My Troublemaker

Even if Andrew had left the scene, I would have known who had done this by the glob of vomit in the floor. It's been four years since I've had a crawler in the house. I'm learning again what I can't leave around that a baby can get into.

When we were getting in my van today to head out, I was on one side buckling in Nate and noticed on the other side Andrew was chewing on something. Logan was standing in the middle of the van so I told him to reach in his mouth and pull it out. Logan did as I said (this is rare) and pulled it out. When I asked him what it was, Logan started gagging. He is definitely my son. Yucky stuff that looks bad or smells bad, he gags just like his mama. I bragged on Logan and started telling him things like to get his mind off of gagging. He started to cry b/c he thought he was going to vomit. I was just like this as a kid and am still that way. Poor baby! 

Ring, Ring!!!

People must think we get phone calls all the time from China. I'm tired of hearing "so have you heard anything from China?" Do they think they just call us up on the phone all the time and tells us what's going on? Do you think we would keep the news to ourselves if we had our referral? If we don't say anything, we haven't heard anything. Trust me.......we'll be bragging and showing off our little girl to everyone when we get her picture. So, please, STOP asking us if we've heard anything from China. It's annoying being asked this a million times a day. Phone calls and emails WILL go out as soon as we know something. And by the way, we're pretty darn sure we're not in the next batch of referrals. The next one could be possible though.

Boo!

I want to share Logan and Tony's masterpiece. They two of them carved our pumpkin last night. I'm glad Tony took over this b/c my jack-o-lantern's were always so boring. This one even got eyebrows.

Happy Halloween from the Hooker Boys

Last night we went to a Halloween party with my local mom's club. All the kids dressed up in their costumes (as well as some parents but not us). Logan chose to be Darth Vader this year so we picked out Chewbacca and Yoda to go along with him. And everyone knows if Madelyn was here, we would have our Princess Leia to go along with the rest of the Star Wars characters.

Beautiful Twins

Of course my twins are beautiful, but check these out.

I'm so excited for this couple. I've been reading this blog for a while now and finally they have a dream come true. When I saw their photo, I had tears flow. I can't wait to read more of their gotcha day. Congrats Mary Mia and Rod!!!!

Watch Out - Andrew is Mobile

Andrew is officially a belly crawler now. He's been scooting around but now he's really getting around with his elbows and knees with his belly still touching the ground. Know what this means with a reflux baby? Vomit in more places around the house. Lovely!!! Yesterday his meds were up'd so hopefully this will help some but this morning I've already cleaned up three spots after medicine was given.

Fingerprints

We have a new fingerprint appointment date set...Nov 4th at 2pm. I wish they would ask us when a good date is but I guess that would be too hard. When we didn't live near the INS application support center, the appointments were during the week during work hours. Now that we live near it, they chose a weekend time where we have to give up a Saturday afternoon b/c I'm sure we will not be in and out on time. Oh well, the important thing is it's for Madelyn. I don't know why they can't run our same fingerprints given last time.

In Memory of All Babies Lost to Miscarriage, Stillbirth and others lost early in life

Time heals broken hearts but our babies will never be forgotten. Thank you, Robyn, for working so hard to make this day known to everyone.

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday was a family get-together for the Multiples Club I joined at a Pumpkin Patch nearby. You could tell who was in the club by their children b/c there were at least two kids to each family and they either looked alike or were dressed alike or were in at least a double stroller. We took a short wagon/hay ride to a small barn where the kids could pet and feed a cow, goats, rabbits, chickens and pigs. The babies fell asleep halfway through but I think they did enjoy the wagon ride. Logan also got to ride a pony.

When it came time to get off the wagon, Tony says to me "Look over there in the pink jacket." The jacket belong to a very cute little Asian girl standing near the wagon that was absolutely adorable. She made us both smile.

Necessity for Parents of Twins

We had a coffee pot with only one child in the house and never used it. This one runs about every morning and night. Maybe this is one of those things I should put on my future baby gift lists for expecting parents. I'm going to start giving gifts parents really need like batteries, dustbusters and now coffee instead of cute baby clothes they wear one time. 

Dear Santa

Yes, it's October but time to make a Santa list now. Logan is already making his wish list so I decided to start my letter...

Dear Santa,

I think this year I've been pretty good. I just have a few items I'd like to receive for Christmas this year...

1) Madelyn - okay, not possible by 12/25 but soon after is fine with me

2) Housekeeper - Please, please, please!!!! Andrew has ruined my carpet with vomit from his reflux. Have you seen my piles of laundry lately? My dryer has to run two cycles to get my clothes dry so I might need one of those by Christmas too. Our w/d never stop running when I'm home. Dishes are endless, toilets need help, floors are awful, etc...

3) Sanity - it's about gone. Throw a little my way, please, so I can make it through another year.

4) Ear plugs - don't think I need to list why

5) Wardrobe - remember I do have a child with reflux

6) A vacation - okay, maybe that's too much to ask for but 24 hours of rest would be nice and a morning to wake up when I want to and not by a child crying or saying "I'm hun-ga-ree"

So, that's all on my list right now but it will probably grow I'm sure before Christmas but this will get you started. Thank you!!! Don't forget presents for the kids too.

Nathaniel's Surgery

Nate was a trooper today. Turns out it was not a cyst in his mouth. Instead it WAS a blocked saliva duct. He spent almost an hour in surgery. When we finally got to see him he was so pitiful. He had been crying and his eyes were so puffy and he was still groggy from anesthesia. He wanted lots of attention during the day which was fine with me except having Andrew at home too made that a little difficult. Tony came home a little early and Nate was all smiles after that. He's now down for the night and I'm hoping he sleeps well but I'm expecting him to probably wake up during the night in a little pain.

I'm not only a SAHM, I'm a painter too!!!!

I am not a painter but I'm learning. My first and last house stayed white until we finished in our basement and then I wanted every room a different color other than white and that's what we did. Now that I've moved into this house, I've painted Madelyn's room, playroom with stripes, a wall in my foyer and now I've started on my bedroom. Well.....I had it finished and then when my new furniture came I didn't like the color. So, I'm repainting it. The wall behind our new bed is red. The other walls will have what you see in this photo. If I didn't have distractions in the house, I might be done by now. Trying to paint around three kids is not easy. I'm so excited - can't wait to see it done and my bedroom finally put together. We got new bedroom furniture and I'm anxious to get it all the way together the way I want it. I've never had a dresser until now that wasn't a hand-me-down. 

Me a Super Hero?

I got called Superwoman today when I told a friend I was painting and watching my three kids at the same time so I made my mark on the walls after receiving a boost to my ego. If I did have superhero powers, one of them would be to magically make this house be clean. The next would be to fly away whenever I want to. That would make it a lot cheaper to get to China if I could fly on my own. 

More on October 15th

Remembering Our Babies

My Sweet Baby (one of them anyway)

Nathaniel will be having surgery next week. Since his 4 month check-up, we've noticed something strange under his tongue. One doc said cyst, another something else (can't remember the name of it), then blocked saliva duct but today the ENT confirmed it's a cyst that is covering a saliva duct. It needs to be removed b/c it could eventually cause other problems such as impairing his speech especially if it grows. He will undergo anesthesia but it will be outpatient surgery and should only last 30-45 minutes. I hope they schedule his surgery first thing b/c this boy is hungry in the mornings. Making him wait for food is not going to be fun. Today he weighed in at 21lbs 8ozs. He's a BIG boy to be only 7 months old. 

Yuck!!!

I am so proud of myself that I didn't puke from what just happened to me.

Andrew has reflux. He's on medication but I don't think it works. I gave him some this morning (most mornings I forget) but he did have his dosage this morning. He was in the floor playing on a sheet which I try to protect the carpet as much as I can but he loves to roll off the sheet and then vomit. He started fussing so I pick him up and say to him "what's wrong?". At that moment I said this he vomits on me and himself. Lovely! I have vomit on my shoulder and down the front of my shirt and it's all over the front of his clothes. Immediately after he vomits he spits. Vomit flies all over my face and into my eyes. That's a first for me to have vomit in my eyes. So, I sit down and place him on my legs and wipe us off with a towel. After laying the towel down I grabbed his legs and my hands slide across them. Uh oh! Poop! He's got poop all the way down his legs to his feet and now it's all over my hands and my legs. I'm yelling "GROSS" as I walk to the changing table. I strip off his clothes and mine b/c I'm about to gag from smelling vomit and having poop smeared on my hands and my legs. Now he's finally stripped down to nothing and I'm down to my underwear and bra and what happens? The door bell rings. I'm mostly naked and Andrew is naked on the changing. There was no way I was going to answer the door. Second ring - I'm ignoring it. Then I hear "beep beep" - it's the door alarm that sounds when the door opens. Logan has opened the door for a stranger. I can't run to the door. He comes running to me "you have to go to the door. It's a man in green shorts." So, I throw a diaper on Andrew b/c I know my door is open, run to the closet and grab clothes, and go to the door. It's a high school student selling cookies. I had to tell him it's a bad time and go away in a nice way but there was no way I was buying at that moment when I smelled like vomit and poop. Cookies were not going to make that moment any better. Then Logan thought he could have an ice cream sandwich but I told him he couldn't have it b/c he opened the door for a stranger and that was a "no-no" and so he pouted until his daddy got home.

I've survived and so have the kids. If this had been anyone else's kid that did this to me, I'm positive I would have up-chucked everything I ate today.

Re: Melissa's 2 Wake Forest Posts below...

I just hope we don't regret turning the kids into Wake Forest fans when its time to pay tuition for the 4 of them.

I may not have MY student loans paid off by then!

Go Deacs!!!!

Yesterday was Homecoming at WFU. Tony planned a day to meet up with his TKE fraternity brothers at Wake Forest and proceed later in the day to tailgate before the football game. We took all the kids to the quad for family day. They had games for kids, food for everyone and other activities. Even though I did not go to college there, it still brought back memories for me. I started dating Tony when he was a Junior there. I spent lots of time on that campus his last two years as a student. Logan wants to go back and roll the quad. Logan noticed the toilet paper in the trees so we told him about throwing tp in the trees after WFU won their games. I only did that once and it was harder than I thought it would be. I had a hard time getting the toilet paper roll up in the tree but I still laughed and tried my best and had the best time out there with everyone. Several of his fraternity brothers were in our wedding. WFU won their Homecoming game 34-14. Way to go Deacons! 

WFU Homecoming

Do we have a future Wake Forest football player? 

Referral Contact Information Review

We received this email from HFS Friday (edited to remove some personal info)....

William and Melissa

Although we haven't yet received a timeline for our next set of referrals, we are preparing for them by setting up our calling, Fed Ex,and e-mail lists. Just in case you haven't experienced this yet, as soon as we receive the referrals, we call each family and then e-mail the pictures we receive that afternoon so that you can see your new child as soon as possible. We then Fed Ex the information PriorityOvernight (when possible) so that you will have it the next day.Complete translations for the documents will then arrive in about threedays via e-mail. Please review the information provided below andconfirm your contact information.

Document Expiration

Please take a few minutes at this time to review the expiration datesbelow: > fingerprints (10/29/2006) > I-171H (2/9/07)Due to the lengthening referral time, you may find either of theseexpiring prior to your trip. If either your fingerprints or I-171Hwill expire prior to your traveling, you will need to update thembefore you leave to complete your adoption. We recommend that familiesconsider updating their I-171H if they have 3 months or less until itexpires and have not yet received their referral.If your fingerprints will expire, you should schedule a new fingerprintappointment, either by calling USCIS at 1.800.375.5283 or by going toyour local fingerprint location (some may not take walk-ins). You willneed to bring the receipt with you when you travel along with a copy ofyour updated I-171H (if you receive one). If you have a child who willturn 18 prior to traveling, you must have their fingerprints processedprior to your trip. Again, you must bring the receipt with you whenyou travel.If your I-171H expires, you will need to complete a new I-600A form andsubmit this form along with an updated home study and any additionaldocuments required. You will need to bring the updated I-171H withyou, so you won’t be able to travel until you receive this updatedform. Please notify our office immediately if you are in the processof updating your I-171H so that we can plan accordingly.

Home Study Updates

If you have updated any changed family life information, including anychanges due to adopting a Waiting Child, in order to receive a newI-171H, the following section may not apply to you. If your family has experienced a change in circumstances, such as a new job or new house,a home study addendum is required. This addendum must cover ther easons and affect of the change in circumstances.

Our phone numbers were wrong so I did update those with them. I'm sure I will be home the day I expect THE call. I'll make sure I'm home and my cell is completely charged just in case my home phone doesn't work. Vonage already has our home phone set to forward to my cell if our home phone is not working.

I'm starting to feel like I'm waiting for labor pains right now except this time it's not physical pain but mental/emotional pain (if there's such a thing). It's just going to drive me crazy wondering if the tomorrow or the next day is THE day. We're guessing now mid November is more like it but you never know these days what's going to happen.