My family is soooooo lucky!

Yup...that's what a patient told me yesterday. She said I was sweet,funny and extremely intelligent and that my family is very lucky to have me! She said that I had to go home and tell my family that she said they were lucky. She made me laugh.

I have to start off by saying her name was Lillian. I always get chatty with nice patients named Lillian since it was my Nana's name and Rich's Nana's name which is why Lillianna has her name.
Lillian was 85 years old and very sweet. We chatted about a bunch of things after I did her eye exam. I don't get great patients very often so I really cherish the good ones. She really made my day.

Lillianna always tells me that I am the best mom so I knew she already realized how fortunate she is to have me! Rich,on the other hand....well.....I often wonder what he thinks of me. When I told him my conversation with Lillian he agreed that he was lucky to have me. Hmmmm......that kind of surprised me. You just never know what your family is thinking,do you??

An insult wrapped in a compliment?

Lillianna and I have quite an earring collection so we are constantly sharing our earrings with one another. One time I stood in the living room,arms akimbo (damn! I finally got to put that expression in something!I only hear it used in books.)and I said in that mom kind of way,"For the last time....put....your.....earrings....away."
She held them up in front of me and laughed,"Mom,these are your earrings!" Hmmmm.....who knew?

So the other day I borrowed one of Lillianna's Halloween earrings:a pair of fat,sparkly,happy ghosts. They are quite adorable. They look like the Pillsbury PopNFresh guy with glitter. I try to dress up my navy blue scrubs whenever I can.

I called in a patient who immediately noticed my earrings. She sat in the exam chair shrieking,"OOOOOH! I love your earrings. I gotta have 'em. Give them to me!! I just love them!!!"

I thought she was a little wound up for 67 but what the heck. I said,"Oh,thank you." Then she looked at my earrings again and said in the most disappointed voice she could manage,"Hmmm....they're Caspers....I thought they were cats! You can keep them!"

I was speechless. What could I have said to that?

Have you met Dash?

Lisa finally wrote about the birth of her second son,Dashiell. I can say from 1st hand experience that he is a little cutie pie. Then again,his older brother Trent is so cute I want to bite him. I got to feed and burp Dashiell a couple of weeks ago and since Lisa is really sleep deprived,I could've run off with the child. I only drive the speed limit so I could've never out run the police. That's why I didn't abduct him.

Lisa and I are going to plan a sleep over for me and Lillianna. She's going to take Trent and Lil out to a movie and I get to stay home with Dash! I told her I'd get up and feed him in the middle of the night. I love those feedings!

So hop on over to Lisa's blog and congratulate her on the birth of her precious new baby.

Munchausen by proxy syndrome

The first time that I heard about Munchausen by proxy syndrome I was shocked.I didn't understand how a parent could purposely hurt their own child. I was horrified and fascinated that the parents do it so that they can be the center of attention. Family members,doctors and nurses commend the parent for taking such good care of their sick child without knowing the parent is the one causing the sickness!

I've always hated when Lillianna has gotten sick. When she was about 5 years old,she threw up for the first time. I called the pediatrician several times during the day to update her on Lillianna's condition. By the next morning she looked horrible and I brought her in to be seen. The doctor took one look at her and had her admitted to the hospital for I.V. fluids. She ended up being in the hospital for 2 days.

I was with her constantly. When she had an accident getting to the bathroom on time,I cleaned and changed her and gave her reassuring hugs that Mommy would stay with her. If I could've been sick instead of her I would've changed places with her. My heart ached for my lifeless,droopy and sad child who cried because the nurse put the I.V. in her writing hand so she couldn't color.

Today,Dr.Phil talked about Munchausen by proxy syndrome. I only watched it for 5 minutes and then I had to leave to pick up Lillianna's friend Hannah who was coming over for a play-date. Lillianna watched it for 2 seconds and then said she didn't want to watch it at all. She was uncomfortable with the topic. I told her I'd watch it tonight when it repeats.

I hate the abuse that takes place with this syndrome but for some reason,it fascinates me and I will have to watch it.

I'm the mom!

Lillianan's best friend Mollie came over around 2pm today so that the girls could spend some extra time together before the sleep over starts at 5pm. After a few minutes Mollie and Lillianna asked if she could open her present right then. I said okay.

Mollie asked,"Are you sure it's okay?" I laughed and said,"Ya...I'm sure. I'm the mom and I make the rules. Go ahead and open it."

She gave her a friendship bracelet kit which Lillianna loved but I knew it was the second present that Mollie was so excited about. She had made a framed scrapbook page of their dance recitals for Lillianna. They have been dancing together since they were 3 years old.

I had made a similar gift for Mollie 2 years ago and I had wanted to make one for Lillianna but of course having it come from her very best friend gives it more meaning. Her mom and sister helped her put it together. It is just beautiful. I hung it up in Lillianna's room immediately.

I told her they could each hang their frames up when they room together in college. That would be so cool if they did!

Happy Birthday,Lillianna!

My daughter is 10 today. TEN!! She's been awake since 2am. How do I know this? I woke up to go to the bathroom and she was in bed reading and watching t.v.! I don't think she ever went back to sleep although she eventually stopped reading and turned off the room light.

Since I am a goofy mom,I put notes all over her lunch today.

On her peanut butter and fluff sandwich it says:

Hey,Peanut butter!
Ya,Fluff.
Did you hear that Lillianna turned 10 today?
Lillianna Piccini ?
Ya....that's the one.Hmmm...never heard of her!


On her bag of grapes it says:

A ten year old grape would be a really wrinkled raisin,
don't ya think?

On her bag of tortilla chips:

Ten year olds love tortilla chips.
Well,nine year olds do too
but that's not the point,is it?

On her bag of mini Oreos:
From all of us in the Oreo bag....
Happy 10th Birthday,Lillianna!

On her bottle of water:
Drink me!! Ten year olds need water to help them grow to be eleven year olds!

I also have a few surprises in store for her. I love sneaky surprises. Today is Wednesday which is rehearsal for the Winter Festival she was picked for. I will pick her best friend,Mollie up on my way home from work. She lives one town over from us. Then we will get Lillianna and Ashely from Winter Festival rehearsal. Lillianna will be shocked to find Mollie with me and I'm sure she'll ask why.

That's when I'll tell her we are going out for pizza before dancing school. The 3 of them are in the same class. After dance class,I will take the girls out for ice cream before taking them home. It's been hard to keep this a secret but it'll be worth it to see her little surprised face!!

Why October 2nd is an important date to us

Fourteen years ago today,Rich and I met.
October 2,1993 is the date Rich and I have inscribed in our wedding bands. We got married on November 5,1994 but we thought the day we met was more important than the wedding day.

Ten years ago today was my due date with Lillianna. When my midwife gave me my due date on my first check-up I nearly fell off the table. How could my due date be the very day that Rich and I met? I thought that was pretty amazing.
I went into labor right on schedule on October 2nd and delivered my precious baby on October 3 at 4:59am.

That means my bouncing baby will be TEN tomorrow!! She has asked me to wake her up at 4:56am so that she can savor her last minutes of being nine before she turns 10 at 4:59am. Ya gotta love her.

After work today I'll pick Lillianna up from school and then it's home to mass produce baked goods. We'll make funfetti cupcakes to bring to school tomorrow,a chocolate candy cookie cake and some cookies to bring to my mom's for Thursday and then we'll collapse.

I love her birthday!!!

What makes a family?

Every now and then Lillianna plays this game with me which I call "Real or Not Real." It consists of this type of conversation.

Lillianna: Auntie Kara.....is she really my aunt?
Me: Yes,she's my sister so she is really your aunt.
Lillianna: Auntie Belle.....real or not real?
Me: Belle is my best friend so she's your auntie because I love her.
(Belle is really Liane. I used to call her Lianabella in junior high and high school and over the years it got shortened to Belle.)
Lillianna:Auntie Ida?
Me:Auntie Ida is my aunt because she is married to my father's brother. She might be your grand aunt or something but she is your aunt.


I'm sure everyone has aunts and uncles that are not really related to them but it doesn't make them any less a part of the family. I think it makes them more a part of it because we choose to add them.

With that in mind,I had a great time at Kara's yesterday. I fell in love with Lisa's baby Dash. He is such a sweetie pie. I got to feed him which was so much fun and burp him,which was more difficult than I expected. He does not burp easily. I felt victorious when he finally gave me two big burps.

As we were gathering our things to leave in the evening,Lisa washed Dash's pacifier and then dropped it on the floor. I picked it up and washed and dried it and handed it back to Lisa. She looked tired at that point. She said,"Thank you Auntie Robin."

I said,"Ya....I decided I want to be Auntie even though we're not related."
Lisa asked,"Aren't we related because our families got married?" It was a good theory but I laughed and said,"No,honey. Technically,you are my sister's sister-in-law. We are not related."

We decided it didn't matter at all. Lillianna always calls her Auntie Lisa and I enjoy creating my own family with people I love.

Who have you added to your family?