Improvising

I've heard many stories about desperate parents who've had to improvise in diaper emergencies, rigging up makeshift diapers that usually include the use of duct tape. I've come close a few times, down to one or two diapers before someone can go out and buy more. I also have a pack of swim diapers from last summer that I figured would work in a pinch. I'm sure you already know where this is going. This morning during a totally unrelated experiment I discovered last summer's swim diapers are too small (we're going to the coast this weekend so I was trying them on to see if they fit. Ha ha not me, the kids!), and this evening when the tab ripped on the second to last diaper in the house, this is what had to happen:In full disclosure, it was my husband who did this. I don't blame him, though. He made a diaper run once the kids were in bed and we now are fully stocked with 252 diapers.

Delays

I never would have believed it would be six months since we were free and clear to adopt Kiki and we would still be waiting. Last week's sicknesses caused the most recent delay because I had to cancel a developmental assessment that needs to be done before we can adopt her. Our new goal is to have everything completed by May 18, which is the next scheduled court date in her case. I just have to keep reminding myself that the adoption IS going to happen and remember how difficult it was a year ago when we had very little hope and to thank God that very soon Kiki will be ours!

One Night, Two Kids, Two Visits to the ER

The title says it all and I'm so tired I don't even know if I can tell the story but it's a pretty good one so here goes:

Midday Sunday in the midst of dealing with Joe's sudden illness, Billy noticed "something" in Kiki's nose. I couldn't tell what it was, but Billy eventually figured out it was a piece of foam from a book we had given the kids for Easter. She had been chewing on the book as usual and apparently bit off a chunk and decided to store it in her nostril. We tried everything we could think of to get it out, but it was pretty far up there and Kiki soon had enough of us holding her down and would cry so much we were afraid the foam would get sucked higher. It didn't seem to be bothering her and her breathing was fine, so we decided to wait and see. By Monday morning it was still exactly where it was the day before so Billy made an appointment to take her to the doctor. Her doctor said he did not want to try to get it out and referred Kiki to the ER. A few hours later they were finally able to see the ER doctor who only took 10 seconds to extract the foam from Kiki's nose. Now here's the good part: If you've been around Kiki any length of time, you know that her favorite word is "up". Up, up, up, she always wants to be picked up. In fact, as Billy was laying her down on the hospital bed she kept saying "up". Here is the piece of foam that was stuck in her nose:

Yes, it says "up". Actually it is the middle of the word "puppies", but still. Her favorite word.

By the time Billy and Kiki got home it was almost 10:00. I had been home with Joe and Daniel, and Joe's fever was rising despite the Tylenol I had given him. He was still not keeping anything down and seemed to be growing more weak and lethargic. We decided it would be best to take him to the ER rather than waiting until the morning. Since Billy had already done ER duty once that night, I knew I had to be the one to take Joe. Long story short, he was diagnosed with an ear infection and another four hours later we were home. The doctor seemed amused that we were the same family that had been in earlier.

Not wanting to be left out, Daniel took it upon himself to vomit in his crib last night and fill his diaper with diarrhea. Right now he and Kiki are fighting and screaming at the top of their lungs. Joe is spending his morning on the potty chair and I am just trying to keep up with the dirty laundry and keep it together until reinforcements arrive. Or at least until nap time and I can take a breath.

Books, Bowls, and Blankets

This is what our house looked like Sunday morning:

Fortunately, Joe was the only one who really needed a bowl. The other two saw all of the attention he was getting and decided they were "sick", too. So far the rest of us have been spared.

500 Babies Go to a Protest

Whew! What an experience! Yesterday afternoon we loaded up and headed downtown to the Alamo for the Tax Day Tea Party. It was amazing to stand in unity with thousands of fellow Americans who are fed up with the out-of-control spending by our government. Crowd estimates were at 16,000 people!

It was a struggle to keep the kids happy for the 4 hours we were downtown. Our strategy was food, food, and more food. We also moved positions a few times and even found a little corner where the kids could run around for a few minutes.

I don't know what the future holds. But I want to teach my children that they have the right and a duty to stand up for the values and principles upon which America was founded. Values and principles that we seem to be forgetting, but that were shared by the thousands of individuals we stood with last night.

The Purse-Hat

Daniel has started a new trend in head-wear. It's called "The Purse Hat".

It's quite stylish.

And fun!

Just don't get your arms stuck in the straps.

Kiki's version is called "The Tote Bag Hat". She also invented "The Easter Basket Hat", as seen below:

But I'm not exactly sure what to call Joe's creation.

500 Babies Dye Easter Eggs

The trick to dyeing Easter eggs with 500 Babies is to keep everything simple. No stickers, no egg wraps, no gimmicks. (Seriously egg-dye manufacturers, do you really think we are fooled? A one-inch punch-out circle of cardboard is not a "fun disc".)

We did use the egg holders as bracelets.

You may think these half-full wine glasses are another trick used in helping the adults survive this experience. But they are filled with dye and we just wanted the kids to have a better look at how the process works. (The rest of the cups were plastic.)

Joe did a great job and was very careful with his eggs.

Daniel, not so much. He chucked his egg into the cup, cracking it, and then alternated between sticking his hand in the cup and putting the spoon in his mouth. His legs still had blue spots on them this morning.
The end result. And if you are one of the few people reading this blog who doesn't know us personally, pay no attention to the egg with a little girl's name on it starting with an M. :)

Easter Egg Hunt!

This morning we trooped out to church for the Easter Egg Hunt. The kids have been playing with Easter baskets and plastic eggs at home, so it wasn't hard to get them to put the eggs inside their baskets. We didn't tell them there was candy inside. I know, we're mean.

The kids needed a little help finding the eggs. Someone made sure they found all the eggs with Twix inside.

Joe seemed to sense that it is not proper to give Jesus a high-five, even though two adults and a teenager were encouraging him to do so.

Some of my favorite times are these church-sponsored events. We get to relax, visit with adult friends, and rest easy knowing that our kids are surrounded by members of our church family.

Let's Make Ice Cream

Friday evening we made homemade ice cream -

very cold, very messy, very yummy! You just put half and half, sugar, and vanilla extract in a small plastic baggie, put the small baggie inside a large baggie filled with ice and kosher salt, and then shake, shake, shake! It melted quickly, but we will definitely make it again. The recipe is here.

Confusion

Apparently I don't know how old my children are. We took Kiki to the doctor yesterday for her 18-month check-up where they informed us she is still 17 months. Hmmm. Honestly it does get confusing because Dan and Kiki are only 6 weeks apart. So sometimes their "ages" are one month apart and sometimes two months apart. Most of the time I just kind of guess when someone asks how old they are. But I guess doctor's offices like to be a little more precise.

Adoption News

Things are finally happening! Last Saturday we received Kiki's adoption packet in the mail. As soon as I saw that big brown envelope my heart gave a leap. Monday was a flurry of phone calls and emails between us and our case worker, Kiki's social worker, the adoption facilitator, and our attorney. There are still a couple of issues to sort out, but if all goes as planned we will go to court on May 8!

Triple Threat

Presenting the first ever triple Time-Out:
The offense was that all three where climbing on top of a file box they had just been told to stay off of. And before you get too carried away with your thoughts about how awesome I am to have all three in control like this, you should know that I had to keep turning one little child around so her face wouldn't be in the picture. And when I finished with the picture she just got up and walked away.

Thank You

I started this blog one year ago with the intent to chronicle our family's journey through Foster Care and Adoption. I'm not sure if that's still the purpose, or what the purpose really is, except to share snippets of our life with family and friends. I still amazed whenever I come across someone who reads here and they tell me they enjoy reading my blog. Thank you. Really. It means a lot. Much of the past eighteen months are a blur and, if anything, blogging has helped me to record the memories a lot more easily. (I also want to thank Rachelle, who was my introduction into the world of blogging. She's so awesome that she's now blogging for the Examiner. Check out her articles here.)

I feel an extra sense of accomplishment on the days when I get a post completed and I have no intention of stopping, at least for now. But I also don't want to be boring and really some days are just all about feeding, wiping, and keeping my sanity. I know my husband humors me every night when I relate the "poop story of the day" to him, and I don't want to do that to you. (Unless the incident is really funny, of course. Like the time I lost the contents of Joe's diaper when the ECI lady was here.)

Anyway, thanks again for hanging in here with me and sharing a little in my life with the 500 Babies!