home again

Actually I have been home for a couple of days, but let me rewind a little...................

Thursday night Oma arrived, safe and sound. Friday we took L for his therapy, and while he was at his visit, we went for pedicures.

Friday night, the plan WAS to drop off the kids at "operation relaxation" and go for dinner ( Oscar, girlfriend G, Oma and me)
Around 5 pm, I really wasn't feeling that well, so I cancelled that. Stomach pains out the wazoo..........................

Around 7 pm I was doubled over in pain, neighbor Lisa, who is a nurse, came over and took me to the ER. Doc took one look, guessed gallbladder, and send me to have an ultrasound. Oh, before they took me, they gave me some meds and the nurse said; warm &fuzzy, enjoy the carpet ride...............HOLY COW...............warm and fuzzy ???????????????? How about drunk off my a$$ !!! No more pain though !!!

Ultrasound was negative, I was still in happy la-la land, so the doc send me on my way with an RX for Vicoden, for what he called "stomach spasms" MMMMMMMMMHMMMMMMMMM

I could not walk straight for the life of me, bouncing from wall to wall, came home, went to bed. Woke up, not quite feeling that well anymore, so took a pill, fell back asleep, woke up again, went to the bathroom and almost passed out on the way back to bed.

PAIN PAIN PAIN, and I an not a wooz or a "mietje" as we say in my country.......................................

Lisa (sweet, dear, trooper Lisa) took one look and took me right back to the ER, different doc this time.................no happy meds.................2 gallons of contrast crap I had to drink.......CAT scan from my chest to my pelvis................

wait, wait, agonizing pain, cold, shakes (big time teeth chattering)

Doc comes back.........................you have acute appendicitis.......................

I have to tell you, I was relieved...........at least they found what it was. The rest is history, they loaded me up on morphine, called the surgeon, wheeled me down to pre op. Surgeon came and actually complimented me on my pedicure ( did you do your toes especially before coming here ? LOL)

back in room, world is fuzzy...........little pain, sleep, sleep, wake up with the mother of all headaches...........fever, 103

I ended up staying an extra day because of fever, but I am home again. I will save the stories of the halleluya feeling when I first managed to pass some gas..............having to sit up/walk the first time ( oh my God !)

Thank God for my mom, who took over, I did not have to worry about the kids once, she kept everything going, even with a broken down microwave and a dryer that stopped working (so that's 3's right)

Thank God for my neighbor and friend Lisa, for taking me to the ER twice and staying by my side for hours.

Thank God for P and L, who came and picked up L in a heartbeat and are loving on him until he can come back. We miss him !

Thank God for my son, who had to see mommy in her not so finest hour and got really upset, sorry papi : (

Thank God for my true friends who were there with calls, prayers, good thoughts and offers of help to my mom.

And last but not least thank God for my husband, who was so worried, changed his flight and flew home on his birthday /
Thanksgiving.

So, that's it in a nutshell, our last week...................

again never a dull moment !!!!!!!!!!!

new header picture

I love this picture, it's exactly 2 years ago, it was taken on Max' adoption day. Sebastian still so little, Max making a heart sign with his hands and the girls with their gap toothed smiles, papa all handsome dressed up (doesn't happen very often LOL) and Oscar, so big and handsome (even with the long hair..oy)

Whirlwind day

But it all worked out perfect ! This morning the kids went off to school without a hitch. Sebastian stayed home, since he had an EEG and lab work scheduled, but before we had to leave I had some time to pick up a bit, do a load of laundry and vacuum.

We arrived for our appointment right on time, one of the front desk girls used to work for our pediatrician, it's always fun to see her and she was so impressed to see how well Sebastian was doing ! We talked while she registered him and then came the time for "the bracelet"................................

that innocent little plastic ID band...............instant "deer in the headlight" look ! I assured Sebastian there would be NO staying in the "hopital"
He was assured, but still a bit leery....................

We were called back, they opened the door to the room where the sight of a hospital bed with a curtain around it, was enough to get Sebas from relative calm to absolute hysterics, no calming down, no reason, no nothing...........................

L had fallen asleep right before we were called back, perfect timing ! but with Sebastian screaming, he would wake up any minute !

This is where the "mean mommy" came out, I had tried calming him down, bribes, reason. He would not listen.....................all that came out was " I want to go school"

I told the tech's to do what they had to do, I knew he would calm down once they put the electrodes on his head, so do the "burrito" or whatever you need to do. I told Sebastian that mommy had to go bathroom real quick, I would be right back ( he was fine with that)

I walked out and within minutes I heard him screaming...................poor baby................bad mommy..................... :(

Several nurses stopped and all asked the same thing...................is that Sebastian ?????????????????????????? See, he's known as this gentle, laid back, sweet, sweet boy..................................today he was not having it though !

He stopped crying within 2 minutes, I went back in, they told him to go to sleep for a little, he rolled on his side, with his "mommy night-night" ofcourse (my old shirt)
and then he said..................mommy, I just want papa to come home tonight.......

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW, instead teary eyes for me.................................

The tech's were wonderful when I explained papa had just left last night for a trip. They jumped in right away, assuring him papa's and mama's always, always come back and sometimes even bring a present...........LOL he fell asleep with a smile !

L was great throughout all this.................................

I re-scheduled the lab work for next week, enough trauma for one day and it was running late, I had to be at the office for a bio dad visit, which I made it to 4 minutes late ( bite me)

After the visit we flew home, both boys fell asleep, but an early developmental interventionist was coming. L slept while we chatted, Oscar took Sebastian to Wal-mart for the promised Bagukan (the kid is obsessed with Bagukan's, not the game or the series, just the mechanics of these little balls that pop open LOL)

Dinnertime....................Alex was invited for dinner at a neighbor, we ordered pizza..............................second one free..................

My voice started getting scratchy late afternoon, it has gotten progressively worse, my voice now is almost gone...............................GREAT !!!!!!!!!!!
No sore throat though.............let me not jinx anything LOL

Update on the diet

Because yes, I'm still going strong !! Finally under the 200 and 40 lbs gone, unbelievable. To pick up Sebastian, who is not anywhere near 40 lbs and know that was weight that I was carrying around ! I have given away my first load of clothes that were hanging off of me.

Papa left, we're sad

Whirlwind couple of days. Yesterday we went to church, came home, L went for his visit and as soon as he came back we left for Tampa to visit Kim. She looks a 100% better, can make a fist, can not quite release the fist, but what great progress !!!!

We visited, actually went to the patio area and sat and chatted, went over some financial stuff, hugged, shed some tears, laughed...........what a relief to see her so much better !

On the way home we dropped papa off at his truck, he had to squeeze one last load in, responsible til the last minute ! While L was on his visit, we had already packed some of his clothes and a suitcase full of clothes and shoes to give away.

He slept in the truck, this morning drove over to Venice, where the truck is going to stay parked at a neighbor's job site, while Papa is gone, this neighbor is going to do some work on his truck. After L's OT/PT, I drove over to pick Papa up, L slept the whole way, he was tired of working so hard at therapy !

We finished packing, ate lunch, I ran to Wal-mart for last minute stuff, and as the day went on I fekt more and more anxious. It has been a long time since Papa has been gone this long. The kids don't even remember...................we'll be fine. Just absolutely hate saying goodbye !!!

We decided Oscar and Alex were going to take Papa to the airport and after that swing by Kim to visit. So all the kids gave their kisses, we showed them a calendar where we will cross off the days. All kids got a musical toothbrush (it plays music while you brush for 2 minutes) trying to keep it all light................

Sofia refused to come outside to see him of. Lili would not go of my hand and kept saying that she felt really sad. Max stopped playing and said, I really don't like papa to go that long, I want him to stay here. Sebastian has not said a whole lot yet. Lili keeps walking around and has big shiny eyes, tears will probably start soon, the poor thing.

I'm good now.............it's the goodbye thing. I tucked a card in his carry-on...........................................hopefully time will go fast.

I have to focus on the rest of the week, holy cow, macaroni&cheese (as Sebastian likes to say)

Tomorrow morning, EEG Sebastian, labwork afterwards, blood and stool. After we'll fly over to the Coalition where L will have a supervised visit, then we'll fly home where an Early Steps therapist will meet us for therapy for L. ( when oh when will they start selling diet cokes with optional extra shots of caffeine !! )

Wednesday, specialist appointment for L, about 1 hr drive away. Half day school for the kids ( I can smell a movie afternoon coming !)Licensing coming for quarterly visit ( so the house has to look halfway presentable LOL )

Thursday, Guardian ad litem, caseworker are coming early afternoon. Originally I planned to pick up kids from school and start driving to Orlando to go pick up Oma. Oscar offered yesterday to go with Alex, which starts to make more and more sense.

I thought about just taking 2 (besides L) but then I feel bad for the other ones, driving with all 5.....................mmmmmmmmmmm, maybe it would be better for Oscar to go, and I'll wait for Oma here, with a glass of wine and some good rice !
I feel bad, but I shouldn't feel bad, I know that mom will understand.

We're back...........

The past days have been weird, just weird. Saturday, I just really felt I needed to make my blog private..............apparently it's pretty easy to find a blog and the thought of bio's reading my blog...................creeps me out. I don't mind strangers, LOL, God knows I read some blogs of people that do not know me.

BUT, I read blogs for inspiration, other foster or adoptive families, families with special needs kids, etc.

I had actually written a blog about L, but was smart enough to save it as a draft. Then I thought maybe I should go private......................

For right now I have decided to make it accessible like it was, but I will not post anything about L, other than maybe that we have an appointment, or how he is in general.

Wiggling fingers............

Kim is able to wiggle her fingers and lift her leg a tiny bit, awesome news !

This week has been an adjustment for everyone..............Oscar driving his friend to the hospital ( 1.5 hr one way) leaving him less time for girlfiend/band/youthgroup
and stuff. Papa and myself trying to get the finances in order/paid, at times frustrating. Papa a bit anxious about his upcoming trip to Peru...............

A friend called him yesterday, to go diving this morning, I convinced him to go. I know he'll come back relaxed, he's worrying too much....................

LOL, as I was typing this, he called, his friend stopped at Wal-mart, buying all kinds of stuff, getting a fishing license, looking at nets...............papa can NOT stand shopping, and definitely not Wal-mart on a Saturday. Told him to breathe and relax LOL LOL

The boys are playing outside, sometimes I wish we lived on 5 acres, with trees and mud and adventures for them. Max is such an outside child..............but they are happy, going from the trampoline, to riding bikes on the sidewalk, to playing on the swingset....................it has been wonderful weather, not too hot, so the outside play is in full swing !!!!!!!!!

Sofie is playing with her littlest pets. She already had quite the collection, and
last week we stopped at a garage sale where we picked up 36 of them for 10 cents each!! What a find !

Lili is hanging around, she has a cough and stuffy nose. L is swinging, taking a rest after crawling all over the place all morning. The girls had put pillows on the floor that he was crawling over, wonderful physical therapy !! Getting him stronger, less frustrated, he is doing so well, and the kids are doing great with him !