Pre-Christmas Chaos

In the few days spent before Christmas, baby's transition graduated to the "Let's see if they still love me when I'm a stinker" stage. Rules were tested to prove their steadfastness (they held true), limits were pushed and pressed to confirm their position (they remained) and naughty of all sorts was performed, all with eyes looking right at Mommy to gauge her reaction and see her response (a bit hard not to smile at those big mischivious brown eyes!). Teeth were used as weapons and only abated when a brother decided enough was enough and retaliated in kind. He seemed shocked that his brother had had enough and finally bit back!

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Hand-washing and getting strapped into the car seat was met with flying fists and a hollers. I know that his age has a share of the blame, but that coupled with a sudden, major move and new family left my little son struggling for control. He's beginning to settle in now, though, and we're seeing more of those gorgeous smiles as he becomes secure in his world. I know these days will come and go and that the trick with him is to not give an inch. It's so hard to put him in the corner when he's already upset and I remember all he's gone through, but I have to teach him that he can relax inside his safe boundaries. When I do, we're all happy.

That having been said, I'm just so incredibly lucky that he's here with us. Most of the time he's such a sweet and loving little guy. And the rest of the time? Well, he is almost 2 after all!

Bath time is one of their favorite times!
Daddy playing some x-box with his boys after a long day at work.
I don't know why I like this picture. I just do. After I set out their clothes for the day I stepped back and looked at them. Then I took a picture. It just makes my Mommy's heart happy.
Here's my beautiful little boy. Nana bought him this hoodie that's made out of the same type of material as his blankie. He's very bonded to his blankie and it was one of the few things that came with him from his previous home. He wears his blankie coat everywhere and it seems to soothe him.

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Christmas pics to come!

A Little Christmas Miracle

On a cold night about 4 years ago a pregnant Mama kitten was chucked from a car going 55 mph down Cordon Road. The family living nearest to where the kitty landed heard the "thud" and ran out to see what was going on. There lay the Mama cat, stunned and hurt. The family wrapped up the poor thing and brought her inside. Luckily her injuries weren't life threatening and no bones were broken.

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2 weeks later she gave birth to a littler of fluffy tabby kittens, all who were healthy and undamaged. They were avaeage-looking kittens but there was 1 who was special. After the family placed an ad in the paper I took my 2 small sons, just 18 months and 3 months old, to see the kittens. They were to be sold and the profit was to be used to spay Mama cat who had won a place in her new family's home and hearts. Little Solomon toddled over to the kennel and plucked out a kitten by it's tail. The kitten squealed and Sol dropped him in surprise. Determined to hold one of the squirmy fuzz-balls, he reached back in and found another tail. This kitten didn't mind and as a matter of fact, purred profusely at the attention it was receiving. While his Mommy chatted, Solomon drug that poor kitten all over the yard. The kitten was so forgiving and never used his claws on my baby's skin. We brought the kitty home in a laundry basket held by Solomon and named him Furgus.

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As you all may remember about 9 months ago Furgus mysteriously disappeared. It was a hard blow to our little boys. They had all been babies together. Furgus was so kind to them and always willing to chase string or cuddle up with a boy while he sucked his thumb. For the last 9 months one or the other of my boys would pray, "for Furgus to please come back home". Just last week I gently prompted my sons to move on. I wanted them to retire the prayer request because I felt it was best if they let go and stopped dredging up the pain for themselves. After all, there was no way the cat would be coming back.

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Oh, me of little faith! 2 nights ago we got a call from the Humane Society. A lady had found our cat near Silver Creek Falls in Silverton, 15 miles away. How he got there? No idea. What he's been doing all this time? Not a clue.

All we know is that he's home. And the persistence and faith of a child can cause miracles.

Merry Christmas, Furgus!

"So, how's he settling in?"

Baby continues to do really well over here.

Night time is less traumatic and he's now laying down with only a few wimpers that a back rub and soothing words will relieve. He's eating more conguently to his age and taking only 2 bottles per day. I'm almost certain that the previous placement layed him down with milk bottles which was part of our difficulty getting him to sleep. He didn't know what to do with food and had no interest in it. We were able to get him to try the Gerber cereal poofs that dissolve quickly in the mouth and once he grew accustomed to them he was more willing to try other things. Now he'll eat soft food and today was the first time I got him to eat an apple slice.

Everything is new so it's fun to watch his reactions to things like cookies and grapes! He's learning words daily and we're all learning more basic sign language.

He's just learning more every day!

Shaggy, Blondie, Curly and Spikey:

We've decided that we'll be calling our new baby Levi. Levi is a Hebrew name which means, "joined in harmony". He definitely has joined us in harmony. Except for at bedtime. There's very little harmony involved for Levi at bedtime. But, at all other times it fits very well, indeed! Here he is with his brothers and his little cousin, Brielle.

Welcome home, little son!

All I Want for Christmas is my 2 Front Teeth

This is my poor son today. He's still exhausted but sporting a (swollen) smile even though he had a horrible day yesterday. He was running around at Nana's house with Solomon as I was searching for the boys' old crib for the baby. All of a sudden there was a big "THUD" and a blood-chilling scream. I ran in to see my son's mouth gushing blood. I scurried in to get paper towels and call Micah to run over. As we opened his mouth we saw that we needed to get to the hospital immediately. Malachi had a gaping hole through his tongue and his right front tooth was MIA. It also looked like the left front tooth had broken off. He was gagging and choking on blood and screaming.

We rushed to Silverton Hospital and they saw us right away just like always (take note, those of you who go to the Salem ER). They released him later on with narcotic pain killers, slightly less bleeding and directions to go to the pediatric dentist for X-rays first thing next morning.

So, today we found out that his teeth didn't break off but were shoved back up into his jaw ( Shutter). No surgery will be needed and his jaw looks OK. His tongue will have scarring and we were given instructions of watch for symptoms of infection and keep his intake limited to cool soft food for a while (the kid deserves a few heaping bowls of ice cream anyway). As for the teeth, they expect them to descend back down to where they were all on their own but can't say exactly when.

It's amazing how quickly accidents happen. We're thanking God that he's OK today and praising Him for our wonderful little son.

Introducing.....

Our new foster/adoptive son! The State called at 8am to inquire if we interested in a permanent placement. Today. We picked him up at 4pm and he's now running around with Solomon and Malachi just like they've been brothers all along.

Isn't he just so beautiful? You should hear his laugh.

I'll not go into the specifics of his case but it looks like this little guy isn't going anywhere. The State has said that he'll stay with us and we'll move into a current care-taker adoption.

This is going to be my new problem - getting a decent picture of all 3 of them simultaneously.

PS - Name to be announced (now where did I put The List...)

Headlines, anyone?

As always, these are yanked from Jay Leno. Thanks, Jay!

"Yum."

I wonder how many folks actually responded to this ad?

Who else would pay $20 to hear this message?

Bureaucracy and irony! Who could ask for more?

And a couple of choice wedding announcements:

What better way?

Well, you gotta feed those little beasts!

Oh, this is too good. Check out the quote from the older brother!

It's good to see that someone's finally stepping up and taking care of the underprivileged population.

....and my favorite for the day:

Her name is actually Chick. Hilarious.