Update on the Kids

This is just a quick post, it's been a long week and i'm honestly ready for bed at quarter to eight! Sad i know, too bad I have loads of laundry calling my name, and feel kinda bad because as I write this, Maggie is helping me sort the laundry. Yes, the five year old is learning the sacred art of laundry, lol. She's doing a darn good job too. Don't you love when chores are still fun for them? Usually her chore is to get the clothes out of the dryer when they are done, and then i fold them, but she wanted to help sort as well tonight! She's started wanting to take on more things, and she makes me smile with her willingness to help...I'm sure within the next few years i'll have to remind her to do her chores, but for now i LOVE it!
We are only a week away from her competition so if you could keep her in your thoughts, we would appreciate it. She's doing so well, and knows most of her lines, but i'm praying that she doesn't forget them, or get nervous on stage next weekend!! We are so proud of her, she continues to make progress in school, and i don't remember when she's come home with her spelling tests on Friday where she's missed any!! She still has dance on Saturday's and she brought home one of her costumes last week for her show in June, i can't wait to see her perform this year!!
Fionn went in for his 9 month check up this week, and is weighing in at 20.2 pounds and is 29in. long! He is cutting his top two teeth this week, so he's been a little grumpy some days. The one is through, but his top right is just breaking through, so we had to give him a little tylenol tonight!
I thought I would post a couple pictures of Fionn from this week in his Pirates hat from Aunt Shell and Uncle Bill. It finally fits and he's been sporting it all week(when it's been warm enough)
We went to the zoo today, and had a blast, so after i get a little sleep i'll put up some pictures from today.

Oh, we're taking pictures?
hold on mom, i have to wave to my bunnies(his mobile, he loves them)

Thanks for the hat Aunt Shell and Uncle Bill!! Give Mikey a hug for me!

Somethin about that laugh!

Oh my goodness do these two make me smile, I am truly a lucky mommy! This is the first time that i've really let them be in the bath at the same time. Fionn usually tubbies while she's in school, and her baths are usually a little time for her to unwind at the end of the day and just have a little fun playing in the water, so we let her have it. I asked her tonight if Fionn could take a tubbie with her, and she was so excited! As you can see, so was he! I don't usually have him sitting in his bebepod, but since she was right there, and i was right there, i thought it would be fine since they were more about playing than bathing tonight. This laughing continued through the whole bath!! I took some cute pictures of them as well that i'll post later. It just makes me so happy to see how happy THEY are together!

What we know...

Can you really ever say "no news is good news?" That's basically what we got this morning. Nothing has changed, and it's looking more and more like a prostate issue that is causing the pain, not the cysts that have been the issue all along. He got some interesting prescriptions, and we wait another six weeks to see if it gets better. If it does not, then we start to look at other options and a CT will be done to see if there is an underlying issue causing the prostate issues. The one thing that did become clear today is that with what's going on, and the medicine that Greg's going to have to take the chances of us getting pregnant any time soon are slim to none. It's not like we're trying, but if it happens...GREAT!
Only our wonderful Father knows the real plan for us, and we are leaving it in his hands. If it's meant to be, it will be. If not we've already been blessed so much with the two beautiful children we have! Thank you everyone for the prayers today, they were felt!

Prayers for Greg part two...

Today(Wednesday) is Greg's follow up appointment at the specialist. It's bright and early, and possibly by the time you read this we'll have already been there and back! I tried to wear him out yesterday so he wouldn't think about it, but I know that he's really worried. REALLY REALLY worried....he has not complained of pain too much for the last few weeks, and then yesterday he was in a lot of pain again.
Today they will check to see if the "lumps" have grown, and we'll decide a course of action from there. They may decide to do surgery to biopsy, or well, i don't know what "or" is at this point...and I'm not even going near the "C" word. I can't. plain and simple. it has yet to be ruled out, but until they say that word for sure, i won't even let my brain think about that.
We will update everyone once we know something, or at least have a clue as to what happens next. Thank you all for the prayers I know you will say, without me even asking. We are a lucky family to have such great friends and family!!

St. Paddy's day is coming...

More pictures to come...just wanted to update the new template to the blog.

Prop-making night

So this year Maggie is taking part in Odyssey of the Mind (more info at the link) and tonight we all got together and started working on their props. Here's the kicker...we can't "help" them. I couldn't even hold a piece of felt while she was trying to cut it...ugh, talk about difficult! We could go over ideas they had with them, ask them to look around for things that might make good props...ask them how THEY would put it together, but we could not "help" them do any of it...yes pop-pop it KILLED me!
I do have to tell you, they worked hard, painted, assembled, and stapled their little hearts out...here are just a couple of the pictures! We basically sat around and made sure that they didn't cut their little fingers off! I am truly impressed with the results of their hard work. Their competition is on March 7th, so keep your fingers crossed...Maggie has three pages of script to learn for their competition.(the kids even had to write their own script, it's really cute) Their problem for the competition is a Candy shop...only the ingredients all have to be healthy...Here are couple pictures from the night...

maggie using "big people" scissors trying to cut out her felt designs

tracing circles for her felt lolli-pops

Fionn wandering around with daddy

"hi ya mom"

"what, i'm just chillin"

one more note: Pop-pop feel better soon!!

So Close...

Oh my goodness, we are SOOOOoo close to our goal of what we had hoped to give for this family, that I am so excited!! Please ya'll if you haven't gotten a chance to donate yet, go NOW and help out. For just the cost of lunch at McDonald's, you can be giving to a great cause. I think we can get to our goal THIS week if we have just a little more help. I've sweetened the deal and am now offering not ONE but TWO give-aways!!
So GO, NOW...donate! put a smile on my face(and theirs) for I know how good you all are! Here's the link: Frames of Infinity blog

Valentine's Love from Maggie

Yesterday was interesting to say the least here in our house. This is the first year that Greg and I have actually been together for Valentine's day, well, since we've been together I guess. He usually always has to work. My sweet husband left me a card(when he left for work Friday night--he worked 3rd), and in it was directions for a "mission" for me to accomplish yesterday. My first task was after taking Maggie to Dance to head out to the mall to the nail salon and ask for the "Ginger Special".
I have never been more excited ever! I am in desperate need of a pedicure, and was thrilled that he thought of that when planning this surprise.
Then we woke up yesterday...
Greg was grumpy when he came home from work, Fionn woke up in a bad mood and would not stop crying, and suddenly Maggie had a horrible stomach ache and did not want to go to dance...
So that marked the end of momma's mission...
I know I'm a momma first, and that Greg was not going to be able to stay awake all day while I did whatever it was that he had planned, so I had to stay home.
Yesterday was just another day, grumpy kids, sleepy daddy...and last night could not have come fast enough.
Today is a new day though, and I promised Maggie that she could read everyone a story for Valentine's day, so here it is. As you can tell Fionn hates not to be the center of attention, lol.
So enjoy our big girl reading her story! And we hope that you all had a great Valentine's Day!

Good Morning

Fionn had a small "blow-out" this morning when getting he woke up, so I changed him and got him cleaned up quickly and had to run out the door to put Maggie on the bus. When we got back, i sat him in his room with this bottle in front of his stage so I could go wash out his clothes...this is what I found when I came out of the bathroom!

Yep, that's my big boy! Can you believe he will be 9 months already?

The Amazing FIONN!

Yep, I'm sure he'll have a much cooler "stage" name when he's grown, but for now, it will have to work, as just thinking of those days makes my heart start to race. I'm not sure what it is about him, and I'm sure all of you with boys will tell me it's a "boy" thing, but now that he is semi-mobile, he wants to crawl "OFF" of everything. Yesterday while Greg was putting his laundry away, Fionn was set up on the bed with his little (fisher price)stage, and when daddy turned his back he practically "jumped" off of Greg's side ON TO his nightstand. Not that big of a deal, he just looked at us like "WHOA" and never cried a peep as he landed in the middle of all of dad's electronics. Greg was white as a sheet, and forgot about the rest of the laundry to play with Fionn.
Then this morning he got sleepy, so i laid down with him to take a little nap. A little more than an hour after we lay down and I hear baby hitting metal on the floor on daddy's side of the bed. What a way to wake up! I'm not sure who's heart was beating faster, mine or his. There is a heater grate on Greg's side of the bed, and he landed on that. After a little love from momma he was fine. Not a mark on him, but my heart continued to race...
As I type this he's in the tub, trying to escape from dad to do his own thing! Lord have mercy, I thought Maggie gave me gray hairs! I'm sure this is just the start to the wild ride, and am having visions of stitches and hospital visits in our future....Mema, please tell me you never uttered that famous phrase when Greg was small..."just WAIT till you have kids one day"
That one plastics commercial is now running through my head"it will be a miracle if he makes it to 10"

I better start praying now, BOYS...Playing with his two new teeth that are emerging up top

I love this one, even though he looked away right as I took it...he was watching Sports Center with daddy and something came on that he wanted to see I guess! Such a boy, already ignoring me for sports!

Almost crawling

FREAKING OUT

Okay, so it's 1:30am, and thank goodness that Greg just happens to be home tonight, because I may have lost it if I was here alone with the kids...Go watch this video
This is our neighborhood, the streets that they show in that video are the ones that I see when I step out my front door. I am shaking so badly as I type this. Maggie SHOULD have been getting off the bus about the exact time this guy took off, prompting the man hunt. And the place he was pulled over, RIGHT in front of her bus stop. So she and all her little friends would have seen this go down! I'm sure in the morning we will get quite the story from the other parents and the crossing guard.
I was so ANGRY yesterday with the way our day played out, and now watching this, I realize that it was just God's way of protecting us. About 1pm I looked at Greg and said, "let's go pick Maggie up and head out to the zoo." He agreed, we called the school to make sure she did not get on the bus, and we got ready and left about 2:15pm. We went and picked her up and headed down through the West End(so we did NOT see any of this happen) and headed out to the zoo. We got to the zoo about 10 til 3, got her changed and headed in. Only when we walked up to the front, everything was closed up and it said that the zoo was already closed for the day. I was TICKED. We were there before 3(which is when the front closed) and all Maggie wanted to see was the new girl polar bears. We drove ALL the way across town, and she sat there crying as we headed back to the truck. So we talked about other fun options, and since we have memberships to the 4 Carnegie Museums, we headed down to Oakland to hit up the the new T-Rex exhibit that we have not seen yet. We pull into the lot at 3:35pm. Parking lots closed, Museums closed(according to the sign that said that it was open until 5pm) Maggie cried again...we got stuck then in the traffic that was starting to build in Oakland and wandered through the South Side driving home. We did NOT come home at that point, instead drove out to Robinson to get some groceries and went to IKEA. I was not feeling so well, and Greg decided to stay home tonight, so we stayed out in Robinson a little longer. We got home around 7:40pm tonight, just in time to give Maggie a bath and put her to bed.
Greg and I watched some tv and played with Fionn, blissfully unaware that a manhunt had happened in our neighborhood, and the man was still on the loose.
So all of today's crazy events(Greg NEVER calls off of work) happened for a reason. We are safe, and Maggie has no idea what transpired right out our front door.
Please say a little prayer for us. One of thanks, and one for us to find a way out of this neighborhood. The street that we actually live on is wonderful, we LOVE our neighbors, but the area directly across from us is starting to go down hill FAST. Please pray that we can find a way to buy a house of our own, where we don't have to worry about WHO is outside our door and where I feel safe getting Maggie on and off a bus. I worry, more than I tell anyone on the nights when Greg works 3rd shift. It's a terrible feeling to be scared when you are in your own home. Our house before this was on the same street, just around the bend, and not ONCE was I ever afraid. Not ONCE did I hear gunshots, or see police and paramedics out my front window. Not ONCE did I have to see our wonderful crossing guard shaking with fear as she tells me about the gunshots that stopped FEET from where she was standing the day before, and not once was I scared to take my beautiful children outside.
I know Greg is here now, and I'm going to go crawl into bed and hold him tight, but I doubt if I will get any sleep tonight...
**********************UPDATE*******************************************************
As of this morning, the mas still was not caught, and SURE ENOUGH this happened JUST as the ST.Philip kids were getting off the bus. Our whole area was blocked off, AND there was a gun in his car, along with LOTS of money and drugs. Nice huh??
YES, i did finally fall asleep, but did not sleep well. Every noise(including Greg snoring) startled me awake again. Thank you God that my children slept, blissfully unaware, in the next room!

Something EXCITING

Hey all,
I just wanted to let you know that we are doing something VERY exciting over on our FRAMES OF INFINITY blog. Please take the time to go over and check it out!! This is very important to us, and think it's well worth the time to go take a look!!
Thanks, Ginger and Greg

Super Sunday

We were so blessed to have some good friends come over and watch the game with us last weekend. I'm sorry that I have not gotten a chance to post anything this week before now. Maggie is hopefully now on the mend, and things are starting to look up here.
We started out with some Wii before the game(thanks Joe for bringing Star Wars) to calm everyone's nerves a little bit. It didn't work. Gail was nice enough to help me with our "bread crumb" crisis in the kitchen while the boys got ready, and before we knew it, it was Game time!! Since we couldn't find Fionn a Kiesel jersey anywhere this year, we got him a Harrison jersey instead last weekend for the game. He had a great time breaking it in. In case you are all wondering just how the super bowl went here in the 'burgh(or at least our house) it was CRAZY. Brian(our neighbor) stood for the first half because he was so nervous. Once he sat down and they started scoring, back to his corner he went, and that's where he stood for the whole rest of the game...Drew went from the couch, to the corner(with Brian) to the floor praying...then back up on his knees...at some point we had the slow towel wave going(to rally the troops in the 4th) and at one point the towel swung so hard it broke one of my lightbulbs in the chandelier....yeah it was intense!
After it was over, there was nothing but celebration. We all had to pick our votes for MVP and when Greg won the rest of us had to go out and do snow angels in the side yard! Once outside all we could hear was cheering up and down the street, and it was a GREAT night to live in the 'burgh! There is nothing better than being a Steeler fan!!

GO STEELERS

PAUSE THE MUSIC PLAYER DOWN BELOW BEFORE PLAYING

What a day, what a day!! Party at our house! We're playing a little Wii to burn off some energy first, then it's GAME TIME!! Bring home the six-pack boys!!
ps...in case you can't tell, we are Sooooooooooooooooooo excited!!