From the ghetto to "the HILL"

So....we FINALLY moved to "the hill" and are quite enjoying it. I DON'T HAVE TO CARRY GROCERIES AND CHILDREN UP THREE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS WHILE WADING THROUGH PEOPLES LEAKING GARBAGE ANYMORE!!! We vacated our ghetto apartment last weekend to never return. Even though they may look nice and not too ghetto-ish (because they are only a year old)......unfortunately, they were just that.....SAD, trashy, ghetto-like.


Lets just say that it was not uncommon to see the police in the parking lot, drunken people on their balconies, two year old children at the play area without clothing or diapers and kids playing in the dumpster (to name a few). Real high quality...we were SOOOOO sad to leave.

Anyway, we love our new place. It is quiet here and the kids are really liking the extra space and the back yard to play in (although they have NO IDEA how to PLAY outside unless there is a swing set/jungle gym....it is so sad). Here are a few pics

This is Gabe trying in squish the ants on his bike. It's all he has really figured out yet.



Gabe is helping me plant the flowers that the boys gave me for mother's day.


Cael wanted to help too. Although he continues to "help" me by digging up what we have already planted.

Isaac was helping us unpack. (actually he dropped a ball in the box and is trying to retrieve it...it was very funny...he almost fell in)

Isaac is staring out the front window....enjoying the scenery(one of these times he is going to slip and crack his head open on the windowsill but he just won't stay off of there).

Because I am a very visual person (Stacy and Chad: I still have NO IDEA what your house in California looked like) I created a "walking tour" of our home. If you place you mouse on the picture, there is an explanation of what it is. I know that some of you don't really care what the house looks like but for my family who will never get to come here or at least not for a long time, I just wanted you to be able to picture our happy abode. :) If you can see, Gabe and Cael have the largest room (the master) and Rob and I have the smallest (downstairs) but.....at least we get to use their closet for storage. I LOVE STORAGE!!!!!

Melanie G. M.D.??...ummm....not quite

Well.....a few weeks ago, I performed my first surgery. I know....right, and I am not even premed. Rob came to me one Sunday morning after he had just stepped on a toothpick and announced he thought he may need to go to the E.R. (I know, don't laugh....it took me by surprise as well). Now, for those who know me best you know that I am not one to A. want to waste my time going to the E.R. and being sent home with a bandaid (that happened to me when I sliced myself with a knife at Boston Market) B. risk going to the E.R. and coming home with some random, unknown disease or C. waste my money when things can be done at home. Therefore, we prepared for surgery.
I gathered the rubbing alcohol, tweezers and bedside lamp. Rob laid on his stomach and propped his foot up on a few pillows. After cleaning the area and sterilizing the tools, I set to work. Rob kept jerking his foot around and complaining about how much it hurt. I replied that I was sorry and said that I could sympathize with him because I had borne three children and though I it may be a bit uncomfortable and may even hurt a little, I was sure it paled in comparison to child birth (I know I am not the most nurturing or sympathetic person sometimes....I am working on it). To which he said,"Nuh uh, the bottom of my feet are really sensitive." Can you imagine my reply???? Go on....try to......... I said (note: very calmly after I rolled my eyes a few times) Oh, and you don't think it's sensitive where babies come out. I hate to break it to you but it is. Now just be quiet and hold still!!!" He was a much better patient after that and soon we had it out. No tetanus shot needed, luckily, but we did take pics.

I know, you are amazed at the results. So am I. You know, if I didn't dislike other peoples mouths, feet, dirty hands, blood and germs, I very well could have a future in health care.

PLUG FOR DUMMY DANGLERS....get it?......PLUG!!!

Are you tired of picking your babies pacifier off the floor and feeling guilty when you give it back to them and haven't washed it? Want something really cute to attach to their clothes without paying an outrageous price?
My sister is selling what she calls DUMMY DANGLERS (In Australia they call pacifiers "dummy's"). Here is a link to her blog that gives all the info. http://dummydanglers.blogspot.com
They are DANG cute. Every child needs one (at least if they use a pacifier). Check them out! There are over 40 styles to choose from. One for every outfit your child has.

Thumbs up to My Roberto for an amazing six years!

Rob and I have now been married for six years (May 10th) . Wow......I mean, WOW. There are times when it seems like it has gone really fast (like when we watch our wedding video, which we do every year, and realize how much hair Rob used to have and how much I used to smile and laugh), other times it seems to have gone by really slowly (like when we try to imagine how many years it will be before all of our children are out of the house and it will just be the two of us again).

I have been in kind of a "postpartum-I-hate-the-world-just-get-me-through-the-day-and-hope-I-don't-hurt-anyone" phase and have not been very fun to be around for the last 9 months....make that 18 months. Do you want to know how I came to this knowledge? I came out of it. I came out of the "pit of despair" without realizing just how far I had fallen into it. What a joy it is to be out of it and ENJOYING life again. In the midst of this new found "light" I have come to realized just how truly, madly, and deeply (thank you Savage Garden for hitting it on the nail) I love my husband.

Rob, I love you. I love you more today than I did the first time I touched your elbow in Spanish class (and that's saying a lot....I knew I would marry you even back then...ask my roommates). You are the most wonderful and supportive husband a girl could ever ask for. You are perfect for me (my mother knew you would be..... Since the day you took me out on my parents front porch to have a "good" cry because my wedding dress was getting a little snug (a week before the wedding). You just put your arm around me and let me cry, telling me that I was beautiful and everything would be okay and..........it was. You are always my sanity in times of "crazy" (which is more often than I care to admit). No one else would be up to the challenge and yet you are always there and always prepared for more. You are my best friend and the only person who knows me for who I really am and loves me in spite of it.

Here's to another six......sixty........six hundred years........oh, actually eternity. That's right, you are mine for eternity. Well.............Here's to eternity. I look forward to it with you by my side and in my heart.

I LOVE YOU! HAPPY 6 YEARS ROB!

O Ye Perceptive One!

Today, while sitting down to eat lunch, Gabe asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I replied that I was grown up and I am a mom. To this he replied, "No Mom, what do you WANT to be when you grow up." (Emphasizing the WANT). I was a little shocked and very amused. Could he read my mind? Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my children and I am learning to actually ENJOY them sometimes but in all honesty, I never dreamed of being a mother. I just knew that I would be some day (So, you ask, why did we get pregnant with Gabe so quickly? Who knows.......anyway). How brilliantly perceptive of him, I thought. So after having a good chuckle (inside of course, I didn't want him to know just how right he was), I answered him. "Someday I hope to get my degree in Health and Fitness and be a physical therapist, a personal trainer or just an aerobics instructor....anything to keep me in shape and healthy." He didn't really understand what that meant but seemed satisfied when I told him I wanted to exercise for the rest of my life.

Funny.....Funny.....I am still laughing about it (again, inside, but for a different reason.....the children are napping.......I wouldn't want to wake them up and have to "enjoy" them for a extra hour of the day.)

Ode to my fellow mothers. I would like to give you a high five for your hard work and dedication. Keep up the hustle....it is bound to pay off some day.