One Time, 15 years ago, I had me a BABY.

This morning you asked me to describe the day you were born.

It's your birthday so I try and accommodate your requests..

I don't like to admit this, but I'M GETTING OLD.

I don't recall ALL the details from 15 years ago but I do remember the good parts.

Tonight I will post what I do remember and hopefully if we pick a few brains of the people who were there, maybe they can fill in the blanks..

• Let's use Bullet points, because they are more fun.
• I was 21 years old when you were born. You are not allowed to have children till 30. BECAUSE I SAID SO.
• Your due date was Dec. 15th and we knew you were a girl, and named you Nicole Kathleen. 
• I worked at U-Haul Company till the week you were born. You would kick to the sound of the phone.
• I fell off the loading dock @ 30 weeks pregnant. Auntie Casey FREAKED OUT. You were fine.
• On December 15th, I waited. Shannon was there and we walked all over the parking lot. False Labor.
• December 16th. I was MAD. You are LATE. And I was BIG. Went to the Mall with Casey. WALKED ALL OVER.
• December 17th, watching The Stand movie by Stephen King. Minding my own business, then OUCH.
• Water Broke. Contractions started.. then didn't stop. 0-2ish minutes apart. We were doing it wrong.
• At hospital. NOT loving the pain. You were in trouble, heart rate going down with contractions.
• STOP LABOR. Proceed to Plan B. Emergency C-Section. But first. Tributeline. This drug stops contractions.
• AND MAKES YOU SHAKE. Shake for an hour till everyone gets in place.
• Big operation takes place: FINALLY your out.
• You take your sweet time and scare everyone but finally YOU CRY.
• Then I cry. Your Dad cries.
• You are taken to the NICU for the next 10ish hours to learn how to breathe.
• Finally, I take a big tantrum and make them bring you to me.
• You are squishy. For a newborn, your freaking adorable. 

One of the main reasons we started this website was my compulsion to record our history so we could look back one day and remember.

15 Years Old.

The day you were born, I could not fathom this day.

I'm having so much fun, I don't want you to get any older. Deal?

Christmas Card.. Where you want to kick out your family and send pictures of the DOG.

What a pain.

I love to take pictures of my children.

They are my favorite things in the world except for maybe Apple Dumplings. .

Every freaking year there are issues:Crying, Wardrobe MALFUNCTIONS more crying and usually everyone brings some extra CRANKY to our happy photo shoot.

This year was no different: Emily posing like America's Next Top Model, Nicole pretending to be a 15ish year old 2 year old was fun, and last but not least AIDEN: he only promised to take 5 pictures. SORRY if that didn't work out for you, but his contract only said 5 and he will protest LOUDLY with tears and ruin the mood anyway.

My computer keeps crashing or I'd post a few of the 300 out takes.

To everyone that is to receive a Christmas Card: WE ARE HAPPY DAMMIT. One big HAPPY FREAKING family.

One time I had me some little babies.. Then they done growed up.

Night b4, originally uploaded by Michelle.Dan.

I'm running crazy tonight, i'm on FREAKING BUS duty for grown ups as well as my offspring.

I just love them!

Sunday / Monday

Whoops. Yesterday was having issues with internet and experiencing some technical difficulties.

But enough about yesterday, lets talk about TODAY!

Today I KICKED ASS. Behold my list of accomplishments:

• I trucked all my kids to school. ON TIME.
• I did the Shred as well as an extra 25 minutes of cardio.
• Showered and got myself all pretty for Preschool pick up.
• Had a date with my husband.
• Prepared dinner for the family.
• Went to soccer game. Poor Emily had to leave due to a headache. She was not happy.
• Put in 2 hours of work online. THAT I GET PAID FOR.

I'm like a freakin Step ford wife/mother. Days like today give me hope. When all the moons are in the right orbit I can get a TON of stuff done. But there are days when due to forces beyond my control or due to the LAZY, I don't complete half of that list.

Today was a win.

Who cares if tomorrow maybe a FAIL.

This time last year..

Granny's driveway... to get out., originally uploaded by Michelle.Dan.

Last year we had just got back from Florida and we were hit with the worst ice storm New England had in over 20 years. We didn't have power for almost a week. Dan and I used the fire place for the first time and did our best to BE HAPPY, but I'm scarred.

Today we had the first snow of the year. Looks like only going to be 4-5 inches. I'm so happy it's not ICE.

Did my work out, (even though I was exhausted) and ending the day with 4 left over points. Go me. Yeah.

Good Night!

Let's get Physcial!

In the 80's there were so many exercise fads. Richard Simmons - Joan Fonda. My family for some reason was on the CUTTING EDGE of each new craze. At some point my mom decided that the way to a healthy body was to do a cardio workout on a trampoline with out falling off. I'm not so sure we were ready for that .We all played on the trampoline, but I'm not sure it was ever used as an exercise "machine". It was used to launch stuff like dogs, weights and sisters across the room, but we never did any real hardcore workouts.

I read a blog recently that was written by a women who could not run on her treadmill, but managed to lose 60 pounds doing cardio on her mini trampoline.

Black Friday sales showed me I could own one for $20.00 and I needed some momentum to get me back on the exercise wagon, so I got one. So we are now at day 4 of the Great Trampoline Experiment and every freaking muscle in my body is sore. Which means it's working and I'm getting a GREAT workout! 20 minutes of non-stop low impact cardio with weights, jumping jacks and high knees.

For some reason when I get bored, my body shuts down and I start to yawn. Even in the middle of the 30 Day Shred. I knew when it was time to up a level or increase weight, because I'd start getting SLEEPY. Duh.

True Blood is going to be ON DEMAND starting the 21st and I've made a deal with myself. That I can spend as much time watching Season One as long as I'm working out at the same time.



Day 3 and I'm still TRUCKING~!

It's been a long and exhausting day. But I'm making time to post and I already did my exercise.

Where is my medal and my size 3 jeans?

It was an all day Aiden day. God I'm going to miss him next year. Stupid all day Kindergarten. ( Overall I will miss him, not like EVERY moment, he does drive me BATSHIT crazy some days)

I get him to myself now only 2 days a week now that he's a big time PRESCHOOLER. Today we went to Granny's and the whole ride he talked about Christmas and more importantly CHRISTMAS LIGHTS. He vaguely has an idea about presents and the "snow guy", but he's really concerned that we are not going to have any Christmas lights and miss out on the JOY. Casey and Uncle Randy have them, we should have them, END QUOTE.

Nicole starts CHEER this week. For the next 4 months. Of my life. Look more JOY..  We attended an athletic meeting this evening for an hour which could have been over in 12 minutes if the same point wasn't beaten into the ground. 1.Lock you locker, stuff will get stolen. 2.To play a sport you have to have good grades. So don't screw off. 3. If you have any questions, go to our website. 4. You will probably get hurt, but it's not our fault. THE END.

Emily kinda cracks me up. She's a 6 year old delicate pink princess with a heart condition. But when she hits the soccer field, she is CRAZY.  Throwing elbows and hipchecking BOYS twice her size. She doesn't stop. I'm waiting for parents to ask me to call her off their poor kids. She is the total opposite of what you would think.

Well, that's my recap for the day.

I was going to cheat kinda and just throw up a picture, but I'm glad I didn't.

:)

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving

My little family has MUCH to be thankful for this year and sometimes we need to be reminded..

So for now, a quick list to remember 2009's blessings and near misses.

Budget cuts for the State of MA kept us all on the edge of our seats, it is by the hair of our chinny chin chin, that  Dan is still employed. We are not QUITE out of the woods and he has had to personally lay off 25 people ( which really just sucks the life outta you.), but it looks like cuts are on hold for now.

Working so far from home had put a gazillion miles on Dan's car. We were stuck with it for at least 2 more years, but never sure if it was going to make it. The thought of imenent car failure looming was a big subject here for awhile.   But then General Motors decided to have a "Cobalt Giveaway", and with the help of an early Christmas present from my parents, he was able to trade his car in for a brand new one.

We are thankful that after such a rocky start 2009 was a great year for our children. Emily's heart condition thankfully is manageable. There have been no hospital visits and we are so fortunate that we have health insurance and should we need it, access to Boston Children's Hospital which is the best of the best in pediatric cardio. Nicole broke her hand, got it screwed back together and has had NO lasting effects. She too was diagnosed with a heart condition, but it's thankfully not that serious. Aiden broke his arm in Jan and KNOCK ON WOOD, has had no reason to visit the ER since then!

Sadie. Our doggie. We bought an electric fence back in May and it has changed all of our lives, she has freedom and we don't worry about her getting hit by a car. She is just the best dog. She has been such a great addition to our family I feel l should put her on the list.

We are very lucky.

We know.
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Day 2 and I'm off to Shred. We bought a min trampoline for some indoor cardio, and I spent a half an hour this morning watching TV and running on it. It felt GREAT.

Pictures with our Peeps.

Pictures with our Peeps., originally uploaded by Michelle.Dan.

We are home!

Disney 2009 was the best.

The little kids are at that PERFECT age, still small enough for the stroller to nap in but old enough to not require DIAPERS. The big kids are old enough to go off my themselves if they want. Just PERFECT I tell ya..

My poor husband got the flu after we got there and slept one day for 10 hours. I hate to tempt FATE by mentioning my rocking immune system, but I DID not get the flu, even after I played nursemaid to all the infected ones.

November went by so fast.

Last thing I remember was Halloween, then the FLU , then we left for Florida, Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping and all of a sudden it's December 1st.

I'm back on the exercise wagon. Jillian and I had hung out today for Level 1 of the 30 day shred. Today is Day 1. It's probably going to be the 20 Day shred, but either way, I have to keep moving.

I also enrolled in "A Post A Day" for the Month of December, just to test my limits of commitment.