A few days late...

Well, I know I'm a few days late w/ the results but it's good I promise. :) We had the apt. inspected on Thursday and although we don't have the "official" results it looks good. Lead was found in the windows but all from the exterior of them, so if I keep them closed we're o.k. The only window I have to worry about from the inside is the bathroom. We always keep the blinds closed for that window, so the girls have never been tempted to try to look out of it anyways. In the meantime I can tape it up with duct tape the inspector said. She also found lead in 3 of the 4 closets in the bedrooms. The one that is lead free is in Abby's room - thankfully. Then there was lead in the ceiling and window in the back hall to exit out the side of the house. We never use this exit anyways so this poses no immediate danger to the girls. The rest of lead that was found is on the exterior of the house, around the windows and doorways. All and all I think it's not as bad as I feared. I feel so much safer now that I know where the lead is. My aunt & uncle said this will be fixed very soon. My uncle is in the process of finalizing the sale of his mother's house. So, they will use the money from the sale to cover the deleading and will install new windows. The only other hassle will be having to move out while the apt. is being deleaded and the whole packing up everything we own, putting it in the middle of the rooms so that it can be covered w/ special tarps. This is so the lead dust won't be spread onto our belongings. A total pain but will be so worth it in the end. I know I will still worry until Abby has her lead level recheck on the 18th of August. But I'm feeling much safer now and calmer.

On a lighter note - we had the garage sale. Saturday was a huge success. Yeah, good to have some extra cash. I didn't get to help out much on Saturday but was there all day Sunday. Too bad Sunday was a total bust!!!! Oh well, but I did manage to sell the most stuff. And we're planning another one just on a Saturday this time. We're hoping to have it in a few weeks. Still have a ton of stuff we would like to get rid of. I would have taken some pics but the batteries died in the digital. Oh well, it wasn't really exciting anyways. But maybe next sale I'll make sure those batteries are well charged! Well happy Monday!

Cleaning Freak!!!!

Well, it's been a while since my last post. I've been busy cleaning this place we live in. Having a garage sale at my parents house this weekend and let's say I have a lot to sell! I'm selling a lot of toys and clothes that the girls have outgrown and misc. stuff around the house that is just becoming clutter. Feels good to get rid of some stuff - never thought I would ever say that. We also have an appt. for a private lead inspection this Thursday. Things are looking good. It'll take about 10 days to get the results back from the inspection but just knowing that we'll find out where the lead is, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Today we will be spending the day at my Mom & Dad's making signs for the garage sale. It's been so hot & humid lately that we've been confined indoors w/ the A/C pretty much running 24/7. It'll be good to get out of here. I'll post after the inspection tomorrow and give you an update!

What a week

So a week has gone by. A week of frustration, sadness, confusion, disappointment. I have to say not a good week. I feel like a constant complainer right now but I need to vent a little. A lot of ups & downs this week as far as the lead issue goes. Met w/ the Social Worker on Wednesday and the visit went well. She even asked if my house was always this clean with two kids. Ha, ha! If she only new how it looked before she got here. Not to say it's not clean just very cluttered. Mostly like a tornado hit us with toddler toys. So anyways, to make a long story short, she said the actual upkeep of the apartment looks great and she would be very surprised if they found lead anywhere besides the windows and exterior of the house. This is what we're hoping. The windows are old and need to be replaced and my aunt & uncle (landlords) are aware of this. Lots of pamphlets to read and questions to be answered. After a long week of: we're having it deleaded, no we can't afford it, no forget it I'll just move, blah, blah, blah - They've decided to hire a private lead inspector and this way the problem will still be taken care of but will just take a little longer to complete. If we went through the state, they pretty much only give you 90 days to remove the lead. That may seem like a whole lot of time but it really isn't when you figure in the applying for loans, finding a certified contractor, hiring them, deleading and then remodeling after the deleading is done. This is just so involved but we're chugging along and we're taking care of the problem. Although, this does give me some relief, I know I won't feel completely safe until the procedure is complete and Abby has her next blood test to check her levels. Other than this major issue, just dealing with the daily demands of my two little girls. Still trying to potty train Emma, still working with her on the tip toe thing, still trying to correct her all day long whining - basically dealing with a 3 year old. And my sweet little Abby? Well, still trying to sneak her iron in juices and get her to drink it instead of blowing bubbles in it, still trying to control her temper tantrums, and yes the whining is starting with her too. Gotta love the terrible two's. On Friday, Abby decided to throw one her tantrums at my parents house and then hurting herself in the process. She basically flung herself into the seat part of the kitchen chair causing a huge egg to form on her forehead. Was so not pretty, at one point I really thought I was going to have to take her to the ER. My mom & I got her to calm down after about 20 minutes of hysterical crying and she finally let us put a cold ice pack on the boo boo. The swelling has gone down since then and she just has a little bump and some bruising. I can't wait until she gets out of this tantrum stage! The weekend however was much better - Thank God! On Saturday we had a cake for my brother's b'day and the girls had a blast playing with their cousins. And on Sunday Emma got to have some 1 on 1 time w/ her darling Daddy while I took Abby to visit a couple friends of mine. Emma is such a Daddy's girl and she had pretty much been crying for him all week so I felt it was better to leave her at home with him. They went "fishing". Inside the house of course with her plastic fishing pole and plastic fish. So cute wish I had pics. I do have a few pics of Abby with my friends' little girls. They are both almost a year old and just 3 weeks apart. Both oh so cute! Jadyn is Tanya's daughter and is in the pic w/ Abby in the kiddie pool. I really wish I could have gotten a better pic but Jadyn was just not interested in smiling for the crazy camera lady (me). I have a close up of my friend Jen's daughter Julianna but still need her permission to post it. I like to make sure it's o.k. with the parents when it's not my family I'm posting about. :) So not such a great week but a good weekend. And hopefully I can keep that momentum going!

Lots to do

So, it's Monday again. Did I mention I hate Mondays? Anyways, I spoke with the Social Worker from the Board of Health on Thursday and we have an appt. set up for this Wednesday. She will be coming to the house to meet with me and she has a ton of information that should answer my never ending questions about Lead Poisoning. She seems really nice and I can't wait to meet her. I also received a phone call from the Inspector that is assigned to my area. But I wasn't here when she called, so I will be calling her this morning sometime. I just want this to be over and done with! Get the Lead out! Make Abby better! That's all I ask. Not too much to ask, is it?

So, anyways to get myself to stop freaking out everytime the girls go near a window, I've been trying to get out more lately. Friday afternoon we just hung around outside blowing bubbles and playing ball. My aunt & uncle put a fence up in the backyard so that has made it so much easier for the girls to play outside. No more worrying about them falling off a wall into the neighbor's yard behind us. Here are a few pics of them :)

That is my aunt in the pic with my girls. She would kill me if she knew I posted this - she kept telling me not to take her picture. I told her I could crop her out. Shhh.... don't tell her. Hee, hee - I'm so bad. And I just love this next photo of Emma & Abby pouring bubbles in the bowl. They're just so sweet when they work together to get something done.


So, I thought that getting out more would tire my girls out enough that when it came time to go to bed it would be less craziness. Well, it doesn't work. We were outside for 2 1/2 hours on Friday afternoon and they still freaked out when it was time to go to bed. On Saturday, we took a walk to my parents house after supper and let the girls run around outside in their yard. They had so much fun. We got home around 8:30 pm. The girls had a little snack and Daddy tried putting on their pjs so I could tinkle. God for bid I have to pee right? Abby through a major fit to the point that she vomited all over herself. There's nothing like giving your kid a bath at 9pm. And then total meltdown for both of them! Bedtime is not easy in this house let me tell you. I have not figured out how to settle them down - they turn into wild animals when it's time to go to bed. I lay down with them and try to comfort them as much as possible but it's not enough. They keep getting up and running all over the house crying. The neighbors must think we torture them. It's kind of embarrassing. I just can't figure out what else to do. I hate bedtime. I try to read them stories - nope they don't care to sit still and listen. It just got to the point that I let them watch t.v. in my bed. When they fall asleep, we put them in their beds and by 2:30 am, Emma's back in our bed and I'm on the couch with Abby. Last night, I was on the couch with both of them. Needless to say I'm a little sleep deprived. Any suggestions? Abby was running a fever all day yesterday and was up on & off all night. Thankfully she didn't seem to bother Emma even though we were all in the same room. This morning her temp was 103. She's not eating well, but other than that and being a tad cranky, there's nothing else wrong. I hope she's just getting a tooth or something. I need to catch up on laundry and cleaning today. Would like my house to not look like a tornado hit it when the Social Worker comes Wednesday. So, I'm off to do some chores and hopefully Abby will start feeling better today. She's taking another cat nap right now. I wish I was too :(

Time flies!

So, where did the weekend go? I blinked and it was over. Thankfully it was enjoyable. As soon as hubby got home Saturday, I had to run some errands. I helped my dear mother stuff some goodie bags for her annual 4th of July gathering. She is super cute with the goodies :) Then it was off to the grocery store. I hate the grocery store on Saturdays. It is a mad house there. Sunday was a much needed
family day. Hubby & I packed up and took the girls to his parents house. They are at the Cape for the week so we had their pad all to ourselves. The girls played on the swing set and helped daddy wash the car. I can't wait to get those pics back! It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun just being together without the phone ringing, and the normal everyday interruptions. We came home Monday morning. I had some baking to do for my parents party and laundry to catch up on. And as for the 4th of July - it was a blast. My parents throw a great party every year. We managed to still have a ton of fun even with the hot, humid and off & on rainy weather. Lots of food. Steamers, fritters, chowder, burgers, dogs, salads. And the desserts, oh my god. I'm still full. The games are great and hopefully I'll get to participate one year if I hire someone to take the pictures. lol. I really do enjoy watching everyone else. And although I missed my darling little Emma and her Daddy win the egg toss (that's right - my 3 yr. old won the egg toss), I did get to help Abby in the potato sack race. She was so funny, saying hop, hop everytime I picked her up to jump. I couldn't stop laughing. We came in last. lol. I let the other kids beat us. But shhh... don't tell. They were super happy about it! So, here are just a few pics that I took with the digital. The rest I will be getting developed.








































And last but not least, since fireworks are illegal in good ol' Massachusetts, my brother found something that would keep us entertained for at least a little while. All I have to say is, I don't recommend having Diet Coke and Mentos for a snack. :) Hope everyone had a happy 4th!