New baby!

Last night my younger brother welcomed another son to his clan. His oldest is Anthony and the newest addition is Braden Ryan. During his last ultrasound the OB/Gyn was estimating that he was going to weigh around 11lbs! Braden came into this world at only 9lbs 15ozs and 21 inches. He has the biggest little baby hands i have ever seen. I had my brother take a picture of Braden and Aubrielle side by side. Braden is bigger than his nine week old cousin! Before heading to the hospital to be part of the celebration, i was giving Aj a bath. Aj thought he was being funny licking my arm. I asked him what my arm tastes like and he said "sausage". Either i need a new diet or a bath. I can always count on him for a good laugh. Tomorrow is Mario's birthday and he hinted around that he wants a jello cake or a cookie cake. I might take the easy way out and go buy a cookie cake. My husband and our friend Angie started a new thing where every-other Sunday we go to each others house for dinner. This week is our turn and we are having a Mexican fiesta. I really do not enjoy cooking so maybe this new tradition well help me get over that.........or make me hate it more. If a meal does not come in a package with instructions it's an accident waiting to happen. Why doesn't anyone tell me their secrets to potty training a boy? This is harder than getting a camel to talk. Time to clean........Again.

Ohhhh, i started Weight Watchers yesterday........I may get a little more sarcastic.

mission: No More Diapers

Today was day 1 of potty training and Aj did quite well. He made it all day with only 2 accidents. He is finally admitting that he is the one who got his pants wet. A few days ago i asked him how his pants got wet and he said "Alaina peed". Aj is the comedian in the family and he has such a big imagination. Alaina has some new friends and i feel they are bullying her, Karma? She usually is the one who is bullying the other kids. I want her to stand up for herself but its hard letting her learn this lesson, she needs to know how it feels. Aubrielle is starting to smile, on purpose, and coo. I figured out how to post a slide show, it took me all afternoon, but i did it. Enjoy.

Lets see.....since Wednesday i have driven to Kalamazoo 4 times. I went to pick up my nephew who lives in Georgia, who is up visiting for the summer. Here is some background on my nephews....nearly three years ago their mother passed away unexpectedly. Lino and I tried to take both boys in but, it didn't work out. The oldest had lived with us before so taking him back in wasn't a big change but, Jamare has more issues than we were able to take on. On one of the trips back from Kalamazoo the boys were talking about living in Georgia and memories they have of their mother. I could see in Marios eyes that he was ready to talk to me about his mom. The past three years have been very difficult. My husband did not deal well at all with his sisters passing and Mario, well lets just say he went through a full range of emotions quickly and painfully. I now have more insight to what makes Mario tick than i did a year ago. I think we all carry a great deal of anger, pain, and guilt and those emotions are now being let go. It felt like we all took a huge step forward this week. Lino took Jamare to play basketball, something that would never had happened before. We all still have a long way to go before we resemble a normal family but, who can really say what normal is? Having Aubrielle in our lives is already changing who we are and how we see other people. Speaking of Aubrielle.....we went to the neurodevelopmental specialist on Thursday and we got some really good news. Aubrielle is now 9lbs 13ozs and 20 3/4 inches!! The Dr. said that she has shows great muscle tone and reflexes and she sees no need to come back to her office unless she develops some new problems. I would put up some new pictures of the family but, i really am new to blogging and i still have to figure out how to add them.

Later this week......potty time with Aj. This is a second attempt at getting him off his diaper dependency!

walk to the park

Today I decided to venture out of the house with all three kids. I have only taken all of the kids out twice since Aubrielle was born and boy is it a ton of work. To make things even more difficult, the walk to the park, a maze of tall weeds, gravel, and broken sidewalk all in 80 degree weather. We all made it to the park in one piece but, we left in shambles. Aj was not ready to go home and had a huge meltdown. Aubrielle has not slept for more than five minutes at a time so, she was in tears too. I had to break down and call my mom for a ride home. After the chaos of the park excursion I decided to be a little more productive and look for daycare for the kiddos. I am in total shock....$2k/month!!!!! I only have three kids for cryin out loud. Thank you Kim for 3 1/2 years as our nanny....we want you back. I quickly gave up on that, i think i will try again on Thursday(thats how long it will take to get over my shock). This week is full of Doctor appointments and again next week. Aubrielle has an appointment with the neurologist, I'm not sure what the appointment is for, i guess we will find out. I think i might look for another Doctor for the kids. They currently go to a pediatrician but, i can never get them in for well visits and i don't feel confident that the Doctor has ever treated a child with Down Syndrome from birth. I guess i will add that to my list of things to do.