  I thought about and like any modern women would do I started researching from my iPhone as I laid in bed recovering. I knew at the beginning it wasn't going to be about some elaborate workout schedule, because I couldn't work out at least not yet and let's face it I don't have a ton of free time. So I kept thinking and researching. And then it came to me....I have my iPhone all the time, I use it for everything anyways. Why not make it a part of my journey?  So that's what I did, I started downloading every diet/calorie counting app I could find that was either free or offered a free trial. One by one I tested them out and I finally settled last week on the one to use. It is Lose It and so far I love it. It counts calories for me, it gives me a budget of calories every day while taking into account my goal, which at this point it is get under where I have to be. I tell it if/when I exercise. I can even look up food on menus at fast food restaurants and chains. It is perfect for me. I know someone else out there needs help with this topic so I am sharing my story one little tidbit at a time. You will never see me post actual numbers because frankly I am just not that open, my husband doesn't even know exactly how much I weight. But I will share some updates as I lose. I am down a few pounds since surgery, I will know for sure when I step on the dr's scale on Thursday. Below is a snapshot of the app I am using. Feel free to join me, having friends on the same mission makes these life hurdles seem a little easier!

Changes are here....

So when I posted my 2012 post a week or so ago I alluded to big changes coming for The Perillo's, well the changes are here! I am ready to announce the biggest change for me.....on Monday I put in notice to my current employer. I accepted a job with Coca-Cola Refreshments in Tampa as a manager. I am really excited, it is a new opportunity with a great Americian classic. There are sure to be challenges there like any job but I think this was an amazing opportunity not just for me professional but for my family. It is going to leave me with more time with my family with less nights and weekends. I begin this new chapter next week Tuesday and I am thrilled. While I will miss all my friends and a lot of my customers at Premier this is going to be a great new adventure.

Last weekend, last week, and this weekend!

So I will start by saying it has felt like a whirlwind the last week. Last week Friday was my last day of my last vacation for the year and Rich and Jolie were also off because of Conference Day. So we scheduled a conference with Jolie's teachers, which went very well. We received her test scores for the first VPK testing period and she is in the top 1% of all VPK kids in the state, only missing 3 questions on the whole test. Her teachers are pleased with her progress, as are we. She is starting to read and does double digit addition in math. She is constantly spelling words, she also ask what things are in Spanish and is doing great with that. After the conference we went to Walmart for a new booster seat for her and then the drive thru at Wendy's to pick up lunch. We took both the girls and lunch to the park for a little picnic and playtime. The weather was amazing and the girls had a great time. We had a quite rest of the day and all was great.

Saturday, oh Saturday....Jolie and I had just hit the interstate to go to Ikea to get the shelve I had been talking about all week when my phone rang, it was my Aunt in Chicago. She informed me that my Grandma had fallen in her house and asked me to go check on her. I jump off the interstate and head right over. Grandma answers the door and I immediately tell her we are going to the hospital....I get her ready and we head to the ER. She looked like she had gone 9 rounds with Mike Tyson, bumps and the worst black eye I had ever seen. Rich met me at the hospital and retrieved Jolie and I cared for Grandma. Of course my Mom was still out of town so I was solely in charge. They did all the scans and what not and the good news was there was no internal injuries. As time went on she developed two black eyes and basically an entire face in bruises. I stayed with her Saturday night and Sunday morning until my Mom arrived home. My poor Mom has been staying everyday and night with her since then so this week has just been a zoo.

This past week was just full of busy, crazy times. I have so much going on and feel as though there is no time for me to breathe. Jolie has been sick all this week and Rich took off to help with her, she did a pediatrician appointment and ended up on steroids to help her breathing which has made her hyperactive which has been a challenge. She is also on breathing treatments (which is fairly common for us) as well as a puffer inhaler. So that has been busy and stressful. Then there is just the everyday going on and that is at times overwhelming.

This weekend, yesterday was pretty much devoted to a depressing day of Gator football. We recorded our 4th straight loss and I think now will be struggling to even be bowl eliagable. So it was pretty much a PJ day and we all just rested. Last night Jolie stayed with Poppy for a sleepover, she loved that because it was just the two of them and she got to do everything she wanted to do.

Today we did a little Halloween Party at my Mom and Dad's house for the girls. Jolie got to carve a pumpkin, which she loved doing. We had pizza and wings, the girls put on their costume and got to collect their treats from the family, Jolie loved that part, of course! It was nice to see everyone and we had a great time. After the party we came home, took naps, and then Jolie and I did a trip to the grocery store. She even helped cut coupons before we left and helped check things off the list at the store. It is amazing how grown up she is, it makes you wonder where the years have gone! Overall, we had a great weekend and we look forward to another busy week! Tomorrow starts at 8:30 am with Flu Shot appointments for both the girls.....as I wrote this Rich has already asked me if it was Friday yet? Ha ha!!!!

I spent the weekend camping....

Well, not exactly camping but I was at camp, well again kind of....I spent the weekend at Camp Alpha Nu in Gainesville at the sorority house! It was kind of like roughing it as we stayed in the chapter house and I am just not use to a twin bed that is so high off the ground I had to use a chair to get into it. It also required flip flops in the shower as you wouldn't want to touch the floor in there because who knows what has touched it in the 50 years the house has been around. As I think I talk about it often but in case you don't know I have a love for all things related to the sorority house, it is my passion, I have spent the last nearly two years working hard to make the house gorgeous, we have done so many projects I don't know that I can even begin to list them all but I have to say the house is nearly there, it is almost amazing, there are few spaces I haven't touched in one way or another recently but today in our annual House Corporation Business Meeting we passed a motion to begin the project of an addition onto the chapter house, this has been a dream of mine since I was in college, I dreamed of being rich one day and having a whole wing named after me....while I am not rich yet and the wing won't be named after me I am so excited to know we are on our way to a bigger, better, prettier chapter house and that is what I have always wanted. So needless to say it was a great weekend of "camping" and catching up with old friends (including my little sister I hadn't seen in years, it was so great she contacted me and came by to see me, even if it was only for a few minutes) and making new friends with recent alums. I have to say this is always one of my favorite weekends of the summer every year!!!!

There is no planning for what life throws your way.

So I went back to work Thursday and Friday, it was fairly uneventful and calm, nothing too bad for the first two days. This next week of course gets crazy with events and tastings and things to sell and people to see but it was expected. What was completely unexpected is when Friday at the office my eyes started getting real red and itchy, my nose was running and it was awful. I went on with my day counting down the stops I had to make til I could just get home and get my contacts out, I figured there was something up with them. I went straight to bed Friday night with an ice pack on my face and took my allergy medicine and washed my eyes out. I woke up Saturday morning and my eyes were literally swollen shut, light bothered them and it was plain awful. Rich took Jolie to his Mom and called my Mom to come over and help us so Rich stayed with Avery and my Mom took me to the Urgent Care Center, it is like a step down from the ER and is suppose to be cheaper and faster than the ER, I am pretty certain it was both of those things. The doctor walks in my little room, takes one look at me and my eyes and decides I have super horrible, worse case possible of pink eye. Great, I work two days and leave my house for the first time in months and this is what I get, so not cool! So I am on high power drops and again held up in my house. Also turns out little Avery has some sort of cold with congestion and a running nose, she will be going to the pediatrician's office tomorrow. And I am fighting with the eye thing, hand sanitizing myself and the rest of the family every few minutes it feels and just lounging trying to get well enough to return to work tomorrow even though I have a note to miss Monday and Tuesday because of the whole highly contagious eye thing, big problem being my work will loose it if I am out another two days so I am trying. I have thrown away the contacts I was wearing on Friday along with ALL my make-up including the bag, brushes everything. My awesome Mom went out yesterday to Ulta and bout me the start to all new makeup, new brushes, new bag, a new bare minerals starter kit, a thing of eye shadows, mascara, eye liner, literally everything, she was amazing. Speaking of amazing my husband is truly the best! He has helped me get as disinfected as possible, taken care of Avery so I am not touching her, kept Jolie away from me so she doesn't get my funk, he is just awesome and I owe him more than I could ever even begin to repay! Needless to say the Perillo's should just own stock in the antibacterial febreeze, clorox wipes, and hand sanatizer as we are using more of them then I even thought humanly possible! Once done with this post I will be disinfecting the I-Pad as well. So again life has taught us there is no planning, things come as they will and you must adapt and forge ahead.

Mid Week Review

So it is mid week in the real world but tomorrow is really my Monday....I am going back to work for the first time in what feels like forever! I have mixed emotions about returning, part of me is very excited, part of me a little nervous, part of me gets exhausted just thinking about it, part of me is overwhelmed....you get the point, I have mixed feelings. I know the next several weeks or a month are going to be quite busy so that worries me because I don't feel as though I am at the top of my game and that isn't normal for me.

Jolie is back at school and loving it, the summer programs at her school are just so cool, she loves it! Yesterday they had Indian/Asian Dance Lessons, Friday is Bicycle Safety Day where they take their bike and helmet and get fit and riding lessons, it will be super cool and Jolie is totally excited! They also have several Water Days coming as well as Tye Dye T-Shirt Day and a few party days so it will be a great close to the summer at Jolie's school.

Avery has had a great week....she is just so super cute! She is working so hard to learn to crawl, it is just so cute to see her up on all fours and rocking to try to get moving! She is doing great with eating as well, we are slowly introducing new foods and she is doing great with the different textures and just loves getting in her highchair for eating time. She has been waking up at night lately but is easy to get back to sleep so that is good. After a few nights of crying it out to sleep she pretty much goes right to sleep every night so that is awesome! I am so glad we took care of all that while Jolie was gone!

All and all things have been pretty quiet thus far this week although part of normalcy will fire up tomorrow with me going back to work and before we know it, it will be August 15th which is when Rich heads back to work so summer seems to be slipping away. The one thing I will gladly give up is the heat here....it has been just scorching and with my surgery I haven't really had to go out of the house much so I just feel as though I am going to be melting tomorrow as I run around like a crazy person! Well, I have hours worth of catch up work to do so I have to run, will update on my first day back to work by the weekend but probably not tomorrow as it is going to be super crazy!

So it has been a long couple of weeks but the good news is we have made and things are getting better. I am finally feeling better and there is no more draining of my tummy scar, what a relief all of that is! Rich has done a fabulous job of taking care of both Avery and me, I am so thankful for him and all he has done, he has been the one person keeping our household running and that has been a blessing. In other good news, Jolie is coming home this afternoon after 3 weeks of being in the mountains of North Carolina with my parents, she has had a great time but is really excited about coming home. I have to say we are very excited about her coming home, it has been so quiet at our house without her home but it was a blessing for Rich and I to have her with my parents as I was so sick these last couple of weeks. But now that I am feeling better it is going to be great having her home, she has the weekend to hang with us and then on Monday will be going to the summer program at her Montessori Pre-School, she will love that as they do so many fun activities. I am home from work until Thursday of next week when I finally return. I assume the rest of the summer will be pretty busy with work since I have spent the last month out of the loop.

Oh, I meant to post about this a few days ago but time got away from me but anyone that does home school or pre-school at home should go visit the dollar spot at Target soon, they have some amazing school stuff all for a dollar, I even got Jolie a few things as even though she goes to a great school we like to re-enforce at home so I picked up several workbooks to help her with her letters and writing as well as some slight word flash cards as she is starting to read. I also got her a little calendar thing where we can do it every morning and she puts the month, day of the week and date. So if you are in need of educational materials, check it out. They pretty well have stuff for ages 2 and up and tons of stuff for 4 and up.

As of Tuesday of next week I will finally be able to pick up my kids, we at least Avery, I probably won't be picking Jolie up much for a while considering she weights about 40lbs. I don't want to push my luck as I have promised myself I never, ever want to do this surgery again! Having this surgery was far worse than either of my 2 c-sections.

Things are getting better in the Perillo House and we couldn't be more grateful for that!

Life going on around us....

So life is going on in the Perillo House but is far from normal.  As I said several days ago I had some surgical complications so I continue to lay held up in my bed at our house trying to recover from what was suppose to be a fairly easy and routine surgery to repair two hernias.  On Wednesday when I went to the doctor I was in more pain than I think I have ever been in before in my life.  The doctor quickly came into my room in his office and realized there was a problem, it seems as though my body decided to fill the space that was left open by the hernia repair with fluid that had to be drained, the doctor quickly began draining the fluid (probably one of the worst experiences of my life and Rich's as he was in the room watching all this).  From there he set up the incision to continue to drain for days to come, in fact it is still currently draining as we speak, every time I think it might be finished it fills up again and then yet again let's loose even more fluid.  I know most of you probably don't want to read about this but I figure I better write it down so I can look back years from now and remember what I went through to have these hernias fixed.

In other more exciting news Avery is doing well with Rich watching her and caring for her as I still can't lift her or anything else.  She had a pediatrician appointment on Wednesday afternoon that Rich took her to.  Her appointment went well, she got 2 shots and the oral Roto-Virus vaccine and did great with them.  Rich also discussed with Dr. Anton the fact that Avery is extremely difficult to put to bed and that she tends to scream and be inconsolable.  Dr. Anton fully examined her and discovered there is nothing wrong with her, no ear infections, no reflux problems, no intestinal problems and told Rich that more than likely her fussiness was more than likely just a behavioral issue.  So he basically says that she cries/screams at the top of her lungs because she knows that gets us to run into her room and pick her up and hold her and thus she doesn't have to lay in her bed and go to sleep.  So Dr. Anton suggested that we let her "cry it out" in her bed at night, so Rich and I bravely started the "cry it out" method on Wednesday night and go in and check on her in 15 minute intervals but never actually pick her up.  That first night the screaming lasted about 35 minutes.  Thursday night it lasted about 20 minutes.  And then Friday night the screaming was less than 15 minutes so I think it is working, I think we have her realizing that when it is time for bed it is time for bed.  It is amazing to me how different of sleepers our children are.  When Jolie was this age we put her in her crib at 8 pm every night and she didn't make a peep until she woke up the next morning around 7:30 am.  Now we have since had some sleep issues with Jolie but at 6 months old she was a dream sleeper, she took 2 naps everyday and was super consistent on sleep.  On the other hand Avery is not like that at all, she barely naps at all during the day and has been difficult to train to sleep at night.  Just shows how every child is different.  Also here are Avery's stats from her appointment.
Height: 28.75 inches (100th percentile)
Weight: 19 lbs, 4 oz (93rd percentile)
Head Circumference: 99th percentile (I forgot the actual measurement)
So as you can see Avery is a BIG girl, Jolie has always consistently been in the 90th plus percentile for height and weight but she never actually hit the 100th percentile like Avery.  Rich is already very excited about the possibility of athletic opportunities for both the girls based on the fact they are both so tall and projected to continue to be tall.  At two years old when they did the height projection for Jolie she is projected to be 6 feet to 6 feet 2 inches when she is done growing, even if she comes up a little short of that she should be pretty tall.  I think Avery might surpass her quicker than any of us expected if she keeps up at this pace!

Jolie is in the mountains with my parents and having a blast.  We have been skype-ing with them every evening and got to hear all about her adventures.  She has been pretty funny on skype every night, laughing, giggling, and just plain being silly.  Although it is so sweet when she tells us she misses us and loves us but at the same time she is loving being with Mimi and Poppy and the best part is she is behaving perfectly for them.  The three of them have played and watched numerous children's movies on DVD and been on several trips to town and the store and had a blast.  Jolie has gotten the chance to be both Mimi and Poppy's helper and I know their three weeks together are going by so quickly for them but I will say I sure do miss all of them!!

Hopefully this week will be the week I really begin to feel better, I am still out of work until at least Wednesday when I return to the doctor's office for another follow up appointment.  I am hoping that this week will be a better appointment and that I might return to light duty work by Thursday or Friday of next week.  I have a lot of things going on at work and just feel as though I need to be back to deal with all my upcoming events.

This weekend we plan on laying low as we celebrate our Nation's birthday and independence.  I think Rich's friend and mom are going to come over tomorrow for a little cook out, Rich is going to throw some food on the grill and we will all just hang out.  I think it will be nice that I get to see people instead of being held up in my room, I am starting to go a little stir crazy!!!  I again am so thankful that I had this procedure over the summer and that Rich has been around to take such good care of me, that sure has been nice!!  Well here is to a Happy 4th of July and a good weekend of recovery!!

Surviving....

Okay, so we are officially surviving in the Perillo House but let me state for the record that it has not been easy to survive!  I had my surgery last week Tuesday, it turned out to be a little more complicated than originally projected, which should come as no surprise because it feels as though that is how things go in the Perillo House.  But I have basically laid around for the last six days in a great deal of pain, far more pain than either of my c-sections or for that matter more pain than any other surgery I have EVER had.  I by no means thought I would be down for the count like this but it is what it is.  I can't bend, I can't lift anything, I can barely change positions without assistance and all I can say to all that is I thank God for my husband!  My husband has successfully run our household and cared for both of our children and me and done it well.  He has prepared all our meals, cared for our 6 month old baby, taken care of our 4 year old, done laundry, cleaned, and did anything and everything else that needed to be done, including dealing with a wife laying in bed in agony which is no easy task.  I can't thank my husband enough for everything he has done, he surely deserves some sort of medal or possibly A LOT of medals!!  So we are surviving around here but I am not up for much blog posting so this is all you get for now.

Mid Week Update

Okay, so maybe the title is slightly misleading since we are really one day past midweek but how exciting is a title like "One Day Past Midweek Update". Anyways, on to the update. Jolie continues with swim camp and is loving it, I actually have a picture to share but I am on the I-Pad so that will have to wait. But she is doing really well and even has been jumping off the diving board and doing great.

Rich is finished with work for the year and is home for the summer, he will be watching Avery for the summer so he will still be very busy. Avery will be 6 months old tomorrow...that just doesn't even seem possible. But she is doing great in her first two days home with Daddy.

I have yet to get much done while at home because I haven't felt very well. I saw the surgeon yesterday and he found the same hernia that my primary care physician had found last week. The surgeon went ahead and scheduled surgery for Tuesday of next week and then also ordered a CT Scan for tomorrow to get a full idea of the scope of the surgery Tuesday. I have pre-op scheduled for Monday morning. I am glad to know they will be fixing all this but a little nervous for the procedure itself as well as the recovery process. I am not suppose to lift anything over 15 lbs. for 3 weeks to a month and I have an almost 20 lb 6 month old so the logistics of that makes me super nervous. So we'll see how all that goes. But it should help with the pain and bulge in my stomach area so that is exciting! I will be home with Rich and Avery until July 5th and Jolie is going to NC with my parents on the 25th. I will be missing a sorority conference in Atlanta the weekend of the 24th but nothing I can do about it, as this surgery is somewhat of an emergency.

Well, that is it for mid week in the Perillo House, we are just trying to enjoy the first week of summer!

Our weekend and this next week.....

So last week was a crazy busy week, I had work events and just tons going on. Not to mention Rich had the last of his final exams on Monday so that was stressful. Good news is that Rich passed all three of his exams so he is officially done and we can enjoy our summer!!!

Now, onto the big thing going on in our lives, well really my life. After being pregnant twice and carrying larger than normal babies, I now have a fairly severe ventral hernia in my middle abdomine. Well, let's go back, I have had three hernias for literally my entire life one on top of the other straight up from my bellybutton, I have always known about them and been able to feel them and all that, I never had any problems with them, ever, I have done everything I wanted, no issues. Well, now there are issues, after having Avery they didn't feel the same but I didn't think much about them...until earlier this week when all of a sudden there was a hard bulge in my stomach just above my bellybutton that hurts pretty bad all the time but most especially when I laugh, cough, or lift anything. So I went to the doctor on Thursday and the only solution is surgery and they tuck everything back in and then put a mesh screen to keep it from popping again. There are two surgical options one is traditional cut method and one is with small laproscopic insitions. So on Wednesday we are going to meet with the best hernia surgeon in Tampa to discuss all the options. So this week I am on vacation and I thought my vacation was going to be all about taking Jolie to swim lessons which start tomorrow morning and then cleaning, organizing the house and just general getting things done. Instead I am taking pain killers and medication for nausea to try to treat the hernia symptoms until we can get to the surgeon appointment and get a surgery scheduled which at this point seems way too far away!!!

So the weekend was super chill in The Perillo House as I really haven't felt well and I just take pain pills every 6 hours just to get through, not to mention the hard part is caring for my kids as I am not suppose to be lifting anything as it can cause even more damage to my stomach and intestine. I did however, tell Rich that it would be great if they could just go ahead and do a tummy tuck while they fixed the hernia but he didn't think that was as good of an idea as I did so don't think that is going to fly! So all that is going on here is medicine and pain and me struggling to get things done....no fun! Wednesday can't come fast enough, just want to have the plan and get it done, will keep you posted.

I forgot to mention.....

I don't know how I did it but I totally forgot to mention that I finally got my wedding rings back last Saturday. While I was pregnant with Avery my hands swelled real bad and I had to get them cut off my fingers. I waited months, just over five after Avery was born to have them fixed but I picked them up on Saturday morning from the jewlers and they look brand new and amazing, so glad to have them back!!!!

Back up and running.....

So after all my picture posts on Monday I must have posted so much that it broke our Internet and it has been broken all week so this is my first chance to write anything all week. Although the bad part is I really don't have that much to write about. This week although a short work week due to the holiday has felt like one of the longest weeks ever! It was the end of the month on Tuesday so that was crazy busy, I have a lot going on at work that I won't even go into as it is just really a mess that no one wants to hear about, I have a ton of events and functions going on and it is crazy. Not to mention this was the week that Rich had to take two out of his three final exams so that made life a wild ride with him working all day then running to make his exams. The good news is he passed both of the ones he took and just has one left to take on Monday. Plus he is really happy to be down to a week left of school for the year, he is for sure ready for the year to end!!!!

Today it is just Avery and I at home and we have a full on to do list of things to doubt I am tired and really don't feel like getting anything done, is that bad of me?

As I check on sleeping children....

Tonight I think I have a case of the over tired's....I know it is like my kids but I am so tired I can't sleep but I had a few random thoughts I figured I would just go ahead and blog them now. So here is my list of thoughts I had right after I checked on my beautiful, quiet, sleeping girls.

- as I just checked on both my girls peacefully sleeping safely in their rooms it dawned on me how all the hundreds of thousands of people in Middle America must feel tonight because they aren't check on their kids in their houses in their own beds. So many of them have lost everything they own and some have even lost their children or other members of their family. I just can't even imagine what they are going through. My heart breaks for these families and I pray for their safety as more storms come through the area and all the water settles. I told Rich the other night I couldn't imagine what these families are going through as we watched the Evening News.

- then probably equally as sad as I checked on my children this evening I thought of the Casey Anthony trial that is currently going on in Orlando. If you don't know about this trial you must be living under a rock as it took them weeks just to find a jury because everyone knew about it, not to mention they are televising every last detail on Tru TV and HLN. Anyways I digress, the reason I thought of it was I just can't buy into the craziness that is that trial. Supposedly Casey Anthony murdered her then 2, almost 3 year old daughter and then partied like a rockstar but now according to the Defense the little girl accidentally drowned and because the Mom (Casey Anthony) was sexually abused by her father and brother she got scared and covered everything up. I just can't buy how a mother that truly, loved and cared for her child can behave this way. It really makes me sad just thinking about it, as a Mother I just can't imagine all that anyone of them is selling. I think crazy stuff like that might be part of why I check on my kids 4-5 times a night while they are sleeping, just to know they are okay, it makes me feel better.

Good news, everyone in The Perillo House is sound asleep, that includes my wonderful husband, 2 beautiful daughters, 2 cats, and the dog, the only other person that should be sleeping but isn't is me although I am feeling tired now, so I think this is the end of this post so I can get some rest, night, night!!!!

Mother's Day Weekend

My very special, very wonderful Mother'sDay weekend began Friday morning when I went to a little Mother's Day Bruch at Jolie's Pre-School, it was really sweet, they had some little foods out and the kids made the Mom's little gifts. She made me a little paper flower that was super cute as well as a really pretty wind chime. It was nice and she showed me around her classroom and her work that was on the walls. I also got a chance to meet some of her friend's Mothers that will be coming to her Birthday Party next weekend.

Then yesterday morning Rich sent for me for a wonderful manicure and pedicure, it was so nice and relaxing, I loved it! Then our parents watched the kids so Rich and I could go to Tampa Bay Downs for some local horse racing and to watch the Derby. We met up with some friends and had lovely cocktails and made horse bets and cheered on the races, it was really fun! I forgot to take pictures over the weekend but I will say my Derby outfit was amazing and so super cute! I might have had a few more drinks than needed but I stayed in control and it was fine. We went for a nice dinner after the races and it was so nice, Rich did an amazing job making yesterday very special for me and it totally was.

This morning, Rich and Jolie made me a wonderful breakfast of eggs and bacon and even served in bed with super cute cards and beautiful flowers, it really was so sweet of them. The breakfast was really good, which actually surprised me since Rich doesn't cook often. After breakfast Rich took care of the kids so I could just lay around in bed and take a little nap, it was honestly awesome! Now both kids are napping and Rich is with is Mom. Once the girls wake up we are off to hang with my Mom and Grandma and then eat dinner, it sure has been a great day!

Tomorrow is a super huge day as Jolie turns 4 years old! It is hard to believe that my little muffin has gone from that gorgeous little baby to a smart and active and still beautiful 4 year old, amazing! Will post this week all about Jolie's Birthday!

The Royal Wedding....

So I am currently sitting in my bed with both of my daughters watching the Royal Wedding. I wish I could sit here the rest of the morning and finish watching all the coverage and love on my girls but with today being the last selling day of the month that won't be happening. Jolie came in my room about 20 minutes ago and I told her a princess was getting married and she has been glued to it ever since. Although she did tell me she wants to be a princess too. I guess we all kind of doing....however, I just hope she grows up feeling as special as a princess everyday and that wil be enough for me.

Is it a full moon????

Just wondering if there is a full moon going on...such weird things have happened to me over the last few days....here is my list of recent craziness and just all around funny stories!!!

1. This morning I got up, got dressed, I picked up Avery, her boppy pillow, my pump bag and started down the stairs in my super cute kelly green shirt and white skirt. About half way down the stairs I hear Avery have a blowout in her diaper, I don't thing much about it, this happens all the time, she is a 4 month old infant. I get to the bottom of the stairs, I put down the pillow and other things and look down to realize there is poopy on her leg, outside of her diaper, I still don't think too much of this, I grab her extra outfit, put her on her changing table and begin to change her diaper when I realize that not only is poopy on her leg, it is on my green shirt and ALL over my white skirt. So obviously Mommy had to come back upstairs and rework the outfit for the day. I then had to wash out/rinse my clothes and start laundry, not a good start to my morning!

2. Tonight, Rich and I had just finished eating dinner when I noticed our two cats were messing with something on the floor by the dining room table. I walk over there and they take off to half way up the stairs, one of them has something in his month. They get half way up the stairs and stop and play with something. I look...only to realize it is a real large half dead/half alive lizard. I of course immediately insist Rich take care of this situation. Rich gets it way from the cats and throws it out the front door...who knows where that ended up.

So after I re-read my short list of oddball occurrences I have just realized maybe it isn't a full moon....it must be some sort of black hole on my staircase, about half way up.

In other news....Rich is surveying his week of Daddy Daycare with the girls although with the exception of Monday he has only ended up having one girl most the day, I will however give him all the credit in the world though because he is handling it all like a champ. The girls are having a great time. Jolie got to spend yesterday with some Daddy time at the playground in the mall plus some arcade time and a little food court lunch while my mother-in-law watched Avery. Then last night Jolie spent the night at my Mom and Dad's house and then this morning Poppy took her to the Aquarium and for a Trolley ride from downtown to Ybor City and back and some lunch and then a nap at Mimi and Poppy's house, she had a great time. Tomorrow the girls will be with Rich all day but I thing the plan is to stick around the house and play. Rich has recently taught Jolie to play Mario Kart on the Wii so I think there maybe some racing in store for them tomorrow. I on the other hand have 2 long, hard, important days ahead of me at work, it is the end of the month, the end of our goal cycle and 1/3 through the final quarter for two of our largest suppliers, needless to say the pressure is on!

Random Pictures from my Blackberry and Camera

So I haven't uploaded pictures from my phone in awhile and I decided to do so this morning and I know I haven't posted many pictures lately because I have been on the I-Pad and to be honest pictures is one of the things I haven't mastered on the I-Pad yet, so for your viewing pleasure random pictures with a few random stories....

The above picture was taken on March 21st by my husband Rich while I was working as a little pick me and make me smile, it did that well, she is just so darn cute!!

The above picture was taken on March 19th right after I came home from the mall and discovered my new obsession, babies in big hair bows, I just love it!  I think she is so cute anyways but add in a giant bow that makes her look like a little gift and I could just eat her up!!

The above picture was taken on March 20th because I wanted to capture how super cute my little baby was on that day and any other day for that matter, it was just the Mom thing to do!!

This picture was taken at my parents house the day of the CRAZY storm that including a tornado that hit my warehouse/office where I work.  That was on March 31st, I even sent it to the local news channel and they used it on TV and their website, by the way where all that water is there is normally my parent's street!!

Again just a random picture because like any Mom I think my baby is the cutest!!

This is the worst, most unflattering picture of me but I am sharing it because it was a Monday that Jolie was helping me in the kitchen, she really loves that as you can see from the big smile on her face.  I was actually teaching her to use a knife and I have to say she did amazingly well, it is just amazing how fast she is growing up!

I took this picture last Sunday as the girls were laying in our bed in our master bedroom in their PJ's.  They had such a good time just playing in there.  For anyone that knows me well you know that I love my bed and thing that it is literally headquarters for my house.  I do so much from there including work, phone calls, play with my kids and then of course the normal bed stuff as well but it is for sure my favorite place to be!!

I took this picture of the sky as I drove to see my friend Sarah on Sunday morning.  The writing is upside down and hard to read but it says "Jesus Loves U" and I just thought on a day that beautiful and heaven sent it was such a fitting message and I wanted to share.

This was taken Monday night as Avery got her first taste of rice cereal that she absolutely loved!!

Now that was the end of the phone pics and then I got motivated and decided to include a few from the camera as well, here are those.

This picture was from our no kids allowed date day in March.  We didn't get to squeeze one into the month of April but we have one planned for Derby Day in May, I still have to go shop and get a dress and hat for Derby Day but I am really excited about that one, thanks to my parents monthly date days are possible and it is great for Rich and I to spend some alone time doing fun stuff.

This picture is from my Grandfather's 90th Birthday party that we threw at the end of March, this is a picture with his grand kids and of course his oldest Great Granddaughter.

Again from the 90th Birthday Party my Grandfather with his 3 children.

Poppy and his granddaughters, he loves them and they just adore him!!

This is from Avery's Christening at the end of March.

This is Avery with her God Parents, Parents, and Big Sister.

Me and Avery blowing out the candles on my 31st Birthday cake!

My Grandmother from last weekend when we celebrated her 87th Birthday!  Her actual birthday is on Easter Sunday.

Just thoughts as I am thinking them.....

So today's post is just going to be full of the random thoughts in my head for today.....

1. I have one of the worst headaches ever today, like seriously pounding! I even stopped at a 7-11 for BC powder, it is slightly better. Although I credit part of the better to the slur-pee I also picked up at 7-11.

2. Rich has officially coined a new baby related term, although not one you should say around your pre-schooler. It is "shit belt". This refers to what happens when your baby has such a big poop that it comes up the diaper and oozes out around their waist, thus creating a "shit belt". I know those of you reading this that have kids know what I am talking about and those that don't have children yet are horrified. Honestly, we should all be horrified at this scenario but it is apart of life and at least one that we can laugh at to make it a little better. By the way Avery has had 2 "shit belt" inncidents, one involved Rich who was home alone with the kids cutting her outfit off with scissors....got to laugh!

3. 4 year old birthday parties are a lot of drama....we are currently planning Jolie's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, thank goodness they serve beer that will be my saving grace. But onto the drama, everyday this week Jolie has come home from school telling Rich and I who is and is not coming to her birthday party...it changes daily based on playground dramas, too funny. In case you are wondering, the whole class is invited, although deep down I hope they don't all show up as we have to pay for the party based on the number of children that show up! I think that might be the worst bad-Mommy thing I have said all week but it's true!

4. Making an Easter basket for a 4 month old is difficult, there isn't much good stuff in the Target Dollar Spot for a baby but there is a ton there for an almost 4 year little girl. So I had to break down this morning and figure this out so we didn't have one child with nothing from The Bunny. So I opted for things we needed for her like teething rings and spoons for baby food, not exciting but practical, hopefully this doesn't scar her for life. Jolie on the other hand has a ton of fun stuff, even a really cute bunny egg toss thing that has Velcro bunny mitts with a plush egg thing...too cute plus some bubbles, coloring books and fun little stacking crayons. I know she will love it! I also got her a Bearenstien Bear's DVD about Spring.

5. I worked a 12 hour day yesterday and I feel it today, besides the headache I just feel sluggish....not fun. Leaving the house before 7 am just messes with me and for that matter so does returning from work after 7 pm. Thank goodness today was a lighter day then yesterday!

6. Rich's back is hurting him really bad this week and I feel so bad for him as he just looks like he is dying....I even had to put the leash on the dog for him this morning so he didn't have to bend unnecessarily. He is at the chiropractor's office this afternoon, hope it helps as next week is Spring Break and he is on Mr. Mom duty for the week with both girls, I think he will be ready to go back to work after a week of that!

I think that is all I have floating in my head this afternoon....will keep you posted of additional thoughts later.

Can you really handle all that you are given?

So I have always said "God only gives you what you can handle". I am beginning to wonder if someone lost track of all I have been given or if anyone is paying attention to all that is on my plate. This week has been a total zoo, it feels as though it should be Friday, however, news flash it is merely Tuesday and I still have three full, very busy work days left to the week. So let's recap on the crazy I have going on up in here, I know one day I will look back on this blog and be like wow, did I really complain that much?, was I really always that stressed?, did I really think it was that hard. Who knows what the answers will be but for this season in life I am going to just document the crazy and hope that one day I look back and laugh. So since Friday here is the quick recap.....

Friday:
Take day off, do work in the a.m., anyways, run around, do errands, go to the worst place in America the Child Readiness Office to get VPK Certificate for Jolie, the place smells of poop and has a ton of women with their children that don't really look like they should be Moms. Grandma has surgery, we worry, she does well, spend all day at hospital.

Saturday:
Rich plays golf and goes to friend's house to watch Master's. I stay with kids all day, I think to self..."self would you be considered a bad person if you tell your nearly 4 year old child you have changed your name and it is no longer Mommy?". This occurs after the 1378th time it is said in the day, I do however decide that might make me a bad person and decide not to tell her that but I sure thought it. Grandma goes home, is doing okay, sore but okay.

Sunday:
I have to work from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm at big Bern's Wine Fest, fun but not fun...I get to hang with my friend Jenn, thank goodness. After done we walk the million mile walk to the parking garage. I go see Grandma, come home, make dinner, clean, go to bed, actually one of the best days in recent memory which might be kind of sad!

Monday:
Starts early with call from MIL saying she is really sick again, Rich has FCAT starting today, can't take day off, however, arranges to leave early to take her to dr appointment, dr says she is very sick and gives a ton of medication and shots, etc. Doesn't rule out hospital stay but says not yet. My husband gets her back home and settled, runs errands for her and gets home really late but she is better. I on the other hand spend sometime and eat dinner with my Mom, Aunt, and Grandma with my girls. That was the highlight of any otherwise stressful day.

Tuesday:
Better known as the worst day in the bunch....
Jolie is up at 4 am, so is Avery...both go back to bed til almost 7. I have to wake up Jolie, she immediately tells me her hand hurts, I look at it....appears to be a small, single line scrape on palm of left hand, I tell her she would be fine, no worries, I put on a little aquapor and send her on her way. She tells the teacher as soon as we get to school it hurts but I tell them I put a little cream on it but it is fine. My Mom picks her up about 2:30 and calls me saying she is now crying about her hand hurting and then goes on to describe something way worse than I say in the am. So I call the peditrician's office and try to describe to them....they aren't sure what it is but think I should bring her in....since I am now worried and my Mom has both children by herself I race from work to my Mom's house to get her to doctor's. My Mom is right it looks awful and Jolie is not her happy, normal self. Dr. says it is Cellulitous (not sure how to spell it) but that it is spreading, not contagious (thank God for little Avery's sake and my sanity or what is left of it). It is going up her arm because it is in her lymph nodes, gives us prescription for antibiotic, we have 24 hours for it to stop spread before we have to take her back and that is very serious, this is somewhat minor in contrast at this point. So far after a lot of whining and crying she is now happily sleep and so is Avery.....that might be a clue I should be too.... In fact I think I will and I will finish off later.....Well I left off on the post around 10 pm, now it is 2:45am and I am typing with one hand, holding a bottle with the other and pumping at the same time because after I went back to work there was no more nursing because Avery got to use to a bottle. So I put into each day the major highlights of the crazy but there was still the little things too, you know, the everyday stuff like the getting up several times a night for months on end for both children, work being busy and the pressures mounting as we prepare to hit some crazy large numbers.
It just feels as though there is too much for me to handle and it just leads me to the title of this post how do we know we can handle all we are given? Not to mention, what is the definition of handling? In my world as of late that means there will be tears involved on someone's part, possibly screaming, worry, guilt as a Mother, guilt as a wife, sleepless nights, time spent in prayer....did I handle it? I am not sure the answer but I do know I am almost full up and I sure hope someone realizes that!