Eeek!

I should post more, but we've been a bit busy. Lucy has decided that she wants a new hairstyle:

Zoe decided that she's going to be a baker when she grows up and therefore needed a new hat:

Of course Che and Daddy are as silly as ever:
Seriously, it has been busy, but we're enjoying almost all of it, I can't say that we enjoy the lessened sleep but we know someday that will be over and then we won't be able to get them up in the morning!

The girls have started on some "solid" food. So far they've wrapped their taste buds around apples, peas, carrots, and sweet potatoes. I think the sweet potatoes didn't go over well, as Lucy got a rash in places unmentionable so we've backed off of that for a bit. Lucy can now roll from front to back, and Zoe is still marveling at that idea. Zoe does enjoy playing peek-a-boo much more than Lucy. Lucy's new trick is to scoot while she's on her back, putting her backside up into the air and pushing with her legs. One day when she was in the living room playing on a blanket she was able to push herself about 4 feet in about 5 minutes. We're definitely going to have to keep our eye on her!

Che is doing the summer program at his school which includes water and bike days as well as regular days, so he's enjoying himself greatly. For bike day he just got a new bike from Craigslist with training wheels, so no more tricycle! He's also excited about going to the pool in Grandma and Grandpa's neighboorhood but it's been a bit rainy here making the water a bit cold.

Other than that we've just been busy with normal life, which keeps us hopping till 10 or so every night, leaving little time for blogging and the like!

Wow

So it's been awhile, and I have a lot of things rolling around in my head, but not enough time to actually get them out and post them.

One of the things that I've been thinking about is talking about being pregnant. In my office there are three of us that have recently had children, the other two ladies babies are approaching a year old. Of course this lends towards many conversations about babies and pregnancy.

For some reason I have a hard time saying the phrase "When I was pregnant..."
I don't know why, but I have some thoughts on why.

1. It still feels surreal. I never thought I was going to be pregnant, let alone birth live children.
   
2. Guilt. I feel extreme guilt for a couple of reasons:
   
1. There are so many people out there that are still struggling to reach a pregnancy, let alone a live birth. People that are much older than I am, that have spent years, and thousands of dollars trying, and for us it worked on the first IVF cycle. Granted we spent a lot of time and money prior to that with other methods, but the fact that things worked on the first IVF cycle is amazing.
   
2. My pregnancy was so easy, it's embarrassing. If some women knew how easy of a time I had, they'd shoot daggers at me out of their eyes, and breath fire on me.
   
3. Time. Perhaps it just hasn't been long enough for me to put the pregnancy in perspective yet.
   
4. Two. This goes along with the guilt, but we were lucky enough that we not only were able to get pregnant on the first IVF cycle, but that both of the eggs we had transplanted took, and survived through almost 34 weeks. Many women who have twin pregnancies deliver early and their babies spend so much time in the NICU and have problems, and we didn't encounter anything like that. The hardest thing we had to face was jaundice.

So I guess, I feel extremely blessed, lucky, and happy to be where we are. I feel like our family is complete, with Che and the girls, it just seems and feels so full and complete. Perhaps in time it will be easier to talk about being pregnant and giving birth, but who knows.

And of course, some gratuitous cuteness:

Every girl needs a good pair of "chucks"One sleep deprived family somewhere around Christmas time.

Strollers, bottles, and more!

One thing that has become apparent is that we don't have a lot of "baby" stuff.

Ché was 13 months old the day we picked him up, so the littlest things we have are 6-9 months, which yes, amazingly fit Ché for quite some time. (he wore 12 month shorts yesterday...)

So, we've been assessing the situation and trying to decide all that we need to acquire in the next 6-7 months. It's apparent that we have to have two car seats, clothes and bottles. We went tonight and looked at a double stroller which I think you need a CDL to drive their so big and get an idea of the car seats that are available. I've been scouring the clearance racks for clothes, so we won't have to have naked kids running around...

We we were able to score 2 "jiggly" seats at a garage sale for $6 a piece, and a crib and mattress from Craigslist for $120. (We've decided to split the babies up as best as we can at the beginning by putting them in their own cribs, this way we avoid trying to split them up from co-sleeping with one another, which we've read has been a difficult thing to do)

The big debate now is bottles. When Che came we used the ventaire bottles by playtex, and the cheap Gerber bottles since that was what he used in Guatemala. At the time the BPA free movement hadn't quite gained momentum so bottles weren't made that way. Mike wants to do glass bottles, but I'm fine as long as the plastic is BPA free. The bad thing is that whatever we choose we have to have a lot of. There's no way that we'll be able to have less than 12-15 bottles for everyday... which could be very expensive. So, we'll continue discussing those options.

Is there anything that you recommend for infants? We don't have experience here so any comments are welcome!

The other great debate is:

Names. Mike likes much different names than I do. He contends that we should just each name one, but that prospect is scary. Names he threw out tonight are:

*Apollo

* Quinn

* Sawyer

* Tillman (Till...)

* Navarre

* Cutler (-ey... hehe)

* Harper

* Tucker

* Hollis

* Gust

*Luc

*Alburon

*Theophilus (I mean seriously????)

and that's just the beginning of his madness. So yea, that's going to be a battle. Sigh...

So, any advice on baby gear and names would be appreciated, not necessarily name ideas, but ways to bridge the gaps in our likes/dislikes.

My Blood Hurts.

Yesterday we topped the list on ways to torture Ché. He's been having leg pain at night, always in the same leg, and always at night. For awhile it was happening a couple times a week. Since it was only one leg, and he's generally not a complainer we thought it was something that we should have checked out. The other thing that tipped us to have it checked out is that the leg that is sore all the time isn't the one that was broken prior to us adopting Ché.

So we did. We took him to our family doctor, who said he had good range of motion and that everything looked fine. I asked if it was because he might be him overcompensating for his short leg. We were told it was a possibility, but that the Dr. wanted to run some tests to check it out. He started to say, "If it were my son..." but he stopped. I know this meant that he thought we shouldn't worry about it, but it causes pain which usually ends up in a dose of Tylenol and 20 or more minutes of rubbing and sometimes an ice pack in order to get him to go back to sleep, so it really is a big deal. So, Dr. ordered an x-ray and a blood test.

The x-ray was no big deal, in fact the x-ray tech even showed Ché the pictures, so he got to see his own bones. Interestingly enough though, kids that age don't have kneecaps.

Then there was blood test, which we did yesterday. When we went to the lab we did our best to keep Ché updated on what was going to happen. We were honest that it was going to hurt a little bit, but that the pain would go away. So he was alright. Climbed up into the chair, got his arms out, let the lady do the tourniquet, the alcohol wipe, she had the needle ready to go, and not a peep out of him. Then the insert. And the crying, although I have to say not bad at all. He even held still for her because she asked him too. He stopped crying before it was done, and then was so excited to get the big blue band-aid.

He wouldn't give her a high-five, but did take the stickers from her and tell her thank you, so he must not have had to much animosity towards her.

He was good, we congratulated him on being so well behaved, rewarded him with fruit snacks and a trip to the park and he was fine. But on the way out the door, to leave the lab, the comment was made, and Mike and I just had to stop from rolling on the floor:

"My blood hurts, Mama."

This wait...

is killing me. I think we've just stopped talking about it at home.

On other notes, Ché is becoming quite the little boy. No longer a baby, and quickly leaving toddlerhood. He is now dressing himself quite frequently, and I'm happy to say potty trained! Yippee!
In the past month we've had 2 accidents, one of which was yesterday when he couldn't open the door from outside and couldn't make it in the house. (that doesn't count as an "accident" in my book anyway. He was trying.)

He is also becoming very talkative, and likes telling stories. On of my favorite phrases that we hear quite often is, "like that you know." It's a very serious part of any conversation. Che is also big into making plans right now, as in "Here's the plan... I'm going to take a nap."

Mike will be leaving for Michigan to attend NABS, sadly not this NABS. hehe. He will be gone about a week, so we'll see if there is a return of toddler depression. We've been telling Che that Daddy will be gone, and he seems to understand, but we'll see what really happens come next Sunday. Last time when Mike came home Ché wouldn't talk to him.

Other than that though life's been normal, going to work, playing at home, going to bed, knitting, watching too much basketball (I'm glad that's almost over...)

2 years ago

Our lives were drastically changed.

On Sunday, December 18, 2006 after 6 hours on a plane to Guatemala, hand picking our baggage off the broken baggage claim, and going around and around the airport deciding whether or not to actually go out, we got a call saying that in 30 minutes our son would be at the hotel.


It was an unnerving moment. I didn't know what to do first, or how we were ever going to be ready to meet this child, let alone be the sole caregivers for him. I believe I took a shower, not knowing what else to do.



These are my two favorite pictures from the trip. The first time Mike ever held Ché. He was definitely holding back tears. The woman in the picture is Ché's foster mother. She was wonderful, and we still credit her with Ché's good behavior.

(Can you tell how scared and confused Ché is? He cried for about 30 minutes after the foster mom left, but then was very quiet for most of the rest of the trip)


And, Ché and I, in front of the enormous Christmas tree in the lobby of the hotel we stayed at. This picture was taken the day we left, and we were waiting for the taxi to take us to the airport.

One thing I've been thinking a lot about, especially now that Ché has been home for more time than he spent in Guatemala, is nature vs. nurture. I think this picture sums it all up.

Can you see it? The facial expressions?

While today is a special day, we've decided to celebrate his adoption on the 21st, which is the day we arrived back in South Bend, and the day our whole families got to meet Ché for the first time.

Looking Back

Last night Ché was playing in the basement playroom, and I took advantage and decided to look at some e-mails, and catch up on some blogs.

One blog had a post of a 13/14 month old Guatemalan adoptee trying to figure out the shaking head and nodding business that we know as Yes/No. Ché heard and of course wanted to see the video.

He watched it with amazement and then asked to see video's of Ché. I obliged.

Ché and I ended up watching some videos of himself from when he was little, some from Guatemala, and others from home.


I have to say, I don't remember some of those things happening, and what amazes me even more is that they seem so long ago, when in fact they weren't.



Ché was amazed too. He knew it was him that he was looking at and then was laughing at himself the entire time. He would point out when Daddy was talking, or if my hand was in the picture, etc.

It was really cute. If I get a chance, I'll post the two movies that made him laugh the hardest.

Interesting

A bit of background:

My parents live in a century+ old house. It's a farmhouse that at one time encompassed nearly all of our neighborhood, from the street we live on to the train tracks (now about 8-10 blocks away) and similarly as far to the east and west. It was owned by the same family until my parents bought the house in 1982. The Perkins family had lived in the house and farmed the land for many years before selling off the land to make houses for returning WWII veterans. (These houses have become lovely low income now.)

Regardless, when my parents bought the house it came with an abstract. We don't get these anymore, but it's kinda neat. The abstract contained information about the house, when things were done, things about the family, etc. that had lived there. In the abstract (which was very detailed) they made mention of the family members, and how the land was to be divided. One family member, a daughter to the original owners, was given her share of the land, although it was said that she would be allowed to stay in the house with whomever lived in the home and the brothers were to take care of her land, giving her the majority of profit. We assumed this meant that she was handicapped in some way and couldn't get on by herself, and wasn't marry-able. Her name, Amelia, was mentioned one other time, and then she drops off the face of the abstract. The other children are given detailed histories, when they married, their children, what happened to their land, when they died. But no Amelia. No, Amelia just disappeared.

So of course, my parents said she died in the house and was buried there and no one wanted anyone to know, so they didn't write it done. This left lots of room for speculation. Did the brothers murder her for her land? Did she die in an accident? There were so many possibilities. Of course, we were also told that Amelia was still around. We have a Michigan basement, which was concreted over in October of some year (everything happened in that house in October), and it had holes drilled in it, presumably for treating bugs, or dealing with the squeaky bricks underneath the concrete. We were told, as kids, that this was for Amelia to breath. No joke, my parents have a sick sense of humor. I was terrified of that basement and still won't go down there alone at night. I am also notorious for keeping that deadbolt bolted.

As we grew up we believed less and less of Amelia and her happenings in the house, but a few conversations have led us to believe that maybe she really did stick around. I remember once both my parents talking about when they first moved into the house (I was about a year, my brother over 3), and my mom woke to go and check on him. When she went out into the hall, a white figure in a long dress, thin with long hair was in the door to my brother's room. It turned looked and mom and disappeared. I guess there were other sightings and feelings throughout the house. Nothing bad ever happened, no threats, no things falling off walls, etc., so it was just assumed that it was Amelia and she was checking things out. She disappeared completely when we got older. The other day my nephew said he didn't want to stay at Nana's house anymore because the lady in the hallway won't let him get out of bed. hmmm.

Anyway, the thought now is that she's around to check up on the house when things change. When she's satisfied that everything is going alright she disappears.

Which brings me back to my original post thought:

I was talking to Mom yesterday and she told me she had a visitor. I suspected my brother, or Aunt, but no, she said Dad stopped by.
She proceeded to explain that this was the 3rd time he's come by, and each time it's been on a day that's been rough for her. Yesterday she said that when he stopped by he stood in the doorway, like he used to, looking coy and acting funny, then told her "Love you Babe," and "I told you things would be alright." He apparently stayed a bit longer, then left.
At first I didn't want to believe my mom, thinking that she was dreaming, or who knows what. But the detail with which she described the happening and the way that she said she felt afterward is too uncanny. She said she felt so calm and slept better after he stopped by and this has been how it was the previous 2 times.

So what do you think? Believe or not? At this point I'd like to think he's visiting, but even if it isn't true I sure do like that it gives Mom some peace.

The 100th Post or Everybody and their Uncle

Ha. It's not a big deal although, kinda neat!

We made it to Chicago. The train ride was great on the way there. We scored a handicapped seat, which meant that Mike and I sat next to one another (riding backwards), and Mom had a single seat, with Ché next to her in his stroller.

He played, and talked with all the people going to the potty since it was across the aisle, and made friends with a little boy that had to go 2 x's on the ride there. Ché had things to keep him busy, and he did a really good job for the two hour ride. One way cost each of us $10.10. Ché was free.

The thing of note though was the amount of people on the train. There were tons. The train added 2 cars in Michigan City and by the time we got to 57th people were standing. We hadn't known that there was a Sox vs. Cubs game that day which made for tons of people playing hooky on a Friday.

We arrived and departed the train at 57th street, and walked a few blocks to the museum. (We took note at this point that parking was $14.00 in the museum garage.) We walked with a throng of people to the museum, and when we got to the basement where you purchase tickets, found a very very long line. Ché was a saint though. He waited patiently in the stroller and understood that we had to wait in line. We decided to eat lunch first so that we didn't have to pull Ché away from an exhibit. Again, did really well, and loved watching all the other people that were eating too.

From the cafeteria we went to the farm exhibit, which was awesome because you got to climb in a tractor, stand next to simulated cow poop, and watch a milking machine. We then headed to the fire trucks, and the miniature castle. Ché left the mini-castle. Not interested in that at all. We then headed to the 3rd floor which has the airplanes, trains, and the mini-train village of Seattle and Chicago.

Mom made Ché a mold-a-rama train.

He was uberexcited. He was unsure of the big train though. Wouldn't stand next to it for a picture. I think he was afraid that it was going to move. We did sit on the trolley car though, which he really enjoyed. We then got to see chickens in the DNA exhibit, and get our fingerprints taken.

We walked to the Yesterday Village where Mom had a nostalgia moment because when she visited the museum in 8th grade they had the same picture studio with the car and the hats.

Ché thoroughly enjoyed watching the silent film in the teeny movie theater and would have stayed all day had we let him. We then visited the gift shop, and then smashed a penny for Ché's book.

We still had a few hours to kill before the train left, so we wondered Hyde park, went into a bookstore, and marveled at the architecture of the buildings. We then stopped at ate at Orly's. It was awesome. The best turkey burger ever.

We made the train in time, and stood in the vestibule while waiting for a seat. We stood for about 5 stops. Ché curled into the stroller and fell asleep. We finally got seats, and rode the rest of the way home entertaining Ché who for being so tired, did a great job. We did have two crazy kids behind us (about Ché's age), that screamed, and fake vomited, and other lovely noises. Ché watched them but was unsure of their behavior and eventually just started to ignore them (yay!)

I will post some pictures when I get home.

And now

We wait.

I think that this has to be the worst part. There's no control, and yet you question every feeling, every twitch, everything.

And on to other things:

Father's Day:

It was very difficult. At church the choir director chose a song that was played at Dad's funeral. I started crying, Mom was crying, and Ché was wondering what the heck was going on. The director came downstairs after mass, and apologized for not warning us, but that she chose it because she thinks of Dad everytime she hears the song now. (I'm at work and can't find an actual clip of it).

Mom left then, and said she was going to spend time with Dad. I left her alone most of the day. On the way home from church we got a bagel and a vitamin water for Daddy and took him breakfast. (Sorry, no breakfast in bed for you Daddy!)

We spent some time at the grocery store, and had hamburgers on our new grill for dinner. We bought the grill on Saturday, after building a tool box with Ché. Instead of a patch, they gave us a $10 off coupon, and since we had a $10 credit on our bill, and so we decided to retire our old grill. (It's been with us for 6 years, and prior to that with my grandma for at least 4)

It was fairly uneventful. We didn't really get Daddy anything good either gift wise, so pretty blah Father's Day.

Here are some pictures taken a few weeks ago. Ché got a new tricycle. He couldn't quite reach the pedals, so we had to modify and move the seat up. He knows how to pedal it, but he's more content to just ride the scoot-y car for now.

The modifying underway. Moving the seat forward farther than it's supposed to be to account for teeny legs.

Ready, Set, Go!

It's going to be a busy weekend...

We got the go ahead from Dr. Jarrett.
We do a trigger on Friday, then a "busy" weekend...
I will have an HcG check next Thursday, and a possible HcG booster.

Things apparently looked good enough to go.

On another note...
Father's Day is Sunday. It's going to be a hard one. Any suggestions on how to make it easier for my Mom.
She had looked through old things, and pulled out cards we had bought for Dad, and made for Dad in years past. It's going to be rough.

Few Picture Updates

Here are a few update pictures.

Ché at Easter. *Note the very fancy silk dino tie, (Which he willingly wore), and the almost lovely look on his face.

Ché at Easter. *Note the not so nice look, the one that says: "Step away from my basket, woman!"

Daddy's tattoo. He'll finally let me take pictures, now that it's healed properly.

This is the answer to the question: "Ché what do you do with a puke bucket?"

And this is the answer to "Ché show me your peep-peep." (I know it sounds so much dirtier than it really is.)

And our project from last night: Turn this box into a spaceship.

Before:

During:

After

Hope your week was as good as ours!

The Great Debate Continued...

The debate was not over whether or not Mike got a tattoo. I like the design he chose, but didn't agree with where he wanted to put it. Mike has another tattoo on his left arm. It's hidden unless he's wearing a cut-off tee. It's of a gulper eel, and was done about 10 years ago. Mike wanted to put both tattoo's on the same arm. I didn't agree, thus the great debate.

Now, in all fairness, Mike has been talking about getting this tattoo for almost a year. He didn't want to do it in the summer due to it being dried out. The same excuse came in the winter of last year. I guess I had had enough of hearing about it, and said just go! I had done some research and called some places in town to see prices, procedures, times, etc. I had planned on getting him a gift certificate for Valentines' Day, but there came some doubt on his part, and so I didn't do that. Anyway, I told him what I had found out and he made decision. He went and talked to the artist last week, and made the appointment for yesterday. Mike chose Marvel Tattoo. He really liked the guy, and was confident in Half-Pint. It just so happened that Half-pint is a Native American, which kind of helped the symbolism of what Mike was getting.

So I bugged Mike all day long yesterday about placement. I didn't agree with putting both on the same arm. I don't think one has anything to do with the other. And, I felt that if he shrunk the new tattoo enough to fit under a t-shirt, that it would be too small to translate, and that as he aged, it would shrink and stretch and be unrecognizable. He finally listened to reason, and realized that I may have a point. In the end he did it on the other arm. It turned out really great, although he says that the shading was the worst part.

Ché and I were on our own, so we went and had dinner, and then Ché kept asking where Daddy was, so I took him to see. Ché had a really great time watching the tattoo being done, and playing peek-a-boo with one half of the lesbian couple that was down at the other end. He didn't want to leave, and thought that the books of all the tattoos are great.

So, here are both tattoos. He now has one on each arm. The new one is significantly larger than the first. I can't wait till his Mom finds out...

Right Arm (New Tattoo)

Left Arm (Old Tattoo)

Playgrounds, ice cream, and Kisses

Yesterday the weather finally agreed to warm up a bit. We're not talking heat wave, but tolerable at least. It was like 45 degrees, so not awful. Ché had a great day with Grandma, and so as a treat we took him to a playground. The playground is at a Catholic School near a railroad track. Appropriately fenced for safety and all.

Ché had a great time, there were "weees" (slides), swings, and things to climb on. We tried to do the rock climbing wall. We stayed for about 45 minutes, playing running and laughing. We had the whole playground to ourselves, so there wasn't anyone to take turns with, etc. The best part though was that the train tracks were so close, and you could see the crossing from the top of the curly slide. So, we were at the top of a slide and watched a train go by. It was forever and a day long!

We then returned to playing, and Ché even left nicely after his 2 minute warning. Of course as we were leaving, another train goes by, and we stand in the parking lot watching the whole long train.

As we were leaving Daddy even offered to take us for ice cream at one of our local shops. Ché had strawberry, I had sugar free chocolate something, and Mike had Peanut Butter cup. The whole time Ché kept trying to trade ice cream with us, because his bowl was getting emptier and emptier while our cones still have ice cream on them. It was very cute. The best thing though? Before we walked into the shop, Ché was saying something, and I finally figured it out: "Mama kiss Ché?"

I melted, and of course gave him many many kisses.

We then finished our good evening with a bath, and a baby in bed asleep by 8:15pm. (He had no nap, so I can't take all the credit for him being so tired, but still)

He did wake one time during the night, around 11:40, and said "Dadeee, and then fell back asleep." It was very hard not to laugh.

I leave you with a few pictures:

A work of art created a few weeks ago by Ché. From left to right are Daddy, Mommy, Ché, and Candy, our dog. The approximately 2 foot tall snow people had met the unfortunate master known as the Sun, and were in the process of melting by the time I came home. This is why Ché's head, is next to his body, and no longer on top of it.

Grandma took this picture, while learning to use our camera.

A Plug for Lowe's and a Weekend Recap

Usually on Saturday mornings, we find ourselves at music class. However, Music class is done for a bit, and won't start up again until March 29th, so here we are with some Saturdays and nothing to do in the morning.

Luckily for us, a friend of ours from playgroup e-mailed to tell us about Lowe's Kid Clinics. I had seen these clinics before, but thought that Ché was a bit too young. He wasn't.

We took him this Saturday to build a periscope. Yes, a periscope. Ché had so much fun putting the nails in and hammering the kit together. And, surprisingly it worked.

We didn't really know what to expect. But it was a pleasant surprise. Lowe's had put out plywood tables on sawhorses, which were kid height. (Even Ché could see and use the table!) The kits were all prepackaged and laying out with a hammer. The hammers were not teeny, but not huge either, so they were usable for the kids. The kits are pre-drilled, and cut so it is just a matter of putting it together and nailing. You simply open the package and read the directions. There isn't a lot of direction from Lowe's staff, but they are there if you have a question. We had two pretty young looking people helping out that day.

When you are done building you take your project to them and they give you all sorts of compliments (even though it looks like everyone elses'), and then you get a certificate and a patch. (Think boy scout patch)

I guess you can get an apron and some safety goggles. We didn't get those :-(

However Ché has a plethora of aprons, so we're going to sew his patch to it, so it's ready for the next project!

I have to say I was so excited for this. I remember making things with my dad, and really enjoying it. Now, we don't have all the tools to cut and make things pretty, so this is a really good alternative. It gives kids a chance to experience something different, without having to shell out tons of money to buy expensive tools, and risk injury to life and limb.

If you have a Lowe's nearby, check it out. Your kids would enjoy it too, I promise!

Thanks Lowe's!

While we were at Lowe's, we also picked up some seeds for planting. Last year, Ché and I planted and took care of some pumpkin plants. He had a great time, and when it was finally time to pick them, he didn't want to, because I had spent all summer telling him to leave them alone! Ché also picked out a watermelon plant. These things are $.97. They are a paper cup, with a peat round, and some seeds in it. You plant and wait, then take the whole paper cup out and plant it in the yard. I think this year, we may actually till up some ground (sorry Daddy) and see if we can make the plants grow a bit better. Last year with two pumpkin plants we got 4 pumpkins, so maybe this year, with 2 plants we can get some more. I have to say, I think Ché was more excited about the plants than the periscope, but hey, whatever floats his boat!

We also took Ché swimming, and he made it a whole lap on his own (with appropriate flotation device attached). Next week we should be back in our normal pool, the warm pool.

Hope your weekend was as good as ours!

Oh yea

I forgot to add:

My favorite thing that Ché has been saying lately:

Ché happy.

Makes me melt every time. Makes me feel like I'm doing something right. Don't get me wrong, I melt when he says Love you Momma too, but hearing that he's happy is so much better.

On the 5th Christmas Visit...

We have returned from our 5th Christmas.
We packed up the car and set out for the long journey to Roselle, Illinois.

As many of you are aware, a trip to Illinois to visit Mike's relatives never goes by with a trip to here:
Who can resist stylish Swedish design at an affordable price? We ended up buying quite a few things which include new dishes (rectangle... how cool is that?), a trash can for the car, and cool adjustable lamp, and some other small things, but the highlight of the IKEA shopping trip was:


Yes, it's a pillbug, and yes, it's mouth unzips to store all those cool toddler things.
On the better side though, we got to visit Ché's very cool cousin's, Nadja and Romana. As far as girls go they are the coolest.

The toddlers, Ché coming in at 2 years, and Nadja coming in at 3 years had their warming up period where both hid behind prospective parents legs, but 5 minutes later you thought they'd known each other their whole lives.
Some memorable quotes from the evening include:

1.)
Ché: gibber jabber garbaldygook
Nadja: What?

2.)
Nadja eating a piece of pizza, Ché comes up and stares at her while she is sitting so nicely at the table
Nadja: Mom why is this kid staring at me?
Said kid (Ché) walks away...
Nadja: Hey little man where are you going?

3.)
Two toddlers playing with one train (We all know this ends badly, right?) and they both want the engine, even though there are 6 cars, and Ché lightly hit Nadja because of frustration, and greediness...
Nadja: Hey (to anyone that would listen) Ché hit me in the face!

We only wish we lived closer!


Now, on to those pictures that I promised:


This is Ché helping to decorate our BEARS Tree. Everyone has a tree with orange and blue lights right?


Daddy and Ché playing in the snow. Who'd thought he'd love snow so much. Getting the boots on is a lot harder than I remember from being a child


Another snow picture:

Perhaps the most shocking to us this Christmas, is that we've been home as a family for a year.
We've come a long way together:

2006

2007

We can still wear the same sweater (It's a 12 month and fits better this year at 25 months of age than it did at 13 months), but boy can a lot change in a year. 2007 definitely has had it's ups and downs, but it really has been a great year for our little family.

I hope you all have a great New Year!

Change of Venue

Well, Surviving just hasn't done what I thought. Things really didn't pan out the way that we all thought with Dad's cancer. He got good news right before Christmas that his tumor isn't growing and that he can be on the chemo drugs for a really long time. So it's good news and I guess I don't feel the need to vent and go on about it now.

So I thought that Surviving needs to change from "Surviving" cancer, to "Surviving" motherhood and life with a toddler.

Some of you know that we have a 2 year old son. He was adopted from Guatemala (More some other time, because that was an experience!) and having an instant toddler in the house definately makes for interesting times.

Of course the big thing right now is Christmas and presents! In a day or two I'll post some pictures, but they aren't here at work... ahem, where I'm blogging, heh.

Our son really had a great time with Christmas this year, from making cookies, to opening gifts, to eating cookies, to trying to opening other people's gifts.

I'm really hoping that things will pick up now with the blog that it isn't a depressing topic. I'll still update about Dad, just don't want it to be the whole focus.

Stay tuned for more photos!

Something Else

I truly thought I would be posting more. But what can I say.

There isn't much on the Dad front. He's feeling o.k. which I guess in the world of liver cancer is good, but still it's hard to see him so run down and tired all the time.

On another note, I thought I could branch out and start talking about some other things; my whole life doesn't revolved around cancer (amazing I know)


So I guess, this is my first non-cancer blog post.


As it says in my "About Me" section, I'm 25, married to M, and have a wonderful son C.

My husband and I married in Oct. 2003, and will celebrate our 4th anniversary this year. He works at Notre Dame and I work with the Juvenile Justice Center.

I really enjoy just spending time at home with my family, especially now with the addition of C., to our lives. It's amazing how a 3 ft. being can change your life...

Here's a picture of C:



This was the first time he ever had corn on the cob. You would have thought he ate it every day.

So my son is almost 2, (Nov.) and I can't believe he's already that old. Granted he's only been in our home for 9 months, but that's an entirely new post.

Someone recently asked me if I was going to post about our troubles with fertility, or our adoption, but I don't know yet. I can't say. I've been reading infertility blogs for awhile, and I can conclude a few things:

1. They can be really depressing
2. They can be really crass and hold TMI
3. They can make you question every feeling you have in your body

... and I just don't know if I want to add to those feelings. On the other hand infertility blogs can do the following:

1. They can be really uplifting
2. They can be sources of information
3. They can be sources of inspiration
4. They can be places to feel a common bond.

... and so you can see why I'm torn. As far as an adoption blog, wow. there's another place I'm not quite sure I want to go yet. You see, I don't want to fall in the trap of making adoptions appear all hearts and roses and singing angels. It isn't, and even though our adoption is final, it was difficult and that is something that I will always remember. (However, looking at my son's face often makes me have a momentary lapse in memory).

So I'll see and if I'm feeling brave, perhaps I start blogging about one of those things.

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