Phoebe's Spring Program 5/18/09

Phoebe performed at the Mother's Day Out Spring Program. She was so excited and she did very well on stage again. I couldn't image being 3 years old and performing on stage while looking out into a crowd. The girl is brave!! :) Michael was able to make it to this one and he loved seeing her up there. We got to go see her in class after and she wanted to stay there (we gave her the option to come home or stay)... they were going to have a bday cake for someone in class so she opted to stay. :)

Gymnastics / KinderGym

We signed Phoebe up for gymnastics today! I am so excited!!! I have a feeling she's going to love it. I took her to a birthday party a few weeks ago at Kids in Action - it has a toddler gymnastics type area for them to play in. She was all over everything in there and she seemed fearless! We were thinking of putting her in Creative Dance but we both agree that she'd probably have more freedom in Gymnastics and it seems to suit her more. We'll find out though! It's an 8 week program over the summer. If she does well, we'll enroll her in the fall, if not, we'll try dance. :) Classes begin on June 8th - her first class will be on Tues, June 9th. She'll attend class once a week. We have to get her a leotard... hehe! =)

5/30/09- We got her first leotard. She tried it on and loves it! She looks sooo adorable! :)

















She began dancing around as soon as she put on her leotard!

First Trip to the Dentist

Today was Phoebe's first dentist appt and I take full responsibility for not doing my homework before taking her. The dentist was horrible. She was a pediatric dentist but you could tell that she must not have kids of her own, she was not kid friendly at all. Poor Phoebe was so upset, granted... she was tired and didn't have a nap but she was terrified. We ended up leaving the room to see if she'd calm down but she didn't. I was lucky to have work calling me with an urgency at the time because I don't think I could've handled it. While we were there, Michael thought she was just cranky from missing her nap and I thought she was probably just scared of the equipment and all that was lying around. But after we left, we had a chance to let it all sink in and realize that the dentist didn't even try to talk to Phoebe, she just came in and wanted to get straight to work. Every pediatric doctor "should" know that you can't just rush in on children... you need to be patient and give them a chance to realize you're not there to hurt them. I feel so guilty for making her sit through that. The dentist said "all 3 year olds get a cleaning from me but I could barely even brush her teeth because she was fighting me so much. You'll have to take her to a dentist that can put her to sleep to work on her teeth". Lady, I just "put my dog to sleep", don't use those words!!! Phoebe was soooo upset, her face was all broken out from screaming and straining so much. (Click on the image for a larger pic & you can see her face)..My poor baby.


So yes, I feel horrible. I have definitely learned my lesson from this and I vow to research physicians or anyone that will care for Phoebe... and I will get referrals from other parents.

Oh and pass it on... DO NOT USE JENNIFER CHUO ON GREENS ROAD IN HOUSTON!!!!!!!!!!! We also didn't know anything about the area... it ended up being the GHETTO! There were like 5 cars pulled over by police on our way back to the interstate. Everything about the experience was horrible. Phoebe, I'm so sorry baby girl.

Videos of Phoebe Singing / Performing ;)

Wheels on the Bus - 4/12/09


Hot Potato - 4/12/09


Singing on New Karaoke Machine - 4/10/09

Happy Easter!

Phoebe's class at Mother's Day Out was having an Easter Egg Hunt on Thursday, April 9th. Phoebe had to bring 12 filled plastic eggs and an Easter basket for the eggs she found. She had a blast filling the eggs with candy and she was so excited the morning of with her Easter basket. She didn't want to let it go. :)










































































On Saturday, April 11th... Town Center was having an event called Picnic on the Park. We didn't make it in time for the Easter Egg hunt because we had an appt to get our taxes done. But we did make it, she got to go see the animals at the little petting zoo. They had a baby cow, a few goats, a donkey, and in a smaller area there was a rabbit, duck, little piggy and a chicken. She pet the animals, sat next to them and took pictures of them. We then took a train ride around the area. After we got off the train we walked for a bit and she was ready to go. She didn't have a nap yet (the event was only from 10-4 so there wasn't time for a nap after our tax appt. She had fun regardless. :)

On Easter Sunday she woke up to the goodies that the Easter Bunny brought her. She got a karaoke machine and sang on it a few minutes after waking up, lol. She got the SpongeBob version of Connect Four, which she loved as well! And lets not forget about the candy! Yes, we let her have some for breakfast! :) She ate real food after though, the child has no problem eating! She takes after her mommy! Hehe! We hung out for a while then picked up around the house and got dressed and ready to head over to Summer's house. We were all meeting there for a BBQ and Easter Egg hunt. It was pouring outside so they couldn't play outside yet. They made a posterboard pin the tail on the bunny rabbit so the kids played that and enjoyed it! They all got bubbles so when it stopped raining they went outside and blew bubbles on the patio. Later on we had the Easter Egg hunt inside. We had 2, one for the older kids and one for the toddlers. It turned out great and they had a blast! The sun came out and they pretty much stayed outside the rest of the day, blowing bubbles, playing games, writing on the cement with chalk, playing hop-scotch... it was a fun filled day! And of course Phoebe had to hurt herself since she didn't have a nap. So after all was said and done, she got hurt 3 times. First her and Evan ran into each other and she fell face first into the cement, luckily she was wearing her sunglasses because she would've needed stitches for that hit! She still ended up with a big mark above her eyebrow and she screamed for a few minutes... but it could've been much worse! Then I was outside pushing her and Aidan on the swings, Phoebe decided she wanted to get down and she walked in front of Aidan and his foot hit her in the face and tossed her up a little and she fell to the ground... she's got a really rosey cheek now. So we said it's time to pack up and as we were about to walk out the door, we stopped to get her bags and she hit her arm on the corner of the glass table. Now has a red mark on her upper arm. :( So it looks like she was beat, but above all, she had a good Easter. =)

Phoebe Sick? Nah... Pink Eye? Yep!

Last Friday, March 27th... I stayed home with Phoebe because she threw up Thursday night. She seemed fine except for when she'd fall asleep, she'd start coughing alot. And it wasn't a dry cough. She was fine all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday (except for coughing in her sleep). Sunday night she vomited again. I called Ms. Jude to let her know that I'd keep her home Monday (they can't go to Mother's Day Out if they've thrown up in past 24 hours).. well Ms. Jude said, you told me she was coughing in her sleep... it's probably the drainage making her nauseous. DUH! Why didn't I think of that? Thanks Ms. Jude! So Phoebe wasn't sick after all, it was just her sinuses. She went to Mother's Day Out and I went to work. That was Monday.

Then Tuesday, I drop Phoebe off and Ms. Jude sounded sick, she said she has a cold and should be fine. I told her to call me if needed and I'll come get Phoebe. She called around 11am saying she was running fever. So I went to pick Phoebe up and worked from home the rest of the day (Phoebe fell asleep on our way home so I was able to get right to work!) and she was cooperative the rest of the day so I was able to get alot of work done.

Wednesday - the day was going well, didn't seem like anyone was sick. Then I get a call from Ms. Jude around 2:30 or so, she said she thinks Phoebe has pink eye. She hasn't been around any kids with pink eye, that I know of. And she hasn't shown any signs of it before, so I brushed it off at first. I told her she's been getting lashes in her eyes and rubbing them like crazy and crying (I know that feeling & it isn't fun!)... so maybe she just had a lash in her eye. She said she'd clean it out and let me know how it looks later. Sure enough, it pussed up and it's super red. I called Kathy at work to give her a heads up that I may not be in tomorrow. I woke up this morning (Thursday) and checked her eye, it was glued shut. I'm going to try and get in with the doctor today, but still, not sure if she'll be able to go by Ms. Jude's tomorrow either, I'm sure it won't be healed. Might be another work from home day!







Update! I was able to get Phoebe in with the Dr on Thursday. He confirmed that it is pink eye and prescribed her some drops. We got them filled immediately and put them in as directed. Sure enough, her eye was just about cleared up Friday morning. So mommy was able to go to work.

Weekend of March 21, 2009

MawMaw & PawPaw Gioia came in for a visit. Phoebe got to wear her new outfit and she looked so preautiful (as Phoebe would say - she blends beautiful and pretty together). Mommy got a few great pics of her that day :)

On Sunday, we went to Lowe's and picked up some plants and flowers to put our backyard garden back together.

Phoebe loved working in the garden! She helped Mommy and Daddy dig holes and plant flowers. She then learned how and enjoyed watering the garden. Such a happy little helper! And she was
FILTHY when we were done! =)

Phoebe's Fever of 104.5

Phoebe woke up Saturday morning when her daddy got up. They came in the front and Phoebe came to sit on my lap. She drank some milk and she felt like she was burning up. We took her temperature and it was about 103. We gave her Motrin to try and bring it down. She puked up her milk a few minutes later. We checked her temp again and it was 104.5! I called her doctor to see if we should take her to the ER. The nurse was very friendly and patient with me. She said not to worry, the Motrin probably upset her stomach which made her vomit the milk. (good idea Mom, geesh!) She said always use Tylenol if available, since it's easier on the stomach. (sorry Phoe, we had no idea!) She said the doctor doesn't even request that we call him until the fever is at least 105. I'm sorry, I grew up thinking you had to throw 'em in a tub of ice at 104! So I called down, a little. She also said to wait an hour and a half after giving her the meds before taking the temperature again. Well... what if the temperature is rising (as it was)? I couldn't just not take her temp for that long, maybe if it was a low grade fever, but it was 104! Plus, look at this thing. we couldn't bare to see her like this, we needed our baby girl to feel better.

The nurse also said that the fever is a way the body fights off the infection, so the doctor actually recommends not treating the fever. The medicine to bring the fever down is just a comfort thing. It's not going to help make her better, it'll just make the fever come down so she'll feel better. But he recommends just letting it run its course and fight off the infection. So we refrained from giving her anymore medicine. Her fever did eventually come down and she was back to normal, acting like nothing was wrong. It was really crazy to see her jumping around a few hours later. She was fine almost all day and then boom! Fever shot up to 104 again. We went through the up and downs all weekend (at least she felt fine in between and wasn't miserable 24/7), and since it was up and down on Sunday, I'd have to keep her home Monday. Same thing on Monday... and Tuesday. I was in touch with the dr's office the whole time. Finally they said to bring her in. So I did on Tuesday evening and they didn't give her meds or anything, they just checked her nose for the flu, it came back negative... and they said just let it finish running its course. Well it finally finished its course and things were back to normal Wednesday! (those few days felt like eternity!) We're just thankful that all turned out okay and we did learn a few things during all of this :)

Christmas 2008

We went to cut down our own Christmas tree on Sunday, December 7th. We followed Stefanie and Christian out there and had a good time. After walking around for about half hour we realized that there wasn't much to choose from. Then we found a spot with 3 beautiful trees. Stef & Christian chose one and we cut down one of the others, well it ended up being an 11 1/2 foot Christmas tree! Michael cut it down and he almost passed out pulling it out to the street. We took a picture with Santa, rode the train and then headed home.

We drove into New Orleans on Tuesday night, 12/23... we stayed by Aggie's house since we were having Christmas there this year. Tammy and Fauddy couldn't make it in for Christmas because of work. Me and Agg were getting the house together on Christmas Eve... Angel called and said that Ms. Pat (Joe's mom) was in the hospital and they wouldn't be able to make it for the Christmas Eve celebration. They had to be with Ms. Pat...so we all understood. But it didn't feel like Christmas at all. Matt, Britney, Destiny and Brittanie came by Agg's and opened gifts. It was a sad feeling but we made the best of it. Me, Michael and Phoe would be heading to his parents on Christmas Day so we were going to have to miss Christmas dinner. Angel still wasn't sure if she'd be able to make dinner... so we decided to move Christmas dinner to that Saturday, 12/27. We went to Michael's parents' house in Picayune Christmas morning. CP and Kelli came and we all ate and opened gifts. Ms. Tess made some great food (it was all about us and our yummy casseroles for Christmas since Thanksgiving was all about the boys and seafood!)... hehe! Phoebe got the Barbie Jammin Jeep from MawMaw and PawPaw, so now she has her own motorbike as she calls it, lol. They have a huge backyard so she was able to drive all around and get used to it. MawMaw and PawPaw would be delivering it to our house after Christmas. We hung out around there for a while then headed over to Aunt Linda's to see everyone. Phoebe played out back on the playhouse almost the entire time, she had fun with Corey and Makayla... and they are so good with her. We drove back to Metairie Saturday to sleep by Angel's since Michael had to fly out Sunday morning at 8am. He had to go back to work Monday and I was off all week and didn't want to rush out. On Sunday, me, Angel, Aggie and Phoe went to visit Grandma in Slidell. She was so surprised to see us but Phoebe needed a nap and wasn't in a very cheerful mood :( But Grandma still thought she was the sweetest thing. It was nice to see her. We headed back to Angel's. We hung out at the house watching movies with the kids, it was nice, some quality family time :) Me and Phoe headed home Monday.

Phoebe's 3rd Birthday Party - SpongeBob

We had Phoebe's 3rd birthday party at our house in Texas. Everyone was there, it turned out great!! We had Phoebe's bounce house out. Hardly any kids messed with the swing / playhouse, they all wanted to jump! The party was Spongebob themed and we had the cutest cake!





We had the Mudpie Company make a birthday cake for Phoebe and everyone signed the back of it. The plate turned out great! But they neglected to tell me that there's a certain pen that you need to write on it (they told me a regular marker would work and it didn't!) So Ms. Jude was very sweet to go run to Mudpie and buy the pen for me. After everyone signs the plate with the "special" pen, you let it dry for 24 hours and then bake it in the oven for 30 minutes. I was really impressed with the job they did on this plate!

Phoebe's Christmas Program 12.8.08

This was Phoebe's first time on stage and she did fantastic! If you can't tell, she's the one all the way on the right, in a red dress.

Visit to the ER

Around 9:30 on Sunday night Phoebe was climbing down from our bed to go potty. Her foot got caught in the sheet and she fell off the bed backwards. She hit the corner of my nightstand and screamed and cried so loud. My heart was broken! She had a huge lump come out and I was a little concerned because it was so big. We kept her up for almost an hour. On the way to drop her off to the sitter in the morning, she was nodding out. I began freaking out but convinced myself that I was worrying too much and scaring myself. So I told Ms. Jude (the sitter) what happened and to call me if anything doesn't seem right with her. Well she ended up calling me saying she felt warm and didn't look well in her eyes. I freaked! I left work and went to pick her up from Mother's Day Out, Michael left work as well. When I got there she was so energetic and talkative, you'd swear nothing was wrong... so I calmed down. We went and had lunch then went to Urgent Care. Well they cannot check and/or treat any head injuries... so off to the ER we went. When they finally called us back, they said only ONE parent could go back with her! Are you kidding me? I cannot be with my child, who has a head injury????!!! I was furious! But thankfully all turned out fine. They said since she wasn't showing any symptoms (vomiting, extreme tiredness, etc) that they weren't even going to do an MRI. So that was my birthday, but the best gift of all was to hear that she was okay! Michael stopped and bought me flowers and a cake... so sweet! Him and Phoe sang happy birthday to me that evening and we had cake and ice cream. The cake was super yummmmmy! :) As you can see from Phoebe's face (click on pic to view it larger)...

Thanksgiving Trip to LA & MS 2008

We drove in to spend Thanksgiving with our families. We spent Thanksgiving Day with my family and then Friday with Michael's family. Everyone got to spend a good bit of time with Phoebe. There were many kids that were around for Thanksgiving by Angel's.. so Phoebe had lots of kids to play with, there were 2 huge spacewalks outside that they spent most of the day and night jumping around in. And then she had a blast riding the 4 wheeler (aka motorbike) with PawPaw, chasing MawMaw around the house, making glitter ornaments with Mommy and MawMaw, petting the deer (Christmas decorations) on the lawn all day and then getting scared when they lit up at night! MawMaw Tess and PawPaw Mike had a cake and gifts ready Friday to celebrate my birthday, Phoebe's, Mikey's and CP's!

She loved their yard, riding in the wagon with the pig, riding the 4 wheeler with PawPaw, picking up leaves to make a stew with MawMaw... she had a good time.

Here she is putting PawPaw to work:






And PawPaw put her to work (picking up leaves)!


It was a full and fun couple of days. We headed back early Saturday and made it home Saturday night (tonight). Once we got home Michael took down the Christmas decorations from the attic and I attempted to get started. But I think the drive had worn me out because for the first time ever, I wasn't in a festive mood. I know that will change as soon as I get up tomorrow though, I think I'm just worn out! That being said, I think I'm going to bed! Good nite :)

Missing my China Girl

Missing my China Girl
Current mood:sad

Well it's been a little over 4 months since we said goodbye to China. And I must say, it hasn't begun to get easier. Whenever I think or write about her, I get upset. That being said, I push the thoughts from my mind pretty often. Then I feel guilty for not thinking of her. What am I supposed to do? I know that I should let it out and allow myself to heal but it hurts. She was my baby, so sweet, loyal, loving. We had a picture of her blown up to a 30x40 and placed her right next to our family picture which is the same size. It turned out beautiful but I can't look at it very often.

I just needed to let that out, I really haven't talked about it since she passed.

Daycares

I HATE THEM! (and I don't use the word hate very often) This is Phoebe's 3rd daycare and nothing is different. The first one - I picked her up one day and she had brush burns on her face and a black eye ... they said that she fell off of a toy. The 2nd one, here in Texas... she was bit 4 or 5 times since moving to this one class a couple months ago. So we moved her to a new daycare, she's been there maybe 2 weeks. Today is Thursday and it was her first day there this week, Michael picked her up and she was bit today. She was bit twice last week in the same day. I know that Phoebe doesn't start fights or instigate things, I've asked the centers. It's just the teachers not watching the kids. But this doesn't surprise me because her teacher at this center is the same one from the last daycare. She's not going back, we're done. It breaks my heart because ever since she got bit the last time at the other center, she has cried every morning that I've dropped her off at daycare. I feel so guilty because it's like she was trying to tell us something, like she was scared.




We're in the process of interviewing a sitter and I met her at Starbucks today and we talked about an hour. I really liked her and think that I could trust her. She's going to come by Saturday to meet Phoebe. She wants to meet her where Phoe would feel most comfortable. I truly hope that we can get this process going and that Phoebe really likes and trusts her rather quickly...so we can get her started soon. Phoebe's not going back to daycare, Tammy will watch her next week until we get started with the sitter. If it's possible, avoid putting your child in daycare.

General Blogging

General Blogging
Current mood:drained

7/25/08 - I feel so overwhelmed. I have no time to clean my house, spend with my daughter or hubby, organize things, cook, it feels like all I do is work work work. I'm always making up time. Well hopefully that will all come to an end soon because I am expecting this coming weekend to be my last trip to Nola for a while. Let's hope hope hope! After that, I am going back to my old schedule, this 9/80 schedule is not suitable for someone with a kid / family. If you're single, it'll probably work out great for you! I live with guilt, which makes you eat eat eat... so I'm also unhappy because of my weight. I went on a diet and exercised 4 times a week for 3 months and couldn't lose the weight. Then I began the 9/80 schedule so I had no time to spend with the family or work out. Then my house needs cleaning, but if I try to clean, I feel guilty because that time should be spent with my family. If I'm spending time with my family, I feel guilty for letting the house go. So we're trying to work out a solution. I'm stopping the 9/80 schedule and we're going to have someone come in to clean for me. I think this will be extremely helpful for all of us. This way I'll be able to focus on my family without any guilt for a dirty house, which in turn should reduce the guilt and stress, which should help me with my weight. And above all, I am hoping not to be so edgy anymore. My moods affect more than I see. So here's to hoping things will begin to look up soon!

7/29/08 - So things may begin to look up. We hired someone today that will come in every other week to clean the house. And we are going to the gym tomorrow for a tour and get info and schedules of the classes offered. And I went back to my old schedule today, 8 hrs a day, 5 days a week.

7/30/08 - Yep, things are looking up, we signed a 2 year contract with the gym today. Net is determined to get in shape! My breaking point... the first thing someone said to me when they saw me after about 18 years --- "man you've put on some weight!!!" Not to mention the 7 people that have asked me if I was expecting! (yes, I'm counting!)

8/1/08 - A lady came in (brought a helper) to clean the house. They were here 2.5 hours and said that I was going to love it. I came home at lunch and it was HORRIBLE. I obviously had to fire them, too bad I had already paid them. GGRRRR!

8/11/08 - I found someone else on Kingwood Jobs, she came by today and gave us a quote, she'll be coming in Wednesday to do a deep clean so we'll see how it goes!

8/13/08 - Rachel, the new lady, did an EXCELLENT job! Everything was shining, she moved everything to dust / clean, I had not one complaint! Not to mention she was done, with the deep clean, in 4 hours!

8/16/08 - Had a dinner party in honor of Faud's bday but Faud & Shan didn't make it because Faud wasn't feeling good. But the Philiberts, Bartholomews, Mom and Aggie came, and it turned out well.

8/17/08 - Relaxing day at home. Mikey cut the grass and I took Phoebe for a bike ride and to the park to play.

8/18/08 - 8/22/08 - Worked all week, Mikey worked late twice so I went to pick Phoe up from daycare. Phoebe started a new daycare, LaPetite Academy on Monday, 8/18... turns out Kayla from Country Schoolhouse will be teaching Phoebe's class. Phoe cried when I dropped her off, I called a few mins later when I got to work and they said she was singing and dancing, it was music time... by the end of the week she seemed happy. Friday - Tam had a jewelery show for her friend Amy, started at 7 and ended a little after 9. I ordered Phoe some silver earrings :) Saturday - another relaxing day at home, Mikey cut grass and I took Phoe to the park again but we got to stay a bit longer since we sprayed on OFF before going! Phoe didn't have a nap today so she fell asleep around 7, me and Mikey rearranged the desk / office area. When we were done with that, I began scanning documents (trying to go paperless since I'm such a pack rat!) and he played his game. I'll probably try and catch up on organizing the house some more tomorrow.

RIP Grandpa Gioia

Joseph C. Gioia Sr. of Slidell entered eternal rest on Aug. 2, 2008, at the age of 78. He is survived by his devoted wife of 60 years, Eleanor Barrios Gioia. He was the father of Adeline Walsh, Linda Hughes, Joseph Gioia Jr., Michael Gioia Sr., Dominick Gioia Sr. and Penny Erato; brother of Mary Galland, Phillip Gioia and Catherine Russo; and son of the late Carlo J. Gioia and Lena Maltese Gioia. He is also survived by 14 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews and other relatives. Gioia was a resident of St. Bernard Parish until August 2005. The family would like to extend a special thanks to Hospice Care of Slidell. Relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend the funeral mass at Honaker Funeral Home, 1751 Gause Blvd. W., Slidell,, at 1 p.m. today. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Interment will follow in Forest Lawn Cemetery. Arrangements by Honaker Funeral Home, Inc., Slidell.

Phoebe's 2nd Birthday Party - Elmo

We had it on December 30th by Aggie & Brian's house. We were living in Texas at the time but wanted to have it where the family could attend. And Phoebe racked up!!! She got so much stuff we had to clean out her game room upstairs to store it all! Out with the old and in with the new! Anyway, the party was a success! They have a trampoline in the back yard so Phoebe had a blast playing on that. The theme was Elmo, she had an Elmo cake, Elmo bday balloons and lots of fun stuff in the favor bags!

Thanks Agg & Bri for letting us use your house!

Tubes in Ears =(

Phoebe had to get tubes put in her ears since she was getting so many ear infections. The procedure went well but when she woke up, she freaked out, not knowing where she was and crying for mommy and daddy. They had to come and get us to go in the back by her. Poor baby! They said the tubes should fall out on their own after about a year. She can't go underwater or get water in her ears and she needs to wear ear plugs in the tub or pool.

RIP Baby Hayden

Hayden Christopher Calamari

CALAMARI Baby Hayden Christopher Calamari passed away on Monday, October 15, 2007 at the age of 18 months. He was the beloved son of Stacey Teal Calamari and Alan A. Calamari Jr. Loving brother of Allie Elizabeth Calamari. Cherished grandson of Alan & Rosemary Calamari, Theodore Teal and the late Cynthia Teal. Treasured great-grandson of Rose Gasper and the late Lorraine & Norman Cantrell. Hayden is also survived and fondly remembered by many aunts, uncles and cousins. So small, so sweet, so soon. Private services were held on Monday, October 22nd at St. Bernard Memorial Funeral Home. Burial took place in St. Bernard Memorial Gardens.

Published in The Times-Picayune on 10/23/2007.




Some friends of mine from an online community created the following image for Hayden's parents.

Thanks Snuggler friends!