Nightly Visitors

Tonight GG and I sat down to prop our feet and watch Restaurant Impossible, one of our new faves (incidentally, it's awesome!), only to look up a few minutes later and see these little rascals:
Like stair steps they stood above us and smiled their mischievous grins. They knew they weren't supposed to be there, but how were mom and dad to deny such cuteness? Especially in descending order?

We couldn't. We melted. And they received their umpteenth "last" hugs, kisses, snuggles...

They were workin' their magic.

And could we possibly love them any more?

Doubtful. Highly doubtful.

From G-ville with blessings,

He (WE) Made It!

Happy TGIF! I'm blogging here next to GG, who is also on his computer. We're having an internet date--cute! Just kidding. If this were a date, we'd be pretty pathetic... Just grabbing a few moments and wanting to update you all.

Today is our one-week mark post T's tonsil surgery and I'll say he is back up to normal speed without question. This was our first day with zero drugs--in the last few, we'd start with Ibuprofen in the morning and then discontinue doses as the day went on. To be honest, the recovery has been pretty amazing. T has been a total champ. The only time he EVER cried about his throat hurting was during our lunch yesterday (post-op day 7) at McDonald's. He was eating crispy chicken nuggets and the drugs were pretty worn off. Thankfully, a quick sip of ice water and his tears stopped.

His only other tears occurred Day 5 when he woke up not quite back to normal and cried because he was tired of being "sick". I chalked it up to cabin fever depression and made him some pancakes and voila! he was better.

Praise God the recovery has gone so well because... During this week the dishwasher sprung a leak through a hole in the tub. Bye, bye dishwasher. Hello B-mama, the dishwasher. I am not lying in saying Wed. I spent over 2 hours cleaning dishes at the sink. The LAST thing I wanted to be doing this week!! The silver lining--our wonderful neighbor, the husband of this friend of mine, is a real jack-of-all-trades and helped us remove our old dishwasher, purchase a new one at a great price (it arrived today,saving my religion), and will help us install it. Thank you, Tom!!

Along with the dishwasher, the dog got a timely ear infection and now gets meds 2x/day. Also, J was diagnosed with two different bacterial infections in his "nether" regions and he now gets meds and ointment 2x/day. Lovely. What is that about raining and pouring??

Speaking of rain, we're gearing up for Hurricane Irene around here and were also 20 miles from the epicenter of the 5.8 magnitude quake on Tuesday! Truly, what a week it has been.

Thankfully, all's well in G-Ville this Friday night. That's after a mini-freak out session I had with GG tonight on the phone. You see, we're hosting a church BBQ at our house tomorrow evening. In the rain. During a hurricane. When all the stores are sold out of food. We had yet to shop. I had a dishwasher sitting in the middle of my kitchen and a mountain of dishes in the sink. I had children racing all around me, needing to be wiped, carried, rinsed, given medicine and baths... To top it off, M created a Lego game that required me to sit at the top of his bunk bed and play. He was so excited about it and was so sweet to want me to play. We had started our game earlier, but how was I supposed to pause and play with him while madness ensued around me??? You can see where this all was going.

Thank you, my love, for weathering my own personal "storm". He went shopping at Cost.co for me like a good boy and put my soul at ease. You see, even B-mama loses it (a lot) occasionally. ;)

So that's our week in a nutshell. Hope you all are staying warm and dry out there tonight.

God bless,

Cruisin' Baby

Post-Op Report

Day 1: AMAZING! T comes off the anesthesia on a high. Wants to eat and drink everything. No pain. Takes the meds without a problem (this is a minor miracle if you know him!) Me: "Are they yummy, T?" (hoping to incite enthusiasm for the taste); T: "No, they're REALLY yummy!" Yes!!!!!

Our first night goes well. I take the night shift of drug admin. and sleep on the floor of their room. Not too shabby.

Day 2: The day starts out great. T looks a little more peaked, but makes no complaint of pain. The codeine is doing its job. Mama leaves for an all-day DC bridal shower. GG does a great job with the crew BUT T starts to develop a fever. And plays too much. And goes on the swing set!!! (while the Mommy's away, the mice def. played!! Don't worry, I gave GG a good scolding!) By bedtime, T is HOT! GG pulls night duty and prays a Rosary for an hour from 4-5am sitting vigil by T's bed, he is so worried (Note: it takes a LOT to worry my GG! So I know something is definitely up!!!)

Day 3: We start out by taking T's temp. 101.7 The recommended range is 99-101, so we know we're pushing it. GG and I tag team Mass in the morning. T sleeps the entire time. We switch the meds to Ibuprofen, hoping to get T off the codeine (which causes upset stomach--one of his complaints--and constipation). The fever abates with the new meds.

I call the on-call doc and we start to suspect the start of pneumonia. We switch back to codeine and have to watch the fever. If it spikes again, we need to bring him in. We wait... We suspend the drugs. We hydrate like crazy. We wait another 2 hours. Low-grade fever returns but no more! Hallelujah! T heads to bed in good spirits...

and now, so do his parents.

According to the docs, day 4 (tomorrow) is typically a rough day so we're gearing up for it. Overall, though, I will say I'm so relieved we are doing this at age 5 rather than age 3. Thinking of trying to accomplish all of this with a feisty 3yo is an exhausting thought! T is being such a trooper. He has not complained or cried once. I'm so proud of how maturely he's handled everything... Thanks be to God we are three days in with only a week or so left of recovery.

We can do anything for a week, especially if life on the other side is much happier for my little man!

God bless,

He's done it!

We're home and T is sleeping... Thanks be to God it all went well and was over in a jiffy!

His arousal from the initial surgery wake-up was sad for me to watch--he was disoriented and bothered by his numb throat. The nurses didn't want him to cough, yet cough he did. I was trying to calm him as best I could... And then found myself feeling light-headed and nauseous. "Do you ever have problems with the parents getting sick?" I asked. Oh Heavens!! I had sit myself down immediately and drink some apple juice. What a willy nilly I am!!

A few minutes later I was fine and T was more peaceful and able to fall asleep...

... as he continues to do on our couch. Day One is underway.

Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers,

Prayers, please!

When you roll over to hit that snooze button tomorrow morning, would you mind offering up a little prayer for our T? He is undergoing his tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy at 7:45am.

He has been eerily quiet regarding surgery talk, except for telling me tonight before bed, "Tomorrow I'm going to have 65 popsicles!" Awesome, buddy. You go. You have as many popsicles 'til your heart's content. What great optimism--he's a champ!

Naturally, my mama brain is meandering toward everything leading UP to the 65 popsicles tomorrow. Deep breaths. Everything will be fine. Small potatoes here. Small potatoes. I guess because I'm a mama, I'm always going to worry. Even over small potatoes. It's my job.

Snuggling with the little big man tonight in bed, though, I listened as his deep breaths of early sleep gave way to deeper, rattling snores. THIS is why we're going tomorrow morning. These things are why he struggles to breathe and talk. And despite my worry, my mama bear instinct bristles as I say, "Be gone!" Hallelujah!

8:30am, you could not come fast enough!

Jesus, be with him.

Thanks,

A Major Way

Little did you know...

while the potty training endeavors were ensuing, G-Ville's all-stars were hard at work accomplishing major milestones. It's been a big week for us!!

Feat #1: M learned how to tie shoes, motivated by his new shoe purchase for the school year! A criss-cross, loop-and-swoop, and our biggest man was home free. One chief lesson I'm learning is if we wait until our kids are really ready developmentally and with the will to learn, the learning process goes a lot more smoothly. I didn't push shoe-tying because M didn't have a need (or a desire) to learn it thanks to velcro shoes in kindergarten. When he did learn, it literally took him two tries and he had the skill; very similar to our bike-riding endeavors earlier this summer. If we nudge and don't push, things seem to go a lot smoother!

Feat #2: MG took her first steps! Wednesday our little lady walked four steps! Since then, she's made it up to nine, but only seems motivated when working with our little neighbor gal, G. G, a rising 8th-grader, comes over as my mother's helper a few times-a-week--she's been a godsend!--in exchange for me watching her for her parents. Basically, I've been getting her help for free and she loves being with the kids. Can I get an amen?! Thank you, Lord!! And way to go, MG!!

Feat #3: T conquered his 5th birthday celebration (or shall I say, we conquered it?! ;) You'll probably have a little deja vu looking through these pics. My Birthday Formula was in full effect--a little bounce house, a little obstacle course, a little pizza and cake, a little Yoda pin-the-ear... All in all, it was a grand time! T relished the time with his brothers and 5 friends.

The crew, gearing up for the obstacle course

Practicing Jedi aim...

Blasting through the "Time Warp"

Mommy's birthday-eve Yoda rendering--had to dust off the drawing pencils!

Feat #4: I know you've been waiting for it--J is officially potty-trained! By Day #4, he was starting to go on his own, letting us know (sometimes after the fact) that he had just done the deed. Fantastic! Yesterday we felt confident saying, "He's done it!" especially after going on a family outing and having to stop twice for him to go potty. This is just great because...

Friday we accomplish Feat #5: THE TONSILS. We would love your prayers for our T. Thankfully it is an outpatient surgery that lasts 30-40 minutes, so we realize in the grand scheme of things, this is very small potatoes. At the same time, the little man has never been under general anesthesia and there is risk of extra bleeding. We're praying all goes smoothly, especially his recovery. Overall, though, I'm excited for him to have his throat back. I wish I could beam you here to see his tonsils. They are now constantly swollen. We don't even know what his normal voice sounds like... I'm excited for him to be able to breathe again like a normal guy.

It's been a fulfilling week on all fronts...

Thanks for checking in with us!

God bless you,

Making Progress

Gosh, it's late around here--12:30am YIKES!

But I'm in one of those stay-up-late-and-check-things-off-the-list moods. For starters, I cleared the 1000+ messages in my inbox. Hooray! Big check there.

I perused some old emails and responded to some necessary ones. Check!

I printed out the little boys' preschool supply lists. I'm hoping I can re-use a lot of what we've already bought in previous years. Does a family really need 5 pair of Fiskar scissors lying around? Soon-to-be check.

I read about the downed Chinook helicopter and a boy's wish for his father to be remembered. Check for tears and some reading time.

And now I'm here to say, "We're making potty progress!!" Hooray! Today J went #2 on the potty 3 (yes THREE--you read that right) times ON HIS OWN and had only one #1 accident while in the midst of play. Definite progress there. Just the fact that he is initiating his potty visits independently is fantastic news for me. Meaning--my efforts are having an effect! woo hoo!! We even went to Cost.co today without a problem. Big steps... My only issue in all of this is that I'm butting up against his 3yo will. I don't want to force my kid to sit on the potty if he doesn't need to be there, right? Or am I just being a softy? Can a mom really force her child to go? Tears are counterproductive to the potty efforts, in my book. This leaves me attempting to delicately handle the potty encouragement.

If only I could find our "Tinkle Bird". He was a gem of a stuffed animal that I used for M to beckon him to the toilet. Whenever I would squeeze the bird, he would make a woodpecker noise that would indicate to M that it was time to go. Must find the Tinkle Bird. I'll do anything to coerce!! :) Potty Training check coming soon...

Sleep well and God bless,

From the Front Lines

*Note to readers of delicate constitution, this is a potty post! You've been warned!

We're hunkering down here in G-ville.

"Doing what?" You ask.

Here's a clue:

Photos like this one will be perfect for blackmail in 20 years! :)

I'll have you know, potty training makes my overall bad list of Mommy To-Do's. I don't love it because I don't think I'm that good at it and my kids never seem to catch on quickly. It takes effort and persistence and LOTS of extra mommy encouragement and sometimes, I just don't have it in me!! So I avoid it as long as possible. For J, we're embarking on PT bc he's now 3 and seems to be mature enough to use the potty.

So how's it going? So far, so okay. Saturday was day 1 and I was pumped because GG was around for extra Daddy encouragement. J ended up with 2 pee pee accidents toward the end of the day. Not bad for day one. Yesterday was great--J made it through the whole day, including Mass, with oodles of pee pee successes, one accident while playing outside at the end of the day, but no sign of #2! I was starting to get worried about things backing up in there (if you know what I mean).

I awoke to day #3 today feeling especially motivated--it was going to be a really good day. J was dry all morning, even throughout his time at our gym child watch. Excellent! On the way home, we stopped to refresh our potty treats. This was going to ensure success. Before lunch I made him sit for awhile to see if we could initiate #2... but then remembered that most of that kind of business seems to happen after lunch. So I let him off the potty to eat and then somehow got distracted with the other kids (can you blame me?) and never had him sit back down. BIG MISTAKE! Off J went to play and sure enough, a few minutes later, out he came walking funny with #2 in his underwear! Ugh!! Since then, we've had another #1 accident too!! Taking a big nose dive...

I am scrambling to recover and wondering if we should just scrap the whole thing. Breathe, breathe. We can do it... we can do it... we can do it!

I'll report in again from the front lines when this is "over". Is it ever really over?

God bless,

When A Boy Turns Three...

There are smiles...

And a dear friend...

And brothers, a sister, a Mimi & Papa, and a Mommy & Daddy...

And don't forget Mickey!

There are games and fun...

And plenty of feasting and merriment...

But what mama loves best is that our J still has all the sweetness and innocence blessed to him at birth...

And that, my friends, is truly something to celebrate!

Happy 3rd birthday to our fun-loving, adventuring, kind-hearted J! We love you so much!

Enjoying our Uncle C!

With a blink of an eye, Uncle C has come and gone back to Italy! We spent the weekend enjoying family in the Blue Ridge foothills and had a fabulous time. The boys swam to their hearts' content, played trains, watched "Planet Earth" (they love the section on cicadas!), while the grown-ups relaxed and feasted and chatted... and got in a few runs amidst the hills. Bliss! I'd take this mountain getaway any day. It is perfection!

We surely didn't let Uncle C leave without a few smiles...

Ciao C! See you soon and God bless!