Rain, rain, go away...

As usual, it's been a busy few weeks for us here in Kocubinski Land.  We finally found a good babysitter!  It is really hard for me to hire someone I don't know to watch my kids, so I went through care.com where I was able to find several sitters within a couple miles of us who have had background checks done.  I know that sounds a bit extreme for someone who will just be working for us a few hours here and there, but I'm a little crazy when it comes to the safety of my kids.  Anyway, we hired Brittany and she has been wonderful.  She has oodles of experience and had stellar references.  It takes a lot of patience to watch our mama's girl Evelyn while I take Max to Gymboree, and Brittany has it in spades.  We were even able to go on a date night while she watch both kids!  We went to an adorable Salvadoran restaurant that was delicious.  Mmmmm...thanks for the gift card Tyler and Ma!

Speaking of our little darling Evelyn, she is growing so much, so fast!  She has REALLY been having fun discovering all the sounds she can make so our house is regularly filled with the "singing" of princess.  She's one heck of a strong girl, rolling more and more each day.  She has no problem rolling from her back to her tummy, but has trouble rolling from her tummy to her back.  And boy, she lets us know when she wants help getting on to her back again.  She can't get enough of her big brother.  Max is an endless source of entertainment for her.  As far as she's concerned, he is the most interesting person on the planet.  We're having so much fun with her every day.  We are hoping she'll get over her mommy attachment sometime soon though.  Right now she doesn't want anyone else to hold her and she refuses to take a bottle.  She will only take her milk straight from the source, thank you very much.  We're taking a trip to Vegas next month, so hopefully some time with all of her grandparents will help put an end to her diva-ish ways.

I'm not a diva.  I'm a princess!

Not much new is going on with Max.  He's still as busy and happy as ever!  We start swim lessons and speech therapy on the same day in a couple of weeks.  It should be interesting.  I'm feeling better about the whole speech therapy thing.  We have a family friend, Janice, who has been like a second mom to me since I was Evelyn's age.  She's a speech therapist in our home town and gave me a good idea of what to expect.  It was really nice to be able to talk to someone I trust who knows very well what my little boy is going to be going though.

Max LOVES his stuffed animals

Matt's folks came out for a visit and we really enjoyed having them here.  Sue and I had fun hanging out with the kids while Matt and Don got to go skiing together.  I feel like my 'reset' button has been pushed every time we get a grandparent visit.  I get a much needed break from non-stop mommy duty and feel recharged and ready to go again when they leave.  Grandparents are the best!

Evelyn and Grandpop. 

Max loves watching videos with his grandma (especially when they're videos of him).

Jackson is still one sick pup.  I started giving him insulin shots every 12 hours (ugh!), and his glucose levels are going down, but are still kind of high.  I found out today that I have to test his glucose levels every 1-2 hours for the next two weeks (double ugh!).  So not only do we have to give him seizure meds with each meal and insulin shots twice a day, I now have to poke him constantly all day long to test his blood.  We're REALLY hoping for some positive results soon.  Not only is the routine exhausting for me and uncomfortable for the poor guy, but is also very expensive.  I have to keep reminding myself that it's not his fault and he's been a part of our family for over 8 years.  We owe it to him to try anything we can to keep him healthy.

On a more positive note, St. Patrick's Day was fun this year.  Matt worked, but I had fun all day with the kids.  We had corned beef and cabbage for dinner and our good friend Skip joined us.  He is so helpful with the kids and Max adores him.  And he's learned how to give Jack his insulin since he's our go-to guy for house/dog sitting when we're away.  I don't know what we'd do without his help.   There's nothing like spending St. Paddy's with good friends and good food.

My two favorite people!

I think I've just about covered it all.  Now we're just waiting for some warm, dry weather to come so we can play outside.  We've been getting a lot more rain that what is normal this time of year, and I'm SO over it.  I normally don't mind it, but I want to play outside with my kids.  Come on sunshine!