Friday, January 16, 2009
Vinny's Birthday
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Thoughts for Thursday.... Jordan Mistelbacher
The reason that I started thinking about this is the recent death of former Silvertips player, Jordan Mistelbacher. I didn't know him personally, but I go and see him and his team play hockey for 2 years, sometimes more than a couple of times a week. He was a part of a team that I was a fan of and supported. He was one of the players that I looked for every game. I read articles about him and kept up on his life, as well as come of his other teammates. It really saddened me to hear about his death. He seemed like a good kid. He had a lot going for him. He may not have been with the Tips anymore, but was a decent player, so he would have done well at Winnipeg. He was only 19 years old.
My heart really goes out to Jordan's family and to his friends and to all of his Silvertips that will be missing that piece of their "family." And to all of his fans, like myself, that will miss our #18.
My thought for Thursday... There are a lot of people out there that you know and care about, even if you don't really "know" them. Their lives may effect the lives of the people that we do know and love. If something bad happens to one of them it can affect us by seeing the pain that those we love are feeling.
I know that I didn't know Jordan, and I don't personally know the Tips players, or their families, but I still feel like they are a part of my life, at least a couple of days a week for 6+ months of the year, and I feel for all of them, and hope that they can all get through this knowing that he is now in a better place.
May you rest in peace Jordan!
Here is a picture of Vinny watching the team warm up last year.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Dr Appt Update
The biopsy came back with one of two things that it could be. Either Discoid Lupus or Hypersensitivity Disorder. He said that he is still leaning towards lupus, even though they had told me that it was drug induced lupus before, and I am no longer on that medication. He said that H.D. comes out when people are exposed to sun. Well, my rash has only come during the winter and cleared completely up in the summer.
At this point he would like to start treating me for lupus. Apparently there is some enzyme, that if you carry it, than you can't take the medication for lupus, so I am waiting for results back to see if I carry that enzyme. It doesn't sound very likely that I do. So I will probably start the medication in about a week. The positive thing is that the Discoid Lupus tends to be confined to the skin, so hopefully that is the case... I posted I will go back to the Dr in 3 months and see how the medication is working. Hopefully it will be helping and I can get this figured out once and for all!
As for my biopsy scar... it's icky. It is right on the top of my arm, and is red and yucky, but matches with my rash, so you don't notice it that much. Hopefully over time it with become hardly noticeable.
Thank you everyone who has stuck by me through all of this... your support is much appreciated!
Here is some info on Discoid Lupus:
Discoid lupus is a type of lupus that tends to be confined to the skin and other organs in the body are not involved. Discoid lupus occurs in patches across the body. These patches tend to be well defined, thickened and scaly, they are slightly red in colour and can itch. The appearance can vary between people and also on different areas of the body on the same person. As the patches heal they tend to leave scars and on darker skins the pigment in the skin can be lost leaving white areas. If discoid lupus occurs on the scalp the hair will be lost as the patches heal leaving permanent bald areas.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Our Little Silvertips Fan.
He was so excited! He just wanted to keep playing hockey in our hallway all evening. We might have a future Silvertip on our hands!!!


Sunday, January 11, 2009
Fun with family
Other family news: Cassee is pregnant! She is due in September. I can't believe that everyone is growing up so much. It will be fun to all have kids growing up together.
Friday, January 9, 2009
School Days
So I started school at Everett Community College on January 5th. I am taking 3 classes online. Nutrition, Personal Finance, and Children's Literature. The Nutrition and Literature class are required and I am taking personal finance because I thought it would be easy, since I am a banker and all, but it seems to be the hardest of the three.
I am really enjoying the Literature class. I am only a week into it, and already it has brought back so many memories of books from when I was a child. It has also made me start a list of books that I want to get for Vinny. The list is growing quickly. I am doing a report on H.A. Reys and Curious George. Who would of thought that I could sit and read Curious George books and get college credit for it. :)
The other 2 classes aren't so fun, but I think that I will benefit a lot from both. I have already learned that my lifestyle needs to change in both the health and financial sides.
So until the end of March I am going to juggle being a full time student, a full time employee and boss, a full time wife and a full time mother. I am not sure how I am going to do it all, but I keep reminding myself that it is for only 2 months. Next quarter I will be able to take one simple class and then I will be able to graduate in June.
This is a big step for me. I can honestly say that I never thought that I would go back to school. I just thought that was a part of my past that I miss, but that I would never go back to. My degree won't help me at work, I am getting it for personal fulfillment. I hope that Vinny someday goes to college, and I will feel better expressing to him how important education is, if I at least have some of my own. I don't want him growing up knowing that I was a college drop out. Now I have to decide if I want to walk down that aisle with my cap in gown once June comes.
So if my bog is updated a little less, or my phone calls are a little less often, or cut shorter, or we don't see you much in the next two months, I hope you can understand why!!!
Thanks everyone for your encouragement and support in all of this.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Is this normal? updated with video
The one thing that really amazes me that Vinny does though, is puzzles. He has 3 puzzles that he got for Christmas. One of them is all squares with letters, one is fruit, which has the picture on the background as well, and the other is of different toys. The toy one just has the cut outs and no pictures on the board. If I pick one of the pieces out of the bag Vinny can point out which puzzle it goes to and where it goes within seconds. Sometimes he finds them before I do. He doesn't hesitate at all, except for on the letter one, because all the pieces are the same shape. I just hold it up and he points to where it goes. He isn't the best at lining the pieces up yet, but he gets them in sometimes.
Since I was so impressed with this, I decided to have him try some puzzles online, as well. I thought that maybe he just memorized those ones very quickly. We went to these 2 games on SproutOnline.com and he was able to match them all up again. On the Bob the Builder one, he did all three levels without hesitation.
http://www.sproutonline.com/sprout/games/detail.aspx?id=8d9086d9-83a4-4895-9e33-997a0181a159
http://www.sproutonline.com/sprout/games/detail.aspx?id=1788d669-8484-4324-b6a8-997a0181a244
I am just wondering are other almost 2 year olds doing this as well? Or is this abnormal? Am I just naive in thinking that they don't have these kinds of skills yet?
Here is a video of him doing puzzles on Sunday night.
Monday, January 5, 2009
I remember Monday...
I wanted to have a New Year's Eve baby so bad... I knew that you would be 2 weeks early, but I wanted to make it happen anyway. We had been going walking everynight, and I would have contractions and then come home and lay down and they would be gone.
On New Year's Eve we had a bunch of people over to play games and just hang out. I wasn't drinking, obviously, and I was soooo tired. I didn't know how I was going to stay up until midnight, but felt like I had to since we had people over.
I remember Jason walking down the street with me in the freezing cold, so that I could try and go into labor. Like going into labor would have actually gotten you out that day... I don't know what I was thinking.
Now I am happy that we had to wait that extra two weeks. I was selfish to want you that night... your birthday is already too close to Christmas.
Friday, January 2, 2009
A little late, but worth the wait!
Miss Tanya and Miss Renee did a great job. I can't imagine having to deal with all of those kids on a daily basis, not to mention the fact that they were all on a sugar high. They had them all singing and dancing (with the exception of Vinny, of course) and they were all so excited for circle time.
Linda came to watch, and Dawn brought Eli and Kai in. Vinny was so excited to have his little buddy at daycare again!
Again, the video wouldn't load, so I had to put it on youtube. Here is the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjzVmHFnqzk
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year!!!
I think the boys enjoyed their time together the most... They rocked out on guitars, played with trucks, ran all over the place, and finally laid down to relax and watch Mickey Mouse... we won't talk about how many times they got up after that :/
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
New Year's Poll
1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? Left Vinny with Grandma, while we went to Vegas.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I am not sure what last year's was, and I probably won't make any for this year.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes, Dawn did. (Hi, Kai!!!)
4. Did anyone close to you die? Yes, my uncle, (RIP Uncle Jerry) Also, Tony's grandma.
5. What countries did you visit? I didn't even make it to Canada.
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? More quality time with Tony and Vinny
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? January 14th- Vinny's first Birthday
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Being a working mother. It takes a lot to be out of the home and away from your family.
9. What was your biggest failure? Not keeping up with people like I want to, and shutting people out when I needed them.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Just this rash thing, that we can't figure out.
11. What was the best thing you bought? Probably Vinny's swing set
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Vinny's, some days... others, not so much :)
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? When our house got broken into... who ever the guy was.
14. Where did most of your money go? The mortgage
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Vinny walking
16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Hockey Pockey
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Neither...
b) thinner or fatter? Much fatter
c) richer or poorer? About the same
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Spent time with family, and went to our cabin more
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Worried and stressed over things that I can't control
20. How did you spend Christmas? With family
21. Did you fall in love in 2008? I am already in love
22. What was your favorite TV program? ER and Grey's Anatomy
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Nope
24. What was the best book you read? Probably Brown Bear, Brown Bear, by Eric Carle... I don't get much time to read my books
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? I can actually play some songs on "hard" on Rock Band and Guitar Hero
26. What did you want and get? My kitchen worked on... it's still not done, but it is close enough
27. What did you want and not get? a million dollars
28. What was your favorite film of this year? Probably Sex in the City... I think that is the only one I watched.
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 29. We spent it camping with friends.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Money
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? I have none
32. What kept you sane? Tony and Zoloft :)
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Tony Romo and Vin Deisel.
34. What political issue stirred you the most? None really
35. Who did you miss? My family on the east coast.
36. Who was the best new person you met? New person? Probably Tanya from daycare. I haven't met many other new people
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. Take pictures, but make sure to watch it all in real life too.
Words for Wednesday

I hope that all of you have a wonderful year. Each ones seems to keep going by faster and faster, so enjoy all the happy times, don't dwell on the bad, and take lots of pictures!!!
Have a fun night tonight, and be safe!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Christmas with Grandma Donna
I have been trying to edit the other post to add video, but I can't get it to work, so I thought I would try and put it in a new post. Here is the video from Christmas with my mom.
I never could get the video from Karen's house to upload, so I put it on youtube. Here is the link, if you want to watch it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnrdo3rlt-g
Monday, December 29, 2008
I remember Monday...
Back then, I could never imagine that someday you would be running around, and so full of life and wonderment, as you are now. It amazes me how much you have changed in these 2 very short years.
What a week!!! **Edited to add video**
Let's see...
Sunday - We had our Composano Christmas (see the post below)
Monday - Tony was home with Vinny because daycare was closed due to snow. I was able to get off a little early and join them.
Tuesday - Tony took a vacation day, and was home with Vinny again. They went and took Karen out to run some last minute Christmas errands. With all the snow, she was having a tough time getting around.
Wednesday - Tony and Vinny stayed home. I worked a 1/2 day, and then went home to join them. Tony and I opened our gifts that night, and decided to go ice skating. (also, see post below) It was so much fun!
Thursday - Merry Christmas! We woke up early and let Vinny open his gifts from us. He didn't get his big gift yet, simply because it has been snowing so much. Tony built him a swing set/fort in the backyard. I can't wait until this spring and he can go out and play.
We went early to Tony's parents for breakfast. It snowed all morning. We opened gifts and ate lunch, and just hung out for a couple of hours, until Vinny's nap time. It was nice having the whole family together. We all made out pretty good in the gift department too, which is always fun. I think that Vinny's favorite thing though, was an orange that Linda put in the bottom of his stocking. He wanted it right away, and then wouldn't put it down the whole time he was opening gifts. We finally had to trick it out of his hands. It was so hard for Vinny not to go and play in the snow... every change he got, he at least had to get his shoes wet.
We then went home and just relaxed at home all night. It was so nice to not have a ton of running around to do.
I had a big scare this day too. I noticed at Dan and Linda's that I wasn't wearing my rings, which is really strange for me. I couldn't remember taking them off, but figured that they were at home. When we got there, we looked everywhere for them, and couldn't find them. I even went to my work. Finally, we looked in the couch cushions and there they were, all three of them. I am not sure if I took them off in my sleep, while sleeping on the couch with Vinny, or if he took them of my bed stand and hid them, but talk about a panic... Thank goodness we found them.
Friday - I woke up early and went shopping, and then had to deal with a big fiasco at K-Mart (Long story, but the moral of it is, don't buy gift cards at K-Mart) We went and had a nice lunch at Olive Garden. We then drove down to IKEA to look at a new entertainment center, but didn't buy anything.
We then spent the evening at Karen's with the family. We had a ham dinner, and opened gifts and just visited for awhile. It was a lot of fun. Vinny got this one truck that they all played with quite a bit. I am not sure if Vinny or Dan and Tony liked it better.
See above for video.
Saturday - We went back up to Dan's house to have our Christmas with my mom. Vinny, of course was crabby, because he was tired, but we had a good time. We then went home and cleaned some, and went to the Silvertips game.
See above for video.
Sunday- We woke up early and went back down to IKEA to get the entertainment center that we wanted. When we got home, we spend the day setting it up, and filling it will all of our games, DVDs and Vinny's books. It looks so nice. I am very excited.
I took down the tree and all of the decorations, and got most of it put away. It is just so much work to take all that stuff down once it is up... then the house looks so empty and sad... :(
I didn't take a bunch of pictures, but I did take quite a bit of video, which I will try and get up in the next day or so....
And here we are to today... It is a short week at work, but still have a lot going on... maybe someday soon we will get to rest... oh wait, I have a 2 year old. I don't think we will be resting anytime soon.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Vinny Goes Ice Skating
Hope you enjoy the video!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Words for Wednesday.
I know that everyone is super busy, so I am going to go keep my Words for Wednesday short, and just tell you all to have a wonderful and safe holiday.
Thank you to each and everyone one of you who take the time to read this, and share in the happenings of the day to day in my life.
Merry Christmas to all of you!!!!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Talent Tuesday...
So last night I come home from work, and Vinny goes in the kitchen and pulls the chair over to the stove. I thought it was weird, since I had never seen him do it, so I thought I would just sit back and watch him. He then goes and pulls the rolls down and gets 3 rolls out.
Ok what ever... then he gets down, goes over to the silverware drawer and takes out a butter knife. By this time I was getting a little worried, but decided to just sit back and watch. (I really wanted to get my camera, but didn't want to miss what was going on.) He climbed back up on the chair and put the knife down and climbed back down and went to the fridge. He couldn't quite get it open, so I helped. He grabbed the jam and climbed back up on the chair and started whining and pointing to the jar. I opened it, and he sat there for almost 20 minutes taking the knife dipping it into the jam and whiping it on the bread. He barely got any jam each time, so it took him awhile, and eventually he started just scooping it out with his hands and putting it on the bread. Finally he just put the lid back on the jam and started eating his roll. I couldn't not believe it. I still can't believe it.
How did he know to do all that?
The kid can't figure out not to hit us with hockey sticks, or not to push his friends, but he can make himself a jam sandwich. Who knew?
I really wish I would have gotten it on video or on my camera, but I didn't want to miss a second of what was going on to go and get it.
Cousins
Are they 2nd cousins? Are they 1st cousins? How many times are they removed?
Anyway, I finally took the time to go online and get it all straight.
Here is a link to the chart explaining it...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_cousin
So basically, this is what we figured out:
Jason is Tony's 1st cousin... so Vinny is Jason's 1st cousin, once removed.
Alicia is My 1st cousin... so same thing, Vinny is Alicia's 1st cousin, once removed.
Now Alicia's boys, Davery, Keiler and Micah are Vinny's 2nd cousins.
Davery's kids will be Vinny's 2nd cousins, once removed.
Davery's kids and Vinny's kids will be 3rd cousins.
It is totally confusing, and not what any of us thought, but now we know!!! After 2 years we can finally correctly say what everyone is to each other.
Monday, December 22, 2008
I remember Monday...
With Christmas and Vinny's 2nd birthday coming up, It is a pretty special time of year for us.
I remember 2 years ago. I was 9 month pregnant. I wasn't sleeping anymore, my back hurt, oh, who am I kidding, my whole body hurt, and I was completely done with the whole pregnancy thing. I couldn't wait for our little Vincent to come out and visit the world. At the beginning of December I went and had a 3D ultrasound done. I don't recommend it that late in the pregnancy. Vinny's nose looked huge! I was so nervous that I was going to have this little tiny baby with a great big honker! I would have loved him either way, and probably wouldn't have thought anything of it anyway, but I was still worried.
I spent that last month begging Dr Beard to induce. He wouldn't... he kept telling me that I had to wait that extra 10 days. (I did finally get him to cave, but I had to get my blood pressure to go up really high.)
Last year, at this time, we were getting ready to celebrate Vinny's first Christmas. We took him to see Santa, which wasn't a joyous event, but ended up with cute scared pictures. I couldn't wait until he was able to open his gifts and have his first Christmas. He was crawling around everywhere and into everything. We didn't do any decorating because we knew that Vinny wouldn't know the difference. The only decoration was a little santa hat that Vinny wore on his head.
I was also being psycho Mom and planning Vinny's 1st birthday. To me, that was more exciting than Christmas, and I had to make sure it was perfect... I spent months planning that thing :)
I can't believe that it has been nearly 2 years already. It seems like only yesterday that I was waddling around waiting for my baby boy to be born.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
A Composano Christmas
My dad, and Chrisana, Kara and Reidar, Dan, Brendy, Coby and Kayla, Tony, Me & Vinny, Alicia, Ryan, Davery, Keiler and Micah, Becka, and Teresa were all there. It was our first Christmas without my Uncle Jerry there (We miss you, Jerry.) Sandie and Cassee didn't make it either, which we missed them a lot at well.
We had a great time. There was great food, great company and it was so wonderful to see everyone.
Here is a video of some of the night. Vinny loved opening his gifts, but my favorite part of the video is him sitting with my dad. I also added a few pictures
For all of the Composano's that didn't make it, we wish you were there. One of these years we'll have us all together (**hint hint, Aunt Jo**)
Saturday, December 20, 2008
I won!
Here is the link. I think it is going to be a great place for info and fun.
Thanks Valerie!
http://www.frugalfamilyfunblog.com
Thursday, December 18, 2008
More snow pictures....
Daycare closed early, so we had to have First Heritage Daycare for a few hours today. Here are some pictures of the kids playing in the parking lot in the snow... Vinny loved his new snow ball maker, even though he didn't get how to make the snow balls.
1st born survey
Survey about your First Born-
1. Were you married at the time? Yes. We were married in 2004, and Vinny was born in 2007
2. What were your reactions? Very excited. We had just started trying and were pregnant the second month.
3. How old were you? 27
4. How did you find out you were pregnant? I took a test, of course... But really, I took a test at home and it came out positive and then I tried to get into my Dr, so I could find out for sure. He didn't have any openings so I ran to Planned Parenthood to confirm it.
5. Who did you tell first? Tony, and then the girls at work. I couldn't keep it a secret.
6. Did you want to find out the sex? Yes, I couldn't wait!
7. Did you deliver early or late? Vinny was born on his due date.
8. Did you have morning sickness? Yes, for the first several months. I could barely brush my teeth without getting sick
9. What did you crave? Pepperoni sticks and on occasion, orange crush pop.
10. Who irritated you the most? Definetly the people at work.
11. What was your first child's sex? Boy
12. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy? I lost 7, but after delivery I had lost 32.
13. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? I had gestational diabetes, but it wasn't bad. Towards the end, I had very high blood pressure and was on bed rest for a week. They eventually decided to induce me.
14. Where did you give birth? Providence Everett
15. How many hours were you in labor? Well, they started to induce me at 7:00 am. My water broke at 7:35, so they stopped the Petocin. I started pushing at 11:15 and Vinny was born at 11:32. The guys were all watching the football game, and it was 1/2 time when I started pushing. Tony told me I had to get him out before the game started back up, so I did as I was asked. :)
16. Who drove you to the hospital? Tony
17. Who watched? Tony, the doctor and nurses
18. Was it natural or c-section? Natural
19. Did you take medicine to ease the pain? I had an epidural
20. How much did your child weigh? 6 lbs 15.8 oz. The Dr said he would be about 7 lbs... you can't get much closer than that.
21. Did your child have any complications? Nope
22. What did you name him/her? Vincent Anthony
23. How old is your first born today? 23 months and 4 days.... My baby is going to be 2 in less than a month!!!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Family time in the snow.
So here is my first attempt at putting a video on my blog. I hope it works.
With all the snow, both daycare and my work closed early today, so we were able to go out and play in the snow. Vinny's nap was short today, so you can see what he is really like when tired and over stimulated. He made up for it with giggles though!
The video is kind of long, but fun to watch.
(Yay~ Dawn, I figured it out!!!)
More Snow...

He really wanted to mow the lawn.
Finally got the mower going.
Vinny's fort/swingset that Daddy is making for Christmas.
Icicles!
This is my parking lot at work this morning....
Out side of work.
Our main street in Marysville, Washington. The snow plow had just gone through.
I know it doesn't seem like much snow to most of you, but here in Washington, if there is a 1/4 inch of snow everyone acts like the world is going to end!Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Picture Ornaments
Saturday night with just mom...
We painted wooden Christmas trees, so that we could decorate them.
