Josiah – Page 4 – xangelle.com

Vacation 2014 – Part 3

Ok, so life got busy and I didn’t end up finishing posting about our vacation.

I’m sure that some of you feel like you’ve just been left hanging……..HA!!!!

Ok, maybe not so much, but……continuing on….

It’s amazing how quickly the busy-ness and chaos seems to seep back into every facet of your life, once you leave the “vacation” and head back into reality. I guess that’s the beauty of vacation or holiday time….it’s a moment to relax, settle, absorb……just breathe.

There were lots of those moments, in between the bustle of life with 6/7 people. No family vacation is really a vacation for the parents…..it’s more of a break. Once I realized and accepted that, I’ve been a lot more content on our “holiday’s”.

Jon took the kids on a number of walks and this sweet boy here…..

He brought me back something from almost every walk. He is such a thoughtful little soul.

This time he brought me back some lovely flower puff things…..I have no idea what they were and they were almost dried, but I put them in a beer bottle vase and he was so thrilled to see his gift treasured.

After the first 3 days of sheer panic, this lovely fellow settled down (as long as there were no other dogs walking past) into the camping lifestyle and was almost a gentleman….almost!!!!

He has such sad eyes.

There was SO. MUCH. SWIMMING…. and Judah even sucked up his courage enough to jump off the dock TWICE!!!!

Jeremy was determined to get this rubbermaid bin to work as a boat and although it took a fair amount of figuring to work out the ballast and balance…he finally managed to tool around a little, until it dipped a little too much at one corner and then filled up and sank….

Sometime, this little one just slays me with his nerdliness…..he is such a sweet quirky treasure.

I have no idea what he was trying to show me in this picture.

Here is where you get the best peek of my little darling….ear folded over and all…and he wasn’t swimming….just wearing the goggles because he wanted to.

Oh I love him, so!

The Skagit Valley is a beautiful place with so many interesting things to look at and experience. It feels like our own little corner of heaven on earth. These puff ball mushrooms were just growing in the campsite, but it wasn’t till we got home and I could google them that I found out they were edible and not poisonous. They were just so cute, all nestled into the ground.

Read about Part 1 of our vacation here.

Read about Part 2 of our vacation here.

Part 4 coming….

Moving Forward The Morning After

So I posted last night…..

I was tired and emotional and probably if those two factors had not ganged up on me….I may have filtered myself a bit more or even just made less typos…..maybe….maybe not?!?

I don’t know that this morning brought any new clarity with it.

I woke up with a killer headache……….at 5:30am.

Yah, it’s been a long day already and it’s only noon-ish. Did not get back to sleep after that. BLERGH!!!!

On a side note….It’s gorgeous outside.

That is the view to my right….

and this is my view straight ahead…..

She’s not supposed to be on the couch….but I haven’t exactly kicked her off.

It’s the last day of school before the Christmas Break….and probably my last quiet (ish) day for the next two weeks.

So, I’m taking advantage of it. I’m sitting. The house is a mess, and I made Judah pancakes for lunch. He is currently trolling Netflix….I believe Ninjago is the show of choice at this exact moment.

I’m currently staring at my Christmas Tree trying to figure out what I’m thinking, but again with the 50 million thoughts going in 50 million directions.

I had a few people send me private messages of encouragement and those were so nice to hear.

I wonder if it’s about perspective.

I’m in the middle of it all. From my position, I look around me and I see children who are unique and amazing and challenging in their own fantastic ways. I see the screaming and the bickering and the squabbling and the challenges to get them to do their chores and take care of their responsibilities. I see their shortcomings and I want to work with them to strengthen those areas while at the same time encouraging them in their strengths. I see these amazing individuals with really great hearts even in spite of all the challenges that we’ve faced individually and as a family……. But it’s a constant effort to keep these 5 bodies moving in a forward direction.

We were so isolated over the “cancer years” and before then….doing almost anything with Jeremy required HERCULEAN effort and sometimes it was easier to just not do anything. Again…..very isolating.

It is hard when you’ve had it said to your face that people can’t be friends with you because your child is too difficult. Or to hear from others that you shouldn’t subject your children to people because they are too much effort to have around and be around.

Just typing both of those down….I realize how brutal those two comments are. I mean, I know how brutal they are….I’ve lived though both of those said directly to my face and more. But I can’t imagine saying those things to someone…..EVER!!! I love children. I especially love the challenging kids. The ones that make you think and keep you on your toes. The extremely smart kids that say the most incredible things but require a little more attention and focus……I love the regular kind of kids too, but somehow, the ones that people seem annoyed with or bothered by….the ones that talk and talk and talk and talk and never shut up……I LOVE those kids. I want to go out of my way to make sure that they feel special and included and NEVER EVER a bother or an inconvenience….

I get it. I know how much effort it is. I live it…..EVERY. SINGLE. DAY! Jeremy has not been the easiest child. He requires some effort. Well, he requires a lot amount of effort. So does Josiah in a different way and Judah….well, he’s a 3 year old. What 3 year old doesn’t require some attention and effort. My boys require effort……I know this. I guess, it would just feel really good to feel like others “want” to be with my kids. Do you know what I mean? I think that in spite of their particular challenges or maybe even as a result of them….that my kids……all 5 of them are pretty amazing. I’d love to feel like others felt that too and wanted to spend time with them….not cause they HAD to, but because they WANTED to.

So, to those who have said something…..THANK YOU. Really! I appreciate it more than you may ever know.

I’m not sharing this in the hopes that people will “do” something. I am just trying to unravel some of this mess inside myself. Part of that is dealing with the hurts and wounds that I have or have gotten.

I realize that I’ve been hurt and I definitely have some sore, open wounds when it comes to my kids and how they are perceived and received.

And this OBVIOUSLY colors how I hear people comment on my kids.

So the school wanting to help Siah….turns into….HE’S A PROBLEM…..which I can’t even fathom….cause he’s freaking sweet kid who can read and write and wants to please…….and then I go…WHAT….WHAT do I even do with that….

How could be he a problem…..which, when it comes down to it….that is not even the issue at all.

He is a great kid….who has some quirks and may require “some individualized strategies” to help him succeed and how do we (parents & school) as a collective team help him to achieve success?

So we met, and talked through some things and I think I have a better perspective. I think we are more on the same page than I “felt”.

Which is great.

Not that the whole things doesn’t still stress me out….but the Principal….she’s an amazing lady, encouraged me to trust them and to just “plug my nose and JUMP!”

I believe this school and these people are amazing people…..I believe they truly care about Josiah. I really do believe that they want the best for him. That they want him to succeed. And so…..I jump.

I’m scared.
I’m nervous.
I’m sure I’ll need reassurance again.

But…..

I want to trust.
I want to believe.
I want to be in “community.”

and so….

I carry on…

one step after the other…..hopefully in a forward direction. 🙂

Finding a lose thread

It feels like I have a million thoughts running through my brain. I just wish I could pick one of them, out of the jumble. I feel like if I could find the loose end of “one” thought……then maybe…..just maybe I could start to unravel this mess inside of myself.

But it seems like the harder I try to wrestle within myself…..the tighter the mess inside me gets and I’m left wondering if I should just stop fighting so hard to unravel it all or even if I should just let it all go?

The biggest thing weighing on me right now is Siah……always with a heavy weight of Jeremy……but today we had a meeting with Siah’s school.

It was a good meeting, as far as meetings go with the teachers, the resource teacher and the principal go.

I’m so…….so……….

I’m so conflicted about it all.

Siah is so different that Jeremy. I get that. I get that no two kids are the same. But I also know what we’ve been through as far as assessing Jeremy and getting him helps and I’m not sure how to even approach that with Siah.

On one hand, I feel like they are saying “THERE IS A PROBLEM.” And on the other hand, I hear that they see the potential within him and they want to know how they can best support him.

I actually do believe that this school and these people really do want to help my son succeed.

I find it so hard, when our experience with Jeremy and school has been SO negative. Dealing with Jeremy and “the school system” was soul crushing. I had people saying that he was a nice kid but then sending him out he the hall or the sick room cause they couldn’t “handle” him.

Throw the maternal guilt and a massive anxiety complex on top of it all……and you have a very messed up trying to function through the pain and rejection while trying to survive against ADHD and undiagnosed Autism.

I keep hearing snippets from today’s meeting playing through my brain and while I desperately want to believe the good about people and situations….I feel like I’ve got a war going on inside of me.

I want to fight for myself and my kids. I feel like I can’t trust people. I feel like people don’t know us and won’t see “us”. I feel like they won’t understand and see the “good”. I feel like I have to fight…….kicking and screaming for everything that we deserve.

I don’t want to live like that. I’m so tired. I’m so tired of living “on my own”. Of raising my kids, “on my own”. Of fighting for my and my children’s right to be accepted and loved as they are………and not only “if they conform to social norms……”

I’m tired.

Jon and I were talking the other day and while I feel like I’ve recovered some from the intensity of the cancer devastation……..we’re left wondering if we will always feel tired like this…..

I don’t know.

I want to hear that people love my kids and want to spend time with them. I don’t want to always hear about how my kids are a problem or how they fall short. I don’t want to hear that I should spank or discipline harsher. I don’t want to hear that I just need to do it “this way” or “that way”

I want to hear that my kids are treasures and that they are special. And not because they have “special needs”

I need to go…..to go to sleep. To hopefully let some of this settle. Maybe in the morning, maybe then I can find a loose end to start unraveling. But for now……for now I will sleep…….and cry……..I hate crying. I’m so tired of crying. It sucks…..leaves you puffy and with a headache…..I hate that.

Cannot wait for the Christmas break. It cannot come soon enough.

Escaping it All

About a month ago, right in the middle of a whole bunch of really bad appointments regarding Geli’s bones….I decided that I needed a break from everything.

Jeremy had just been doing a section in his Social Studies on the Watershed and the rain cycle and I figured that a trip the Lynn Canyon was EXACTLY what we needed.

I didn’t tell Jeremy that we were “going on a field trip” until it was time to start school. He was SO EXCITED!

We packed up and headed out to North Vancouver. We started our adventure at the Ecology Center.

The large majority of my pictures are blurry because the boys were having SO MUCH FUN and moving so fast that it was tough to get a good (clear) shot in.

They LOVED the hands on exhibits and Jeremy loved how so much of it had to do with what he was learning. While homeschooling is not EASY by any stretch of the imagination, I love that I’m involved with him and his learning. It’s so cool because we were able to pull in aspects of Language Arts, Science and Social Studies into this one field trip. I love that. And he was excited to show me what he knew and how it tied in…..I especially LOVE that HE IS EXCITED about what he is learning. That just about makes up for all the frustrations that we go through.

Siah LOVED the bones. He was enthralled by them.

After we left the Ecology Centre, we walked down to the Suspension Bridge. It had been WAY too long since I had been to the Canyon and it was so good to just escape from everything and to get lost in the beauty of the forest.

Jeremy helped Siah walk across the Suspension Bridge while Judah CLUNG to me for dear life. He really wasn’t sure that he liked the moving, swinging bridge.

We took our time meandering down the trail. We stopped to check out the stumps and to count the rings on a recently falled tree. Jeremy thinks this one had 120+ rings? I didn’t count.

Judah was desperate to get down to the water on the other side of this fence. He was pretty adamant that he should be in the water and not upon the trail.

It was so much fun to have no time frame, nothing pushing us, no schedules to make….we just WERE….

I’m very much a driven person. I try so hard to stay present and in the moment, but so often I am thinking of what needs to happen or what should be happening and I’m so aware of what we aren’t doing and on this day, I was so very aware of us and where we were at mentally and emotionally and I tried so hard to just “BE”….to just be with my boys. To not worry about how long it took us or how many detours we took or what we stopped to look at. The boys were enjoying exploring and running and climbing and I was enjoying them just enjoying everything. There was really nothing that they could do wrong and so we just WERE….

I remember us as kids (my brother’s and sister’s) climbing this rock and it’s fun that my kids now get to experience that as well. I remember how HUGE it seemed to me then and when I look at it now it’s still pretty big….

It was nice to see the boys playing “together” instead of fighting against each other.

We finally made it down to the 30 foot pool. Beautiful, isn’t it? And this picture does nothing to represent the actual beauty of the place. It’s incredible. I grew up doors away from the Canyon…I was so blessed.

We climbed down the rocks and sat by the water and ate our lunch. I love the look on Judah’s face….mine – not so much, but man, is he cute!

Josiah and his celery stick give it two thumbs up…

We hung out for a while, threw some rocks, climbed on the rocks and then slowly started making our way back to the van.

Josiah was much braver, crossing the bridge for the second time……

It was such a nice and so needed escape from everything. We came home feeling slightly recharged and in the middle of all the craziness….that is such a good thing. We are looking forward to our next escape to Lynn Canyon.

Happy Birthday Josiah

Today, Josiah turns 4. We are so proud of our little man and all that he adds to our family. Josiah, or Siah as most people call him, is very very very kind and loving and joyful. He is also younger than Jeremy by almost 7 years and wouldn’t stand a chance of being treated fairly, except he can very most definitely assert himself.

Josiah came into our world as a miracle. We had lost four consecutive pregnancies, and had basically decided that it wasn’t going to happen. The timing was all off, we shouldn’t have been able to get pregnant right then, but it happened. Patti’s brother, Chris, had his accident not long after and that consumed most of the pregnancy (and explains why his name is Josiah Christopher Culley). And then Josiah was born.

He has had a personality all his own since the day he arrived. He stole my heart right from the beginning. He has the ability to lighten the mood in the room, (or to do the complete opposite). He loves small fiddly things that he calls his “doo-dads” and says the most adorable things like “Gramma, you are my present”. He calls his favorite people with the word “my”… “My Brynn and my Chris are getting married and I’m their bear boy (ring bearer)”. Josiah is an amazing son, and Siah, I love you more. (He tells me that he loves me, and I say I love him more, and he says I love you the most, and then says “I win!” really fast, and it always makes me laugh).

We are fairly practical and don’t do much to celebrate a first or second birthday. Those parties are nice, but the kids don’t remember them and are mostly overwhelmed at why life got so weird for one day. But come age three, its party time…. Except in Siah’s case, we basically skipped his party last year, as Angelica’s treatment was overwhelming, and so this brings us to today.

Siah Looking at Daddy — My favorite photo of Siah - I am in his eyes

This summer is a bit of a cave for us… I mean that in the sense that it feels like a tornado went through our house last year and the violent winds, picked up and threw around our emotions, our energy, our direction, our fears, our life and left the house just a month ago. The cancer treatment has switched to something far more manageable, but just like a tornado coming and leaving, life isn’t just ready to get going right away. You have to repair the damage. I use the term cave, because the storm has moved on, but normal is unlivable and so we are temporarily living as simply as we can while we repair emotionally, spiritually, physically, and in every other way. We will live in “normal” again, but we need the summer to be able to.

With that said, as of Monday, there was no party planned. As of today, we are having a party. If it is the only thing that gets accomplished today, then it will be a great day.

Josiah is sooooo excited. Angelica has already given him a present, and he has fully clued in to what is coming. He is telling everyone that he is getting a “ball that turns into a bird” for his birthday, and it took some doing to figure out what that was, but he is indeed getting some of those.

~
Jon

Lynn Headwaters

There are adventures that we’ve had that I don’t want to forget about and so in between the posts about New York, I’ll be sharing some of our recent adventures…..if I don’t, then I’ll get too far behind and when that happens, then I don’t even want to post about them…but the New York posts are coming…I promise!!!!

Last Saturday, before we headed out to the airport to pick up Geli…..Jon and the boys and I headed into North Vancouver for an adventure.

We had thought about going to Lynn Canyon, but I didn’t think we’d be able to navigate the trails with the stroller and I didn’t feel like carrying 30lbs of Judah around and so we went to where there were trails…

Just before we hit the trails, I grabbed Jeremy in for a quick squish, this way there is at least some photographic evidence that I am in fact on this particular adventure.

This is an “in motion” photo…..these little boys are ALWAYS MOVING! We had to park in the first overflow parking lot as the parking lot was full…..so we hiked up the road a little till we got to the headwater trails…

We stopped and had a bathroom break before we headed out because a certain little boy has a bladder the size of a…….well, I was going to say pea, but somehow that just doesn’t sound proper and so lets ust say that he ALWAYS has to go and just leave it at that…

While we waited for the big boys to finish up the paperwork, Siah was showing me how he was gonna go all ninja on any bears that he saw….

We crossed the little bridge and the boys were so excited, Jon had to hold them back from flinging themselves into the rushing water below….okay, well not quite, but we both felt a little stressed at how excited they were and how big those gaps were in the “fence”…

We walked up the path and turned right…..we really had no plan and we were mostly killing time while letting the boys run “wild” out in the bushes where they really can’t “wreck” anything…..and so we took our time and climbed on top of the rocks and took pictures of them doing anything and everything….

We walked down the path a bit more and came to this cement tube and before we could say or do anything, Josiah cimbed feet first into and slide right through and out the other end….it’s not a big tube but he fit – thankfully – and didn’t get stuck!!!! He was a little dirtier than we had planned and we still had to go and get Geli….so we told him…no more exploring like that…..if you look very carefully, you can see his little face peering up from the bottom of the tube.

Judah wasn’t really sure why he had to stay in the buggy. He really , Really, REALLY (with a lot of screechiness and general upsetedness) let us know that he really wanted to get down and play in the dirt too!

Jeremy showing us that he is the “king of the world”….

I really, love BC…..I love the trees and the woods and……well, it’s JUST! SO! BEAUTIFUL!

We did let Judah get out while the older boys were “exploring” in the trees. He really liked the rocks. He’s in a bit of a throwing stage right now…it’s fun…sometimes!

When it was time to move on, this was about how happy Judah was that he had to get back into the buggy….and so we ended up carrying him anyway. So silly!

I don’t know why exactly, but I LOVE this next photo.

I think this tree looks like a Shrek House and aren’t my boys cute!

After this, my phone died and I didn’t get any more photos, BUT….basically, we turned around and headed back to the van because it was time head into Vancouver to go to the airport to pick up Geli….

The boys were asking to go back even before we left and so I’m hoping we’ll have another opportunity to get back into Lynn Valley before the summer is over!

Tinkering

We’re working on shaking things up a bit. Making things look a bit newer, a bit fresher….a bit……well, a bit something?!?

It’s kind of a work in process because we don’t have a massive chunk of time to work it all out at once, but keep watching and little by little we’ll get it all sorted out.

********

Siah went camping with my parents this past week and had SO MANY grand adventures. He came home excitedly telling me about the horse he rode and then got bucked off…..

Here is my mighty cowboy.

I’m looking forward to sharing some of his other stories with you! Maybe I can even convince him to share some of them with you…..we’ll see!

Hope you have a great and relaxing Sunday! Today we are celebrating Max’s Birth! Angelica is doing the decorating! She loves to organize and plan parties!

Family, Babies, Sunshine and Cake….what could be better?

If the Shoe Fits……

When Siah was a baby, I found the most amazing baby products were available. I have no idea if they were available when the first three were little, but I was thrilled at what I found online in 2007/2008.

One thing that I determined to do with Siah was to buy better quality items, but only what we needed. For example, I had probably 5+ pairs of shoes for my little girls and at least that many again for Jeremy. I mean, I needed those cute runners and those fancy shoes and those other fancy shoes and the little sandals and the slip on comfy shoes…and it went on and on and on.

In total, even if I bought the shoes on sale, it still added up.

I remember looking online at a pair of $40 shoes that I was considering buying for Josiah and cringing…and yet, I’m positive that I spent more than that on all the different pairs of shoes for Geli or Xani or even Jeremy….And I’m not talking all together over the first year or two…., I’m talking at one time, if I had 4 pairs of shoes that I paid $10 each for. BAM! Same price!

But, the difference was that I was only planning on getting one pair….less crap to store, they were leather…..better quality, and they were supposed to be better for their developing feet…..soft soles.

I went ahead and bought the shoes for Siah and I’m thrilled I did. I believe that I’ve spent less to shoe Josiah than I had with any of the other kids and I’ve been thrilled with the quality, style, and functionality of the shoes and the contribution to the healthy development of Siah’s feet.

I do like the Robeez brands for both the soft shoes but also the Mini-Shoez and the 1st Stepz but……..no where near as much as I love Pediped Shoes.

I LOOOOOOOVE Pediped shoes. They are by FAR my favorite baby/toddler shoes.

Just recently, Josiah received some birthday money from my parents. I figured that seeing as he’d grown out of his last pair of Pedipeds over the summer that this would be the perfect time to get another pair for the fall/winter.

I went looking at their site and as usual, there are SO MANY cute shoes to choose from.

I went looking in the sale section and found this pair in a size 12 and this pair in a size 11 and figured that I could get both if I chipped in a little to what they had given and covered the shipping. I figure that both shoes should last us for a while especially seeing as his feet measure a size 10 perfectly.

I also liked these shoes, but not as much as the first two.

I placed my order and waited for the package to arrive.

It only took a few days and when I opened the box I was excited to see the two boxes indicating the shoes that I’d ordered.

When we opened the boxes is when we discovered a problem….

Now, I’ve ordered a few times from Pediped and never had any problems before. But, this time, there was a bit of a mix up. I received the brown pair in the correct size but the box that showed the black and red size 11 shoes actually had a size 9 of the blue and white runner that I’d liked but didn’t order.

I contacted pediped by e-mail and they responded right away, like within 15 minutes. I could keep the blue pair to give away or keep and they were sending me the correct pair right away.

So, I actually got 3 pairs of shoes for the price of two and even then….the price of two was pretty good as, it was on sale.

I LOVE Pediped and will continue to buy shoes from them. Amazing Shoes, Amazing Customer Service.

Check out their sale items…..great deals.

ps. I’m not getting comp’ed anything to promote this company. I just love them and wanted to make sure that other’s knew about them too. If you need or want to get some great kids shoes, then check them out.

Summertime Fun

This summer has been unusual, abnormal or atypical, to say the least!

We are trying to keep things ~~as normal~~ moving along in a fun and relaxed way while at the same time taking the necessary precautions to keep things as safe and healthy as possible.

Knowing that we are heading into a period of time where Geli’s infection fighting ability is at a low (to non-existent) point, I was trying to figure out something fun that we could do to celebrate the long weekend. We need to be away from gatherings and crowds, and so that make everything a little more difficult and limits some of our regular “go to” family activities.

I figured that we could have a picnic. The kids ALWAYS want to pack a picnic, a blanket and some games and spend an afternoon together, and unknown to the children – that is what we planned.

When we woke up that morning, the weather looked yucky and worse, IT WAS FREEZING!

And so my brain went into overdrive to try to figure out how we could still do something fun, but indoors…..

We have a large shag rug that I figured would be perfect for a little indoor mini Bocce Ball Game. We had a small whiffle ball for the target and 3 pairs of hard rubber bouncy balls in blue, yellow and orange. Then I was going to set up bowling with a bunch of empty water bottles, and a tennis ball. Our hallway is the perfect spot for that. Then I figured that we could pack our lunch basket and put a blanket on the living room floor and I was even thinking of different ways to make smores either in the oven or over the bar-b-que.

I figured that even if the weather didn’t co-operate that we could still have a great and fun adventure of a day.

Fortunately……by lunch time, it was warm and the sun was trying desperately to peer through the hazy clouds. So, we packed everything up, told the kids that we were headed to Derby Reach, got in the van and headed off.

We got there and headed out onto the grassy field to lay our blankets down, and sat down and ate.

We get KFC about once a year and that’s enough to remind us that it’s SO DISGUSTING and then it takes us about a year to forget just how gross it really is and then we order it again….

Nana and Papa came down to join us and then it felt like a party and not just a picnic…

Jon sat and held Judah in the shade….

And Judah was fine for a while but very quickly decided that he didn’t really want to just sit and he informed us of that quite loudly….

Geli, Xani, Nana and myself decided to play a rousing game of rummy…

Jeremy told Papa all about his creations and inventions and tried to talk Papa into building an electric chair on a track that would go from the top of our house all the way down to the basement for Judah to ride on so that it would be easy for him to get around…..

Papa seemed quite amused by Jeremy’s ideas……

but then HONESTLY…who isn’t amused by Jer’s ideas…my sweet, SWEET boy!

Judah finally chilled out when we laid him down on the blanket….I think he liked looking up at the giant tree that we were sitting under.

We played about 10 rounds of rummy, but Xani got bored and dropped out of the game…..

Nana had a good attitude throughout the whole game even though, I whooped her’s and Geli’s butts…..

Isn’t she pretty?

We found this little guy crawling on our blanket…..cute little pink lady bug!

Papa took Jeremy and Xani for an adventure walk through the trails and Jon took Siah down to throw rocks into the water. Siah managed to get soaking wet, and then in true Siah like fashion…..he came back to where we were sitting and a HUGE mole hill sucked him directly into it’s core…

He just threw himself face first directly into a pile of dirt!

I could complain, but it kept him entertained…..

and captivated…..

for ever…..

I think that this was the best part of the whole outing as far as he was concerned. And then……oh, AND THEN..

Then he decided that he was not quite dirty enough…

Oh baby! I think he just wanted another dunk in the river….which we gladly obliged and then we packed up and went home……The End!

Actually, it was the end of that particular adventure but little did we know that it wasn’t the end of the day….there was another exciting adventure waiting for us, but I’ll save that for another post……..

It was a great day and we have some great memories of a fun and special day.

Edited to say: You can click here to see the whole set from our Derby Reach Adventure

A Little Catch Up……with pictures

You might think that caring for a newborn in a hospital shouldn’t be that difficult and well….its not difficult – it’s just challenging.

Either I hold him or I put him down on my cot or Geli holds him, but really I don’t like to let him cry or fuss too much as I don’t want to bother the nurses or any of the other patients on the ward and so the majority of the time…..I’m holding Judah.

Which, to be honest, I’m not too upset about, but it really means that there is almost nothing that I can get done that requires 2 hands…..but I am getting really good at doing mostly everything with one hand…..mostly everything. Somethings just require focus and concentration and we’ll just leave it at that………

About 2 weeks ago, Angelica did something to her left hamstring and it spasm-ed and pulled all tight and totally confused the Dr’s and nurses and physio-therapists……everyone was wondering if it was something related to the chemo meds, but in the long run…we’re thinking muscle spasm as it’s been able to be worked out…..mostly!

The physio-therapist came and suggested some exercises…..this was about as far as she could bend it….

And so as not to hurt it more and so that she wouldn’t torque her body trying to compensate for the hurt leg, they suggested she use crutches for a while….

I will admit that I was a bit worried as she had been kind of dragging the leg like it was dead or like she was the Hunchback of Notre Dame…..but the crutches have been given back and aside from a little bit of tightness which she is working on stretching out….it’s almost as good as new. We are so thankful that wasn’t a big deal.

The nurses here seem to be so amazed at how independent and responsible that Geli is. She is really taking responsibility for her own health in so many ways and gets up and makes her own meals when she is hungry….that’s the one that seems to really amaze people. I just figured that it was normal for a 13 year old girl to know how to cook…..seems normal to me, anyway?!?

She made perogies the other day….her favorite, but because her body is currently in a diabetic state – they are not something she can have very often…which is very sad!

Most of the time when I have to run to the toilet….Geli holds Judah and is typically able to get him to settle down if he’s a bit fussy. She’s an AMAZING big sister….

Last Thursday was the first time that we had all been home together as a family of seven….since our lives changed on June 16th…..it was so nice to all be together, even if only for a few hours.

Headed Home in the Van…Dad had run to Starbucks quickly!

Geli really wanted to have a barbeque lunch and asked that we pick up some chips because you can’t have a barbeque without chips…..

Making Lunch

She took her portion and then Siah claimed the rest of the bag as his own and valiantly fought off having to share with the other kids….little brat!!!

Jeremy worked on keeping things real by parking his butt in front of the Computer pretty much the whole time….

I don’t know how we missed out on Xani, but she was there….I promise!

and Nana got in some sweet baby cuddles….It was a pretty hot day….hence the naked baby!

The time flew by WAY TOO FAST and we hd to head back into the hospital. It was so nice to “BE” together in the comfort of our own home…..and hopefully we’ll be back together again very soon!

And now, my littlest baby is starting to fuss and I must go and get him….

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