My Journey for a Family

Recooperating

2011-09-03T19:50:00.000-07:00

Well- life is busy as always. I just had arthroscopic surgery on my right knee 2 days ago for a torn meniscus. I am doing ok. Actually kind of enjoying having some time off work and relaxing. My friends have been making me meals for the last few days and I've been watching some movies and reading and catching up on life.So, it's not all bad. But, you know, it's always something... Kyle decided to run a crazy 105.6 fever this afternoon. So Jack took him to Urgent Care BY HIMSELF. That was a first. He did good... but couldn't even tell the doctor who our regular pediatrician is. Gotta love men. What would they do without women? It would not be pretty.

Kyle is doing well otherwise. He is about 38 inches tall and weighs about 30 lbs. He is swimming really well and taking swim lessons again. He is obsessed with gum and chapstick (chappy) and loves his stuffed animals (his lovies)- especially the cats and chihuahuas. I still have not been able to wean him off of diapers at night... but we are trying. He is tough to get to sleep tonight... it's always something... one more kiss, one more hug, one more potty break, one more question, one more whatever.... It wears on me sometimes. He is talking really well but still pronounces his F's like Sh's . So if he says fish... he says shish.

Well, gonna drink some sangria and chill on couch now with ice packs on me knee.

Kyle's Annual Adoption Report

2011-08-08T20:51:00.000-07:00

Health Status/Concerns:
Kyle is healthy, growing and gaining weight. He is now 38” tall and weighs 31 lbs. He has outgrown most of his milk intolerance and handles many milk products now. He can eat cheese and ice cream now. He still drinks almond milk. He no longer has problems with diarrhea. He still has a sensitive gag reflex when he coughs. If he gets a cold and starts coughing, he vomits easily. He is fairly healthy now and only occasionally has to go to the doctor for the occasional ear or sinus infection from a cold. He gets an annual doctor preventative exam and is current on all his vaccines. Kyle goes to a pediatric dentist twice a year for check-ups and to have his teeth cleaned. His teeth are doing well and he still has the caps in that were put in last year. He loves having his teeth brushed and flossed and likes to rinse with minty mouthwash.

Motor Skills/ Language Development:
Kyle has always had excellent fine and gross motor skills. He is running and climbing all over everything. He has taken swimming lessons last summer and early fall and is currently in swimming lessons again. He is a good swimmer for his age and can front crawl for about 10 feet and swim under water, jump off the side of the pool, and hold his breath. He is also good at gymnastics. He is very flexible and athletic. He likes to draw and can cut with scissors. His language skills are average for his age. He is very talkative and learns quickly. He is very curious and wants to know why and how things work. He asks lots of questions about everything all the time. He wants an answer. He thinks like an engineer.

Daily Routine/ Activities:

Kyle is a very active little boy. When he is not sleeping, he is on the go! He usually sleeps a total of 12 hours a day. He sleeps 10 hours at night and takes 1 nap a day for another 1- 2 hours. When he gets up in the morning, he likes to snuggle on the couch, drink his milk, hold his “lovies” (stuffed animals) and watch cartoons. His favorite thing is cars and trucks. He likes to see them, ride in them, read books about them, play with toy cars, and watch movies about cars. He even likes to wear clothes and pajamas with cars on them. We usually go outside to play every day. He likes to go swimming a lot in the summer. He also likes to push his toy lawn mower or pull carts/ wagons around. He also loves to climb on and ride the tractor with his dad and play on toy cars. He loves his older sister and they play together every day.

Kyle loves books. He picks out his favorite books with pictures and likes to sit in our lap for us to read it to him. Of course, his favorite books are about cars. I usually take Kyle to the library at least once a week. He knows exactly where the books and movies about cars are. He likes to watch and read about cars, Monster trucks, military trucks, construction vehicles, and race cars.

Kyle’s mother works part-time and he goes to daycare at a private home from 8am-3pm every day. There is only 3 other children there so he is very comfortable and gets a lot of personal attention. He has been going to the same daycare since he was 10 months old. He plays well with the other kids. They love to play pretend and play together. Last fall and spring, Kyle took a tumbling class and gymnastics class once a week. He loved it and is very athletic and has lots of energy. He will resume one of these classes this fall.

Social/ Emotional Development:
Kyle is truly a part of our family. He is very attached to his parents, his sister, his daycare provider and other children at daycare. He gives lots of hugs and kisses to his family and likes to snuggle beside us on the couch. We never leave the house without a hug and a kiss. He comes to us for comfort and reassurance. He accepts strangers well if his family is with him and he is in his “own environment”. However, he is wary of strangers in a new environment without his parents close by. Sometimes in new situations he can be a little shy. But once he is comfortable, he is very outgoing and talkative. He gets along well with his sister, the other children at his daycare, and other children in the neighborhood.

Kyle is very opinionated and can have a temper. He knows what he likes and wants and can have the occasional temper tantrum if he does not get his way. He likes structure and order. He is very clean and likes things organized and clean. He likes to do things by himself and is very independent. He is now potty trained and only uses a diaper at night. He can use the bathroom by himself most of the time without help. One of his favorite things right now is to chew gum. He LOVES gum.

Achievements and Accomplishments:
Kyle is a very accomplished swimmer and very good at gymnastics for his age. He can do front rolls and back bends in his tumbling class. He can doodle with crayons and cut with scissors. He is walking and running and climbing on things. Everyone we meet thinks he is cute and sweet. He can feed himself with a spoon or fork, and eat finger foods. He drinks out of a sippy cup and or a cup with a straw. Kyle is now sleeping in a toddler bed. We potty trained him last year. It was very easy. He occasionally likes to ride our horses being hand-led. He loves to go on tractor rides with his dad. He is a joy and we love him very much!!!

Devin's thoughts on Mothers

2011-06-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some questions I asked Devin and her answers (Age 6)--- Kyle could not answer any of them....

Why did God make mothers?

because they give their kids candy and ice cream.

What ingredients are mothers made of?

salad

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

Because she loves me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?

a blond haired girl.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

that he loved her

Why did your mom marry your dad?

Because they love each other.

Who's the boss at your house?

Mom and Dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?

Dads don't like cookies and Moms do.

What does your mom do in her spare time?

eat cookies, have popcorn, watch movies, rest, drink soda, and sleep.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?

having donuts and she's beautiful.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?

nope

Zumba with carlos at lifetime fitness goodyear,az

2011-04-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

I Love Carlos and Zumba at Lifetime Fitness. That's all I can say about that. It's like clubbing every weekend which I so sorely miss.

Chip

2011-03-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

Well. We got the puppy a little over a week ago. To say he is too cute is an understatement. He is the cutest. He looks like Gizmo from "The Gremlins". I asked our new sitter if she knew what a gremlin was and she never heard of them. I guess that means I'm officially old. The first night, Devin got scared with Chip in her room and Jack slept on the floor with them. The 2nd night, she got scared again and started to cry and Chip ended up in her room and she ended up in my bed. The 3rd night, Chip ended up in my room and Devin back to her room. Hmmm.... Anyway, he has been in my room ever since sleeping in the crate. He does really well and has slept through the night the last few nights. He's really smart and sleeps next to my feet.

Tonight, Devin's friend Katie is sleeping over. They have become great friends. Kyle has been a pistol this week... lots of time-outs and being sent to his room. They had "spring break" this week and we had another Katie sit for us. She is great and will sit for us next weekend when Jack and I celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Wow. Can you believe it? Well, I'm on emergency duty this weekend and was out till 10pm last night and worked this morning. So, I'm gonna watch "24" now on Netflix...

Deja Vu

2011-02-24T09:39:00.000-08:00

Yup. Deja vu. Sick kids. Again. I swear Kyle has been sick about 4-5x this winter. Had to leave Vegas early and drive home last night. Jack sent Devin to school yesterday and Kyle to daycare. They both hacked their way through the day and Kyle spiked a fever at Ms. Julie's. When I got home, Devin had a 103 degree fever. Yea. So, I am still in jammies with kids today. Hope I don't get it... eating echinacea and vitamins like candy. :). There is some nasty virus going around.

Meanwhile, Jay is still in hospital but doing well. He is getting some rehab while they are trying to make arrangements for in-home care for Jay & Jean. The plan right now is to move Jay & Jean (Jack's parents) into Dave's home (Jack's brother). Since Dave's wife Geri also needs 24 hour care b/c of her degenerative brain disorder... all 3 of them will live there with Dave. He is retired now and takes care of Geri. But, we are working on hiring someone to help out Dave... especially at night. Jack and his brothers would chip in money to help out for their care. Kathy won't b/c she is changing careers AGAIN and just let her house go.

On a good note, Devin is going to get a puppy soon. We promised her she could have a puppy this summer when she turns 7 yrs old. Well, our neighbor's dog, Pistol, had puppies recently and we picked out one of her pups. We just love their dog... great family dog and loves kids. We were planning on getting a sibling of Pistol's when her parents were re-bred. But, then she got pregnant...so we are getting one of her pups instead. Devin picked out a cute boy pup which she has named Chip. She told me she gets to name him b/c "It's my dog Mom and I get to name him." Point taken. I did veto so crazy names like Cherry and Yellow Jacket. But, Chip was ok. He looks like a "Chip". He is now 4 weeks old... brown roan with white and black markings. He is 3/4 Corgi and 1/4 Heeler with docked tail. We wanted a small dog... and vetoed a chihuahua... nippy/ yappy dogs. So, this one should be a cutie. She will get him in a couple weeks.

$h%t has hit the fan.

2011-02-22T19:21:00.000-08:00

Yup. Life got complicated again. I am now in Vegas for veterinary conference. Gonna have to leave home a day early tomorrow. Jack's dad had a mild stroke over the weekend. I ended up leaving 1/2 day late to get here. Didn't get here till late Sunday night. Jack's dad is doing better but not being a good patient. Tried to check himself out of hospital on Monday. Meanwhile, everyone is scrambling to take care of Jack's Mom who needs 24 hour care. She is now at Dave & Geri's and isn't happy. Then, Devin gets sick yesterday and had to stay home from school today. Now Jack, Kyle and Devin are sick and Jack is stressed. So, I will check out early tomorrrow. Gotta enjoy my last brief night.

On a good note, was on TV last week for working on a horse named Sugar who fell into irrigation canal. Quite a big story and rescue to get her out. I had 3 TV stations interview me. She is doing well and still at our clinic.

Well, gotta go get dinner with some friends. And so it goes...

Got my mojo back.

2011-02-13T19:40:00.001-08:00

Finally got my mojo back. It's been back for about 3 months now. I finally feel myself again. I felt like such a dark cloud was over us for the past 2 years. Jack has gone through multiple jobs since Hubbell. I hope he has finally found his nitch at Tel Tech. Since my dad was diagnosed and died from cancer... it was just a struggle. I was VERY close to my dad. Still miss him a lot but his light shines in me. I think of him often but remember the good things.

Last summer was tough with Devin's school anxiety... but she has really shined these last few months. She is doing REALLY well... she is doing great in school and extra-curricular activities. She is now riding the school bus home, buying her lunch, and having no anxiety anymore. In the last month, she has had 4 sleepovers with her friends Rowyn and Katie. Let me tell you, happy kids equals happy mom. When my kids aren't happy, either am I. I am so pleased she is doing so well. Her light is really shining and I feel like Devin has finally turned the corner to my happy, anxiety-free child I knew she could be. She just got her 3rd quarter report card and it was all good. She wanted to re-join the Little Gym in the grade school "Flips" class and is still doing dance at Steppin Out studio. Last weekend, at the Superbowl, she even did rock climbing. I was shocked!!!

As for me, I've been riding more. Rode Moon and Chase last weekend. Rode Chase at Estrella Mtn Park today with Lynne. Been working out more and just started Zumba which I love. Been going to more functions with friends and drinking and just lettin' my hair down and having fun which I haven't let myself do for a LONG time. Been out with friends 3-4 times in the last 2 months. So, it's been great. Jack and I are doing well and will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary next month. He cooked for the Mom's Night Out Dutch Oven Cookout at our house last night. Also,I've been reading more and doing some scrap albums and watching 24 on Netflix. It seems the happier I am, the more I accomplish. Plus, I really feel like I've been spending quality time with the family as well... we went to Devin's school Valentine's dance on Friday night. Been going to the library once a week with the kids. Been taking the kids riding. Been taking the kids to all their after-school activities. We've been going to more parties as a family as well. Another thing we've been trying really hard to do is have "family night" once a week together. We also went to the Monster Truck Jam recently. Kyle and Devin loved it. Note to self... wear ear plugs next time. LOL. I definitely got my mojo back. Yea. Next weekend, I go to Vegas for the Western States Veterinary Conference for 4 days. Hope Jack survives the mayhem without me! I will think of it as "Traci appreciation week!" He will realize how much I really do!

Except for illness, life is good.

2011-02-05T18:17:00.000-08:00

Well, we have had our share of illness for the last 6 weeks... typical winter flus and colds. Course, Kyle catches every single one of them and gets it the worst! It started with him getting sick with a GI virus the week before Christmas during our Colorado trip in December. Fortunately, it didn't last long. Then, he got sick on Christmas Eve. I stayed home with him and Jack and Devin went to Jack's parent's house. They are not doing well. Jean's health is failing and she has recurrent UTI's. Then, on Christmas day, Kyle spiked a 105 fever. So, off we go to Urgent Care.... and then back again when they told us it's just a virus. That resolved. Then, mid-January, Kyle and I both got sick with a nasty cold/flu virus. About a week later, it turned into a sinus infection for both of us. Back to the doctor for both of us... and on antibiotics. On day 8 of antibiotics, Kyle spikes another fever and develops a cough from another virus. And so it goes. Today, we had to cancel his "makeup" class for Little Gym b/c he was coughing (which also means barfing) too much this morning. Yes, his sensitive gag reflex is still in full effect. Meaning, every time he gets a cold or cough, he will gag or cough until he vomits. It's lovely.

Besides the winter cold blues, we are doing pretty well. Jack just switched jobs again for the 4th? time in 2 years. I hope this is the one. We shall see... I have been trying to get back into working out again. Hard to do when I have a cold or sinus infection... but trying. I just took up Zumba and love it. Have actually gone out a few times with friends in the last month. I am starting to feel "myself" again after a rough 2010. I'm getting my mojo back! Tomorrow, we are going to Pat & Beth's house for the Superbowl. Should be fun. Today, I rode Moon & Chase and they did great. Last weekend, we had our annual client education seminar at our vet clinic. I spoke on colic. I think I did ok... maybe a little nervous... but ok.

Devin has been doing awesome. She has had a couple playdates and sleepovers lately. As a matter of fact, she is having Katie over tonight. She had 2 sleepovers with Rowyn last month. We are totally encouraging it and on board. Anything which will increase her self confidence is great. She has been doing really well in school and is now riding the bus home. She has been doing that for about 3 weeks now... all her idea and a HUGE milestone in our house. She is still doing ballet/tap class too.

Kyle is doing well despite all his illnesses. Speaking of, Devin said something really funny the other day... I was explaining to her what "donate" means and why her school is donating money for sick kids. She says, "We should collect all the coins in our house and donate them to Kyle b/c he is sick all the time Mom." How do you argue with that logic?! LOL. Anyway, I signed up Kyle for Little Gym's gymnastic class at the beginning of January. He LOVES it!! He is an absolute maniac and sweats up a storm. He is talking like crazy and now will go to the potty (for pee) all by himself (we give him a treat if he goes by himself). Still car crazy. We took the whole family last Sat night to the Monster Truck Jam. He loved it.

Snow Trip in December

2011-02-05T18:02:00.000-08:00

Time flies.... can't believe its been 6 weeks since I last posted. Well, we did have a great trip to Durango Colorado. We got Devin on skiis and skiing the baby hill for the first time. I got to ski with my friend Mo in the afternoons. We had a great time with her family sharing a rental condo for 5 days. Unfortunately, Kyle got a GI virus the first couple days which set him back a little. Poor little man. It's always something. Kyle did get a chance to play in the snow and even go tubing with the family and he loved it. We did "everything" snow since we rarely see it. Snowball fights, snow angels, building a snow man, eating snow, skiing and tubing. It snowed like crazy while we were there. A HUGE winter snow storm... almost 3-4 feet!!! We did not plan for this and drove our 2 wheel drive car... mistake we will not repeat. We almost didn't make it up and down the mountain a few times. Scary. Next time we will rent a 4 wheel drive (we had JUST sold our 4 wheel drive truck a month before).

We also did the Polar Express Train Ride. On the whole I would give it a C rating. I heard wonderful things about it.. but it was a bit of a disappointment to Devin. The whole time they were really revving up the kids that they were going to the "real" north pole to see Santa. Well, we rode the train (which was very cool) to a location that looked very fake. I've seen much better decorated houses to be honest. They had reindeer cut out of wood standing up next to Santa's sleigh. Devin was like.... "Mom, the reindeer are fake!" So , I made up some story about the real reindeer being in the barn eating dinner. She didn't buy it. Later, she asked me if next year we can go to the "real North Pole and not the fake one." Oh well.

Off to Durango, Colorado

2010-12-18T12:16:00.000-08:00

Well, we are off to Durango, Colorado tomorrow for some skiing, sledding and Polar Express with my vet school friend Mo and her family. Should be alot of fun. Can't wait. Just gotta pack and put together some winter clothes. Had to find them all in storage and have my kids try them on. Also had to go to 2nd hand store to buy Devin a "real" winter jacket and also went to Kohl's yesterday to buy Kyle another pair of "closed toe shoes" for the trip. Can't wear sandals in the snow!

Kids & I went to see Santa the other day and they had a great time. Kyle wasn't scared and they both told Santa what they want. Devin wants Zhu Zhu Pets, Pet shop pets, and a pretend dog. Kyle wants a cement and garbage truck (of course). They both smiled for the camera and we got a great picture ... a miracle.

Well, Kyle is sleeping now ... so gotta do laundry and pack.

The tooth fairy is coming tonight.

2010-12-16T18:44:00.001-08:00

Well, Punky Doodle (aka Devin) lost her 2nd tooth tonight. Thanks to Aunt Krista who is the official "tooth extractor" for Devin now. She won't let me pull her teeth- but will let Krista do it. So, the tooth fairy is coming to our house tonight. Don't know what that going rate is... but we've been giving her $2 per tooth. She really doesn't know the value of money anyway. I was really proud of her when her first tooth came out a few weeks ago. She got $2 bucks from the tooth fairy. We told her we would take her to the dollar store to spend it anyway she wants. When we got there, she gave Kyle half her money ($1) b/c she wanted him to have something too. I was so proud of her. It was totally her idea.

Devin had her first dance recital for Stepping Out last weekend. We were really proud of her. She did great on stage and had no anxiety about being left back stage or going on stage with the other girls. She also did the Daddy/daughter dance at the beginning with her dad and it was really sweet.

Devin is doing great in school now. No anxiety and really happy. It has been good.

Had a productive day... got my new truck's(which I love) title and license plate. I got all my Christmas cards finally done. I got all my stuff in the garage donated to the Goodwill. Went to the gym. Had popcorn and beer for dinner (yummy). Catching up on my blog. Watching Vampire Diaries. It's a good day.

Christmas Newsletter 2010

2010-12-12T13:34:00.000-08:00

Here is a copy of my Christmas newsletter this year....

Merry Christmas 2010!
A lot has happened over the last year… we’ve had our ups and downs this past year. 2010 started with me & the kids traveling to Delaware in February for a week during the “biggest snowstorm” in the last century. We went to visit my parents, and especially to see my dad who was still going through chemo and radiation treatments for brain cancer. We had a great visit with my parents and sister, Katherine. Devin loved the snow and cold. To say Kyle didn’t like the cold is an understatement. Sadly, my father passed away 3 weeks later. We then all traveled back to Delaware for another week for his funeral and to be with my family.
For the rest of the spring and summer, we kept busy with everyday activities and work. The kids both took swim lessons all summer. They are both great swimmers and love the water. Kyle even moved up to the 3-4 yr old class at 2 ½ because the kid has no fear in the water…scary for the lifeguards and me, great for him. Kyle is doing well. He has been fully potty trained since July and just turned 3 yrs in November. He is talking up a storm and has been using full sentences since last summer. We mostly hear… “Why? I’m hungry! I want to do that!” ... ALL DAY LONG. . He is still car and truck crazy and wants a “purple Mac truck” and cement truck from Santa this year. Devin turned 6 yrs old in August. Devin finished preschool in July and started kindergarten in August which caused some school anxiety. So, it was very stressful for all of us the first couple months of school. Thankfully, she is doing well and enjoys school now. Devin has been doing tap/ballet classes for the last 6 months and likes it. She just had her first successful recital this weekend. Currently, “all she wants for Christmas is her 2 front teeth”. She recently lost a tooth and has one ready to go anytime…can’t convince her to let me pull them out even though I do it all the time with horses!
Jack is now working for Netsian. They offered him a job this past summer. He used to work for them about 10 yrs ago when they were Adkins Cabling. He is glad to be back in his nitch and enjoys working there again. He is still actively Dutch oven cooking and does fly fishing when he can. In October and November, he suffered from severe sciatica which was very painful (literally a pain in the @$$). He is almost completely healed now. Sadly, Jack also lost his brother, Joe, in September. We recently had a memorial service for Joe in Camp Verde the day after Thanksgiving.
My mom came out to visit for the month of October. It was great to have her here and we celebrated her 80th birthday in conjunction with an Arizona Bradshaw reunion at our house that weekend. My 3 sisters, Vicki, Katherine and Susan, flew out for the weekend to celebrate. We had about 40 relatives come to the reunion and it was a great success to see family during a happy occasion. We also had our annual Thanksgiving Bash at our house with about 50-60 relatives (mostly Jack’s). We had our usual horseback rides, tractor rides, fire pit, and potluck dinner.
I am still working actively as a horse vet. I still love my job and try to balance being a working mother and veterinarian. Not always easy to do. I crave boredom. In between all this, I try to find time for myself with Mom’s Club activities, working out, and riding my horses when I can. This spring, I went on a painting rampage in the back and power-washed and repainted the pool fence, the storage shed, our barn, and tack shed. Stress reliever--- kind of…until you realize you now need to finish these monumental projects that you started. We are looking forward to a much overdue vacation in late December with my vet school friend, Mo, and her family, in Durango, Colorado. We plan to go on the train ride the “Polar Express” to the North Pole to see Santa with the kids. We hope to get a little skiing and sledding in with the family (if we can convince Kyle to go out in the “coldy” snow).
Hoping all of you have a great 2011… Love, Traci, Jack, Devin & Kyle Hulse

Crisis Mode is Finally Over

2010-12-01T16:23:00.000-08:00

Ok. Sadly, I have not blogged for awhile. I feel like my life has been somewhat in constant crisis mode from August through October. It finally started slowing down in November. So, now I am in "catch up" mode. I will try to be a better blogger. So, what has kept me so busy... Well, besides work, kids, husband and farm.....

On my last blog I discussed Devin having problems in school. That was the tip of the iceburg. It was a complete nightmare for 6-8 weeks. She had a REALLY hard time adjusting to school. The school was NOT helpful despite me asking for a counselor, coming every day at lunch to sit with her, picking her up early, etc.... She cried hysterically everyday at drop off for over a month. The school was not helpful and kept sending her to the principal's office or by herself every time she cried. It made it worse. She wasn't eating well, losing weight, etc. On top of it, my pediatrician's office wouldn't allow me to make an appt to talk to my doctor about it. Being fed up, I switched my pediatrician. I loved their doctor, but didn't like the front office staff AT ALL. So, we have a new doctor now. Anyway, finally, I got in touch with the school "psychologist" (not "counselor") after much prodding and investigating on my own. Still don't understand why it took over a month for this to happen- not a single person in their school suggested this to me. And let me tell you.... EVERYONE in the school knew she was having a problem... the principal, the nurse, her teacher, the front office staff, the lunch ladies... etc. Still don't get it. Anyway, the school psychologist and our new doctor really helped us and got Devin and her teacher on the right track. She is doing much better now and seems to like school now. During this whole saga, I was running around with my head cut off... running between school, Kyle's daycare, Devin's school... back to work, back to daycare... I got REALLy sick for weeks at the end of August and missed a few days at work. Ended up at the doctors myself with a sinus infection.

During this time, work got crazy in September. My boss and all the other vets at the practice decided to go on vacation or take time off at the same time... leaving me to do all the work myself. It was a nightmare. During this time, my husband's brother, Joe had a massive stroke and died a week later. Jack was by his side all week and it was just stressful all around.

In October, my mother came to visit for a month. It was great to have her here. The kids loved having their grandmother here. During this time, we decided to have a mini- family reunion and 80th birthday party for my mom. Well, it ended up being a huge "party weekend". My 3 sisters flew in and we all went out to eat to celebrate my Mom's birthday. Then, we had a party and family reunion at my house all day the next day. I thought it was going to be a small party of 15-20 people. It ended up about 40 people. Then, we had "spa day" with my sisters and Mom. That was fun and I really needed it. My sisters stayed another day. Overall, it was a great weekend... just a lot of planning and hectic.

Another crisis we had during October was my husband Jack. He got severe sciatica at the beginning of October. He was severely incapicitated the whole month of October and basically was just lying around in pain on meds. He was back and forth seeing mulitple doctors. So, he was no help with the kids or any of the events for the month of October. He is still on the mend, but doing much better now. But, it has literally taken 2 months.

During October and November, I also sold my 3 horse gooseneck trailer and bought a smaller 2 horse slant. I just recenty sold my one ton truck, which I'm sick to death of driving. We are in the process of buying a smaller 1/2 ton truck which should be done by tomorrow. I finally feel like things are slowing down a little. Still really busy but not in "crisis mode" anymore. Actually got a chance to ride and workout a few times in last 2 weeks. Had about 50-60 people over for our annual family Thanksgiving bash. We went up to Camp Verde last Friday for Joe's memorial service and spread his ashes. Got my Christmas cards ordered. Finally been able to go to a few Mom's club functions in last few weeks. So, life is getting better.

Jack's parents are not doing very well and Jean has really been going down hill lately. Jack's sister in law, Geri, is also not doing well. So, don't know what will happen with them in next 6-12 months. Doesn't look good.

Well, gotta go. Kyle's finger is bleeding and Devin's tooth is about to fall out.

Potty Power

2010-08-15T10:34:00.000-07:00

Well, the good news is... Kyle is potty trained. He was VERY easy to train. He still wears a diaper at night and sometimes at nap time. We trained him about a month ago. He loves his underwear and wants "to do it himself!" He only had one poop accident the first couple days. He has had a few wet pants.. but mostly pretty good. He loves the movie, Potty Power. Has watched it incessantly the last few weeks. We can all sing the songs now.
Kyle is doing well. Still has his temper tantrums and fights with his sister. But, when he is out with other kids, he does very well and everyone loves him. He has been taking tumbling class this summer and loves it. He can do back bends and forward rolls, cart wheels (kind of .. his arms are too short) and head stands (kind of). We are taking a break for a month or two and then we will do gymnastics again. He is very talented. In the meantime, he is taking swim lessons. He has been taking them for the last 10 weeks. He is a very good swimmer and can doggy paddle about 10 feet and hold his breath and swim under water. At first, we did Mommy and me classes. But, he was much more advanced than the other kids, so he switched a couple weeks ago to the 3-4 year old class early. Everyone is like.. Oh, he's so small, how old is he?! At first, he cried for me. But, now he is getting used to it and likes it.
Kyle is still at daycare at Miss Julie's and loves it. They are all 2 year olds now... he is the leader with his potty training and shows the other kids. I'm a proud mama.

Devin Drama

2010-08-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

Yup. Kindergarten has started and so has the drama. I knew it was going to be a little hard b/c Devin is not good with lots of kids and new situations. But, I underestimated the situation. She has not adjusted to kindergarten well at all. She is having a lot of anxiety about going to school. The first day wasn't too bad... and then it went downhill from there. Unfortunately, our schools are way overcrowded with not enough teachers because of the budget cutbacks. Which means, there are 29 kids in Devin's class with just one teacher. So, that doesn't help. So, the teacher can't deal with a crying kid and they just send her to the principal's office. I understand that Devin is disturbing the class... but it doesn't help to send her to the office 2-4x per day. Ugh.
By the 4th day, she worked herself up to hysterics before school... crying before school, late to school, wouldn't go in. So, I went to principal's office and talked to principal. She felt Devin wasn't doing as badly as we thought and to stick it out. She agreed it would be ok for me to visit at lunch or stay in morning until Devin gets adjusted. She took my hysterical daughter back to class and I came back at lunch. That helped a little. On Friday, Jack went to school with her and stayed for awhile. Then, he came back at lunch. She was still rather distressed, so he signed her out early. He talked to Principal Nelson again... we are going to try picking her up early for a week or so until she adjusts. We will start that tomorrow. Hopefully, this will work. It is stressful for all of us.

Family Photos

2010-06-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

June 2010 update

2010-06-18T12:53:00.000-07:00

OK- I'm lame for not posting for a month. But, I have good excuses. After my last post, Kyle got sick - AGAIN- with another ear infection & high fevers> 104 degrees. He went back to Urgent Care and given an antibiotics shot. That was about 2 1/2 weeks ago. Yesterday, I took him to new dentist, West Valley Pediatric Dentists, and had his front two teeth repaired for the 4th time. They sedated with oral sedation this time before the nitrous oxide. They put caps on his two front teeth. Personally, I think they are a bit large... but whatever. I don't think his front teeth will ever be normal until they fall out and he gets his permanent teeth in. Guess I have to wait YEARS for that to happen. He didn't really get very sedate and still cried and screamed throughout the procedure. Poor guy... he'll either grow up hating dentists forever or become one. Then, today, he spiked another 103.1 fever. Ugh. Back to doctor... they couldn't find anything wrong (except a fever). They did a throat swab, urine test, checked ears, etc.. Hope he comes out of this ok. Had to take this morning off work & Jack & I are switching in next 30 min so I can see some calls.

Meanwhile, Devin graduated from preschool. They had quite the production. That was about 2 weeks ago. It was very cute. She is still in summer school because she doesn't take to "change" well and we thought consistency would be best. She will stay in preschool until kindergarten starts in August. Meanwhile, she started ballet/tap classes at Steppin Out studio in May. The girl dances like Elaine from Seinfeld (it's a sad sight to behold)... but at least she likes it. I'm trying to convince her to try hip-hop or musical theater instead. She also started swim lessons again last week. Kyle is also taking a couple classes. He started a "Mommy & Me" tumbling class in June and just had his first swim lesson last week.

Work is going ok.... picked up more this spring,so that is good. Well, that's all for now...

Things that make you go hmmm....

2010-05-14T19:39:00.000-07:00

Ok- Here are a few things I've had to say to Kyle in the last couple weeks... they really make you go "Hmmm... I can't believe I have to say that!"

"Kyle, please don't drink the water out of the dog's bowl". (He's done it twice this week and Devin used to do it too)
"Kyle, don't lick the shower floor after you peed on it." (Yes, he did that)
"Kyle, don't stick both your hands down your pants" (in public- just to get a rise out of me!)
"Kyle, stop sticking your tongue out at _____ (fill in blank... me, Devin, Rowyn)".
"Kyle, stop taking out all the DVD's out of the DVP player (and changing them to his movies)."
"Kyle, please don't cram so much food in your mouth at once".
"Kyle, please don't put smash mud in your hair." (too late!)

And, that's just the last 2 weeks!!!!

We survived all the fungus among-us.

2010-05-05T20:36:00.000-07:00

Yea. I think I can finally see the end to all the sicknesses. My home has been the den of bacteria and viruses for the past 2 weeks... but the end is in sight. After all the drama... Devin had the flu. I had a sinus infection. Kyle got the flu. Then, he just never seemed to get better.... so I took him to doctor yesterday. He was diagnosed with infections in both ears AND a sinus infection! Poor peanut. They gave him a shot of antibiotics in the office yesterday... and said we had to bring him back again today for another shot b/c he was so sick yesterday. They kind of scared me b/c they said if he was doing much worse last night I'd have to take him to the ER! He was such a sick boy yesterday-- he actually fell asleep in my arms in the doctor's exam room! He NEVER falls asleep in my arms unless he is very sick. Actually, he can rarely sit still. So, the fact that he wanted to lay in my arms for the last week for up to 40min at time tells me how sich he was.

Well, thank God he responded and didn't need another shot of antibiotics today. He is much improved and no longer running fevers today! He is now on oral antibiotics and eye drops (for the sinus infection which is backing up his nasolacrimal ducts into his eyes- YUCK). This is the first night he didn't need ibuprofen for the last 8days! He can finally go back to daycare tomorrow afternoon.

Thank God. It has been so difficult for Jack and I to juggle our work schedules to be with our sick kids for the last 2 weeks. I still have a snotty nose but otherwise doing ok. Feel much better with the Z-pack antibiotics. Here's hoping for a good weekend and good Mother's Day!!!

Sick, sick, sick. Ugh.

2010-05-02T08:13:00.000-07:00

Yup. We have all been sick. It has been a pain in the butt. About 10 days ago, Devin & I were the first to get sick. She had the flu... high fever, cough, snotty nose, laryngitis... for days. Of course, Jack and I had to juggle our work schedules for 10 days. I take a day off. Then, he takes a day off. Then we juggle back and forth each working 1/2 days to watch whoever was sick. During this time, I had a sore throat for days. Since Devin tested negative to strep throat...I figured it was just a really bad cold. Anyway, as I was suffering through that, I was working and taking care of Devin. Then, just as Devin was getting healthy... Kyle got sick with the flu. So, I didn't take him to the doctor since I already knew what it was. I was starting to feel a little better and then all of a sudden worse again. So, I went to Urgent Care and was diagnosed with some respiratory allergies and a secondary sinus infection. You know I don't feel good when I go to the doctor! So, now I'm on antibiotics, decongestants, and antihistamines. I finally feel better today (after 10 days). I think the decongestants made me feel worse--- dizzy, light headed. So, I didn't take them today. Glad I wasn't on call this weekend. Went to a bridal shower/ Derby day yesterday.. then to a neighbor's party last night for a while. But, overall, pretty low key weekend. Trying to let us all rest, relax and get better! Devin should be back in school this week and back to a normal daycare schedule. Yea!

Sometimes ya just need your mom

2010-04-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

Yup... sometimes ya just need your mom, no matter how old you are. I finally got to talk to my mom today. I hadn't spoken to her in a week.... missing each other when I called. It was so good to talk to her. She just makes me feel better. She gave me some good advice with Devin... and just made my problems seem like nothing I can't handle. Devin had a pretty good day yesterday (after my "stressed" blog)and a better day today. I feel much better today. Like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders. She is eating better and is happier. Thus, I feel better and feel happier.

Talking to my mom is bittersweet. We laugh, we cry. We talked about my dad... my mom got over 100 cards saying what a great guy he was...always happy, smiling and upbeat. It made my mom proud. I talked to her about a dream I had the other night about my dad... I could see him and we were talking. It seemed so real. Then, in my dream, I realized it wasn't real and started sobbing in my dream. Then, I woke up and was sad. We both talked about how my dad being gone seems like a dream we should wake up from.

Overall, I just feel relieved today. Talking to my mom. Devin feeling and eating better. Kyle being a good boy talking up a storm. He was so sweet this morning. He got in bed with me this morning and snuggled up with me. Then, I said I had to get ready for work... he said "one more minute Mommmy". So cute. Gonna go read my library book about dealing with worried kids. :)

Devin's choking incident

2010-04-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

OK- If I don't have enough drama and sadness in my life right now... my daughter, Devin, choked on a piece of ice about 2 1/2 weeks ago. She was eating a cup of crushed ice, and a large piece got lodged in her throat and Jack had to do the Heimlich to unlodge it. Thank God we were sitting right there! Needless to say, it scared her (and us) badly. She slept with us the first couple nights and I thought she was doing ok. Not so.

Over the last 2 weeks, she has had nightmares, wet her pants twice, and has increasingly had anxiety over eating solid foods. It has been a nightmare. I tried calling my pediatrician, but they want to refer to a behavioral specialist. Jack is fairly admament about not taking her to a specialist. I am having great anxiety over this. Jack says I am like Elliott and Devin is like ET. I FEEL her pain and anxiety. She is a part of me and I have great difficulty if she is not doing well. She takes forever to eat, only eats small bites, soft food or liquids only, and chews forever before swallowing. She has had quite a few tantrums these last 2 weeks. We went out and bought her lots of soft food options, have to sit with her when she is eating, and we recite "positive affirmations" with her before eating.

Jack and I don't see eye to eye about taking her to a specialist. I will give it a few more days - but then I am taking her. It causes me great stress and I have trouble concentrating at home & work. I am having trouble sleeping and many times feel like crying. Part of my sadness is still because of my dad's death. I am still very sad about it and having a hard time dealing with this too. I want my happy girl back!!!

My kids are whiners

2010-03-22T19:16:00.000-07:00

My kids are whiners. Where did I go wrong?! And guess who they are the whiniest with?...ME. At least they are better in public and at other people's houses. But, it doesn't make it any easier on me. They are SO WHINY with me. It totally gets on my nerves. I pick them up from daycare... Julie, my daycare provider, says how great they were all day. And then, the whining begins. The whine about EVERYTHING. It's a nightmare. We are sick of it. So, Jack and I have taken a new stance and are going to be much stricter about the consequences of whining. From now on... if they whine too much... time out. They may be living in time-out if this keeps us. We have had enough. Wish me luck- I gotta stick to my guns. Kyle's been in time-out 4x today and Devin has been in once. Let's see how tomorrow goes...

Hanging in there

2010-03-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well. I'm back to Arizona. Back to work. Back to my wild children. Still feeling sad and down. Took the kids to the Phoenix Zoo this morning with the Mom's club. Didn't really feel like going b/c I just don't really feel in that great of a mood- but I did it anyway. My kids were really good last week. They deserved a nice day out- they were stuck inside all last week. I was sad and probably not the best mom last week in terms of giving them lots of attention. Thank God for Jack last week- he really helped me a lot by watching the kids when I was sad or trying to help my family. The kids had a nice time today and burned off some energy. Kyle didn't take a nap today- totally bummed me out. I really look forward to those 2 hours! Devin is awake then- but she can watch a DVD or draw or play quietly to give Mom a "time out". :)
I went back to work yesterday. I tried to stay focused to keep my emotions in check- but did cry a little when we first went out on calls. Then, things got hectic and I ended up euthanizing my first two patients. So, no time for crying. But, it was good to be busy and take my mind off my Dad. My dad was buried yesterday in West Virginia. My mom and 3 sisters went- plus about 15 other relatives in that area. Would have liked to go--- but had to get back.

The Angels are Crying today

2010-03-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

Someone told me today that it is raining b/c the angels are crying. Today was my dad's funeral. They say the angels are crying with us as we grieve the loss of our father. It seems fitting that it should rain all day b/c it doesn't feel like a sunny day. I am sad. It has been rough. I spoke today at my dad's service. I miss him already and it feels strange to be at home where I grew up without my dad here. You can definitely feel the void of his presence. My mom is so sad... I grieve with her and for her as well. She hasn't been without my dad for 52 years. She doesn't remember what life was like without him. I wish she lived close by so I could stop by and see her more often. So sad today.

Big Girl Bed

2010-03-06T15:40:00.000-08:00

Well, we finally did it. We got a "Big Girl Bed" for Devin. I have been looking and looking for just the right bed. I looked in several stores and have also been looking on line for a few weeks. We were desperate for a new bed for Devin. She literally has outgrown her toddler bed. Her feet are about to stick out the slats at the bottom. She has gone through a huge growth spurt in the last few months. I finally found a really nice maple twin bed on Craig's list. It has a headboard with cubby spaces, drawers underneath, and a really high quality/ barely used pillow top mattress. I would probabaly cost $800-1000 brand new. I was stoked to find it for sale in a swanky neighborhood in Scottsdale. They needed to move to a smaller house and were down-sizing. So, we scooped it up the first day it was on sale. :)

Since we were moving furniture around, it motivated me to clean her room, get rid of some toys, put away some other toys, and de-clutter. I asked Kyle if he would like Devin's toddler bed. He said No. He wants to sleep in his crib still . Oh well, we will try again later.

Kyle & Devin talk

2010-03-03T12:29:00.000-08:00

Here are some interesting things the kids have said lately...

Devin:
When I picked her up after work..."Mom, you smell. You need to take a shower."
"Dad, don't look at Mom when she's changing, she needs her privacy."
When blowing a dandilion... "I wish I could touch the moon."
Crying.. Devin, what's wrong?... " I had a bad dream last night. I dreamt I drank a bad potion and it turned me into a bat."

Kyle:

Thank you.... tankoo
Please.... pease
Truck... fruck, twuck or fwuck
Excuse me.... cuse me
Don't like it... just says "like it" when nodding back & forth, or "no like it"
mine... MINE!!!!
Mac truck... MAC!!!
sprinkler... spinker
fish... Jingle (our fish's name)
potato.. tato
bottle... ba
water... wawa
motorcyle... momo
tractor... tactor
swimming...simming

It's so cute to see Kyle learn how to talk. He is learning new words everyday and starting to put two words together now. We finally weaned him off his bottle last week. It's been about 1 week. We have slowly been only letting him have bottles at night and at naps and sippy cups/juice boxes during the day. Well, he has chewed through all the nipples on all his bottles. So, I gave him warnings if he chewed through all the nipples, no more "ba". So, I finally said, no more ba's. I put them all in a bag and put them in the garage. He has done better than I would have thought. He has asked for his bottle several times, but we have been holding our ground. Course, then he went on a milk strike and wouldn't drink milk for 5 days. But, now he is finally starting to drink milk out of a sippy cup. I figure one week without milk won't hurt him. We wanted to do this a while ago, but he kept getting sick and then we went on a trip. Not good times for changes.

The other new news is he is starting to use the potty. Course, it helps to have an older sister encouraging him. We have a talking potty chair. He has been using it at least once a day for the last few weeks and has pooped 3x! I have not been pushing him yet. I wanted to wean him first. Then, we will start encouraging to use the potty more. I think he will potty train much faster and earlier than Devin (she was '3 yrs 4 months). Part of the reason it took Devin so long was b/c she was at a daycare she was unhappy at and they didn't help me potty train during the day!).

We are looking to purchase Devin a "big girl bed". She truly has outgrown her toddler bed. I am looking at a twin bed on Craig's List. Put in a request last night. Once we buy her bed, we will move Kyle out of his crib into her toddler bed. Then, it will be easier to potty train him. Plus, he is now climbing out of his crib anyway. So, it is time.

A new milestone

2010-02-25T07:57:00.001-08:00

A new milestone was reached this morning... Devin didn't take a lovey to school today!!! That is a big deal. She is growing up. :)

On another note, Kyle has a new way of saying truck now... he says "fwuck" or "fruck" (on purpose I think b/c he used to say it correctly). Needless to say, when he yells "FWUCK" as loud as he can in the grocery store... it doesn't sound good!!! I get quite a few stares and tried, embarrassingly say, he is saying "TRUCK". Uh Oh.

Happy Tet 2010

2010-02-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

I took the kids to the Phoenix Vietnamese Adoption Group's 2010 Tet Celebration this past Saturday. We went last year as well. It was held at another adoptee's house. They served a lot of Vietnamese food... Kyle loved it, Devin did not. We made some photo frames with "Year of the Tiger". The kids watched some of the other kids perform a Vietnamese dance and they performed a dragon dance as well. It was so cute. It is great to see all the other children and families. We got to see Henry, also adopted from Que Son orphanage where Kyle was from. He is doing well and loved. I try to at least expose my children to some of Kyle's heritage and other kids like him. When he is older, he can decide if he wants to learn more about his birth country. When I was telling Devin where we were going and about how most of the kids were adopted from Vietnam, she said she wished she were adopted too. So cute.

Devin has said some pretty cute things lately... Specifically, I told her we were going to buy her a new bed soon. Well, my truck had an emergency oil line break and it cost us $500. So, we had to post-pone buying her bed. Anyway, she really wants a new bed BAD! I told her we couldn't afford one this month and would have to buy it later. She says, "Well, I have money in my piggy bank Mom, we could go get it to buy my bed." So sweet. She really does need a new bed- she is still in her toddler bed and just about maxed it out. So, we hope to buy her a new bed by mid-April and then give her bed to Kyle who is still in his crib.

Speaking of cribs, Kyle has officially learned how to climb out of his crib. The boy is growing up! He has been saying "excuse me (cuse me), thank you (tank you), Please (pease)" lately. We are going to attempt to wean him off his bottles soon. He is down to his last few bottles (he chewed up all his nipples). Wish me luck. He LOVES his "ba". He has been using the potty a lot lately- about once a day for the last 2 weeks. I haven't been pushing to potty train him yet. Just letting him go at his own pace. After we wean him off the bottle and switch him to the toddler bed, I will work on potty training him more. Devin didn't potty train till she was 3--- but I think Kyle is ready soon. He's a smart boy.

I had a great visit with my parents last week. Unfortunately, my dad took a turn for the worse on Monday (2 days ago). He had a grand mal seizure for over 50 minutes. My mom wasn't home at the time... she was at drugstore picking up his medications. She called 911 and he was in ICU last couple days. They had to intubate & sedate him to get the seizures under control. He is conscious now and talking a little. They moved him out of ICU today. So, we shall see how he does over the next couple days. My mom is a rock during times of crisis. Vicki & Michael have been helping out a lot. That has been great to have them so close. It's hard to be far away and feel helpless.

Snow Snow Snow

2010-02-15T11:08:00.000-08:00

Well, we made it to my parent's house in Delaware. They've had an all-time record of snow this year since the beginning of time. They've had about 60" this year and it may snow again tonight. About a week ago it snowed 2 feet and then another foot just before I came to visit. So, obviously, we made it here ok. The kids did pretty well on the plane and I survived it! Kyle did MUCH better than he did last summer and I even got complimented by fellow passengers that my kids were well behaved during the 4-5 hour flight! So, I must be doing something right. Course, I had a few tricks I used... movies, candy (yes, I know - BAD MOM- but it helps in a jam), stickers, a computer game, fun snacks, and toys. I was packed to the hilt... I don't know how I carried it all through the airport by myself.

It has been a good visit so far. Kyle got to experience snow for the first time. The first few days were NOT good. He didn't like the snow and definitly doesn't like to be cold. He just starts to cry and says cold, cold, up, up (wants me to carry him). Well, we have been here 5 days now and he seems to have excepted it better now. Course, it doesn't help that the snow is so deep. So, today, we went for a long walk around the neighborhood and he was ok. It was a bit warmer (low 30's) and sunny. He just laid on the snow and smiled in the sun. He's my Phoenix boy. Devin really likes the snow and made a snowman with me. She gets cold- but not like Kyle.

My dad is doing fair. His brain tumor has started to grow back causing some swelling and left sided weaknesss again. With high doses of steroids, it has reduced some of the brain swelling- so ha can use his walker again and his strength has improved. They have consulted with specialists and decided to do Cyber-knife radiation therapy. That should start in 2 weeks. Sadly, my dad's health and mental status are not great. I don't think any treatments are going to save him. He is a fighter and really has high hopes to beat this. So, we try to be optimistic around him and spend time with him. I brought the kids here to spend time and see their grandfather... but he really isn't interactive with the kids. I'm glad to spend time with him but it's a grim reality. He hasn't showered since I've been here and gets mad at my Mom if she asks him. He says he's too tired to shower. The steroids make him puffy, hungry, tired and moody. So, it's not easy for anyone.

On a good note, I've been also able to see my sister Katherine who coordinated her visit. My sister Vicki came up for the weekend. And, my brother Michael and his family came up for a couple days too. Michael's kids Eben & David played with Devin and Kyle- they had a good time together. Course, I've been able to see my Mom too. It's nice to be with family- wish we all lived closer together- espeically now that I have kids- I wish they got to spend time with and know their cousins better.

Off to Delaware- I hope.

2010-02-09T19:09:00.000-08:00

Well- I haven't written for awhile b/c I did not knock on wood enough. A few weeks ago both Devin & Kyle got sick with a viral pharyngitits.... trip to doctor. Negative for strep throat. I thought that's what they had...both had sore throats, fever and Kyle had sores all over his tonsils. Poor kids- poor Mom. Both Jack and I missed work and Kyle was sick for days. Devin only got it mildly for 1-2 days.

Then, last week, Kyle got sick again with cough, runny nose and high fever. I decided to sit it out ( with lots of tylenol and ibuprofen) for 1 1/2 days. Then, his fever spiked to 105 last Wednesday afternoon (even with ibuprofen in morning). Thus, a trip to Urgent Care. Diagnosed with a upper respiratory virus...blah blah blah. Devin got a little cold and cough.. but not too bad. Once again, I missed some work. Kids being sick is very inconvenient for working parents. Ugh.

Anyway, we seem to be on the mend.. Me, emotionally,from dealing with sick kids. What a nightmare.... all I can say is thank God for wine. Some nights after the grumpy kids finally got to sleep, a nice glass of wine and "The Bachelor". :) Yes, I like to watch cheesy shows to take my mind off of the stresses of life... kids, illnesses, not enough money, work being slow (thus- not enough money), my dad getting worse again.

Speaking of my dad, the kids and I are supposed to go visit my parents in Delaware in two days. My dad's tumor is growing back and they decided to discontinue the chemo. They are going to try the cyberknife radiation to see if this will stop the progression of the tumor and buy him more time. I wanted to take the kids to see my parents to spend as much time with them as possible. Plus, we wanted to see the snow. But, be careful what you wish for--- it snowed 2 feet there last weekend and is supposed to snow another foot tonight. The most snow Delaware has gotten since the 1800's. Crazy. So, I don't even know if the airport will be open on Thursday. I hope so. Knowing my luck lately... not likely. So, we shall see how this week goes...

Pants on the ground...

2010-01-18T18:06:00.000-08:00

Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, looking like a fool with your pants on the ground.... can't get that out of my head. Now, Devin is singing it too. :) Yes, I'm an American Idol fan. I am also watching The Bachelor right now as I write this. Yes, I know - its cheesy... but I need cheesy to escape the downs of my job (had to euthanize a 1 day old foal this morning) and my crazy kids. We are all healthy again. BIG KNOCK ON WOOD. Kyle's appetite is back. All is great but Jack learned not to wrestle with him after a big dinner. He ate an entire Ramon noodle package last night... and then projectile vomited 1/2 of it after Jack threw him all around after dinner. Nice. Guess who had to clean it up?!

Devin sick too, ugh.

2010-01-13T19:44:00.000-08:00

Devin is sick too. Ugh. Kyle was finally feeling better... I didn't work Monday or Tuesday. Then, Devin spikes a 102.4 fever last night. Poor peanut. All shaky and hot. Of course, she slept with me all night... but was very restless b/c of the fever. Still having a fever today- but not at high. Only 100.4 tonight. Fortunately, Jack was able to take work off today and watch the kids. Kyle's throat lesions seem to be healing & Devin's throat looks good so far (knock on wood). I have tomorrow off work. Hopefully, they will both be healthier by Friday and be able to go to daycare. I need to work. We need the money!!!

Sick, again.

2010-01-11T19:28:00.000-08:00

OK- Kyle is sick again. Ugh. I really should have knocked on wood somewhere last time when I said he was getting healthier... Had him rechecked by doctor at end of December. He hadn't gained any weight but did not lose any either. His vomiting/diarrhea has almost 100% resolved once I switched him to almond milk. I had two more of his vaccines boostered at the end of December. So, now he is only behind in two vaccines.

Anyway, he spiked a high fever 2 days ago (102.6). Since then, he has had a high fever for last 3 days It was really high yesterday- spiking up to 103.5. Then, it would only drop to 102.2 on ibuprofen and then start climbing again. So, I gave him a warm washcloth bath last night too. Last night, he was drooling a little and sticking his hands in his mouth. So, I looked in his mouth with a flashlight and he had some white spots on the back of his throat/tonsil area and a ulcer on his tonsil. Poor guy. So, I stayed home from work today and took him to doctor this morning. His strep test (quick swab) came back negative. I asked for them to send in a culture too. Anway, they initially thought it was Hand,Foot & Mouth- but Kyle already had that last spring. So, they just called it a "viral pharyngitis". He seems to feel better this afternoon and this evening. His fever isn't as high, but his temp goes up and down all a day. It was 102.3 this morning, 100.1 this afternoon, 97.1 at dinner, and 101.1 at bedtime. So, I have been giving him a lot of ibuprofen these last few days. So, we shall see how tomorrow goes... I hope he gets better soon. I can't miss work on Wednesday too. Fortunately, I don't work tomorrow.

Well, that's the update for now. Spending a lot of time at home watching the movie, Cars, for the millionth time and Thomas the Train. I wish he liked to watch something else when I'm holding him.

Can I have some personal space, please?

2010-01-05T19:13:00.000-08:00

Ok- I'm serious. I would really like some personal space. If it's not the kids, it's the cat. I can't even write this blog b/c my cat is trying to lay on my right arm. I keep pushing him away- but he is very persistant, and fat. So, it's not only a cat, but a very fat cat who is weighing my arm down. So, Jack is putting the kids to bed b/c my last nerve is gone. They are pushing my buttons today. As I write this, I am having a Bailey's on the rocks to calm my nerves. As Jack & I always say when people ask us what our parenting secret is... cocktails. :) I just shoved the cat off my arm for the 6th time... he is finally lying next to me rather than on me. Jack says I repeat, "What did I just say?!" about a thousand times a day to the kids. I say it, they ignore it....

"Kyle, stop hitting your sister"... he does it again, I say, "What did I just say?!"
"Kyle, stop throwing your food"... he does it again, I say, "What did I just say?!"
"Kyle, dont' jump on me, that hursts"... he does it again, I say, "What did I just say?!"
"Devin & Kyle, stop spitting water out of the bathtub"... they do it again, I say, "What did I just say?!"

Seriously. This is just a taste of what today was like. And, I would really like to pee in peace. Kids can't stand it when I close the bathroom door... and stand on the other side, knocking, asking me what I'm doing (What do you think I'm doing?!), can they come in, when will I be done, can they flush the toilet...

On a good note, Kyle is finally letting me drop him off at daycare at the gym for the last few weeks and is no longer crying. YEA! I finallly get to work out on a consistent basis. Of course, I am in sad shape and the last 3 weeks have sucked. After the first week, my fitness instructor asked me how I was doing... I said, "Well, it sucked". My second week working out, she asked me again how I was doing (obviously I look pathetic in class), I say, "It sucked less than last week." This week, she hasn't asked me yet, but I can say, I am feeling a little better but still have a hard time doing all the exercises in the classes. It kicks my ass! But, there is hope for me yet and I really want to get back into good shape. Since Kyle, I have not exercised consistently b/c of his neediness and I look like it too. I hate being in my 40's, looking in the mirror, and LOOK like I'm in my 40's. My age is showing. Ugh.

Kyle Medical update

2009-12-29T19:39:00.001-08:00

Well, Kyle has finally kicked his vomiting habit. Thank the Lord. Course, I had to "figure" out his GI issues by trial and error on my own. He had been vomiting frequently all summer and early fall. It was a nightmare. Shoulda bought stock in carpet & fabric cleaner. Finally, we switched him to almond milk (off soy formula) in early to mid November. Well, he has hardly vomited at all for the last month. We went for his regular 2 year check up at the beginning of December. He weighed 24 lbs at that visit (10%) and 33.5" tall (15%-20%). At that time, the doctor recommended to send him to GI specialist and have him scoped. But, since he was finally doing better, we decided not to put him through that. I had him vaccinated against the seasonal & swine flu and varicella (late on that one).

He had to go into the dentist for the 3rd time to have his filling replaced in his front tooth. What a nightmare. He screams bloody murder! They have to strap him down on a board do keep him from flailing (I call it the kiddie taco) and the nitrous oxide gas (laughing gas) does not help ... he definitely doesn't laugh. The 2nd time we had it filled in was in November (6 months after the first time)... he got so hysterical it was really upsetting me and I started to sweat while he was being worked on. Being a doctor myself, I know this is one of the first signs before someone passes out... I hope it wasn't going to be me! After all that, it came out about 3 days later.... I couldn't believe it. So, we had to take him in again and do it all over again. Fortunately, they were much quicker this time and I didn't almost pass out. Knock on wood, it is still in...

Took Kyle in for recheck today... no weight gain, but hasn't lost any either. He is still doing well and seems fairly healthy except another cold. I hate colds. Never ending snotty noses, coughing and boogie-rags. Anyway, he got 2 more vaccines today since he is so far behind on all his vaccines. He got the Hib and DPT vaccines today. A little grumpy tonight, but seems to be handling it ok. I got way far behind on vaccines b/c he had such a bad reaction to vaccines when we first got him. Both times he was initially vaccinated... he was sick for a week. So, then, we only did one vaccine at a time. I was trying to catch him up, but everytime we went to the doctors.. he was sick. So, I had to get 3 vaccines a month ago, 2 vaccines today, and still has 2 more to go in another month. He seems to handle 2 vaccines at a time now. The only reason I had 3 done last month was b/c one was a intranasal vaccine and not a shot.

Knock on wood, we hope 2010 will be a healthier year for Kyle with less vomiting, diarrhea, colds, doctor and dentist visits... can that be his New Year's Resolution?

Christmas Newsletter 2009

2009-12-27T11:43:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas 2009!

Well, 2009 has been a year of ups and downs for us. Most importantly, our family is blessed to be together for over a year now with Kyle making our family complete. Overall, we are basically healthy. Kyle has had issues with food intolerances and allergic reactions, a SUPER-sensitive gag reflex when he coughs (not fun in public), never- ending colds, and two front teeth with cavities (which the fillings keep falling out of). But, who’s complaining?! The dentist wants to know… What is he doing that his filling has fallen out for the 3rd time? ”Uh, he is a hyper-active 2 year old boy, do I need to say more?” His idea of fun is jumping off of furniture and running around at mock speed. The only time he is still is when he’s sleeping and strapped down in a car seat (and then he talks, talks, talks). Wonder where he gets that from?! Kyle is a joy, but definitely all boy and loves, loves, loves cars. If it’s a vehicle, he loves it. He loves Cars the Movie (of course), matchbox cars, Chuck the truck, tractors, planes, clothes with cars on them, and Mac trucks (“Mac!”). And, he loves to push things and ride on the tractor with Dad. He has no fear and is doing gymnastics and loves to swim (he thinks he can- SCARY). If you are near a pool, you have to be on your toes or he will do a cannon ball jump in at mock speed. He makes the lifeguards nervous (exact quote).
Devin is doing well. She wasn’t ready for kindergarten this year being the youngest person in her class- and is going to preschool instead. That was a hard decision, but ultimately the right one for her. She goes to Bel Esprit and is building up her self confidence. She takes “Ellie the Bear” everywhere with her. She took swimming lessons all summer and loves it. She can now swim by herself - at least one less kid I have to worry about drowning! She loves to play pretend with her stuffed animals (truly a mini-me) and draw and write. She has been healthy (Thank God) and has a good sense of humor. She can also be a blabber mouth once she gets over her shyness and is comfortable with you. The kids still go to Miss Julie’s daycare while Mom is working.
Some of the struggles we have been through this year started with Jack losing his position at Hubbell last February. It was a shock and we have learned to live on less. Arizona has the highest unemployment and housing foreclosure rate in the country. Since our state is built on the housing market, it is in the pits. We are fortunate that I have a secure position at my veterinary clinic and we had “emergency” funds set aside. That has been a saving grace during these bad economic times. God must have been listening because Jack starts to work on December 15th at CCS Presentations Systems doing corporate sales.
My Dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 Glioblastoma (brain cancer) last April. I flew out to the East Coast for his emergency surgery to remove a tumor. It was quite a shock since he was playing golf and tennis the week before. He then had to go through aggressive radiation and chemotherapy. Our family flew out again in May to spend time with my parents and help them at home. Then, in July, he suffered a massive pulmonary embolism. I flew out again on emergency to be with him at the hospital. Miraculously, he survived and was finally able to go home again in August. Since then, he has been doing well but is still going through chemo. We are thankful he is doing well and is home with my Mom. Jack’s parents are also dealing with some medical issues (as we like to say… “Getting old isn’t for sissies”). But, we are thankful they are still able to live at home in their comfort zone and live close-by.
No big vacations this year and we are still trying to balance family and work. We are thankful for our family’s health and that we are able to get through these financial hard times. We are blessed to have our home, our friends, our animals, and our children.

Goofy Girl

2009-11-16T18:05:00.000-08:00

Here are some goofy photos of Devin today... I was trying to get her to pose for a Christmas card photo.... needless to say, she thought she was being funny funny funny. Finally, got one at the end with some pleading...

Devin was very cute today & yesterday.... Yesterday, she told me she wanted to have 5children when she grew up and live with me. She said she would feed them, take care of them... but wouldn't always let them sleep with her (hmm... wonder where she got that?). Kyle was getting into trouble the other day and I put him in time-out. He started crying b/c he wanted his sippy cup... I said "too bad"... Devin chimes in, "So sad". I think I've heard that one before. Today, I dressed her for Miss Julie's and didn't notice her pants were "floods" till after Jack put her shoes on... Jack says, "Now, she just looks like Grandpa Hulse". Guess we are ready for a flood in Arizona. Also, we had lots of drama this morning b/c her big toe stuck out of her footsy pajamas from last year.... Oh my. Guess it's time for some bigger pj's... but Oh, the drama, drama, drama it created. You would have thought we had to amputate her toe.

Allergy woes

2009-11-10T11:45:00.000-08:00

Well, we are back at ground zero. Kyle is having another allergic reaction. He started having mild facial rash/puffiness around eyes & fever yesterday afternoon. His temp went up to 101.8. Still has a slight fever today of 100.1. This morning, his face broke out in a rash again and it is pruritic. No rash on his body so far- and no facial swelling. Thank God. His diarrhea is finally under control- we switched to almond milk a few weeks ago (still on a little formula left over at Julie's).

Poor guy- this all happened yesterday on his 2nd birthday. We celebrated anyway and had some brownies for dessert and gifts. He got a toy lawnmower (loves to push things), a backpack- one with wheels that you can pull around (I went to 4 stores to find one "just like Devin's" - except blue)- gotta have what sister has- they fight over it all the time, a "Mac" truck, some toy trains and toy ambulance. Needless to say he has a theme of cars, or things you can push or pull.

I am typing this in his room right now hoping he will fall to sleep. Had to give him benadryl twice today and it makes him hyper rather than sleepy (Lucky Me) and he won't go down for his nap.

So, we have a doctor appt scheduled for next Tuesday to discuss his cough, vomiting and allergic reactions. Then, the following week, he has a dentist appt to have one of his fillings replaced that fell out. Then, the next week, he has another doctor appt for his "wellness exam and vaccines" for his 2 year old check up. Poor Ky-Ky. He flips out when he goes to doctor- it is so stressful for him and me. Is it wrong to want to put a shot of Bailey's in my coffee before these appointments?!

Vomit-ville

2009-11-02T19:49:00.000-08:00

Yes, my house is vomit-ville. Kyle STILL vomits on a regular basis. It is both gross and frustrating- and sometimes even embarrassing in public. Let's just say we should buy stock in carpet cleaners like Spot Shot and Resolve. So far, all we can figure is he has a super- sensitive gag reflex. If he coughs, he barfs. It's that simple. Phlegm in the throat? Don't worry- he will get it out- he will cough till he pukes. He even knows when he is going to do it now and will grab a plate or a bowl or hang his head over a toilet.

He just got over a cold, and needless to say, because of his snotty nose, he had lots of phlegm. Lots of phlegm = lots of barfing. That was a nightmare b/c he felt fine otherwise but would start coughing and then vomit. He would do this at home, at daycare, at the gym, in the car.... SO GROSS. Basically, I call it "Vomit and run". He would literally start coughing, vomit, then be done and take off at mock speed again. It is a pain b/c I always have to carry extra outfits (for him and me). If he vomits in public, I can get dirty looks from other parents thinking I brought my sick kid out in public. But, he has never run a fever, had any changes in behavior or appetite. He literally can vomit and then want to eat the next minute.

We had all kinds of tests done including.... food allergy tests, CBC's, Chem panels, fecal cultures, fecal parasite testes, fecal WBC's tests... all came back normal. We tried Prevacid for GERD- no change. We tried a dewormer. I am at a loss.

Our pediatrician thinks he will outgrow it. I hope so. I really don't want to take him to a Gastroenterologist and have him scoped. He really gets freaked out with doctors b/c of all the tests he has had. I still think it is cough related. His cough is better now that the cold is over...but still has a slight cough when he gets up. I have a humidifier in his room.

Well, I guess I have to live with the "barf boy" until we figure out what causes it or he outgrows it. Hopefully, soon.

Halloween Fun

2009-10-25T21:10:00.000-07:00

Kyle and Devin went to their cousin, Zander's, Halloween party last weekend. They had a great time dressing up and Kyle was a hit with his darling cowboy outfit. Devin was a leopard b/c she wanted to "roar"- even though she was a lion the last 2 years in a row. :) Since I drew whiskers on her face, Kyle HAD to have me draw something on his face too... so he got a mustache. One thing is for sure, Kyle does not like people in scary costumes. It FREAKS him out. My brother was a grim reaper and Kyle would cry and run from him for over an hour. Wouldn't even look his way. Halloween night is going to be interesting! He also got freaked out about the fake witch at the grocery store and started to cry. Now, Devin says she wants to be a "rock star" instead for Halloween. We shall see...

Mama Drama

2009-10-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

Ok. My life is all drama and I just want boring. I like to call it Mama Drama. So, it starts out that I have been working or "on call" for 1 week solid. Ugh. So, finally Tuesday comes...my only day off. My horse, Chase colicks bad and I'm up all night with him. I didn't think he was going to make it... I had to run IV's, pass a nasogastric tube twice, and give him all kinds of medications. Fortunately, he made it through... So, the next night (my night off after working hard all day), one of my good clients and friends' horse suddenly goes into toxic shock and is dying. She calls me at home and I rush over. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything I could do but euthanize the horse and comfort my friend. Up again late. Took two beers to calm down my nerves afterwards.

So, today I took Kyle to gymnastics class this morning. He was doing great until his cough (from his cold) kicked in and that phenomenal gag reflex he has kicked in to full effect. He barfed all over himself, all over the bathroom (where I grabbed him and ran while he was barfing all over himself)and all over the toilet. Ok, we got over that, returned to class, sans nasty shirt, and then he did it again about 20 minutes later. I figured we better leave at that point. So,we went to pick up Devin from preschool. All is well again until we are driving down the road and Devin informs me she has to pee and she has to pee NOW. "Its going to come out Mom, you have to stop!" So, I do an emergency pit stop on the side of the road. At this point, I realize my daughter does not know how to squat properly and pees all over her shoes and pants by accident. Ok... we gotta go home so everyone can change. Then, we are off to the daycare so I can go to work AGAIN. Of course, when dropping the kids off, Devin has a complete temper tantrum b/c I forgot her backpack and left it at home when I changed the kids clothes... ya just can't win.

So, work was busy with lots of drama and now I'm home watching Grey's Anatomy trying to veg out. Kyle is in bed and Devin is watching her nighttime shows. Ahh... a moment of peace.... Course, I'm on call tonight, so ya never know...

Preschool Pictures

2009-10-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

Devin's preschool had their Open House yesterday. She is doing so well there now. I am so happy we switched. All the teachers seem to really like her and she likes them. She gave everyone lots of hugs (she's a hugger). We got her 1st progress report. Overall, she got good marks... we need to work on her letter/sound association and lower case letters. She filled out a sheet on "all about me"... her answers were:
favorite color. green.
Favorite toy... pink bear (Ellie)
Favorite place...Grandma and papa's house
Favorite activity... drawing.
what i want to be when I grow up.. doctor.
If I could have anything in the world, I would want...another pink bear.
So cute.

Here are a few photos of Devin at Bel Esprit.

Devin is going to Preschool

2009-09-28T19:48:00.001-07:00

Well, we survived the drama of not going to kindergarten this year. I don't know who was more traumatized... me or Devin. Since then, she has been having night terrors and walking in her sleep almost every night. We have gotten her to a point that we don't have to sleep in her room anymore. But, she usually wakes up almost every night...starts wandering around the house and talking nonsense. We have to walk her back to her bed and tuck her in. She "seems" awake... walking around, eyes open, talking... but she talks nonsense. Sometimes she has nightmares, sometimes not.

Well, I talked to lots of other moms and did some research. I picked out 3 preschools and then and went with Devin to visit them. We ultimately chose Bel Esprit. It is a private preschool in Litchfield. I really liked it there and their schedule is very flexible. So, we signed up Devin to start with 1/2 days on Tues & Thurs mornings. She started on Sept 1st. The first few times were rough, as expected. She cried at drop-off and didn't really want to participate at first. But, she has gradually improved every time and did not cry at all last week! This is a big deal for us. Plus, she is happy to go and participating well in class. I am so happy. I want Devin to have a positive school experience. This was definitely the right choice to wait till next year for kindergarten. She just was not emotionally ready for regular school yet. I'm so glad she is doing better... it is a huge relief.

Kyle allergy update

2009-09-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

Well, Kyle's allergic reaction resolved. I took him to an allergist and the doctor thinks he had an allergic reaction to his cold virus. Go figure. They performed skin allergy testing on his back for 8 common food allergens including milk, soy, egg, peanut, gluten, etc... they all came back negative. He thinks Kyle's food problems stem from milk intolerance and not milk allergies. I would agree with that. He ordered a blood RAST test for peanuts to re-confirm he doesn't have peanut allergies... but we don't think so. Kyle has had peanut products many times before the allergic reaction. Haven't had the blood test for peanuts done yet b/c lab was too busy one day & finding the time.

In the meantime, my regular pediatrician had a bunch of blood and fecal tests done on Kyle including Celiac Disease panel, CBC, metabolic panel, fecal WBC, fecal cultures... they all came back negative. That was NOT fun getting the blood test.. Kyle cried from the moment he entered the lab office until we left. He is terrified of doctors now. Ugh.

So, basically after all this... we really don't know much.... just guessing and Kyle still has frequent bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. Both doctors did suggest considering a gastroenterologist specialist. I am not ready to go there. I am hoping we can figure this out ourselves and he will grow out of it.I know what the gastroenterologist will want to perform an endoscopy and possibly a colonoscopy of Kyle. I don't want to put him through that. He is basically a healthy, happy, growing kid. Most of his vomiting is correlated when he coughs... which he has had a chronic minor cough for months. He has a REALLY sensitive gag reflex and frequently vomits when swimming if he gets any water in his mouth. Lucky me... I have to hold him over side of pool if he starts coughing at all in the pool. He has vomited on the side of PUBLIC pools many times and its really embarrassing. I've even caught it once in my hands... yea, I know... gross! Better than in the pool though.

So, we are back to square one... I am currently keeping a log of his eating habits, vomit & diarrhea frequency... so we shall see... Hopefully, this too, shall pass.

Allergic reaction

2009-08-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

Kyle had a severe allergic reaction to something this past week. The doctors think possibly from peanut butter... but he has had PB several times in the past without a problem. They say he can develop peanut allergies.. but we are still not sure. Anyway, it started on Tuesday afternoon about 3-4 hours after ingesting a PB cookie. He woke up from his nap with a rash all over his body & pruritic. The rash was actually red blotchiness all over. He seemed to feel ok and not running a fever- so I gave him Benadryl and he improved. On Wednesday morning, he woke up with the rash even worse and his left eyelid was swollen 1/2 shut and some facial swelling. I took him to Urgent Care and had him treated with antihistamines. They gave me script for pred if it got worse. Well, the rash never went away and got way worse that evening. I gave him more antihistamines & pred but his face started to swell up again. So, I took him to ER. The gave him more steroids and epinephrine. Since then his rash has slowly been getting better with intermittent hives all over his body. He is 95% better today with only a little itchiness. Unfortunately for me, Benadryl and pred make him like a kid on crack who drank a pot of Starbucks coffee. To say he is "wired" is an understatement. He is so jacked up - he just runs around the house bouncing off the walls. We had him rechecked by our regular doc on Thursday who has put in a request to see an allergist. In the meantime, he has ordered a bunch of tests which I need to do this week.... CBC, Celiac Panel, Metabolic panel, stool cultures, etc.... We are still having some issues of intermittent diarrhea & vomiting- so we are still trying to sort out all his GI problems. I'm attaching a few photos of the allergic reaction - didn't get a picture before ER b/c I was too panicked.

Kyle has Car OCD

2009-08-16T20:28:00.000-07:00

Kyle has car OCD. To say he loves cars would be an understatement. He is CRAZY about cars. He loves to be in car. He loves to play with cars. He loves to hear cars. He loves to point out every car we see on the road, on TV, in a book, ANYWHERE. He loves car books and car movies. You have to acknowledge when he says "car" or he will say it over and over again... and louder and louder.. till you say, "Yes, Kyle, I see the car." When we first got him, he immediately found the only car toy in the house and wanted to play with it. :)He also equally goes crazy for any motorized type vehicles including trains, planes, tractors, and construction vehicles. He is all boy.

Kindergarten Blues

2009-08-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

Well, Devin started kindergartent this past Monday August 3rd and stopped on Wednesday August 5th. They were 3 days of sadness, tears, and stress for both of us. Devin did not do well at kindergarten at all. She cried all day Monday & Tuesday. She cried so much on Tuesday that she fell asleep from exhaustion. She also would not eat or drink or use the bathroom at school. She had to go to bathroom so bad on Tuesday that she freaked out and the teacher had to rush her to the bathroom. Course, since they started school so ridiculously earlier here.... that it was still 110 degrees outside. Not good if you are not eating or drinking all day.

Well, Tuesday night she wet her pants at home and Wed morning she had diarrhea before school. She was so stressed out. We tried everything to convince her kindergarten was a good thing. I started prepping her months ago "talking about kindergarten". I took her twice to the school to check it out and visit a classroom. I bought 2 books about kindergarten and have been reading them to her the last few weeks. I requested her be put in her friend Cody's class so she would know someone. I walked her to class & requested to stay awhile (they wouldn't let me b/c its against their policy). I even resorted to rewards---if you try and give it a chance, I will give you candy/ice cream after school. Nothing worked. Jack & I drove her to school on Wednesday together and she just absolutely lost it when we went to her class. I was so upset to see my child so sad. I felt like my insides were being torn apart. We decided to go visit with the principal. She already knew about Devin from her kindergarten teacher. She agreed that Devin wasn't emotionally & socially ready for kindergarten class yet being the youngest in her class. She agreed Devin needed more time and we decided to withdrawal her from kindergarten.

Fortunately, Miss Julie's daycare still had a spot open for Devin. I am now looking into putting her in preschool twice a week to help prepare her for next year. The principal offered for her to visit school for a few hours a day a few days a week late next spring to help her prepare for school next year.

I am feeling more at peace now with our decision. My parents also held me back a year when I was in first grade b/c I was the youngest person in my class (also an August baby). Basically for the same reasons... sadness at school, not interacting well with the other children, not doing well in school b/c of being sad at school. So, I think this is the best decision for Devin right now.

Summer 2009 photos

2009-07-25T15:42:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of the animals and kids this summer....

Summer update

2009-06-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

Where does time go? I can't believe I haven't blogged for weeks.... work is slow and so is Jack's job. Money is tight. Ugh. Thank God we adopted Kyle last year when we had more money.

My Dad is doing ok... finished his first round of chemo/radiation... it pretty much kicked his butt. He is doing a bit better now. My brothers and sisters have been rotating to go see them and help out my parents. As posted before, I did a lot of yardwork in my parent's backyard. Katherine did the front yard work. Michael is doing all the finances. Katherine & Susan have cleaned out the garage and a couple closets.... Speaking of, my mom has saved every bridesmaid dress, prom dress, etc... that any of us has ever worn... just in case we need an 70's or 80's prom dress in our near future! :) We safety-proofed the house as much as possible... new toilet seats, handles on doorways, moved my Dad to downstairs study, hospital bed, etc... Eric & Krista are there now. We hired a lawn care guy, housekeeper for 1-2x per month and got them a handicapped parking sticker.

I am dog sitting for Eric's dog, Galaxy. He is a sweet dog... kids are sitting on him, playing with him. But, boy oh boy does he not like to go outside. He wants to sit in air conditioning all day. I don't really blame him... its hot and we live in Phoenix... but, I have to convince him to go just to pee! We swim with my dog, Bear, my yellow lab... but Galaxy wants nothing to do with water.

Speaking of swimming.. Kyle is an absolute maniac with no fear of water... he will literally jump off the side of the pool into the water for me to catch him. He can hold his breath under water and if water gets in his mouth.. he just spits it out. He is only 18 months! That's crazy. The boy is a little stunt man with no fear. He moves the furniture around the kitchen and climbs up on the counters and kitchen table when I'm not watching him like a hawk. Today, during Devin's swimming lesson, I wasn't paying attention to him when I was talking to Devin's instructor and he got mad and bit me on the thumb. Little stinker.... I yelped loudly and flicked him on the mouth!

I tried to go to gym again this morning (haven't with Kyle for a few months).... a no go. He did ok at the childcare for a few minutes... but then was crying a lot and they came to get me after 20 minutes. He was quite distraught. Poor guy. He does not like unfamiliar places and people and I have not been able to go to church or gym since we adopted him. I can work out at gym only when Jack is home and not working to take care of him. That makes it tough. So, I'm flabbier than I want to be! Ugh. Can't workout outside.. its too hot. Besides, I can't leave him to go running or riding anyway.

So, the world news is Michael Jackson and Farrah Faccett died this week. Two of our celebrity icons from the 70's & 80's. Jack used to have a poster of Farrah back in his "horn dog days" as he would say it... Who didn't?! I used to have a poster of Michael Jackson on my wall in high school... back when he was a black man. I really liked his music back then... had his Off the Wall and Thriller ALBUMS.. yes, albums. I can remember doing all the dances to his music videos on MTV (back when they actually played music videos round the clock and the Thriller video every hour) with my friend Virginia in my living room. Ahh... memories. But, then, MJ got weirder and weirder over the years and started changing his skin color (and no... vitiligo does not make you turn uniformly white!), looking like a transvestite, paying off child molestation charges, numerous plastic surgeries.... he doesn't even remotely resemble who he was in the 80's! People excuse his behavior b/c he is rich and famous and had an abusive father... but I think it is beyond that... I think he had a serious mental disorder. They have not gotten full results back yet on his cause of death... But, I'm sure they will say it was an "accidental overdose of prescription drugs that started with some incident from the 80's". No one ever says suicide... but that's what I think. Obviously, the guy (word used lightly) had issues with his race, gender, age and sexual preferences... he was one unhappy dude. So, we will see...

Urgent Care & Suturing a filly

2009-06-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

Well- I finally broke down and went to Urgent Care on Saturday after work. I was DYING... my skin was so swollen, red , pruritic... I couldn't sleep or think or take it for one more minute. Initially the doctor thought it might be shingles...but since it was bilateral... I was diagnosed with a severe allergic dermatitis. Anyway, he gave me prescriptions for 4 medications. I went to pharmacy immediately.. and, yes, I will wait... I will be the person scratching herself like crazy in the corner! The next day , I felt about 20% better. Now, I feel about 50% better... but still itchy in new places every day. My rash looks better.. but not 100%. So, we will see if I have to go back to the doctor later this week...

I just got back from suturing up a filly (2 months old) who tore her shoulder open. Well, my friend is terribly sick with a high fever...so she sent her husband out to help.... Course, he is terribly afraid of needles and almost passes out when he sees them... so let's just say it was interesting. Plus, I had my 4 yr old daughter with me... Mini Me. She was eating a popsicle watching the surgery. :) Doesn't even phase her. Kinda reminds me of the Seinfeld episode when Kramer was eating Junior Mints while watching surgery.

So, I've gotten hooked on the new season of The Bachorolette.... cheesy fun. So, what's up with Tanner's foot fetish??? Weird... would freak me out a little. And, how about Dave, can anyone say steroid injections overload?! Gosh, the men have more drama than the women! I think they all just want to win..like its a contest/game. Kinda is really.

Well, Kyle has another cold. Can you say the boy has a very sensitive gag reflex? Everytime he gets too much phlegm in his throat he coughs till he barfs. Lovely. Gotta love it.

That's all for now...

I'm allergic to humidity

2009-05-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

We just flew back East for 8 days to visit my parents. The plane ride was a NIGHTMARE. Kyle does not want to sit still and has a temper. Terrible two's hit at 14 mos old. The boy is smart and has got some serious opinions... I want to do it or have it now and don't stop me. :) Devin doesn't really have a temper (dramatic but not temper tantrums).... and is a peacemaker. Also, Kyle has no fear and a high pain threshold which means nothing is a deterent. It has been a challenge. By the time I got back from vacation (10 days straight with him 24/7... I couldn't wait to get back to work for some rest!) He was already put in time out this morning for throwing a shoe at Devin (purposely for no reason other than just to be bad). I love him but he definitely challenges my patience and temper. I thought I was more easy going... but I guess I'm not. Ok- I'm done venting. Thanks for listening. :)

My Dad is doing ok.... very tired and fatigued from chemo/radiation. I helped my parents with a lot of yardwork... got some terrible rash now from eczema flare-up or poison ivy or both. Ugh. I think I'm allergic to the humidity. I got a heat rash (in the 70's with humidity!!!). It felt like a 105. Anyway, Jack & I filled 80 large garbage cans of stuff from my parent's yard and he took to recycle place (10 trips) in his rental car. Haha. I hired them a yard guy to start this week.

Back to work and trying not to scratch my skin off....

Recent Photos

2009-05-12T07:44:00.000-07:00

I'm a lame blogger

2009-05-10T20:11:00.000-07:00

OK- I know I have not blogged in over a month. Let's just say it's been a rough 2 months. In late February, my husband got laid off from his job. So, that was a shocker. He just took a new job 2 weeks ago... in a totally different field. So far, he likes it, but time will tell if it's the right job for him.... Meanwhile, one of the vets at my practice went on maternity leave at the beginning of March. So, I have basically been covering almost all her work these last 2 1/2 months. So,I have been working full time since February.

And, on top of it all, my Dad was diagnosed with a brain tumor suddenly about 5 weeks ago while my parents were on vacation in Florida. My brothers and sisters and I rushed down to Florida for the emergency surgery to remove the tumor. It was very scary and very stressful. Jack stayed home and took care of the kids for 5 days while I was in Florida with my parents and siblings. The surgery went well and he was finally able to travel back to their home in Delaware 2 weeks ago. Unfortunatly, the biopsy results came back as a stage 4 glioblastoma. Basically, the worst and most aggressive brain cancer you can have. Very disappointing and upsetting. So, I am planning on going back East next weekend for 8 days to help them and give the kids more time with my Dad. He has only met Kyle once over Christmas. Jack will come for 1/2 the week. I am a bit nervous about the plane ride for 6 hours with the kids by myself. Kyle is a wild man and can't sit still... Benadryl anyone?!!

Also during the last 2 months, Kyle got Hand Foot and Mouth disease and the flu. I had to fly back to NJ to read in one of my college roomate's wedding. Kyle had 2 fillings done on 2 cavities in his front center incisors. That was a nightmare... had to wrap him up like a kiddie taco and he screamed and cried hysterically the whole time. And, we just had to find new health insurance.

Otherwise, things are going well... relatively speaking. Kyle is growing and saying about a dozen words now... ball, car, plane, pee, pea, bee, bye, mama, dada, more, ba (for bottle), pa (for pasta). He uses sign language for please, thank you and more. He has officially been a part of our family now longer than he was at the orphanage. Yea. Devin is writing well... very psyched to go to kindergarten in August. I signed her up for swimming lessons this summer.

I had a good Mother's day. I got to ride my horse Moon for 2 hours this morning with my friend Lynne. Then, we went to the movies and I saw the movie "State of Play" and ate lots of popcorn with lots of butter. Yum. Good movie, by the way. Then, I took the kids swimming. They are water crazy. Got a giftcard for a massage from Jack, and a handmade card from Devin. Plus, she cleaned her room for me... truly a miracle. :)

Busy, busy, busy

2009-03-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been awhile since I posted. Life has been challenging in the last month and I just have not had much time to post. First, my husband lost his job about a month ago... so the recession has hit home for us. He has had a few interviews and a few jobs are promising, but no offers yet.

As for Kyle, he had about 2 months of colds... So, I finally took him to the doctor who said he was fine. On the positive note, he gained almost 3 lbs in the last few months... Well, anyway, he then proceeded to get a bad case of Hand,Foot and Mouth Disease. He was very sick for a few days and had fevers, drooling and not eating. He then recovered.... took him to his first dentist appointment this week. He has 2 cavities to be filled on his central upper incisors. I am not surprised, they have been etched and slighlty discolored since we got him. Well, they are cavities and I need to take him back next month. Should be a lot of fun... NOT. Then, this weekend, he started coughing again and just threw up and has another low grade fever. I just can't win. Ugh.

As for Devin, she has no cavaties... Yea. I recently switched her back to gymnastics from Dance class. She just wasn't into it. She does not thrive there and I don't think I will sign her up again. I think we will go back to swimming this summer which she loves. I did sign her up for kindgergarten and am waiting to hear if it's full or half day next year.

As for me, I have been working a lot lately. The other main vet is on maternity leave and I am very busy at work. Work has been stressful... more emergency work and over- booked days. Plus, I have had some conflicts with another vet we are rotating emergencies with and have a meeting set up with them tomorrow. Not looking forward to it. Don't really like conflict. I have a dentist appt and mammogram tomorrow too... so it should be a really fun day. NOT.

Well, gotta go. Even though Kyle is not feeling well... he is still up to mischief and hitting his sister for fun.

Vietnamese New Year Party

2009-02-17T14:25:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share a couple photos from Tet party we attended in Phoenix 2 weekends ago. Kelley, who adopted Henry, also from the Que Son orphanage, invited me. I just found out about this group a couple weeks ago... it’s a group of parents who adopted children from Vietnam. We went at last second... I brought me 2 kids, Devin & Kyle. I wanted them to wear their Vietnamese kimonos- but couldn't find them. Oh well. We had a good time and it was nice to connect to other local adoptive parents. They were from many different orphanages and agencies. Very interesting... I did not get a chance to have too many in depth conversations from other people (running after 2 kids). One parent just recently adopted in November. Her agency closed down before her adoption was final and she went by herself, without an agency or facilitator, to Vietnam. She had a terrible experience and said how corrupt the whole country is... she brought several thousand dollars cash with her and had to pay off many people to bring her daughter home. Hmm.... I wish I had a chance to talk to her more. She said she cried every day there. I can't imagine going to Vietnam without a facilitator/ translator or agency. Anyway, food for thought....

Kyle was sick for 4 days last week... running high fevers. He is better now. It is not easy when a kid is sick and both parents work. You can't take them to day care b/c you don't want to infect all the other kids. And, no other parents want them at their house, and all your friends are working. So, we juggled schedules and my friend Lynne helped us out one day. We made it work.

This past weekend we went to 2 gatherings. On Sat, I went to Alana's baby shower (the other vet in my clinic)at her parents house. Afterwards, she had BBQ and I brought the kids. It is exhausting to bring Kyle to parties where it is not kid friendly. I am constantly playing defense and trying to keep him from... falling into the pool with no fence, not stick his face in their old doberman's face, or stick his hand in their ash trays, or play in their dog bowl, etc... After 2 hours, we all were exhausted and had to leave before dinner. Oh well. The next day we went to dinner with Jack's relatives. Again, after a few hours, had to leave b/c Kyle was too tired and having a mental breakdown. The boy needs his sleep. If he doesn't get 14-15 hours per day he is GRUMPY!!! Well, it sounds like he is waking from his nap...

Kyle Officially adopted in Arizona!

2009-02-05T18:32:00.000-08:00

Well, last week we went to court on Wednesday morning and finalized our adoption of Kyle in Arizona. We also officially changed his name to Kyle Le Hulse from Thanh Le Nguyen. Yea. Above is picture of all of us & our judge. She was very nice and asked if we would like a picture of us with her.

Kyle is doing well and now has 7 teeth coming in... so ibuprofen has been our friend lately. He is doing really well and very happy lately (except the other day when I didn't give him his 2nd nap and he had a tired "mental breakdown" before bed).

I have been very busy at work lately and did two seminars at our clinic last weekend. I work again this Sat morning which means I have worked or did something work related every weekend for the last 4 weeks. I need a weekend off! On Saturday, we have our social worker coming for our 6 month home visit. We have to send that report to our agency which sends it to Vietnam as part of our adoption agreement.

Well, that's all for now...

Giving Kisses

2009-01-22T07:01:00.000-08:00

I just had to post about the great morning we had yesterday. When Kyle first woke up, he spontaneously reached out for Devin and gave her a big kiss on the lips. Then, they proceeded to give each other about 10 kisses in a row. They did it again this morning. It was so cute. They really love each other and play well together. Kyle has been giving me kisses for 2-3 months now. Then, he started giving Jack kisses. In the last month, he has been giving Devin kisses. It is a real milestone in his attachment and bonding with us. :)

Kyle is really starting to understand lots of things I am saying. I have been trying to teach him right and wrong and saying "your sorry". Sometimes he will hit at Devin... and I tell him it's not nice and to say he is sorry. He will walk over to her and put his head on her shoulder. It is so sweet. His personality is starting to shine and he has a bit of a sense of humor. When I ask him certain questions, he will swing his head back and forth for "no" and then laugh. I tell him he is silly. He gets a kick out of it.

Kyle is also getting 5... yes FIVE... teeth in at once over the last week or two... 3molars and the two upper canines (or eye teeth)... all just broke through the gums in the last few days. If you don't recall, he did this in September when he got 4 teeth in at once over a two week time period!

On the digestive problems, he has had no diarrhea for about 4-6 weeks now. Thank God. (Knock on wood). Maybe we can make some lead-way in his gaining weight now. He is still on soy formula as he does not tolerate milk, soy milk or lactaid.

We have our court date next Wednesday for our re-adoption of Kyle in the state of Arizona. We will also finally be changing his name officially to Kyle from his Vietnamese name. He will get a new birth certificate from Arizona. It will be a US Citizen born on foreign soil birth certificate. Yea.

My Kids are Crazy

2009-01-20T19:39:00.000-08:00

Yup. My kids were completely wild tonight. Kyle is running around like a nut... trying to push all the furniture, trash cans, high chair and wagons around. He is always trying to climb on his kids chair and has fallen off and banged his head several times. His pain tolerance is very high (which is the exact opposite of Devin who has none)and pain is not a deterant for him. He will bang his head or hurt himself, cry for 10 seconds, and then DO IT AGAIN. He banged his head twice on the bathtub today... trying to stand up and jump all around and also fell off the kids chair once today. Plus, he hit his head yesterday and got a bloody lip this past weekend. He constantly has a new bruise on his forehead or an old one healing. Plus, he likes to push the envelope. He got a stool and stood next to the counter and tried SEVERAL times to play with the stove knobs. I said No several times... and flicked his hands... and he still wouldn't stop until we physically picked him up and moved him away. Then, he was off to the toilet (still with pee in it that Devin didn't flush) and played with that. Got him cleaned up and closed the toilet and door... Then, we got into the cat's water bowl and knocked it all over the place. Finally, I had enough of playing defense and put him to bed.

As for Devin, she is the "informer" and goes around either instigating drama with Kyle or informing me of his wrong doings... "Mom.. Kyle's playing in the toilet. Mom, Kyle is pullin off all the toilet paper. Mom, Kyle is playing in the cat's food. Mom, Kyle is playing in the trash can. Mom, Kyle just ate something off the floor." The list goes on. :) Devin had dance at The Little Gym today. This is 2nd week of new semester. Since this is a new class (although same teachers and same placce) she is being shy and reserved... as usual. But, this week is better than last week. She really likes the teachers and her confidence is slowly getting better.

As for me, I have been very busy at work lately. Our clinic hosted the Veterinary Management Group this weekend. I was out Thurs night, all day Friday & Friday night, all day & night Sat & Sunday. So, I didn't get to see the kids much. We had our first babysitter at home on Friday night. It went well and we will use her again. Kyle and Devin both liked her and no crying. This is good b/c Kyle does not except new people easily and won't let me leave him at church or the gym. He freaks out. But, he did well on his home turf. I am glad it worked out b/c Jack and I are going to try and have more "date nights" this year. It is our New Years Resolution to find more time for each other as a couple. That is hard to do with two toddlers. Anyway, the meeting was about buying/ selling a veterinary practice. It is in the planning stages for me to buy into my clinic as a partner this year. I hope it all works out.

Christmas & New Year's

2009-01-04T06:56:00.000-08:00

Well, the holidays are over. It is so much fun to celebrate with kids. They bring the fun & excitement back into the holidays. Of course, the got too many gifts again.... we tried to cut back. But, they got a lot of gifts from friends and family. We have to say that Devin got a new bike for Christmas from Santa and she was very excited. Kyle got a lot of cars and likes to make the "car noises". We traveled back East to Delaware to visit family. We actually traveled on Christmas day. It worked out ok... got to see my parents, sister Vicki & family, and brother Mike & family. It was the first time they have met Kyle. Both kids did pretty well on the plane ... we are in "survival" mode during that time. Just try to get through it and entertain the kids. I also got a chance to see my friend Kathy from college and 2 friends Maureen & Char from High School. Kyle did well and adjusted to his new environment and new people better than expected. By the time we left, he was going to his grandparents and even gave grandma a kiss!

Speaking of kisses, we have had a few firsts lately... he is now "giving unsolicited" kisses to me (open mouth... but we are working on that)and giving solicited kisses to Devin & Jack. I know he is understanding more and more... he will come up and give hugs (he leans his head on you) if I say he has to say sorry. He does have a bit of a temper and thrashes his arms and yells whe he is mad. Thus, why he has to say he is sorry... he sometimes hits Devin or other people. He definately has become competitive with his sister and if I'm giving her hugs... he runs up and hits her,pushes her or pulls her hair and yells and tries to push his way into my arms. Even if I'm hugging him at same time, he does not want to share me. He thinks I'm all his! He can also give "high 5's now" and smile with a cheesy smile (see photo of him in car seat) when I point camera at him! He is figuring out I like to take pictures (got a new camera from my hubby for Christmas).

Devin is into "body parts" lately... who has them and what are they. She says she has a "china" and boys have a penis. It makes me laugh so much I don't correct her. It's actually kinda cute. She is big into pretend and playing with her animals. I think she is also going through growing pains in her legs... she says they hurt "on the inside Mom". I had them when I was young too. Did I tell you she cut her own hair a few weeks ago?! I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. A big chunk of hair about 3" wide was about 3-4" shorter than the rest of her hair. I asked her what happeneded and she said "I don't know". Hmmm... I finally got the truth out of her.

The kids enjoyed visiting their cousins over the holidays... Devin & Eben really liked to play together. He is a handful and I don't envy my brother Mike at all. He is a lifetime member of the time-out club. We shall see what happens with Kyle in the future. He definately is moer adventurous and has more of a temper than Devin. I think that is being a boy. People say boys are easier than girls. But, I really think girls are easier than boys... at least when they are toddlers. We'll see what I think when she is a teenager! :)

Santa is coming to Town

2008-12-23T06:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas is coming... it's Kyle's first Christmas. I took kids to mall to see Santa and we also saw him at the Mom's club Christmas party. Devin is really excited about Christmas this year. She told Santa she wants a bike for Christmas. Kyle thinks Santa is a very scary man and doesn't want anything to do with him. He is screaming in the mall's Santa pictures. Oh well. We are all very excited. Kyle is still having issues with colds and diarrhea. Hope we can get it all figured out in 2009. We are leaving in a few days by airplane to see my parents and cousins, aunts and uncles. None of them have met Kyle yet. So, we can't wait. My parent's house is not kid-proof and has a large staircase which will be Kyle's ultimate goal to climb the whole time I'm there. So, it should be interesting.... Here are a few pictures of Kyle and Devin as we enjoy this holiday season...

Mom Appreciation Week

2008-12-08T20:42:00.000-08:00

Well, I am now in San Diego for 4 1/2 days at an Equine practitioners convention. Jack is in charge of the kids. He says he is doing ok so far. He had a little freak out this morning when Kyle had a runny nose. Well, actually, more like a panic...but I calmed his fears it was a little cold and he would be ok. So, this is the week that Jack can appreciate all I do at the house. Thus, I call it Mom Appreciation Week. The kids seem to be doing well and Devin is gabbing up a storm to me when I call. Kyle can't verbalize if he misses me... so I hope he is ok. He has bonded well to Jack, so I feel comfortable that he is in his regular routine and with Dad & sister.

The convention is going well. It is really a catch 22 being away from the kids... you relish the adult conversation, eating out, and some peace... but you miss the kids a lot too. Its only been 2 days --- I will definately be ready to go home by Wednesday. I plan on missing morning sessions tomorrow morning and having some "me" time. I will sleep in, eat leisurely, read emails, read my book and maybe work out. I guess it depends how I feel. Then, I will go to meeting all afternoon and banquet tomorrow night.

I took Kyle to pediatrician last week. He is 13 months. He weighs 18lbs 15 oz (5% for weight) and 29" tall (10% for height). I call him little but mighty. He is very strong and has no fear and is always busy running around. He has a long body and really short legs... so I have to buy him 6-12mos size pants because his legs are so short. He refuses to wear sneakers... has a temper tantrum.. won't walk and tries to pull them off. But, he will let me put mocassins on. So, that is what he wears. Anyway, doctor says he definately has a milk allergy. Plus, I have tried him on soy milk and lactaid too... he doesn't tolerate either of those. So, its back to soy formula again. He is doing well on it. I may have to keep him on soy formula for many more months. He also got his influenza vaccine. He only got one vaccine b/c he had a bad reaction in the past. He did very well this time and we are going to do one at a time every few weeks until he is caught up. He has another cold right now... I think this is the 3rd since coming home from Vietnam.

We went to a Vietnamese playgroup last weekend at Kelley's house. She adopted a boy from the same orphanage and agency as Kyle. Her son, Henry, was adopted about 6 weeks after Kyle. It was great to see him again. He looks much better. He was a special needs kid and did not get good care at the orphanage. Kelley is still working on bonding/attaching with him b/c of his neglect in the orphanage. Plus, she is still dealing with his medical issues. I hope they find a diagnosis and can help him. He has the most hypnotic , deep penetrating eyes. They really touch me. I also got to meet Julie and her 2 daughters... one is also adopted from same agency as Kyle. There were 2 other mothers there who adopted from Vietnam but through another agency. It was pretty cool. Unfortunately, I am always trying to do to much at once and had to leave early to get ready to leave for San Diego.

Milk allergy

2008-11-23T13:29:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately,I think Kyle has a true milk allergy or milk intolerance. When I first got him from the orphanage, we brought him back to our bungalow in Danang and later realized he has massive and stinky diarrhea. Course, no one mentioned this and we didn't know how long he had diarrhea. None of the other babies in our group had diarrhea. When we got back to the states, we had his feces tested for parasites which came back negative. Kyle's pediatrician went ahead and treated him with Flagyl "just in case". I decided to go ahead and switch him to soy formula b/c had a mild rash on his face & body and b/c he was a restlous sleeper. I noticed an immediate improvement in the odor after switching him to soy. The diarrhea took another 10 days or so to resolve. Since then, he has the occasional diarrhea which has been difficult to figure out.

Last week, I gave him Lactaid at his cousin's house one night, the next day his feces were loose... and then he got bad diarrhea for 3 days. When I say bad... I mean blow out the diaper all over your clothes, up your shirt, on your bed & sheets BAD. I told Kyle... don't move... Mommy's gonna go get a towel... I wrapped him (& sheets) and clothes and carried everything to tub and stuck him under the faucet! It was so gross. He also got diarrhea the day after his birthday. I did give him chocolate cake & icing. Now that I look back... it was probably milk chocolate icing. I have also given him a few bites of ice cream... and then he got diarrhea the next day. He usually doesn't get diarrhea right away but the next day. He also still spits up a lot... that's gross too. Gotta love nasty partially digested soy milk up-chucked on your clothes EVERY DAY. It stinks. Thus, I stink.

I looked up milk allergies on the internet and some studies say 100% of people from Southeast Asia have milk intolerance some time in their lives. They are not lactase deficient, but rather have intolerance to some milk proteins. Not surprised, there was hardly any milk in Vietnam when we were there. No dairy cows either.

I have already discussed this with Kyle's pediatrician before...but have another appt in a week to discuss in more detail. Don't know a whole lot about food allergies... but I am learning.

Kyle's 1st birthday

2008-11-12T18:12:00.001-08:00

OK- first I have to say I know I'm lame at keeping my blog updated. I have to say keeping up with 2 toddlers has been a challenge for me. Devin gave up her naps as soon as we got back from Vietnam...so there is no down time anymore. Bummer. I have to say mid-Sept to mid- October was a really rough time for me. Kyle was REALLY clingy and whiny and I was beside myself. I really had a rough time and was stressed. He is doing much better now and much less whiny. Thank God. I was feeling like... "What have I got myself into?!" I brought it up on my agency chat group and got slammed by another mother like " you need to carry him at all times and never let him down". What?! I don't think so. I can show my son love and affection and be a good mom without holding him all the time. Anyway, he is doing a lot better and I have also been figuring out what works/ what doesn't work with Kyle. He & Devin love being together... although there definately are some squabbles. He bit Devin last week when he was excited. She screamed bloody murder (left a big mark). The next day, she scratched him in the face, on purpose, when he wanted to play with her and she didn't want to share.

Kyle is now walking and chasing his sister around the house. He learns very quickly and can say a few words now.... Mama, Dada, bye (and waves), car , ball, and don't. He is eating finger foods and is willing to try anything. We are still having some issues with intermittent diarrhea. I haven't totally figured that out yet. He is now sleeping well and taking good naps and sleeps well at night.

We had a small family party for him on Sunday for his 1st birthday. He LOVES chocolate cake and ate a whole cupcake by himself! He says Mmmm... mmmm.... (like yumm yummm). Course, it gave him diarrhea the next day..oh well.

How Fun is Halloween?!

2008-11-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

Halloween is fun. That's all there is to it...what's more fun than dressing up and getting free candy?! Not much. Besides Christmas, Halloween is definately my favorite holiday. It is so much fun to celebrate it again with my kids. We went to a Halloween bash last weekend with Eric, Krista & Zanderman at Goodyear Park and dressed up, ate food, went to the "spooky house" and saw fireworks. Then, on Sunday, the family went to Boo at the Zoo at the Phoenix Zoo. Then, we went to a Mom's club Halloween party on Tuesday... dressed up again and ate fun food and played with other kids. For Halloween, we went to my brother's neighborhood for trick-or- treating. Kyle was in awe at all the Halloween costumes. He came with us in the stroller. Devin loved it and ran giggling from house to house. All week long she has been saying "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat." She was a lion AGAIN this year. Tried to convince her to be something else... but she wanted to roar at people... so lion it is. Kyle was a dinosaur. So cute. Got the costume from a guy who also adopted a boy from Vietnam. Here are a few fun photos of the kids this past week. The storm trooper is Alexander- my kids' cousin.

My "Other" Job

2008-10-24T19:13:00.000-07:00

I have been back to work for 5 weeks now. I must say... I love it. Some people are great at being 24/7 "stay at home" mom's. They like to discuss what they are going to cook for dinner, where to get coupons, what outfit they hand-made for their kids for Halloween, how they hand-made their cards and curtains. I am not one of those people. House work is not my thing. Personally, I'd rather clean stalls or do yardwork. Last week, I went to Lowe's and bought new shrubs and planted them. I loved it. Don't get me wrong. I love being a mother and love my kids. But, outside the "Mom's club" that I am member of, most people who know me think of me as a veterinarian who has kids... not the other way around.

I like being known and respected in my community as a veterinarian. It is a highly sought-after and respected job. As a matter of fact, in national surveys, veterinarian is rated in the top 5 jobs as the most truthful and respected people in the country. I have always wanted to be a veterinarian my entire life. I believe in "love what you do and do what you love." I like going to work. I think it makes me a better mother. It gives me a purpose in life and also a break from the kids. I like the challenge of the job physically and mentally and my relationships with my clients and my patients. I like working outside and not in an office. I like making my own hours and setting my schedule. Yes, it is a challenge to balance being a mother and having a career. However, I hope that my kids will be proud when they talk about me and my accomplishments. I hope they will see that you can be a successful mother and have a successful career at the same time. I hope that they feel that if you want to do something ... if you have a goal... you can be anything you want to be.

Above are some pictures of my workday...some of of me, some of my colleagues, and some of my patients...

A Happy Day

2008-10-20T18:04:00.000-07:00

OK- I am better today. No venting. Jack & I had a long talk last night. I feel happier today. He is going to try to help more with the kids and gave me some good ideas to reduce my stress. Kyle is doing well today and the both kids are happy and less whiny today. Yea :). I guess when God realizes you have had enough... he gives you a break just when you need it. Kids went to daycare today and are much happier tonight.

On a good note, I received the Presidential's Citation Alumnae reward at my alma mater, University of Delaware over the weekend. My parents attended the awards ceremony for me and said it was great. Wish I could have gone... but had to work this weekend. You can check it out at....
http://www.udconnection.com/Presidential-Citation-Award-Winners-2008

Post-Adoption Blues

2008-10-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, I will admit, I have not been myself for the last month. I would not go as far as to say I am "depressed". But, I am definately more impatient, irritable and occasionally tearful. As stated in my last post, Kyle is clingy. It is hard on me. There is no other way to put it. My daughter is a drama queen and also very clingy. My husband "helps" with the kids...but ultimately, I do the primary care. They do not cling to him, so he doesn't know how it is. EVERY time I leave the kids...it's drama, drama, drama. Devin is actually the instigator and then Kyle gets upset b/c she is. She needs hugs and kisses a thousand times, and if you deny the "one more time" she will have a melt down. She even does it when I leave her with my husband! Kyle is starting to clue in on when I'm going to leave.. and starts the whining... Jack is not helpful in this area... I really thought he'd help more with the kids since he was so great in Vietnam. But, that hasn't been the case. He thinks helping do the dishes is his contribution to raising two toddlers. Although I'm glad he helps with the dishes, it does not help with the neediness factor.

Kyle can play by himself often but is very clingy at other times. Today, when I was holding him... he was squirming all over like a jackrabbit pulling away from me... so I put him down on the ground. Then, he had a temper-tantrum b/c I put him down and proceeded to throw his head forward in anger and smack his mouth on my chair and got a bloody lip. 2nd major boo-boo today... he already has a band-aid on his head from hitting his head this morning when he fell over (learning how to walk).

I must admit, I am so happy to go to work 3 days a week to get a break. Sometimes I feel like I'm being smothered by the constant neediness. It is hard thing to admit since it has taken me so many years to even have 2 kids... and now I'm complaining. I just didn't think it was going to be this hard. Ok- another kid crying for no reason (my daughter)... so gotta go.... Mama mama mama!!!!

Attachment & Whining

2008-10-14T20:30:00.000-07:00

OK...my son is whiner. We have had him a little over 2 months now. On the whole, he has adjusted very well.... he is sleeping through the night fairly well now (some nights better than others). He is well attached to us... there lies the problem. He is VERY attached to me. He whines for me A LOT. He also does this to my daycare lady (both my kids go to a small homecare when I work 3 days a week). I can tell it is wearing her out... it does me too.

He is very clingy. I understand this is somewhat normal in adopted kids. However, we have to be able to put him down. He doesn't do this to my husband, her husband or my daughter... just me & her. I have another daughter who also needs A LOT of attention right now. And, I work and have to do every day activities (go to the bathroom, help my daughter when she goes potty, get her dressed / hair brushed, etc). I do sometimes carry him in my bjorn or backpack.. but it hurts my back to do it all the time. Sometimes he will get over it in a minute or two and move on. Sometimes he has an all out temper- tantrum. He smiles and is happy as soon as I pick him up. I realize he wants me to hold him all the time.. but I can't. My bio daughter did not do this so I don't know quite how to handle it. I realize he needs extra love & attention & we have not had him that long.I am told by other adoptive parents that he is not fully attached yet... but attaching and needs the extra TLC right now. They say this phase will pass and that I just have to get through it... I hope so. If I discipline him at all when he throws a temper tantrum (he does sometimes when I change him or dress him)--- I give him a stern "No"...he gets very hurt and tears well up in his eyes. I guess they lines are fuzzy for me b/c he is adopted... Also, he does not do this all the time but some days it really wears me down. When I give him full attention ... he really is a great kid and lots of fun. But, if I don't give him full attention when he wants it .... he just whines and whines...

Don't get me wrong... I love him with all my heart and he is a fun kid. He is a joy to have around a majority of the time. He is almost walking now - he can walk 5-6 steps at a time and uses the walker like a crazy man. He can say Mama and Dada and Ba (ball). He is still small~ 18 lbs and in 6-12mos clothes. He loves his sister and the wrestle and play together a lot. He is eating all the small finger foods and will eat almost everything I offer them. Well, that's what's going on right now...

New Pictures of Kyle & Devin

2008-10-10T09:02:00.001-07:00

Havent' posted in a while... here are some recent photos... will try to post more later today...

Welcome Home Kyle Party

2008-09-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted for a couple weeks...my daughter Devin gave up her naps which has totally bummed me out. It's my only "me" time to get things done... emails, reading, yard work, or watch a DVD. So, I haven't had a chance to post. Plus, I went back to work 2 weeks ago. I have to say... I love being back to work. Taking care of two toddler is HARD! I have to go to work so I can rest. :) Kyle is doing great at childcare. He & Devin go together to a homecare (Miss Julie's) and they are both doing well. I think it has helped having them together. Plus, it's easier on me to only have one place to pick up & drop off at.

Last night, my brother Eric & his wife Krista had a "Welcome Home Kyle" party. It was a great success. My sister Katherine surprised me and flew from San Fran to attend as a surprise. They pretended to need to borrow a cooler on Friday night to come over to my house. It was definately a surprise... I had no clue... and I'm a hard one to pull a surprise on. It was after- work, I was in my grubbies with hair in pony-tail, house not so clean, and eating popcorn and a beer for dinner. I know that sounds bad... but I DID feed the kids a nutritious meal! Do as I say...not as I do! haha. Katherine spent the night and stayed with me on Saturday to catch up and get to visit with Kyle.

On Saturday night, we had a great time at Kyle's party. There were a lot of friends and family there. Kyle did great. He is standing and cruising and using his walker. He will be walking very soon. He has 8 teeth in now and is quite a biter (happy or teething bites... but bites all the same.. OUCH). He did very well for the big crowd. He gets a little intimidated by a lot of people ...but took it in stride. He can now say Mama and Dada... directed towards Me & Jack. Devin was a bit wound-up yesterday b/c of Katherine visiting and the party. She is sacked out on the floor right now (1st time she's napped for me in 3 weeks). Today, we opened all the gifts for Kyle and everyone was so generous... lots of nice clothes, books, and toys. I will use some of the gift cards to buy him a new car seat. That's all for now... the little Dude just woke up....

Super Mom- NOT!

2008-09-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

I have some good news to toot my own horn... I was selected as a recipient of the 2008 University of Delaware Presidential Citation for Outstanding Achievement. This honor is given to graduates who exhibit great promise in their profession or public service activities. Wow. My Animal Science professor, Dr. Lesa Griffiths nominated me for this award. She found me through my clinic website... www.durangoequine.com. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the awards banquet in October since I just got back from Vietnam and plan on going back East for Christmas to visit family (and have family meet Kyle). Plus, I already committed to work to take appointments that weekend since all the other doctors will be out of town. So, my parents will attend for me and read a blerb I will write up.
Another Mom recently asked me, "How do you do it? How do you balance career and two toddlers, all my animals and everyday tasks?" Well, that's because I'm super Mom.... he he he.... gave myself a little chuckle there.... definately NOT! Stephanie, from my Mom's club summed it up the other day... "It's easier to broker million dollar deals with a bunch of difficult old men then to try to negotiate with a toddler." Seriously! At least the men don't throw themselves on the floor when the don't get their way and wail uncontrollably for 10 minutes. Well, I do get things done... but certainly not with finesse. There are quite a few things that gotta give when you have a career and kids (especially toddlers/ babies)....

House not immaculately clean.... just not gonna happen around here. Fortunately, we have a house cleaning lady who comes every other week to "deep clean" the house. My house is still messy, but at least it's not filthy. :)

No gourmet meals. Martha Stuart, I am not. Quick, easy meals. Better yet, Bertoli's stove-top ready made meals are the best and taste good too. I'm not a member of the recipe club for a reason... don't have the time or inclination to cook fancy meals. And even if I did have the time, I'd rather do something else. Sorry Jack.

Late. I'm usually barely making it or a little late. Heck, I'm happy if I show up at all. Even if I get up early or have plenty of time... I just can't seem to make it on time... right when I'm just about out the door... Devin needs her doll, Kyle's got a poopy diaper... it's always SOMETHING. I have a very difficult time being on time.

Always a little frazzled. I used to wonder why my sister Katherine always looked worn out and a little frazzled when she had toddlers.. now I know why. Can't have a conversation on the phone uninterupted to save my life.

Looking a little frumpy. Yup, since I've been home for the last month with the kids... I'm starting to look like the frumpy housewife. Sorry Jack. You know the look.... big shirt, baggy pants or jean shorts, hair in a pony tail, no shower, little or no makeup. LOVELY.

Not enough time to work-out or ride my horses. I finally got on a good work-out schedule with Devin and now it's all upside down again. I haven't taken Kyle to gym yet b/c not sure how he will do in childcare.... will wait to see how he does at Julie's this coming week (my home-care lady).

Well, as you can see, I am not super-mom. There is no such thing. Something always has to give. You can't do it all. I am back to work on Monday. Kyle & Devin will be going to daycare together. I hope everything goes ok. He has already visited a few times and she has all his stuff ready to go. By the way, did I mention Kyle can say "Mama"- it's awesome- and directed to me. Tonight, Jack and I are going to his best friend Steve's 50th birthday party.. 70's party... costume required. We got a babysitter and are ready to party.... it starts at 9pm (my bedtime- haha)...so hope I don't poop out. Should be fun.. will post pictures later. Well, gotta go feed Kyle and do "Mom things".

Kyle Home for 3 weeks

2008-09-06T16:03:00.000-07:00

Kyle playing with Dad...

Devin & Kyle having their milk together before bedtime... so sweet.

Well, Kyle has been home for 3 weeks now and we have had him almost 5 weeks. Hard to believe. Time flies. He is doing well now. We have the night sleeping done pretty well. He still wakes up frequently, but we can soothe him down pretty quick. He is now taking naps and sleeping in his crib. He is eating well and eating 2-3 large jars of baby food a day. I did switch him to Soy formula a couple weeks ago as well as put him on a course of flagyl. We saw immediate improvement in the odor of his poop. It went from a toxic wasteland odor to normal in 1-2 days. The diarrhea took another week to resolve. Now, he has normal "BM's". Thank God for that. Jack would gag everytime he pooped before... which means I've had to change all the poopy diapers for the last month... not it's time to share that responsibility. Also, his face rash/ blotchiness resolved after about a week after the switch as well. All is well... so we will leave him on soy formula for now.

Got all Kyle's test results back... all normal and negative. Our doctor had the following tests run... HIV, Hepatitis B &C, syphylis, CBC, liver/kidney enzymes, TB, hepatitis antibody titers and fecal parisitology tests. They were all negative or normal. Yea!!! Since we know nothing about his parents... its a huge relief to know he doesn't have any underlying disease. Also, his antibody titer for hepatitis were positive... proving he had the vaccine they claimed he did and his body has immunity. I also had his hearing checked last week. I know he can hear...but he never had an auditory exam at birth like they do in the US. They check his tympanic membrane integrity and hearing on various levels. Everything was completely normal.

When we got him, he had 5 teeth already in... 2 upper and 3 lower. Well, he is now "teething" and 3 teeth are coming in at once!! Poor guy. He was teething so bad yesterday he bit his lip and started to bleed. Had to give him some ibuprofen this morning.. he was very grumpy. It really helped a lot. Speaking of teething... he bites. He just started doing that a few days ago... he gets so excited when we play with him and wants to chew on everything.... and them "chomp." It really hurts b/c he has teeth! Gotta break him of that habit quick! I also had his haircut for the first time last week. He did very well and no fuss at all when they buzzed his head. His hair was "old man's hair" ... long in back & on sides... short on top with a comb over. It looks really cute now. Took him to the public pool for the first time yesterday. He LOVED it.... couldn't slow him down. The boy has no fear- just the opposite of Devin. I took them both to the mall the other day too. Got some photos done at Kiddie Kandids. I got Devin's 4 year old pictures done and then had one taken of them both. It was an ok picture... not great b/c we couldn't get them both looking at us and smiling at same time. Tried to get Kyle's done by himself , but that didn't work this time. Will try again when he is 1 year old in a couple months.

I am finally figuiring out how to use my YouTube. I have posted 2-3 videos. The first 2 are when we first met Kyle at the orphanage in Vietnam. I am trying to download a new one of Devin & Kyle playing peek-a-boo at the house. You can watch them by going to: www.youtube.com/user/thhulse.

Devin & Papa & Grandma Hulse.

The Affect of the Vietnam War

2008-08-31T08:55:00.000-07:00

We truly enjoyed the Vietnamese people...it was a very enlightening trip... true culture shock. You can't help but think about the Vietnam War (or, as they call it, the "American War") and its repercusions on their people. The War has a drastic impact on their people even today. First thing you notice is its a very "young" country...there aren't many "old" people there.... that's b/c most of them were wiped out by the war. Over 2 million Vietnamese died during the war- a large portion were civilians. Another thing we noticed was the disproportionate number of people with physical handicaps/ missing parts... because of unexploded mines and Agent Orange. Saw lots of people with missing legs/feet/eyes/arms, physical deformities, etc.... We even visited a disabled persons factory where some of them worked. We bought some beautiful handmade items they made (proceeds go to support them). There is still underlying animosity between the North and South. The Northern Vietnamese didn't talk about the War (they won). However, many of the South Vietnamese (allies to the Americans during the war) openly brought up the subject and wanted to discuss it with us. We had already decided not to talk about 3 subjects while in VN... war, politics and religon. However, many South Vietnamese wanted to talk about it with us and brought up the subject. They all would say they didn't like the North Vietnamese and thought they were rude and unfriendly and did not trust them. They still call Ho Chi Minh City ... Saigon. One Vietnamese-American we met in the airport was bringing his family back to visit relatives. He was in the war and worked with the Americans. When the war was over, they would not allow his children to get a good education. He really wanted his sons to get a college education and slowly brought his family to the US to achieve that.

The area where Kyle lived was very poor. That area is just below the DMZ line and hard hit by the war. They are still very poor b/c the war wrecked the countryside they live in. They have not had the money to rebuild it like we do. The average house in the country is 2-3 rooms. Most of them don't have doors or windows (just door frames and window frames) and sparse furniture... if at all. I said before the average income is $55/ week in the country... I misquoted... its $55 per month in the country and about $250 in the city. POOR!!! You can still see many rice field with 100's of markers where unexploded mines or metal fragments lie. They mark them with a stick and plastic bag. They go through each rice field with a metal detector and mark these spots.

In the big cities, most of the monuments and museums all pertain to the war. We did not go to these as we wanted to focus on positive things while in Vietnam. Plus, we had 2 children under 4 yrs old... and we all know how little kids love to go to Museums... NOT.

My 40th Birthday

2008-08-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

Well... it's finally here. My 40th Birthday. I am officially middle- age. Weird. Remember when you were a teenager and 40 year olds were considered "so old!". Sometimes I feel it when I'm taking care of a baby and a toddler. The sleep deprivation is just a little harder now than even 4 years ago. Well, Kyle is finally feeling better and settling in. He still does not sleep great at night and wakes up multiple times. Boy is he grumpy when he wakes up.... he is half asleep/ half awake and really mad that he woke up. One of his new nicknames is "Grumpy Bear" (same one I had when I was young.. just not a happy camper when he first wakes up). We mostly are sleeping on the floor with him in his room... have tried all the tricks and that seems to work the best. Although, I have been able to get him to sleep in his crib during his afternoon nap. We are fully transitioned over to US time now. It was a rough first week. Thank God for the Olympics playing late at night... gave us something to watch when we couldn't sleep. He is finally almost c0mpletely well. He got really sick last week... fevers, occasional vomiting, cough, snotty nose, and of course... still diarrhea. So, it was a lot of fun... NOT! Made the time transition even worse. Finally get home to enjoy my family at home and Kyle was just miserable (and me too b/c he was!). I got vomited on several times... no cottage cheese for me, thank you. He ran fevers for 6 days.. had to keep him on ibuprofen every 6 hours and Benadryl 2-3x per day.

I took him back to pediatrician last Wednesday.. I thought he had an ear infection b/c he had white waxy stuff coming out of his left ear. Well, it ended up he just had really funky ear wax and a lot of it... they had to flush out his ears to see his tympanic membrane. That was a lot of fun... NOT! Ear plugs, anyone?! He did not have an ear infection...just the flu and vaccine reaction on top of it. He was coughing so bad all week- it made him choke and then vomit. Plus, his appetite wasn't good last week. He finally broke his fevers on Sunday and feeling better. Devin got his cough too... but no fevers.

He is actually happy the last few days. It is good to see... snorting when he laughs (we also call his "Snort"), playing, crawling all over the house and getting into everything, and very opinionated. The boy has got a temper... Krista says welcome to the world of boys! Very active and keeping me on my toes. We also call him "Stink Bug" b/c he sleeps with his but in the air and had some stinky poop. Although, the D bombs are getting better... I switched him to Soy formula (for now) and cut back his food to a 2-3 items and we are treating him with Flagyl. The last few days his poop is getting more solid and less stinky... don't know which one worked. But, we will see... So far, haven't gotten any test results back except neg TB.

Some interesting things about him... I mentioned this before.... he is SO flexible. Seriously. He can touch his earlobes with his feet, clap his feet, practically do a split, bend over with legs straight and put the top of his head on the ground. I think I will put him in karate and/or gymnastics when he is older! Trust me... Devin is not flexible at all. Devin is doing a little better... the first few days back she was on "home turf" and very jealous of all the attention he was getting. Especially when he got sick b/c we really couldn't put him down... she was not a happy camper. But, she is doing better now. She truly loves being a big sister and showing him off. But, she also likes to boss him around and tell him what to do.

Sleep deprivation, vaccines & illness

2008-08-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I took Kyle to Phoenix Children's Hospital on Monday for routine exam. He appeared healthy and has gained 1/2 lb since we got him. He is around 50% for height~ 71cm and 25% for weight 17 lbs 6 oz. We discussed running some blood work and fecal exams since we have no history on him. He has had chronic diarrhea which stinks bad since we got him... we like to call it the toxic bomb. Devin says " Mom- Kyle did a bomb again!". Kyle got HiB and Pneumococcal vaccines on Monday. They also are running tests for lead, CBC, repeat HIV & Hep (said that > 6 mos can give false neg), and fecal tests (for chronic diarrhea). They did not repeat the DTV vaccines he already had. Poor guy got high fevers (102.6) afterwards. But, coincidentally, also got sick with either a cold or flu the afternoon after being at the doctors office. I'm sure from all the traveling and plane rides. So, needless to say... we are doubly sleep deprived. He has not been sleeping well since bringing him home. He slept pretty good in VN--- but since flipping around his schedule and not feeling well... its been rough. We are taking shifts and pulling out all our tricks to get him to sleep. Last night was Jack's night to take him.. I was just too tired. No REM sleep hardly for days.... so I got a pretty good night's sleep last night. He is in swing right now. Just gave him some ibuprofen & bendadryl about an hour ago - it should start kicking in soon.

He's had fevers, snotty nose, coughing since Monday. Took him back to doctor yesterday. I thought he had an ear infection too b/c he had some white drainage from his left ear. Well, his ears were full of whitish wax (weird) and gunk.. so they had to flush his ears out first just to check his tympanic membrane. He loved that... NOT! No ear infection... just a virus and vaccine reaction at same time. By the way, his ears were REALLY dirty on the outside when we got him.. .took days to get them clean... but I did not clean ear canals. Wish we would have waited on those vaccines... but who knew he would start to get sick a few hours after dr appt?! Can't take it back now. Anyway, she gave me scripts for Flagyl for diarrhea and hydrocortisone for face rash. Says he may be reacting to all new foods since he really wasn't on anything when we got him. Says sometimes it can take a month for his body to work things out.... but if it doesn't ... we will have to go from there. Personally, I think he may have lactose intolerance. He has many of same symptoms as my nephew who had lactose intolerance... diarrhea, moning when sleeping, vomiting after a bottle.... course you could chalk that up to being sick too. None of the other babies in our group have had diarrhea...He has had it since I got him. Since I got no history on him... I don't know how long this has been going on. No antibiotics right now... she didn't want to mess up his GI tract more than it already is... Have an appt to reck him in 1 month to see how he is adjusting.

On a good note, he is bonding to us very well (despite me holding him when getting vaccines, blood drawn and ears flushed). Yesterday, when he was feeling pretty good (all drugs kicked in)... he was crawling all over the place and exploring (the first time he's done that since being home). He was creating a lot of havoc and I realized I have to re-baby proof my house. My daughter is 4- so it's partially baby proofed with electric plug covers (which he is very attracted to outlets) and move all things low.... he pulled a fake plant and some other light things on top of him.... So, we put baby gates up (had to find them in storage).

Well, I have to go pick up his script soon... he is up.

Back in the USA

2008-08-17T21:36:00.001-07:00

Kyle is very flexible and likes to hang upside down... over and over again. Also, can hold his bottle with his feet and suck on is toes... maybe he will be a gymnast?!

We are back! It was a long flight but we survived it with 2 kids. We were fortunate to get 2 bulk head seats with a bassinet for Kyle to sleep in... but no thanks to the travel agency HwaHwa that our adoption agency had us use. They did not do a good job for us getting seats. On the way over, Devin & I sat separate from Jack. I tried to get this mean old bitty lady next to me to change seats with him but she said she had to use the bathroom a lot and wouldn't switch. Scrooge. On the way back, the travel agent didn't even book Kyle's seat nor booked us seats together. They had separate seats in different sections for all of us.. say what?! I have 4 year old daughter - no way she's sitting by herself on a 13 hour flight. So, we did some major whining at EVA and they got 2 seats together... and then we did some major begging to other passengers.. and one man was willing to switch.. hope good karma comes his way. So, Jack sat right behind us.

Kyle checks out his new Dad... he can really stare us down!

We flew into LAX and stayed overnight in a motel. Went to a fast food restaurant for dinner.. never tasted so good. Lots of ice cubes!! :) No heads or feet on my food- yea! Loved the fact we could put Kyle in a high chair while we ate (none in Vietnam, nor do they have any kids "menus" or cups for kids- just glass... scary with a 4 year old!) I lost both my sippy cups, my sunglasses and my watch on our trip. I would like to say we had a good night's rest.. but it wasn't so. We were all up from 12-4am... I wrote emails, Jack &Kyle played on the floor and Devin played on her Leapfrog game. We drove back to Phoenix on Friday. Kyle did pretty good in his carseat....only whined a little when we first put him in. It did help that Devin was sitting right next to him so he could see her. On Friday night, I was up till 3am with Kyle. He has been clingy, more tempermental and more cranky since we have been back to the USA (3 days). I am tossing it up to switching time zones and completely flipping our schedule upside down... he is having harder time adjusting than we are. Its a 14 hour time difference....so basically flipping night and day completely. He has had diarrhea since we got him too. Diaper changes, cleaning his face, and changing clothes are still a challenge. I don't think these things were done much before. He gets REALLY mad... shows his temper to me. Screams, turns red and clenches his fists and flails around. On the flip side, he is happier today than last 2 days... a little less clingy and starting to explore a little and laugh/ play again.

Devin hanging out with her little brother in the hotel.

We tentatively have a doctor's appt tomorrow at Phoenix Children's Hospital with Dr. Sara Bode. I got her name from another adoptive parent who uses her. She is supposed to be more experienced with international children and their health issues. However, we have not added on Kyle yet to our insurance... can't do it till adoption is complete. Since we were out of country... I couldn't do till we got back. Faxed over everything tonight... but won't receive till tomorrow morning. Our insurance company says he will be covered retroactively from his adoption date (just like you would when you give birth). So, I will call in morning to see if we are still on. Some issues I will bring up... diarrhea, Mongolian spot (Asian children birthmark that looks yellow/green), blood tests, fecal analysis, and vaccinations. He does have a large Mongolian spot on his buttocks... looks like a large bruise. At first I thought his poop stained his behind... but other adoptive parents say it is a birthmark. They also said for me to be sure to get it documented by my pediatrician b/c it looks like a large bruise and wouldn't want to be accused of child abuse. One of the other adoptive parents used to be a cop and said he has seen them on Asian children and was called to check out possible abuse... ended up being a birthmark.

Devin is all smiles on our way to HaLong Bay.

We are all doing a little better today... slowly feeling normal... they say it will take at least a week to get through the time changes and jet lag. Love my Diet Coke with ice cubes and had some popcorn for dinner (for me- not the kids)... my favorite American snack. Yum. Jack lost about 8-10 lbs while in Vietnam... partly b/c he didn't like a lot of the food (very conservative meat & potatoes kind of guy) and partly b/c we missed lunch many times b/c of traveling and appointments. Snacks can only get you so far. I probably lost a few but gained them back with my pigging out these last couple days!!! Speaking of weight, there is not one overweight person in Vietnam. Seriously...I am considered a large person compared to them. I had to buy XL shirts and they just barely fit. Jack bought XXL shirts and they just barely fit. Now that we've been there we know why... no junk food, no fast food, no refrigerators and everyone is very active. We had small refrigerators in our rooms, but the majority of Vietnamese don't and buy food daily. Even the milk is not cold. Everything there tastes different than here...even the basics... coffee,milk, eggs, juice, Coke Light (not Diet Coke), cheese, etc.. it all tastes different. They eat a lot of soup, noodles, rice, seafood. They usually eat pho for breakfast... pronounced "fa" and it is a noodle and meat soup.It is very tasty...but I did not want it for breakfast. I'm not a soup for breakfast kind of girl.

Well, we put Kyle down 2 hours ago and he has waken up about 10 times already... I just gave him another bottle... he drank part of it and likes to suck on the bottle to soothe himself. Won't take a binky.. darn! He is half awake/ half asleep...don't know if he is having nightmares or what... he's kinda out of it...but can get quite hysterical. This has been happening more last 3 days... so I'm hoping part of it is the time change thing... I HOPE!

Hanoi & Halong Bay

2008-08-13T07:33:00.001-07:00

We are on our last day here in Vietnam. It has been a great trip. Kyle is just awesome and everything we could hope for. He has really become a part of the family and his personality is starting to shine. He smiles when he gets up in the mornings for the last 2 days and is taking all the sight-seeing and shopping in stride. He is eating food like crazy. I really expected him only to be taking a bottle... but he is REALLY hungry! Formula only is not cutting it... I figured that out on day 2. Now, he starts yelling at Jack when he sees us eatings something... like "Hey... I want some too!". He is very flexible and can bend practically in a U shape and hold his bottle with his feet. He likes to make funny faces... fish face and blowing bubbles with his mouth. He also likes to rub his forhead to mine in a loving gesture. He is very ticklish and likes to be tickled.Also, he has birth mark on his back/buttocks called a Mongolian spot which is green/blue in color. Looks like a large bruise. I asked other parents about this and they said these are common in Asian children and to be sure to get pediatrician to write in notes b/c people will think we are bruising him! He is crawling and pulling up all over the place and is definately ALL BOY. I will have my hands full. He is getting better at me changing his diaper and does not give me much fuss anymore. He is sleeping pretty well too. We leave for the States tomorrow--- so we will see how 16 hours on a plane goes!

We are enjoying Hanoi and did some fun shopping yesterday and had some ice cream by the beautiful Hoam Kiem Lake. I find the people here are friendly but not as aggressive/ overbearing when shopping as Saigon. We have eaten at some nice restaurants... but I'm ready to eat at home and not worry about Kyle pulling everything off the tables. Last night we tried to stroll around Hoam Kiem lake, but pick-pocketers kept following us... so we left. Today, a group of us went to Halong Bay... truly a beautiful place. Its a day long tour and you get a boat ride, guide, lunch, and transport to/from the bay.. plus see a beautiful cave. We had a seafood lunch... which is always interesting here... good seafood... but I wish they would remove the head/ tail and fins/ feet.... it freaks me out that my food is still looking at me! We finally figured out the taxi cabs...many of them will try to rip us off... so we figured out which ones are the good ones (with only 2 days left!)

Tomorrow, we fly out of here in the morning. It is a mixed feeling.. we have loved our time in Vietnam and had a lot of fun. But, we are also ready to be home in our own house, with "dry heat", ice cubes, meals at home, not living in a suitcase. Here are a few pictures from the last few days... a mix of beautiful, cute and some weird stuff too...

These are some brides at a park/resort where we had lunch with Joanne from our agency...

Traditional bride & groom...

This is sticky rice.... I was like "What is that?!" Then, the waiter pops it & cuts it up...

Ben Thanh Market in Saigon.

Meat market at back of Ben Thanh Market in Saigon... had to take pictures of this.. too weird not to... and yes, those are intestines and pig ears!

And pig brains!!!! Reminds me of anatomy class in Vet school... except these are to eat!

Devin the Diva getting haircut/pampered in Saigon.

Kyle having a great time in the tub... he's a wild man in the tub.

Hoam Kiem Lake in Hanoi.

Halong Bay & the kids...

My lunch... weird.

Halong Bay.

Cave tour on one the islands in Halong Bay.

Saigon & Hanoi

2008-08-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

Well, its been a busy few days.... lots of shopping and sight-seeing. Just when you think you got things figured out a little.... you travel to a new city and way of doing things. We had a lot of fun in Saigon (as the South Vietnamese still call it). There is definately still animosity between the North & South. The South Vietnamese still don't like the North and think they are rude and unfriendly. We went shopping at the famous Ben Thanh Market. That was a strange, fun and kinda overwhelming experience... especially with Devin (my little blond Britney Spears celebrity). The market is wall to wall vendors who are fiercely competitive for your attention and a sale.... "please Madam, you buy here...we give you good deal". You have to negotiate hard with them and they are hard bargainers. Jack says we need to take a sales training seminar from them on how not to take no for an answer. One aisle we were walking down... we were bombarded by sales women who started tugging at Devin and it scared her... I took her hand and pushed my way past them. Otherwise, it was a fairly good experience and we got a lot of fun items. Also, in the back of the market is the meat section.... I had to go there just for sake of morbid curiosity...kinda like rubber necker watching an accident... you can't help but want to see. Devin & Jack did not want to go. Well, I held my breathe and walked back to the meat section... brains, intestines, liver, kidneys, lungs, live crabs, legs... you name it. Right out there for sale! Devin said it smelled funky. We also learned you don't use those guys who bike peddler you in a little cart... they ripped off another guy in our group and Jack used them once and they tried to rip him off too.

One thing we did do which was just AMAZING was get massages at one of the local salons... I'm talking the best massages Jack & I ever had in our lives! This little tiny woman about 80 lbs contorted my body in all kinds of ways, walked on my back and was very strong! It was awesome. Devin & I also got our hair cut and she got her toenails painted. We got the whole thing (2 hour long massages, 2 hair cuts and toe nails done ) for $38 total. No kidding. Some places we ate at which were very good was Pho 24 (local Vietnamese), Momambo (good American food ... place was bamboo/ African decorations)... owner came up and talked to us for 30 minutes), Santa Lucia (Italian), and a street restaurant.

Kyle is doing great and bonding to us day by day. Devin is doing well and adapting very well to the travel and changes. She isn't big on Vietnamese food... but will eat some pho (pronounced fa) soup and spring rolls. It is a challenge to eat every meal at a restaurant with a 9 mos old ACTIVE boy and 4 year old who doesn't want to sit still. They do not have high chairs here. No plastic cups for kids...they always give you big glasses with straws for the kids. We are definately ready to have the kids eat at home. They don't have "kids meals" either. So, we mostly just share with Devin.

We are now in Hanoi. Flew up here on Monday. Ate at the Mediterraneo Italian restaurant yesterday and at Paris Deli (French/ American) tonight. Good food and good picks for the family. This morning we went shopping again and had a lot of fun on the streets in Hanoi. The people are friendly here (IMO) but not quite as overwhelming when shopping as Saigon. Got some yummy ice cream next to Hoam Kiem Lake afterwards. This afternoon , we went to American Embassy & got Kyle's visa & passport... so we are ready to travel home on Thursday. Tomorrow, we are going to Ha Long Bay... supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. A big group of us from our agency are going together for a private tour on a boat. Should be fun. Then, we leave on Thursday.

Gotta go... only have limited time on internet today....

Danang, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh Pictures

2008-08-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

A beautiful sunrise on the China Sea in Danang. We got up early (up anyway) and went to beach and watched the fisherman bring in their catch for the day. Then, they would weigh, barter and sell fish right there on the sand. Very cool.

Some smiles from Kyle!

Kyle's first bath.
Devin feeding her baby brother and loving it.
Jack & Kyle napping by the pool.

Sandy Beach Resort in Danang.... beautiful... right on the China Sea

Rice field on way to Hoi An- all the posts in fields with bags attached to them are metal fragments or unexploded mines from the war... all the fields look like this...they go through all the fields with metal sweepers and mark the mines...

Hoi An.. great place to shop- look at all the handmade purses... awesome...

At the Hoi An market...

Hard workers...

Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon by the locals)...

Family of four sedan... Vietnam style
Kyle smiles at his friend Grace & Devin while waiting for medical exams...

All is well. Jack is feeling better- had 1st breakfast already & we will all go down for 2nd breakfast soon. Joanne (our facilitators wife) is getting our laundry done and taking us out to eat on the river today. I think we will try to get massages later and do some shopping as well.

Kids are doing great and the relaxing day yesterday and this morning has done everyone some good.

Danang & Ho Chi Minh

2008-08-08T00:26:00.000-07:00

Kyle & me at Marble Mountain!

It's been a few days since I blogged... we are now in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon). Kyle is doing much better now and is a part of the family. Devin & Kyle are sleeping now. We are taking it easy this afternoon... everyone needs a break. Since I last posted, Kyle is improving day by day and now reaches for me and doesn't want to let go or for me to put him down. He has figured out that if he cries... we will come and comfort him. He has experienced a lot of "firsts" these last few days and I think he is taking it quite well. First car ride, first airplane ride, first beach and pool experiences, climbing a mountain, shopping in crowded streets... He is taking it all in... Now, he pulls away from other stranger's touch but not ours. :) Devin LOVES being a big sister and wants to help hold him, feed him, change his diaper... They take a bath together and she loves holding him. She is doing awesome on this trip and loves Vietnam. However, she is getting tired of people touching her and told me in Hoi An that all the touching was starting to scare her. On the whole, she loves Vietnamese people and goes up and talks to them - doesn't know they can't understand her... they are thrilled that she is talking to them. We like to think of her as our local celebrity. As for Kyle, many people asked me what his Vietnamese name is... each name has a meaning here. Of course, depending how I pronounce it... I have gotten the meanings victory, win and green... but I think it means green.

This Vietnamese lady was enamored with Devin & picked her a flower.

Devin at Marble Mountain- she was a trooper and climbed it by herself!

Us & the Hull family at Marble Mountain--- they adopted too and are a lot of fun.
The above pictures are for Krista... a giant centipede... about 8" long--- just for perspective... that is him on the sidewalk in front of Jack & Devin!!!

Marble Mountain

After our G & R- we took it easy for the rest of the day to bond with Kyle. On Tuesday, we went to Marble Mountain with another family. It was a climb... hot & humid... but worth it. Put Kyle in the Bjorn and off we go.... he did great. Marble Mountain is both beautiful and historic architecture. At the bottom, we shopped a little and go bombarded with sellers. "You buy from me... she expensive .. I give you good deal!" Of course lots of statues and marble items for sale.

Family photo on Marble Mountain
More of Marble Mountain above & below.. The lower picture is in a cave... I thought it looked like God was looking down on them. :)

Statues, marble figures for sale at bottom of mountain

The next day, we took in easy in the morning and hung out by the pool (awesome- right on the beach).. Sandy Beach Resort was very tranquil and beautiful and we stayed in these cute little bungalows. Jack took care of Kyle and I swam with Devin in the ocean (China Sea) and in the pool. It was her birthday and the resort left a cake in her room and we bought her some ice cream. That afternoon, we went to Hoi An for shopping. It was very cool... great shops and Jack & I bought some handmade shoes and purses... they made them to order and brought them to our resort on their mopeds. The people and service here is amazing... Americans could learn a little from them about customer service. Sometimes even a little overwhelming. Hoi An is a smaller, more rural town and many people asked me about Kyle... don't understand what adoption means. Too hard to explain... wanted to know how much I paid for him.

Yesterday was spent traveling mostly. Flew back to Ho Chi Minh City. Long day for the kids and Jack did not eat enough- as we were busy in/out of airports. By dinner time, it was too late and Jack got very sick last night from not eating enough. He is not diabetic... but definately has issues with low blood sugar and has to eat a lot & frequently. Just snacks do not cut it. By the time we went to dinner- he felt very sick and had to run out of the restaurant. Me & the kids came back later...he was yackin' big time and it scared Devin. She was so sweet...patting him and trying to give him so water. He is doing better today and eating better.

We are staying at the Duxton in downtown Saigon. Very busy area--- lots of mopeds and traffic... kinda daunting to cross the street. I just picked out a Vietnamese person, walked right next to them--- they probably thought I was weird. Had to go to store for new baby bottles & nipples last night by myself b/c Kyle does not like the ones I brought. The lady at the store was standing over my shoulder watching me like a hawk for 15 minutes (I did not know what I was doing and trying to figure out what kind to buy). I kept turning to her, looking at her and smiling... no reaction. :) Love the coffee... its like Starbucks x 100... I'm going to be eating coffee grounds in the grocery store when I get back b/c of the addiction!

Kyle had his medical exam this morning (required for adoption) and visa photo taken. He is 17lbs (with clothes on), head ~43cm, length ~72 cm. Got his shot records too. Did I mention that changing his diaper is like trying to change a diaper on a wild cat?! He DOES NOT like his diaper changed and can flip himself over in all directions and scream bloody murder. Very difficult task and I'm an experienced mother! When they were trying to weigh him and measure him it was the same thing... the nurse was laughing... I'm like" Tell me about it... try to change a poopy diaper on this kid without it flying everywhere!"

For lunch, we went to Pho 24.. a Vietnamese chain restaurant.. had pho (pronounced "fa"- very yummy soup) and spring rolls- even Devin liked it. We are taking it easy for the rest of the day and tomorrow morning. Kyle smiled for the first time yesterday and is cruising all over the room and pulling up on everything. He seems very happy now and no more tears. :)

G & R pictures

2008-08-05T01:48:00.000-07:00

Giving & Receiving ceremony...

Proud Daddy & Kyle

Devin, Kyle, & Jack

Me, Devin & Kyle
Nanny saying good-bye to Grace (Bryce's daughter)... so sad. She was sobbing.

At the end of the day... sacked out in our bungalow...

Giving & Receiving Ceremony

2008-08-04T16:14:00.000-07:00

We had our Giving & Receiving ceremony yesterday morning. This is the official court ceremony where Vietnam "gives" you your child and you "receive" them. It is in a court building and you have to sign all the papers to officially adopt your child. The nannies from the orphanage bring your child to the court building. I gave them an outfit for Kyle yesterday for him to wear. He did very well and didn't cry too much at the ceremony. Jack felt very emotional at this event -as we have been waiting 1 1/2 years to get him. It was very sad seeing the nannies cry when they had to say good-bye to the babies.

On our way back to the resort, Kyle had a complete breakdown... cried and was inconsolable for an hour and a half in the van. Didn't want us touching him, holding him or talkin to him. If we tried to touch him too much- he pulled his arms away or over his head and would not look at us and arched his back and screamed bloody murder. Poor little guy.. scared to death. Finally, he fell asleep from exhaustion. We got back and ate in our bungalow the rest of the day. He did better later in the afternoon... we took him to the beach and walked around and he actually wrapped his legs around me and held on to me with his hands! Before that, he had his hands clenched in fists to his body so he wouldn't touch us. Progress already! :) We ate a little that day - likes to suck on his baby bottle for comfort... kinda like a binky but a bottle. I think he sucked on his bottle in his crib at the orphanage for self-soothing.

He fell asleep in Jack's arms last night (after fighting it for an hour) and slept 8 hours straight. We couldn't believe it... may not happen again, but it was nice to get some sleep b/c I'm still a little off schedule. This morning, he let me hold him when I gave him his bottle and is doing a little better with us...not crying as much and more receptive to our touch. He just fell asleep again... sleeping more than usual.. .but I think all the emotional stress is wearing him out.

Ok- the internet won't let me download pictures right now... will try again later...

Kyle!

2008-08-04T00:16:00.000-07:00

We finally met Kyle for the first time yesterday at the orphanage. There are 5 families traveling together... the most this orphanage has ever seen. We had to take 2 vans to the orphanage about an hour an 1/2 away. Very poor rural province. Jack says the minimum wage here is $55/week (6 working days). Let me tell you ---it is a scary thing riding in a vehicle in Vietnam. We think our NASCAR drivers are whimps compared to these drivers. Its basically a big game of chicken on the road and the biggest vehicle with the loudest horn wins. People drive on both sides of the road constantly and dodge in/out of cars, trucks, mopeds, pedestrians, and bicycles. SCARY. I think an "Oh Shit" was yelled by many of the passengers at least a few times.

Well, we finally arrived alive to the orphanage somehow. I think our big group overwhelmed everyone. There were 16 babies there. I didn't recognize Kyle at first and walked right by him. Jack says, "Isn't this him?" I said "No, that's a little girl." OOPS. Anyway, there were so many people coming into the room and Kyle freaked out. PURE TERROR in his eyes. Seeing all these white people with light hair & light eyes speaking a funny language and taking his picture scared him to death. He wanted nothing to do with me for at least 1/2-1 hour. Didn't want me touching him or holding him. We were only there for 2 hours - he warmed up a little by the end. It's not going to be easy. He looks healthy and well cared for. The nannies there were sweet but a little pushy and took Kyle from us at least 1/2 the time. I didn't really fight it b/c I figured we will have him the rest of our lives--- and they have been taking care of him for the last 9 months and only have him one more day. Some typical Vietnam houses near the orphanage..

Kids who live outside the orphanage when the adoptive parents gave out some candy. They seemed to come out of no where...

Some workers in the rice fields with their water buffalo...

On our way back, we stopped at a store similar to our Walmart. Very weird experience. There were security guards at the front of the store and everywhere in the store. You can't take any purses or bags into the store andthey follow you around and watch you like a hawk. Then they check your receipt and bags when you come out. Not sure if its because of Communism or theft or both. Kinda an eary feeling to me. It was hard to shope b/c I can't read any of the signs... so just walked around till I found what I was looking for. In the back of the store was the seafood section... the worst stink I have ever smelled. Thought I was going to hurl. Truly smelled like death/ rotting corpses. This is the food section. Completely grossed me out and I ran away from that section. Another weird thing is everyone is enamored with Devin - blond hair and blue eyes. Lots of people wanted to touch or squeeze her and touch her hair. Jack & Devin were waiting for me outside the store and everyone was touching her as they went by. One of the guys in our group says its good luck for them to do that. Devin didn't seem to mind.... just stared back at them.

Well, we made it back to the hotel and Devin fell asleep at the dinner table - literally. She has been such a trooper. She rocked all the babies at the orphanage and checked their diapers... she REALLY wanted to change a diaper. Speaking of that, I don't think they use diapers normally at the orphanage. They have metal cribs with bamboo mats in them and pans under the bed to catch urine. I saw a bunch of them drying outside. It makes sense- probably can't afford to buy diapers for 16 babies and then get rid of them (no trash service). Plus, I didn't see any diapers in the cabinets. So, I think they put diapers and clothes on them for our arrival.

I am feeling better now. Think I was just exhausted, not eating well, and jet lagged- made me feel like the worst hangover (but without the drinking). I am better adjusted now and feeling better. Well , I will post more later about our G&R...

We Made it to Vietnam!

2008-08-02T09:49:00.000-07:00

Well. we made it. It's in the middle of the night in Sagion. Devin & Jack are sleeping. I can't. It's 11:50pm locally (9:50am Phoenix time). I will write this blog and then try to go back to sleep. We have to get up at 3am today--- meet in hotel foyer at 4am to catch a 6am plane to Danang. I'm feeling off right now... not sure if it's jet lag, exhaustion, time changes, food, or antibiotics. I just drank a 1/2 bottle water, advil, rolaids and ate 1/2 cereal bar... hope something works. Anyway, it's been pretty good so far. Devin has been an absolute trooper and is making friends with the other kids on the plane and in the airport. We met another VORF family,not on my chat group in the airport in Taipai. They are also adopting a little boy, 11mos old, from Que Son orphanage. The got their referral back in October--- so they have been waiting a long time. We have not met up with the other families... but 3 other families are traveling in our group. I guess we will meet them in the hotel lobby at 4am this morning--- we are now traveling to Danang. We will meet Kyle for the first time tomorrow-very exciting.

The plane ride was LONG... food not great - thank God Jack brought snacks!--but service and seats very nice. Met some nice Vietnamese-American families in the airports... interesting stories. Anyway, when we got to Vietnam, going through customs was survival of the fittest. We were trying to be polite and wait our turn - but you don't do that around here. The officials were encouraging us to barge our way through and just throw our luggage on the x-ray belt--- and if you didn't do it - they just grabbed suitcases and started throwing them on. It was total chaos. Jack and I were like "Holy Crap".- Devin watch out!!! We made it through with all our luggage and Quoc met us outside and took us to the airport. He is very nice and took care of everything. Gave us our itinerary for the trip and what is expected in the next few days.

So, the van ride was an experience. They really don't have driving rules here---first one there wins. A bizzillion mopeds everywhere- everyone honking their horns.. and bikes, cars, people and mopeds swerving all around you. It's crazy and a wonder people aren't having accidents all the time. Also, the phone, electric lines are crazy--- no wonder people lose their electricity all the time. It's an electricians nightmare.

So, we had some free time this afternoon.. took a taxi downtown and had lunch/dinner. Then, came back to hotel and showered and sacked out. Well, I'm back to bed. Next time I write- we will have seen Kyle!!

Vietnam here we come!

2008-07-31T08:36:00.000-07:00

Well- we are leaving at an ungodly hour tonight on a red-eye flight. Our plane leaves LAX at 1:50am , fly 13 1/2 hours straight to Taipai, Taiwan on EVA airlines. Then , we have a 3 hour layover, then fly another 3 hours to Ho Chi Ming City, Vietnam. So, total travel time (excluding being at the airport before & after is 19-20 hours. Realistically, it will be a 24 hour trip + 14 hours ahead. So, we will arrive in Vietnam on Sat morning. From there, we will be in HCMC for 1 day. The next morning (I believe at the crack of dawn ie 4am) we will fly up to Danang. After arriving at Danang, we will go to the Que Son orphanage where Kyle is to visit him for the afternoon. We finally get to meet our son- we are very excited! We will be staying at the Sandy Beach Hotel in Danang until Thursday. Our G & R (Giving & Receiving Ceremony)- this is the ceremony/ courtdate where we officially get Kyle and adopt him will be on Monday August 4th. On Thursday, we fly back to HCMC and stay there for a few days. In HCMC, we need to get Kyle's passport photos & passport and his medical exam. Then, we will fly to Hanoi for a few days for Kyle's visa interviews and visa. We will fly out of Hanoi on Thursday, August 14th back to LAX. We arrive LAX Thursday afternoon and will stay overnight there before driving back to Phoenix on the 15th.

Here are a few pictures of Kyle's room that I got semi-ready before we left for our trip.

Earthquakes, parties & the beach

2008-07-30T07:47:00.001-07:00

Well, its been a good trip to southern CA so far. We did have an earthquake yesterday afternoon - 5.4 on the richter scale! Jack says the lights and fans were swinging in our condo and the ground was shaking. I missed it.... I was in the ocean with Devin and didn't feel it b/c of the waves. Otherwise, it was not a big deal. We have been to the beach twice (we are right on the beach) and Devin LOVES the ocean. She is my water girl. We will go back tomorrow but headed to Sea World today. We went to Legoland on Monday--- great for the little kids- but wore Devin out. She still takes naps and it was hard on her without a nap. She fell asleep in Jack's arms in one of the lines.

We celebrated my parents 50th wedding anniversary on Sunday night. Eric made an awesome DVD of my parents' lives and their children and grandchildren. He is a computer whiz and made copies for everyone. It was really special. Last night, we celebrated Devin's 4th birthday early b/c she will turn 4 while we are in Vietnam. I have to say California is REALLY expensive and we are glad we live in Arizona--- I can take the heat instead of being price gauged everywhere!

Things aren't all peachy though... I've been fighting a killer head cold for over 10 days now which turned into a bad bacterial sinus infection these last few days. Fortunately, my doctor back in AZ was willing to call in a prescription for antibiotics!! Thank God- we are leaving for Vietnam tomorrow. Also, our adoption agency has slammed us with "extra fees" at the last second... we are very unhappy about this. I have worked very hard these last few weeks and months to pay for this adoption and I don't appreciate it. We are not rich and this adoption is expensive. I feel like we don't have a lot of choice at this point since we are leaving tomorrow.

On a good note, Julie, our regular daycare provider has agreed to take on Kyle when I go back to work. On the downside,I have to pay for Devin's daycare the whole time I'm on unpaid leave. So, we will be financially stretched to say the least for the next couple months. But, we really like Julie and feel it is best for Devin & Kyle to have them together when I go back to work. Kyle is joining a new family,new country, new language and new culture. So, the most stability and familiarity we can give him (ie. staying with his sister) will be the best for him.

Oceanside, CA

2008-07-27T06:50:00.000-07:00

Hi-

Well, its been a hectic week getting ready for our vacation to Oceanside, CA for my family reunion and packing for Vietnam. I am now in Oceanside ... finally figured out how to get on the internet in my room It is quiet now... kids are up & watching Lady & the Tramp. Thought I'd take a few quiet moments to myself and update before the mayham starts. I was on emergency duty at the clinic last weekend and I got slammed with emergencies. So, needless to say, I did not get much done to prepare for our trip. Thank God we got a lot of notice before traveling. There have been some families from my agency who have only a 1-3 days notice! Well, I worked MWF and was on emergency duty and again Thursday night. Of course, I got called out on emergencies Thurs night & Friday morning. Again, it set me behind on the packing. So, I've been scrambling getting everything packed for the family reunion and Vietnam. Lots of final preparations to be away from our farm for 3 weeks! Jack was cleaning the pastures, cleaning & filling stalls and spraying for weeds the morning we were leaving. I had to set up two of my friends... thanks Deb & Lynne... for taking care of all the animals and house while we are gone. We are having a neighbor irrigate our pastures while we are gone. We have our lawn guys coming while we are gone. And, of course, packing all the paperwork, plane tix, visas, passports, medications, etc.. we will need.

Well, we left yesterday morning a little late ... drove 3 houses down to our neighbor's house to firm up plans for irrigation and Devin asks "Are we there yet??" Uh Oh. Seriously, we were only 100 yards away from our house! She proceeded to ask us about 30x for the next 6 hours if we were there yet.... Just wait till we have a 20 hour plane flight next week. I think we are in trouble... Just gotta smile and say, "Not yet peanut."

We are at a timeshare right on the beach in Oceanside, CA. Most of my family members are here and it is great to see everyone. We took the kids down to the beach last night for about 1/2 an hour b/c they were so excited. Devin has never been to the ocean before! She love, love, loves water!! So, we are going to the beach today & then celebrating my parents 50th wedding anniversary tonight. Should be a fun day. I will write more about our travel plans to Vietnam later this week!!

San Diego & Vietnam here we come!

2008-07-20T21:28:00.001-07:00

Well, it looks like we will be able to go to my family reunion after all. I am very excited... I really wanted to see my brothers & sisters' families and parents. We don't get to see each other much and I think it's so important to stay active in each other's lives. I want Devin to know her Aunts, Uncles, cousins and grandparents. So, it looks like we will make most of the reunion. I am excited and we plan to go to Legoland, SeaWorld and the beach while we are there. Plus, we are celebrating my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. We will be leaving for Vietnam tentatively on July 31st or Aug 1st and returning around Aug 15th. I should know for sure in the next couple days. Meantime, I am trying to make final arrangements with work and animal care for us to be gone for 3 weeks. It's been hard to do because I've been on emergency duty all weekend and part of last week. It really sucked and I've had a wicked head cold that is just about to do me in. Nothing like not having time to be sick. Even when I'm not working, Devin needs a lot of attention. No rest for the weary. Jack is helping a lot--- but I really need to rest and just have not been able to... work, laundry, cleaning, making arrangements, taking care of Devin, playing with Devin, etc.... Ok... I'm done my whine fest....

Approval to Travel!!!

2008-07-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

We got approval to travel to Vietnam from USCIS (US Citizenship & Immigration Services) last night- YEA! Nothing like waiting till the last minute- we were on working day 55 of 60. We are very excited to at last have an end to our journey to have another child! It has been a long 4 years to have another child... lots of ups and downs. We finally know we will be able to meet and take Kyle home soon and have a family of four. Devin is very excited to bring "brother Kyle" home and wants to know if we are going today... "Well, not today Honey- but very soon..." I need to make some phone calls this morning to our adoption agency to find out more details of our travel and G& R date. The G&R is Vietnam's "court date" to officially receive and adopt Kyle. They usually set the date soon after receiving your I-600 approval to travel. So, we should be traveling in the next 10 days to 3 weeks. I don't think it will be immediately as there is another group traveling from our agency (Danang Red Cross Orphanage) in Vietnam right now. They usually don't want 2 groups traveling at once. I should find out more later today or tomorrow. Of course, Murphy's Law comes into play b/c my bi-annual family reunion is in <2 weeks & I was really looking forward to seeing everyone. So, I don't know if we will make it. I will keep you posted as soon as I find out...

Bye-bye Binky

2008-07-13T17:37:00.001-07:00

Well, today is the day. The "binky fairy" took away Devin's last binky. I have slowly weaned her down over the last few months... she was getting it just in the car & when she goes to sleep. My friend Mo gave me some great ideas of how to wean her off completely. So, I "bribed" her with Trident gum if she would stop using the binky in the car. Since Devin has been wanting to chew gum for a year (I told her she had to wait till she's 4)... she was thrilled to chew gum. :) It worked like a charm. But, she still wanted it to go to sleep. So, we have been talking about the binky fairy coming to get her binky.... The story goes like this... "When boys and girls get big enough, they don't need their binkies anymore. The binky fairy comes and takes the binkies up in the sky to all the babies in the world who need them. Brother Kyle needs a binky... so we need to send it to him. " We have been talking about if for a couple weeks now. We were going to do it last weekend, but Devin's normal homecare lady was gone this week. So, we didn't want to change too much this week. Well, today is the day... so we got some balloons and tied the binky to it and let it fly away ("the binky fairy is carrying it away to baby brother Kyle")... she said good-bye. And, then we gave her a bowl of ice cream. :) We'll see how it goes tonight... but she did very well. Here are some photos of our bye-bye binky ceremony....

As for Kyle, we are now on working day 55 of 60 with no news... hope to hear something soon.

Organ donors, reunion, & rambling...

2008-07-10T08:11:00.000-07:00

This is the beautiful sunset the other night... well we are still waiting with no end in sight. Other families who are waiting for their children from the same orphange are now past the 60 working days our government promised. I am now on working day 54... so it looks like we will go past the deadline as well. At this point, we have no idea when we will bring Kyle home. I talked to the director of our Vietnam agency and their hands are tied. They cannot interfere with the US government's investigations and approvals of international adoptions. So, if we go past the deadline, he encouraged me to contact the USCIS, my senators, etc... You can bet your booty I will be. I have already written generic letters to my senators and emailed the USCIS (they did not respond). I am waiting to hear what happens with the families who have are now over the 60 working days. On a bright note (the only one), it looks like I will be going to my family's reunion in San Diego in a couple weeks. I will be excited to see everyone and celebrate my parent's 50th wedding anniversary.

On an odd note, I recently read that people from other countries believe that people from the US adopt children from other countries to harvest the children's organs!!! How gross and weird is that! This belief is prevelant and very real in Vietnam, China, Guatemala, etc... One Vietnamese man who even came to the US to study took months to convince him otherwise... He said, I can't believe the adoptive parents spend so much time & money and get emotionally involved and then do that! Huh?! In Vietnam, they think Americans sell the children's organs to China. This is about the weirdest belief I have ever heard about the US. Kindy creepy that the when the Vietnamese people see our family with Kyle they will think we are going to harvest his organs! Our agency's facilitators wife said it is true and many adoptive parents have heard this rumor. Remember the rumor going around the internet about people steeling people's kidneys and found in the bathtub full of ice? Well, I guess this is similar but other country's citizens really believe it.

Anyway, I haven't posted much lately... b/c we are in limbo. That is all for now...

A Thousand Burning Suns

2008-07-02T17:43:00.000-07:00

A thousand burning suns... that is how hot it feels in Phoenix. The temp has been over 110 degrees for over 17 days now! Today it is 114 degrees. Ugh. Plus, I work outside. Fun. NOT!!! I am running out of things to do inside with Devin. One can only color, play with playdough, play with baby dolls and trains for so long. They say it will be very hot in Vietnam- but its gotta be cooler than here. So, I don't think I will mind the heat when I go to Vietnam. At least I won't feel like my skin is burning off my body when I walk outside. Seriously!

Got a letter back from my senator today & the Office of Children's Issues at the US Dept of State. I wrote everyone I could think of letters about our wait for Kyle. This is a portion of what the US Dept of State said...

" Because of the irregularities (of Vietnam adoptions), US government officials in Vietnam have had to undertake numerous field investigations to verifiy that the Vietnamese children adopted by American citizens and are applying for orphan visas are indeed orphans required by U.S. law. However, in a number of cases, U.S. officials attempting to complete the required reviews have been prevented from doing so by local Vietnamese officials even though they had been allowed to do this in the past without any restrictions being imposed by the Vietnamese authorities. This action has further delayed some cases. The US government is reaching out to these Vietnamese government officials regarding our ability to perform the reviews, and in some cases we have been able to resume field investigations."

I hope this is not happening at Kyle's orphanage. But, my gut tells me there has to be something wrong b/c no one has been approved for so long from his orphanage. I know many of the adoptive parents who have children from this orphanage are very anxious as well.

Well, I am still waiting on pins and needles for some sort of information.... In the mean time, I think I'll go cook some eggs on my sidewalk...

Kyle's Baby Shower

2008-06-29T08:54:00.001-07:00

This is photo I took of our family last night before the baby shower for Kyle. Our good friends Dan & Lynne hosted a "Jack & Jill" baby shower for us last night. It was a lot of fun and made it seem more real that we will actually get Kyle soon. I know this sounds weird... but it really hit home to open up boy gifts instead of girl stuff... we are going to have a boy! Of course, Devin had to open up all the gifts and just had a ball eating cake and being the center of attention. We got a lot of cute boy gifts and clothes... Here are a few pictures....

Ok- here is a little pitty party for myself...This morning I just read in my Yahoo Chat group another family has been approved and are traveling soon to pick up their daughter. At this point, I am having a little bit of a hard time feeling happy for other people. I know that sounds selfish, but I want it to be our turn now. People are passing me by (once again) and the wait is starting to get to me. No one seems to give us much info or know much about why our wait is so long. All I know is, our son is in the Quang Nam province, and there has been only one approval from our agency in this province since January. Its making me a little worried,but our agency is not saying much to appease these worries. I am a VERY patient person... but I have to say my patience is about gone. I am getting impatient and frustrated. If they would give me more info- I would feel better. We are now at 45 working days. Our 60 working days is up on July 21st. Keep us in your prayers...

Organizing while I wait for Kyle

2008-06-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

Nothing much changes huh?! The second photo is Devin at 7 1/2 months old eating some sort of green vegetable... or should I say wearing it? Isn't she a cutie?! The first photo was taken this morning. Devin truly is Pig Pen from Charlie Brown. She can get any shirt dirty and eat anything and get it all over herself. Thus, why she is in the high chair- to try to keep the mess from getting all over my house! :) I don't even buy white shirts any more- just can't keep them clean no matter how much bleach and spray cleaner I use. We went to the grocery store this morning and she begged me to get brownie mix and make them when we got home. Girl loves chocolate- just like her Mom! Can't blame her for that one- its in the genes.

Anyway, we are still patiently waiting for Kyle. We are now on working day 40. So, I figured I would spring clean while I wait. I am going through all Devin's old clothes-dividing them into clothes to give to Big Brothers/ Big Sister, clothes to keep, and clothes to take to the used clothing store for store credit. Since Devin has been growing like a weed these last 6 months and also tends to destroy a lot of her clothes, I have become a big fan of the used clothing stores. They are very popular here and there are at least 3 within 10 miles of my house. Since she outgrows all her clothes about every 3-4 months- its nice to not pay so much for a whole new wardrobe every few months. We still buy her some new clothes - but I am not too proud to get slightly used stuff either. Plus, its 113 degrees today (and all week)- so gotta do stuff indoors. Also, going through my own closets and finally letting go of the last of my maternity clothes. I kept holding on to them "just in case"... but, the reality is... I've been off birth control for 4 years (actually 7-but who's counting?!) Also, going through toys and books and trying to organize. Figure- might as well do it now... won't have time once Kyle gets here...

Well, this post isn't very exciting... but we are trying to bide our time while we wait to go pick up Kyle. Hopefully, we will hear some good news soon. On a good note, my co-workers are having a baby shower for me next weekend before Kyle comes. Should be fun. Krista, my sister-in-law is also planning on having a party after we bring Kyle home. Everyone is very excited for us and can't wait to meet him.

Reasons for Vietnam adoptions

2008-06-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

As we all know, Vietnamese adoptions will temporarily cease between the US & Vietnam on Sept 1, 2008. The reasons for this stated by the USCIS is corruption, fraud, and baby selling. I have read the articles and a few of the cases of "baby selling" which they refer to. Here is the thing... the cases they refer to are the same ones repeated over and over again. Plus, the cases they refer to were fixed during the process (ie. the babies were returned to their birthmother). I'm not saying some unethical things were not done during this time. Any time money is involved, there will be someone who wants to take advantage of the poor and weak. However, none of these articles tell the other side of the story. There ALWAYS is another side to every story.

I would like to talk about the other side of the story. Statistics show there are between 500,000- 2 million orphans in Vietnam. Most of these orphans are not available for adoption. There recently has been a large number of abandoned babies (vs relinquishments- where the birthmother is known). Why is this? Well, if you look into the Vietnamese culture, the country is becoming more modern, but the people still hold a lot of the old value systems. It is still considered shameful to be an unwed mother (equal to the 1950's here in the US) and many of the people are still very poor (with annual salaries of $300-500 per year). This has led to an epidemic of abortions (Vietnam has one of the highest abortion rates in the world) and abandoned babies. There are estimates of tens of thousands of babies who die after being abandoned at birth. You can see the article... http://daily.vietnamtravelnews.net/features/10/37468.

Many of the orphanages have places near them which are considered "safe havens" to drop off babies where the nannies can easily find them. We have similar places in the US where babies can be dropped off at hospitals with no questions asked and no persecution of the birthmother. These places are known in the small towns and villages. Since it is shameful to have an unwed baby, the birthmothers will drop off their child- but dont' want their identity known to the community.

As for the baby selling topic, I think this topic is a lot more grey than black & white. For example, one case states a Vietnamese birthmother getting paid $300 for her child. This is considered "baby selling" by the US. This birthmom used that money to pay her doctor bills and for food. Moreover, she said she was agreeable to giving up her child for adoption. I think this policy is somewhat hypocritical by the US government. In the US, birthmothers are frequently given money by the adoptive parents- as well as having their doctor's bills and rent paid - sometimes up to $10,000. We don't consider giving the birthmother money baby selling here... so why do we consider it baby selling there?

Moreover, who do you think financially supports these orphanages? Most of the orphanages are financially supported by donations from international adoptive parents. Without the money coming in, these orphanages and the children will suffer from lack of funds.

I truly hope the US & Vietnamese governments can come to an agreement to allow international adoptions to continue for the sake of these children. These allegations of baby selling, corruption and fraud are not as black and white as the US government makes it seem. There are many more factors involved- and it is a much more complex issue than it seems on the surface.

Waiting for I-600 Approval

2008-06-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we are still waiting... it's like watching water boil. We are supposed to get approval from the USCIS within 60 WORKING days. We are now at 35 working days and 50 regular days. The cut-off for 60 working days is July 25th. Some people from my agency who got their referrals at the same time as me, have already been approved and are traveling later this month. However, their children are in a different orphanage. My son is in a province which has been delayed ...Murphy's law... just my luck. I guess God figured- she's waited this long, what's another couple months just to REALLY test her patience?! We have our bi-annual family reunion scheduled for late July. Knowing my luck, we will be traveling then. The ONLY week of the year which I don't want our travel to Vietnam to be scheduled. But, since I have such great luck in this area- I'm sure I will miss it. And, I really want to see my family and wanted Kyle to be with us! It takes place in San Diego and I am hoping to take Devin to Disneyland and Sea World. Plus, we are celebrating my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. Another bonus with all this... fuel prices are at an all time high-so it will literally cost us a small fortune to fly to Vietnam this summer.

On a good note.... I FINALLY got updated pictures of Kyle a few days ago. I almost didn't recognize him- he has grown so much!! It was a comfort to get some updated photos of him. Of course, I scrutinize them to death. He looks healthy and gaining weight well. Unfortunately, I don't have one photo where he is smiling. He has dozens of mosquito bites on him... poor little punkin. Obviously, they don't have air conditioning at the orphanage... so they leave windows/ doors open. Little guy is too small to swat them or scratch them.

Our facilitator, GT Le, also requested copies of all our passports. So, I'm taking this as a good sign. People ask me how I can stand the wait... isn't it driving me crazy? My answer is... it's out of my control. I can't do anything about it... so, no use worrying about something I have no control over. I try to keep myself busy at work, with Devin, and other activities. Since I have 2 dogs, 3 horses, 2 cats, a daughter and a messy husband, and very busy job... I don't get bored and the time passes fairly quickly. Here is a couple funny pictures of Devin... one with a t-shirt which pretty much sums up my life, and the next 2 of Devin in the bathtub goofing around...

Good-bye, Faithful Friend

2008-06-05T08:43:00.001-07:00

Good-bye to our faithful friend, Jake.

Jake went to Heaven yesterday. He was not feeling well for the last 2 weeks and was diagnosed with abdominal cancer. He had a large tumor in his abdomen and suddenly developed ascites (abdominal fluid) and pleural effusion (fluid around the lungs) over the last 2 days. He was having trouble breathing and went down hill very fast. We had to euthanize him yesterday... we had no choice. It was very sad for us and it still is difficult to think about it. He was truly a member of the family.

Jake was 12 1/2 years old. Jack has had him longer than he has had me! Of course, I welcomed him as a family member and he was "adopted" by me as a family member when Jack and I started dating 10 years ago. I took him to a small animal vet yesterday morning and then to the office with me yesterday. I had to call Jack "on emergency" because he was failing so fast- I did not think he would make it home for Jack to say good-bye. Jack had to cancel some important meetings and rush over to my clinic to say good-bye to Jake. It crushed us. We took him home and buried him and took the rest of the day off.

I tried to explain to Devin about Jake- but, she really doesn't understand. I told her Jake was very sick and died and went to Heaven. Devin & I are making him a grave stone with his name and dates on it. For those of you who are animal lovers, you will understand. For those of you who are not... they are truly members of our family. This sums it up... When I ask Devin who is our family members... she says, "Chase, and Chisum, and Moon, and Jake, and Bear, and Natalie, and Bo, and Roxy, and Mommy and Daddy, and Devin." She got it right.

Good-bye our dear friend Jake. Say Hi to Austin in Heaven- we miss him too.

IVF #3

2008-06-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

Well, we are still waiting to hear news about when we can pick up Kyle. No news. So, I will reflect on my last attempt with infertility treatments in 2006. After our 2nd failed attempt, I was at a crossroads b/c I didn't want to use the same doctors as before (ARMS). I was doing some research and found my previous doctor (Dr. Ketan Patel) from Mayo! Yea. Jack and I had some long (and heated) discussions about spending more money for one last attempt. After some begging on my part, he agreed. So, we made an appt with Dr. Patel and started again... I really like him and would highly recommend him. He is very personable and thorough and CARING! He calls you back HIMSELF (not a nurse practitioner) and really listens to you when you talk. I think these traits are very important during this stressful and sensitive time in your life. We started all the preliminary tests again in Aug 06... yes, we have to repeat tests once again... ultrasounds, FSH levels, infectious diseases (again), semen analysis (again), etc.... I started all the shots and meds in September and we had the egg retrieval in October. I even had acupuncture done at the time of egg retrieval (its supposed to increase your odds of success). I was willing to try ANYTHING! Unfortunately, once again I didn't have many good eggs and only 3 fertilized (with ICSI- intracytoplasmic sperm injection- say that fast 3 times!) They put all 3 embryos in ... and then we wait... They switched back to intramuscular progesterone injections- those are big needles .. 1.5 inches in the hips and buttocks! Kinda hurts and leaves bruises. Anyway, we waited and then the big day for our blood test... Negative. So disappointing. I was crying and Jack left work early. I knew at this point our journey to have another biological child was over. Dr. Patel thougth at this point our chances of having a biological child was less than 5%. It was hard to give up that dream move on. I was very sad and we decided to not think about things for the next few months over the holidays. Of course, people are still asking me the same old questions everyday.... but I just needed time to think for awhile and let my body get off all those hormones.

I look back at the photos of me during that time and I was retaining SO much water. I looked really fat- faced during that whole year... during the pregnancy/miscarriage and IVF attempts... All those hormones really took a toll on my body. I was working out and not losing any weight. Anyway, the next few months during my "thinking" time... the extra 10 lbs literally just melted off my body once I was off all the hormones. I looked and felt so much better. I was done with all the injections/treatments and hormones. Jack and I decided adoption was our next step for another child. We realized we wanted another child and being biological was not as important as I thought... so that is where we are today...