Our fourth full day of parenting

Twenty years ago today, I woke up feeling absolutely miserable.  My in-laws were leaving, and since it was Super Bowl weekend (and the Steelers were playing), extending their stay wasn't an option.  As a sports fan, I get it.  I was able to get into the doctor before they left, and he confirmed I was definitely sick.  When I got home, I started my antibiotics, and then I called my mom and told her she was going to need to come down to help with dinner because I was sick and needed to be in bed.  There was no way Andrew could handle dinner by himself when it had taken the four adults in the house to accomplish it up to that point.  My mom agreed to come and help, and I told her to bring Aunt Cathy with her.  Dad was already sick, and I couldn't take the chance to expose him to my germs.  It was bad enough my mom could possibly carry germs home, but we were desperate!  I know that Aunt Cathy was thrilled to come down and be helpful, because that is exactly who she was.  She loved her family deeply, and was especially happy to spend time with the youngest family members.

This is the end of the really crazy beginning, but I'll probably tell several more "Twenty years ago" stories throughout the year.  It's why I was asked to teach at our adoption agency for many years talking about our first year!

Day three of parenting

Twwenty years ago today was our third full day of parenting and it began very early...at 6am when we could hear a child vomiting in the bathroom.  It was Robert.  He said he hadn't felt well and the mentioned he had told us that Nonie's dinner was going to make him sick!  It was awful.  After we got him and things cleaned up, Andrew and I stood in the bathroom clinging to each other and crying, thinking we had ruined our lives.  I know that sounds ridiculous and dramatic, but we were completely exhausted.  When Thomas awoke, it was time to give him the suppository so we could give him his medication.  I opened the fridge, and the suppositories were no where to be found!  It turns out, the way they were wrapped made Robert think they were candy, and he had eaten them.  I had to call the doctor not only to make sure Robert would be okay, but to request that we receive more suppositories.  The doctor wanted to give me a bit of a lecture on medicine safety, but I pointed out that it needed to be refrigerated.  I know the staff was getting a kick out of our story!  Wowzers!

That afternoon we registered our children for school.  Robert was in Kindergarten, and because Catherine had an IEP, she qualified for the public school special needs preschool program.  That evening, my sweet MIL made us another dinner, and they would be leaving in the morning.  Meanwhile, I was starting to feel quite poorly, but day four is tomorrow's story!

The next day of parenting

When we had taken Thomas to the hospital, they had explained to us that he had an upper respiratory infection and and needed to be seen by his primary physician.  Given that we'd been parents for about 12 hours, we didn't have one, and didn't really have the capability of finding one.  Our doctor treated children and we were fine with it.  We weren't entirely certain how we were going to get him to the doctor as the day before it had taken us all day to get the kids dressed, bathed, and fed.  Looking back that wasn't entirely true, as there were grocery trips and naps involved as well.

Since my in-laws had arrived, they were going to keep the older kids while we took Thomas.  Sure enough, an antibiotic was given, and Andrew picked it up at the cute little small-town pharmacy that was two blocks away.  We gave the dose to Thomas, and it immediately all came back up just as his foster mother had warned us would probably happen.  I called the doctor, and he explained that was a "learned" reaction rather than an allergy, and sent us to get another prescription.  Of suppositories.  Oh boy.  That first time it took three of us to get the suppository in.  This was all literally the first 36 hours of parenting!

Things began to settle in the afternoon. My MIL made a roast for dinner and it was nice to have a home cooked meal.  Robert complained and told us that he didn't like the roast and he shouldn't eat it.  That will come into play about 12 hours later, as this story continues into the next day.  The adoption worker came for her first visit, and twenty years ago today we had survived our second full day of parenting.

Always glad when that is over

Today was our annual meeting at the church.  It is always the least favorite Sunday of the entire year for me.  When I first started in this role, there was a couple there who made it their mission to point out any errors that were made or to question just about everything, and it was questioned in a tone that made it feel like we hadn't done our jobs correctly.  There was also to be a new church constitution voted on, and there were some people unhappy about that.  Overall though, it was very positive and I'm pleased with how it went.  I wasn't at all sad when it was postponed from last week due to the snow storm, but I sure am glad to have that finished for another year!

Our first full day of parenting

I am going to share our first full day of parenting.  Andrew and I had finally gone to bed about 2:00am.  Our bodies were still on west coast time!  Thomas was struggling with the asthma a bit, and we knew we needed to check on him every two hours or so.  I finally fell asleep sometime between 2:30 & 3.  I awoke  around 4 to check on Thomas, and knew he needed a nebulizer treatment.  About 1/2 hour later, I woke Andrew because I was pretty sure we needed to take him to the hospital.  Oh boy, here we go!  I called my mom around 5am because we didn't want to wake the other kids.  She needed to shower and dress, and then it was a 45 minute drive to out house.  We were finally on our way out the door at 6:30 and at the hospital by 7.  I was horrified that Robert and Catherine were going to wake up the very first morning with their new parents and we weren't going to be there!

I vividly remember how kind everyone was at the hospital.  We went to the nearest hospital because this did not require a specific children's hospital.  And of course, we pretty much couldn't answer a single question they asked of us because we had only been responsible for parenting him for about 12 hours!   Truly though, they were so kind and helpful, and gratefully, we were back home a little after 9am.  Because the kids were also still on west coast time, they were still asleep when we got home. 

My mom left shortly after the kids awoke, and it was then we realized how many things we didn't have that we needed, including diapers!  I volunteered (or ran out the door, haha) to go to the grocery, leaving my poor, sweet hubby at home with all three kiddos.  The house was a disaster.  The kids had taken every box of toys and toys on the shelves and dumped absolutely everything on to the floor.  Our dear neighbors called and wanted to come over and meet the kids.  At first Andrew refused, but then realized they had raised five children and could probably be helpful!  They came over and kept an eye on the kids while Andrew got some food made, and even cleared a path through our home so we could walk.  

Andrew's parents were scheduled to arrive late afternoon.  Thankfully, they were staying at a bed & breakfast in town and not with us at the house!  They called and mentioned they were stopping to do some shopping, and Andrew begged them not to...we needed help!  I'll never forget them walking in and being so excited to see the kids (Thomas was napping).  Shortly after arrival, they offered to let Andrew and I take a nap.  BEST OFFER EVER!

I remember coming down the stairs after napping and my FIL asking what was for dinner.  My response was to ask what he was going to go get us.  It had taken us all day to get the kids bathed and dressed and eating breakfast and lunch.  I.  Was. Done.  We finally fell into bed that evening, but there was more to come in the next few days!

Twenty years of parenting

Twenty years ago today, Andrew, the kids and I stepped off of a plane in the Dayton airport and began our lives together as a family.  The kids' caseworker and Thomas's foster mother joined us as well.  It was a very long day of flying across the country.  In fact, when we first got on the airport, Thomas was having some breathing issues, and they weren't sure he was going to be allowed to get on the plane.  At the last minute though, they got on, and we all arrived home to friends and family who were waiting at the airport for us.  I'll write about our first week over the next several days.  It's actually a bit of a doozy of a story!

Tomorrow, we are sharing a meal with the kids, my mom (possibly my sister), and our dear friends who shared so much with our since the very beginning and are the kids' godparents.  We've decided this will be the last really big celebration we do.  This date will ALWAYS be a blessing to our family, but my kiddos are living their own lives in their own homes now.

The rest of our lives are moving right along.  Our Thursday and Friday were normal, but Andrew had delays both of those days.  It's been absolutely frigid.  Today Andrew had to work at 8am, and won't be home until about 10.  Tomorrow is our rescheduled annual church meeting, and then our family dinner.  This is the time of year I prefer to just hunker down and hang out at home, but life doesn't work that way.  Regardless, I'm so grateful for this life, especially today!

I had to go back to school

I mentioned to my co-workers today that this weekend felt as though it was our reward for surviving our first semester.  We knew Saturday afternoon that church was going to be canceled for Sunday morning, we knew by Noon on Sunday that we would be home all day Monday, and we knew early afternoon Monday that we would be home Tuesday.  It was an amazingly wonderful gift of time.  On Sunday, I completed my entire puzzle.  It was an easy one, and I loved, loved, loved it.  The entire day was spent watching the snow fall, watching football, and doing the puzzle.  It was a day that was much, much needed.

Monday and Tuesday were spent being much more productive.  Lots of laundry was done and I was able to do some cleaning and get other things done.  At the same time, there was time for reading magazines and catching up on other things.  It was really just such a wonderful few days.

Yesterday, Andrew and I drove out into the country to see how the roads were.  While some streets in town, were fine, most were okay, but the country roads were not.  I wasn't thrilled about having to spend 15 minutes out in morning carline at -9 windchill (even with a 2-hour delay), and with the drifting in the country I really thought closing was the way to go.  It wasn't my decision though, and we were in today while the public schools remained closed.

It's going to remain very, very cold here for at least a week, and we might even get some more snow.  I don't know how it will all play out, but I am so very grateful for the few extra days off, and for the gorgeous scenery it gave it and the ability to relax!