3/29/13: First Ear Piercing

I have had mixed emotions for a while about Lauren having her ears pierced.  When I was a kid my Mom made me wait till I was older to have mine done.  In fact I think I was about 12 years old.  My Mom didn't even have her ears pierced, I ended up taking her when I was in high school to have hers done.  I have been noticing more and more young kids having their ears pierced.  I still don't agree with having babies ears pierced but I understand some cultures do that.  I feel that kids should be able to make their own decision that they want to have it done.  It was a little traumatic for me as I am still not sure if she is too young.  Comment on this blog post with your thoughts.

Lauren will be turning 6 in 15 days and today at the mall when we went to see the Easter Bunny without any questions she said she wanted to get her ears pierced.

I wasn't sure what to do at first but then we went in to the store and she was more sure that she wanted it done.  She even watched a 4 year old have her ears pierced and she saw her reaction and thought it didn't look too painful.

Luckily at Claire's where we went they have two people pierce the kid's ears at the same time so they only feel the pain once and don't chicken out for the 2nd ear.  The girls were awesome that did it and were so quick.  They explained that they put the hole a little high as little kids ears grow it comes down.  Lauren did awesome, a few small tears but then she was fine.  She is excited to show off her new pink earrings.

Here she is having it done, what a brave little girl and this is an early birthday present for her.

3/2/13: It Is Broke, So Do Fix It

My little man hadn't really had any severe injuries ever.  On Wednesday night he was at his last basketball practice of the season and in a moment that changed.  After colliding with another child on the team shoulder to shoulder he was hurting.  He wouldn't raise his arm which was a huge red flag, but he didn't cry or scream in pain.

 We headed right to the ER after a quick call to the doctor.  All the while I was thinking they will just send us home with an ice pack and say he is fine.  But I always error on the side of caution when it comes to the kids being sick so I didn't question going in.  I did question though, if something was broken wouldn't he be in a ton of pain and crying?  I also had thoughts of a trip to the ER involving hours and hours of waiting around.  I was pleasantly surprised and amazed at how great Winchester Hospital was.  To start they have a valet to park your car if you are going to the ER.  How cool is that especially when you are in a panic?  When we walked in we were directed to go in to a room to have him checked over.  They quickly took his vitals and already prepped his arm with a blanket under it.  From there within 5 minutes we were taken to X-Rays and then directly to a room.  Everyone was so nice to Evan and treated him wonderfully seeing a bit of fear in his eyes.  He was in great spirits making jokes with me as we waited for the doctor.

 I have to admit, I was surprised when the doctor came in and told me he had a broken collarbone.  At that moment my heart sank a little as a bit of panic came over me.  What I then learned is that apparently it is very common in kids and actually according to the doctor it is the best bone for them to break.  It heals itself within 2-3 weeks keeping the arm in a sling.  We have an appointment with an orthopedist in 2 weeks to take x-rays and see how he is doing and if it is healed.  They made sure to tell him that he should eat lots of ice cream to heal the bones which he was very happy about.  Here is Evan with his decorated sling.  I had blogged about Gutzy Gear in the past and here he is using his Gutzy Gear on his sling instead of his backpack.  This brightened his spirits.

He missed his last basketball game but went today to cheer his team on. 

We know he will be back to playing and his normal self in no time.

7/21/12: Happy 12th Wedding Anniversary to John and I!

Hard to believe John and I were married 12 years ago as of July 22nd!  We have now been together a total of 17 1/2 years thanks to meeting at WPI.  Time really has flown.

Here is a picture of the night we started dating.

And then again in Boston on the year we were getting married.

Beautiful Gazebo pictures.

Now two kids later and lots of changes it is hard to believe this was so long ago.  Funny enough John is still working at Pegasystems where he was when we got married, and I am still at PTC.

 The Danversport Yacht Club was so beautiful for our reception.  Plus they have a Swan that comes there that they named Gilda!  Weird, huh.  They even have a Gilda the Swan dessert that we had at our reception.

In the Gazebo.

Love these pictures.

This was a Panorama page in our album.

Last Dance.

Honeymoon in Hawaii.  Kauai, Maui, and Oahu

And they lived happily ever after.

2/29/12: Mostly Wordless Wednesday - Davy Jones RIP

Growing up I LOVED The Monkees!  I watched them all the time and couldn't wait for them to come to my town.  I was even lucky enough in 2010 to see Davy Jones in Walt Disney World in Epcot performing.  It was very sad to hear of the passing of Davy Jones today.

 It was such a thrill for me to see Davy sing again.  It was so cute to see the kids keep asking where are the Monkees?  They were so confused and thought real Monkeys were going to come out on the stage.

It is very sad that Davy Jones passed away from a heart attack at 66 years old.  May he rest in peace.

 

 

9/9/11: The Tooth Fairy Visits Evan For The First Time

Evan had a stubborn wiggly tooth that didn't want to come out.  Unfortunately he had another tooth coming through behind it which caused us to have to take him to the Densist and have it pulled.  Here he is pre-tooth loss.

 During tooth loss.

 Post tooth loss he was very sad he couldn't play outside as he had to take it easy.  He had soccer practice which we went to just to meet his team and get his uniform but he couldn't practice.  He didn't seem bothered at all by any pain which was good.

After the gauze came out.

But the tooth fairy was good to him, bringing a whopping $10!  He got to use the same pillow I used as a kid to put my teeth in for the Tooth Fairy.

4/5/11: Follow Me, Like Me, Tweet Me

Think back to a time without social media outlets...  It seems like so long ago, doesn't it?  Can you imagine growing up today and being a teenager in High School with all the ways you could be popular or not popular on the Web.  In one online article Facebook was compared to the Burn Book in the movie "Mean Girls".  It can be used for good and bad and people can write some terrible things that are broadcast to a large group of your peers.  It was bad enough back in the day being made fun of in school by a person live, but imagine this also being done over the web.  Also with all the camera phones out there, how embarassing would it be to have someone post an unflattering picture of you and tag you.  Granted you can untag yourself, but at that point it is too late, it is out there.

And what age is it ok for your child to have a Facebook account and do you as a Mom/Dad/Family member want to "Friend"them?  Family friendships on Facebook also seem dangerous to me.  I have seen kids ask their parents if they can go to a friend's house on their Mom's Facebook Wall.  This is insane to me!  Should kids have a Twitter account?  Again this is dangerous.

Then as far as relationships go, think of how detrimental this could be.  After a breakup your boyfriend/girlfriend could post some horrible or personal things about you.  Did you know that Facebook actually contributes to Divorce.  From ZDNet it is cited that Facebook is blamed in 1 out of 5 divorces.

Our kids will not know what it was like to type a book report on a typewriter, or if you were lucky a Word Processor.  They will never know of a time when you fall out of touch with people. 

Call me old fashioned, but in some ways I think we were better off.  We only had the pressures of live interaction and not so many other media sources to make our youth stressful.

Comment and let me know your thoughts.

3/29/11: Things You Thought You Never Could Do

There are many things I never thought I had the ability to do. Being an analytical, left brain type of person who is very scientific and mathematically driven anything creative seemed to be a challenge. Once I had kids I think I have been able to overcome this challenge a bit.

In my previous post "She's Crafty" I also explained that I was really in to scrapbooking since having the kids in addition to making crafts and cake decorating. These are things that don't come naturally to me, and you can tell an engineer did them as everything is so symmetric. I took a Wilton Class at Michael's that was well worth the money. I only took course 1 but was able to learn how to make leaves, flowers, and the basics of cake decorating. So far I have made many cakes for the kids birthdays including, this Princess Castle (which a friend had for her party and paid over $100 for). I never thought I would be able to make these creations, but low and behold I was able to. I highly recommend a Wilton Course at your local Craft store if you have any interest.

My favorite, the Mickey Mouse Cake. This was only my second cake. I was quite proud of it. Dora. And another one of my favorites, a Tinker Bell cake.Fire Truck for Evan.

For my husband's birthday.

Graveyard for our Annual Monster Mash.

I am looking forward to other things I will challenge myself with due to the love of my kids and trying new things.

What things have you tried that have been a challenge to you? Comment and let me know.

2/2/10: The Year of Things Breaking

So 2010 seems to be the year of everything breaking. Luckily Evan has his tools and is ready to fix things. It all started with the home computer not booting. That appeared to be the memory and it was under warranty so that went back to be replaced. Then I was watching TV and the I heard a pop and the screen went black so we ordered a replacement lamp for that. Then John's Check Engine light came on, which seemed to be nothing. Then it was my digital camera which I can't live without. When I would zoom little black shadow marks would show up in the corner and showed up on the pictures. That was shipped back and a replacement is in route back to me. Right now our cable box DVR is doing wierd things where it thinks it is taping, but it is not and I delete things and they keep coming back. We have rebooted and are hoping for the best. I also put up the new photo calendars I ordered and gave as Christmas gifts to family and noticed that they were for 2009! Oops, those had to get replaced.

As you may see from this picture, our kitchen is in the first stage of re-model. The wallpaper is being removed as a first stage.

Here's to hoping February is a better month!

1/15/10: Many Updates to our Shutterfly Share Site

Just to let everyone know our Share Site has been updated with lots of pictures. Feel free to take a look and comment.

11/9/2009: Little Miss Independent

Where has my baby gone?

It is almost the end of Parent and Me classes for me. Lauren is growing up. She will be 3 in April which is typically the age they do classes by themselves however she has already started. It started with Dance where they go in by themselves. Even in swim she won't let me touch her in the pool and wants to do it all by herself. And last night it was Gymnastics. The Parent and Me class we had been taking was cancelled but her teacher approved her to move up with the 3 year olds. I was worried she would want me with her but instead she ran off to class without a look back.

I know, I know, I should be happy. And I am, but with this one being my last it is just another stage that I will never go through again. I had tears in my eyes last night as I watched her in Gymnastics (as I hid behind a pole being worried she might run to me if she saw me) doing so well. Her old teacher and the owner came by to pat me on the back and tell me she is doing great and what will I do with the hour now. All I have left now is swim because they require she be three to do that by herself. Guess I will try and enjoy it while I can.

Other Moms tell me you have gone through this and that it is going to be ok.

10/2/09: Gap Casting Call - Vote for Us!

There is a Gap Casting Call going on right now sponsored by Disney Family, so I thought why not I will enter the kids. It is a nationwide search for the next face of babyGap and GapKids. You can vote everyday till November 17th for your fan favorites by going to:

http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/?cmp=OTC-Gap-Gapcom-HPBanner-Entry

and putting in my membername of galiberti

Who couldn't vote for these 2?

9/12/09: Thomas Make and Take and Yankee Doodle Weekend

Well we still had Dance today as you saw in my earlier post, however the Yankee Doodle Parade and Soccer were cancelled allowing us to go to AC Moore for a Thomas the Train make and take event. Here are the kids coloring their trains.

Here they are with the finished product.
Despite the fact that the parade was cancelled they did have the fireworks display. Unfortunately there wasn't much wind which made it quite foggy to see some of the fireworks but it didn't seem to matter to the kids. When asked their favorite part of the day an enthusiastic answer of "the fireworks" was given. Lauren said they were so cool and she loved it! Glad we went. These were the kids there last year.

9/5/09: Girls Day Out

Today I took Lauren for her 1st real haircut and for a Girls Day Out. We started at Snip-Its for a hair cut and then went to see the Barbie and the Three Musketeers. Daddy and Evan went to Home Depot and built a bean bag toss and then Evan followed Daddy around the yard as he mowed the grass on his truck.

Here is Lauren with her certificate of her first haircut.

Close up.

The before.
The during.
Chop, chop. They took about an inch off and made it all even.
Tada! Look at me with glitter in my hair and all pretty!
Here she is putting her hair in and card to get a toy. You can sort of see the purple glitter. I must say I was happy with it, many told me they are expensive but I pay $14 for Evan's haircuts at the barber, and Lauren's was $17.99 but I had a $3 coupon...so $14.99, not too bad.

And now off to the movie. I must say this Barbie movie was pretty good. They used the song I'm Unbelievable through the movie with different words. It was pretty funny. There were some amusing parts for the adults and Lauren liked dancing and saying 1 for all and all for 1. It was nice to see women as Musketeers even if they did use perfume to termporarily blind people. All the little girls in the theatre seemed to enjoy it and the cat in it even became a Musketeer and beat up on a dog. One little girl exclaimed on the way out that "it was the best Barbie movie ever".

Hugs for Barbie.