handsful

Those who know me know that I hate clutter.  That’s not to say that there is never clutter in my house, far from it.  With 5 kids, those who make the mess far outnumber those who clean the mess.  (Randy could be in either group, depending on the day).  And, don’t get me confused with germ-a-phobics.  I’d much rather be re-organizing my pantry than sterilizing it! 

I’m constantly trying to tame clutter, and put things back where they belong (I think I keep Sterilite and Rubbermaid in business just with the tubs and bins I buy).  One thing that drives me bananas is trying to keep kid’s toy parts together.  The other day, I was in Lainey’s room, going through her toys.  We bought her a set of stacking cups before going to China and it was one of her favorite toys that we brought on the trip.  I noticed that the blue cup was missing and couldn’t find it anywhere.  What good is a set of stacking cups when you’re missing a cup??  They won’t STACK anymore!  Later on, I found the cup mixed in with another bin of toys in the family room.  But, then I couldn’t find the rest of the stack.  Good cow! 

On the subject of things that make me nutty, Lainey in her carseat pushes all my buttons.  I give her books beside her in the seat, and secure her baby laptop with the velcro strip so that if she drops it, she can still pull it up to play with.  About 5 minutes into the trip she tosses the books.  Mind you, I already took her shoes and hairbow out because those would have been the first to be flung into the back of the truck.  After playing with the laptop for a few minutes, she tosses it down.  She notices that it’s hanging and goes back and forth…pulls it up/tosses/pulls it up, etc.  She then starts undoing the velcro strip that attaches the toy to her carseat.  I explain that, if she continues, she’ll lose her toy for good…mama can’t help while she’s driving.  She grins and keeps working the velcro.  The toy is now set free, and lying on the floor of the truck.  She fusses, pointing furiously to the toy that got away, and I grin.  With nothing else to do, she rips the car seat pillow from behind her head (also attached is toddler-friendly velcro).  It’s now just her and her clothes, and she’s not yet learned how to undress while clipped in her car seat.  It’s just a matter of time.  As we near our destination, I look back and see her licking both hands and then rubbing them all over her legs, like she’s applying sunscreen.  Toddlers…

After her nap, she insisted on having all 4 of her purses to play with!  She loves things she can put things in…just like me. 

Lastly, Teresa (http://www.continuingthejourney.blogspot.com/) “tagged” me a while ago to participate in a “Six Words that Describe You”…I have to describe myself in 6 words and then tag others to do the same.  Check out both of Teresa’s blogs (her other site is listed on my sidebar as Teresa – Carson), she has a beautiful teenage daughter, the cutest adopted little guy from China, and she’s going for it again with another adoption from China! 

1. Non-confrontational:  I’ll do anything to avoid a conflict, uncomfortable situation, argument, etc.  I just don’t want to rock any boats!  I’m sure it isn’t my best feature, but thankfully my husband is the exact opposite and absolutely thrives on everything I avoid.  Hey, it works. 
2. Non-competitive:  Winning, being better than so and so, getting there first…just doesn’t matter a lick to me.  I’m just in it to have fun.  Randy?  See above…exact opposite.  Two of our kids are like me, and two are like Randy.  Lainey is still a question mark, although she definitely leans more toward her daddy. 
3. Organized:  Like I’ve said, I love having everything organized, categorized, in neat little bins and baskets.  Ahhhh….
4. Busy:  I’m honestly a little stressed about summer ending, because come fall it’s gonna get crazy.  Let’s see…speech therapy, gymnastics, piano lessons, co-op classes for the kids, baseball, horse riding, basketball and cheerleading.  And, of course, homeschooling.  I’m sure I forgot something. 
5. Happy:  Sounds corny, but I’m generally a very happy and easy-going girl.  Sure, I get down and stressed (see #4), but all in all life makes me extremely happy. 
6. Which brings me to…Blessed:  Honestly, why do I deserve all this?  I don’t.  I’ve got a wonderful husband who loves me and tells me so everyday, 5 amazing, fun, healthy kids (when there was a time in our marriage when we thought we’d have none), the privilege of staying home to teach our kids, great relationships with my friends and family, the best church, and a God who loves me just the way I am.  Can it get better? 

I’m tagging Pam, Patricia, Janet, Rebecca, and Cindee – give me your 6 words!

The picture I’ve been “meaning” to get for months now.  We bought the kids their “big sister, big brother, little sister” shirts in China.  Better late than never. 

Busy days, lately.  What happened to the laid-back summer I promised myself?  Abbey is in her 2nd week of science camp…which I have to wake up at the horrid hour of 6am to get her to the bus stop.  I realize that’s not early for some, but it is for me!  The trips go to a Power Up Club each morning this week, which is our church’s version of vacation bible school.  The kids are loving it all, despite the HOT weather we’re having this week.  We’re thankful for our pool! 

One of Abbey’s many faces…she’s a very sweet and funny 12 year old.  Usually! 

Ring around the rosie…

Marley before…

…and after!  She loves it! 

Taken today, 5 months since Gotcha day! 

Family and friends back in NC will appreciate this :)  Our friend Brandy ordered this adorable bib for Lainey…for those of you confused, Randy went to NC State University (red/black) and I went to UNC-Chapel Hill (blue/white).  They are rival colleges, so hence our divided house.  However, I now pull for NCSU (gasp) since it means so much more to him who wins than it does to me!   

Home from her appt. with Dr. Glassman…Payton loves having his picture taken with the little one. 

Lainey had her appointment with the surgeon today, so he could see her fistula and tell us “the plan”.  He looked in her mouth and saw the small fistula smack in the middle of her palate.  He was not terribly surprised to see it for two reasons, (1) her repair was “tight”, as he told us right after surgery and, (2) most surgeons would have done her palate in two seperate surgeries, but we tried to get the whole thing repaired in just one (we all decided this), so a fistula is a chance you take. 

The good news…he thinks it will shrink up SOME on it’s own, he does NOT think it will get bigger, and she does NOT need a seperate surgery to correct it.  Whew!!  He said it can wait to be repaired until she has her nose and lip revision, which should be around age 4.  We also talked about having her left ear tacked back a bit (it sticks out more than her right) and he said it could also be done at the same time.  Wow, 4 procedures in one surgery.  Now, if I could just share the operating table with her and get a tummy tuck at the same time?  I digress…

He doesn’t think this fistula will adversely affect her speech development, because it is so small.  She has no new restrictions because of it, we can continue trying a straw (with lots of supervision!) and keep using a sippy cup.  He also said we wouldn’t have to deal with no-no’s for this next surgery, since she’ll be old enough to be told to leave her mouth alone…another praise there! 

So, all in all, a great visit.  We were preparing ourselves for another surgery and we’re SO happy to hear that isn’t the case. 

Here are a few swimming pictures from the other day.  Did I mention she has NO fear of the water?? 

That face makes me just melt…

No, Randy isn’t doing this, SHE is.  Everytime he held her out front, she’d dunk her face in, over and over again and come up laughing.  Payton isn’t thrilled about this picture, but he consented to have it in the blog.  Thanks, dude. 

Just the thought of her jumping into the water makes her giddy…sorry, I couldn’t time it right to get a shot her jumping in.  Maybe next time…

 

No longer the youngest kid in the family and loving his role as big brother. 

See the look of pure joy on her face?  For those of you worried that Randy is MAKING her do these things, be assured…she gets BORED when we put her in her floaty and almost immediately asks to be taken out (signs “all done”).  Randy has spoiled her rotten and become her water entertainer.  I’m much more boring laid back in the pool, so I’m not her preferred playmate. 

Two challenges we have with her in the water…she will NOT put her legs down when we try to teach her to float, they stick straight up in the air!  And, we’re having trouble teaching her to CLOSE her mouth when she goes under.  She thinks thats the time to open wide…needless to say, her diapers after swim time fill up fast :) 

Lastly, we have a new member of the family.  Marley decided to spend her birthday money on a new pet…a hermit crab.  We bought her the cage for her birthday, and she bought everything else including Herbie the hermit crab.  She insists it’s a girl (I hear it’s nearly impossible to tell, unless you’re an expert in hermit crabs), so the name confuses me! 

Her shell is very decorative, they come like that! 

A closer look at little Herbie…the pet store said she’s a baby.  Awwww…

 

 

TWO hairbows!  We’re still struggling with “Miss Grabby Hands” – as we like to call her – snatching them out of her hair in the blink of an eye. 

It’s been a while since I’ve done a “what Lainey can do now” kind of post.  And, since we now have an official two year old in the house, I figured this would be a good time.  At her 2nd well check-up, here are her stats:

• weight: 27.9 lbs. 65th percentile, American chart; 95th percentile, Chinese chart (about 1lb. less than Abbey at 2yrs.)
• height:  34.5 ” 70th percentile, American chart; 85th percentile, Chinese chart (same height as Marley at 2yrs.)
• head circumference:  19″ 69th percentile, American chart

Signs she uses regularly –

• more, eat, all done, shoes, want, drink, milk, bird, book, mama, daddy, Abbey, Payton (we’re working on Marley and Ethan), Lainey, please, ball, light, go (which, means anything with wheels, like her cozy coupe), balloon, dirty, and fish.  Swim in a new sign that she’s learning. 

Words she’s saying  –

• eye, mama, daddy (rhymes with mama – yaya), no (not the “n”, but just an “o” sound), more (sounds like “mu”), yes (“eh”), and bye (sounds like “my”)

What else is she doing?

• she can point to named objects in a book when we say, for example, where is the dog?
• she can follow commands, like go get your shoes or throw the diaper away
• she says “mama” when she wants me to pick her up.
• she growls (which sounds like she’s clearing her throat!) when she wants her tiger stuffed animal.
• she can say what a dog (she pants), kitty, and monkey says.
• she still loves all kinds of food.
• she loves playing with her stuffed animals…favorites now are tiger, baby tiger, puppy, and lion.
• she still climbs anything and everything…anything resembling a step stool (pack of water bottles, wipes box) becomes one. 
• she loves books, although rarely has the attention span for us to read one to her. 
• She now will take you by the hand, and pull you to where she wants to go/what she wants if she can’t get it across to you in signs or speech. 
• She still sleeps like a dream…in bed around 8:30 and up around 7:30.  Nap is still usually 2 hours. 
• She LOVES the pool and has zero fear.  A good and potentially bad thing, so we plan to teach her to swim soon! 
• she learned how to hold her own nose and blow raspberries…very ladylike, don’t you think?

We brought back a lot of these crackers that she loved in China, and she still loves them.  Let me tell you, they’re icky.  Very salty and strong tasting! 

Now for the bad news.  A week ago Sunday, we looked in Lainey’s mouth and saw a hole in her palate.  We have no idea how it got there, or how long it’s been there.  So, she’ll have to undergo another surgery sometime in the next 6 months – 1 year to close it.  They want to make sure that she is totally healed from the first surgery.  We were very bummed about this to begin with, but we always knew there was a chance that a fistula would develop.  We’ve heard that they are more common in older children, 2 and up also.  So, we’ll deal with this bump in the road and obviously do whatever is needed.  She’s worth the trouble :) 

A couple of random pictures…this was taken the night before they turned 10.  It’s a tradition that I take the kid’s pictures on the night before their birthday. 

A while ago, Gram and Pa-Paul sent a huge box of goodies…here the kids are going through all the loot.  They loved it! 

Yes, the obligatory “stairs” picture!  For some reason, that’s the place for group photos in this house.  This is my parents with their five grandchildren.  I’m an only child, and since we never intended on having more than 2 or 3 kids (God sure did change our minds…), they’re thrilled to have so many!

Granpa was really entertaining Lainey, making her laugh her little head off. 

And, granma was equally fun…here, Lainey is trying her best to steal her watch. 

We really enjoyed our time together…the girls went shopping (the guys stayed home so Lainey could nap), we all went out to eat, grilled out steaks and chicken, went swimming in the pool, were lazy during an afternoon thunderstorm, and finally took a trip to our local museum of science and history…here are pictures of that!

A, M, P, and E and L in her snazzy pink stroller

I love this picture!  Randy stood on the other side of the cage, so he could get Marley posing with one of her fav kinds of animals.  I think they’re both smiling!!

Payton, the cool big brother that he is, shows his little sis the fish! 

The museum had an exhibit called “Giant Insects”.  They weren’t kidding, these things were HUGE and had very life-like movements.  Lainey was freaked and only wanted me to hold her…until Granpa rescued her by taking her out in the hall! 

Payton and Ethan do a good imitation of fighting stag beetles!

They had a section that was a visual timeline of Florida history, which this homeschool mom enjoyed very much.  Abbey is really into the Little House series of books right now (she’s read all of them, and is now starting the Rose Years books).  So, she had to pose in front of this scene.  :)

This sign was in a room displaying the movies that have been made in Jacksonville throughout history…too funny. 

There was a beautiful fountain just down from the museum, so we stopped to see it.  Lainey loved feeling the mist coming off of it. 

A few more steps, and we were at the river…so, more pictures. 

Thanks for the wonderful time!  We’ll see you again in August :)

 

No room for their full names!  Oh, the injustices of being triplets…

With a two-day break from Lainey’s 2nd birthday, we were on to celebrate Marley, Payton, and Ethan’s 10th birthday on 7/7!  We opened presents after lunch, and then waited for Lainey to finish her nap AND for their friends to arrive so we could head to Adventure Landing Waterpark! 

Marley enjoying the half pipe ride.  Looks nice and relaxing, huh?  See her daddy on the same ride, with a wider view…

Yeah, like you could ever get me on this!?  You start out sliding down a REALLY steep hill on the other side.  All the kids (big and little) loved it. 

More my speed.  Lainey and I enjoy the wave pool.  Don’t be jealous of my deep, dark tan. 

Payton looks a little apprehensive here…wonder what this looks like in full view? 

Yowza!  An enclosed waterslide leads straight to this potty-looking contraption, where you go around and around until you fall in the hole at the bottom.  Sign me up…never.  Ethan, on the other hand, looks quite relaxed. 

Time for pizza and cake!  That’s Jon in the background, our good friend (and Emily and Julianna’s dad) who came to help us control the kids! 

Blowing out candles…they consented to only having 10, rather than 30 ;)  That’s E at the head of the table and P with his back to us.  Not our best photo to date. 

It was a great party!  The weather had predicted 70% chance of rain in that area.  It was sunny and beautiful…whew!  I can hardly believe my little preemie babies are 10.  They’re such awesome kids and we’re blessed to be their parents.  Love you, Marls, Pate, and EJ!