May The Fart Be With You!

If you are expecting a graceful, ladylike post, you will probably want to avert your eyes to another blog at this time.

If you are my mother, you are going to be immensely proud and will probably need a tissue for when your eyes start tearing up from all of those proud feelings you are going to be experiencing.

If you are still with me, enjoy! :)

Last week one morning (not sure if my alarm clock had actually gone off yet or not, but not really the point), Luke came into our bedroom and crawled into bed with me.  Scott was already up and getting ready, so Luke and I enjoyed some snuggle time.

Well, I started to experience some gas and so I thought that I would just set it free, silently of course, but my body had other ideas.  I let one loose and it was a LOOOONG, SLOOOW, LOOOUUUD one!  Definitely not what I was expecting!  I believe I said "Oh my!"

Luke looked at me and said (in a serious voice that sounded like he was about to cry),...
 "Mommy, I'll never be able to fart like you!"

I (trying not to laugh at just how cute he was) responded, "Oh, you will honey!  Someday you'll be big just like me and you'll be able to fart like that too!  You just have to keep working at it!"

He felt better after that and I did too! ;)

P.S.  Thanks to Luke's former preschool teacher for the title of this post...her sarcastic retort was perfect! :)

October Spook!

(Yes, I realize it is actually November now...I'm a little behind!)

Two or three weekends before Halloween...I got bit by a cat...a black cat, nonetheless.

It was one of our several "barn" cats and I'm sure it was hungry (probably thought my foot was a chicken leg or something), and as I stepped out onto the porch barefoot to feed them, it bit me.  I screamed...the cat unhooked and looked at me in shock...the children behind me started screaming...and I just kept thinking-did that cat actually just do that!  It had.

Did you know that a cat bite bleeds?  And it doesn't like to stop...
As I'm trying to fix up my foot, I hear choruses of "Mom, why did the cat bite you? Does it hurt?" from one child and "Oh no...katty kat...bite mama...ouch...boo boo (whimpering voice)" from another child...repeat all of these 20,000 more times for the actual experience!

Well, I got it cleaned up and briefly wondered if one should visit an E.R. (since it was the weekend, of course), but thought "Nah, it's just a cat!"

Scott had been away visiting his brother on this particular weekend and got home about an hour after all of this had occurred and as soon as he walked in the door, the children replayed the events described above for him.  And the bite still hurt.

After all of the children were in bed and with my foot still hurting (pretty bad for being several hours later), I was still wondering whether I should have gone to the E.R. or not...if it had been a dog, I rationalized, I wouldn't have hesitated...so I googled "cat bite treatment".

Did you know that 80% of cat bites become infected with various strains of bacteria and can be considered worse than dog bites due to their "needle-like" teeth that can inject bacteria deep into the tissue?

I didn't either...and even after reading several horror stories, I still decided to see if it would be "better in the morning".

It wasn't.  It wasn't way worse, but it definitely was not better.

I limped my way through Mass and around the in-law's after church.  When we got home, I told Scott that I was going to the E.R. (even though I'm sure he thought I was being overly dramatic).  The doctor scolded me for waiting so long and asked if I knew what the worst thing is that could happen from a cat bite.  I jokingly asked if she was going to have to amputate my foot.

She did not think that was funny...

My infection was not the worst case scenario, but it was slowly spreading from my big toe area up the to the top of my arch so she gave me antibiotics and told me to see someone else within 24 hours.

So on Monday after school, I hauled myself in for another appointment after watching the top of my foot get just a little bit redder throughout the day.  I learned that what I was taking was not even strong enough to kill "cat bite bacteria" so I got a brand new prescription and after much elevation, H20, and plenty of big white pills, I can now say that I am fully healed!

Moral of the story:  A cat is not "just a cat" when it comes to bites...seek medical attention! :)

What did he say?

Is the question I found myself asking about a song on the radio this weekend.  The song was a song I have heard many, many times over the years. The song is also one, in which, I don't understand most of the words the lead singer (Tom Petty) is singing.  I have always sang, "You don't have to run from me" every.single.time because that was what I thought it sounded like.  Apparently, this weekend my ears were working and I heard, "You don't have to live like a refugee" and I said to Scott "What did he just say?"

He did not seemed surprised by the lyrics and he did not seem surprised by my complete misinterpretation of these lyrics all of these years either. :)

Here is a video of the song with the lyrics...just in case maybe I am not the only confused person ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-TBpKGACmw&feature=player_detailpage

August and September (an update)...plus a tale of two months

Well, today marks 3 months as a family of 5.  Laugh at me or not, but it really took me almost the whole first month to realize that this family of five included three kids aged 4 and under.  It was chaotic, but not like what I expected after hearing people around me (whose kids are close in age and whom like to throw those type of statistics around :) talk about the craziness that ensues.  I don't know...maybe it's called lower expectations, or a more easy going nature, or maybe just not expecting so much out of myself or the kids themselves except for them to be themselves, learn how to share space/toys with each other, and allowing them each to adjust at their own pace.

In the last month, Luke has made great strides and shows great pride in his "big brother" role, plus he turned 5!  He really enjoys telling people about how he is a big brother now and him and I have had many conversations about why the girls are living with us now; the possibility that the girls could eventually go back home; how he would help and why we can't help their mom and dad;  and how he never wants the girls to leave now.  If you were around the first two months, you know that during that time there were many conversations that went "I love my little sisters" one minute to "I don't like having little sisters! Send them back!" the next so he has made tremendous progress! :)  He also started kindergarten in August and as with everything...it has taken time for him to transition, but we just came off of our first WHOLE good week so we're hoping that he is finally settling back in to routine again...what more could a mom ask for! :)

Big sis (age 2 1/2) has made so many subtle, but great strides since coming to live with us that my heart just swells with pride for her!  When she arrived, she maybe had 10-20 words and everything resulted in a scream/tantrum with the word "MINE!" yelled at the top of lungs!  Every.single.thing went in her mouth (no matter how gross!) and she was constantly spitting at Luke.  Let's just say I was so caught up in their arrival, the changes taking place, controlling interactions between all of the kids and trying to make sure I was doing everything (paperwork/appointments) that I was supposed to do, that I was not completely aware of just how tremendously behind she was with regards to her behaviors.  After the first meeting with a screener (about 1 1/2 weeks in), it became quite obvious to me...and then after several more meetings with other screeners, it was even more obvious, but by that point she had already begun to make loads of progress.  Oh, she is still behind in many areas, but the girl can share when she wants to now; she can and does use the word please now (and sometimes even without prompting); there is still occasional spitting, but nowhere near like it was; she no longer screams at every drop of a hat; she has learned to give hugs to say she's sorry; she has added several more words to her vocabulary; she can do our block puzzles without becoming instantaneously frustrated AND I watched her do one all by herself this week!; she LOVES books; she has one of the prettiest smiles and she loves to cuddle/give hugs...what more could a mom ask for! :)

Little sis (age 1...she celebrated a birthday the day after Luke's!) started out so sweet (and she still is, of course), but is starting to show her spunky side too!  She has gone from a 10 month old girl who was a good crawler, but much preferred to be held any chance she got (and would just cry until someone picked her up).  Normally, I would not have given in every time, but due to the trauma they were initially experiencing caused by all of the changes they experienced in the course of a few days...I knew it was better to just pick her up, comfort her, and make her feel safe/secure than to assume I was caving in to a tantrum at that point in time.  Once she knew, we weren't leaving her and she wasn't leaving us anytime soon...she became great friends with the floor! :)  I witnessed her shocked/scared reaction to pulling herself up in her crib for the first time and the girl has never looked back!  She has learned to crawl up the stairs, is not afraid of trying to get to any place she wants to get to, she can climb into sister's bed, and she just took her first couple steps without holding on yesterday!  Of course, I placed her on her feet just a few feet away from me and started clapping for her to come to me...so it might have been somewhat "staged" but she did do it and she did it again several times!  I could tell by the look on her face that she thought it was fun, but she is also just not quite brave enough to do it by herself yet!  She is a sweetie, lots of fun, and can always make the rest of smile...what more could a mom ask for! :)

AUGUST:
Hot, Dry, and Bugs!
The drought continued on around here and our house was descended upon by bugs of various kinds.  The first week brought the discovery of bugs in the hair, so I battled lice for the first two weeks of the month.  The second week brought the girls getting sick with a fever for 4-5 days (as we continued the battle against lice)...it also brought some lovely visits to the doctor and hospital by myself with all three children in tow.  I was frazzled, but I'm sure that we were quite comical at times too.  I just kept telling the doctor that the "circus" had arrived.  The third week brought the start of school and Luke being sick on the first full day of school!  We thought we were in the clear the last week, but on the final day of August Luke got sent home sick from school (he was NOT actually sick come afternoon time) and little sis (on her birthday, nonetheless) got sent home sick from daycare with a 102 degree temp in the afternoon.  We already had a follow up appointment set for that afternoon so that part worked out fine, but the nice surprise was the doctor sending us back to the hospital for other tests.  Needless to say, both of these children were perfectly fine by the next morning, aka, September!

SEPTEMBER:
Wetter, Cooler, and Healthy!
If there could be such a thing as a completely opposite month, this month would be August's opposite.  Everyone stayed healthy the whole month (granted we do still have tomorrow left!)  It rained on the very first day of September and for the first several days...I give all the credit to the rain :)  I swear it washed away all of the bugs that were floating around in the dust outside-that's my theory anyway!  It has been a nice month-I  wonder what October has in store...hopefully only good things!

I Made It! Such a relief...well, sort of!

Long lost blog readers!  Remember me, probably not...remember my last post, probably not...well I'll give you a minute to scroll back down and give it another read if you'd like.  Don't worry, I'll wait...

waiting...

waiting...

waiting...

Oh good!  You came back!  Thanks! :)

Well, I think God read that post and LAUGHED at me.  Not just a giggle, but a great big old belly LAUGH!

I am so happy to say that I finished up with my last day of class yesterday, but my brain hasn't caught up yet because it keeps wondering what homework I need to be doing right now and then it remembers and says "WHEEEEWWWW!" I'm DONE! :)

Now back to that laugh...later that same day (of my near drowning post) we received a call from DCFS asking if we would take not 1, but 2 little girls (2 year old and 10 month old) for a long term placement!  (I'm pretty sure He was thinking~lady you haven't see anything yet!)

I was extremely nervous about taking them, only because I still had 3 weeks of classes left to get through including a major research project), but I also knew that "3 weeks" was a short-term problem not a "forever"  problem.

We accepted and our lives have already been blessed in many ways by these two girls' presence in our lives!   For me, it brought almost instaneous "healing" from the residual effects of infertility and a feeling of this is where we should have been all along.  For Luke, it brought "sisters" (although he is now beginning to realize that he may not have had it so bad being here by himself ;)

For Scott, it gave him a week of being a "stay-at-home" dad instead of a week of vacation :)

We have also gotten a lot of questions/comments about "how is it going's" and "I bet you're a lot busier now's"

To answer the first question, going from 1 to 3 kids, to be perfectly honest, felt like the most natural thing in the world.  Yes, there are more fights, especially when a 2 year old gets thrown into the mix, but I can't really say that it has been much "harder" than Luke all by himself is at times.  It's always better when we can get simultaneous tantrums going...then everyone gets it out of their system at the same time! :)  The biggest problem has been my own self-induced sleep deprivation due to many late nights completing assignments paired with Luke's early (5:30-6 a.m.) wake ups and that would have been happening whether the girls were here or not.  It has been hard at times, but it has also been very good too!

To answer the second comment, I always think "Ummm, have you never met my boy Luke?!"  He is busy enough all on his own...just ask anyone who has ever babysat for us! :)  Honestly, the two girls together are still easier than my dear, sweet Luke all by himself at times.  So, other than much more laundry and actually having to keep on top of my dishes, it's really not too much "busier" around here either! :)

Today marks three weeks of being a family of five and the plan is to just keep enjoying all of them while we've got them!  Because, really, aren't all of children just on loan to us from God anyway?  

Welcome to our family Bis Sis and Little Sis!  We love you!

Whew!!!!

Just coming up for a momentary breather!

The last couple of weeks have left me feeling like I am just barely treading water.  My summer classes have started and besides the long days away from home, there has been quite a bit of homework to do every evening too along with busy, busy weekends.  One class will be ending next week, but until then...I still have a lot of work to get done within the next week!  I will not deny that I am very much looking forward to that class dropping so that I can actually have my mornings at home back again...at least until school starts back up again!

Classes are going well and I haven't drowned yet, so I'll "just keep swimming" and look forward to next Thursday and getting some time back!  (Until then, please don't judge my house or my eating habits! ;)

Until my next "breather"!

"Why not do I have..."

*This post may go places that cause some readers (if I have any left ;) much discomfort and for that I apologize, but it IS true to form of what has been happening in our little world as of late.  You've been warned! :)

This is how many of Luke's questions start out when he can't have something that he wants.  I usually like answering his questions, but as of late his BIG question has been stirring up lots of things that I thought I had a fairly good handle on as of recent years.

Over the past month or so, the ending to his question is "...a brother or sister to play with?  I want one!"

WHAM!  Infertility has stuck its ugly head up again and it came at me in the body of an almost 5 year old.

It gets even better when the question comes in this form..."Mom, do you have a baby in your belly?"  I always say "No, my body hasn't ever done that or worked that way."  To which he replies, "Get one in your belly Mom! "Why not can you get one?"

Oh how I wish this terrible thing would only have ever affected Scott and me...I hate that it's ugly fingers are now affecting my child!

I tell him how blessed we are to have him and that he has cousins who he can treat like brothers and sisters, but  when time with any of them is too far and in between, even ones who live close, he doesn't really buy it.  Plus, they all have their own siblings and with that comes him naturally being held at a different status by them...he is a "cousin" not a "brother" even though he himself would love for that feeling to be different on everyone else's part.

It hurts when he sooo wants someone else to play with (besides me of course :) and there just aren't any good options at these points most of the time.  Either people with kids around the same age aren't home; or the parents are at work/kids at daycare; or it comes up late in the day and going to a friend's house would take a bit of a drive which would mean getting there around supperish time, or a spur of the moment type of play date is not overly welcomed due to schedule conflicts, etc, etc, etc.

There also seems to be an abundance of pregnancies announcements/births, as of late, which are wonderful things to celebrate, but which also takes us back to his second question and why I don't have a baby in my belly.   He tells me "it's not fair" and "[insert name here] don't need another brother or sister.  [insert name here] already has one...can I have it?"  or "Can [insert baby's name here] be my brother/sister too?"

How do you explain to a 4 1/2 year old that the world just doesn't seem fair sometimes and that sometimes there is just not a whole heck of a lot you can do about it?!

I'm so glad that he is growing up, but I hate that he is now getting big enough that our grownup problems can now in their own unique way upset him too!

I'm sure there are many benefits to being an only child, but being forced to be/have an only child due to infertility is definitely NOT one of them.  Sorry bud!