April Showers Bring May Flowers

We got a few hours of sunshine this morning! It was a great couple of hours. We took a long walk/run before music class. I know that all this rain will make for great gardening weather in a few weeks but right now it seems never-ending.

I've been finalizing my garden plans and ordering the few starts that I get from an organic gardener in Mt Horeb. I think we're going to grow some herbs and a few vegetables here at home but the majority will still be at Epic. I'm working on getting our house spring cleaned indoors so that as soon as the weather clears, I can head outside and get everything set up! I'm going stir crazy... but it is nice having a clean house. So far the guest room, the bathrooms upstairs and Daredevil's room have all be spring cleaned as well as the hallway and its two closets.

I'm also working on a backyard cookout for Mr Tech Guy and Twin's birthday. It's the big 3-0! I'm thinking that the backyard will still be too muddy to hang out there but I'm just going to be flexible.

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I also just want to send out some prayers for Boston. What a senseless act. What is this world coming to? 

Dogs - and their "baby" adjustment

One of the questions we got, and still get, is how the dogs adjusted to Daredevil. Both Oliver and Phinneas took it in stride from the beginning. He was cool but whatever, no big deal. Benton, on the other hand, had a harder time adjusting to everything. We'd gone to a baby ready pet class from our local humane society before so we'd worked on getting them adjusted to baby gear and babies crying (thank you, YouTube). We prepped ourselves on the initial introduction and made all those necessary arrangements.

Then, we had Daredevil, stayed in the hospital for 8 days and finally made our way home. Just like they suggested, Mr Tech Guy and I came inside first (while my mom stayed in the warm car with Daredevil) and greeted the boys. They acted really weird with me. I don't know if I smelled different from the surgery, meds, anxiety but Phin especially took awhile to approach me. Finally they greeted us and calmed down so we brought in Daredevil. We brought him in in his carseat and let them smell him in his seat first, then we took him out and let them give him so kisses and smells. At this point, Oliver and Phinneas gave him sniffles, snuggles and kisses and were over it. Benton smelled and smelled and smelled but never gave kisses and really didn't want to leave him alone. After a much longer time, he figured that Daredevil wasn't leaving and he chilled out.... until I started my breast pump. He didn't bark when the swing went but when I cranked on my pump and "lamp-post, lamp-post, lamp-post" began, he went crazy. He barked non-stop, like hysterical barking, if you can imagine. That was something we didn't have before Daredevil was born so we couldn't play it for them ahead of time. I'd say it took 72 hours or so for him to chill out when the pump was on. After that, occasionally  he would bark when Daredevil would cry but more to alert us that the baby was crying not because he was crying.

After the initial stages of introduction, Benton did well except during times of transition...grabbing, rolling over, pulling up, crawling and walking. Crawling was the worst transition because it was the first time that Daredevil was truly mobile (ie room to room) and Benton thought he should follow him everywhere and herd him to where he thought Daredevil should be, which was not where he wanted to be. By herding he would bark and nudge and bark and nudge Daredevil. Ugh. It drove us crazy. We debated finding him a new home, hiring an animal behavioralist, exercising him to exhaustion, etc. We tried water aerobics, long walks, a lot of fetch, drives, early bedtimes. It feels like we tried everything. There were days when he just plain drove us crazy despite all of our efforts.  Neither of us could bear the idea of finding him a new home and we prayed that he'd adjust to Daredevil's new mobility. We prayed hard to wisdom on what to do and the only thing we got was "wait." And so wait we did with as much patience as we could muster. We are so glad we gave him the time and space he needed to adjust and realize that the moving Daredevil was here to stay. And then, one day, he just got used to it.

Having three fur-babies who are treated like princes did cause some challenges in bringing home baby, but with time, even Benton got adjusted. All in all, I'd say that they that adjusted great and I'm so proud of my fur-baby boys!

Sick

We've been sick since Tuesday. No joke. Whatever Daredevil got, he shared and we've all been lucky enough to enjoy it with him. Let me tell you this flu bug is nothing to mess with. I got it Wednesday, Mr Tech Guy and Twin got it Friday... I thought I felt better today but my tummy is still touchy and Daredevil is still having trouble keeping anything solid down. I hope we're over this hurdle and on our way back to tip top health soon. But that's what I was thinking about while he napped in my arms this afternoon, that this will come to pass. I've cried this week, been puny, weak, flustered, praying for this to pass and for us to feel healthy but truthfully it could be worse.

I have two friends fighting big battles in their families right now that make our flu look like nothing.

One, a husband with a severe digestive disorder who has been in and out of the hospital (more in than out) for the past few months. Her husband has had this condition for awhile but lately they can't keep it under control so he's in the hospital until they can. He goes home, it gets out of balance again so in he goes again. She is so strong keeping her family together, taking their son to visit her husband and still managing life even while things are turned so upside down and are so unpredictable.

And another, a child with leukemia. Her daughter is merely a few months older than Daredevil and she's already endured so much in her little life. On top of that, she got a diagnosis of a rare form of leukemia about four months ago. She's been fighting a hard fight. Tests, procedures, treatments, lengthy hospital stays, etc. When they first got the diagnosis it was unlikely the daughter would be able to go home until the end of treatments seven months later. Let that sink in, your child in the hospital for seven months without coming home. Can you fathom? You won't be home much in that time either, what about your spouse, your other children? Just thinking about it gets me overwhelmed but I've learned that you do what you have to do and my friend is keeping her head above water one day at a time. They've worked with the doctors to keep their daughter at home as long as possible between treatments. She is making this challenge work for her family. I'm amazed by her.

This morning, her daughter developed sepsis and she's very ill. If you pray, please pray for her.

Sometime all you need is perspective.

Photo Op

It has been a rough day here. The kind where you want to hide or run for the hills, you're joined at the hip with your child(ren), you're covered in bodily fluids (99% of which aren't yours), and you've changed a billion and five diapers. I could've cried tears of joy when Mr Tech Guy came home and I nearly floated my way to LifeGroup tonight. I pray that tomorrow is better.

I did want to show off my photo op from last week (I can't believe this was only 7 days ago). All it needs is my stroller with the extra bag and you would've gotten to see the whole kit and kaboodle but this will have to do.

Here's to a better day around here... and maybe some sunshine. Fingers crossed.

We are family!

In addition to Easter we were able to celebrate Elaine's birthday this weekend! It was great to see N+E and to be able to help her celebrate. We had a great day of just being together. Enjoy our photos.

Hope you had a great birthday, E! Love you.

Easter Celebration

We celebrated Easter again this past weekend in Sterling with Daredevil's Nene and Grand-paw.

He had an Easter egg hunt filled with lots and lots of money. Seriously, Mr Tech Guy went crazy on the eggs and he filled them all the way up with change. Those boys were heavy! Daredevil loved shaking them.

The Easter bunny came, too!

He liked his gifts but he was more impressed with the Easter grass. Go figure!

The pups even had an Easter egg hunt. The eggs had holes in them so the pups could smell the treats.

We colored eggs, too. Daredevil wasn't too interested but he kept trying to eat the hard boiled eggs.

We had a lovely time doing all the "Easter" things, enjoying time with the family, going to the 505 church service, etc. It was a fabulous weekend but now we're back in the swing of things at home.

Daredevil's Tenth Flight

Daredevil flew his tenth flight from PHX to MKE this week. He was diagnosed with an ear infection the day before. This was not our best flight.

He played on the iPad for awhile and watched Mickey. Then he got antsy and spilled the drink of the lady next to us all over her, him and her laptop (ugh). Then he got tired and screamed a few times while he was trying to (ie fighting) sleep. He tugged at his ears a few times, but all in all he did ok.

Always an adventure with that one.

I wish you could've seen me wearing my backpack diaper bag, wearing a sleeping Daredevil in the ergo on my front, my messenger bag across me and pushing the stroller with a yet another bag in it. Seeing how it was 1:30 in the morning, I thought it was hilarious.

Still, it was good to be home.