Photos from our evening with the 3 boys ...

We love our new friend Jacob. He seems really mellow and sweet. I hope he stays a mellow fellow as we already have a babysitting gig lined up in almost a month. I don't have a lot of hope, mellow doesn't seem to run in the Lucy and the boys crowd. It's like there's a tiny little active virus that makes them run and turns off their ability to hear. OH well ... Jacob we love you if you're mellow or if you're active. You're a perfect fit in your family and a perfect fit in our life.

A little grumpy ...

It's a good thing there are so many things to celebrate during my diet coke strike or I might just go off on someone. At times I forget why I feel so vacant and empty and cranky ... then as I head to the fridge to cure "what ails me" I REMEMBER .. and I RUN like the wind to my computer and check A's blog damn damn damn, nothing yet and tomorrow is the last day of the referral week for that agency. So anyways ... here's what we CAN celebrate; The arrival of Jacob Kee Ho (Lucy's brother or younger "man" we'll see), the retirement of my momma (tomorrow is the big day), and Lucy's return to the land of rational thinking. She returned to rational land just as I departed, I think this is our future, one of us needs to be stable.

Hello baby Kee Ho

Jacob Kee Ho came home from Korea with his mom and grandma today. Now our two boys (Isaac and Nathan) become our three boys!!!

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Good-bye for now sweet sweet addiction ...

In support of A, S, I and H in New Mexico who SHOULD be getting a referral very soon, I give up my true love, DIET COKE until such time as a referral is announced. So um, not to be selfish but ... come on agency get that paperwork together and get the momma a referral already.

SERIOUSLY???!!!????

Now that I've looked out the window I am less convinced I am coming down with some horrible fever/chills ... and more convinced that Minnesota sucks.

Outdoors

These days we spend as much time outside as possible. Lucy is discovering all sorts of new things in the backyard and beyond. I love the first part of this montage, you can really hear her sing!

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Mondays

I can't complain about this Monday. Mel and I used to share Monday child-care. She'd stay home one monday and I'd stay home the next (we work at the same agency and are able to use personal time or comp time). Lately Mel has been pulling most of the Monday child-cares (she has more time-off then I do ... ). This Monday was my Monday with the kiddos. I happened to pull the absolute most perfect Monday weather-wise in the history of Mondays. We were outside ALL THE LIVELONG DAY. This made for such a nice day with so few squabbles and whines. Morgan ate sand three times. I figure maybe he's part bird and needs the gravel to digest all that food. Lucy helped me clear the yard of some decking material. Both of the kids got plenty of exercise, sun and whatever fresh air South Minneapolis had to offer. Now that it's evening it's thunderstorming ... perfect, really how much more perfect can you get then sun all day and a good old thunderstorm at night? It's almost like it's not really Monday after all ... hmmmmm.

Weekends ... ahhhhh

Parks, swimming, lakes, crazy hats ... it's all good (except for the naptime fiasco of 2008 .. that was not so fun).

Multi-tasker

Well Lucy has been diagnosed with asthma :( . We got there early, and we're just waiting to figure out if it's triggered by allergies or viruses. For now she will take one med in a nebulizer once a day. It's a good thing she's all sorts of good about taking her nebulizer. It's about the only time that girl will sit for more then 5 minutes. She's quite good at holding her own mask and coloring at the same time. I think she enjoys the challenge!

A few posts back one reader who happens to be parenting Ethiopian triplets tried to accuse me of using my blog post to guilt my mom into buying me a Dyson brand vacuum cleaner. All I am going to say about that is that the Dyson is certified asthma friendly. Who wants to vacuum with an asthma unfriendly vacuum when you have the world's cutest, sweetest little girl???? That's all I am saying.

Finally Spring!!!!

Windy, sunny and warm. Nice nice nice. Days like today can put the lid on a lot of stress and sadness. It was a Morgan Tuesday, abbreviated version (he went home early). We still managed a little outdoor yard and park fun.

Chicago with the todds ...

Well folks we did it ... Mel and I travelled 8ish hours in ONE car with TWO toddlers and we lived to tell the tale. We took a trip to Chicago to visit Jayme and her dynamic duo and Nancy and her girl. At one point there were five children in the room Morgan the youngest at 19 months and Lucy the oldest at 2 3/4. What a RIOT it was!!! Lucy was the queen of good. She was practically perfect. I was totally expecting it to be hard on her (me) but she was really so easy going. She slept. She ate. She napped. She walked in the direction I walked (most of the time). She stopped when I stopped (most of the time). She was a good girl in the car (most of the time). OF course Lucy LOVED having access to a swimming pool every day. She is a FISH I tell you a FISH!!! OK enough all caps and exclamation points. I must rely on others for photos as I left my memory stick at home. Here are some from tonight.

Momma guess what????

Lucy says "Momma guess what???" and I say "What?" and she says "I love you" or "I like you", it's pretty dang sweet.

Tonight I gave her a kiss good night. As I was walking out the door she says "Momma guess what???" I say "what?" Lucy says "I love Nathan momma." She's not even three and already the boys ... the boys .... Yikes

Napless in Minneapolis

Too young for no nap, too old for a nap. What's a toddler to do? Amazingly tonight she was fairly sane. She handled lifes ups and downs like a well rested 2 year old. Around 7pm she asked to watch videos on the computer. I found one video and she said "not this one", so I clicked on another and asked "how about this?" ... no response. Sleep happened that quickly and peacefully!

Back to Work

It's hard going back to work after a week off. I shouldn't complain, I had a whole week off of work but here I am complaining ... It was like a dream week. We didn't have to be anywhere at any certain time. We had plenty of time together. We played OUTSIDE during the DAY! The only thing that makes this week bearable is that it's a short work week (leaving for Chicago on Friday) and the weather is craptastic, so I am not missing out on any trips to the park.

Actually crappy weather doesn't really stop us from enjoying the park (did ya like that grammarific sentence?). Sunday afternoon we went walking at Como Park with Isaac, Nathan and their mom. Half-way through the walk the rain came, it was at this point where Lucy became the most defiant, didn't want to walk, be carried ... yup, we were at am impass and we were wet (I was NOT a happy momma). I was also annoyed that once again I found myself with a non-functioning (my own fault) camera. A couple days ago I had the camera but no battery, on Sunday I had the camera, battery but no memory stick.

A little Bon Jovi for your listening pleasure

Sweet Sunday Swimclass

Sleep and crazy outfits

Something has shifted with Lucy's sleep in the past three weeks. The first week she was kept up coughing at night. The second week, I attributed the very early risings to the steroids and albuterol. This week I am only guessing it's a bad habit OR it's because she's actually getting good solid (no apnea) sleep from 8:30pm - 5:55 am. After having a pre-asthma scare with Lucy (reactive airway disease) and coincidentally "running into" an asthma/allergy specialist before going hiking I did some serious googling into allergies. I have diagnosed Lucy with possible cat allergy along with dust-mite and maybe mold issues. The only thing I can think of that has remained consistent since Lucy came home (aside from breathing issues, stuffy nose, runny nose, sinus infections and extravagant bouts with normally average viruses) is that we have cats and dust. She's been tested for the cat allergy but the specialist we saw on our hike said that the blood tests can be pretty inaccurate. On Monday I did a 90% thorough cleaning of Lucy's bedroom (everything I could reach with a step stool). I vacuumed, scrubbed the windows/sills with vinegar, changed her bedding etc. I bought allergy covers for her mattress and pillow. I have kept her bedroom door closed with an air purifier running. Every morning I have vacuumed with my non-dyson brand suckless vacuum cleaner.

I swear she's better. Her nose still runs a little but just a little and I don't hear that gasping for breath breathing through the monitor all night. Despite the early early risings she seems a little more stable mood wise (aside from that 15 minutes in the judges chambers during Morgan's finalization ... not your finest moment Lucy).

Tomorrow we are adding a dose of claritin to our regiment. I am thinking if the claritin and the cleaning help her say until her 3 yr old well-child then I am mentioning to the doctor that we re-test for cat/dust/mold allergies.

All that said ... what I really want now is for Lucy to sleep until 7:00 tomorrow.

About the photos. Lucy has been picking out her own clothes most days.