A Decade of Lucy



Walking at 10 months

  This child has been vocal, headstrong, and determined from the second she was born (no exaggeration).  She broke us into parenting with the force of a hurricane. 

 This has made for some interesting developmental phases along the way, but throughout her life, she's balanced her willful personality with sweetness, affection, and a strong sense of humor.

One of my favorite pictures with Uncle Phil at age 2.

 Dear Lucy, we are very proud of the young lady of virtue you are becoming.  We've seen you stand up for what is right, even when that's difficult.  Your big smile and fun-loving nature shine.

Tomorrow you turn 10.  It's a bit hard for me to believe.  I feel so blessed to be your mom.  You are such a help to me, and your siblings admire you so much!!  My prayer for you on your birthday is that you continue to grow in your faith, remaining true and developing more into the person God created you to be.  Have a great day, Loops!!!

First Holy Communion

Yesterday was a very happy one for our family.



Receiving the scapular

 After much thought and prayerful consideration last Spring, we decided to delay Ignace's First Communion by a few months to allow for more preparation.

 We were blessed that our decision was a good one, and yesterday's Mass was exceptionally beautiful. 

 We had a private Mass celebrated by Father/Uncle Earl, Father Alex, and Deacon/Uncle Trevor.  The alter servers are all cousins.

 And here are lots more cousins.  Only 3 were missing yesterday.  These kiddos are always happy to see each other.

God bless you, Ignace!!

Fall Fun

Love this dress that Grandma and Pada got in Ecuador.  Won't be too many more days to wear this warm-weather outfit!

Wow - I'm a little behind on documenting all the fun stuff we've been doing in the past couple months.  Thanks to my sister-in-law, I discovered a website that prints out blogs!!  I had 4 years compiled into one book that is really fun to read (for us, anyway!! Probably not so much for anybody else...).  So, trying to keep track of the little moments we'd like to remember....

Our little friend has been spending Tuesdays with us while her big sister undergoes chemotherapy.  Please keep Anna and her family in your prayers.

We tagged along with Daddy, who had a conference in Cleveland, so we could visit our good buddies there!!

Victor and his Godmother.  Cleveland has this really great metropark.

Loops and I spent a morning serving apple dumplings at our local Johnny Appleseed festival.  It was a fundraiser for our local Ballet company.  The festival requires all workers to wear costumes true to the time period when good 'ol Johnny lived.  All the crafts are made from natural materials, too.  There are cannons, drum and fife cores, bagpipes.  Lots of fun, but also lots of people.  Not terribly wheelchair-friendly. 

Fairies made of mulch and garden-finds

A delightful performance of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by the Youth Company.  We were all spectators at this one after ballet class, but many friends were in the show.  The costumes were so beautifully done.

Last week, we had a field trip to a Pickle Factory.  The highlight was the sampling at the end.  Don't let the facial expression in the photo above deceive you.  This little dude was in pickle heaven.  He loves them and probably ate an entire jar from the sampling station.

Recent Conversations

Our soon-to-be 4-year-old has been keeping us hopping lately with mood swings, tantrums, picking fights with siblings...  She's also been doing some seriously sweet role-playing, which has been rather revealing as to her perception of the world around her. 

For example, today, she came to me with a leather-bound book of traditional prayers.

"I need to show you my book, Mommy, it has lots of cool stuff in it," she announced, flipping to random pages in the book.  "Here is the text and email and dot com page...and here is the page with all the food for grown-ups and kids... and here is the page with all the grown up movies.  They have blood and people dying and sad endings and happy beginnings and stuff like that." 

Interesting.

A few days ago, she was pretending to be a mommy named 'Jewel' who was coming over to have a mommy meeting with me.  She strutted into the kitchen with her purse and announced, "Hi!!  Thanks for having me over.  Oh, all my kids are out in the car [she had 4 by the way. hmmm...].  They are being so loud and giving me a headache!!!"

Then she asked me for a tour of the house, especially the kids rooms.  She 'oohed' and 'aahed' over the paint colors and raved about how much she loved the house. 

When we returned downstairs, she pretended to say hello to my children (ie. her siblings sitting on the couch). 

"Hi guys!" she cooed, and was, of course, completely ignored.  Annoyed, I prompted her sister to respond to her. 

"Oh that's OK," 'Jewel' responded, "my kids act like that all the time!" 

In spite of the intermittent lack of rational thinking, i adore this age. 

Goodbye, Sean

You were a nice little Betta fish who never caused anybody any trouble. You lived a solid 7 1/2 months, surprising both us and the folks at the pet store from where you came. You were tough enough to survive 2 week-long vacations with only the extended fish feeder for company. There will never be another just like you!

As you can see in the picture above, you gave the 4 kids in this house plus many of their friends and cousins a great deal of entertainment and happiness. Several of our little buddies even started a fund to find you a female companion. Such a mate was never located (phew!).

We will miss you, our little aquatic family member!!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Today, I am 39 years old and proud of it.  :)

I am grateful for the life I have lived thus far and am making a little (actually big) list of all the things I'm thanking God for today, in no particular order:

-my sweet husband, who stands by me through thick and thin (literally and figuratively)

-my 4 lovely children, who are independent enough now to handle their own breakfast (for the most part) while I type on this computer

-my parents, unwavering in their support

-my mother and father-in-law, ever kind and loving

-my brother and sister and their spouses, faithful friends who make life fun and interesting

-my husband's brothers and their wives, who accept me as their own

-my nieces and nephews.  I love being called "Aunt/Auntie Anne."  These 14 children make me happy.

-my dear friends, near and far, who keep me going.  You know who you are.  :)

-my body, which has carried and delivered 3 babies, survived the stress of an international adoption, run a marathon, nursed babies for over 7 years, and keeps on going through each days' adventures.

-the infinite mercy of our loving God.  I am most undeserving, but have seen His hand over and over and over again through my life. 

I could go on and on, bore whatever readers are out there to tears, but my little ones have a birthday surprise in the living room, and they are anxiously awaiting my presence.

Have a blessed day!

Tale of a Tonsillectomy

Thanks for the prayers for Victor's surgery!!  We are now about 30 hours post-op, and he seems to be heading steadily toward recovery (knock on wood!! :). 

Now I will tell a little story about how it all went down, beginning with the day before surgery...

The morning prior to our scheduled procedure, the phone was ringing off the hook.  The hospital was calling for pre-registration, final scheduling, etc.  About 11:00am, the surgeon's office called to make sure we had done the required pre-op bloodwork.  Oops. 

Apparently, I had forgotten that minor detail, so we dropped everything and started scrambling for the door.  We needed to make a speedy trip to the outpatient lab at the hospital.  All of us scrambled, that is, except for Victor.  He heard me say, 'blood draw,'  and firmly planted himself under the couch, clinging to the leg for dear life. 

We were pressed for time, to say the least, and I really wanted him to cooperate without adding trauma to the whole ordeal.  So, I did what came naturally:  offered bribes.  Good ones. 

"Come on, buddy," I said, "cooperate and I'll get you a DS."  He didn't bite.

"How about a W*ii?" was my next maneuver.  He shook his head. 

Desperate now, I came up with, "How about both!"  Still, no deal. 

Finally, I pulled out the big gun.  "I will get you a newt.  We'll go straight to the pet store.  Today."  He smiled and emerged from his hiding place. 

The ammunition: Sam the newt and milkshakes.  Who exactly was the victim of manipulation, I now wonder...

Can't convince him that perhaps newts do not appreciate affection. 

For me, this is too close for comfort.  I had previously vowed that we would never have reptiles or amphibians as pets...

As a sidenote, I spent last weekend stocking my freezer with prepared meals: chicken for tortillas, pasta sauce, sloppy joes, beef in red wine gravy, and pulled pork.  The sight of my well-stocked freezer is so comforting that I can't bring myself to eat any of it!!  Pathetic but true. 

Snuggling aids recovery.

So, we survived the blood draw thanks to some clever nurses and the forementioned 'gifts.'  The next day, we got up before the crack of dawn to make our way to the hospital.  We had asked Vic several times if he had any questions, and he assured us he did not.  At 4:30am that morning, he was finally ready for his Q and A session.  It was a long day. 

We checked in and sat down in the waiting area.  To distract, we read articles on flying in National Geogr*phic.  When the surgical nurse came out and called his name, he responded,"Nope, that's not my name."  Poor kid.  In the pre-op area, he hid under a chair in his hospital gown.  I coaxed him out by snuggling with him on the bed, but then he hid under the blanket.  He neither smiled nor spoke to anyone.  It was heartbreaking.  The only words he uttered were to the surgeon: "Can I see my tonsils?"  Dr. H promised to save them for him to see after surgery. 

I took no pictures immediately post-op.  We don't necessarily want to remember that phase.  But, we did get to see those gigantic tonsils in a jar.  My husband took a picture if anyone's interested.  Some of you lucky folks probably received that via phone message. 

After 2 fairly rough nights, the pain levels seem to be dropping and the energy levels are improving (see above).  He is supposed to 'avoid vigorous activity' for 2 weeks.  That may be our greatest challenge.