Survived my first weekend of work

Well we all survived my first weekend back to work. It broke my heart leaving Luca at my sister's. He screamed when I walked out, but I know within a few minutes he settled down. Nico was with him and that helped. Also, what better place to be than with their Aunt! Luca went to sleep great for her all three nights and was still sleeping when I got there in the morning at 6:30am. I was then able to lay down and take an hour nap myself before driving an hour back home. (yes, I live an hour and 5 minutes away from work now). I was able to sleep during the day while Luca napped for 3 hours each day. By Tuesday I was EXHAUSTED! I slept on the couch in the morning with the baby gates up while he played in the living room with me there. He was climbing on me, driving trucks over me, snuggling up with me and enjoying his free romping time. I was fading in and out through it all. Just as when Nico was little. I wouldn't give up this loss of sleep for the days that I get off to be with my kids and being able to spend their waking hours with them.

I also worked some overtime this week while Daddy stayed home with the boys. I put Luca to be and headed in. Nico loves having Daddy and me time to watch all the cool TV shows together. (And Daddy lets him stay up later than Mom does). I got home at 5am and slept for 4 hours. During that time Mike actually got Luca out of bed and he and Nico CHANGED LUCA'S DIAPER. I was so proud of them! (using cloth diapers makes it a little more challenging to figure out which ones I use when, but they did great). I love the guys/boys in my life. They also cleaned up the house with Nico organizing all the toys in the living room and unloading the dishwasher. (Girls here's your guy when you get older - we are doing our best to train him right ;-)

We are getting ready to start our transformations for Halloween. We are heading into St. Charles, MO for some early trick-or-treating at all the businesses along Main Street. We are meeting our homeschool friends and some friends from work. It is always so much fun. And today we have 70 degree weather!!!!! We'll actually be able to see all the costumes. This is the fun part about trick-or-treating during the daylight hours, is we can see what all the kids look like. Then we are heading to my brothers for more fun. It's not that we need the candy, I'll give Luca's away to coworkers (they'll eat anything), but it is the fun of the season for us.

I took Luca to the Halloween store yesterday and he was in awe at all the creepy things there. He didn't freak out, but I could feel him holding me tighter as some of the creatures moved. He then started growling back at them. He has this evil growl...thus the need to be a 'devil' for Halloween. I sewed his tail on his pants this morning and he has enough hair to hold the barrett horns in.

Pictures coming. We have a long day ahead of us.

Halloween Fun

Nico received some fun teeth in a party goody bag. Daddy had fun trying them out on Luca. Luca is such a ham he just went along with the fun. Enjoy the pictures! This explains why we are born with baby teeth and not our permant adult teeth.

I have had a hard time getting motivated for Halloween this year, but we do have costumes. I should be more excited since this is our first Halloween with Luca and I love Halloween. Luca is going to be a devil and Nico a dark clad creepy guy. I know, Luca is too cute to be a devil, but he has this great evil voice he makes that made me think of a devil for him. He will be the cutest darn devil.

Also the horrifying news of another blogger that I follow has put a damper on my Halloween spunk. Her daughter was diagnosed with ALL Lukemia. She has only been home from Guatemala for 5 months and just turned a year old. Thank God she is here in the US when she recieved this diagnosis. It breaks my heart; I can only imagine how her family is feeling. Luca got a nasty cold last week and I just worried about him all week long. I watched him sleep and listened to his breathing. Luckily he seems over the cold and is doing well. I pray for adorable little Bella to recover from her diagnosis as well. It is just not fair for these poor little babies!

Enjoy the pictures and I'll be posting Halloween pics next weekend!

One Year Ago

It was one year ago today I received the referral of a beautiful baby boy! I remember receiving the 171H in the mail and faxing it immediately to my agency. They were out to lunch so I had to wait to call them to be sure they received it. Within two hours they called me and said they had a referral for a new born baby girl. I clearly remember my reply, "A girl?" I felt so bad saying that but I requested a boy and preferred a boy. I told her I would take whatever child was available but I knew there were boys WAITING. Within 15 minutes she called me back and said she sent me a picture and information on a 5 month old boy. She also said they were going to send me another one and I could pick. I was thinking, 'oh no, don't do that, don't make me pick!' I was at the library with Nico. We raced home to open our email and there he was...Jose Miguel...in all his glory. It turned out the other little boy was referred to someone else. I was so relieved. I remember picking Nico off the waiting children from the internet. It seemed so weird to pick a child from hundreds based on pictures!!

Yesterday I received his new Missouri birth certificate. He is officially Luca Miguel.

He is doing great, but has a cold right now with the rest of us. He was up for several hours last night, as was mom. I felt so bad for him. They don't make meds to give the little ones over the counter anymore. I ran out of my toddler dimatap, so ended up giving him baby tylenol and holding him up while the drainage left his nose. He was struggling to breath and suck on his pacifier. He seems better today with a trip to Walgreens for more toddler medicine. Mama is keeping a close eye on him as I have to go back to work on Monday. Figures he gets all yucky when I have to leave him. He will be with my brother and sister-in-law and he is a firefighter and she a paramedic so he will be in great care, but I will miss putting him to sleep. I find joy though in the fact I only miss him sleeping and not all the hours he is awake and on the go.

He now says 'uh-oh', imitates 'all gone', and when we drive by the cows on our road he says 'mooooo - but without the m'. It is so fun to watch the development and watch him grow. It happens to fast.

A busy BOY~

Luca is a busy, busy boy! It is so fun to watch him on the go - constantly! We are both worn out by the end of the day. He turned 16 months old on Sept. 23. He is cutting three more teeth (2 molars). He eats anything put in front of him. He makes some funny faces on some things, but comes back for more. He loves his veggies and fruits! I have been lucky to have all my kids like fruits and vegetables. I think Brian could be a vegetarian.

Luca now says 'mama', 'dada', 'dat' (that), and 'dodo' (doggie). Not bad for being home just shy of two months. He plays peek-a-boo, makes gestures for 'uh-oh', 'all gone' and has started blowing kisses. He has given kisses since coming home, but just suddenly started blowing kisses when we tell people good-bye or good-night. He chased daddy around the house the other night blowing kisses to him before going to bed. It was wonderful to see! He received a new 'retro rider' from Great Uncle Gene, Great Aunt Connie, and cousin Dave. He loves riding it and hitting the buttons. He loves anything LOUD even himself. His hearing is fine, he just likes noisey things and if they have buttons the better.

I took him to get his first real haircut and he sat great in his stroller, eating on his lollipop. My hairdresser is so awesome. She trimmed him up without losing too many curls. I couldn't stand the hair in his eyes and the Bozo the Clown hairdo when I combed it.

Nico learned to ride his two wheeler bike without training wheels. The autumn weather has been so great we have been taking walks and Nico rides his bike.

We also went on our annual apple picking trip. We found a place close to Troy and picked so great apples. It was the first apple I let Luca eat and he loved it! He would bite the skin off and spit it out then eating the apple insides all the way through the core! We were trying to get Nico to bite into one with his lose tooth to get it to come out, but no luck yet.

Brian is doing great in school and we had him with us last weekend for Nico's 7th Bday party and the Fiesta we had for Luca's homecoming. It was great to all be together.

I'll update more later. Luca is desparetly trying to help me type and Nico is looking for me to come hang with him.

He took a REAL NAP!

I can't believe it....today Luca took a 2.5 hour nap in his crib!!!! I think he is settling in. It probably also helps that we were actually home long enough for him to take a nap in his crib. He usually sleeps on our hour drive into St. Louis and then an hour back. But this was a first...usually it is a half hour on the dot and he is up. I had to sneak in after I woke from my 1/2 hour nap to check on him.

I think it also helps in that I broke down and bought a pacifier. I found one he likes. He always fell asleep with the bottle in his mouth. I was leaving a bottle in his bed with water, so he could suck on the nipple. He was gagging on the orthodontic pacifiers. I finally found one that is straight like a bottle. It works like a charm for night time too. We get cuddle time without it, a story and a bottle. Then off to bed and out like a light for 11-12 hours. I am only using the pacifier for bed time use. There will be no carrying it around the house or in the car.

I also found him tonight with his arm around his stuffed Eeyore (okay I am not sure how to spell that). I have been waiting for him to find a 'lovey' to have and this may be it. Nico had his taggy blanket which went everywhere and got lost twice (had to buy a new one and he still loved rubbing the same tag).

I am posting some pictures of my handsome young men. We went to a wedding reception and Nico was adamant about wearing a suit. He looks so awesome and he danced his heart out that night.

One Month Home!

OMG, I cannot believe it has been a month already since Luca and I walked off the airplane in St. Louis. The wait was so long and this month flew by! I want time to be as slow as it seemed before.

Everyone is doing fantastic. Nico has started his new homeschool year, 2nd grade! He is working hard everyday and it is working pretty well with Luca toddling around. We are mostly able to keep Luca entertained with other toys while I work with Nico. Nico also took a trial class for HipHop and LOVED it! He has loved to dance since he was 2 years old. He was the hit of a wedding reception last weekend out there break dancing. He makes me so proud. He is also continuing with his tumbling, gymnastics, and soccer.

Brian is doing good at school. He is happy to be with his friends again. I have not seen him much since he is attending school by his dad and stays with him throughout the weeks. I will see him this weekend. I miss seeing him and seeing what he is up to. The insurance has said "YES" on covering the surgery he is going to get to fix his jaw. He is excited yet nervous. I am too, to think of what he has already been through in his 16 years and now more! But, he will be able to actually bite into a cheeseburger with his front teeth once it is all done and close his mouth properly.

Luca is on the go!!! He is NON STOP until he falls asleep at 8pm and then he is out a full 12 hours or more. Naps are still a struggle, but he has taken up to a 40 minute nap. It is hard to force on him when he is so happy and good during the day. But, that nap is necessary or he crashes too early in the evening. He imitates and plays well. He is stacking items two high, feeding himself with a fork (ate a whole french toast with his fork by himself today)...showing signs of being a lefty -yeah - just like mom! He is doing so much better since he started the antibiotic for his two ear infections he came home with. He is babbling ALOT, and says mama, dada, dohh (for uh-oh) and puts his hands up to his head. He also loves playing peek-a-boo.

I took Luca and Nico to Cuivre River State Park last weekend. We wanted to introduce Luca to sand! He loved it! He only tried to eat it a couple times. At first he just stood in it, not sure what to do. Then we showed him how to let it run through your fingers. We slowly made our way down to the water and he enjoyed splashing and kicking in the water. I get to rediscovery all the joys of life with these beautiful boys.

Mike is back to work after hurting his back. And I am enjoying every minute away from work, even though I miss my friends there (and a paycheck). We have been meeting every other week or so. I'll be back there before I know it. But, I can't complain, it is only 3 nights a week.

I left Luca and Nico at my sister's for a few hours yesterday. She will be babysitting again. Luca did fine. He even took a nap there. But was EXCITED to see me walk through the door. I love that!

Well, off to see what he is getting into and see if Nico has soccer today. I am truely blessed with these fine young men in my life!

FIRSTS!

I forgot to include the FIRSTS in our family over the last few weeks.

First off, Nico learned how to blow bubbles with bubble gum while I was on the pick up trip. I have great pictures to scrapbook of him blowing a bubble.

Luca cut his first tooth at home. It was tooth number 7 for him. He was fussy, drooling, and running a fever, but he came through like a trooper. What adjustments to go through!

While Luca is growing in his tooth, Nico is losing his. He has several loose ones, but one lower one is getting very wiggly!

Luca got to see the Air-Evac helicopter up close. Daddy was the pilot. We watched him land at a back-to-school PR event and then take off again. Luca enjoyed seeing the helicopter and the photo is of him pointing at it as it flies over head. He has yet to fly in Daddy's personal helicopter as Nico is fighting him for the seat....Nico has taken over my seat, but I need to hold Luca while we fly...so Nico is not too happy about someone else moving in on his territory.

Brian is going back to high school instead of being homeschooled. This isn't a first, but needed to add something exciting about Brian. Best wishes to Brian for a successful semester! Sounds like I'll be tutoring chemistry with him too. (I will miss having Brian home doing lessons with us, but it is what he wants to do and he says he will work hard and prove himself)....GO BRIAN! I love you!