Sunday Updates

Oh, no my pants fell of again. Notice Cam in the background with Ethan's shoes on the wrong feet trying to go outside in his pj's! Ah life at our house!

The very rare all three boys in a shot together, and wearing matching jamies. They look like they are doing water painting, but really they are conspiring on how to spill the hundreth cup of water. Jack and Cam are head butting, a sign of affection?...or Cam wanting to knock Jack out hum?

Jack drinking out of a shot glass..don't worry it's just water!

At the UC game...tongue out as usual

Jack just being Jack..saying ah after drinking.

So I've decided to force myself to keep up with the blog by doing Sunday updates. I might update more, but I will at least add something every Sunday. What can I say I'm a schedule person!

This was a great weekend. The weather could not have been better! We had the very rare warm with no humidity. That never happens here. We spent Friday night outside with some close friends. The kids played, fought, tried to kill themselves. Meanwhile we had lasagna and drinks. Saturday was another outside day. Then in the evening we went to the Bearcat's Spring football game. It was a lot of fun, but I really didn't watch any of the game. Eric said they looked pretty good. I never could get into the game where the team is playing themselves. Well, at least I know the Bearcats won! For those of you that don't know Eric and I met when we cheered at UC in college. Our poor children are forced to be Bearcat fans and to attend lots of UC functions. We thought perhaps Jack would like the Bearcat since it resides in Southeast Asia. However, we were wrong, he was well petrified of it! He was also scared of the announcers and all the loud sounds. All three boys loved watching the cheerleaders and the band. On Sunday my wonderful husband took all three boys to the park for 2 totally blissful hours. It was so nice to be able to get the house cleaned without three little helpers! That's the break down of the weekend!

Questions of the week:

1. What do you wash lime green clothes with? Lights? Darks? Reds? There's only two I'd rather not do them seperate.

2. Why do children always poop right after you change them?

3. Where do missing toys go? Our house is not that big and there's not much furniture.

4. Why do I always forget at least two items at the grocery store?

Top 10 favorite parts of the weekend:

1. The weather..so beautiful

2. Spending time with neighbors

3. Getting our shed cleaned out

4. Jack giving papa a hug..so cute

5. Jack bending his knees while walking...we have progressed from Frankenstien to drunkin sailor!

6. Cam saying I love you.

7. Ethan yelling those are my brothers.

8. All 3 children sleeping past 8:00 on Sunday

9. Pizza dinner Sunday

10. My husband taking all three kids for two hours (oh so nice!)

A day in the life

7:00: Drag self out of bed, throw on clothes not caring if they match or are weather appropriate.
7:05: Drag self to kitchen, unload dishwasher, make coffee which is very important.
7:15: Make sippy cups and breakfast for boys
7:30 Hear middle child awake...ignore it because still more to do
7:35: Feed dogs and cat. Switch hundreth load of laundry
7:45: Middle child becoming loud and impatient...go get him.
7:50: Snuggle with Cam while he drinks milk...Yah, favorite part of day.
7:55: Go get oldest child, so he won't be late for school. Drag his little rear downstairs.
8:05: Entice children to eat anything remotely nutritious.
8:15: Dress Cam and Ethan very unwillingly.
8:20: Wake Jack up, so that he might take a nap and sleep at night.
8:25: Feed Jack anything (so refreshing!)
8:35: Dress Jack (he helps, so nice!)
8:45: Give out vitamins, throw coats on, plead with oldest to use the potty, run around like a maniac, ect.ect.
8:47: Load 3 children into van (ha, ha). It's quite a sight to see!
8: 50: Leave for Ethan's school
8:53: Arrive at school (it's less than a mile away), unload all three children, get out double stroller so Jack can use it. Cam and Ethan hop in. I sigh. Hold Jack, push Ethan and Cam in double wide stroller. Wonder how in the ****I will make it through doors. Lovely lady helps us out.
9:00: Drop Ethan off at school
9:02: Drop Jack and Cam in childcare for 30 minutes, so I can make some copies, and give Jack a trial run.
9:30: Take Jack and Cam home.
9:32: Relax (ha ha) or run laundry and fix snacks.
10:40: Mother in Law comes to watch Jack.
11:00: Bring Cam to Ethan's class for little sib's day
11:30: Take Ethan and Cam to another room to eat lunch. Beg children to eat anything, don't even care if it's healthy.
12:15: Put Ethan and Cam in childcare and go teach. Wonder where anything in my room is. After being gone four weeks I cannot find anything. Have a successful day back.
3:00: Pick Ethan and Cam up and go home. Try to load into car while being rather unruley and jumping in every puddle. Sure don't use the stroller now. Realize they both need changed when we get home.
3:15: Back home with all 3 boys. Boys take turns crying because they're tired. Feed them snack which perks them up. Change them which aggravates them. Continue running laundry.
4:45: Daddy is home! Load 3 boys into car. Leave for tumbling class.
6:00: Leave tumbling, stopping at McDonalds for our Tuesday treat! Cam ate a few fries, Ethan had 2 chicken nuggets and a few fries, Jack had 4 chicken nuggets and fries. Marvel at Jack's eating...again.
7:00: Home, baths, and play.
8:30: Books and bed for Ethan and Cam
9:00: Jack goes down to run off steam in the playroom, so we don't have to be up at 1:00am. This is our OT/PT time for Jack...I guess!
10:00: Jack in bed.
10:00: Try to clean up house, get stuff ready for work, wonder why floors are sticky, but don't really care, wonder how we stll have another basket of laundry, feed poor dogs, run dishwasher, and smile because I'm so darn happy.
10:30: Think about my favorite parts of the day: Jack falling and saying ow! New word. Cam giving Jack a big hug, daddy coming home! And my favorite when I stated Jack ate all his nuggets, and Jack was signing more Ethan handed him his and said he can have mine. When I told Ethan he could keep it he said no Jack can have it. It was so sweet, no hidden motives. He is so sweet with his brothers. Love my family. They are awesome!
10:35: update blog
11:00: climb into bed exausted, thank God for my many blessings, and wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Easter, updates, and more

So if you haven't been able to tell by our lack of posts things have been a little crazy around here. I just can't seem to understannd how one (very little) being can double laundry, diaper changing, and trash. All the while reducing seep by at least half. It's really quite amazing! So I'm going to do all our updates in one blog! Here it goes:

1. Easter: Easter went pretty well. The bunny came. The kids ate too much chocolate. By the way Jack loves chocolate! We went to church. It was a minor disaster in which two of my three children spent some time in the back of the church. I think we were at least entertainment for those seated around us. Um, I think I'll skip the next 90 minute mass, however! Nona and Aunt Karen, Uncle Ian, and cousin Rob came to visit. Jack really loved Rob! The kids had a good time. We were worn out!

2. Jack's progress: Good

Okay just kidding, I'll add to that. He really is doing so much better. He's still tiny. We're hoping that will change. However, he's eating great, sleeping okay, pooping normal, and picking with his brothers. His eating continues to amaze me! He can eat anything. He even ate corn on the cob. Really, I couldn't believe it. He picked it up and started munching away like it was nothing!

He has learned to say mama, up, uh oh, bye, and yah. He is signing more, all done, hungry, milk, and a few others. He waves and blows kisses. He really is a joy.

Today he really loved outside for the first time. He actually left my arms and played! I was so excited. He even played with our neighbor's little girl. It was really cute. He's also a complete wild man. He loves to hop on the little riding car and fly down the hill. He also loves to be on the swing and go as high as possible. He giggles loudly with each swing. He also learned how to blow bubbles. My other two children are terrible at that, but Jack is really good at it. I mean our cleft kid can totally blow bubbles better than his older brothers. It's a little emberassing really!

3. Milestones:

• We went to church as a family. Not all that successful, but it should get better...right?





• We went to dinner as a family of five. That actually did go well. We didn't chase anyone away or anything.





• I took all three boys grocery shopping with just me. That actually was a big hit. We got one of those carts where all three children fit and they could face each other. They thought that was way cool. I felt like I should get an award for getting through the store with no issues and three children under 4. As usual nobody got me a trophy!





• Cam will now admit that Jack is his brother. Sometimes he'll even willingly kiss him.





• Jack loves the car seat.

I think that is all for now! Enjoy the pictures!

Blood results

We got our blood results back today. Well, at least the ones that they were able to run. Jack wasn't all that into getting pricked, so we'll be visiting the lab again. His blood work all looked pretty good. There was no parasites (yay!), no lead poisoning, iron looked good, blood counts all normal. His thyroid was a little off, so we'll be retesting that. Due to his small size I would not be surprised if we need to do some hormone replacements. Hopefully, that will be the biggest issue. Other than that all looks well so far. Hopefully, the rest of the tests will go well!

Doctor's Visit and the poop experiment

Today we visited Cincinnati Children's IA team for a post adoption check. We met with a nurse, OT, Dr. Stat, ect. Basically everything was as we expected. He's way under weight, very small, and a little behind. As we knew this was all expected. He did have an ear infection so we will start some antiobiotics for that. I do believe he stole everyone's hearts. He is such a charmer.

While at the appointment we did get to see Debbie and John and Julianne, whom we traveled with. It was great seeing you all. I hope your appointment went well.

After the appointment we had to get a stool sample from Jack. The boys thought this was all too interesting! Cam and Ethan totally watched the whole thing. It was like we were doing some sort of great science experiment. Cam wanted to know if we could sample his poop too. I told him one poop sample would be plenty for mommy and daddy. Ahh, life with three boys.

Tired in Cincinnati

After over 30 hours of traveling with an infant I can safely say I won't be taking any long trips soon. We are so happy to be home where there is safe running water, a full kitchen, and soft beds. Unfortunately we haven't got much chance to use the bed. Jack is still on China time. He's getting better. The first night he slept about 5 hours, the second we got 6, and last night he slept over 7. Maybe tonight we can make it to 6:00 am. Who ever thought that would be a goal! Over all things are going well. Ethan and Cam are doing well in their big brother roles. Ethan is so excited we have to remind him not to get to crazy around Jack. Cam is still adjusting, but doing much better than I thought. He hasn't tried to sit on, squish, push, or drown Jack. I think that's pretty good. Jack has been like a baby cling on. I'm glad that Cam trained me well in doing everything with one hand. I'm hoping Jack will branch out soon, and begin to play a bit, so I can have a little break. He's a cute hip ornament, but it would be nice if I could take it off every once in a while. Today was my first day with all three boys by myself. It wasn't too bad. The morning was a bit rough with all three boys "needing mommy", but I think they quickly figured out that mommy was not an octopus. All three boys napped at the same time (alleluia!) Then the evening went pretty well. We even managed to get Ethan to church school. Whoever invented all the car seat laws obviously has never had to strap three children into the 5 point harness. That's 15 points you know!

I actually feel like adjusting from 1 to 2 children was harder. Maybe because one was a new born and the other 18 months old. At least this time I'm only worried about Jack on the steps!

For all those wondering Jack is still intaking an unreal amount of food. For lunch today he had a single serving of Mac-n-cheese, 3 pieces of hot dog, a bowl of bananas with rice cereal, and three cookies! He's a cutey. We can't wait for him to be on USA time! I will post some pictures later. Somehow I can't figure out where I put my camera. It's probably lost in a pile of laundry!