It's P-neumonia

This weekend was tough for Caden. His fever finally broke yesterday, but his cough has continued to be horrible. Dan slept in Caden's bed last night so Caden could be close to me in our bed. He coughed all night long. We got into the pediatrician's office first thing this morning. I got to take all three because schools were closed - Joy! Our old pediatrician moved this summer; so we saw our new pediatrician today. I loved Dr. F and was sad when she moved, but I've gotta say, Dr. K is awesome! She heard crackling and wheezing in Caden's right lung so she ordered a breathing treatment and a chest x-ray. The breathing treatment helped a little but not much, she said. She called a little while ago and the chest x-ray confirmed her guess that he has pneumonia. We picked up antibiotics and an inhaler from the pharmacy so hopefully he'll be on the mend soon.

Caden Is Still Sick

Caden's fever has stayed between 99 and 102 since Friday night. He has a yucky wet drainage sounding cough. At one point yesterday, he told us his chest hurt and Dan went for a walk to check the roads to figure out if we could even get to the ER. Upon talking to him more, it wasn't his chest, but his tummy and we decided he was hungry. He gave us a big scare though. His breathing seems to be okay. I was up with him for about an hour and a half last night rocking in the living room. I finally put some more Vicks on his chest and that seemed to calm down his cough. Hopefully, the doctor's office will be open tomorrow although I doubt there's anything they can do other than tell me his lungs are clear (which will give me peace of mind). I'm positive he has the flu based on his symptoms and from the way he's been coughing, I'm afraid the rest of us will have it too - just in time to drive to Florida and see our families. Dan says we are going no matter who's sick!

Our Biggest Snow

I'd say this weekend we've received more snow than anywhere we've ever lived. It was crazy to watch and measure the snow drift building up outside our back sliding door on the deck. The snow finally stopped around 8 last night. We had drifts as high as 3 feet, but I'd say average on the ground might be close to 18-20 inches. If I get a wild hair later, I'll go out with a yard stick and measure. For now I'm staying inside where it's warm, even if we are out of hot chocolate. Dan was awesome and shoveled off sidewalks while I slept in this morning.

Long Night

Last night was a llooooonnngggg night. It started around 4:30 when Dan was fixing the kids' dinner. I happened to catch the stopped up toilet. Don't you love it that when the kids need something, they yell "mommy" instead of "daddy." It's a regular occurrence in our house since we have a child that only poops once every 3 days (sorry TMI). Anyway, about that time, Caden's cough turned to nausea and he threw up in the floor. Two minutes later the phone rang to remind Dan he had duty that night. He took a pass on Friday and apparently someone changed the duty roster because the last time he looked he wasn't on it. He headed out about 5:00 and left me to deal with poop, vomit and a pounding headache. Our evening only had one tantrum at bedtime from Jaelyn thankfully because I was "being nicer to Caden than her." This is after I spent an hour and a half playing mancala and boggle with her. Everyone was asleep by 8, but Caden continued to cough in his sleep. His breathing sounding really bad. I gave him tylenol for his fever, cold medicine for the cough and put him in my bed to sleep. I think I was awake more than I was asleep last night between checking on him and listening to him cough and grind his teeth. That was a first. I don't think I've ever heard him grind his teeth before.

We got up to a white world. The snow drifts on our deck are about 8 inches high and we have a couple inches in the front yard. We are supposed to get snow until Sunday morning. It's going to be a white Christmas in Maryland. I'm glad I won't be here ; ).

Right now, I'm just hoping Dan has an ice scraper in his car (he brought one in the house while cleaning out his car and I reminded him several times to put it back in the car - it's still in the house) and the roads will clear enough so that he can get home.

Will you pray that Caden gets well and the rest of us stay well? Dan and I both have sinusy stuff going on. We are scheduled to leave Tuesday to head to Florida for Christmas.

Caden's Christmas Party

Caden's preschool class started practicing their Christmas play right after Thanksgiving. Caden was assigned the role of Joseph. He cried when he found out because Joseph sounds important and he didn't want to have to speak in front of so many parents. Miss Patty assured him he'd only have to knock on a few doors and he was happy. Caden is a very good knocker, encase you didn't know :p.

Caden spiked a fever Tuesday night and I was worried he wouldn't be well enough to play Joseph. His fever went away, but he's been left with a cough. I gave him some Delsym and took him to school this morning anyway. Half of his class is coughing so I didn't feel bad. The play was really cute and the kids had a great time at their party. Santa didn't have time to stop and visit, but he did drop off a bag of presents by the door. Santa gave Caden a pile of sticker books. They'll be perfect for our car trip to Florida ;).

My Cyber Babysitter

Isn't technology grand??? My dad loves to webcam with the kids. He'll call a few times a week and ask if they want to talk and play games with him. Jaelyn likes to do puzzles and bowl with Grandpa. She is sneaky though. She'll grab the puzzle pieces he's working on and hide them under other pieces. Allie prefers Uno and Caden likes to play Tic Tac Toe and Rock, Paper, Scissors. They all like to use the silly features on our webcam to distort their faces and put on wigs. I love it because it provides a free babysitter. He keeps their attention and I cook dinner in peace. It's the perfect combination. I've even managed to sneak a shower in when he's chatting with them. If something important happens, he just picks up the phone and calls me.

Who needs a TV to babysit their kids when they have Grandpa and a computer!?!?

Waking Up Sore

My back has been so sore lately. I wake up feeling like I've been sleeping on a 20 year old mattress. Dan discovered the reason last night. I sleep on my stomach and it seems that our 13 pound cat, Zac, has started sleeping on my back at night. Dan came to bed late last night and said Zac was stretched out on his side right on top of me. No wonder I wake up hurting all over. Crazy cat. When we adopted him, I said I wanted a cat that would snuggle with me, but that's not quite what I had in mind!

Where Oh Where Are We Going

I hate this time of year...when we know moving will be in our future, but we don't know where. I hate that someone else has control and I don't. We found out today that we won't be moving to Kansas this summer as we thought. There are too many majors signed up for too few major slots at ILE. Dan's submitted his choices (staying here being #1) and now we wait to find out what the powers that be will decide. Even though it does add stress, I do know that ultimately, God is in charge. He knows where we are going (or where we are staying) and everything will work out for good...the suspense is killing me though :p!!! I'm ready for God to let us in on His plan.

Better Day Finally

This has been a hard week. Dan left early Monday morning, and I do mean early - 2:30 am, for Korea. Jaelyn has gotten much more difficult again (I keep saying season affective disorder - it got worse last fall and winter and got better in spring and summer). We are talking about scheduling an appointment with Dr. W again. Anyway, she's been horrible this week. She's had explosions morning and night. Some I've been able to see predict because of her rumblings; others have taken me completely by surprise. She rumbled a little about her coat this morning, but it never escalated. She came home happy. She did her homework when I asked without complaint and big whines about not being able to do it. She ate her dinner nicely. After dinner, she even mopped the kitchen floor for me before helping the other two clean up the basement. I sent everyone to their beds at 6:30 to look at books. We did our Bible Study at 7:10 and everyone was tucked in for the night at 7:30. Jaelyn is still awake an hour later, but she's not yelling at me like she's been doing. It was really nice to have a peaceful day! Dan will be home on Saturday and I can't wait.

Great Wolf Lodge

I cannot believe I never went back and wrote about our weekend at Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg. I was sick for a few weeks after we got home and life took over, I guess.

We went the first weekend in November because the kids were out of school on Thursday and Friday for teacher meetings and workshops. I guess I never wrote about my parent/teacher conferences either. Anyway, it was a 4 hour drive to Williamsburg and we got there just in time to check into our rooms and hit the water park. I was amazed at this resort. It seemed like a normal lodge from the outside and in the main sections, but go down 1 flight of stairs and through a door and you were in a kids' water paradise. In the center of this enormous room was a wooden fort with rope bridges, water cannons and slides. To the right side was a shallow pool with slides for little kids. Behind that was a walk in pool that had waves just like the ocean. It was so cool. Tucked to one side of that were the hot tubs (one was kid free and peaceful!). Behind the ocean pool was the knee board ramp which Allie had a blast one. Behind the huge fort were two family friendly water slides. One had a float that held 3-4 people. It was by far my favorite. Beside that was a lazy river that you could swim around or leizurely float in a tube. In front of that was a mini-wipe out lily pad and net course. Jaelyn did it once, fell in and that was that. Caden and Allie mastered it.

When we weren't playing in the water, we were playing Magi-quest in the hotel. It's an interactive game through 4 hallways in the hotel. You go on "quests" and have to find things. You zap them with a magic wand. When you've found them all, you get a "rune." When you have all the runes, you can go on adventures and slay a dragon or fight a Goblin King. The kids, including the biggest one, loved Magi-quest.

Each night the kids got to enjoy a magic show or story time in the main lobby. Dan was sweet and booked me a foot massage for one evening. He scored some major brownie points.

We can't wait for the opportunity to go back!

Christmas Crafts

On Gotcha Day, we made our Gingerbread Houses as usual. Normally, we make one, but this year, I let each child make their own. It was quite a night, but we had a lot of fun and only consumed a minimal amount of icing. Well, Allie might have consumed a little bit more than that.

Caden let me put the icing on his house where I wanted and he stuck his candies all over it. He did quite a good job. He had a pattern going around the bottom of the house (they've been learning about patterns in school). I think he used every candy in his bowl.


Allie wouldn't let me touch her house or her icing. She wanted to do everything herself. Allie is sort of like a bull in a china shop so it did get a little crazy and a lot messy. At one point, she had a huge blow out with her icing bag (because she wouldn't listen to me when I tried to explain how to roll up the end) and she had icing everywhere. She had fun though and was very proud of her house. That's all the matters, right? It's the process, not the product!


It would appear that Jaelyn has a little of me in her. She wanted my help, but only with her telling me where to put the icing. She very carefully placed each and every candy exactly where she wanted it.Our finished Gingerbread Row - they all had icicles, but someone (I'll let you guess who) ate all the icicles off of the houses early one morning. The houses have been moved up high. Too bad...they were a cute centerpiece to our table.

I haven't been very crafty with the kids this year. Other than the houses, we've only done 1 other project. One afternoon, when Dan was in Florida, I needed something to entertain the kids. I made salt dough and we pressed out Christmas ornaments. They were supposed to be white (flour, salt, water), but I ran out of flour and used cinnamon so the dough wouldn't stick when we rolled it out. The ornaments dried a light tan and smell really good. We painted them this weekend and I think they look more Mardi Gras than Christmas because of the color paint we had, but that's okay. The kids love them and again, it's the process, not the product. Right?!?!?

Not Quite Enough Snow

Not much of the snow from Saturday actually stuck. Sunday, Jaelyn and Caden spent several hours playing in the "snow" in the backyard. Here's the fruit of their labor...

Frosty, the very tiny, Snowman

It's okay, you can laugh at him. I did!

Official Brownies

I wish I were talking about the dark chocolate, gooey ones, but alas, I am not. I'm talking about Girl Scout Brownies, of which the girls have officially joined. They had their Christmas party last week and their investiture ceremony. They got their official girl scout pin and several new patches to sew on their empty vests. It was a fun party with lots of food and presents. Caden even got to join the games. Anyone want to buy some cookies???

Quote of the Day

Caden cracks me up. As we were emptying out his piggy bank for his shopping trip, he said "Mommy, if now is the season of giving, when is the season of getting?"

He did a great job at his purchasing. I helped him pick gifts for Jaelyn, Allie, Baba and Grandpa and Grandmother and Granddaddy. Then we walked up and down Dollar Tree's aisles until he spied something for Mommy and Daddy. I gave him the basket, turned my back and he snuck it into the basket. He paid for his purchases and the cashier wrapped everything up so I have no idea what he chose for me and Dan other than it was "perfect." I'll let know you after Christmas!

Two shopping trips down, one more to go with Allie.

The Spirit of Giving

I've been practically beating it into my kids' heads that Christmas is not about getting. It's about giving. It's about the greatest gift God gave us. I'm not always sure I'm getting through as I hear "Mommy I want this" and "Mommy I want that." It seems constant.

Jaelyn showed real generosity today. I told the kids I would give them each $2 and take them individually to Dollar Tree so they could buy a present for their siblings. I took Jaelyn today. Before we went, she made a list of people she wanted to buy a present for and emptied her piggy bank out. I'm so proud of her. She took her time and found the perfect gift for everyone on her list - including me! The kids have noticed that everyone else's stocking have presents in them, even Daddy's, but Mommy's is empty.

A Day of Shopping

We went to Lancaster today for our semi-annual trek to buy shoes at Stride Rite. We've never been to Lancaster and back without getting turned around at least once or twice or three times ;), and today was no exception. (There's a GPS on our Christmas list!) It was raining when we started out, but as forecasted, snow joined the mix mid-day. I hate winter, but I do enjoy the first snow. It's so pretty. It wasn't supposed to stick, but it did and the scenery was beautiful...lots of trees and hilltops covered in snow.

We had a very successful shopping experience. Everyone's feet have grown, finally. Caden is wearing a size 10 and the girls are both 12 1/2. Allie passed Jaelyn in height and weight this year, but her feet were still smaller. She's finally caught up.

Caden was excited about his boots with "creature features" which basically means they have little eyes on the toes. Allie picked a pair of mid-calf brown boots with pink starbursts on them. Unfortunately, Allie's boots were the only ones in the entire store in their size. They are at an awkward size, too big for the cute little girl shoes we've always bought, but not liking the styles of the bigger girl shoes. We ended up finding Jaelyn a pair of pink seude slides with fleece liners. They are adorable and will keep her feet very warm. I still might have to find her a pair of boots for snowy wet days or her heels will end up wet. I even managed to find 2 pairs of shoes on sale for me. For anyone who's ever been shopping with me, that's quite a feat (pun intended :p). It was a good shoe shopping day,

In addition to shoes, we were also looking for pants for Jaelyn. She has the tiniest waist and she's so picky about what she wears and how everything fits. I've bought her so many pairs of pants that she wears once and then refuses to wear again. I've bought dresses and cute tights to avoid the waist issues, but we still have meltdowns getting dressed 3-4 mornings a week. I made her try on at least 15 different pairs of pants at 2 different stores today. She picked out 5 new pairs (all on sale - wahoo!) so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll have easier mornings!

Jaelyn's pink pair of shoes are definitely my favorite purchase of the day.

My Own Personal Infomercial

Do your kids watch too much TV? I'll admit it. Mine do. We used to watch Noggin all the time with no commercials, but now my kids like shows from the DVR that come on Discovery Kids and Cartoon Network. They all have commercial breaks and infomercials. Caden has become quite the little spokesmen for some of the products. One day, he ran in saying "mommy, you have to come see this vacuum. You need one. It's light weight and it picks up everything." Another favorite is the big cupcake shaped cake pans. I MUST order those immediately and "wait, if I order now, I get another set of pans free." So yesterday, Caden and I were in the car. We drove past Chuck E. Cheese and Caden says "Mommy, can we go to Chuck E Cheese where a kid can be a kid one day." I love that he's quoting slogans now. Commercials sure do work!

So Mad at Allie...Sneaky Strikes Again

Allie is the sneaky one in our family. I shouldn't have been surprised to discovered torn Christmas wrapping paper in the basement trash can this morning. I was irate. I have spent days and days out trying to get my shopping done...looking for the perfect presents for the kids. I've spent the last 2 nights hunched over wrapping paper trying to get everything wrapped. I'm trying to make everything nice and special and I should have seen this coming, but for some reason I didn't. Allie took 4 presents out from under the tree (hers, Caden's, Jaelyn's, and Granddaddy's birthday present), snuck down to the basement, opened them, disposed of the paper and then hid the presents. She initially lied to me when I found the paper, but quickly fessed up and showed me where she'd stashed the presents. Allie is losing her present. I bought the kids all a new movie for the drive to Florida, and I really wanted her to have the movie I bought her for the long ride. I can't return it because I opened it so I wouldn't be having to peel off security tape in the midst of packing a car. I'm going to make her give her present to someone else with an explanation of why she's giving it away. Anyone want a copy of Ella Enchanted?

Then, after the time out and severe talking to, Jaelyn and Caden asked her to tell them what their presents where after I told them not to and she did. Arghhh...2 more surprises ruined. Everyone ended up in time out this morning and we missed the bus as a result.

I want Christmas to be magical for the kids and full of surprises. The surprise is on me I guess. Maybe I should just box up all the present in preparation for our trip and let the tree be bare underneath!

Our 6th Gotcha Day

I cannot believe it's been 6 years since Dan and I were standing before a Russian judge petitioning to adoption Jaelyn and Allie. So much has happened since then. We've had another child, we've moved 4 1/2 times (that 1/2 was a 2 month pit stop at my parents on our way back from Germany), we've lived through 2 deployments and through it all, we have grown more and more in love with our daughters every single day. Last year I walked down memory lane by posting my journal entries from that time period. This year, I thought I'd take you on a slide show of our 2 trips to Russia. I don't have time to do all the captions now, but most are pretty self explanatory.

To celebrate our Gotcha Day, we'll be making our gingerbread houses like we do every year. I woke up thinking about the Big Macs we ate in Moscow and after our court date....the best Big Macs in the world, hands down. I think we might have McDonalds for dinner as a happy reminder :).

Let Your Little Light Shine

Jaelyn didn't want to tell anyone that she asked Jesus into her heart. She did however want me to tell Daddy, Grandmother and Baba. She especially wanted to keep it a secret from Allie and Caden. Well, 2 nights ago, Jaelyn and Caden were coloring together. I over heard Jaelyn telling Caden that I told her a prayer and she asked Jesus into her heart. She told him he needed to do it too so he could have Jesus in his heart. Caden does anything Jaelyn tells him to do. Next thing I know, Caden is standing beside me asking me what the prayer was. I guess Caden and I need to spend some time talking. I think it's sweet that Jaelyn is letting her little light shine even if it was more of an order rather than just sharing :).