On the mend....and Paul's first pool experience

Well first off I should apologize for not posting in such a long time - I've gotten several nudges to get some pics and vids posted. Things have been SO busy!

As of last Friday, Paul really turned a corner with his post procedure recuperation. Last week was pretty rough on all of us, but it was so nice to see things really start to heal by the end of the week. We took the week off to stay home with him and then he went back to "school" this week. He still doesn't like to be dropped off in the morning, but seems to have fun during the day.

We continue to have very HOT weather - very humid and miserable. This past weekend we decided to blow up Paul's pool and have some splashy fun. Jason blew up the pool (lots of hot air involved there) while I got Paul in his swim diaper, trunks and slathered on the sunscreen. All that work, and Paul only played in the pool for 5 minutes before he wanted to get out....go figure!

Daddy easing Paul into the pool......


Just chillin' under the shade of the palm trees.....


Here's some video from Paul's pool fun.



Paul still loves his bubble mower even though it doesn't bubble very well.
Paul is such a happy little man.....here's some funny video from a recent meal. He was just randomly cracking up which in turn made me crack up. Too cute!

On a more somber note - I saw a Lifelink Waiters forum post yesterday from one of my online adoption friends. A family working through Lifelink (the agency that we also used) has been waiting to bring their son home for an abnormally long time....they received their referral, with pictures and medical report (I remember how excited we were to put a face to our dream of a son). They had been waiting to receive their travel call which was taking much longer than "normal". In a strange turn of events, they were notified that the biological parents of their son had changed their minds and decided to maintain custody of their children. I cannot even imagine the pain and grief that Kara and her family is experiencing......we were in love with little Paul from the minute we saw his pudgy little face......losing him would be devastating even without having met him in person. Please hold Kara and her family in your prayers.

Stay cool....

A small setback today....

We continue to work through Paul's recuperation....and today took a turn in the wrong direction. I won't go into any details here, but it is bad stuff. Daddy was the hero today and did some things that I didn't think either one of us could. So, we will continue on this recovery journey and hope that tomorrow is better than today!

On a happier note, Gram and Pa drove up to pick up Jon and Jake on Monday. The boys are staying for a few days - good for the boys and Gram and Pa...and nice for Julie to have some quiet time.

The boys (who are in complete LOVE with the little man) with Pa and Paul......

The 3 boys playing together.....

Here is some video of the boys trying to entertain Paul.....

Today was my second day home with the little man.....he has happy moments and some VERY unhappy moments. It's hard to be frustrated at him since I know he is in pain, but the moodiness is not any fun for anyone.

He was playing with his cleaning cart today and carried the mop around everywhere. You have to be careful that he doesn't whack you with it on accident. He was gnawing on the handle all day too.

Cheesy boy....check out his new haircut - VERY short, but he looks cute!

A book in one hand and Elmo in the other.....

Here is Paul showing off his dancing moves with Elmo.....

I went into Paul's room tonight and found Rascal snoozing in Paul's chair....too cute!

And this was our THIRD bath of the day...seriously.....it's part of the healing process.....at least we try to have fun while spending so much time in the bathroom. Today was 60 minutes total....ack!

Daddy - did you seriously put this thing on my head???

And check out the HUGE lump above his left eye - right before his bath, he ran towards the metal baby gate and took a header into one of the rails. That's gonna leave a serious bruise!

Fingers crossed that Paul's little body heals quickly!

A busy weekend with Paul recuperating!

Wow - our little man is such a trooper. He is quite clearly in a decent amount of discomfort after his surgical procedure on Friday, but he has really hung in there and rallied through it all. We spent Saturday running errands - not my favorite thing to do, but we must have groceries, right?? We tried to lay low as much as possible to let Paul get some rest. He is on pain medication that makes him a tad bit sleepy and we want his little body to have the time it needs to heal. I will admit that it is tough to try to explain to a 1 year old that he should be taking it easy.

Paul finally sat in his Scooby chair.....and daddy showed him how to push back and make it recline (even though I don't think it is really supposed to recline).

Today was a busy one for us. We went to Mass at St. Mary's in East Moline - it was the last Sunday Mass as the Diocese is closing the church due to the priest shortage. This is the church where Jason's parents were married, he and his brother attended when they were kids and many family memories were made. We met his parents there and attended together one last time. Afterwards, we headed over to their place for pancakes - yummo!

We ran home to get Paul a nap and daddy got the lawn mowed - it has rained so darn much, it has been tough to find the window to actually mow. After daddy got cleaned up, we headed to a graduation party and then to GranJo's for dinner! We had a nice dinner and then headed into the backyard for some bubble blowing fun!

Cool bubbles......

Daddy - you blew a bubble in my eye!

Maybe if I just grab it really gently???

I have decided to stay home with Paul on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Jason will stay home on Wednesday and Paul goes to Gram and Pa's on Thursday as part of our normal schedule. We can see how the week goes and make the call on Friday as well. I just want Paul to stay out of the daycare scene until he heals up a little bit and feels a bit more normal. Diaper changes are rough and we would prefer that it is family taking care of it for now.

Hopefully I can get some work done during the day - it is a busy time for me at work and these are the moments that make it hard to have the right balance!

Paul's surgery was a success!

Is today over yet??? It certainly feels like it should be - I was up at 4:15 and Jason followed around 4:45.....we had to be at the hospital for Paul's circumcision by 5:30!! Ugh! We woke Paul up right before we had to leave, changed his diaper and threw some shoes on him....and off we went! We took a large bag of toys knowing full well that we would have a few hours to stay busy between our check-in and when they took him back to the surgery suite.

I must admit that I was pretty worried that a sleepy little man + a hungry little man would = a CRANKY little man. However, he was really in a pretty great mood the entire time. The nurses were just great and fell completely in love with our little man. He played with toys in his room and then we would wander the halls (and then repeat this over and over) - he made lots of friends today!

They came to take him right at 7:15......he got the ride of honor in the arms of his anesthesiologist. He screamed a little when they took him, but not nearly as much as we thought he would. The procedure only took about 30 minutes and his urologist came in to let us know that everything went very well. About 20 minutes later, the PACU nurses carried in our little man - completely conked out from the general anesthetic! I sat with him in the recliner for 45 minutes or so and then it was time to wake him gently so we could check the dressing. He woke up in a good mood - they checked the dressing (which looked good) and removed his IV (in his foot - yuck). The only rule was that he had to eat something and drink something before we left.

He snarfed an entire banana and had some water - we were all happy! So, we're home now and he is playing in the family room. We have to be careful as he is a little clumsy due to the anesthesia. They said to take it easy today - what exactly does that mean for a 1 year old??? HA!

We might go grab a burger for lunch and depending on the weather hit the bike path for a walk. The fresh air will do us all some good - although a NAP sounds pretty good to me right now! The anticipation and nervousness of preparing for this day as well as the early morning has completely EXHAUSTED the both of us. While I know that this is a pretty routine procedure and he is only under anesthetic for a short time, I still have the mommy worry wart syndrome! Jason was much calmer but he is pooped out as well.

And, of course we documented the morning with pictures - you would expect nothing less from us! Thanks everyone for their prayers and emails of support. They are all appreciated very much!


Paul in his pjs and shoes before leaving the house - not sure why he is playing with Jason's belt??


Getting a lift from daddy in the hallways.....

Do I really have to wear this gown mommy?

His room had the perfect ledge for his toys - check out the shoes WITH the gown and the diaper hanging out the back.....priceless!

Of course he found the low shelf with all the magazines in the hallway....that kept him entertained for a good 5 minutes!

And here is the sleeping little man when they brought him back to us.....we just stared at his precious little face.

And now the little man is melting down which means we will try to get him to take a nap....and we might too!

Paul's art project......

Today was Day 1 of Week 2 for Paul's new "school" routine. He had a really good day today - he ate well, slept well, played nicely AND they did an art project today. Paul had a blast finger painting with COOL WHIP.

Here's our little artist showing off his masterpiece!

And here's a closeup of the Cool Whip creation......after these photos were taken, it was quickly thrown in the trash - Cool Whip doesn't really set up very well on paper.We did the normal evening routing - family dinner, bath time with daddy (while mommy cleaned up the kitchen) and then it was playtime in pj's for Paul. As you all know by now, this is his favorite time of the day and we had a blast watching him. He has a whole hour tonight for pj playtime.

Wrestling with daddy......

Bad, bad daddy.....you need a spanking!

Riding on his Tonka truck.....

I LOVE my big sister Maya......

Paul is attempting to learn how to whistle....not sure why he has picked this up, but it is darn cute when he does it. He has also mastered the art of actually TIPPING his sippy cup to be able to drink from it. He is doing much more on his own now - it's cute to see his skills grow with each new day. Here is some video of him showing both of these new skills.....

And here's a video from pj playtime....this one still makes me laugh so hard that I have tears in my eyes.....too much fun!



And finally.....my nerdy hubby (he is an IT guy through and through) decided last Friday that he needed a project....a surprise project that is. So, we made 2 stops at different Radio Shack stores for him to pick up the necessary supplies (Paul and I had to wait in the car since it was a surprise). He spent a few hours working on this project after Paul went to bed......he was SO proud when he emerged from his office with the completed project.

As only MY husband could even contemplate, he constructed an infrared camera to mount above Paul's crib so we can see what he is doing at night after we put him to bed. The best part is that he only spent $20 on this device....he re-purposed an old web camera and mounted it in a small plastic box with infrared lights on it. So, the camera uses the infrared (which emits no visible light) to be able to see in the dark. He has it streaming from 7pm to midnight on a secure website. So, we can access it from any computer with the login and password. At first I thought this was a silly thing to spend time on, but it is a total riot to watch Paul in there. He's a mobile sleeper so this really proves how mobile he really is. Check out this still shot from earlier this evening.

Hope your week is off to a great start.....

Sushi and ice cream....we must be celebrating!

Paul made it through his first week in his new "school" routine.....whoo hoo. It was an interesting week - Monday (day 1) went decently well for him considering it was his very first day....Tuesday (day 2) was better than day 1 and Paul moved to 1 long nap in the middle of the day....Wednesday (day 3) was better than day 2....we were on a roll! Thursday was his first day at Gram and Pa's - he had lots of fun, but didn't nap very well. And today, it all just fell apart.....Paul awoke at 4:30am....yes, you read that correctly - that isn't even morning, it is still middle of the night! He had a rough day at school with only a 30 minute snooze all day long. Yikes!

He fell asleep on the way home from school so we let him sleep in his car seat with Jason in the car while I got his bag ready to head out for dinner....he ended up taking a 30 minute cat nap when all was said and done.

We chose sushi for dinner - Paul had some jarred food and fried noodles. The wait staff at the restaurant just fawned ALL over Paul - it was cute and he loved the attention (most of the time). We had a nice dinner and then decided to splurge with ice cream! It was a fun evening.

We got Paul home a little late for his normal bedtime, so we are hoping that he sleeps a little later than 4:30 tomorrow!!

So, no pictures, but wanted to give you all an update. Next week will be better - he just needs some time to adjust to all the new people.

We are hoping for some decent weather this weekend, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen! Lots of little things and errands to do - it will be nice to spend time all together.

Full bellies and sleeping child might equal early bedtime for mommy and daddy tonight!

Paul's first day of "school"....

....and we ALL survived! The little fella has had so much change in his young life, but man I must say he is certainly resilient. Due to the major diaper rash issue, Jason ran Paul into the walk-in clinic at our pediatrician this morning. He was first in line - right at 7am - so he was in and out fairly quickly. I had been at work for over a hour at that point, so he swung by and picked me up so that we could BOTH take Paul to "school" for his first day.

Everyone at Skip-A-Long were SO great to us today - they were so excited to see Paul when we got there....VERY welcoming. We hung out for a few minutes and then got ready to leave - there was some unhappiness on Paul's part, but we expected that.

I called mid-day to check in....got a positive report.....felt better! I picked Paul up at 4pm and he was thrilled to see me! Overall, they said it was a solid first day - he slept some (not as much as normal, but we'll get there), ate well and played well with the teachers and kids. We are so lucky to have my friend Laura's twins in Paul's classroom - Jack and Grace are 2 months older than Paul and we found out that the 3 of them will move to the next room together which is nice.

So, overall a positive day - tough on all of us, but it will get easier as we get more into the routine.


Whoo hooo mommy.......
Paul in action.....wheee.......

Cutie pie......

Here kitty, kitty......

Happy Monday everyone.....take care and have a wonderful week!