Once a month just won't cut it

So it looks like I am only able to get this blog updated about once a month. I know at least a few people who read it and hopefully you'll forgive me for being constantly behind on so many things!

What's been going on in the Martino household lately? It seems like there is something new every day. Most recently, we've all been sick. Cate has the persistent runny nose and cough that seems to come with being in day care during the winter. Stephen is pretty much over his cough and cold. I've still got a nasty cough and lots of congestion, but hopefully some new medicine this week will help. Cate had a 24-hour bug of some kind last weekend. She threw up (for the first time ever) on Friday evening. It definitely scared her and she doesn't seem eager to do it again. No surprise there. She said, "Mommy, I spilled." She seems to think throwing up is kind of like spilling a cup of juice. On Monday, when she got in the car to go to day care she told me, "Mommy, I no spill again." Poor thing.

Probably the biggest news is that Cate will have a little brother or sister later this spring. Officially, the doctor says we can expect Little Martino #2 on June 2. I haven't been feeling too hot, but hopefully I will get to feeling better now that I am officially out of the first trimester.

In not-so-upbeat news, one of our wiener dogs died on Halloween. We adopted Sam nearly five years ago from the Lawrence Humane Society. He had not been well cared for in his previous life, but we were still surprised that he died so young. He seemed fine recently. We came home the Sunday evening before Halloween and he was coughing, clearly not feeling too great. By Tuesday, the vet was sure he had a heart condition. He was suffering quite a bit, so we made the difficult decision to put him to sleep on that Wednesday. Mallory, our other wiener dog, seems a little sad and has been acting out a bit. Cate is also wondering where Sam has gone. We told her he went to heaven. She often asks about him and says, "Sam went to heaven? Come back?"

We're gearing up for the holidays. The house is decorated, the shopping is nearly done and now we are just enjoying the season. Cate is pretty excited about Christmas trees, Christmas music, decorations and everything that goes along with this time of year. It's fun to see everything through her eyes. She has her day care Christmas program on Monday evening and I am excited to see what they have come up with for this year. It's a 30-40 minute program where each class does one song. It's just perfect for this age group -- not too long, not too short. I will try to take some video and post it here next week.

Happy Holidays!