My other babies

Meet my other babies...this is Danny and Gracie...twins that were born and whom I cared for in the NICU. I fell in love with them and their parents and they, in turn, fell in love with me. They asked if I would help care for them in my "free time". Anyone who knows me knows that I don't do free time. I always fill my time with something. So I've been watching them once or twice a week, some days, some nights, since March. It is nice to have extra cash and I really love spending time with them. I only watch them at night after Charlie's in bed or on days that he's in school so I don't miss any time with him. They are the sweetest little kiddos ever. THeir mommy gave me permission to post their pics on my blog so here they are!
Grace is like a little doll. She's chill and mellow and likes to observe the world.

Danny is a character. He has alot to say and wants everyone to know that he's in the room. He is also a fantastic baby and makes me laugh every time!
Just look at his eyes!
I've been taking their pictures while I'm with them, mostly for practice but also their parent's like my style. I'll post some of their stuff I've done on my photography blog tonight or tomorrow.

We went to a function at Marathon Grill on Wednesday night to benefit the new Please Touch Museum. There was a guitar player and lots of yummy food and so many other fun things to do. This is Charlie doing the twist...He was also showing the poor ladies next to him his new found ability to jump. He's very proud as are we!
Mid-dance face...

He decided he'd sit on the stage and hear the music better. He was also dancing on stage. I tried to get him down but the nice man thought it was funny and was giving him high-fives and told him he could stay. He is his father's son!

Nephew time

I've been working alot of weekends lately which has left my weekday time wide open! Tuesday, I was able to go to Downingtown and visit with my nephew Bode. We spent all day together, just me and him. We shopped and hung out and had a photo shoot that involved several wardrobe changes. He was a good sport and seemed to have alot of fun overall! He's such a happy guy!

So in the above picture, I captured him acting like the monkey that he is. He has the longest toes humanly possible. Christy often jokes that he hangs from trees with his feet. Here he is grabbing the sheet I used as a backdrop (very fancy, I know!) with his toes and pulling it around. Other than freakish feet, he is such a little sweetie and his laugh is hysterical! I'm looking forward to many days hanging out with him and Charlie together!
Speaking of my little monster, here's a picture, lest you think I forgot all about him. He's doing well but doing alot of testing of my mom patience. He's really got a terrible case of the terrible 2 1/2 year olds. He wasn't really a terrible 2 but as soon as he hit the "halfway to 3" mark, it all changed. I've had to re-train myself in how I deal with him and how I respond (or don't respond) to him. It was really tough the past two weeks but we seem to have it under control this week. Minimal freak outs by Charlie and no tears from mommy so far. My tears were more for the fact that he acts like he hates me most times and he doesn't act like this for anyone else...so I grew up, and talked to some friends and my mom and now we seem to have things under control. He's overall a complete sweetheart and as we walked to school this morning, he grabbed my hand and told me he loves me sooo much. Awwwwwwwe!

LBI in 24 hours

We went to Long Beach Island this weekend. We left Friday afternoon and I (Sara, mommy, Alex's wife) came home this afternoon because I have to work tonight (Saturday) and Sunday night. I left my baby "down the shore" with his daddy and his Bubby and Zayda. They'll have lots of fun I'm sure and I will have a nice long sleep day tomorrow! While I was down there I snapped the following pictures (plus about 1,000 more!). Above, he is trying to feed me drippy ice cream...yummy!

We went to Fantasy Island Friday night which is full of fun kiddie rides. It was his first time experiencing this (other than a carousel and the train at the zoo). He loved that they had several firetruck rides. He is soooo into firetrucks right now! He also rode in a Goofy Boat, a Bumblebee, and Train, and a Pumpkin. What fun!

We then walked home where he decided he had to poop on the potty. He was successful in that endeavor for which we are always grateful! He asked for a book whilst trying, and I realized that I did not have any with me. Apparently the New Yorker magazine sufficed and he was able to complete his task. Too funny!


Here he is hugging Great Grandpa Jack good night.

We spent several hours on the beach before he took a nap and I left. He LOVES the beach and had a great time playing soccer and being chased by the water.

Happy Birthday Sidney puppy!

Today is our little princess' 6th birthday so she's 42 if you count her in dog years...sorry Sidney but it's true! She is truly the best and sweetest dog ever. Her official name given by Alex and I is Sidney Anne Puppy. She was a gift from Alex's Aunt Hilda back when we had only been dating for 8 months...as she tells it, she really liked me and thought that getting us a dog would give us more reason to stay together. We rescued her from the "piss house"...aka breeder's house, and brought her home to be our puppy. We picked her because she is all black (rare for a Shi-Tzu to be all one color), she is the runt, and she was the only one not jumping like crazy to be picked up. She has been a fantastic dog and we'd love more if we could find a way to clone her...no seriously, we would!

Here's a little FYI on Sidney. She is all black and I groom her to have short hair except on her face and legs. She sometimes looks like she's wearing cowboy chaps with her leg hair being so long. Her favorite toy in the whole wide world is the squeaky hamburger...Charlie also plays fetch with it now! She weighs 10 pounds although weighed as much as 12 pounds two years ago. Although she's a small dog and neither Alex nor I grew up with little dogs, she is very tolerable. She's not yippy or snippy or hyper at all. She barks when the doorbell rings but otherwise would rather not be bothered. Getting a bath and a haircut means that she gets a big treat afterwards and she will dance around on her hind legs waiting for it!

She once almost lost her eye which was terrible and very expensive to fix. She also had pancreatitis last year which required me to give her twice daily IV boluses and medication injections with the hopes that she would live. She not only lived but thrived and lives to tell about it.

Happy Birthday Sidney...may you have many more with us!

Fun filled and busy weekend

We were a family on the move this weekend! We spent most of it at my parents' house in Downingtown and came home at night to sleep. We had alot of family in town from California and New Hampshire so we wanted to see as much of everyone as we could. Charlie had a great time playing in the pool with "Gampa" (above) and playing with "Baby Koa" at the house.
We went out to a yummy brunch at the Classic Diner in Malvern for Father's day. Alex had been there once before but I missed the yummy trip because it was the day after my 10 year highschool reunion and I was a bit "under the weather."
The food was yummy and Charlie stole the watermelon from my fruit plate because it's his favorite! Seeing him enjoy it so much made it worth sharing!
I got to see my nephew quite a bit which was a huge treat. He's getting so big and I swear we heard him say "hi" to his daddy this weekend. There were three witnesses!
For my birthday, my parents very generously bought me a new digital SLR Canon Rebel XTi camera (did you catch all that?!)...They know how much I enjoy taking pictures and they think I have some natural talent (thanks guys!)...so I got a cool new big heavy duty camera. Above is a picture taken with it and then edited through the software it comes with. I can crop and adjust the light and sharpness, etc.
This is another picture taken with it of Sidney's nose. I love it! I know that it can do so much more than I can even imagine but it's two days old so I am learning!

Happy Father's Day Alex

I have to say, Charlie has an amazing daddy. I am lucky enough to be married to him also! He loves being a daddy. He is so good with Charlie. Below are some pics of their first year together (the above pic was from tonight walking home from dinner). Alex is so good with him...
This is their first real cuddle time after he was born and once he was off the vent and oxygen. Alex loved how he screeched when you tried to burp him. He called him his little screech owl!

This is Alex starting to foster his love for music at the ripe old age of two weeks old. Charlie can now recognize songs before I do and sings right along....I am not musical at all!

This was their favorite position for almost three months. They love to chill together.

Charlie still comes in bed with Alex in the mornings and watches the Today show with him.

Napping together...

Favorite position!

My handsome boys...

Ready for Charlie's first beach day

Another Today Show morning

At the zoo together...

Alex, you are the best daddy ever. Your boy loves you so much and looks up to you in so many ways. You remind me to be patient, you remind me to enjoy every minute of him, and you are teaching him so many wonderful things. I love you more because of the amazing daddy you are!

Remembering Jim

A friend of mine passed away on May 31st of this year. He was not yet 50 years old but had lived a very full life. I met Jim Disney and his wife Aimee when their daughter was a patient in CHOP's pediatric ICU (I was her nurse). Brianna was born with a brain tumor and was in our unit off and on for almost nine months of her first year of life. I sat with them while she was in the OR having most of the tumor removed, and I admitted her several times when her shunt malfunctioned. I got to know Jim and Aimee very well and you could always count on Jim to crack a joke, keep you smiling, and give you a hard time just before he'd give you a big hug. He was a sweet man. Brianna was a flower girl in my wedding and she learned to walk 3 days before the wedding. She was two years old. I remember Jim holding her hand as she walked into the rehearsal lunch. He let go and she kept walking. I said to him, "Jim, don't let go of her, she can't walk" until I realized that she was walking. I started to cry, Aimee cried and Jim had this huge smile on his face. He knew she would walk and she did. Jim wasn't feeling well at the wedding and Aimee said they were going to the doctor soon to get him checked out. I wasn't prepared to hear the news months later. I was in Best Buy and Alex and I were shopping for TVs for our new house and Aimee called me. They found tumors in Jim's abdomen and on his liver. I was in the middle of the store crying knowing that this wasn't going to be good. He later was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer known as PMP which is cancer that resides in the peritoneum. He went through hell and back fighting this for the past three + years. He had numerous surgeries, infections, hospitalizations, and more pain than any human should know. All the while saying, "If my daughter could do this as a baby, I can do this." Aimee took amazing care of him and Brianna through all of this. They were able to go to Disney World last year which was their family's dream. Jim was a police officer who was awarded a medal for saving a child from a burning building in 2001. He was a good man. His pain stopped on May 31st, but Aimee is still hurting so much. It was so hard to see so many people so sad at his funeral. I pray that Aimee can heal after enduring so much, and I hope that Brianna, who's now six, can grow up remembering her daddy.