Summer Fun and Tick-Borne Diseases

Summer is flying by, and we have kept very busy.  We bought a cheap blow-up swimming pool for the kids, and who knew that it would be such a hit.  Hours of entertainment, all for about 25 bucks!  It has sprung a few leaks, so now we have to keep the air pump handy and help it out when it goes flat.  All of the kids love swimming and stick their heads right under the water...even Christian.  I think that he actually stays down the longest of all 3 (enough to scare me sometimes!)

Sun-bathing!



In the blow-up swimming pool





All ready to go to church...now try not to get dirty!!

  We took a little mini-vacation in the beginning of July and rented a cabin for a few nights.  We took the kids fishing, swimming (of course!), and our cabin had bunk-beds and a pull out sofa bed.  The biggest hit of the trip turned out to be searching for and catching crayfish.  Who would have known?  It was our first over-night adventure away from home since we came home in March, so it was kind of a big experiment.  The kids did very well, and we hope that this is the first of many camping trips to come.


Christian's first smore





Fishing on "Secret" Lake



After we got home from camping, I (Nicole) became very sick...fever up to 103 degrees, chills, muscle aches, headache, the pits.  Turns out I was bitten by a tick infected with ehrlichiosis, and came down with the nasty bug myself.  We are so fortunate and grateful that my mom was able to come up at the drop of a hat to help out with the kids.  I got some antibiotics, stayed in bed for a couple of days and made a very slow rebound.  I think that I ate only crackers and tea for about 2 weeks.  Just today, the kids congratulated me on being able to eat a "normal" lunch and dinner.  Good grief!



Helping Abuela look beautiful





I am cute!

 The gardens are growing like crazy, as are the ninos.  The kids are so excited to help out in the garden, and we have all learned the saying "don't step in it".  Of course this comes in handy for vegetables, as well as poop.  For some strange reason, the kids love looking around the yard for poop...dog-poop, chicken-poop, deer-poop, rabbit-poop, you name it.  They then stand next to the pile and say "Poop!  Poop!  Don't step in it!" 


The potato garden




Me:  "Christian, where are you going?"  Christian:  "Booper Bun!" (Super One, our favorite grocery store)




In the garden...don't step in it!

 My mom got me back on my feet, and headed back for home.  A few short days later, we traveled to my parents' cottage for another mini-vacation.  The kids got to visit with Abuelo and Abuela, Tia Vicki, Tia Chrissy and Tio Roberto (Rob, for those of you who know him...but we had to give him a Latin flair for the kids!).

Santiago found a little stray kitten that had been roaming the neighborhood, and worked his magic.  He is so patient, and spent a very long time coaxing the kitten to come out of hiding and trust him.  After only one day, Santiago was able to carry the kitten around like a little baby.  The kitten (he named her Jesse) let Santiago carry her around for hours and she was just loving it.  Jesse liked Santiago so much that she wouldn't leave, and spent the whole trip following him around.  It was very hard for Santi to say goodbye to his new little friend, but we were so happy to find out that she has found a family to live with.


Santiago, taming the wild kitten at my parents cottage

  Since we were all together, we decided to celebrate Juan's 7th birthday.  His birthday isn't for a few weeks, but we all love an excuse to have a party and eat cake...right?!  The party was a surprise, and Juan was so excited to about his cake and to open presents.  The surprise (and the extra sugar) took their toll though, as we ended up with 3 over-stimulated, over-tired-but-jacked-up-on-frosting little boys.  We have always known that routine is good for our kids, but it still amazes us how much the kids behavior can change when too many new and exciting things are going on around them.  An early bed-time and a nap the following day did wonders to get us back on the right track though.  One very encouraging aspect about these kind of situations though, is that now we know our boys well enough to spot when they need to have some quiet time, and we are experienced enough now to know when to pull the plug on all of the excitement.  Thank God for progress!!


Juan with his birthday cake

Summer is flying by, and the kids are getting very excited to start school in the fall.  We will probably try to pack in a few more fun excursions before then though. 

Still Here!

It's been way too long since my last post!  People have been wondering if we are all still alive and well here, and we are!  We have just been very, very busy chasing after 3 little boys!

Things are going well here as we continue to grow as a family;  we are settling in more and more as the weeks go by.  Summer vacation has brought a whole new set of adjustments with all 3 of the boys home with Mama.  While the kids are getting a little bit bored at home, we also think that is a good thing for them - we don't know if they've ever had a chance to be bored before, and probably more likely were always on guard for what changes the future might bring.  Sibling rivalry and bickering is at an all-time high, but at least I happy to say that none of the kids have told me "I'm bored" yet!

Christian has really started to bond with Jason, and it is so cute to see him follow around after Jason like a little duckling.  He loves to sit on Jason's shoulders and adores any sort of "manly" equipment...machines, tractors, trucks.  I don't know how/when he learned this, but he grunts a bunch and then says "tractor" and then grunts some more (think Tim-the-Tool-Man-Taylor grunting).  Are little boys just hard-wired to do that sort of thing?  It is pretty funny to watch.

Christian has really started to flourish in his "terrible 2's" lately with temper tantrums (kicking, flailing, screaming, the works!), hitting his brothers, throwing things, etc.  He wants to be a big boy so badly some times, but his little body just isn't there quite yet.  He has graduated from his crib to a "big-boy-bed", and has been sleeping in his bed for about the past 3 weeks without too much trouble.  Several times though, he has woken up in the middle of the night and silently walked through the house to come into our bedroom.  Not sure what he wants, but he usually settles right back down if we hold him a little bit and then put him back in his bed.

Juan Manuel and Santiago are starting to learn more and more English.  It is actually getting harder and harder for me to understand them as they transition from Spanish to English because of the Spanglish mix, and many times I am totally stumped.  They will often hear a word in English and try to repeat it at a later time, but don't always get it quite right.  For a while they kept calling Obe Wan Kenobe, Ole Guacamole.  At vacation bible school they learned a song called "I am Not Forgotten", but came home singing "I am a Colgat-aye".  We often get a good laugh over the things they come up with, and they are really doing so well with it.  It is fun to listen to them talk to each other too, as more and more they are using funny combinations of Spanish and English. 

Santi is such a good helper, and he loves to pitch in with just about anything that needs doing.  He often cleans up all of the toys "just because", even when we haven't asked him to.  If I vacuum or tidy the house while the kids are out playing with Jason, Santiago always runs up to me, gives me a big hug and tells me thank you.  He loves order and cleanliness, and is very responsible.

Juan finished kindergarten and is loving his time at home, although really misses his little friends.  He did really well with school, and was always so proud to come home each day and show us what he worked on. 

 

We got baby chickens in April, so the kids have been having lots of fun watching them grow and helping to take care of them.  When the kids figured out that we were going to eat their "pets", Juan cried and cried, and Santiago said he couldn't wait to try and hoped they'd be delicious.  Christian just joined in saying "di-den" (chicken in baby-talk) over and over and over.

Overall we are doing very well.  Life seems like chaos many days, but more and more we are able to enjoy the kids instead of constantly struggling with misbehavior.  We've been fishing twice, to the zoo, to the aquarium, and the older 2 boys had vacation bible school.  I just have to say that the kids have done great with all of their outings, and we have had no repeat experiences of our aquarium outing in Medellin.  They have learned what popsicles and rootbeer floats are, and adore running through the sprinkler.  Jason has been working on building them a swing/slide/tower, and the kids burn tons of energy running around on it (and Mom can just sit back and watch!!).  It has been busy, it has been the ride of our lives.  Some days are still really really tough, but it is amazing to see how far we've come in just over 4 months.

Ok, kids are about to get up, so that's all for now.  Thanks for checking in with us!!



Picture from late-March...embarassing that I am posting pictures of snow when the temperature here yesterday was almost 90!





Planting papas (potatos) with Papa!



First Trip to the ER

So for anyone out there who was taking bets on when our first trip to the ER would be...it was today!!  When I told the ER staff about our 3 boys, they asked if I wanted a "frequent flyer" card.  Oh, Lord! 

Christian took a tumble and cut the back of his head on the corner of a piece of furniture.  Seven staples later, he is as happy as ever, running around with his big brothers.  We were in the ER for quite a while waiting, and I kept singing him this song that Tia Vicki sent us on FB, "Amigo" from Sesame Street.  A totally addicting tune, and I don't even know most of the words.  But I could easily remember the part that goes, "La la la la la la - Amigo!" over and over and over.  I am sure the people at the desk outside of our room just loved me.  But it kept him happy!  He is tucked into bed for the night, and he was a brave little trooper.

Juan Manuel is doing great in kindergarden.  He is so proud to come home every day and show us all of the things he has been working on.  Plus it is getting Santiago excited to go to school next year too.  Santiago had kindergarden round-up last week, and he was right at home in the class room since he has been there many times before to pick up or drop off Juan Manuel.

The kids (mostly Christian) are sleeping a little bit less at night, and we are a little bit more exhausted than we used to be, so free time is at an absolute premium...hence my neglect of the blog, and my attempt to write a quick update. 

Christian has been getting up between 5:30-6 am these days.  He is still fighting us on a nap, but usually colapses out of exhaustion every 2nd or 3rd day.  We just go with it.  Some days Christian wakes his brothers up in the moring, some days we get lucky and they sleep in.  Potty training is at an absolute stand-still.  Christian knows that po-po and chee-chee go in the potty, but hides from everybody whenever he has to go po-po, then denies that he has a dirty diaper, even though his aroma preceeds him by about 5 feet.  What to do?!

The kids are all doing really well, but that's not to say that there aren't really difficult days.  I am proud to say though, that we are finally to a point where, most of the time, I do feel like I can at least take 30 seconds to go to the bathroom...never mind the fact that I usually have to leave the bathroom door opened (or at least unlocked), and that I usually end up having to shout to the kids from the toilet.  Ah, the glamour of motherhood!

A Day in the Life

So we have been home 2 weeks now, and in many ways it feels like much longer than that (I think it's the Groundhog Day effect!).  Jason went back to work yesterday, so this week brings another round of changes.  So far the kids are handling it well, and I'm still here alive and breathing, so it must not be too bad (thanks to extra help from Abuela!!!).  It was funny that even though Juan Manuel is usually the one to push Papa's buttons the most, he was the one who moped around and kept saying that he missed Papa, he loved Papa, when is Papa coming home?  Hopefully we will settle in to a bit more of a routine, day by day.

Things that have happened this week...

• Christian went poop in his potty!!  The whole family had a party in the bathroom, including Ruby, who was fascinated by the whole event.  We still have a long way to go, but at least we had one success.
• The boys discovered the sale flyers from the newspaper and spent hours cutting out little pictures of all of the things they want from Santa.  They also cut out things for Mama and Papa.  For Mama:  Barbie (the kids told me I don't have nearly enough toys for myself), dish soap, a pistola (water gun...Juan Manuel's idea!).  For Papa:  Shower gel, deodorant, cereal.  For themselves:  you name it!  Santi wants WWF things, Juan Manuel wants every children's movie ever created, and Christian just got left by the wayside.
• Christian is starting to make a little bit of mischief around the house.  I love it when I can bust him doing something, and he has the funniest "guilty" look on his face.  Nothing too serious yet, and mostly he is just exploring.
• Juan Manuel is testing Mama.  Now that Papa's back to work, Juan Manuel wants to see how much grit Mama has.  Yesterday:  3 time outs, one implemented by me having to carry this 55-pound guy like a sack of potatos.  Don't doubt me, kiddo!  The rules are still the rules, and I intend to stick to them!
• Santiago is doing better and better.  He is a funny, loving, conscientious little guy, and he loves to cuddle.  It is such a relief to see him adjusting.
• Abuela's help continues to be so appreciated.  Thank you so much, Mom, for being here to help us all out!





Christian, stealing juice from his brother's cup...busted!





Musculos!!!



Groundhog Day

Things are going pretty well at home.  Juan Manuel and Santiago went yesterday for early childhood screening at the school.  We were able to arrange for a Spanish interpreter to be present during the testing.  On our way into the school, both boys said they were afraid of the big boys, and afraid that the big boys would hit them.  Poor little guys!  I reassured them that the "big boys" have different playground time than the smaller children.

Once we were in the school, Juan Manuel was totally in his element.  He was hamming it up with the teachers, peaking in every classroom, touching everything.  I think he was practically ready to push the teacher out of the way and teach the class himself!  He has been asking every day when he can go to school (usually the first thing he says in the morning when he wakes up).  Today we made a calendar for him so that he can cross off the days and count how many days until he can go to school.  The school has Spring break next week, so he can't start until the following Monday.  I think that he is becoming very bored at home, even though we try to do all kinds of activities with the kids, it's just not the same as being with his amiguitos in the class room.

Santiago was very afraid during the testing, and hid from the teachers and would barely complete the test.  He talks about going to school, and loves to play with other kids, but I just don't know that he's ready for the changes yet.  There are multiple different options, and we are leaning towards a stay-and-play program where the parents stay in the same room while the kids play, then the parents go into the next room for a little while, then everyone is reunited again.  We'll see, but if Santi isn't ready for school yet this year, we will just wait until next year.

The kids have been going on long walks with us (and Ruby) in the woods, and have become real explorers.  They love looking for animal tracks, although usually they just find their own boot tracks or Ruby's tracks.

Christian hasn't fallen on his head for 4 or 5 days!!  We aren't sure if he is getting better at navigating, or if we've just had a lucky streak, but his head wounds are starting to heal, and he sure is cute when he isn't totally banged up!  He continues to babble, and the other night was making chicken sounds when he was toddling around the house.  Christian loves being in the kitchen, and will sit quietly in his high-chair while I cook (he even fell asleep there the other day).  He knows where the animal crackers are in the pantry, and he stands on the ground and points to them all of the time.  He is going to be my little pal in the kitchen.

Tonight Tom and Yvonne treated our family to the fish dinner at our church - thank you, Tom and Yvonne!  The boys put away a ton of fish!!  We kept thinking that they would be full, but they kept on eating and eating and eating.  It was fun to get out of the house with the kids, and they did great.  We think that they must have been a little bit frightened of the new experience, because they were awfully quiet the entire time.

Santiago continues to come out of his shell more and more, and we once again are seeing the loving little boy that we knew from Colombia.  It was really difficult to see him withdraw when we first came home, but he is more than making up for it now.  He has started giving us kisses, and he comes up and kisses us all the time now.  He is a little cuddle-bug, and will lay in my lap and stare into my eyes.  Oh, and can this kid dance!!  When we put on music, he tears up the floor, and he has got rhythym and all of the moves.  Where does a 4 year old learn to dance like that?!  It is fun to watch him go to town.

Jason goes back to work on Monday, and my mom is coming back to help with the transition.  While we have really enjoyed all being together as a family these past weeks, it will be good to get into a routine of "real life".  The kids had started asking a few days ago if Papa ever has to go to work, so even they have realized that this hasn't been the "normal" way of life.  I will sure miss having Jason at home to help and tag-team, but am soooooo grateful that my mom will be here once again to lend a hand.  We'll see how it all goes, and it will probably be tough at first, but hopefully we'll all get in the swing of things.

Jason and I have joked that we feel like we are in the movie, Groundhog Day, and every day is exactly the same as the day before.  We watched Shrek 3 the other night, and laughed our heads off when Shrek was going through a similar experience.  The kids kept looking at us like we were crazy and asking what was so funny...nothing, boys!  An exciting day around here entails a trip to the grocery store for milk, or changing from Choco Krispies to Fruit Loops for breakfast.  But, the kids seem to be doing very well with the mundane, even if it is psychologically challenging for Jason and I.  So, we stick with what works, and continue to keep things as low-key as possible for now.   

Solo

My mom left this morning to go back home.  She has been at our house since before we left for Colombia, and she more than deserves a break and a good night's sleep in her own bed.  I am sure that my dad will be so happy to have her back home also, and we are so grateful to have had her here for so long.  We miss you all ready, Mom!!! 

We survived our first day here with just Jason and I.  We have recruited the kids to start "helping" with things around the house, and even if the help isn't really help, it at least keeps the kids close at hand and they are learning the importance of helping out in the home and having responsibilities.

Yesterday the kids got to meet Jason's mom, their Grandma Mimi, and LaVerne.  Mimi and LaVerne came bearing gifts...lots of Little People toys (a tractor, a wagon, a bulldozer) and some things that were Jason's when he was a boy.  The kids have been playing and building and hauling things all over the house, and have had a blast.  Thank you, Mimi and LaVerne!!

We have been trying to encourage the kids to play independently a little bit more, so that Jason and I can try to get things done around the house, like prepare meals and/or clean up after meals while the kids play nearby.  This has been a mixed bag.  Some times the kids can play fairly well with only some squabbling, but we have also had some bad blow-ups and melt-downs too.  This is really hard for us, because we can literally not turn our back on the kids for even a minute. 

Plus, in the last 2 days, we are starting to see some physically aggressive behaviors from Juan Manuel.  He has been intentionally rough with Christian and Santiago (grabbing them by the face and shaking them), and today we caught him "teasing" Ruby with a fist in front of her face.  This is really really hard for me to see, and it makes me especially nervous to leave him unsupervised with his little brothers and Ruby, I do not trust him.  We have been extremely firm in dealing with his physical aggression, but I have the feeling that we are going to have to work on this with him.  I know that this is not totally unexpected, but it makes me sad all the same.  Some times I just wish that this could be simpler, or that I could have more energy and patience, or that I could un-do the hurts of the past for our kids.

Jason has off of work all of this week to help get the kids settled in at home and spend time together as a family.  Thank goodness, because I am definitely not feeling ready to handle all 3 kids all day by myself yet.  A few hours at a time is not so bad, but all day long feels a little bit overwhelming right now.  I pray that the kids will settle into a routine and a sense of comfort in their new setting.

El Bebe Se Callo (the Baby Fell)!

The first few days home:



Grandpa pulling the kids through the snow

My dad was here when we arrived at the airport, but he had a big inspection at work this week and had to head back home on Tuesday.  My dad's coworkers sent a beautiful basket of flowers, thank you so much for the wonderful surprise!  Abuelo checks in multiple times a day with us to find all of the latest news and remind the kids that he's thinking of them.

So, after 2 days without hot water, we are back up and running.  Jason replaced both thermostats on the water heater, and still, no hot water.  Shoot!!  So he consulted with a good friend of ours, and they figured out what the problem was.  Our power company had put a regulator on our electrical supply to the hot water heater, and had shut us down to only run on off-peak hours (they forgot to mention it to us, and have been billing us full-price for the last 2 years!  Customer service got an ear-full today!).  So, there was never really anything wrong with the water heater except for the fact that we ran it down to nothing, I think we did about 10 loads of laundry in 24 hours, and then didn't wait long enough for it to heat back up.  At least now we know.  Thanks Al and Carol for coming to our rescue!!




The mountains of laundry that blew out the water heater!

 The kids have been doing well, and we are all adjusting.  Christian is really blossoming.  Of all 3 boys, he seems to be the most relaxed and happy to be settling in at home.  He is running around exploring, and chattering away in his baby-talk.  If only he was a little less prone to falling on his head!  Well, I am happy to report that today he did not fall on his head once, and all of his previous bumps and bruises are starting to heal.  Poor kid, I sometimes think he would really benefit from a little football helmet until he is steadier on his feet.  I have been reassured that this is typical for 2 year olds, so am trying not to get too paraniod and just let him explore and play without me hovering over him every single second.

The older 2 boys have had a little rockier transition since we've been home.  It has been challenging, but we are starting to see them settle in a little bit more day by day.  Santi had really been withdrawing and behaving fairly aloof the first couple of days, but he is starting to show more love and affection again.  At dinner tonight, the kids were singing the meal time prayer that Tia Vicki taught them (sung to the tune of Superman...Thank you God!  For giving us food!  In Spanish, of course)  Tonight the kids started singing "Thank you God!  For giving us Mom!  Thank you God!  For giving us Dad!  Thank you God!  For giving us Abuela!"  It was really cute.

Juan Manuel has just started giving us kisses.  The boys give us lots of hugs, but we have only in the last 2 days gotten kisses from Juan Manuel.  We still have yet to get an "I love you" from any of the boys, but we know that they need time to come to that, and we just keep on loving them in the mean time.

The boys and Ruby are the best of friends.  We are amazed to see how gentle and accepting Ruby is of the kids...it is as if she has been waiting for them, and is fulfilling her life's purpose in letting them hug her and kiss her and play fetch with her.  We are also amazed to see how motivated the kids are to learn English in order to play with Ruby.  They very quickly learned "sit", "come", "go get it", "good girl", and "shake".  We may have to put Ruby in her house at dinner time, as she has figured out that the kids drop a lot of food on the floor, and the kids tend to drop more food on the floor to lure Ruby over to them.  Nice try, but Mom and Dad are onto you!




Ruby realizing that Christian is a walking treat-machine
(even if he isn't eating food, he is usually covered in it)





Grandma reading to the kids





Christian giving Ruby a kiss (on the mouth!)





When a 2 year old is bundled up for the snow and falls down,
he's just like a turtle on its back.  Ayudame!!!






Mom and the kids in the snow (the first time I've sat/layed down all week!!)





Santi getting ready to sled down the hill


Ok, so here's a really funny story that happened yesterday.  The kids have started to mimic some of the English phrases that we say the most often.  The kids have picked up on me saying "Oh, my gosh!", and now they say it (or something that sounds close to it) all the time too.  Last night I was reading the kids a book about adoption, and the book was talking about how children are born, but that sometimes children cannot stay with their birth moms and are adopted.  There was a page with pictures that were fairly graphic, see below.  When I turned to this page, Santiago nearly ripped the book out of my hands to stare at the page, and exclaimed, "Oh, my gosh!  El bebe se callo!" or "Oh, my gosh!  The baby fell!"  I laughed my head off.  These kids say the funniest things sometimes!

Not too much else is new here.  We continue to have our ups and downs, and continue to be grateful to my mom for all of her help.