The Angels are Crying today

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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...