Just Another Day

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone. I will have photos to post later in the week as tomorrow we are heading to my sister's house for some yummy fixings and family fun. I am also going into work at midnight, but that's okay, they will all be sleeping anyway.



Last week Brian spent some time with us. Luca and Nico were so excited! Luca now says "BriBri" for Brian. That is what I taught Nico to call him when he was young. Luca picked it up quick. He has been looking for BriBri all week.

We went roller skating with our Lincoln County Homeschool group. They get together once a month as the local Skate Barn for some leisure time. Nico has to get his lessons completed on that Friday in order for us to go. This week he made it and we were glad. Brian came up to me, gave me a hug and said, "Thanks for taking me here mom, this was fun!" (That totally made my day - he is 17!) I had told him when they started skating, "Just don't fall on your face!" He is doing absolutely fantastic!!! He ate well while he was here and I sent him home to his dad's with some goodies to eat.


Here is Brian 14 days post op. He is actually smiling with his mouth open! I am so happy for him. I think this surgery will not only help him eat better, but also boost his self esteem! I just can't believe how big he has gotten - where did my baby go?

We made every attempt last week to get a good group photo of the boys....yeah, right, 3 boys, good photo?

Actually, this is the boys in all their beauty. These are the pictures I like best, showing how they really are. Anyone can pose for a photo (well, except my boys, all at one time)...
I think the photo with the funny faces makes the Christmas card this year. Luca was saying, "loodul, loodul", while flapping his fingers.

What do you expect for 17, 8, and 2. These three are what I am most thankful for this Thanksgiving!!!! My life would be so boring without these three in it. Fun times!
My favorite photo of Brian (above), the sleeky, slyness.
What was Luca doing???

What We've Been Doing

I thought I would take a few moments and add just a few updates and pictures of what we have been doing over the last few weeks.

First off, Brian is doing well. I saw him on Monday and he was up walking around, talking, and says he is eating soup and smoothies. I took more pictures, but he is still swollen and he was bruised all down his chin and next (a nice yellow color not the purple and blues). So, as promised to him, I am not going to post any pictures yet. However, he is doing great.

Next, if you haven't seen the pictures on Facebook, I finally broke down and had Luca's hair cut. YES, it totally hurt me to have his curls cut off, but he still looks as cute as ever. It was just getting way to out of control in the front. I couldn't cut the the front without making it look totally like a mullet. (not that there is anything wrong with mullets, just not for us). Ms. Brenda put his long curls in a ponytail and snipped it off. I have them in a bag for his scrapbook. Somehow in the bag, they don't look near as long. It grew tremendously over the last month as when I look back at pictures from last year or the summer it wasn't that bad.


"No Mommy, don't let them take my hair!" I ask him where his hair is and he shakes his head and says, "Were go?" then reaches up to his head and rubs his hair.
Look, he aged a couple years....when he is sleeping though he looks like the little angel I met in Guatemala. He is sooo cute I just melt every morning when I see these boys. I am so blessed.

So, most of you know I homeschool. We do most of homeschooling at home (of course), but we do attend two homeschool coops. One is in our old neighborhood which we have belonged to since Nico was 3 (my gosh, has it been 5 years already!). We always rotated between houses for our meetings, this year we were able to get a location for free. Our group has grown and it is nice to have one place to go to. Here are the boys on the first day (back in September). Luca was so excited to have a backpack. He even says 'backpack' (thanks to Dora!)
I love the brotherly photos from the back. My sweet angels.
Here is Nico just this last week working with his group. Look at that smile...he loves his friends. We are studying the 50 states. Each week a mom hosts the day and comes up with activties for the state we are studying that week. Yep, we even have a CHALKBOARD! I love chalkboards. Notice the kids all working so hard. I love it. This also gives the kids a chance to listen to other adults as the moms let the older kids do their thing with the mom hosting.
This is our preschool group. We finally have enough kids to create the two groups. I love it since I have kids in each group. It is great for Luca as he is used to playing with older kids and needs to learn how to associate with kids his age. At this age he is still in independent play when it comes to sitting and playing imaginative toys, although he can sit next to others, but has a hard time sharing (typical). I loved the activity this week. Can you guess what it was??? Yep, trains. We sang a song, made a train snack, and the kids each designed their own train car. So cute!


Onto the fall leaves! Oh my gosh, I don't miss all these leaves at our new house. We have been spending a few hours each day at our old house getting it ready for its new tenant (yes, I have someone ready to rent it). He seems to be a great guy as he has already helped clean up the leaves in the front yard and hasn't even moved in yet.

So here are the boys having a blast in the leaf piles. Watching the joy on their faces made the job a whole lot easier. It also brought back great memories of when we were kids jumping in the leaves.

BONZAI! There goes Nico, big jump.
Here goes Luca, big jump for a little guy. All that movement made the photo blurry, but the smile is priceless!
Nico labeled themselves the 'leaf boorers'. They would start at one side of the leaf pile and crawl under to the other side. I think they are cutest leaf boorers I have ever seen.
This boy loved the leaves. I can't wait to doctor up some of these fall photos on Lightroom.

Surgery Went Well!

Brian's surgery went very well. He is out of PICU as of yesterday. Hopefully he will be going home tomorrow. I sat with him for 8 hours yesterday. He finally ate a little bit of applesauce and today he had chicken noodle soup and applesauce.

The jaw broke fine and they didn't have to wire the jaw shut---yipee!!! He cannot afford to lose any weight so this way he can eat soups and pastas to keep his weight up. He just cannot eat anything he has to chew for at least 6 weeks.

He is such a tough guy!! I love him so much. I promised him I would not post pictures while he is swollen up. He wants everyone to see the final outcome, not the inbetween. So, I am sticking to my promise and not posting any pics. (sorry). However, I am taking them and they will be in his scrapbook.

Brian is my hero. He has gone through more than any 17 year old should have to, especially in the first 7 years of his life. He has endured more pain than anyone I know and never complains. As a parent I always want to be in his place and take the pain from him. He avoided taking the morphin and just took the tylenol with codeine every 4 hours. He knew he could go home sooner if he wasn't on the morphine.

We will hopefully be visiting him at his dad's house tomorrow or Monday. Nico can't wait to see him and was very disappointed he couldn't go to the hospital room to see him. Nico made a very cute get well card for him. I am so proud of all my boys.

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers it truely means alot.

Brian's Upcoming Surgery

Brian's jaw reconstruction is occurring this week. Please keep him in your prayers as Thursday and the days following approach. He will be in ICU for at least one night and hospitalized for about 3-4 days.

I have every confidence all will go well. Brian is so much stronger than he used to be. I asked him the other day if he was nervous about it. His words, "What's there to be nervous about?" "I am ready." He is so much braver than I would ever be. He has been through so much in his 17 years, that this is one positive hurdle we have been waiting for.

I already warned him pictures would be taken. I promised I wouldn't take any pictures right after the surgery, but would wait a day or so. We are excited about the outcome and I am hoping I can be one of the first to take him out to eat when the jaw is all healed to see him take his first 'real' bite of food.

To read more about why Brian is having surgery check out my other blog www.lifewithcms.blogspot.com
There is some history there of Brian. I have yet to update and put more of the last 17 years on there, but it is a start.