Tuesday, March 31, 2009

3/22/09--Cat's 35th




3/21/09---NYC with Aunt JoJo and Steph




We met up with Aunt JoJo and cousin Stephanie ("F"ie as i call her) at the Marriott Marquis where they were staying overnight with other dance class friends and their moms. We went to American Girl and M+M world. Then i headed home with the girls because i had a terrible headache.

3/21/09--Roller Skating party
















Gabrielle, Sydney and Alexandra had their party at a roller rink. Boy does that bring back memories!!!!

3/21/09--Soccer practice at school











Last year they did t-ball but this year they are doing soccer. It will run every Sat. at 9am until May. Most of the kids from pre-3 thru 1st grade participate.

3/17/09--St. Patty's day school party







The kids all gobbled up the chips--they were a huge hit. Something new to this party. I guess

it will have to be added to the main list. Amanda is such a ham.

3/15/09--Ringling Bro. Circus







We went to the Izod center today to see the CIRCUS!!!! Amanda was afraid of the clowns up close--but liked everything from a distance. She really liked the bad guy--Mr. Gravity and even now weeks later--still talks about it. The magic words are: Zing Zang Zoom!!!!

3/14/09--Big Jeff and the Bouncey people




Today Big Jeff and his band were shooting their video and invited kids to come enjoy his music. We signed a release so the kids could be videotaped. Maybe they will appear in the video?? The girls loved it. They eventually were dancing, running and shaking their tushies all over the place.

3/10/09--Olivia K. playdate











Today Olivia K. came over for a playdate. The girls wanted to dress-up (what else is new). Then we went to the park en route to the Sweet bakery shoppe for a moc tea party! They really enjoyed playing pretend and getting all fancy to go for tea aka water! The girls walked there with their baby strollers but it was no surprise that they were too tired to walk home and i ended up carrying all the baby strollers while pushing the three kids!!!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

3/7/09--St. Patty's Day Parade Hoboken














Bars open at 9 or 10 am. The whole town dresses in green. People esp. young yuppies flood in from NY and everywhere else to bar crawl all day and night long. It is a day most smart people leave town---but there are many that stay. This year Amanda's dance troop was asked to participate in the St. Pat's parade. Amanda felt fine and was so excited to be a part of it.

3/6/09-Visiting friends



Day after surgery for Amanda and she was perfectly fine. We had to go meet Aunt Nancy and PopPop up in Spring Valley to get Abbey and Daisy back. So while we were in the neighborhood we called Brenda and had a playdate with Claire and Gwen.

3/5/09---Abbey away from home

3/5/09--Tonsil Day









































Place: NY Eye and Ear Infirmary--2nd/14th St., NY


Arrival time: 6am


Surgery time: 7:30am


Surgeon: Dr. Jay Dolitsky, Specialty-Pediatric Ear, Nose, Throat


Surgery completion: 8:20am


Recovery room: 40 min.


Departed Hospital: Noon






Amanda was a trooper. We are so proud of her. She spoke about her surgery prior to this morning calmly. When I woke her up to go to the hospital--she was scared and really didn't want to go. Mike and I promised to stay with her the entire time. She put on her Looney Tunes pajamas set when we got there. They took her temperature and blood pressure. Then we watched TV. Shortly before 7am they gave me a gown to wear and a hair cap in order to go to the OR with Amanda. We went to the recovery room area and watched Dora for a while. They offered Amanda a liquid sedative--she tasted it and spit it all over me/her. Fun!!! No problem. 7:30am arrived and we were wheeled into the OR. I wore a mask and the anesthesiologist put one on Amanda as well. Within 10 seconds she was sound asleep. If I can only get her to do that at home!!!! I went to her private hospital room to wait with Mike until the doctor called us. Fast easy. 8:20am the phone rang and Dr. Jay said she did great. Her adenoids were huge--no bleeding with her throat. We can go down to see her when she woke up. She woke up minutes after we got to the recovery room. She was disoriented and it was hard to see her like that--but that was the worst of it. She could speak. She just wanted her IV tube out. I held her and then about 40 min. later they took us to her private hos. room. She slept there for a while, had a lollipop, drank some water, peed twice, watched tv, and the best news she received was that I asked Dr. Jay if she could drink soda--he said yes. OMG--she was so excited! She had a Sprite!




Grandma Tennaro arranged everything for us (inc. free parking!). It is her hospital after all. She is second in command of the whole hospital! All the employees were so kind to us. Amanda had many visitors all bringing gifts and offering us food, drinks, etc.... Very inviting. Balloons and white roses adorned her room courtesy of the different departments of the hospital--since they knew Dr. Tennaro's granddaughter was going to be there! We couldn't have been taken care of better. It made the whole process so smooth esp. for Amanda who was truly treated like royalty!


Amanda's recovery has been remarkable. No pain (only a couple times when she sneezed the day after did she say it hurt--but only a little). No bleeding. She even ate mac n cheese for dinner the evening of her surgery. No recovery time for Mom and Dad! She got home and wanted us to play. Abbey wasn't home--she was visiting her Aunts, Pop-Pop and her cousins in New Paltz/Highland. So Amanda wanted Mommy and Daddy to be her playmates! Games galore for the rest of the day.




So far we have noticed her breathing improve. She is not mouth breathing anymore. No more snoring. She has had a few dry pull-ups since the surgery--but not every night. We are working on that. A very successful yet stressful day. Thankfully we can put this behind us!






3/3/09--Playdate with Claire and Renee











Our favorite summertime buddies--Claire and Renee came over today to play. The girls weren't interested in baking the banana bread--so Abbey helped. They had more fun playing the beehive kerplunk game and also playing dress up.

3/2/09--Snow Day Chefs


Today we had about 10 inches of snow on the ground so ofcourse we had a snow day! What better thing to do on a snow day is to bake. Abbey is stark naked and notice Amanda checking out her sisters tooshy! I forget what we made--I am thinking pancakes for breakfast.

3/1/09--HFA Cabin Fever Festival











Hoboken Family Alliance hosted their annual Cabin Fever Fest. at the Elks club. This year the crowd was managable. The kids had fun doing arts and crafts, getting their face painted, listening to the Fuzzy Lemons band, playing with Devon from Romparoo as she did a demo class, while Mommy enjoyed winning four prizes this year!!! two fifty dollar gift certificates--one to Elysian cafe and one to Gaslight rest., 4 food network cookbooks valued over 100. and an etiquette class for Amanda to be held at Amanda's restaurant, Hoboken. Finally I have recouped some of the money i have spent on past raffles. Yeah!!!

2/26/09---friends at the park


Natalie and Amanda

(Abbey sleeping in the stroller)