I've seen better days

(that is the song that is running through my head this morning)as I prepare to get up and take the plunge into another week. It was a weekend spent going back and forth to the hospital, Cody should be coming home today around noon we hope. He is bored to tears but it is still better for him to be there than at home should anything go wrong again. Seeing a puddle of your childs blood is something no mother should ever have to endure...that's the gore - it was much worse but I will spare you the details unless you are into that kind of thing. If so, imagine the grossest and scariest thing you've ever seen and multiply that times 10. We had some "real" halloween decor that was not intentional by our door.

Anyway I will try to post a new photo of Jaiden - she is still nuki nose but is feeling better and eating now so she must be getting over the cold a little bit.
Having two kids sick on a weekend really bites...thought I'd throw in some holiday terminology ;) lol

We are hoping that Jaiden's costume arrives today - if not it is a surprise to us all as to what she will be this year.

a photo for you

Ok bloggy buddies I will try to post a photo here as I download more photos onto Dropshots and see which loads the fastest :) Here goes....

Wooo Hoo!!! It only took a few seconds! Blogger is back in business!

This photo is taken just a few minutes ago and shows Jaiden not feeling so good. She has a bit of a runny nose and is just feeling icky. Don't you just want to give her a kiss and make it all better?

I wrapped her in my favorite jacket and she's lying in the moonchair looking up at me as I blog since she doesn't want to be held right now.

Jaiden's special day

We had a Homecoming Celebration yesterday with just a few close friends to introduce our daughter and thank everyone for being a part of our adoption experience. It went very well but I now know why parents shouldn't do their own baby showers.

We had about 27 all together with 16 adults and 11 kids - starting from 2 on to around 8 pm. Jaiden LOVED all the attention and couldn't get enough of being held. She was in her groove all smiles and laughter the whole evening.

This morning getting ready for school she had a major meltdown when I had to put her in the exersaucer and help Jared get ready for school. After an entire day of being Miss Center of the Universe she was none too happy to go back to her everyday routine toys - ooooh no! She wanted to be held - soon as I picked her up the tears stopped and her smile returned. She's rotten to the core! Pampered Princess thru and thru. I love to hold her but there is no getting anything done when I do because it takes two hands to hold all that floppsiness and energy. She is quite a workout! I've got to find a way to get her better aclimated to playing with her toys and let mommy not be the jungle gym for a while. It's exhausting but in a good way :) I've been dreaming of this for too many years to complain! I'm just glad that the only quirk in this sweet sweet child is that she was loved a bit too much. I think we can live with that :)

First visit to the pool

We took Jaiden for her first visit to the pool last night (Jared and I) and the way she just floated along clutching her floatie makes me think that "hey, she's done this before!" I expected her to want to cling to me and get a bit freaked out by moving water *we were in a circular pool with current but she just laid her head back in the water or leaned forward into the floatie and drifted along as cool as a cucumber. There is a waterfall that you float by and she got big eyes when the water splashed all over her face but she showed no signs of apprehension...the girl is a natural born aquifer! (I don't know what an aquifer is but it sounded right)

Now we are preparing for her Homecoming Celebration being held this afternoon. So much to do yet and I have no idea why I decided to do this...I hope Jaiden is not overwhelmed.

Jaiden is 10 Months!!!

This is a belated post - Jaiden hit 10 months yesterday!!! We are going through so many milestones together and it is just such a joy to watch as she grows. Here are some of her progresses since we've been home:

- First tooth has emerged!

- Second tooth is coming through!

- Her happy, smiling personality is coming back now that she doesn't have as much pain from the teeth

- She gets stronger every day and can almost pull herself up by herself and cannot crawl but scoots backwards if placed on her belly

- still working on the grasping technique of cheerios but she is getting there - if she grabs a whole handful and tries to stuff them in,usually one will stick to her lips and she can get it in.

- She doesn't like to be confined so the car seat is very challenging - she scoots her body down over the belt clip so I have to scoot her back up, dig around for the clip (which never stays in place) and then get all the hooks in place while she wiggles and squirms her way out of the harness and screams at me for being so mean as to make her sit bound to a seat that doesn't move.

- Her sleep has gotten more and more disruptive, not sure if it's because of the break in schedule from her in childcare or whether it's just the teeth waking her in the night but we often find her flipped completely around and sometimes even on her belly in her crib at night. We usually get up several times a night just to relocate the binky and cover her back up.

First Days in Daycare...

Well, everyone is wondering why I haven't been writing I'm sure ;) it's been a week now since I've returned to work and things are going fairly well.... We are having some adjustment issues with the new "rules" plus Jaiden is teething and they hurt her terribly so she is not such a happy girl this week.

The new "rules" of being in care under the Family Childcare Center (FCC)

- cannot have cereal mixed in bottle this is a HUGE issue because if you remember from our meager beginnings it took a while to find a bottle and mix that Jaiden would accept and finally we found she likes room temperature milk shakes (nice THICK pudding consistency milk)so needless to say she is not taking to the puny runny stuff too well.

- cannot be in separate room to sleep...and no crib ANOTHER huge issue because she cannot sleep without a dark and quiet room so she is totally exhausted when I pick her up at 5 - meaning she wants to sleep and we don't get much time to interact with her unless we want to stay up into the wee hours of the night...so this is not going so well.

She's been eating good and Ms Susy is nice so maybe in another day or so we will adjust into some sort of a routine...until then we are not digging this new situation very much.

One month ago...was Adoption Day!!!

Exactly one month ago today Jaiden was placed into our arms and adopted into our family forever. Cody made a special video today (unknowing that it was a special anniversary) here it is. Hope you enjoy! Please post comments for Cody (he did a great job didn't he?) You may have to hit the play button (arrow) twice to get the video to play. Let me know if it's not working.

Hair Help!

(Before Photo) Help! I just can't stand it anymore - my hair that is. It is a thick wad of brownish red funky horse tail hanging around my face and I don't know what to do with it! I am going in for a haircut tommorrow (Friday the 13th) and I need some suggestions. When I made the appt and the lady made the comment "oh it's on Friday the 13th I accidentally popped out with "oh I hope I don't look too scary when I leave here" luckily the guy that is cutting my hair has a great sense of humor (and is a great stylist)...he laughed! I really would like to try something different. My hair right now is LONG and permed - it is naturally straight, thick and blah! I hate it to be straight so I would like a curly layered look that is low maintenance.



(After Photo) I lost 10 lbs!!! It felt like I was floating :)

1st day in daycare

Today Daddy returned to work and Jaiden went to play at Ms Suzy's for a while. Dad is still not feeling 100% like himself yet but he's doing much better after the 4 day Migraine.

Ms Suzy is really nice and we think she will take good care of our ladybug. Daddy works nights so she is only in care for 3 hours a day usually. Today it was 5 hrs and she was a bit overstimulated by all the children but she did really well.

In sickness and in health...

I couldn't decide where to put this update since it doesn't revolve around Jaiden but since she was such a good sport and went along with me and kept me very entertained - as well as all the patients and doctors, then I will highlight our last two days events here. What day is it anyway? I seem to have lost track. If today is Tuesday it is the day that I was planning on returning to work. But instead I had a reprive of sorts and got one extra special day to spend with my family. This is how it went down:

Sunday: Beautiful warm and sunny day so we decided to get out and enjoy it so we took the kids for a walk to the park. Then we took a walk to the walkplatz where everyone (and their brother) was out and walking the walkplatz and even the street (the street was blocked off so that people could walk on it but habit kept me drifting back onto the sidewalk) shops were actually open on a Sunday (it was awesome!!!) I've not seen that many stores open on the walkplatz ever and I kept saying "Wow, I didn't know that store was there" amazing what you can find out when the stores stay open during American shopping hours :) *Usually stores close at around 2pm on Saturday here - I'm just getting warmed up by that time on a Saturday!

Anyway, the boys didn't want to shop so we took them home and Scott, Jaiden and I headed back to the platz to shop. Didn't realize it would be to Scott's demise. He had a slight headache but thought nothing much of it, but by the time we got back home his head was throbbing and he was starting to feel a migraine coming on. He hadn't had one in about 20 years but used to get them really bad as a teen. He popped some meds and went to bed hoping to sleep it off.

The next day (Monday) Columbus Day we had another beautiful day. I finally had some motivation to paint our entry table which has gone unfinished for way long enough (3 years) I went to the store for supplies and left Dad couched with the kids. They had more fun watching cartoons than being dragged around a hardware store. I returned to find him feeling much worse by late evening he was begging to go to the ER and he doesn't normally go to see a doc unless he is on his last leg so this was pretty serious. So the boys stayed home and Jaiden and I hauled Daddy over to the ER for some help. 2.5 hours later I left Daddy at ER, took Jaiden home to her crib and then headed back to ER. Dad had been pumped full of fluids and drugs but he was sicker than I've ever seen him. The doc let him go home hoping he would sleep it off but he was sick most of the night and got up every hour so he didn;t get much rest. By morning he was much worse so I got him an early morning appt with our family doc and spent the morning rehydrating. By noon he still didn't feel any better so we got a refferal for a cat scan at a local hospital...which was quite an adventure in itself. We finished there and headed back to see our base doc with the results on disk - nothing was wrong which is a huge relief but he still didn't feel any better so he got a shot of something no one in the clinic had ever administered and had been sitting on the shelf for about 10 years - it made him puke but a few minutes later the throbbing in the head had minimized YAY!!! He still feels like poo and will need a re-evaluation in the am but for now we seem to have cleared migraine mountain and are making our way down the other side.

*Ok now the part about Jaiden...she did GREAT in the waiting room! She kept us all entertained bouncing in her squeaky shoes and smiling at everyone. She still loves to be flipped and held up "flying" and our new game is "stretch and tickle" it's so cute - I'll have to try to catch it on video somehow. While she's laying in my lap facing me, I stretch her legs out towards me and she stretches her arms out above her head while she dangles over my knees and then I tickle her armpits...she loves it! Mommy got quite a workout today!

Side note - we have been spending entirely too much time in doctors offices in the past two weeks. What is going on??? I feel like I have a sign hanging over my head saying "You're next!" So I have not gone back to work yet - tommorrow we have a morning followup and hopefully Daddy will be back to his normal self again. I really miss him. When he is sick he is a big baby so it has been like having another child to take care of. Ok I hear Jaiden calling - gotta go!

14 Days!

Wow! I can't believe that we have been home for 14 days already!!! It seems just moments ago we were still waiting for our referral...and now our daughter is here!

Were oh were has the time gone? I will be returning to work on Tuesday...:( and I am so going to miss those little moments spent being just a Mommy.

We have discovered that Jaiden is quite the little gymnist wanna be! She loves to be twirled - yes twirled around and around in the air! I can only do two flips before she wears me out but she will be squealing for more when I'm done - she is going to love gymnastics, roller coasters and high flying adventure! She LOVES to go, go, go!

She seems to be getting stronger and more balanced every day and very soon she will have the courage to let our fingers go and take those precocious first steps. I am amazed by this little child and her spunk to embrace the challenges in her path. I know she is destined for great things when I observe her observing everything around her with keen interest and reaching out to touch and feel it as well. She is very inquisitive about everything around her and doesn't want to miss a thing.

Jared and Cody continue to be doting big brothers too, amazing me every day with the way they rush to take care of their sis when she needs something. She adores them too, even when they get a bit smotherly and overwhelming. She has been sleeping very well and is starting to get over her chest cold. All the kids have been sick with various bugs since we've been back and they are all starting to work it out of their systems. Jared still has a cough but it seems to be getting better.

Jaiden attended her first birthday party today and did great with all the other babies and it was fun to get a hands on review of all the cool new toys on the market - this kid had them all! We had planned to do a homecoming celebration for Jaiden next weekend but had to cancel - it seems someone's baby shower was scheduled for that same date and time. Never mind that our adoption took years to complete and no one will ever throw Jaiden a shower to celebrate her birth...Could I please rescedule? Uh, no I don't think so - sorry if our being in existance interferes with your life. Yes, I am still a bit annoyed about it and yesterday I had a hard time with it and even got me to wondering if I even have any real friends but I'm doing a little better today after my all day pity party. Yes it would be nice to have one true friend but a party is nothing but mandantory fun if people don't want to be there...and I'm not about to force or coerce someone into coming to anything else since they obviously have much better things to do. Jaiden really doesn't need "stuff" and superficial friends are only temporary anyway so it really doesn't matter. We have the greatest gift ever and nothing is going to take that happiness away.

Photo of the week

Cutie Pie! (Favorite toys - empty bottles and chip clips)

I have to applaud stay at home moms

Today was an initiation into the life of a Professional Mom. The day began at 0430 am when Jared woke with a tummy ache. After some milk, french toast sticks, a dose of pepto, a trip to the potty and an episode of Barney he is feeling better but I have a splitting headache, and would love to fall back to sleep for another hour. But it's time to prepare a lunch, finish homework and check on Cody who came home at midnight last night from having emergency surgery on his throat. He is doing much better but the doc recommends that his wisdom teeth be removed...he will be out of school for two weeks. Spend some time with hubby who braved the thunderstorm and rain late in the night to take Cody to the doctor an hour away since we have no decent medical facility in our military community (We live 2 min from a German hospital but can only use this facility in a dire emergency)Then is time to take Jared to kindergarten, gather together all books and school parafinalia, locate shoes etc. pull out the winter jackets since it has turned winter in Germany, and head out. Maneuver between the mulitude of minivans in the parking lot and squeeze in between two - gosh I don't miss the minivan a bit right about now! Hurry Jared inside and watch him put away all his things in their proper areas without even having to be told a dozen times where they go (now why can't he do that at home?)
Head home to play with baby, she is in a very good mood after a full nights sleep (didn't wake up until 0730 and was asleep by 7:30 pm) Go to MOPS with my friend Heather (a 2 hr spill your guts session with lots of much younger super moms and their screaming babies - I don't spill my guts out loud so this was awkward for me) Came home, had lunch (or rather fed baby my lunch)and then got ready to pick Jared up from school, took Jaiden to a doctor's appt (went all the way to the other base (15 miles) only to find out that the appt was at Bitburg)luckily I was way early so we make it to the other side in time to find the way to the reception desk blocked by a little girl sprawled out on the floor screaming in pain because she had thrown herself on the floor and dislocated her elbow (her parent's were like "oh no worries she's done this before" well could she have her little self abusive tantrum somewhere other than the front desk of Pediatrics? Gosh! So Jared watches his sis out in the hallway while I scoot past the little girl and check in...amist her screams...not so much of pain but of I want my Mommy to pay attention to me. While the whole entire clinic has her attention the Mom is trying not to play into her little overblown drama bit while still being concerned about the elbow which is grossly disfigured. We get all checked in and directed to the quiet zone...the waiting area and see the little girl come out of the docs office with her dad in tow - perfectly fine and her dad says "you ready to go to ballet class? and she says "uh huh" oh my gosh! What the heck did we just witness? I guess throwing her arm out is a normal everyday occurance. I just shake my head and wonder sometimes. It's finally Jaiden's turn and we get to go do the strip and weigh the naked baby routine in a much too cold room. This is going to work wonders on the cold Jaiden has had since the day we met her. I ask the doc about it and all he says is "oh just keep her on the stuff you're already giving her" like dude - it's freakin not workin! He doesn't seem to hear me - maybe I just imagined saying that. Her lungs sound fine he says "Never mind the rumbling in her chest" I reply - "oh yeah that just sounds like she's a bit congested" the doc replies I'd like to say "Where'd you get your certification - the back of a band aids box?" I refrain and politely ask "is there anything you can give or recommend for that?" "No just give her some Robotussin" he says After a while we are finally done and given a clear bill of health - have to get blood drawn at the lab to make sure she doesn't have Hepatitis and take some x-rays to make sure she doesn't have typhoid disease but gosh golly we've got ourselves a healthy Asian baby. Yes, it felt a bit like we were being run through the gammet for bringing a foreigner into our world. It was oh such a bit annoying. It gave me a short burst of perverse pleasure when Jared jacked up his chair on the way out :)

*By the way - what is a simplified answer to a 5 year olds question of what the stirrups are used for on an examining table? I think Jared examined every moving object in the examination room today and that was one item that just fascinated him. I told him people put their feet in the stirrups for the exam and he said "so the doctor could examine their FEET?" Uh, not exactly sweetie...we'll talk about that another time.

On to the lab, where we had blood taken - it came from Jaiden but you could have said we all felt the pain. She was doing great and they were poking and prodding her to find that tiny itty bitty vein but when they poked her and just held her arm down for about 20 min she'd had enough and it was all the two techs and I could do to keep her in place. It took forver to fill that massive tube and I thought they were about to drain her but they finally stopped and said they would ration what they had to get the tests done that they needed.

Then to X-rays - she smiled pretty for the camera. Guess she didn't realize it was a photo of her insides but I enjoyed it :) Jared sat nicely out in the waiting room...after trying to dance with the skeleton on display.

Finally we were done!!! We celebrated with McDonalds cheeseburgers and strawberry shakes! Num Num! Jaiden passed her first home medical exam with flying colors in the good attitude department and Jared won the best door opener award for helping Mommy to get around carring Jaiden on one hip and a baby carrier on the other...for some reason when the baby is in those contraptions they weigh 10x their weight! So it was just easier to carry one on each side.

Whew! It's been an exhausting day - oh and I forgot to mention that after I'd gotten the kiddos bathed and ready for bed, had given Jaiden her bottle and then picked her up to burp her and she unloaded on me, herself and Jared's playmat in his room...so it was back to square one - bathe, lotion, new jammies, bottle etc...for us both.

So I totally respect anyone that can take on the task on being a Professional Mom. It has got to be the toughest most grueling job on the entire planet - I am a Working Mom so I wear dual hats but I think my day is not nearly as draining as that of a full time Mom. It's also the most wonderful job I've ever had and I am gong to miss this so much when I have to go back to work next week - It's been such an extrordinary time to share with my children the joys and concerns of their days. I've so enjoyed just being there when they wake, being there when they head off to school, being there when they need me, being there when they don't and just watching them play, being there in the early afternoon before we all all too drained to think straight, being there to enjoy an afternoon snack, being there to enjoy a nice dinner together, being there to tuck them in to bed each night and not rush through it so that I can get to bed as soon as they are asleep, being able to blog about these moments...aaaaah it is a joyful time indeed.