Green hair

Junior's soccer team wears green and yesterday, the coach brought green hair spray. Not a surprise to me at all, Junior refused to get his hair sprayed and was the only kid on the field from our team without green hair!

Chicken-hair saw their heads and started begging for it. One of the girls on our side got the can and sprayed his head. Kidney Boy saw that and wanted in on it too! I thought it would be cute to do it to Bucket too. LOL Here are the three of them on the slide... by the way, even after Junior saw that all 3 of his brothers had green hair, he still wasn't going to let anyone spray his head! I don't know why but he has always hated stuff like that!

Junior, the altar-server!

Oh my goodness... it was the cutest thing ever! 4th grade goes to church on Fridays and Junior begged me to come today because he was going to try to get a turn to be altar server. I went and sure enough, he got a turn today! He and a classmate (who is wild and crazy and adorable -- I love her!) had their first try today, with a 6th or 7th grader to guide them. The older boy's parents do a lot around the school and we always talk to them. We like them a lot.

Anyway, Junior was so cute -- you can imagine. He was making all of his cute little Junior-boy faces. He kept looking at me to see if I was watching. He would give me a tiny little wave with his hand down by his side so he didn't get caught. He would give me his cute little smile ("Don't you just love my cute little smile?" he said to me once, while showing me his Kindergarten school picture). And he would look nervously at the older boy, waiting for him to tell them where to stand, when to walk, what to carry. His little nervous ticks -- the scrunching up his nose and blinking hard -- he would do that when it was his turn to do something. It was just so cute and sweet, I wanted to giggle and cry all at once. But I sat in the front row to see and I didn't want Father Tuan, or the stern-looking priest behind me to think I was going to cause trouble LOL I am 34 and still scared to death to get into trouble in church!

When it came time for the consecration, each kid got to take a turn ringing the bells. They do it three times, once to begin, once for the bread, and once more for the wine. His classmate got to go first and she did a fine job. She passed the bells to Junior and the older boy held his hand out, signaling him to wait. When it was time, Junior gave such a gentle jingle, the older boy had to encourage him to ring them a little harder. He did it JUST a tiny bit harder and set them down. The older boy was last and I thought it was SO adorable that even being the big kid -- he looked just as excited for his turn LOL And boy did he ring them! He gave them such a good hard long shake and Junior whirled his head around and stared, as if to say, "Shoot! I could have done it THAT hard???" I am sure that the next time he gets a turn, he is going to give them such a shake... cars outside might screech to a halt! LOL

Anyway, I wish I could have gotten it on video because it was so precious. I have been so stressed out lately and it was just what I needed. =)

More thrush stuff

Dr. V said NO MORE MINIS for Bucket. He said that is what is making him get thrush over and over. I asked why now after 6 weeks of nothing -- he has had his mini all along. He said that it builds up from very little until it gets to the point that we can see it. I went home and decided to go for it -- no minis. Naptime was a challenge but we did it. That is pretty much the only time I ever give him a mini during the day anyway.

Night came and we got ready for our "first bedtime" which is about an hour before his last feeding of the day. He gets all wrapped up and we put him between us on the bed. We watch TV and he dozes off or just looks at us. Sometimes he wants to be unwrapped. Anyway, we got him all ready and he was looking all over for that mini. It was making me so sad. He wanted it so much and couldn't figure out why he wasn't getting it. I told Gama that I think part of the problem is that Gama had gotten way too easy with the mini. He was giving it to him all day long. Any time Gama is home, if he has the baby, he gives him his mini, whether he is going down for a nap or sitting in his swing or we are getting in the car. Gama agreed. So I asked him what he thought about letting him have his mini for 5 minutes to fall asleep and then pulling it out of his mouth and that is the only time he gets it. If he wakes up when it isn't feeding time, we can try it again at that time too but always taking it out once he is asleep. That is what we had planned on doing after the last case of thrush but it just never quite stuck. Gama thought it sounded like a good idea too.

I felt bad for caving so quickly and going against what Dr. V said. We like him so much and really trust his advice. But I think sometimes you have to trust your own instincts more. I didn't even care about losing sleep. I would stay up all night if I had to. But I just felt so bad taking it away cold-turkey like that. Dr. V said it is a habit like any other and he'll get used to it. I think that is true but he isn't old enough to understand that he has to give up this habit. Maybe we will be able to get rid of it altogether, doing this. Already he has taken a few naps where he went to sleep without it. I just can't take the stress of wondering how much it is upsetting him to not have it at all.

As far as the thrush, his mouth is totally clear and was within 24 hours. I am a different story... unfortunately, my skin looked worse yesterday. I was really scared that it wasn't going to go away quickly for me this time. Today I am trying to think that it is looking better. I can't decide. My left side is not that bad at all. But my right hurts a lot. I *think* the last feeding on my right side was a little better but I don't know. I really don't. I latch him on and think, "Oh... it isn't as bad as the last time." but then by the middle of the feeding, I am thinking it is still just as sore. I went to church this morning -- it is Junior's church day and he told me he was going to try and get a turn at being altar server, which he did and I will post about that next -- but I just prayed so much for this thrush to pass again.

Bucket's 4 month check-up

I have fallen behind here. Bucket had his 4 month doctor check-up on Oct. 2. I am just going to copy and paste what I sent to my mommy email loop:

He is 13 lb. 15 oz. and 24.5 inches long. The doctor said he looks perfect and I can start solids if I want. I was surprised because I have always waited until after the 6 month visit. He usually says "keep on with the breastfeeding and we'll start solids next time" when I go at 4 months. I asked him about it and he said it is great to wait too. But I admitted to him that I was actually thinking of starting earlier this time. None of my other babies have seemed interested in food before 6 months. But Bucket keeps leaning towards my food and staring at it LOL I swear, he seems like he wants it! None of my boys have had any kind of tummy trouble so the doctor said when I feel right about it, go ahead and start with simple cereals and see how he does.

He got 4 shots plus the oral rotavirus. He didn't have any issues at all with his shots at his 2 month visit so I wasn't concerned with them this time -- same shots again. I have questioned my doctor about vaccines and trust his confidence in them. He is big on breastfeeding and always slow to medicate when the kids are sick. He doesn't strike me as one of those "just go by the book on everything" doctors so the fact that he trusts the vaccines makes me comfortable. And none of my kids have ever had problems with them. Chicken-hair would get a mild fever (like 99) after his shots when he was under a year but that was it. I always think a lot about the vaccines every time we go, because of talking about it here and in other mommy loops. But I always end up trusting my doctor and going ahead with it.

STRESSED!!!

I am so stressed out today. Sometimes it just feels like there is way too much to keep up with.

It is going to take a miracle for Junior to get a B in Responsible Behavior this year. Instead of color changes, now in 4th grade, they have marks. It used to be not so terrible to get one color change a day even. But now, if he gets one mark for the whole week, he gets a B for the week. Two is a C, three is a D, and 4 is an F for the week and a detention. He got one mark last week but since it fell into three categories, he got a C for the week and she told him she was letting him off the hook because it should have been a D. A C or a D for the whole week because he got in trouble ONCE! God help us.

Now, instead of 4 costumes for Halloween, I have to get 6. Junior and Chicken-hair each need 2 costumes this year because their school has decided to make the change from Halloween costumes to "Saints or Biblical Characters" costumes for Oct. 31. Not only do I need 2 extra costumes, but I am probably going to have to make them because you can't exactly find saint costumes at Party City!

Sometimes I just feel like the school doesn't realize how hard it is for people who have 2-3-4 kids or more to keep up with all of the new rules, new ideas, new plans, etc.

I can't get on a diet again. I keep trying and failing. I fail everyday. At least I started walking. I walked on Friday and again this morning, around the park across the street from the school. I can't do it tomorrow though, because I have to bring the babies to drop off Junior and Chicken-hair. =(

Tomorrow is going to be crazy. Not only will I have Bucket crying in the car all the way to and from school, but Junior's first choir practice is tomorrow afternoon. I am going to have to go to school at 2:30 to pick them up and then bring them to my mom's or something so that I can go back at 3:30 to bring Junior to choir practice, upstairs... this means I have to bring all 4 kids inside and can't bring the stroller. Then I have to go back at 4:45 to pick him up. And then tomorrow night is a Parent Meeting at the school at 7pm... I am soooooooooooo dreading tomorrow!

Fun with Junior and Chicken-hair

An email I sent last night:

OK now I have to share... this is Junior's homework though. He is in 4th grade. For his spelling homework tonight, he had to write sentences with his spelling words. Tonight, he tried extra hard to be creative. I have been talking to him a lot about trying harder to do "A work" etc. Two of the sentences just need to be shared... I love it LOL

1. My dad is happy with his beautiful and talented wife.

10. Everyday, my mom weighs her weight (which doesn't weigh that much) on a scale.

hehehe how cute is that? I know the wording is all clumsy in that last one but it was too cute so I am not going to have him fix it. I probably should... but it is just too sweet!

OK... I was just about to hit send but I had to add this tidbit. As I am typing this, Chicken-hair is lying on the floor in my room, watching Gama working on the new tile he is laying in our bathroom. He just said, "When I am a man, I am going to buy a saw!"

Movies...

Movies I have recorded on my DVR that I keep watching over and over again (in 15-20 minute segments while I nurse Bucket usually) since Bucket has been born:

Best in Show
Blades of Glory
Breakfast Club
Dirty Dancing
Fried Green Tomatoes
Knocked Up
Nacho Libre
Pride and Prejudice
Waiting for Guffman

The two I have watched most are definitely Dirty Dancing and Fried Green Tomatoes.

When Kidney Boy was born, I kept watching Titanic over and over again. Every time I think of this movie, I think of his newborn time. I know it will be like that for Bucket's newborn time and Dirty Dancing and Fried Green Tomatoes.

With Chicken-hair, it was Sex & the City. People kept asking me if I named him after a character on the show and I had never seen the show. But that piqued my curiousity so I started watching the reruns on cable and got hooked. I lost interest though by the time the last season started and only watched it because I had seen everything else and really wanted to see what happened LOL

With Junior, it was the spanish video cable channel 39 in NY! I had that on almost all day long! We didn't have movie channels. We weren't even paying for cable. But I guess the cable company had left a few channels on from the last tenants. We had the spanish video channel, TBS, and the Indian singing channel. There was a lady who sang often on that channel who looked EXACTLY like Tony Danza from his Who's the Boss days LOL We referred to her as "The Tony Danza Woman."

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school! Everyone was super excited, especially Mommy! hehehe...

For Chicken-hair, today is his first day in the big kids' school building and his first day wearing a uniform. He has been at the school for 2 years but preschool and pre-K are in a separate building and the kids just wear playclothes. So his first day of Kindergarten was a real thrill! He put on his uniform this morning and said, "I look like a man!" He is in the same class as his best buddy and we are all very relieved about that! There are only 2 classes per grade in Kindergarten and sometimes 1st and sometimes 2nd. From 3rd grade on, there is always just one. So we only have to worry about that for a couple of years LOL Anyway, he had a great day and when we picked them up after school, he said, "This is the funnest day of my life!"

Junior started 4th grade today and also has something special this year. It is his first year that he is allowed to bring a rolling backpack. You would be surprised at how important that is to the kids! LOL They have been watching the older kids pull their wheeled backpacks across the playground for years, just waiting for their chance! When we picked them up after school, he told me that only one student didn't have wheels and he said, "I don't know WHY she wouldn't get a backpack with wheels!" He was really shocked that she would pass up the opportunity now that they finally are allowed LOL

Thrush update

OK so the ped. found a little of the thrush in his mouth so we are sure that is what it is. Well I was sure yesterday but obviously his doctor wasn't sure until he saw it today LOL

Good news: As long as we catch it fast, we are able to get rid of it fast. He went from 4 big patches last night to one small spot today.

He said to keep doing what we are doing with the Nystatin and if for some reason it doesn't go away completely, he will put him on the Diflucan again. He also said to try and get rid of the pacifiers because then there will be nothing to give it to him again. Using a mini makes him produce more saliva, making his mouth more wet and more able to grow yeast. I had read that already. We thought we could get rid of them today because Gama was pretty sure he could get him to sleep without it. But we weren't able to when we came home and tried to get him to nap. So we have decided for now to at least take it out of his mouth after he falls asleep. I will have to make sure to boil them everyday and give him brand new ones once the thrush is gone this time. Hopefully he won't get it again!

More good news: He is otherwise healthy and very happy. The thrush can't be bothering him too much. And he was 12 lb. 3 oz. which means he gained a pound and a half this month! =)

Here is a pic of him from this weekend:

More thrush...

This is so frustrating. I knew I would have to be on the lookout for it since we have dealt with it twice. But to be honest, I really didn't think it would come back again, at least not so soon.

I think this happened for two reasons. The main reason is that I forgot about boiling and replacing his minis(pacifiers) this time. The other is that we did the nystatin in his mouth for a week after it was gone and we probably should have gone 10-14 days. So once we stopped the nystatin, he kept using the minis which weren't sterilized or replaced and he got the thrush back.

So far, at least I am not showing signs of it. I was just about to stop doing my own medicine as I was getting to the end of one tube and figured that was when I'd stop. But last night, I opened a new tube. I have to do what it takes to keep my skin healthy so that I can keep nursing.

I am trying not to let it get me down too much. Thrush is something I am going to have to learn to live with, it seems.

Hunting for Transformers...

Junior just came in with a mini-con and asked me to hide it so that he and Chicken-hair could search for it with their transformers. When I went into their room, he grabbed one more mini-con and said to hide both. They each have a transformer and they went into my room so that I could hide the mini-cons.

I think this is going to work out great. It is totally keeping them busy and they are super excited about it. We might have to play this game everyday! LOL

Oh -- just as I was about to save this post, I heard Chicken-hair's voice, very excited, saying, "Mini-con! Mini-con! I found it!"

Adventures in nursing...

Bucket and I started out with a great breastfeeding relationship. For the first 10 days, everything was easy and I had no pain. I was cautiously optimistic, knowing that I had never made it to day 10 without having intense pain at the beginning of each feeding.

Well... after those first 10 days, the pain started. First I was just a little sore. Then I started to crack a little on each side. I tried my best to deal with it, using a lot of Lansinoh, pumping a little at the beginning of each feeding to draw it out so it would be easier for him to latch on, those sorts of things.

What I didn't realize was that Bucket had thrush, a terrible yeast infection, in his mouth. I saw the white stuff but thought it was from my Lansinoh and ignored it. Bucket gave it to me and suddenly my skin was bright red and I had more cracks! And the cracks felt like salt was being rubbed into them every time he latched on. The pain got more and more intense and I kept reading up on ways to help with soreness. Finally, after about a week, I realized that we both had thrush.

We went to the doctor and she put him on oral suspension Nystatin and me on Nystatin cream. Unfortunately, the infection was so bad, it didn't work enough. For the first few days, it was improving. But day 10 was just as bad as day 3 so we went back to the doctor. He put Bucket on diflucan which is taken once a day for 10 days and gets rid of the thrush from the inside out instead of just topically like the nystatin. He said I'd be fine as soon as Bucket got rid of it because he'd stop giving it to me. But I was miserable.

Two days later, I went for my 6 week check-up. I told my OB and she put me on diflucan too. First she just put me on 2 pills to be taken one that day and one a week later. But a couple of days after that, I was still so miserable, I called and got them to put me on a 10-day dose, like Bucket.

During those 10 days, I continued trying every cream and ointment I could get my hands on. I was pumping for as many feedings as I could, to try and rest my sore girls a little. The pump still worked them but not quite as hard. I was crying pretty much everyday as I was in pain and felt like nothing was working.

Finally, in the middle of the night, at 6.5 weeks, after fighting this infection for 4 weeks, I couldn't take it any longer. I told Gama to go ahead and buy formula. I was so depressed and beaten... I didn't know what to do. A few hours later, I told him I'd try to nurse sometimes and do formula for other feedings and see what happens. We gave him formula for 24 hours to try and let me heal. I nursed him the next day, once on each side, and felt a lot better. The day after that, I decided to try feeding him twice a day. By the second day doing that, the cracks were all open again and even the pump hurt. Feeling so defeated and so sad, I decided to stop altogether, at least for the time being. I didn't know what else to try and I had to heal.

When I got to the end of my 10-day dose, I called my OB to ask for more because I felt like it wasn't gone yet. She said she didn't want to give me anymore pills and that she thought my skin was probably just still irritated. She told me to use the nystatin mixed with desitin. I tried that for a couple of days, all the while still buying and trying new things, Grapefruit Seed Extract pills to take 3x a day, acidophillus pills 1x a day, Grapefruit Seed Extract spray to put on my skin, Lansinoh, Mustela healing cream, Nipple Nurture cream...

After the 5 days, I was so sad and brokenhearted over not nursing, I had to try it again. My cracks had all healed but my skin was still red and peeling and puffy. I decided to just try once a day on each side. I knew my milk was gone already and that it would be work to get it back. I knew he'd need bottles after but I needed to nurse him. I started doing the right side in the morning and the left at night. It was working OK.

On the third day doing that, we went to his doctor for his 8 week check-up. I told the doctor everything and he said that if I took the diflucan for 10 days, I probably didn't have the yeast anymore and really was irritated most likely. He gave me an antibacterial ointment and told me to use it with cortaid 4 times a day. Within a couple of days, my skin was sooooooooo much better. I was so relieved! The yeast really was gone!

A few days later, I started nursing 4x a day, twice on each side. Each side was getting 12 hours of rest in between feedings. I was doing OK. A few days like that and I moved up to 6x a day. After a couple of days, I went to 7x a day. And after like a day of that, I went back to all nursing. When I was at 6x a day, he stopped needing any formula after nursing. My milk was back. yay!

About a week after everything was back to normal, he got thrush again... I couldn't believe it. My left side started to crack a tiny bit where one of the old cracks had been. I was so scared and so depressed. Immediately, we started medicine on both of us. This time, the oral nystatin worked on Bucket. I was using Lotrimin because I have started to believe that the nystatin was too harsh for my skin. Within a day or two, all signs of yeast were gone. We also started giving him one bottle in the middle of the night to rest my skin a little bit. We kept up the meds and are still doing them today, a week after the yeast disappeared. Charlie's medicine is running out and we will probably only have enough to do it a few more times. But the yeast has been gone for a whole week so we should be OK for now.

If it comes back again, we will get the doctor to call in another prescription for the nystatin and I will go back to my meds too. As long as we catch it early, we should be able to get rid of it. And as long as I can get rid of it without cracking, I will be OK.

Bucket, born June 1, 2008

I can't believe Bucket is almost 11 weeks old and I haven't yet posted a birth story. Not only that, but I can't find the one I typed out and emailed...

Here goes. Wednesday, May 28, I had an appt. with my OB. She told me I was 3 cm dilated. That hadn't changed from the week before. The next day, we took the kids to Disneyland. I wanted to make sure we got one more trip in before the baby was born and our passes expired. I knew we wouldn't be buying new passes for a while. We walked around all day and the spotting I had been having started to increase a little.

Friday morning, I woke up with contractions. The lasted pretty much all day. They would subside for an hour or two at a time but I would also get them for 3-4 hours at a time, about every 5 minutes and strong enough that I paid attention to them. Friday night, we went to dinner at Spaghettini and I told Gama we better go to the hospital after dinner. He talked me into going home and I was actually able to sleep through the night although every time I woke to go to the bathroom, I was still having contractions.

Saturday morning, I still had them. While talking to my mom, I had to keep stopping to deal with them. She said I was crazy not to go to the hospital. I told her I was going to get ready for the day and maybe we'd all go to lunch first at least. My shower seemed to calm the contractions down. We went to lunch and I was contracting but OK. We headed to the mall next to buy shoes for Junior. While we were there, they started getting stronger and when I went to the bathroom, the spotting looked more like bleeding. I called the OB and got Dr. K because my doctor, Dr. A was not on call that weekend. He said to go get checked out.

My mom took the 3 boys home with her and we got to the hospital around 5 or 5:30. The nurses checked me and I was 4-5 cm. and -3 station. They called Dr. K and he said to keep me, based on the fact that I was almost 2cm further along than 3 days before and also that this was my fourth and I live 30 min. from the hospital. For the next 5 hours, I was monitored, walked around, etc. He got there at 10:30 and I was 6 cm. and -1 station. He broke my water and the very next contraction had me calling for the epidural LOL

About 90 minutes after having my water broken, he checked again and I was at 10! He told the nurse to let me "labor down" for 30 minutes and he left the room. About 10 minutes later, I started feeling a ton of pressure down there and the nurse said I could push against it if I wanted to and that it might make me feel better. It did! I pushed for about 10 minutes and they started seeing more and more of his head. They gave me the mirror to see for myself. I pushed for about another 5 minutes and one of the nurses said she better go get the doctor. She walked out the door and the other nurse went to the other side of the room to do something. Suddenly, I yelled out, "I feel his head moving! I think it is coming out!" She said, "It's OK!" and in one pop, there was his head LOL As the nurses came towards me and Dr. K walked into the room, I said, "He is coming!" and he said it was OK to push. As they got to me and grabbed his head, the rest of him popped out quickly LOL It hurt this time. I had the epidural but it must have been wearing off because I felt a lot. But it was so fast. I yelled OW OW OW OW OW!!! and then it was done!

They put him on my chest and covered us with my gown and the blanket and I just hugged him and kissed him and rubbed his back. They rubbed him down a little bit and let us hang out for a while before weighing him and stuff. He came into the world at 7 lb. 6 oz. and 20 inches. He is just so cute and has gotten cuter and cuter each and everyday. There is nothing like having a brand new baby look up at you with those sweet curious eyes!

BSS Family BBQ

We went to the 4th Annual BSS Family Barbecue yesterday and had so much fun. We have been every year since they started. The kids have a blast and as they are getting older, they are allowed more freedom and independence to run around and do some stuff on their own so they have even more fun. I love watching them run around with their friends, feeling so big and cool, and enjoying being at school with nothing to do but play.
Junior and Gama won one of the 3-legged races together. Junior ran another one with his buddy and Chicken-hair ran one with his little friend. They also had fun playing in the big games of musical chairs, and the limbo. Gama also took part in the grown-up versions of both of those games, mostly because I wasn't allowed. Two years ago, I was 7.5 months pregnant with Kidney Boy and fell down during the limbo contest and freaked out the guy who runs it and this year he laughed and said, "You are not allowed to play anything this year!" So Gama played instead.
Here are a few pics from the day. The first two are Chicken-hair and his little friend, before the 3-legged race. It was so cute, the way they were standing there with their arms around each other. She put her arm around Chicken-hair first and was rubbing his back, and had her hand on his bottom without realizing it. Her mother Socie and I were cracking up! It was the funniest thing. The last picture is of Chicken-hair and Junior, sharing an iced tea that Chicken-hair went over and bought all on his own. He also went to the hair-painting booth on his own. He was such a big kid yesterday! He just kept asking me for money to go do things.

Chicken-hair

We had Madagascar in the DVD player tonight and they made mention of the lion being the king of the jungle and Chicken-hair said, "Shamu is the most king." and then 2 seconds later, "But Jesus is the MOSTEST King." I thought that was cute. =)

Kidney Boy singing

Kidney Boy sings constantly. He sings everything they sing at daycare and everything we sing at home. He sings along with TV shows, the car stereo -- everything. Some favorites of his:

Twinkle, twinkle
the alphabet
5 little monkeys jumping on the bed
5 little monkeys sittin' in a tree
Itsy bitsy spider

He does these with hand signs and everything. During 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed, he screams the line "NO MORE 'BUNKEYS' JUMP-A-BED!" and during 5 little monkeys sittin' in a tree, he loves to say (with giant hand signs) "EEEEEEEE-NAP DAT BUNKEY OUT-A-TREE!"

Junior's limerick

Junior got in the car after school on Friday and told me the limerick he made up:

There once was a boy named Gama,
who got a new pet llama.
He brought it to school,
thinking it was cool,
but the teacher chased him home to his Mama!

Kidney Boy's doctor visit on Wed. 4/16

Kidney Boy might end up with tubes in his ears. When he was dxed with asthma in December, I was hopeful that fixing that would end the ear infections and that at least he might not need tubes. But his asthma is under control and he still has fluid in his ears and is getting infections again. He had antibiotics that didn't do the trick and today as a last effort, he got a shot of lidocaine at the doctor's. We will bring him back in 3 weeks and if there is no improvement in the fluid level, we will be sent to an ENT.

I am really unhappy about the tubes. I hate that they will have to put him under and even though I know it is a routine thing and most kids do fine, I can't help but worry about other things like possible complications that I have read about. One good piece of news is that he gets to come off his asthma meds for now. He should be able to stay off of them until the weather gets cold again. So at least that is something to be happy about.

A Chicken-hair funny

The other day, Kidney Boy was playing with a broken remote control that belonged to a car. I don't think it ever worked and it is just one of those things that we never throw away for some crazy reason. The little battery compartment door is long gone and it probably hasn't had batteries in it since the day after we got it and realized it didn't work.

Suddenly, Chicken-hair yelled out, "Mommy! Kidney Boy has the remote control and he is touching the technology!" LOL I didn't realize what he meant by it at first but a day or two later, I was putting batteries in one of the Wii remotes and he said, "Mommy, be careful not to touch the technology!" so I guess he means the inside of the battery compartment! hehehe...

Parent/Teacher conferences

We went to see Mrs. S first. She said Junior is doing a great job. He has improved not only in his work, but in his attitude. He still needs improvement in some areas, like staying focused and not talking so much, and putting more work and pride into his artwork and handwriting. We were so proud, listening to everything Mrs. S had to say about his recent growth. She is definitely a teacher who expects a lot and it was nice to see that she is impressed with his efforts.

I told her that we always discuss with him how he needs to take more pride in his artwork assignments and handwriting because those will be easy grades to bring up if he just puts a little more effort into his assignments. I told her that his uncle and grandfather have terrible penmanship and I think he takes after them a bit. I know he can print neatly if he takes a lot of time but even just going at a normal pace, he has so much trouble making neat letters. She seems to think he could do a lot better than he is doing and did show me a couple of examples of good writing from him. I know it is possible. And as for his artwork, she said, "He is a wonderful artist! I know he can do it! His only problem is waiting until the last minute to do an assignment and then, for instance, drawing something quickly and not coloring it in." I know what she is talking about because sometimes he will have to draw something as part of an assignment and he will do it as fast as he can and I will ask him to do it over and take a little time and the difference will be amazing.

But overall, she gave us such a good report. She said he is such a good, sweet boy. And she is so proud of the growth he has shown. It made me feel so good to see that she obviously likes him so much.

Next, we went to see Mrs. S and Mrs. J. They had so many wonderful things to say about Chicken-hair. Mrs. S is his main teacher so she spoke the most about his improvements in his behavior. He started out the year not having any problems behaving or listening. And then after our trip to Mexico over Christmas, he came back a little wound up and had some trouble getting back into his routine. He actually took at least a month to start behaving like his old self at school again. It wasn't anything extreme, but just a notable difference. Mrs. S said that he has definitely gone back to his old self, having no problem behaving. He listens and does what he is told. She is very impressed with how quickly he is learning to read and both teachers mentioned how hard he is trying to improve his artwork -- fine motor skills.

And then Mrs. S started talking about what kind of boy he is. She said he really gets so excited about religion and we mentioned that we have noticed the same. I told them that they must be incredible religion teachers because he is so fired up about it. Mrs. S went on to say that he is such a kind boy, showing so much kindness to his friends all the time. She said, "He is just beautiful. He really is. He is so beautiful inside." And then she grabbed a tissue and said, in a half-joking way, "I mean it! I am going to have to grab a tissue because it will make me cry!" and we chuckled a little but I saw that her eyes filled up with tears. I started to say something to ease the tension but it took her a couple of minutes for her eyes to stop tearing up. I was so touched. We have noticed that she really seems to care so much for him, but to see it like that -- I was going to start crying, myself!

We left the school feeling so happy. Not only are we so proud of our boys, but we feel like they are just in such a great environment. They are being challenged but they are being cared for and loved. Today is just one of those days that all feels right with the world =)

Gama's new wetsuit.

I wanted to see Gama try it on but when we got to the place to pick it up, Leo was asleep so I sat in the car with the kids while Gama went in. So at night when we got home, Gama brought it upstairs. I was sitting at the computer, checking my email. He put it on the bed and started to unzip the outer piece. Suddenly I said, "Oh crap, did you remember to throw the baby's shirt in with that laundry that you just started?" Kidney Boy had spilled icee down his shirt and I soaked it and put it in a plastic bag until we got home. Gama had forgotten to add it and the wash was already started so he ran downstairs to get it out of the car and throw it in.

I knew I only had like 3-4 minutes. But I knew it would be hilarious. So I pulled off my PJ shirt and separated the pieces of the wetsuit. The first part you put on is one piece that basically covers you like a tank top and pants. You undo one shoulder and then pull the whole thing on. After that is on, the other piece is like a big tuxedo coat that has one leg you have to step into because it goes down to your knees. The other leg you pull together and that is where the zipper is. I knew there was no way in hell I was getting it zipped up over my pregnant stomach -- I was shocked I got into the other part so successfully.

I heard the garage door slam shut and I ran into the bathroom. Gama got to the top of the stairs and didn't see his wetsuit on the bed and started laughing before he even got into the room. And there I was... in the bathroom, 7 months pregnant and wearing his wetsuit. We were both laughing so hard... I was crying. I just couldn't stop laughing. I couldn't believe I actually did it. I felt like a penguin. The suit was so thick and I was so stuck into it, I was waddling hahaha... I should have taken a picture. It would make a good myspace default. It would certainly keep guys from sending me friend requests ROFL

Snow Day

We took the kids to the mountains today, to play in the snow. We stopped at McDonald's for lunch just before getting to the mountains. The kids were maybe as excited to eat there as they were to be heading to the snow! I saw a lady with 6 girls at her table, the oldest was probably 11 and the youngest maybe 9 months. I wanted to ask her if they were all hers but felt shy. I noticed her checking us out a little and I think she wanted to ask us if we were having another boy but she looked a little shy too. When we made eye contact, we both looked away LOL But later, Gama asked me my opinion on a boy name, I can't remember which, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her head pop up.

Anyway, we got to the snow and Gama first took Junior and Chicken-hair to do some sledding while I popped Finding Nemo into the DVD player for Kidney Boy. I had no plans to even walk in the snow. Two years ago, while pregnant with Kidney Boy, I tried at least playing around a little in the snow and I slipped and fell and scared the crap out of myself so I wasn't about to go through that again.

After about 90 minutes, I yelled to Gama to come get Kidney Boy. Chicken-hair was ready to rest anyway so we traded little ones and they played for about 20 minutes. At that point, Junior started having a fit about something and Gama was just exhausted. They all came back to the car, Kidney Boy crying for more sledding. I felt so bad. He loved it and unfortunately didn't get much time doing it. Next time, we'll make sure to let him join in a little earlier. I just didn't want Gama to have his hands too full when I couldn't even hang out in the snow to help him.

I logged so many hours in the front seat of the van today, I don't even want to sit in this computer chair LOL

Junior's blinking

We took Junior to the doctor yesterday. For the last few years, he has had this little nervous habit of scrunching up his face and blinking hard. He does it when he is on stage at school concerts or when he is reading something to a group. He will blink hard and scrunch his nose and wipe his face, those sorts of things. Gama does stuff like that sometimes (like when he made a video and was speaking right into the camera) so we didn't worry too much about it. But just recently, the blinking has gotten more and more. It started to look more like his actual eyeballs were bothering him because sometimes he wouldn't scrunch his face, just blink normally but very often. And then last weekend, he started winking one eye on and off. He doesn't do it constantly but now that I think about it, it is usually while he is talking to us. I don't see him do it much when he is doing homework or something.

He just had his vision tested at school and while they haven't given me the results yet, he said he was able to easily read everything the woman told him to and that she said he did a perfect job. His vision doesn't seem to be affected which was a relief to me but I just wanted to make sure he was OK. I had tried giving him Visine drops and it is always a fight because he doesn't want to open his eyes for them.

So we went to the doctor and he looked at both of his eyes, including some little spots that I noticed last weekend in the white part of his left eye which happens to be the eye he is winking. He said the spots don't look like anything (Chicken-hair happens to have a little one in one of his eyes too and doesn't have any blinking issues) and that his eyes don't look dry or like he has allergies. He pointed out that they aren't bloodshot at all and that they look very healthy. He looked at them a lot with his light, bringing it back and forth in front of his eyes.

What he really thinks is going on, after examining his eyes and then watching him play around in the room with Chicken-hair and Kidney Boy, and seeing the blinking, is that it is just a nervous tick. He said they come and go and that he might have a new blinking tick in addition to the scrunching up his face one and that the winking might be even another one. He told me that the most important thing to do is to not call attention to it. He said if it gets excessive, to bring him back. I asked him what he meant by excessive and he said, "If the teacher mentions it to you" which his teachers never have. So we are keeping our eye on it for now, but that is it.

Junior story from 2004

This happened on Nov. 18, 2004:

Tonight, Junior's Religion homework was to dictate a letter to me. It is a family letter, thanking God for all of our blessings. I wrote exactly what he said to me. I thought it was really nice and pretty cute too (of course I always think the stuff he does is cute LOL) But I did think that you would enjoy this...


Nov. 18, 2004

Dear God,

You are not mean. And we love everything that You do for us on the planet Earth. Thank You, God, for our pets. We love the Bible Book that You made for us. And when we are scared, we must put our hands on our hearts because we know You are saying, "I love you." Thank You, God, for electricity. You are the Whole Mighty. Thank You, God, for food. Thank you, God, for our family. We know that every child is Yours, because You made everyone.

Love,
The Rodriguez Family
Christine, Gama,
Jr. and Chicken-hair

St. Faustina

We were driving in the car tonight and Chicken-hair said, "Why don't I learn a lot about science?"

I told him, "You will learn a lot about science in school. Trust me! And actually, you already learn some science now." I was about to remind him that he learned a lot about dinosaurs, spiders, and snakes.

But before I could say anything else, he said, "Well, I learned about St. Faustina."

Gama said, "A ver... que aprendiste de St. Faustina?"

And Aidan said, "I don't remember."

Juan Diego's grandpa

Saturday morning, Chicken-hair got into bed with us and started telling us the story of Juan Diego and the Virgin Mary. When he got to the end, he looked over at this picture,


which has been in our room for about 2 years, and said, "And there is the Virgin Mary, bringing his grandpa back to life." I asked him whose grandpa and he said, "Juan Diego! He died and Mary is bringing him back to life!"

I explained to him that it is Pope John Paul II and that he is giving respect to the Virgin Mary who is comforting him. But I think he liked his own version better LOL

Chicken-hair, the faker!

Yesterday, Chicken-hair pretended he felt sick so that the school would call me to come get him!

It all started last week. Junior and Chicken-hair both got very sick. In fact, they gave it to me and to Gama as well. Gama got so sick, he ended up with an infection in his lungs. Anyway, Junior missed school Monday and Tuesday. He went back to school Wednesday but got sick again and they called me to come get him. While I was there, I picked Chicken-hair up early too and it turns out he was just starting to come down with what Junior had. They both stayed home Thursday and Junior went back Friday. Chicken-hair didn't go back until Monday.

So this week, he keeps saying he can't go to school. He just wants to stay with me. He is perfectly healthy. Well yesterday, his teacher saw that his nose was running constantly and his eye was watering. These are just the leftover symptoms from being sick last week. He had clogged tear ducts as a baby and to this day, his eyes water when he gets a cold.

She didn't know that and wanted to be sure he was OK so she asked him if he felt sick. Seeing his opportunity, he said he was. She asked him what hurt and he said his arms. LOL He came up with that one because he has some dry skin on his arms that I have been putting thick lotion on. The school calls me. I show up and find him on the floor, playing blocks with his friends, swinging them around like crazy. I told him, "Chicken-hair, your arms look fine. Do they really hurt?" At this point, Mrs. S starts telling me about his issues, nose, eyes, etc. The whole time she is telling me, he has a little smirk like he is trying not to laugh. I said, "Look at him!" LOL

She told him she wasn't happy that he told her a fib and that she didn't want him to laugh about it because it isn't funny. He has to be honest with her and not say he is sick unless he is. So he felt bad and told her OK and he and I had a little talk about it later too. He said, "But I just wanted to be with you!" How can you yell at a kid for that? hehehe...

Today, he promised to tell the truth all day and to be a good boy at school. So far it is lunchtime and they haven't called me yet!

Birdie Munch

Yesterday, Chicken-hair fell asleep on the couch for about 90 minutes. Later, when he woke up, he said, "Mommy... I want to see Birdie-munch." I had no idea what he was talking about and he said, "You know -- the show we saw yesterday with all the kids." Brady Bunch! hahaha...

I saw it is on one of those local stations in the afternoon and had decided to try and get the boys into it because they watch those annoying Drake and Josh and iCarly shows. Sure enough, it was a big hit. They love it and I would rather have them watching that. Chicken-hair was bummed when he realized he missed it yesterday. I promised him he could watch it today.

Chicken-hair's idea, last night...

Chicken-hair came up to me while I was typing something on the computer.

Chicken-hair: What if Junior and Daddy and me and you, not Kidney Boy... he can babysit with Meemaw, but all of the rest of us can sell puppy chow?

(He means the crispix/peanut butter/chocolate/powdered sugar treat that Connie taught me how to make ages ago. I make it every year at Christmastime and He LOVES it.)

Still Chicken-hair: ...and you could make it and we could sell it and everyone would come and buy it and give us money!

Me: Well, that is a nice idea but where would we sell it?

Chicken-hair: (thinks for a minute first) How about if Daddy could make something with wood and he could paint it and we could see it there? (as he said this, he motioned with two fingers on each hand, like a house-shape)

I just loved the "Kidney Boy can babysit with Meemaw" part especially LOL

Kidney Boy is done nursing...

My Kidney Boy -- at least he gave me up gradually. He gave up his bedtime feeding 2-3 months ago. He just didn't want it anymore and started fighting and crying when I'd try to do it. He was down to morning and naptime. And then naptime became such a chore. It was hard if we were out and about because he was too distracted and didn't stay latched on. I realized he was getting bored with that one too so one day I was going to stop offering it at naptime. I forgot and tried to offer it and he wouldn't take it. Kelly was there and she joked and said, "Well HE remembered!" LOL So were down to morning. Last week, he stopped taking my left side. On leftie days, he just wouldn't do it. He'd latch on, break right off, poke me, and babble some complaint and struggle to get down. And then a couple of days ago, he wouldn't latch on my right either.

I am so broken-hearted! I will never look down at him nursing again. He'll never smack me in the boob while he nurses, or break off to tell me something and latch back on. That special time for us is in the past now. I got just what I wanted though. He nursed until he was ready to stop. He has no stress or sadness over it. And I know I will be just fine in a few days or so. And it is nice that they will belong to me again for a few months before the new little nursling comes along to claim them for himself!

Definitely a BOY!!

I keep forgetting to enter this here. We went for the bit 18 week u/s on Jan. 8 and my doctor confirmed that this is definitely a little boy! It was so exciting to get the confirmation and to know for sure. We went out that afternoon and bought him a little outfit to celebrate =)

So now we are focusing on the boy names and the two frontrunners at this time are Henry and Fernando. Henry was one I suggested when I was pregnant with Kidney Boy but Gama wasn't crazy about it. Now he does like it. Chicken-hair loves it and just keeps asking us to name him Henry. Fernando is one that has been on our list since our pregnancy with Chicken-hair. Gama's great grandfather, his little abuelita's father was Fernando. Gama has nice memories of him. And I just happen to love that name. It is one of my favorite Mexican names. So we'll see =)

So now for the picture. It is hard to see but try to imagine the way you would lie on your back on your bed to watch TV, with your head propped up against the headboard. His head was in a funky position and she just couldn't get a good shot of it so you can't see his head well at all. But you can see his body, bottom, and legs which are crossed at the ankles.

Christmas season in Mexico

We had such a wonderful trip. We left the day after Christmas.

It started out a little hairy -- our flight was delayed and we spent almost 7 hours in the airport before taking off! But even with no stroller for Kidney Boy, it worked out better than I'd have expected. We bought treats for the kids and they were surprisingly well-behaved. Then, upon arriving in Leon, we discovered that the plane had been overloaded with luggage and they took random pieces off, one of them being Kidney Boy's carseat. We had to drive 2 hours to Santa Rosa with him in a seatbelt. I wasn't happy about that but there was nothing else to do.

We got to Gama's mom's and dad's house pretty late but they had some food waiting for us. We ate and chatted for a while and then went to Paola's house where we were going to be staying. They have built 2 big bedrooms upstairs and our room had 2 full-size beds with a pack-and-play in between for Kidney Boy. There was a TV with cable and a DVD player, racks to hang clothes, shelves for other clothes and a little desk/dresser with a couple of small drawers. It was such a nice room.

The next day, we hung out with the family, bouncing around from house to house. We also took a quick trip to Walmart for diapers and wipes. It was just mostly a nice day of visiting.

Friday came and everything was buzzing. Brittany's quinceañera party was that night. We went to the hall to help everyone set up. The kids ran around and I tried to help Connie's mom with the napkin holders. Mostly, I chased Leo, though LOL

Friday night was wonderful. Brittany was a vision in her pink dress. She is such a beautiful girl. The mass was beautiful too, said by Gama's cousin, Padre Mayito. I love his sermons. He has such a way of speaking. He relays his messages so beautifully, yet not overdone or stuffy. I always come away with stuff that stays with me and that will always come back to me later on. After the mass, we headed to the party. It was a blast. The music was great. I danced a lot. Vivian and Erasmo came with their twins and it was so much fun to see them there. Brittany's choreographed dances went so well. She looked great. Gama started crying when his dad started dancing with her. He knew that her uncles would follow and that Pancho wasn't there to dance with her. He came back from dancing with her, still crying. After those dances, the slideshow started with so many tear-jerking pictures. We were all misty-eyed. Then the picture of Brittany with Pancho popped up and everyone just burst into tears. Gama was so sad. But the slideshow ended with all these gorgeous pictures of the beautiful young woman she has become and everyone clapped and then they announced her last choreographed dance, the hip-hop number. She and all the chambelanes had changed into street clothes and as the music started, fireworks went off inside the hall! It was so cool. A few of the younger girls ran around them, shooting them with silly string. It was quite a sight. The whole night was so much fun and Brittany was glowing. Her boyfriend Efren was there too and it was very obvious how crazy they are about each other. Young love... =)

The next day was my birthday. We didn't have any big plans. We had to make another trip to Walmart for a few things. In the evening, we went to Mayra's house and she was having a little get-together for everyone. Gama had them get me a cake too and they all sang to me later in the evening. That was nice. Then when they made me take a bite of the cake, Connie tipped the cake up to my face to cover me with icing LOL

Over the next few days, we hung out and visited with everyone, mostly just taking it easy. We made a few trips into the city and took a lot of walks around the town. The big New Year's eve party went great at Gama's abuelita's house. Kidney Boy had a bit of wheezing because it was so cold out but his asthma was really getting better. The next day, we spent almost the entire day at his abuelita's house again, for the "recalentado" but luckily, they made new food instead of reheating the stuff from the night before LOL On the 3rd, a photographer came and took pictures of the family. Afterwards, we went to Church for Pancho's monthly mass. Connie and Lupe and their group left on the 4th.

On the 5th, we went to the mercado and tianguis. The mercado and tianguis run all day long that day, in preparation for Three Kings Day the next day. Everyone has to do their shopping. The place was packed all day long. We hung out a lot in Gama's mom's "post" and walked around and did our own shopping too. We also bought the boys a little turtle. Paola said she'd keep it for them. They named him Swimmy =) When we got home that night, they each left a shoe under the tree.

The 6th was a lot of fun. The kids woke up and found what the Three Kings left them under the tree. They were so excited. We went to Gama's mom's house and then into the city, to show the kids the huge nacimiento display they have in the center of the city. It is awesome. It takes up this huge town square area. There are several smaller displays all set up next to each other. There are all kinds of animals, a set-up of the Visitation, a big nacimiento with Mary, Joseph, Jesus, the shepherds, the Three Kings arriving, etc. and there is even a section on the outside corner with devils. It is very impressive. After seeing that, we walked over to Gama's old school. He only went there for 2 semesters and hadn't been back in 20 years. The school's front door was open and we went in and walked around. He was filled with memories. The place was incredible, just like all the buildings in Queretaro. I took a bunch of pictures. It was such a fun excursion.

The 7th was our day to leave. First we had to run into the city to get a correction issued for Kidney Boy's baptismal certificate. It has his last name as Rodriguez Robin. They were a little confused and thought that my last name was Robin. Also, they don't realize that kids in the states don't use a matrinimic. We got the correction and now Paola will have to take it to the church we had the baptism in so that they can issue a new certificate.

We went to say goodbye to Gama's "little grandma" -- his dad's mom. We had said goodbye to almost everyone else the night before. His little grandma always cries so much. She always says she might not see us again. She is 95 but doing good. She is frail and tiny but mentally she is all there and she gets around pretty good for 95. We should all be that lucky.

We went to the airport and that is where we said goodbye to Gama's parents and to Paola and Erick. It was so hard and everyone cried. Our flight home wasn't delayed and it was mostly smooth with just a little turbulence about an hour before we landed. The kids were wild though, because Chicken-hair and Kidney Boy slept the 2 hour drive to the airport. So neither one fell asleep on the plane this time! It wasn't easy but we made it LOL

So that is most of it...

Kidney Boy's asthma check-up

We took Kidney Boy in today for a follow-up visit. I told his doctor how we had to use the inhaler until like the 30th and then not again until the night of the 31st and only once that night and not again since. He listened to his lungs and checked his ears and was very happy with the way he looks and sounds. He said he thinks it is just a "tiny bit of asthma" which made me so happy. He said for now, let's keep up with the singulair once a day and see what happens the next time he catches a cold. He said if he doesn't wheeze, we know the singulair is doing the trick and that his current dose is fine. If he wheezes with his next cold, we have to try something new. He said he is almost sure he will only need meds during the cold months. I am glad our cold season is so short.

I loved hearing the words "tiny bit." I really feel like he is going to outgrow this. And as much as I hate having to give him a pill every night, it is such a relief to finally have him breathing normally and not wheezing and coughing and producing a ton of mucus. And the ears! I was so afraid he was going to need tubes. Now that he is not getting sick over and over again, his ears are staying clear.