Surprise!

Over the last couple days, my husband and sons have been spending as much time as possible cleaning the garage. On Tuesday, the kids walking up the street from school in the afternoon were asking if we were having a yard sale. One boy even offered $10 for Justin's bike. No Sale! Wednesday, Will loaded up the truck, and we went on a "hot date" to the dump. Too. Much. Fun. Actually, we only had to take Grace along, and since it was nap time, we were able to enjoy some adult conversation. I guess it is all in how you look at things. As the day was drawing to a close, I was hanging out on the family room floor, when Will walked in and said I should come check out all their hard work. He scooped Grace up off the floor and headed down the hall. I pried myself up off the floor, and dutifully followed. I expected to see the new shelves set up and far less clutter on the floor. I figured that the sawdust from cutting the moulding for Grace's room would finally be swept up. In general, the improvements in organization and cleanliness would be noticeable. Imagine my surprise when I opened the garage door and saw this....
We have not had space in our garage for a car to be parked for over 5 YEARS. We even moved from a house with a two car garage to a house with a three car garage last summer, and still didn't have room!

Now every time we go somewhere in our other car, we come home to a beautiful sight....MY CAR IN THE GARAGE!

Grace's Current Favorite

Baby Shower

My friend Jileen called a few weeks back to remind me that she had promised to throw a Baby Shower for Grace and I when we got home. She was concerned about pushing Grace into seeing everyone before she was ready, but I assured her that she would be fine. It was sweet of her to think of it though. That's one of the reasons she is such a great friend!


Normally I like to make invitations (birth announcements, cards, etc.), but that was just not going to happen right now. Jileen told me about this great website that she found recently. It's call VistaPrint.com. They have just about anything you might think of as far as printing goes. The best parts about it are the flexibility and price. You can REALLY customize your project, and they don't charge an arm and a leg for it. In fact, I would almost say the invitations were downright cheap! Fortunately that is just price, not quality. They turned out VERY NICE!!!!


Next, we got together to brainstorm on games and other ideas for the shower. Our husbands were nice enough to agree to keep the kids for us while we went shopping. Those were Jileen's kids in the pool with mine in the previous post. We practically moved into JoAnn's. I love that store!! We got things to decorate nametags and came up with the cutest idea for a keepsake book.We bought a plain scrapbook. I decorated the cover and then put a picture of Grace on the inside. I wrote her a letter on the facing page. At the shower, we had all the guests write a note to Grace and leave the facing page blank. We will put a picture of Grace with each guest on the appropriate page. This should make it much easier to remember the details of the day when we look back in 20 years. My friend Colleen was ouroffic ial photographer.
At first Grace was happy to visit different people, but after a while, the only way to get a picture with a happy baby was for me to hold her and be in all the pictures. That was not part of the plan, but as my husband would say, "We must adapt, improvise and overcome!"

All of the food was provided by family and friends that came to share in the day. It was SOOO yummy! Jileen had a cake made with Grace's picture on it. She said it didn't come out the way she had planned, but it was still adorable.


We are so blessed to be surrounded by so much family and to live in such close proximity to many friends that have been a part of our lives for what seems like forever. There were more than a few guests exchanging stories about when I used to baby-sit their kids. I missed those that couldn't make it to the party, but I had a good time visiting and reminiscing with the ones that made it. We truly were SHOWERED with gifts. There was so much stuff that we didn't have enough room in our car. So we had to have my sister-in-law load it all up in her pick-up to get it home. Wow!!




Will and the kids even got to come try out some of the goodies before we wrapped up the party. A big THANK YOU to Jileen and everyone who made this a very special day. We love you all!

(Almost) Summer Fun!

We spent all Winter and early Spring having a pool built in our backyard. There were struggles along the way and a delay or two, but in the end, it was all worth it. The pool was ready in time for the kids to play with Grandma while we were in Ethiopia. They forgot their sunblock, but had a great time before the sunburn showed up. They have learned their lesson now, and I make them wear far more clothing that anyone should have to wear for swimming. They don't mind though. They are having a ball!!

We had some dear friends come out to visit 3 weeks ago. They have six kids to add to our five, so you can imagine that the house gets to rockin' when we are all together. The pool was the perfect diversion. The kids had a great time playing together, and the Dad's even watched them for a while so us Mom's could go shopping. All around, a pretty great day!

Another First

Part of the reason for my LONG absence from blogland was EXTREME EXHAUSTION. When Grace came home, she seemed very content to go to sleep in her little bed in our room. She woke up once or twice each night to eat, and promptly went right back to her own bed. This actually had not been the way we planned to do things, but she seemed pleased with the arrangement. Who were we to argue?! A few weeks ago, Grace began waking up 5 or 6 times every night. My husband is a great Dad, always willing to take on the dirtiest of parenting tasks. So, he drug himself out of our nice, warm, cozy bed each and every time she wimpered. Sure, he was walking around during the daylight hours looking like a zombie, but our daughter never had any doubt that her parents were but a call away. Now THAT is dedication!! Unable to bear the sight of my husband's half-mast eyelids any longer, I suggested that we put the girl in our bed. I'm not sure why it took us so long to come to this conclusion, as it had been our plan all along before she got here, but I am happy to say that we are all getting a lot more sleep.

Unfortunately, that did not solve the second sleep-related problem. Along with her refusal to sleep in her own bed at night, Grace also decided that she could not nap unless she was in physical contact with me. I could hold her, lay her on the couch beside me with my hand on her chest, allow her to fall asleep sitting upright against my side or carry her around the house doing just about anything I wanted. The activity or noise level did not seem to bother her a bit. The only unacceptable alternative for napping was being placed somewhere without Mom. This might sound very sweet, but it gets a little hard to get anything done or spend time with any of the other kids with a constantly attached baby. She even went for about a week when she would only hang out with her Dad if I was in another room. Poor Dad!

Now, before I get a whole bunch of comments about how this is very normal, and all of the extra holding and cuddling is great for attachment.....I KNOW!! Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled to hold aand cuddle and love on my baby. I don't even mind sharing my bed. It's just nice to be able to take a shower on a fairly regular basis. I don't even mind taking her to the potty with me. She is fascinated by the "boing!" sound that the doorstop makes. I am just opposed to smelling bad and having greasy hair. I like the idea of putting on clothes that are spit-up and odor free at least once each day. I don't expect them to stay that way for very long, but it is the principle of the thing.

Now that I have had my rant, there is good news to share. Grace still sleeps with Will and I. She naps draped across me, or in the very familiar textures and smells of my bed most of the time. However, today we had a new development. She played with her toys in her crib while I was sorting through some of her clothes. I mean the full size baby crib that is in her nursery! She was really enjoying it. She started to show the usual signs of needing a nap, i.e. eye rubbing, yawning, the occasional whine. I scooped her up right away. I definitely don't want her to have a negative association with this wonderful place that will someday allow me to cuddle up to my husband again at night. She layed in my arms, polished off her bottle and slipped quietly off to dreamland. She and I sat there on her bedroom floor for a few minutes, as I tried to decide what to do. I was hoping to finish the task at hand, but I also knew that putting her down rarely allows enough time for a potty break, let alone an actual task. I'm not sure what made me do it, but I layed her down in her crib. She hardly even wiggled. She laid there looking very content, and very much asleep! She napped in her crib for A WHOLE HOUR!!!!

Blood Tests, X-rays and Prescriptions, Oh My!!!

I wrote this on May 14 but just posted it June 11. Little did I know just how behind I was really going to get! It has been a VERY full month. So, to Amanda, Perri and my dear brother Shane, I promise to work hard to get you all caught up.

Love,
Yout Blog Slacker Friend


I have fallen a bit behind in blog land lately because real life butted in. Last weekend, I had to take Grace to the Urgent Care to have her TB test read; a seemingly inocuous task. When we arrived, there was no one in the waiting room. Things were looking good! I walked up to the registration desk and let the nurse in on the purpose for our visit. She smiled and told me that there would be a $5 charge. That was fine with me, since our regular co-pay is $15. I dug out the money and Grace's shot record to be prepared for the next step. As I was handing over the cash, the nurse asked me if I had the form from the doctor's office. I figured she meant the shot record and was able to produce it right away. I was feeling good about this. The nurse stopped, looked at me like I hadn't heard her request and asked for the form again. I had NO idea what she was talking about. She explained that I should have received a form from the doctor, telling what time, in what arm, etc., the test was given. Well, no dice. I told her what time we arrived and left the doctor's office on Thursday, pointed out the notation about the TB test on the shot record and showed her the bump on Grace's arm. That took care of the problem in my eyes. No dice again.

After consulting the doctor, the nurse told me she could not read the test without this magic form. I asked to speak with the doctor myself. He explained that the liability is too great for them to take any chances. If they read the test outside of the prescribed 48-72 hour window, the results could be inaccurate. If they mistakenly said she was negative, then she went and passed TB on to someone, they could be held accountable. I couldn't argue with that logic, but I also wanted an explanation for the lump on Grace's arm. I told the doctor that I was not asking him to write anything down, but asked him to share his opinion about the result of her TB test. He took a quick look at her arm, ran his finger over the bump and said, "I would call that positive." Yikes!

I took Grace to see her pediatrician first thing Monday morning. After apologizing for the missing form, they agreed that the TB test was positive. The doctor ordered a chest x-ray, STAT, and sent us off with a prescription for Isoniazid to be taken daily. FOR. NINE. MONTHS.

Will and I took her for the chest x-ray that afternoon. The waiting room was so full, there was not one empty chair to sit in. We were told to sign in, and come back in TWO HOURS. That's a new one on me. We drove through Arby's, headed home and enjoyed dinner together as a family. That sure beats having the kids at home with a babysitter, while we sit, feeling hungry and tired, in an overcrowded waiting room. I think I like this new method of waiting.

When we got back to the x-ray place, the tech was just finishing up with the patient before us, and she took us right back. Grace was very displeased about being placed half naked on a cold, hard x-ray table. She was even more upset when we had to do it again for the second shot. Poor thing. Cuddles were most welcome when we were finished.

The next day we had our one month post-placement visit (I can't believe a whole month has already passed!) with our social worker. He is such a good guy. He takes care of the business at hand, but we always end up spending more time talking about lots of other things. It's nice to feel comfortable and know that we really have an ally in all of this. We look forward to seeing him again in a couple months.

Wednesday was blood test day. I was dreading it. I could have taken Grace in by myself, but the thought of it was REALLY stressing me out. I waited for Will to get home. When we got to the lab, it was just a few minutes before closing time. There were a couple other people waiting, but it certainly was not destined to be a repeat of the x-ray experience. After filling out the necessary forms, we only had a couple minutes of waiting. I think I was wishing it could be longer. When our turn came, we headed back to begin the torture. The first phlebotomist struggled to find the vein. After digging around for a while and reducing Grace to hysterics, she gave up. Fortunately, the second person had better luck. When we came out of the room, all the lights were out and the waiting room was empty. They told us that they were closed for the day, but I think Grace's screaming scared everyone off.

Mother's Day

My husband treated me to a really great day. He made a delicious breakfast for our family to share. When we finished eating, he surprised me with a beautiful "Family" necklace. It has a small eternity band covered in the appropriate birth stone for each member of our family. It is lovely, and so unique. He even told me that it is easy to add bands later if we need to. 8-)

After taking some time to relax and call our Mom's, we went out for a nice late lunch at Marie Callendar's. We ate out on the patio so we could enjoy the beautiful day. We'll wrap the day up with a slice of cream cheese pie for dessert. Yum!

Happy Mother's Day!!!