Journey with the Williams Family

Gone Huntn'

2009-11-08T19:13:00.003-08:00

I received this photo at work last Thursday and should have known something was up.

When I got home from work, I found this note:

(And yes - his eyes are closed in the photo because when his eyes are closed...you can't see him, of course.)

To top it off, when he got home he informed me they saw six deer and Papa didn't shoot any. Oh and do not forget the favorite line around the house these days. "You don't go hunting with us Mama, because you're a GIRL."

Fine by me!!!!

If your interested in how well a three year old hunts, read on!

Troy said Daniel did great. He took him out behind our house where he has permission to hunt some land so they walked all the way in and out of the woods. They sat by a tree for a while. Then Daniel walked a slow, quiet circle around the tree. And when the deer came in and Troy pointed them out, he said Daniel was glued to the deer. Watched them the whole time. Needless to say the tired little walker...I mean hunter...slept well that night and is looking forward to next time!

Medical Update - November 4th (Long)

2009-11-04T17:13:00.000-08:00

Today we had more follow ups for Daniel. We started with an ultrasound when he had a full bladder and then he had to pee in a special potty to measure how much he emptied, followed by another ultrasound to check the bladder again. They also checked his kidneys.

Thankfully his right kidney is still beautiful and again we give thanks to many prayers and to God because his left kidney is looking even better than before. The fluid (from severe reflux) is starting to drain. While it's far from perfect, it is healing and for that we give thanks.

His bladder is still over-enlarged although it appears to be looking slightly better. When I say slightly, I mean it is barely detectable. However, muscles like the bladder can take a very long time to heal and fortunately we have Daniel's age on our side. He can grow into his bladder, and although it may never be completely normal, it will function just fine.

We have follow ups again in January for repeat ultrasounds and sometime after we will have a big nuclear test to test the functioning of his kidneys again, but right now they feel it is not necessary.

We are struggling in one area...potty training. I know I've talked about it before and yes, we have been potty training since forever at this point, and at one point he was doing really well, but for the last 3-4 months he has gone backwards. One good thing to point out is that he never misses a #2. For this we are happy! However, for some time, he has decided that going to the potty is too burdensome.

Before I say more - we have tried it all...cheerios in the potty, sticker charts, a potty prize basket (earn so many stickers, get a reward) - and about a dozen other techniques.

Daniel will not go the bathroom without prompting now and he could generally care less when he's wet and keeps on playing. However, today for the first time, he wet himself and actually went to the bathroom to change himself immediately without even telling me. Progress?? I don't know.

The biggest problem we have is that he'll go the bathroom and 10 minutes later he'll wet the front of his underwear. He doesn't even notice. Some days we go through 5 or more pairs of underwear.

After talking with the doctor today we have a new plan. It didn't go well tonight, due to some serious backtalking from Daniel, but I'm pleading the case of "no nap" to try to excuse the backtalk. (Don't worry - Troy put him directly to bed since he was seriously backtalking me in the bathroom.)

We learned today that we have a mix of issues. First and foremost, we have a child with an abnormal bladder. It was obstructed for so long, that it just needs time to heal. Since it was obstructed, Daniel doesn't empty all the way. Hence the small accidents. He also remains on the bladder relaxer medicine.

We also have a child who is smart enough to figure out that pottying takes too much time, and the stickers and toys aren't worth it anymore because "he knows how to get them". (Doctor's words, not mine.) He also suggested that the motivator needed to be a privilege, not an item. Now to figure out the privilege.

We also have a child who absorbes himself in play and just doesn't want to stop and is in too much of a hurry in the bathroom.

We also are in great big power struggle in our house at this point. This came on rather suddenly and hasn't stopped for about a month now. Getting Daniel to do certain things has become quite hard. We're blaming it on selective hearing, but we are working on this. Just yesterday I asked him to put on his shoes and he wouldn't. Our new technique (which is working, although slowly) is to just walk away and say, "You may not come out of your room/come out of where ever he is at the moment, until you put your shoes on." and then walk away. And although some days it takes 1 minute and some days 10 minutes, it seems to be working, without involving timeouts.

We're also to blame. We spent too long prompting him to go the bathroom (trying to avoid accidents) that now he won't go without the prompting. We also haven't found the right motivator, although at this point I'm lost on motivators - we've tried EVERYTHING.

Also, I'm frustrated. Troy is much calmer about the issue, but after all these months, I'm just plain frustrated.

Frustrated with changing underwear 5 or more times a day and then having to wash every other day or more to keep clean underwear in the house. Frustrated that every time we go out, there is usually an accident and I have to change him in restaurants, at parties (kids), in the grocery, you name the public bathroom - I've probably been there. Frustrated that every trick I've tried just doesn't work.

I want Daniel to potty train, not just for me, but for him. I want him to be able to start school on time. I want him to be able to play on the playground for more than half and hour at a time. I want him to be able to play T ball or soccer or whatever he wants to do.

And considering at one point the doctor's told us he would most likely need a permanent cathedar, I should be thrilled. And I am. I'm just lost.

However, I'm hoping all this will be resolved soon. We had a wonderful talk with the urologist and we have some new ideas.

We have to keep a diary for the doctor for a few weeks and we also have to measure how much he is emptying after what they call a "Full Empty". They want to measure his bladder capacity without doing any invasive procedures. In order to do this and get a full empty, we are on a new schedule.

We have to take Daniel to the bathroom every 2 to 2 and 1/2 hours. At that point we have to let him go to the bathroom and then keep him in the bathroom with an activity. A book, a puzzle, anything that will keep his attention, but won't absorb him. Then after 2-3 minutes pass, have him go the bathroom again.

The goal is multifaceted. First, we get on a regular potty schedule and hopefully Daniel's body will eventually train to have to use the bathroom at those times and the prompting will become extinct. Second, he will fully void by going twice and hopefully eliminate the in between accidents. Third, the bathroom becomes fun again. Where it is a place of stress for us now, it will become an activity center. Lastly, eventually we should be able to draw out the times between potty and hit the normal 3 and 1/2 to 4 hour range with no accidents.

How long will it take - that's the million dollar question.

The doctor tells us most likely months. My brain hurts thinking about that, but we've come so far, and I'm not giving up. We will conquer this. First (according to the doctor) we need to 'win' the power struggle with the bathroom which we can do with the activity. The bathroom needs to no longer feel like something he has to do, but something that he wants to do. Second, his body needs time to adjust to the 2 hour schedule. Third, his bladder needs to continue healing. Fourth he needs to get bigger and older to understand what is going on with his bladder.

The last words from the doctor were that Daniel COULD be trained, which was something they didn't think would happen initially, and that he WOULD train with a regular schedule and a little bit of help.

I am thankful.

Finally one additional tip for those of you that may be out there with hard to train pottiers - have them change their own clothes when wet, take them to the hamper and "help" with the laundry, so that they understand there is a process for cleaning up besides having mommy change them into nice, clean, dry clothes.

Helping Others

2009-11-03T10:26:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to take a moment and let everyone know that Operation Giggle is going on. Carey and Norman first brought this blog to my attention on their blog. Daniel and I belong to a playgroup known as "Playgroup With A Purpose" and we decided to sponsor two children in the New Day Foster Home in China to send Christmas gifts to for our October meeting. We sent gifts for two little boys, ages 2 and 7. We also gave a small donation for shipping.

Operation Giggle is shipping gifts for 42 children. They need a total of $1,500.00 for shipping. So far even though they placed the 42 New Day children with sponsors for gifts, they have only received a liitle more than $250.00 for shipping costs.

If you can, please check out the blog and give a little. Even $5.00 would make a big difference. Operation Giggle is also sponsoring other children and people, so check them out!

Since coming home from Russia, I've really felt called to do more for the children we left behind (and that includes other countries, not just the children we saw.) This Playgroup is a wonderful outlet for Daniel to learn about the gift of giving and for me to feel like I am doing something more.

If anyone has any groups or ideas for us for future projects, let me know. We've been researching and mostly just stumble on groups like Operation Giggle. We not only do international, but local as well. Our November playgroup is collecting donations for the Ronald McDonald House.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Trick or Treatin'

2009-11-01T11:44:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!! We sure did. We started off the day by carving our pumpkin and then that night Daniel dressed up as a pirate. We've been watching Peter Pan and reading several Peter Pan books and we thought iot would be a great idea. I found a kit for Captain Jack Sparrow and Troy painted an old sweatshirt and ta da! we had a little pirate on our hands.

The first house we went to he yelled "knock, knock, knock" at the door instead of knocking and when the gentleman opened the door, Daniel barged right into the house. Thankfully I was able to grab the back of his shirt and stop him on the second try. The fellow thought it was hysterically funny and then said "Come on in!" They were neighbors of my mom's thankfully!

After that he got the hang of not going inside the houses, but he always wanted to take the candy from the people's hands and not let them drop it into the bucket. A few more houses and he got that down as well. Finally we laughed when at two different houses they held their bowls out and Daniel grabbed huge handfuls. The people were good sports, and let him have all the candy he could grab. Maybe next time they hold the bowl out to a 3 year old, they'll think twice!!

Oh and it's no longer "trick or treat". It's "Trick or Treatin'" as that is what Daniel said at every door, along with "Aargh Matey!". People got a kick out of him!

When we were almost done with our circle, Daniel handed me his bucket and said "I'm too tired to do anymore." So home we went. A good trick or treat night and a nice haul of candy - couldn't ask for more!

Pumpkin Patch Visit 2009

2009-10-26T10:51:00.001-07:00

Sunday we took off to the pumpkin patch and met up with Meghan, Bill and Nick. It was so good to see them this year and be able to actually go to the pumpkin patch. Last year we got rained out and ended up visiting at the Children's Discovery Museum. This year we thought the same would happen but we switched weekends and were able to pick out the perfect pumpkins!

The pumpkin patch had a great "corn box". It was just like a sandbox but with corn and the boys loved it!! We weren't sure we going to get them out there at lunch time!

Let's see - they also rode ponies, pet the animals at the petting zoo, played on the combine turned slides, rode the hayride, picked out pumpkins and gourds, jumped on hale bales and off of them, and then finished the day off with a nice lunch out.

The adults had a nice time too!!

Say As We Say

2009-10-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

Well, not always - like the other day when Daniel called me a "slapstick" when I put him in time out for something. "Slapstick" is a funny name Troy calls Daniel when he's being silly, but Daniel managed to turn it into a name calling name.

We also hear things like my two personal favorites - "Mommy Monster" and "Papa Monster" (when he's in trouble) - Things I am sure he picked up on in daycare.

Oh and I also love this one when he gets in trouble - imagine him all sad looking hands up by his head "I'm so upset."

Some days I wonder where my little angel went and then just when I least expect it...

This morning Daniel woke up at 6:25 a.m. Yikes! He's usually never up before 7:30 and most of the time it's closer to 8:00 and I'm waking him up to get ready to go. I put him in bed with me since Troy was out of town working the night before. And don't tell Troy, but all 3 dogs were sleeping at the bottom of the bed keeping my feet warm. (They are only allowed to do this when Troy isn't home and they know the moment he's gone!)

About 10 minutes later I hear rustling and then I see Daniel patting Jerry and hear him whispering "It's okay Jerry. No one will ever hurt you."

I almost cried. I always pet Jerry and say that because if you've been following my blog since the beginning them you might remember Jerry's story. Well he's come such a long way. While still leary of Troy and any large male figure, he's really just a big lover boy now. He greets people at the door, lets us reach out and pet him while standing around and when Troy's not home, he can be quite obnoxious with Daniel and I, wanting to play, jumping around us in the kitchen, racing through the house.

Anyway - I just hugged Daniel and told him how proud I was of him being so gentle and loving with our pets.

Mermaids, Dolphins and Sharks, Oh My!

2009-10-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

Daniel learned abut mermaids at school one day this past summer and when he got home I asked him if he might be interested in watching The Little Mermaid. It's a girlie movie but I thought it might be fun to follow up with his mermaid lesson and Troy and I both watched it with him. He was glued to the screen.

Since then, however he has talked non-stop about sharks. You know the shark who chased Ariel and Flounder out of the sunken ship where she found the dinglehopper and the snarfblatt.

That one.

Sometimes sharks are his friends and other times they are most definantly not. We have not watched the movie again, but Daniel is pretty stuck on the shark scene.

Two nights ago he woke in the middle of the night crying out for me - something he hasn't done in a very long time. By the second cry I was already out of the bed, across the living room and in the hallway. His bedroom door flung open and he had his favorite stuffed dog "Harry Dodey" (don't know where that name came from, but it stuck) and he flung himself into me. He kept saying "Sharks were going to get me."

I told him sharks swam in water and there was no water in his room. This to which he informed me his fish tank had water in it. Of course. After a conversation at 4 am about sharks not eating people he fell back asleep. Oh and we put Harry Dodey on shark lookout. Harry Dodey was commanded to bark if sharks got in Daniel's room.

The last two days he has again been concerned when we put him to bed. Last night he mentioned dolphins getting him and since Troy and I were lucky enough to swim with dolphins a few years ago, I showed him the pictures of how nice dolphins are and he was appeased. I then told him that sharks don't eat people, but they can bite, only if we are mean to them. This was what actually settled him down and he has propmised not to be mean to any sharks.

I'm hoping this shark stage will pass. Who knew a lesson on mermaids would start all this!

By the way - has anyone seen my son lately??

Breakdancing??

2009-10-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

Troy and I have never laughed so hard in our lives - we started out on the driveway - too slanted, sent him into the grass for a walking on skates expedition - you can see that went well. Next we tried our little sidewalk - that went well also. Lastly we took him inside - no pics posted of that but let's just say he decided skating was no fun and decided he wanted to jump in the skates - and he even landed one jump! Of course he's a boy so why should I have thought that he might actually like to skate instead of doing tricks already!!

In other news, I had him moved up at his daycare to the big boy 3's class. He was in a 2 Pre-K class, which held the younger 3's and older 2's as a transition room. However, one little boy was targeting Daniel and biting him constantly. Daniel's only there 3 days a week and after being bit twice last week (among previous weeks) I went in with guns blazing and told them either he gets moved, or we're outta there - no notice and no payment. Needless to say they moved him immediately and the 3's teacher said he was the best behaved child there yesterday (his first day) out of the regular class! Of course his 2's teachers hugged him a ton yesterday and this morning when I dropped him off too!

Lastly and this is a little bragging on my part - I got 28 pages of scrapbooking done on my girls night home by myself!! Daniel had a blast doing men's stuff and I had a blast having a quiet weekend at home! Thanks to my honey and Daniel's Granny and Grandpa for that!!!

Ahhhhh...the Sound of.....

2009-10-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

Silence!!

That's what I'm listening to today.

Yup - Troy and Daniel headed off to Granny and Grandpa's for the night to put up tree stands for hunting season today and then Troy to hunt tomorrow while Granny and Grandpa spoil Daniel all day!!

As a matter of fact Daniel told me this morning that he would be "doing guy stuff today" and that I "was a girl and could not go".

Gees, I got the point already!!

At any rate - I'm doing just fine. I already watched a movie I bought LAST summer and hadn't had time to watch and am getting ready to spread out all my scrapbooking supplies and try to start on the year 2008! I keep telling myself I'm not that far behind!!

In other news - there isn't any. We have tried to enjoy every last moment of warm weather and are looking forward to fall and all the holidays coming up.

Daniel's growing by leaps and bounds and I'm proud to say that it appears he is officially wearing 3T pants!!! His 2T's are just too short (as you'll see in the photos) and the 3T's while big in the waist still are actually hanging on without falling off.

Nothing else exciting going on!!

Our First Video Blog - Helicopter Madness

2009-09-13T12:24:00.000-07:00

I have so much to post about, but this just couldn't wait! Daniel has been enamored with helicopters for some time. He loves Harold, from the Thomas toys and he loves Herky from the Jet Plane series, so when we found out a local campground was having a Volunteer Appreciation Day and that they were landing a helicopter that we could get up close and personal with we made sure we were there in plenty of time!!

Daniel was so excited! It landed about 50-60 feet away from us and we got dusted with alot of debris. At one point I covered Daniel's eyes and he like to claw my hands off of him so he could see. Check out the video and wait for the big finally. When Daniel first saw the helicopter come over the tree line, he put both fists on the side of his head and just started shaking with excitement. I thought we would die laughing...but it got even better...Without further ado...

After they landed Daniel was able to go in the helicopter and look around. Talk about a thrill!! Check out our newest pilot!!

And of course he checked out the fire truck too. Whew...we all slept after this day!!

Tied Up!

2009-09-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

Wow - where have the last couple of weeks gone? We've been so busy. We have currently been gearing up for some home improvement projects and so far I'm loving it. We've just finished a landscaping project which I'm going to post about in the next week or so on my other blog where we were able to do it all for $25.00 (cost of mulch), just by reusing and replanting what we already had. This was lots of fun for everyone, especially Daniel who was so filthy by the time we went in, that a shower was in order before I could let him sit in the bath tub! Currently we are getting underway with finishing a family room in our basement and also updating our master bathroom. Big projects and we are doing little bits at a time, but I can't wait for completion!

Daniel in the midst of all this has discovered the joys of a bungee cord! He sees Troy use them all the time with the projects he works on and has since come up with his own "projects" which include using the bungee cord as a belt, tying up his toys, tying up his mama's foot to the coffee table and trying to tie up Papa's feet together. It's been quite amusing and hours of entertainment.

We've also been reading a books called The Biggest Bear. Our cover is alot older than the one on the link I provided and it's falling apart at the spine (I need to see about repair), but this book was my father's and it was one of the only books he kept from his childhood, which my mother gave to Daniel and I a few weeks ago. We will treasure this book always and it has quickly become Daniel's favorite. Daniel knows it was his "Grand-daddy's" book and that his Grand-daddy is with the angels. Anyhow (before I tear up) there is a part in the book where the bear sleeps in a cornfield and every day we drive by a great big cornfield to which Daniel yells "There's a bear in there, get the bungee cord!" Little does he know I'm not going to confront a bear with just a bungee cord!! Of course Troy often plays the bear in our house and lets Daniel "tie" him up with a bungee cord to keep us safe from being tickled!

Here are some photos of his new favorite past time. The other items in use are dog leashes and links!

Beach Week Review & Hanging Out with Fellow Bloggers!

2009-08-18T12:24:00.001-07:00

We really, truly had a wonderful vacation the week before last. We stayed in Fort Walton Beach, right outside of Destin, FL for a week and made the most of it. Daniel was extremely well behaved all week and we spent our days exhausting him so he didn't even complain when we mentioned the words "nap time" or "bed time"!!

Daniel seemed to prefer the sand initially on the beach, but by the last day we were able to set him on the boogie board and send him to shore by himself riding a wave! He was also a major fish in the pool. Jumping, belly flopping, somersaulting, face in the water just to name a few of the stunts he pulled. We spent a lot of time laughing.

In order to keep things short and sweet and get right to the pictures, a recap of our week was 4 days at the beach, every day at the pool, Daniel and I visit the Science Center, lots of family, a visit to the Airforce Armament Museum, fishing, good food and great fun!!

Finally, before I start posting pictures, on the way home we stopped at Lake Lanier in Atlanta, GA and met up with Becky, Keith and Andrew and Carey, Norm and their two children (private blog). Becky had been kind enough to find a lake house for rent that we all shared. We finally arrived Saturday afternoon and once all the kiddos were awake Becky and Keith took us all out on the boat and for a swim. Carey tubed with her two children and then Troy braved taking Daniel and Andrew out together on the tube!

After dinner and a fun birthday celebration for Andrew with yummy cupcakes, the children played a while, went to bed and the grown ups got to hang out. The men made it to about 1 am but the girls made it to 2 am talking it up. I have to say, I haven't been up that late in eons, and I think we all paid for it, but it was so worth it.

Enjoy the photos!!

How cool am I?

Boogie boarding? Really - I like surfing!

Family Shot

Where are our son's legs??

Granny with two grandsons!

Neat fish Troy caught!

He caught that one too (LOL!)

The belly flop!

The sideways jump!

We found a store with silly hats and sunglasses.

Aren't I adorable?

Check out Troy with hair!

Love the flamingo!

Birthday celebration! Can you tell who's who?
Lake fun!
Andrew and Daniel taking turns with the ladder.
Look in the background -

Troy is taking the pic,

but Keith is jumping around like a madman

trying to get all the kids to look!!

What a treat to hang out with these wonderful families and their wonderful children!

Relaxation!!!!

2009-08-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

I know, I know...I should so not be blogging while on vacation, but in my defense we're having an afternoon thunderstorm, Daniel is sound asleep and Troy went motorcycle riding a couple of hours away for the day with his dad and 2 uncles.

On Saturday we drove 14 hours to Florida and Daniel made not one single complaint. I couldn't believe it. He was excellent on the drive. We drove straight to Troy granny's house for a quick hello before continuing on to our condo. Our condo is small but nice and we've had fun sharing it with Troy's mom, one of his sisters and one of our nephews. We have our own room and bathroom and a kitchen for cooking. Last night we grabbed a grill on the patio and grilled out grouper, shrimp, chicken and pineapple. It was delicious.

So far we've spent 2 days at the beach, every day at the pool, a day visiting with so much of Troy's family that I can't remember all their names, and then today Daniel and I have spent by ourselves. After everyone left to shop and Troy left to go motorcycle riding, Daniel and I walked to a children's science center. It's all hands on and although it was small, we had a good time. Then we found a nice playground on the way back overlooking the water and stopped to play. Shortly after, we were so hot that we walked to a little shop and bought fudge and green tea to drink. Daniel loved the fudge but surprisingly enough after about 3 bites he gave it back to me. What kid won't devour fudge?! Mine, of course!

So now he's resting and in a sense, I am too. I can't wait to head back to the beach tomorrow!!
Here's a few pictures from so far...

A Little More Talk and a Good Progress Report!

2009-07-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

Oh boy, where do I start? Daniel is such a talker. In fact, I would say that he talks 95% of the time he is awake. And not just little talk, but big, big talk. With big, big sentences. He keeps us constantly in stitches and also constantly answering questions. Here are some of his favorite sayings and some of the interesting questions we have received from him lately.

"That sounds like a great idea."

"I didn't mean to do it Mommy." (of course not!)

"Everyone, stop talking!"

"I love you to the sky and back."

"Can cars go on train tracks?" - This one surprised me.

"Because" - as if that is an answer to my question!

"10 minutes to nap/bed time Mommy" If I don't give a warning he reminds me!

"Is Papa here, Mommy" and if I answer "yes" he says "Yippee!"

"I coughed and coughed and coughed" - he's had a sinus infection which we are now treating with an antibiotic from the doctor.

There is much, much more, but those are some of the more memorable or recent!

Daniel also received his first real progress report from daycare. He received Yes's on all items except for 2 that he received Some's on. The two items were organization as he could organize groups of colors but did not organize the toy bins properly. I laughed because even though Daniel is a helper and will clean up, he won't organize at home either! However when they asked him to try again, he got it right (cars with cars, buses with buses, etc.) His other Some was for what they called receptive language as in when they ask a more vague question can he answer. He would always hesitate and then eventually get it right. The teacher did assure me that all the children got a Some in that category, so I am not going to worry. She also said Daniel was probably the best at articulating words and hence the most understandable in the class!!

Finally - We are in the process of getting ready for vacation!! We are heading to the panhandle of Florida in just about a week and a half! We are so excited. If anyone is going to be in the panhandle the week of August 8th - let us know!!! I can't wait for a week of beach, sun and sand!! On the way back, we're looking forward to spending a night with two fellow adoptive families!!

And alas - the legos - finally a big hit in our house. We tried them initially when Daniel came home, but discovered he was just too young for them, so I brought them back upstairs about a month or so ago and now they are a constant source of entertainment. Of course notice he LOVES the ones with wheels!!

The Weekend of We Did Not...

2009-07-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had a relatively quiet weekend. Finally. So we took the time to do a few things that we will never admit to. For instance,

We did not put our son down for a nap and then proceed to play with his remote control truck for over an hour!!

We did not allow our son to swim in his underwear, teach him how to shoot a water gun and then let him shamelessly spray the dogs (who were good sports) over and over and over!!

We did not get ready for bed Saturday night and then at 9 pm decide we needed ice cream so changed back into our regular clothes and head out to the local ice cream hangout until 10 at night, shamelessly eating banana splits and waffle cones!!

We did not stay out with Daniel's Aunt Amber, Uncle Stephen and Parker until past bedtime Sunday and then on the way home go by McDonalds and order. I would never order a large Dr. Pepper that time of night (I really wouldn't but I was craving it), and then order a large sweet tea for Troy and apple juice and apple dippers for Daniel. Then proceed to stay up until 11 PM.

We did not (Daniel and I) take repeated photos our ourselves and laugh like crazy each time...

And here's the proof...

Sweet Things

2009-07-14T08:31:00.001-07:00

I usually don't post more than once a week, but I couldn't resist sharing a couple of sweet things that happened this past weekend.

First off, every morning I ask Daniel if he had good dreams the night before. He always answers with a resounding "Yes!", but never elaborates. I didn't expect him too, so imagine my surprise Sunday morning when I asked him the normal "did you have good dreams" question and he answered with a thoughtful "Yes!" and then continued on his own with "they put Clifford on the trailer."

It took me a second before I realized three things. One, he was remembering a dream. Two, he LOVES trailers that hook onto trucks so it makes sense that a trailer would be front and center in his dream. Three, Clifford is the big red dog! We don't watch much TV in our house and he's only seen a Clifford cartoon maybe 3 times total, but he sure enough dreamed about him being put on a trailer. We talked for a few minutes about how Clifford is so big that he has to go on a trailer since he can't fit into the truck and Daniel was just as fascinated with his own dream as I was.

Then yesterday I was out tying up tomato plants with Daniel's "help" when all the sudden he put one arm around my neck, kissed the top of my head and said "You're my baby." Awwwwwww!! I loved it! I stopped what I was doing and hugged him back and told him that I was happy to be his baby if he was mine forever too. Then the moment was over and he "attacked" me with the sprinkler!!

Sweet moments like those really make parenting worthwhile and it makes all the hard days disappear. It's funny how looking back over this past 15 months, that I can't remember any really bad days, but boy I sure can remember the good!!

Russian Mementos

2009-07-12T18:11:00.000-07:00

When we traveled to Russia we did most of our souvenir shopping on trip one in Votkinsk, the city where Daniel was situated. Votkinsk was the home of Tchaikovsky and we were fortunate enough to visit his manor one afternoon and then the manor shop where we purchased really all of our souvenirs. Even though we walked to Red Square on trip one, we somehow missed visiting Arabat Street where everyone said all the great souvenir shops were located

On trip two we were able to come home early and chose to do that instead of taking the few extra days to tour Red Square with Daniel in tow. Since we didn't do that, we did not purchase any additional souvenirs except for a few toys for Daniel that I consider to be like souvenirs and which have since found their home in his memory box.

So imagine my surprise when Troy, Daniel and I stopped by a yard sale down the street from where my mother lives and find a salt and pepper shaker made like Matryoshka dolls. I snatched them up right away and started looking at them closely. Sure enough on the bottom is a sticker that states they were handmade in Russia!! Even more interesting was that inside the salt shaker was a Vodka liquor bottle with the label mostly in Russian. To top it off, the lady sold me the set for $1.00!! I have added the salt and pepper shaker to Daniel's shelf where his other Russian mementos have their home!!

Some may think I'm silly for frequenting yard sales, but look what we found for $15.00 one day (swing set) and then $5.00 (work bench) this past weekend...and just look at the smile on our son's face!!

Holiday Weekend

2009-07-07T10:30:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a fantastic Fourth of July! We had a busy weekend (a recurring theme around our house these days) with Troy's parents visiting, a trip to the indoor waterpark at Massanutten, fireworks and a picnic.

Friday night we took Troy's parents to the Blue Ridge Buffet at Massanutten for all you can eat crab legs! Ian, our nephew, also came and he and I ate everything but crab legs, while Troy, his parents and Daniel got in on the action of eating crab legs. It was delicious and Daniel I think had more fun stealing olives and cherry tomatos off of my plate throughout the dinner! You can also overlook the indoor waterpark which Daniel loved watching.

Saturday Troy's mom, Ian, Troy, Daniel and I hit the indoor waterpark and we had a blast!! We tried hitting the outdoor portion as well but the water was still too cold! I can't believe in July I'm even saying that! I only have a couple of photos from my mother in law's camera, since all of mine are on an underwater disposable camera, but imagine some very soaked people going down lots of kiddie slides and there you have it. I don't think I've ever seen Daniel laugh as much as I did on the lazy river!! He would flop from one side of the innertube to another and just laugh and splash and laugh some more!

He CRASHED hard on the way home and I had to drag him out of bed at 6 pm!! We were glad he slept though so he could stay awake for the fireworks! This was his first time as last year he was sound asleep for the celebration. When the fireworks started going off, Daniel jumped off my lap and pointed, back arched, and yelled at the top of his lungs "LIGHTS!" every time a firework lit the sky for about the first 20. It was hysterical and he has several families in stitches!

Yesterday we took a picnic lunch to a local park and picked up my mom and had a nice time. Daniel played hard and we ate lunch, then came home. I even jumped off a moving swing - something I haven't done in ages!!

Enjoy some pictures from our weekend!

Revisiting Nap Time, Big Boy Bed and Raw Cauliflower

2009-06-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

Remember my post that surprisingly I was enjoying Daniel growing out of his naps? Well, I think I might like to rephrase that particular paragraph of that post.

It seems like tiredness may bring out a certain little monster in a certain little boy that I love. In the last month or so we have had so many busy weekends including wedding weekend, birthday party, lake day Discoveroo, First Fishing Trip to name a few. Then Friday, a week ago, I took Daniel to the local mall to play a bit because I had some other errands to run. We walked into the mall and I let go of Daniel’s hand. Daniel has always stayed close and never really strayed from my side and I keep a constant eye on him, plus our mall is dead. I’m surprised they call it a mall anymore because I think there are only about 12 stores left in it. At any rate, Daniel shot off like a bat out of you know where and when I yelled stop, he laughed and kept right on going. It took me more than half the mall to catch up to him and when I did, I was stark raving mad. It was all I could do to sit him on his bottom next to a closed store and say “time out!”. Once time out was over I told him we were leaving since he did not listen. He decided to get really nasty and so I carried my child like a sack of potatos under my arm through more than half the mall kicking and screaming. It took me probably 10 minutes to get him in his car seat from all his bucking and wildness and then he continued to scream all the way home. Once home, I put him directly into his bed and he continued screamed about 10 more minutes before he finally fell blissfully silent. He slept for 3 and a half hours and woke up the child I know and love.

Since then he’s thrown 2 more tantrums, but thankfully they haven’t lasted nearly as long and the last one lasted about 30 seconds because I sent him directly to his room and I suppose he’s realized that I’m not putting up with it and he’s getting nowhere fast.

However, in the interim we have figured out that he only has these tantrums on days he doesn’t nap. This had not been a problem in the past and I can’t help but wonder if he’s going through a growing spurt. He’s suddenly eating me out of house and home – as in a grilled cheese sandwhich AND a another half AND a bowl of soup just last night. Well, maybe not out of house and home, but for him it is! Plus his naps have been lasting almost 3 hours and he wakes up so sweet.

So for now, nap time it is!!

And in honor of nap time, our big 3 year old now sleeps in his very own big boy bed!! We converted his crib last night and he LOVES it!! He went right down and stayed in his bed. He helped Troy with the “man work” while Mommy did the “girlie work” and took photos!! And by the way – a photo taking hint: ask your child to show their teeth instead of smile for the camera – it actually worked!! Now if only I had thought of that, say, a year ago…sigh!!!

In other odd and interesting news, I managed to choke on raw cauliflower this past Wednesday night. It took me maybe 30 seconds to cough it back up as it had broken into small pieces in my throat. I was fine but my throat hurt severely. I started a fever Thursday, went the doctor Friday with a 102.3 degree fever and they immediately sent me for a chest x-ray. Apparently it went down my bronchial tubes and into my right lung. There’s no cauliflower left, but my right lung is inflamed and my throat is severely scratched. When I went to the doctor it was taking me 3 swallows to get down one small sip of Gatorade. I was pretty scared. Thankfully after about a thousand Ibruprofen and an antibiotic, I’m better today, and living on mashed potatos, but I sound horrible. I have almost no voice and Troy likes to make fun of me! So word to the wise, or maybe I’m the only one who never gave it a second thought – be very careful with raw cauliflower – one of my favorite treats.

Enjoy some photos!

Here is Troy and Daniel doing the "man's work".

Here is Daniel "making" his bed! He will not allow a pillow case on his pillow. If I put one on, he takes it off once I leave the room. I try to sneak one on every week once a week and it always comes immediately off. One of these days....

Loving the new and improved big boy bed!

There's a story behind this motorcycle - I'll have to make it another post. Troy actually turned this motorcycle from a "regular" motorcycle into a "hardtail". He's so crafty! And he says I'm to let everyone know that it's not quite finished.

Tonight I walk into Daniel's room and both boys have their shirts off. I was informed it was shirtless play time and I was not invited. By the way, the racetrack we picked up brand new at a yard sale for one buck! Cha Ching!!

MRI Results – A Lot To Be Thankful For

2009-06-24T07:30:00.000-07:00

Last night I received a call from Daniel's urologist at 7 pm to tell me that Daniel's MRI was clear! There are no spinal abnormalities or corded nerve issues which could have been causing some of Daniel's issues. Also the ultrasound came back showing that his left kidney is slowly shrinking. While that kidney is far from perfect, his right kidney remains perfect and the doctor is thrilled. We are now able to take Daniel off the antibiotic that he's been on for over a year. This means that a few minor skin conditions which the antibiotic was causing can finally clear up completely even though we have just about taken care of that on our own! We will have a follow up ultrasound in about 4 months (easy!) and then if things are progressing as they expect, they anticipate yearly follow ups to be sure the left kidney continues to function well. They believe his bladder issues will heal in time and hope to wean him slowly off his other medication (bladder relaxer) as he grows.

I can't even begin to thank all of you out there who have lifted Daniel (and us) up in prayer. We certainly have an almighty God and I can't wait to tell Daniel more about Him and show Daniel how we have seen Him work miracles in his own life.

One tidbit of information I haven't shared in the blog before, but that I think now would be the appropriate time is that on our second trip to Russia, we were supposed to fly out of Dulles to Atlanta to catch our flight to Moscow. When we arrived at Dulles, they had just, minutes before, delayed our flight, so that we would not make our connecting flight to Moscow. We stood at the counter in full panic mode and the lady behind the counter started working frantically to get us on another flight. After about 15 minutes, in which she walked way talking to a manager, she then came back and said they were going to give us a taxi to take us to Reagan National airport to catch a flight there. The only problem was that the flight left within the next hour and they weren't sure we were going to make it. They gave us the last two seats on the plane and rushed us out to the taxi. The taxi driver took one look at us and drove as fast as he could saying that he hoped we didn't hit traffic and that when we arrived at the airport we had to get in front of everyone in the lines to make the flight.

We did not hit traffic, which was God's work, and a miracle in it's own right, as Troy and I frantically prayed from the back seat that we would not. When we arrived at Reagan, there was a large line for Delta and we stood there momentarily trying to figure out what to do.

Now, this may sound completely corny, but as I was looking at the counters, my gaze fell on a lady standing behind her computer in a Delta uniform. Her line was closed, but it was almost like she glowed or maybe it was her blond hair, but either way, I felt drawn to her and I ran for her.

She might have thought I was crazy as I probably gave her the biggest run-on sentence of her life, saying that we were adopting a child from Russia, we couldn't miss this flight, or we would miss the connecting flight, that our court date would be cancelled, that it just couldn't happen and please, please, please help us get the plane on time.

But instead, I'll never forget her smile as she said "I'm from Russia, give me your papers," and she turned her computer on and whizzed us through saying how wonderful she thought it was what we were doing. She asked for pictures so while she was frantically checking us in, Troy was showing her photos from his digital keychain. She finished in record time. We whizzed through security also in record time and we got to the gate as they were boarding the plane. We barely made it, but we DID make it and I know God had everything to do with that.

I still think the lady who helped rush us through check in was put there by God and may very well have been an angel to help us on our path to Daniel. And of course I can't forget the first lady who helped us, her manager and the taxi driver also.

And now for a picture of my little "not so much" angel lately. More on that later!!

Now if only that mower really cut grass!

The Birthday Boy Turns 3!!

2009-06-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

Today is my sweet baby's birthday! We had a great party Saturday for him with all our family and some friends. I wanted an easy going party outside with no structured events and it turned out to be a blast. We set up a canopy with tables, a pool, a lego table and a sandbox and the theme was construction. I think all the little ones had a great time. Daniel got a lootpile - thank you everyone! His cousin Parker came, his friend from school Mari came, another cousin Ian, and more friends, Hannah, Wyatt, Stevie, Eli, Jennyfer, and David, along with grandparents, aunts, uncles, second cousins and parents!! I'll leave you with some pictures!

Troy was a good sport and let me pull him through the sprinkler!!

Happy Birthday son!!

My Best Friend's Wedding and Daniel's Funny Sayings

2009-06-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

My best friend of over 17 years got married this past Saturday. I was the Matron of Honor and Daniel was the ring bearer. It was a very BUSY weekend and Daniel did alright considering how crazed his schedule was. Daniel and I left in a rush on Thursday afternoon after I worked half a day, picked him up from day care as he was waking from his nap and then drove 3 hours to Kerri's place and dropped Daniel with a strange babysitter (which I was more nervous about than he was, more on that escapade later) and then rushed to the Bachelorette party which was held at a local restaurant with a lot of fun ladies. We were home by 10:30 pm (no wild party there, but a fantastic time with lots of gifts and a lot of giggling)!!

The next morning the sitter came back and Kerri and I left for the bridesmaid's luncheon, which was beautiful, followed by manicures and pedicures with all the bridesmaids (which is totally not me, but I enjoyed it!) and then back to pick Daniel up for the rehearsal. The babysitter had no luck napping Daniel and at some point in the day, Daniel got inside the house while they were playing outside and manage to lock her out with the deadbolt. We had given her a key to everything except the deadbolt. Thankfully she had the sense not to panic and call me, starting a new panic, but instead managed to talk Daniel into opening the door for her! He's a little stinker!!
Since he had had no nap, he was exhausted and fell asleep on the way to the rehearsal. Needless to say, I carried him everywhere and tried my best to wake him to no avail. I was able to lay him down in a dressing room and another mother watched him so I could at least practice. Then the rehearsal dinner. Luau themed and we had a great time. Several people rushed for Daniel and he got very nervous (awake at this point) and several times he would look at people and point to me and say loudly "That's my Mama." At one point we were playing and he fell and one of the bridesmaids and her sister ran for Daniel (I was standing about 2 feet away and I knew he was fine (he was goofing off) and when they ran for him, he was scrambling backwards to me. One of the girls felt so bad for scaring him. While I feel bad, I also feel good that he does these things, in reaction to other people trying to help him.

Saturday Troy finally arrived and took Daniel off my hands so I could pick up the bride to be and get her hair and my hair done. I felt like a princess. Between the nails, toes, hair and makeup (none of which I was allowed to pay for and instead was treated to by Kerri's mother) I felt like royalty. After hair I got to take the bride to be to the church. Then makeup was done.

The wedding was beautiful. It was in the courtyard of an old school buildings. Kerri is a guidance school counselor for a middle school and her husband is an art teacher at a high school so it was the perfect place. Daniel walked down the aisle holding my hand and then sat on the fountain which was behind the bridesmaids. During a prayer I walked Daniel to Troy and Troy took Daniel into the building because he wanted to run from me to Troy and back again! We didn't expect him to last and thought he did great the time he was up there.

The reception was gorgeous and everyone had a great time. There was dancing in the courtyard which I loved, but Daniel seemed a little overwhelmed by the loud music and the lights from the DJ. Eventually he fell asleep, once on Troy's neck and then finally in his arms. The bride and groom left the courtyard under all of us holding sparklers up at midnight.

Needless to say we were all exhausted and I'm still recovering!! Daniel did so well being that his schedule was so off. I think he's recovering today too!!

I am so happy for my best friend. She has waited for her special man for a long time and I wish them the most happiness ever.

There are pictures below, but I thought you might enjoy a few things that Daniel said over the wedding weekend.

SetUp: Daniel pinched his finger in the pack and play at 11:00 pm after arriving back at the hotel Friday night while I was setting it up. He sobbed, we got ice and he got Tylenol. He sleeps (thank goodness). The next morning.
Daniel: "My finger hurts."
Me: "I know. You pinched it, but it's alright."
Daniel: "I hurt my finger."
Me: "I know baby, Is there anything I can do to help?"
Daniel: "Get my finger off me!"
Me: No words, dying laughing.

Set Up: I'm sound asleep in the bed next to the pack and play. It's 7:15 am. (too many late nights.
Daniel from the pack and play: "Mommy, are you waking up?"
Me: "I am now," (groaning)

SetUp: Troy brings Daniel to me where we are getting our makeup done. I'm the third chair down the line and makeup is being put on at that moment. My hair is all curled in ringlets and half up.
Daniel: "Papa, where's Mama?"
Troy: "Right over there"
Daniel starts walking towards me, but I don't look over because of the makeup lady. Daniel stops, turns towards Troy. "Papa, where's Mama?"
Me: "It's okay, Daniel. I'm right here." I turn towards him.
Daniel: "Oh Mama, I LOVE your BIG hair."
Chorus of bridesmaids laughing hysterically! My hair wasn't that big!!

Bachelorette Party

Bridesmaid's Luncheon

Getting Mani's and Pedi's

Check out the back of my hair!

Look at the beautiful bride, during the ceremony!

YAY! Finally married!

Daniel - checking out my "big" hair and all the makeup that none of us were used to!

Daniel just wouldn't stop goofing of in this photo!

I love this photo of us though because it's sooo Daniel!

Isn't he sweet?

This was right before he threw my bouquet in the fountain and got a time out!

11:40 pm - I can't believe he made it that long and then he fell asleep on Papa's shoulders of all places!

P.S. We made it through the MRI and ultrasounds today. Daniel did great with the sedation and wasn't sick afterwards. Hopefully we'll hear something within the next 3 or 4 days.

I Have a Confession To Make...

2009-06-06T17:37:00.000-07:00

Well, actually several confessions to make.

1. I dreaded the day Daniel would no longer take a nap. I loved my two hours each afternoon to sit outside by myself, work on the computer (otherwise known as reading blogs), or take a nap myself. I really thought that when he quit naps, I might go crazy. I was wrong. Daniel has been not been taking a nap lately and I love it!! We noticed about amonth ago that he was not sleeping during nap time anymore so we decided to keep him up. While he is still at that in between time where he doesn't nap and is exhausted at the dinner table, but if he naps he's up until 1o in his crib and then won't wake up for school, he's actually doing well without naps. We simply put him to bed a little earlier and he sleeps a little later - a real plus for mommy and papa if you ask me!! Plus, the best part - he falls asleep on my shoulder again like he used too because he's so tired. I feel a little evil tiring him out so much, but I absolutely love it when he falls asleep in my arms!!

2. I really thought he would never get potty trained, partially due to his age (still not quite 3 but will be in two weeks, and partially due to his medical issues. Yet here we are on night 8 (knock on wood) sleeping in big boy underwear and not an accident yet. I have noticed that he tends to have his accidents in the evenings (when he's tired from not napping) or when he's outside. But we're managing through that and have mostly accident free days now!! I should have believed in him from the beginning!!

3. I wanted my child to be a fish in the swimming pool, because I could live in one, but I was a little afraid of Troy when last year he looked at me with Daniel n his arms and said, "Don't worry it's instinctual - he'll hold his breath." And then I let Troy dunk him under at the ripe old age of barely 2. The result - he came up not sputtering once, and now this child of mine is a fish! He can jump in and go under and come up like nothing happened. He is swimming with his arm bands on to beat the band. I had to catch up to him in the pool this weekend!! (Enjoy the photos below of our pool time)

4. I tend to burst into song alot. Like tonight when Daniel was jumping around his bedroom naked after his bath and I plopped on the floor with his pjs and commenced with "Wild Thing"...insert music sounds here...and Daniel runs over to me grabs both my shoulders, and belts out plain as day "You make my heart sing". I truly thought I was going to fall over (from a sitting position) from laughter. Obviously I sing that ALOT around him!!

Lastly, this isn't a confession, but just an update - we have Daniel's MRI appointment next Tuesday. It's yucky sedation, but I'll be glad to get it over with. Please pray for it to go well.

Lake Day!

2009-06-03T07:10:00.001-07:00

Wow - where does the time go?? I can't believe how the weeks are just flying by. Our weekends have been filled up lately and June is already turning out to be no exception. This past Sunday, we met up with Amber, Stephen and Parker. Daniel loves to see his Aunt Amber and Uncle Stephen and play with his cousin Parker. We decided to try out a local lake and letting the adult boys go fishing while the mom's and kiddos went swimming. Well we had a blast and below are the pictures to prove it!!

Check out the last picture, can you tell Granny's been shopping for her two youngest grandchildren!! What's so funny is that this was not planned!!

The only other news I can think of is that Daniel is 90% potty trained!! This means we are going days now without accidents and nights too!! He went the last 5 nights without an accident in his pull up so last night for the first time, he slept in big boy underwear and he made it through the night!!! He still has an occassional accident if he's tired or just too busy. But otherwise we are almost there!!! YAY!!

Driving/Riding Like a Maniac

2009-05-14T07:03:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we got Daniel a bicycle, a real one with training wheels. He has always loved them and made sure to point them out in every store we visit, but so far he had been unable to get the motion of the pedals down on his tricycles and instead would hold his feet up while I pushed him around. I finally decided that this summer would be the summer of learning to ride a bike.

Well, lo and behold, we put him on the bike and he took off. He still lifts his feet off the pedals all the time, so we are working on that, but on a flat surface he does great. We are also trying to teach him to watch where he is going. This is where get most of our laughs from. Uphill riding is a whole different story - that just hasn't come yet and super mom (that's me!) took Daniel down the hill on our road and didn't even think about him not being able to cycle back up so I ended up pushing him all the way back up. Never again - I take a dog leash now and loop it on the front of the bike and pull! We may look funny, but at least my back is still in one piece!

The first day was so funny because we didn't yet have a helmet etc. as we didn't think he would be able to take off. Well, he took off down the hill and I was running frantically behind him and I saw him start to lose control. At this point I yelled, "the grass, the grass, turn into the grass" and...

He actually listened to me the first time and turned into the grass and fell over. He was fine, but we immediately hopped into the car and bought a helmet, elbow pads and knee pads!!

We also held a birthday party at our house outside for my grandneice, Karmen. She turned 2 and is as cute as a button. Daniel drove her around in the jeep and they had a blast. Troy and the some of the other parents present gave 4-wheeler rides which was a big hit also.

Of course Daniel takes off with Karmen in the jeep and heads right down our sloped side yard and somehow Troy miraculously caught them before the jeep rammed the bottom and it was pretty funny because all the sudden we see Karmen stomping up the hill. Troy said she looked disgusted with Daniel and immediately got out of the jeep when it stopped and started up the hill. I'm thinking major drivers ed in the future!!

Enjoy the pictures!!

Getting ready to take off

Foot off the pedal, we're working on that!On my way down the hill, Mama running backwards like a silly goose to get a photo!
Chilling with Papa, waiting to be served cake and ice cream!

Driving Miss Daisy safely for the moment!